Anderson Cooper 360

Few Republicans have spoken out publicly but a growing number of GOP lawmakers are growing restless and pushing back on Trump’s effort to overturn the election results.  Still, it seems most of the other GOP members are afraid to anger Trump, or the party’s base who could help decide the winner of the upcoming twin runoff elections in Georgia. William Cohen is a former Republican Congressman and Senator who also served as Defense Secretary under Pres. Clinton. He joins AC360 to discuss how he thinks the GOP and the President are handling the election loss. Plus, the President’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is the latest in the Trump inner circle to test positive for coronavirus. Trump Jr. has spread a significant amount of false information about the deadly virus, including telling Fox News that the number of Covid-19 deaths is “almost nothing.” More than 254,000 have died in the U.S. and an influential model projects that number will rise to 471,000 deaths by March 1 assuming 40 states’ governments impose or re-impose social distancing and other mandates. If that doesn’t happen, the death toll could reach 658,000. Dr. Chris Murray is the director of the group at the University of Washington that’s been working on these models throughout the pandemic. He tells AC360 the numbers are going up faster than expected and he thinks one of the reasons is people are not being as cautious.  

Airdate: November 20, 2020

Guests:

William Cohen

Dr. Chris Murray

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Georgia finished its statewide audit and confirmed President-elect Joe Biden won the state by 12,284 votes over Pres. Trump. The audit found no evidence of widespread voter fraud or irregularities in the election despite the President’s baseless claims. Georgia’s voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling tells Anderson Cooper once the vote is certified, Pres. Trump can request a recount since he’s within 0.5% of Biden. Plus, at least 252,400 people have died from Covid-19 and nearly 80,000 people are currently hospitalized, the highest since the pandemic started. Pfizer and Moderna say their vaccines are highly effective and are waiting for the FDA to issue an emergency use authorization. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, joins AC360 to discuss the recent vaccine developments and what he thinks the next year looks like.

Airdate: November 19, 2020

Guests:

Gabriel Sterling

Bill Gates

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Covid-19 has killed more than 250,000 people in the U.S in less than 10 months. The country is currently averaging more than 157,000 cases per day, the highest since the pandemic started. Dr. Leana Wen is the former Baltimore Health Commissioner and an emergency room physician. She joins AC360 to react to this grim milestone and says the end is near with the two promising vaccines but we have to get through the winter first. Plus, the Georgia recount results are expected to show that President-elect Joe Biden did win the state by about 13,000 votes and election officials say the audit hasn’t found any evidence of widespread voter fraud. Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate who lost in 2018, and other grassroots groups helped register new voters and motivate Black turnout ahead of the election. Democrats are hoping those same voters will turnout for the two Georgia runoff races in January that will determine which party will control the U.S. Senate. Atlanta Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tells Anderson Cooper it’s not going to be easy and it’ll take everyone coming out to vote in order for Democrats to win the Senate seats.

Airdate: November 18, 2020

Guests:

Dr. Leana Wen

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

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Pres. Trump fired the top Department of Homeland Security official, Chris Krebs, who has repeatedly rejected his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. Krebs was the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and has said there “is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” Miles Taylor is a former DHS Chief of Staff in the Trump administration. He was hired on the same day as Krebs and worked closely with him. He tells Anderson Cooper “the President is very afraid to hear the truth and Chris Krebs knows more about the truth of the security of this election than anyone in the government.” Plus, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina admitted and defended his outreach to officials in Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, all states that Democratic President-elect Joe Biden won. Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State, accused Graham of asking him to “look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out” referring to absentee ballots that heavily favored Biden. The Senator denied the accusation calling it “ridiculous” and claims he was pushing Raffensperger to strengthen signature verification rules for mail-in ballots ahead of the Senate runoffs that will determine the next majority in the Senate. Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager, was also on the call and corroborated Raffensperger’s claims. Sterling joins AC360 to discuss what he heard on the call.

Airdate: November 17, 2020

Guests:

Miles Taylor

Gabriel Sterling

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President-elect Joe Biden warned that “more people may die” if Pres. Trump doesn’t start to cooperate with the transition process and it could potentially delay the rapid distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine when his administration takes over in January. More than 73,000 people are currently hospitalized with coronavirus in the United States, the highest number the country has seen. More than 247,000 Americans have died because of the virus. Dr. Thomas Frieden is a former CDC Director. He tells Anderson Cooper “it’s essential that there’s collaboration, communication and coordination to pass the baton.” Plus, Trump is showing little indication he plans to back off the false claim he won the election even as his legal challenges fizzle. Lawsuits that attempted to disrupt Biden’s wins in four states have been withdrawn. Mary Trump is Pres. Trump’s niece and the author of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man.” She joins AC360 to react to her uncle refusing to accept reality and says his behavior continues to undermine people’s faith on the legitimacy of this election and the legitimacy of the incoming administration.

Airdate: November 16, 2020

Guests:

Dr. Tom Frieden

Mary Trump

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Pres. Trump threated to deny New Yorkers a vaccine in his first public appearance since losing the election and with more than 244,000 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. Trump said the federal government won’t deliver a possible vaccine to New York until Gov. Cuomo lets the administration “know when he is ready for it.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said New York health officials will review any federally approved vaccine and he wouldn’t recommend the vaccine to New Yorkers until the state-run process is complete. He joins AC360 to react to the President’s comments and says what the President says “doesn’t matter” and whether or not Americans trust a potential vaccine does matter. Plus, the U.S. has shattered the single-day record for new Covid-19 cases with more than 172,000 today as the holidays are approaching and people are forced to stay inside because of colder weather. Dr. Celine Gounder is an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist and now serves on President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force. She tells Anderson Cooper she’s concerned about the holiday season and possible superspreader events which she says could be like “pouring gasoline on what is already a raging fire.”

Airdate: November 13, 2020

Guests:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Dr. Celine Gounder

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