defend the constitution from threats foreign and domestic. it's hard to walk away from that. and if i can reinforce or confirm for one person that the vote was secure, the election was secure, then i feel like i've done my job. >> krebs, who's 43, worked on cybersecurity in the bush administration, became director of sooub security policy at microsoft and joined the trump department of homeland security in 2017. his priority was to stop anyone from repeating russia's 2016 election hacking and disinformation. >> so, we spent something on the order of three and a half years of gaming out every possible scenario for how a foreign actor could interfere with an election, countless, countless scenarios. >> so, back in 2017, as you're

looking ahead to the election in 2018 and then ultimately the election in 2020, you have a to do list. and the to do list includes what? >> paper ballots. paper ballots give you the ability to audit, to go back and check the tape and make sure that you got the count right. and that's really one of the keys to success for a secure 2020 election. 95% of the ballots cast in the 2020 election had a paper record associated with it. compared to 2016, 82%. >> and with a paper order are, you can go back and verify what the machine is saying by physically counting the paper. >> that gives you the ability to prove that there was no malicious algorithm or hacked software that adjusted the tally of the vote and just look at what happened in georgia. georgia has machines that tabulate the vote. they then held a hand recount,

and the outcome was consistent with the machine vote. >> and that tells you what? >> that tells you that there was no manipulation of the vote on the machine count side. and so that pretty thoroughly, in my opinion, debunks some of these sensational claims out there that i've called nonsense and a hoax that there is some hacking of these election vendors and their software and their systems across the country. it's -- it's just -- it's nonsense. >> before the election, as the president called mail-in ballots a fraud, krebs' team released a report highlighting the safeguards built in to mail-in voting. his agency knocked down rumors and exposed an iranian plot to intimidate voters. on election day, krebs assembled a team in his command center to defend the vote. >> we had the department of

defense cyber command. we had the national security agency. we had the fbi. we had the secret service. we also had representatives from the election assistance commission, which is the federal independent agency that supports the actual administration of elections. we have representatives from some of the vendors, the election equipment vendors. and they're critical because they're the ones out there that know what's going on on the ground if there's any sort of issue with some of their systems. and we had representatives from state and local governments. >> how did the day go? >> it was quiet, and there was to had indication or evidence that there was any sort of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before or after november 3rd. >> and yet this was the president november 5th. >> and this is the case where they're trying to steal the election. they're trying to rig an

election. >> nine days after election day, mr. trump tweeted falsely that machines from dominion voting syste systems deleted millions of votes. krebs couldn't remain silent. his agency and its election security partners answered with a public statement. >> to quote from the november 12th statement that cisa and its partners put out, the november 3rd election was the most secure in american history. there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes or changed votes or was in any way compromised. >> yeah, i stand by that. >> the president tweeted after that statement, quote, the recent statement by chris krebs on the security of the 2020 election was highly inaccurate in that there were massive inproprieties and fraud. do you remember what the president said at the end of that tweet? >> oh, i was terminated. is that -- yes, i recall that.

>> were you surprised? >> i don't know if i was necessarily surprised. it's not how i wanted to go out. i think i -- the thing that upsets me the most about that is i didn't get a chance to say good-bye to my team. and i had worked with them for three and a half years in the trenches building an agency, putting cisa on the national stage. and i love that team and i didn't get a chance to say good-bye. that's what i'm most upset about. >> since he was fired, about a dozen republican senators have vouched for krebs' work. the president's essentially saying in that tweet that you did a lousy job, that you and your team blew it and allowed massive fraud all across the

country. >> we did a good job. we did it right. i would do it a thousand times over. >> still the president spins conjecture. >> you shouldn't be astounding by the fact votes are counted in germany and spain. >> as you watched rudy giuliani's news conference at the republican national committee headquarters, what were you thinking? >> it was upsetting because what i saw was a apparent attempt to undermine confidence in the election, to confuse people, to scare people. it's not me. it's not just cisa. it's the tens of thousands of election workers out there that have been working non-stop, 18-hour days for months. they're getting death threats for trying to carry out one of our core democratic institutions, an election. and that was, again, to me a

press conference that i just -- it didn't make sense. what it was actively doing was undermining democracy. that's dangerous. >> you can watch the full report on our up at 2:00am again? tonight, try pure zzzs all night. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. our friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned that we can sell all of our policy or keep part of it with

no future payments, who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. did you know diarrhea is often caused by bad bacteria in food? try pepto diarrhea. pepto® diarrhea is proven effective to treat symptoms, and it also targets the cause of diarrhea. the 3 times concentrated liquid formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. while the leading competitor does nothing to kill the bacteria, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. so, try pepto® diarrhea, and remember to have it on hand every time you travel. also try pepto®-bismol liquicaps for on-the-go relief.

[phone rings] "sore throat pain? try new vicks vapocool drops in honey lemon chill for a fast-acting rush of relief like you've never tasted in... ♪ honey lemon ahh woo vicks vapocool drops now in honey lemon chill a creature from the prehistoric era could hold the key to defeating covid-19 but it's also on the brink of

extinction. the story of the pangolin. >> they are millions of years old, solitary, usually nocturnal and completely harmless. but here in africa, hundreds of thousands are poached every year almost to extinction. >> if you take rhino, elephant ivory, tiger bone, lion bone, combine it all together, multiply it by hundre, pangolins still exceed that. >> pangolins are coveted for their scales, which are used in dozens of traditional chinese medicines until the false believe they have healing powers. they have no natural enemies in the wild. their only predator, humans. conservationist ray youngson works with police as they move in on the poachers, caught red handed. >> it looks strong. it looks like a large male. they thought youngson was a wild life trafficker who wanted to buy their pangolin. instead the six men were booked

into a nearby police station. they face up to ten years in jail for illegally possessing an endangered animal. the pangolin optimistically named fortunate, was rushed to the wild life hospital where this veterinarian and her team tend to his injuries. >> just some stupid scale that does nothing. >> reporter: the animals are sold for around $10,000 on the black market. youngson's aim is to save as many as he can by going undercover as a buyer. once poachers have sent him proof of life, he lures them to meetings where the police are waiting, but very few pangolins survive the trauma of the ordeal. for those that do make it, there is a special haven. 250 miles away at the private game reserve.

a handful of rescued pangolins have been released into the wild. they are constantly monitored with tracking devices. they quickly realized something was wrong with this pangolin rescued over eight months ago. >> that back left leg is swollen. >> reporter: the minor injury will be treated by a vet the next day. pangolins were initially identified as one of the prime suspects in passing on the coronavirus to humans. but their unique immune system has evolved over millions of years and could also contain answers to defeating the pandemic. scientists in vienna have been studying why the pangolin is able to carry the virus without getting sick. >> i think it's important that we put a lot more resources into understanding these animals because they do, i think, hold answers to our own health. >> reporter: very little is known about pangolins in the wild, but these new studies have

shown how mportant

millions of americans out of work and left many wondering where their next meal will come from. one group of college students decided to take matters into their own hands. they collect surplus food from farmers and get it to those who need it most. jonathan vigliotti has the story of farm link. >> reporter: where were you last

thanksgiving? bernie jackson was not in line at a food pantry. >> people are independent and i lost my job in the pandemic. so, right now i'm just praising the lord. >> inflamed by covid, america's pre-existing hunger crisis is now grumbling in the streets. >> this is absurd for the wealthiest country in the world to have all this food going to waste and all these people hungry. >> absurd says sanford university junior, jack. >> about 20 billion pounds of food is wasted. there's so much food wasted and so many mouths that need to be fed. it's bad in l.a. it's bad in dallas. it's bad in colorado right now. it's bad in san francisco. it's a national problem. >> stunned by images of produce rotting on farms during the pandemic, a group of college kids started the farm link project, collecting food from the fields and delivering it to pantries running on empty.

>> they made it happen, they got the deliveries in all the locations. it's been huge. we thank them. >> reporter: they've served more than 18 million meals since the spring, and this thanksgiving week they're handing meals across the country. >> when covid is over, this continues. >> absolutely, this continues after covid is over and this continues after farm link leaves and the cameras leave. food insecurity is not going away. we're going to keep doing deliveries across the country. >> reporter: and going where it's needed most. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs this morning" and follow us online all the time at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capitol, i'm catherine herridge.

it's tuesday, december 1st, 2020. this is the "cbs morning news." preparing for a vaccine. who's the first to get one and how soon america can get past the pandemic danger point. moving forward. a foot injury isn't slowing down president-elect joe biden. how he's helping shatter washington's glass ceiling. repair or dismantle? the navy decides the fate of a warship badly damaged in a fire. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with the wait for the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine. today the cdc is holding an emergency meeting to discuss who will be the first