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The Situation Room
Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Refuses To Acknowledge Biden's Election Win, Enabling Trump's Denial; Biden: Trump's Refusal To Concede "An Embarrassment"; Biden Says "America Is Back" As Leaders Of Top U.S. Allies Congratulate Him On Election Win; Biden Extends Lead In Georgia As Counting Continues; Both U.S. Senate Races In GA Headed To January Runoffs; Dr. Fauci: Vaccine May Be Widely Available By End Of April. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired November 10, 2020 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
We're following breaking news, President-elect Biden just a short while ago declaring "America is back" and saying the transition, in his words, is "going well." It's well underway he says despite President Trump's refusal to acknowledge the election results.
Biden is calling that an embarrassment for the growing number of Republicans are actually enabling the President's denial. The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just went so far as to say and I'm quoting him now, "there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," close quote.
We're also following breaking pandemic news, the U.S. death toll now topping 239,000 people with more than 10 million confirmed cases nationwide.
And tonight, not a single state, not a single state is trending in the right direction. But Dr. Anthony Fauci is offering Americans new hope, telling CNN just moments ago, he believes a vaccine may be widely available by the end of April.
Let's begin our coverage on all the late breaking developments in the presidential transition history unfolding right now. Our Political Correspondent Arlette Saenz is joining us from Wilmington, Delaware.
Arlette, we heard from the President-elect of the United States just a little while ago.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And President-elect Joe Biden is making it clear he is moving full speed ahead with his transition, even announcing roughly 500 people who will lead his transition into federal agencies while President Trump has yet to concede. Biden making it clear that he won't let the President derail his plans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am not a pessimist.
SAENZ (voice-over): While he plots his next moves, President-elect Joe Biden sought to lower the temperature even as President Trump and his allies tried to undercut his transition.
BIDEN: We don't see anything is slowing us down, quite frankly.
SAENZ: As a Trump appointee holds off on recognizing his victory and granting access to transition resources, Biden insisted his planning process can move forward, even without the assets that should be afforded to him as the President-elect.
BIDEN: We're already beginning the transition. We're well underway. And the ability for the administration in any way by failure to recognize our win does not change the dynamic at all what we're able to do.
SAENZ: While his transition team has said all options are on the table, including legal action, Biden said that may not be necessary.
BIDEN: I don't see a need for legal action, quite frankly. I think the legal action is you're seeing it play out.
SAENZ: But the future 46th President did have a blunt assessment of President Trump's refusal to concede.
BIDEN: I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. How can I say this tactfully? I think it will not help the President's legacy.
SAENZ: It's a different scene than four years ago, when then Vice President Biden welcomed his successor to the White House, offering support for a smooth, seamless transition of power.
As he prepares for the nation's top job, the President-elect is pushing forward with his official work, holding calls with key foreign allies, including the leaders of France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
BIDEN: I'm letting them know that America is back. We're going to be back in the game. It's not American alone.
SAENZ: Even as world leaders acknowledge the outcome, Biden is facing resistance from leading Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But Biden says he's confident they will come around.
BIDEN: I haven't had a chance to speak to Mitch. My expectation is that I will do that not too distant future. I think that the whole Republican Party has been put in a position with a few notable exceptions of being mildly intimidated by the sitting President.
SAENZ: He's also trying to keep health care front and center with the coronavirus pandemic raging on at the fate of the Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court. BIDEN: I will protect your health care like I protect like as my own family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAENZ: And while President Trump continues to try to wage a legal fight, the Biden campaigns, a team of advisors is dismissing these legal challenges from Trump as political theater. They ultimately believe that in those states where recounts are -- could come underway that the margin will not be overcome and that Biden will become the 46th President of the United States. Wolf.
[17:05:11]
BLITZER: All right, Arlette, thank you very much. Arlette Saenz reporting.
Let's go to the White House right now. Our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is on the scene for us.
Jim, the President, he's in total denial, he's digging in no one around him, seems willing or even able to get close to him to accept the outcome of the election. What's the latest you're hearing?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: All true Wolf. And top administration officials and GOP lawmakers they're rallying behind President Trump as he refuses to concede the election of Joe Biden as foreign leaders are phoning President-elect Biden to congratulate him.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters today that there would be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. The latest sign that the administration is in a state of denial. The White House's Office of Management and Budget is continuing to tell agencies to prepare an upcoming budget proposal as if nothing is changing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): President Trump and his GOP allies are steering the 2020 election into something out of the dystopian world of 1984. Ignoring last week's results and pretending somehow they won.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. All right. We're ready.
The world is watching what's taking place.
ACOSTA: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo snapped at reporters who asked about the message being sent to the world as the GOP refuses to accept reality.
POMPEO: That's ridiculous. And you know it's ridiculous when you ask that because it's ridiculous.
ACOSTA: President-elect Joe Biden tried to laugh it off.
BIDEN: There is no evidence of any of the assertions made by the President or Secretary State Pompeo.
ACOSTA: Vice President Mike Pence met behind closed doors with GOP senators as the President sent out a message of defiance from his social media bunker tweeting, "We will win," though Mr. Trump has yet to face reporters since last Thursday.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.
ACOSTA: President has dug in with the outright support of GOP senators.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, have you congratulated Vice President Biden yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing to congratulate him about.
ACOSTA: Who are backing Mr. Trump's legal Odyssey in search of some kind of voter fraud case capable of appending the elections outcome, even as the President's campaign has yet to prove anything's amiss.
SEN. ROY BLUNT, (R) MISSOURI: The President wasn't defeated by huge numbers. In fact, he may not have been defeated at all.
ACOSTA: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there's nothing wrong with that.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Until the Electoral College votes, anyone who's running for office can exhaust concerns about counting in any court of appropriate jurisdiction. That's not unusual. It should not be alarming.
ACOSTA: A key sideshow in the transition turmoil Georgia's Republican senators have called on their State Secretary of State to resign after Biden's potential victory there. But here's the deal, those two senators are still fighting for reelection and alienating the President could upset his base of supporters.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Two Republican members of this chamber have called on their own Secretary of State, a fellow Republican to resign for no other apparent reason than the fact that President Trump did not win their state.
ACOSTA: Despite the GOP his antics, the rest of the world appears to be moving on. Leaders from us allies Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Turkey congratulating Biden.
Some administration officials are refusing to go along with the President's Fars. Attorney General William Barr is calling on prosecutors to investigate voter fraud prompted one senior Justice Department official to resign. Saying in a statement, "Having familiarize myself with the new policy and its ramifications, I must regretfully resigned from my role as director of the election crimes branch.
The President son, Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle have another hostile takeover on their minds. As GOP sources tell CNN, they may have their sights on leadership roles at the Republican National Committee, something Don Jr. denied, but it's a scenario that has some of the party cringing.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, TRUMO CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters of freedom and liberty and the American Dream, the best is yet to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now privately Trump advisors are wincing at the idea of the President pursuing these challenges the last week's election results. So one White House advisor told me, "not sure why the President wants a recount, it's like he wants to lose twice." But the White House is taking note these days of who is standing with the president as he digs in his heels.
And if the President runs again in 2024, as many in the party expect, the Trump team will long remember the Republicans who did not pass the loyalty test and who did. Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jim, thank you. Jim Acosta reporting from the White House.
Let's get some more in all of this. Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borgia is with us. Our CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is with us as well.
You know, Gloria, I want to step back for a moment consider these truly stunning developments we've seen over these past few days. President Trump's refusal to concede, his Secretary of State Pompeo publicly disputing the outcome of the election, the White House Budget Office carrying on as if Mr. Trump actually won, just to name a few of these remarkable developments. Have you ever seen anything like this?
[17:10:21]
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I haven't, Wolf. It's anti-democratic. It's not a product of any kind of American values that I grew up with. And I think it is unfortunate that we're watching a parade of government officials disregard a fair election in service of Donald Trump's ego.
And what we are also watching is revenge purges from the President of the United States, from the Secretary of Defense on down and resignations from people who serve in the government, because they feel like they cannot be a part of this folly anymore.
And here we are sitting back and watching this, and we're watching elected officials on the Republican side say, wait, wait, wait, it'll be OK. We just had an election. It was fair. It was recorded, and they are paying absolutely no attention to it, because they are afraid of Donald Trump. BLITZER: Yes, that's an important point.
You know, Dana, the President-elect, he says that the President's failure to concede is an embarrassment. But he says it's of no consequence to him as this transition process is moving forward. He certainly seems unfazed by all of this, which we saw at that news conference, doesn't he?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's what he's trying to project. I mean that was very intentional what the President-elect did today, try to keep the calm. Try to make it as though the current president is not getting under his skin. That all of these calls for, you know, recounts and calling the election a sham and a fraud falsely, very, very falsely doing that. So far, we have seen absolutely no evidence of that.
He's just trying to ignore it. There's a debate inside the Democratic Party right now about how much to stay on that track. And whether or not -- whether the President has any legal reasons that he actually thinks they can make a make any headway there. There's a political and a PR campaign that is being waged in such an aggressive way and has been since last week by the President himself and everybody who supports him.
And so the question is whether the Democrats had to be more aggressive in combating that. And that is something that has not yet been answered. What has been answered, at least as of today is that Joe Biden doesn't want to play in that pond.
BLITZER: At the same time, you know, Gloria Biden says he's already spoken with six world leaders, his message is that "America is back," it's clear the world is moving on, leaving President Trump way, way behind.
BORGER: Right. And funny how Biden managed to mention that today that the leaders of our closest allies, you know, France, Germany, Great Britain, managed to call him and of course, the Secretary of State has not managed to congratulate him.
As Dana says, Biden is playing the big game, go above it. Act like you are going to be president because you are going to be president. And do what any person would do in that situation, which is, plan your government, plan your transition, plan to take office on January 20.
And don't -- you know, he said today, he didn't intend to take any legal action, because he doesn't want to engage in this in folly. And I think that is appropriate. Other people may decide that maybe they want to engage illegal action, but I don't think that's where Joe Biden wants to be.
He said, he wants to unite the country, not divide the country. So legal action might be a problem for him in that sense.
BASH: And if you look at what the Republican leadership is doing, Wolf, on Capitol Hill and even in governor's mansions across the country, what they are doing is they're just saying, everybody, just wait, let's just let the process play out. They're not saying we're going to win this, except for the Secretary of State, but for the most part, they're not saying that. They're just -- they want to let the President go through his grieving process or whatever you want to call it.
The problem is and the question is, whether or not by letting this fester, which is what this is doing, they are enabling not just the President, but the 70 million people who supported him to get to the point where let's say the legal process is exhausted. There's no guarantee that they will say OK, well, we did what we could, that depends on the President.
[17:15:02]
And if there's any kind of experience that any of them has had, any of us has had watching him, you can't depend on the President is going to make a decision that comports with what they think will happen.
BLITZER: Yes. And with 95 percent of the national popular vote already counted still 5 percent outstanding, Biden's lead is now approaching over Trump 5 million votes. That's significant as well.
All right guys, thank you very much.
Up next, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo predicts a second Trump administration sending a potentially very dangerous signal to the world and enabling the President's denial of his election loss.
We'll talk about it with the President's former National Security Adviser Ambassador John Bolton. There you see him. He's standing by live. We'll discuss when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:20:08]
BLITZER: President Trump's denial of his election loss appears to be deepening tonight as top Republicans echo his unproven claims of voting fraud a week after Election Day, in three days since Joe Biden was projected the winner.
Let's get some more on the -- from the President's former National Security Adviser John Bolton. He's the author of the new book "The Room Where It Happened, a White House Memoir."
Ambassador Bolton, thanks so much for joining us. Your former colleague, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today and I'm quoting him now, "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration." That sounds like something we might hear in Russia, not here in the United States of America. How dangerous is this?
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think it's delusional for Mike to say that. And I must say, I think he's eviscerated his credibility internationally. Because I think there are very few people and even in the U.S. government who believe that's the case. I don't know why he had to have that briefing. And I don't know why he felt he needed to make that statement, maybe other than to avoid being fired like others are being throughout the administration. But it is -- it's delusional.
BLITZER: Would you have expected better from Secretary Pompeo?
BOLTON: Well, sadly, no at this point. But look, he's running for president, the campaign for 2024 has already begun. Everybody's going to make his or her own campaign choices. And I think he just made his.
BOLTON: This isn't just the President Trump pouting about the results. He's actually preventing the President-elect of the United States from getting intelligence briefings, he's blocking the start of the formal transition. At what point does this refusal to concede create potentially a national security threat?
BOLTON: Well, I don't think we're there at this moment. But you know, this reflects a fundamental flaw in the presidential transition law, the idea that the administrator of GSA is going to make the decision to whom to give access to transition materials, and that's going to need to be fixed next year. But more importantly, they are following the precedent that was set in the 2000 recap between Gore and Bush.
Remember, Gore, a sitting vice president at the time, then Governor Bush, obviously an outsider. And my recollection, which may be inaccurate is that the Bush transition team did not get access to transition facilities or to classified information or to a range of other things until after the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore. And that's the excuse being used now not to read Biden and others in.
I -- look, I think that's two wrongs don't make a right. It was wrong in 2000 not to allow the Bush team at least the ability to prepare on national security issues for the transition. And reasonable people ought to be able to work out a way here for the protection of the American people. Even if you say we still think Trump's going to win, you have to admit there's at least a possibility Biden might win.
It's no acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Biden's position in this race to say there are two candidates, one of them is going to be president. We need to make sure both of them are prepared on national security matters for sure. And honestly on the coronavirus pandemic, which is a major domestic issue we have.
So, a reasonable person in the Oval Office today would do that. And we'd say this is no acknowledgement of the validity of Biden's position on who won this election for obviously no waiver of my position. But for the good of the American people, I'm going to allow this part of the transition to proceed.
I don't think Trump will do that. But that's what a good president would do.
BLITZER: Yes. We heard everything you said even though there are a little bit of audio issues there. But Ambassador Bolton will have you back down the road for sure. Thank you so much for joining us.
BOLTON: Thank you. BLITZER: Coming up on the latest on the state of the race as the vote count continues in key states including Georgia. We'll talk about it with the Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. She's standing by to join us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:29:13]
BLITZER: It's now been a full week since Election Day, but they're still counting votes in some very closely watched states. CNN's Phil Mattingly is keeping tabs on the results. So, update our viewers, Phil. What's the latest?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you noted, there's still votes coming in. And those votes actually, when you take a look at them pulled back a little bit. Give you a better perspective on where this election actually stands at this moment.
As you know, we've called it for Joe Biden. One of the reasons that has occurred is because of the state of Pennsylvania. And as things currently stand in Pennsylvania and it's 20 electoral votes that went to Biden, Joe Biden has about a 46,000 vote lead.
And here's the interesting element, Wolf, when you look at the outstanding votes in this state and where those votes come from, primarily Democratic strongholds in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, you recognize that the reality for both Donald Trump and Joe Biden is that this number is going to go up. And it is likely to go up by a significant margin, not 10,000 votes, maybe even more than that.
So, then you compare that back to 2016. Back in 2016, Donald Trump won this state, hits (ph) it rather handily, 44,000 votes. Joe Biden has already passed that and he's only going to grow that lead in the -- or in the days ahead as the count comes in.
Now, the state that everybody's keeping a very close eye on right now, it's the state of Arizona. Over the course of the last several days, Donald Trump has narrowed Joe Biden's margin in the state. Now, it sits at 14,468.
Here's the reality on the ground, though. There's about 55,000, 60,000 votes outstanding. And for Donald Trump to be able to catch up and pass Joe Biden, he's going to have to win somewhere between 62 percent and 63 percent of the outstanding vote. That is a tall hill to climb. Right now, Democrats in the Biden campaign feel comfortable with Arizona. We're keeping an eye on it as the vote comes in.
And the last thing I want to go to, Wolf, is the state of Georgia. Obviously, this has been razor-thin throughout the couple -- last couple of days. But Joe Biden has steadily increased his lead, now sitting at 12,651 votes, a pretty large cushion when you know that this is likely headed into a recount. I think perspective here is important as well.
12,000 votes doesn't seem like a huge amount. However, let's flashback again to 2016 and go to another one of President Trump's big wins as he burst through the blue wall. Wolf, the state of Michigan, President Trump won the state by 10,000 votes. Right now in 2020, the state of Georgia, a red state that Biden has looked to turn blue, it looks like he might very well turn blue. So, Biden is already up by more than that, Wolf.
And if you add all of this together, if Joe Biden hangs on to Arizona, if he hangs on the Georgia, the reality, and the bigger map, the broader map, Joe Biden is on track for 306 electoral votes, which just so happens to be same number of electoral votes President Trump got in 2016.
BLITZER: Yes. And you only need 270, 306 is a lot more than 270. Phil Mattingly, thank you very much.
Joining us now, the Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Mayor Bottoms, thank you so much for joining us. You just saw Phil, walk us all through where things stand right now, as President-Elect Biden's lead in your state of Georgia appears to be widening. Are you confident that Biden will, in fact, take the state when all the votes are finally counted, and if there's a recount and recounted?
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GEORGIA: I am confident that this lead will hold. We know that when there's a recount, sometimes, the person who's ahead goes up even more. So, you can assume that a recount will favor Donald Trump.
And what we know is that Georgians turned down the record numbers. There were a number of independent voters who voted for Joe Biden, there were a number of Republicans in the state who voted for Joe Biden. So, I'm confident that this lead will hold. And now, we just have to make sure in Georgia, that we get people to turn back out for the Senate run off January 5th.
BLITZER: Let me get your perspective of the infighting we're seeing among Republicans in Georgia right now. Some are actually calling for the Republican Secretary of State to step down. Do you have confidence that the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will be able to hold on to his position because he's trying to do the best he can obviously.
BOTTOMS: Well, imagine that two sitting Republican senators asking for the Republican Secretary of State who was endorsed by Donald Trump to step down. Welcome to 2020. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't always go your way in the elections, the people have spoken. There's an opportunity if these two senators feel as if this is their election and they should have prevailed, they'll have an opportunity to test that on January 5th.
BLITZER: Have you seen any evidence, Mayor, of widespread voter fraud in Georgia?
BOTTOMS: No, Wolf. The concerns that we saw with voting in Georgia were at the beginning of early voting with the long lines and the glitches in the machines. After a couple of days of those challenges, then what we saw was a very smooth process. I've not heard of anyone complained of voter fraud. I've not seen any specifics on that. These are just losers complaining, nothing more than that.
And this is what a democracy is all about. You have an opportunity every few years to go back and the people have an opportunity to speak through their votes. The voices have been heard through the votes. And it's my hope that all of our leaders will respect what we call a democracy and allow there to be a peaceful and orderly transition of power.
BLITZER: Both, as you pointed out, both of the Senate races in Georgia are heading to a runoff elections on what, January 5th. The President- Elect Joe Biden today said he'll do anything he can to help the Democrats secure those Senate seats. It would make the difference between if the Democrats won both being the majority or being in the minority. Can Democrats, do you believe, reasonably expect to win both of those races?
BOTTOMS: Listen, it's going to be a tough race. There's no question about it.
[17:35:02]
Run offs are always tough in our state for Democrats. But what I do know is that we have the ability to show up on January 5th. These races can be won. If people come back out and vote, I think so much of it is going to be incumbent upon us to educate people on why it's important for them to turn back out and vote.
We know that there are a lot of people who vote in presidential elections, and they think that the work is done. But the reality is that it's far from over and to have an opportunity in our state to elect two senators, and to change the balance of power in Congress is something that I've not seen before. And it's something that won't happen very likely anytime soon.
BLITZER: Yes, and will be a key day in the overall situation. But on January 5th, we'll all be watching what's going on in Georgia.
Before I let you go, Mayor, there's been a lot of speculation, as you will know, that you will be tapped to serve in the Biden Cabinet, maybe a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Have you spoken with the Biden team about that or any other role? And if it were offered to you, would you accept the job?
BOTTOMS: Wolf, as my mother likes to say, thank you for the rumor. What I know is that the Biden team is focused on very specific positions right now. They've talked about those positions publicly, those key positions in the Cabinet. And so, as far as I know, there aren't any decisions or any offers on the table for any of the other domestic Cabinet position. So, I've not been offered anything. I still have a job as Mayor, and I will have that job for the next year, as far as I know.
BLITZER: As far as you know, so I shouldn't start calling you Madam Secretary, at least not yet. Is that what you're saying?
BOTTOMS: That would be correct. BLITZER: OK. I'll call you Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to you.
BOTTOMS: Thank you.
BLITZER: And good luck to everyone in Georgia. We're going to be watching that Senate race, so closely.
Coming up, today's breaking news on the coronavirus pandemic, new cases and deaths are surging right now. When will a vaccine be widely available? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:42:46]
BLITZER: There's breaking news, just a little while ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci told our Jake Tapper that a coronavirus max vaccine may be widely available by the end of April. But he also warned, in the short term, this pandemic could get a whole lot worse, and it's getting a whole lot worse right now.
Let's discuss all of today's pandemic news with our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So, Sanjay, Dr. Fauci says that the vaccine, yes, it's on the way, it could be here fairly soon. But he hopes that until it's widely available, people adhere to public health measures. Why are multiple methods of prevention so critically important at this stage in this rapidly spreading pandemic?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, part of it's just the calendar, Wolf. I mean, it's going to be a while before this vaccine is widely available. As you point out, we're talking sort of early as far as middle of next year, potentially. So, it's going to take some time.
And as we know, the numbers of people who are becoming newly infected is growing exponentially. So, you know, as much as there is anticipation for this vaccine, we can't let up now. There's too many lives to be lost and hospitalizations, and all of that.
So, the basic public health precautions, I want to show this graphic, Wolf, it really left an impression on me in terms of the basic public health precautions and the impact they can have. One person, essentially with no action, you know, no masking, no -- not really doing anything, within 60 days, could lead to the infection of 406 people, OK? That's just one person. That gives you an idea, Wolf, in two months.
On the far right of the screen, if you're doing just 75 percent exposure reduction. So, that's not shutting down, Wolf, that's wearing masks, physically distancing, improving ventilation in buildings, those sorts of things. One person would lead in that same time period to two and a half infections. That's a dramatic difference as you can see, Wolf, that's what I like about this graphic. And it makes the case that even without a vaccine, we can, you know, blunt the trajectory of this pandemic. BLITZER: When I spoke with Dr. Fauci yesterday, he tell me he hopes the vaccine will be distributed to frontline health care workers, high-risk individuals, elderly people, people with underlying health problems as early as December. But it's going to take a while to make it really, really available. Does the time line that he's now suggesting maybe the rest of us would be able to get a vaccine by the end of April, does that seem realistic?
[17:45:09]
GUPTA: You know, it's possible, Wolf. But you get -- and I spoke to the CEO of Pfizer on Monday. And basically what he said is, by the end of this year, they anticipate having 50 million doses globally, OK? Maybe 10 million or so within the United States, maybe more than that. But 10 million doses would typically mean 5 million people, because this is two doses per person as you as you know, Wolf.
If you start adding up the people in the categories, you described frontline workers, essential workers, people who are vulnerable because of age or pre-existing conditions, you're talking, you know, over 100 million people, 200 million doses to vaccinate that population. When are we going to be there? That's probably spring, in early summer of next year. And then after that, it's the general sort of public.
So, you know, I -- the timeline is going to be a moving target, I think, and as part of this is going to be really dependent on distribution. And do people actually all take the vaccine that are eligible for it? But I think that that's sort of the rough timeline we're talking about, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. So it's clear, we're going to all have to be continuing to wear masks for much of next year, irrespective of the vaccine or therapeutics, mask wearing is going to be critically important as well.
All right, Sanjay, thank you very, very much.
Coming up --
GUPTA: Yes.
BLITZER: -- world leaders are reaching out to President-Elect Biden. His message to them tonight, America is back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:21]
BLITZER: President Trump certainly may be in denial about his election loss, but top U.S. allies around the world are not. CNN's Brian Todd is working this part of the story for us. Brian, the President-Elect has talked to multiple world leaders already although there are some notable exceptions.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. It's been an eventful day with calls from several world leaders to Joe Biden. The President-Elect says he's very pleased with the calls, but the man he just defeated could be fuming over some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Many of America's top allies around the world extending a hand to Joe Biden tonight.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reception and welcome we've gotten around the world from our allies and our friends has been real.
TODD (voice-over): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who've been a political soul mate of President Trump's calling Biden and telling him he wants to strengthen the special relationship. Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who had himself bonded with Trump also reached out to Biden.
MAX BOOT, JEANE J. KIRKPATRICK SENIOR FELLOW FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I imagine those are all cruel blows to Trump because he is losing support, not only from American voters, but from some of the overseas leaders that he has counted on and done the most for over the past four years.
TODD (voice-over): Other American allies like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have all reached out to the President-Elect and his team. According to the official readouts of their calls, many of them told Biden they're looking forward to working with him to strengthen NATO and fight the coronavirus pandemic.
BIDEN: I'm letting him know that America is back. We're going to be back in the game. It's not American alone.
TODD (voice-over): But so far, there's silence from the former KGB colonel in the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin has not yet called or sent a note to President-Elect Biden. Putin's mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov saying it's because of President Trump's legal challenges to the election results.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN: We think it is appropriate to wait for the official results of the election.
TODD (voice-over): Trump's prolonged contesting of the election results has Putin and his acolytes reveling in the turmoil, analyst say. And a remark by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this afternoon only fuels that.
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.
TODD (voice-over): What's Putin's biggest worry about Biden?
MATTHEW ROJANSKY, THE WOODROW WILSON CENTER: They're going to really push on democracy promotion. It's a nightmare from Moscow's perspective, because it essentially translates in the way that the Russians see it to attempts at regime change.
TODD (voice-over): But Putin's not alone in not reaching out to Biden. Other leaders who Trump has engaged with have not yet acknowledged Biden's win, like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Xi and Kim, analyst say, have similar motives to Putin's.
BOOT: Their only concern is that America will have a successful and peaceful transition. That's the last thing they want to see, they want to make trouble for us. They want to undermine our democracy.
TODD (voice-over): Experts say America's traditional allies will likely be thrilled that the Biden administration will probably get America back into the Paris Climate Change accord, may not cut off the World Health Organization as Trump's threatened that Biden may try to revive the Iran nuclear deal, and that he'll stand up to dictators.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: But analyst say that America's allies are also probably worried that Trump, as Max Boot put it, might, quote, burn the House down on his way out but, he might not share critical intelligence with the Biden team. They note that he's already leaked some sensitive intelligence operations while he's been in office. And they're worried overall that he might undermine the Biden team before it even get started, Wolf?
BLITZER: You know, the next two months will be very, very sensitive indeed. Brian Todd, good report. Thank you very much.
Coming up, President Trump and many top Republicans are digging in on the President's total denial of his election loss.
[17:55:01]
We'll get reaction from President-Elect Joe Biden. He's speaking out about all of this. We'll update you when we come back.
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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. In a speech to the nation just a little while ago, President-Elect Joe Biden declared America is back and said this transition is well underway, despite President Trump's refusal to concede the election. Biden call the President's denial of reality and embarrassment and says it's not of much consequence.
A growing number of Republicans are enabling the President's delusions right now.
