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The Situation Room

U.S. Surpasses 12 Million Coronavirus Cases; Judge Throws Out Trump Campaign Lawsuit In Pennsylvania; Interview With Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) And Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL); U.S. Announces Further Drawdown Of Troops In Afghanistan And Iraq Shortly Before Biden Takes Office; Colleges Wrestle With COVID-19 Decisions Ahead Of Thanksgiving. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired November 21, 2020 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[20:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

CNN's breaking news this hour, the alarming rise of the number of people here in the United States testing positive for the coronavirus. The U.S. now passing that awful 12 million mark just a little while ago, and the speed at which the virus is spreading is so, so shocking. A million Americans found out they had coronavirus in just the past six days alone.

Not only new infections but the pandemic's death toll in the U.S. is also increasing. This is the death toll reported on each of the past few days nationwide now, more than 255,000 people here in the United States passed away from the coronavirus.

Also breaking right now, a setback for President Trump and his continued denial of the presidential election results, a federal judge in Pennsylvania, just a little while ago, throwing out a lawsuit filed by the president's campaign that sought to invalidate millions of mail-in votes. We'll go live to the White house to update you on what's going on over there.

The president, once again, claiming there was widespread voter fraud in a series of tweets. Once again, today, the president busy on Twitter. He spent much of the day also on one of his golf courses outside Washington D.C. in Northern Virginia, choosing to do that instead of actually attending a virtual G20 session with other world leaders focusing in on the global coronavirus pandemic. Didn't do that, played golf instead.

Let's go to Jeremy Diamond over at the White House for us. Jeremy, first of all, tell us more about this latest legal blow to the Trump campaign's legal fight in Pennsylvania after more than two dozen losses in courts across the country.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this was another attempt by the Trump campaign to prevent a key battle ground state from certifying the results of the election. In this case, it is the state of Pennsylvania where the Trump campaign was trying to do this. And this judge, Federal Judge Matthew Brann, has thrown this case out of court.

And let me read you, Wolf, part of this scathing opinion from this federal judge. He writes, one might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption. That has not happened. Instead, this court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, un-plead in the operative complaint and unsupported by the evidence.

Wolf, the rest of this 37 pages opinion reads very similarly, certainly not a dispassionate opinion but one that makes clear that what the Trump campaign was arguing here, including by Rudy Giuliani, the president's attorney who argued in this case in federal court just a few days ago, that it was entirely unsupported by the facts.

And I think, Wolf, it's important to emphasize to the viewers at home that while you are hearing what President Trump is saying, that he is alleging all of these conspiracy theories, he's alleging widespread voter fraud and his spokespeople and his attorneys are saying very similar things in the court of public opinion, in the federal courts, they're not actually making those exact arguments. Rudy Giuliani did not make a specific allegation of fraud in this case and he said so himself. And even what they are arguing, Wolf, it's becoming very clear just isn't supported by the facts.

BLITZER: Yes. These legal arguments are being thrown out left and right.

The president's latest defeat, Jeremy comes after new pressure today from a rather powerful Republican member of Congress in the congressional leadership.

DIAMOND: Well, Wolf, as this process has dragged out, I mean, we're more than two weeks out from the election now, you're starting to see some splintering in the Republican Party, which, by and large, we should note, has stuck by this president and as he has tried to subvert the 2020 election.

But you are starting to see some Republican lawmakers earlier this week who said that Joe Biden, President-elect Biden should be allowed to get some transition briefings, even as these court cases play out in the courts.

And now you're also seeing one member of the house Republican leadership, in this case, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, essentially say that it's time to put up or shut up. Here is what she says. She writes, quotes, if the president cannot prove his claims or demonstrate that they would change the election results, he should fulfill his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States by respecting the sanctity of our electoral process. And so making very clear here that if the president has major allegations of voter fraud, then he should present those in court and then get on with it.

But, clearly, Wolf, that is not what the president's team is doing here. And instead it seems that their main objective at this point is to undermine the legitimacy of Joe Biden's election as the 46th president of the United States.

BLITZER: Yes, the president should follow Representative Liz Cheney's advice.

[20:05:01]

That would be smart on his part. All right, Jeremy, thank you very much.

As the president keeps his focus on trying to overturn the election, the pandemic is simply raging across the country. Today, California, posted its highest number of new cases ever, more than 15,000.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is joining us from Los Angeles right now. Paul, so first of all, what can you tell us how the state of California is responding to this new and very, very dangerous surge?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's two-pronged. Here in Los Angeles County, aggressive COVID-19 testing and tracing. You can see behind me the parking lot of Dodgers Stadium, a beautiful sunset and thousands and thousands and thousands of car lights in the last few days alone. They've had great numbers of people come through here.

And on another front, there is a new curfew going into effect in almost all of California. At 10:00 P.M. West Coast Time tonight, you will no longer be allowed to gather outside or inside restaurants or bars or other large gatherings, let's say at a park or so. The idea of this curfew, which begins at 10:00, is laser-focused on younger people who were going out getting together, they don't want to see them clustering up. So the curfew will extend until 5:00 in the morning.

This does not mean that you can't go out to the grocery store, grab gas, or perhaps go for a walk, take the dog for a walk. But this curfew doe go into effect and it will have an economic impact as restaurants and bars now have to curtail their hours again, Wolf.

BLITZER: Like a lot of other states, as you know, Paul, California now experiencing massive lines at food banks. This is so sad to see here in the United States so many millions of Americans are having such tough times simply putting food on the table for themselves and their kids. What did you see and hear today in Los Angeles?

VERCAMMEN: There were a number of food giveaways in Los Angeles. And in Korea Town at the first Unitarian Church, we saw more than a thousand people on foot walk up to grab their box of food. It was absolutely stunning.

I talked to some of the people, for example, not all of them had lost their jobs, but you talk about the economic impact of the pandemic and what it's done to people, one person who was a housekeeper was telling me, yes, I still have a job, but I went from five days a week or six if I volunteered for some extra hours down to three, so they're just struggling to make ends meet.

And they are so grateful ahead of thanksgiving that someone would step up like these volunteers did and hand out these boxes of food. Many of these volunteers urging people across the country to give and donate to local food pantries, Wolf.

BLITZER: It is so, so important, so many people actually hungry right now, hard to believe, here in this country of ours. Paul Vercammen in L.A., thank you very much.

I want to bring in former Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang. Andrew thanks so much for joining us.

So many Americans, as you just heard, are hungry right now. They need financial help. What do you think? What is the main reason Congress, the House and the Senate, has not acted to get such desperately needed relief to these folks?

ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's heartbreaking, Wolf. And in a word, it's politics. If you were to single out a particular individual, it's Mitch McConnell who right now is holding the line saying he does not want to consider a relief bill that climbs past a certain point.

And, to me, we have to come together and get a deal done before year end. There are 12 million Americans whose unemployment benefits are going to expire at the end of December and you can imagine what their situation is going to look like in every single one of those households if a relief bill is not passed in the next number of days and weeks.

BLITZER: The Senate is in a recess now until after Thanksgiving. Do you still hold out hope that Congress will hammer out some sort of desperately needed stimulus relief bill before the president-elect, Joe Biden, takes office on January 20th?

YANG: I talked to a member of Congress who was pessimistic, Wolf, but at the same time they need to come together and pass a bill by December 11th that enables the continuing operation of the government. And there is some hope that at that point, they will be able to extend unemployment benefits, extend the eviction moratorium, extend the suspension of certain student's loan payments past at the end of December because people recognize that there is a cliff coming at yearend for many, many Americans.

And they're going to have to hammer out a deal to continue to fund the government. So there is still hope.

BLITZER: If there's no stimulus package that's approved during this so-called lame duck session, should that be priority number one for the incoming Biden administration?

YANG: It should be. There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses that right now may be closing their doors forever. And Joe knows this.

[20:10:00]

Many, many members of Congress are hearing it from their constituents. So this should happen well before the new administration takes power, but if we're at that point come January and February, this needs to be the order of business, number one, because at that point, Americans would have been waiting for nine months in many cases.

BLITZER: Andrew, you tweeted this week. Let me ready to you. I put it up on the screen. If we ask you to stay home, we should also send you money so you can do so. Without those funds, do you think any push for people to stay home during the Thanksgiving holiday, and the upcoming Christmas, Hanukkah holidays, is that all that doomed to fail if people don't have money?

YANG: I talked to small business owners, Wolf, who feel like they're being put in an impossible situation, where in order to have any source of income, they need to open their doors, and in some cases, that means pushing against some of the public health safety guidelines that are out there.

So my tweet said it all. And you can tell a lot of people agreed with me, that if we're going to ask you to stay at home, then we need to put enough of a lifeline out there so that you're not concerned about paying the rents, paying for food and fuel.

This is common sense. Many other countries have done this. It's heartbreaking that our country's legislators have not been able to deliver in the same way that other countries have.

BLITZER: But is that realistic from a political standpoint? Do you think that's doable?

YANG: It's looking less doable in the near term. I remain optimistic that cash relief is going to be front and center, because 74 percent of Americans are for it at this point, including a majority of both parties and every economist who is looking at this says that cash in people's hands is the way to go at the best bang for your buck.

Now, I spoke to Jason Furman, who is one of the chief economists under the Obama administration and he and I agreed that some kind of cash stimulus in people's hands was something that most economists would advocate for at this point.

BLITZER: I know you're in Atlanta, Georgia, right now. Usually, you're in New York, but you're working to try to get out the Democratic vote for the upcoming Senate runoff races there. You're in Atlanta, I know that. Two Republican super PACs are said to spend were told from $70 million on ads in Georgia. Are you worried, Andrew, that Democrats may be at a funding disadvantage going into these two Senate contests?

YANG: The Republicans have sent a thousand operatives, $32 million. But you have to look at the fact that this state just went to Joe. They just audited the votes and it still went to Joe. And so I think there's going to be a lot at stake. There's a ton of enthusiasm on both sides.

Certainly, it's a thrill to be here in Georgia talking to voters. We have events plan with college students, high school students, all very safe, all very socially distance. But there's a lot of enthusiasm on the ground here because everyone knows that the Senate is at stake. And that if the Democrats win both of these races, then we might see real relief coming out of Congress because Mitch will no longer be the majority leader. He'd be in the minority.

BLITZER: Andrew Yang, on the scene in Georgia for us, thank you for joining us. So we'll stay in close touch with you. You'll update us on what's going on over there. Thank you so much for joining us.

YANG: Well, for the love that, Wolf. You can tell by the peach behind my head, I'm in Georgia right. You notice that touch try to visual sign that.

BLITZER: It's the place that's we are, Atlanta, one of my favorite cities. All right, be careful over there. We'll stay in close touch. Stay safe, Andrew Yang, I appreciate it very much.

As the U.S. surpasses now 12 million cases of the coronavirus, you're going to hear why the coordinator from the White House coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, is warning that the latest surge in the pandemic could be far from over.

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BLITZER: As the U.S. now surpasses 12 million confirmed coronavirus cases, think about this for a moment, nearly one quarter of all those COVID cases in the United States have been reported in November alone, and it's only the 21st day of the month.

In an exclusive interview with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, says the infection rate is only picking up speed.

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DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: When you look at what's happening now, the rate of rise is dramatically different.

This is faster, it's broader, and what worries me, it could be longer. And I think it's on all of us right now to make sure that it's not longer.

I am making the personal sacrifice not to infect my parents and my pregnant daughter and there's a lot of people out there who know how to protect one another and we just need to make sure we're all doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Dr. Birx also says she worries that people just didn't hear or appreciate the warnings the task force tried to share about COVID- 19.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL ANALYST: Was this a failure in this country? I mean, did you expect it to go this way?

BIRX: I always worry when we have an outcome that none of us want and none of us wanted. You know, did we miss a communication, did we say it the wrong way? And I think, really, that's part of the reason I went out into the states is, really, understand what they were hearing when we were speaking and really being in a dialogue and a partnership to really understand how we could do this better together.

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BLITZER: Dr. Celine Gounder is joining us right now. She's a member of President-elect Biden's Coronavirus Advisory Board.

Dr. Gounder, thank you so much for joining us.

I want to get your reactions on breaking news just coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now authorized Regeneron's antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19 in what are described as high-risk patients with mild to moderate disease.

[20:20:07]

Let me read to you from the statement from the FDA, Dr. Gounder. The cocktail reduced COVID-19-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits in some patients. As we all remember, this is the cocktail that President Trump took when he was dealing with COVID-19 at the Walter Reed U.S. Military Medical facility there. So what's your reaction to this news about the Regeneron antibody cocktail?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, BIDEN'S COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: This is great news, Wolf. It's not unexpected. But this is an important tool in our toolbox. It's important to understand. So this is being approved for patients with mild to so moderate disease, generally, people who are very early in the course of disease. So these are not patients who are on a ventilator. This is not a Hail Mary kind of treatment. This is a treatment we give to people very soon after diagnosis.

And something critical to understand is that this kind of monoclonal antibody treatment that Regeneron has develop, that Eli Lilly and others are developing, this is not going to work unless you scale up testing dramatically because you need to pick up people early in the course of their disease so that to we can treat them early in the course of their disease for this to have an impact.

BLITZER: And you can get this treatment, this monoclonal antibody treatment at home. You can get it before you go into the hospital, right? GOUNDER: Yes, that's right. And we have companies -- you know, me as an infectious disease doctor, I work with some of these companies, if I have a patient who need long-term I.V. antibiotics, there are these infusions companies that will provide infusions of I.V. drugs in the home. And you can also of course do it in a specialized doctor's office or a hospital. So this is not something that requires hospitalization.

BLITZER: We got a statement from Dr. Leonard Schleifer of Regeneron. He put out a statement. Let me read to you some of it and get your reaction, Dr. Gounder.

Regeneron now expects to have Regen-Cov2 treatment dose is ready for approximately 80,000 patients by the end of November, approximately 200,000 patients by the first week of January and approximately 300,000 patients in total by the end of January 2021. Dr. Schleifer said, and I'm still reading, despite incredible efforts demand may exceed supply initially making it even more critical at federal and state governments, ensure Regen-Cov2 is distributed fairly and equitably to patients most in need.

So they obviously have a game plan. They know the numbers are increasing. They know this monoclonal cocktail will help them not get really, really sick. But they got to have enough ready to go.

GOUNDER: Well, this is going to be a challenge. I mean, we have on the order of 150,000 to 200,000 new infections a day. So if that's the total number of doses that you have, how are you going to figure out who needs those doses now and why.

So we're going to have to have some pretty, you know, specific detailed guidance about how to target those doses to people who are most likely to benefit before they really get sick, so you're having to really predict who might get sick in order for this to have maximum benefit.

BLITZER: It seems to have worked on the president when he was at Walter Reed. He took this and obviously prevented it from getting really, really sick even at his age, what, he's 74 years old.

GOUNDER: Well, I think that's a great point. He may be in a sense the prototype kind of patient we would target this at, so, somebody who's older, somebody who has underlying medical conditions, in his case obesity, cardiovascular disease. And so those are the kinds of criteria we're going to use to help target this to the right people who will benefit most.

BLITZER: At the same time, Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday, submitted a request for Emergency Use Authorization for their coronavirus vaccine. Do you think that request should be approved?

GOUNDER: Well, you know, without seeing the thousands of pages of data that they have submitted to the FDA, it's really hard to say. I mean, that's really the job of the FDA scientists and the external advisory board that they are going to be convening to review the thousands of pages of data and to figure out if it should be approved. But I fully trust that that process, that scientific review process will not be corrupted. The Biden-Harris team has been very proactive about requesting the FDA to really do their normal vetting, because we really want to make sure that the American people can trust that this vaccine, if it receives emergency use authorization, is both effective and safe.

BLITZER: I'm hoping that President Trump will allow the outgoing members of his coronavirus task force, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, Dr, Redfield and the others to start cooperating with you, the incoming Biden coronavirus advisory council, so that on January 20th,you guys can get started with a running start.

[20:25:16]

Dr. Gounder, thank you so much for everything you're doing. Thanks so much for joining us.

GOUNDER: My pleasure.

BLITZER: The decision by President Trump's administration to draw down thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan ahead of inauguration day is being met with the concern. Why a bipartisan group, bipartisan pair of lawmakers who served in the military, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are now calling the move by the president very risky. They're standing by, a Republican and a Democrat. We'll discuss when we come back.

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BLITZER: Bipartisan, anger, fear, and serious questions this Saturday night over the Trump administration's plan to withdraw thousands of American troops immediately from Afghanistan and Iraq. And to do so, five days could have that withdrawal complete five days before Joe Biden takes office on January 20th.

Joining us now two members of Congress who served this country in war, democratic congressman, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. He spent four tours in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. And Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois. He flew U.S. Air Force missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. We thank both of you, members of Congress, for your service in uniform. Thank you for joining us tonight. And thank you for your bipartisan cooperation.

Let's discuss what's going on. Congressman Moulton, about 2,500 U.S. troops would be coming home from each country. Both of you sent a very strong letter this week to the Secretary of State, Pompeo, the acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, and it says in part, I'll read a line or two, "We write to express our grave concern, any premature drawdown without thoughtful consideration of the real-world conditions on the ground would be ill-advised." So, Congressman Moulton, what are the risks?

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Well, the risks are huge. Well, I mean, let's not forget, we went to Afghanistan in the first place to prevent terrorism, that's still a threat. We are completely undermining the work of our diplomats to try to bring peace to the region. We have Pakistan right over the border with a civil war, ramping with terrorists and nuclear weapons, which is a recipe for disaster. And we're just giving up everything with nothing in return.

So, what Trump is saying he will do here completely undermines our troops, completely undermines everything they fought for, completely undermines our diplomats. And what is he getting? Absolutely nothing.

BLITZER: Congressman Kinzinger, what do you think?

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Yes. So, I agree with everything Seth said. And beyond that, look, 2,500 troops is really just enough troops to basically protect themselves. So, it's hard for me to see what kind of force they can project at 2,500.

But I think what's as nonsensical as anything is why and why now, you know, if -- the best thing that the President could do, the polite thing, the right thing, is to allow President-elect Biden to make the decision on the future of U.S. role in Afghanistan, and not to put them in a position where he is either going to have to increase troops when he comes into office, which will be a whole story in itself, or pull them all out, and then basically bear the blame for what follows. We saw this play in Iraq happened in 2011, and it's frightening.

BLITZER: So, Congressman Moulton, so what's your immediate fear? Let's talk about Iraq and Afghanistan. What's your fear, specifically, in Afghanistan, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, they're still obviously very strong. They're in Iraq. There's all sorts of potential problems there. What's your immediate fear?

MOULTON: Well, in some ways, the best way to put this, Wolf, is that there's nothing worse that we can do than to bring the troops home, give up everything they fought for, and then have to turn around and send them back. And as Adam said, that's exactly what happened in Iraq, we cannot repeat that mistake.

Adam and I have both fought overseas, OK? There's no one who understands how important it is to bring the troops home more than we do, but we've got to bring them home for good. And that means pulling out with a plan. If there's one thing we've learned in the last 20 years of these forever wars, is that it's much harder to get out of wars than to get in them. The President has no plan. There's nothing in exchange for this withdrawal. And as Adam said, himself, it's setting up the conditions for Biden to just have to turn around and put more Americans back into harm's way.

BLITZER: It seems to me, Congressman Kinzinger, that there's plenty of criticism of this decision by the president, from your fellow Republicans, not just some Democrats, maybe even more so from Republicans who are deeply worried about the President's decision.

He promised when he took office, and in years ago, he used to give me interviews, and he would tell me all the time, why are we in Iraq? Why are we in Afghanistan? We got to get out of there. And if I was elected, I would immediately withdraw those troops. Seems to be what he's trying to do is live up to a commitment that he made to simply get the troops out of there.

KINZINGER: Yes, you could see it that way. But I also look at when he ran in 2016, his biggest commitment was to defeat ISIS and this pullout is going to do a couple things. It's obviously going to give room for ISIS to plan and grow. We saw that in 2011. Afghanistan, obviously, has a natural tendency to want to do that when it's lawless.

So, it gives him -- it gives him that. So, all of this when you look at what's happening, I just say, why are you making this decision now? What's the point of it? And quite honestly, what is this going to do to ISIS' recruiting efforts when they can turn around to anybody they're looking to recruit and say, look, we made the U.S. run again. I just think Rand Paul, you know, in his foreign policy, that kind of a Trump whisperer on this has gotten through to a point where we're in a bad position.

[20:35:17]

BLITZER: How significant is the fact, Congressman Moulton, that you a Democrat, Congressman, Kinzinger, Republican, are working together? It's one example, and God knows, we could use plenty more examples of bipartisan cooperation on a really critical issue.

MOULTON: You know, sadly, it is unusual today, Wolf. But I think one thing you see in Congress is a lot of times veterans will come together, when it comes to issues of our national security, when it comes to doing the right thing to protect our country, and to live up to the promise that we have made to do everything we can to support our troops.

The sadly, the president doesn't get that at all. Let's not forget, this is a draft dodging president who's giving gifts to Putin in Russia. He's giving gifts to China. He's giving gifts to North Korea. He's giving gifts to Iran, which is much closer to a nuclear weapon and they were under President Obama. They're, of course, right over the border from Afghanistan. And now he's giving a gift to the Taliban who have blood up to their elbows, that's American blood.

So, look, this is right out of Trump's playbook, as Adam said, and it's terrible policy. I think it's important to talk about what we should be doing. We should be keeping a minimal counterterror force in Afghanistan, not a force that's just big enough to protect itself. We should be withdrawing additional troops when we get something in return from the Taliban. We've got nothing. That's the way forward here. It's the exact opposite of what Trump is doing.

BLITZER: Congressman Moulton, Congressman Kinzinger. to both of you, once again, thanks for your service. We are grateful to both of you. Thanks for your cooperation right now as well. We'll continue this conversation down the road. Appreciate it very, very much.

Meanwhile, as cases surge here in the United States such a record levels, the CDC is now urging Americans not to travel over Thanksgiving, but what about college students trying to get home for the holidays? We'll talk to the president of Duke University when we come back.

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[20:40:20]

BLITZER: At a time when so many colleges and universities across the country are struggling to keep COVID infections at bay, Duke University has it down to a science. The school has created and implemented a testing system which has allowed their students to have an almost normal school year right in the middle of a pandemic.

The CDC has even published a report on Duke's pooled testing program so that other schools can follow their lead. Duke University President, Vincent Price, is joining us right now. President Price, thank you so much for joining us. Tell us more about your testing system, and why it's been so incredibly successful.

VINCENT PRICE, PRESIDENT, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Well, it's been successful because there's quite a bit of logistical work behind it. We have 15 different testing sites across our campus, we actually have a mobile van that goes off campus to collect tests. And so, we're gathering 15,000 tests a week, very regular surveillance of our students. It's been very important, because over half of the cases that we have detected have been asymptomatic cases.

BLITZER: And people -- the young kids, even if they're asymptomatic, they can spread, they're contagious, they can spread the virus to others rather easily. When students heading home, President Price, for the holidays, how are you making sure they don't take the virus home with them or eventually bring it back to campus?

PRICE: Well, our surveillance testing indicates that the rates of infection are actually extremely low in our student population, less than two tenths of one percent. Because of the extensive safety protocols we've put into place, and because the students themselves have been conducting themselves with great care throughout the semester. I think they'll carry that sense of responsibility back home with them.

But our basic rule is to take nothing for granted. So, we're using several tactics to make sure that students return safely to their homes. We're, first of all, conducting exit testing for students. Many states are now requiring negative tests for returning students and other visitors and we plan for testing and for quarantine. All of our students, secondly, who are leaving campus in the Durham area, are required to inform us of all of their departure plans.

And thirdly, once the students leave, they will not be allowed back to campus until the spring semester. And we will again perform entry testing at that point.

BLITZER: Do you have a plan in place, President Price, at Duke University in case student infection rates are too high after the holiday break, let's say? PRICE: Well, we do have -- we do have plenty of room for isolation and quarantine of students. We'll be doing entry testing as we did this past semester. We've learned a lot and we feel that we're well prepared for this spring.

But again, we're taking nothing for granted. Throughout this first semester, we kept an eye on our weekly totals, we adjusted our plans. We deployed teams of dedicated staff and students to help promote safe behaviors. It's what we call the Duke Combat, and we monitored how we were doing.

Basically, we considered ourselves, you know, surviving and advancing day by day and week by week with the understanding we were just one large gathering perhaps away from a potential outbreak. So, you know, we know that asymptomatic carriers can spread this virus rapidly. We're taking extraordinary care, but we do have plans in place, as I say to isolate students. We have wonderful medical care of both to our student health system and through our University Health System.

BLITZER: So, the students are going home for Thanksgiving. When are they supposed to come back to campus?

PRICE: Well, we've actually -- we're wrapping up our semester now. So, we advanced our fall semester and condensed it so that the students could study return home before Thanksgiving, finish their semester return home and they won't be coming back until the middle of January for the spring term.

[20:45:08]

BLITZER: Well, we wish you only the best and thank you for everything you're doing. The president of Duke University, Vincent Price, we're grateful to you. Good luck.

PRICE: Well, thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to all the students, the faculty and everyone else at Duke University.

Meanwhile, the U.S. isn't the only country seeing a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases, Sweden has relied on a relaxed strategy to try to fight the virus. But with a new surge, doctors they're now say they are fed up with the government strategy. We'll update you on what's going on when we come back.

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[20:50:01]

BLITZER: Like most of Europe right now, Sweden is seeing a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases once again, but unlike its European neighbors Sweden isn't imposing strict measures to try to control the virus despite the rising death toll. The virus is being met with disregard by many who seem determined to go on with their lives as normal.

CNN's Phil Black reports from Stockholm.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A gym in central Stockholm. Sweden's government says this is dangerous, but it won't shut them down. Those working hard at this socially distanced class don't want to stop.

ASA LARSON, INSTRUCTOR: Work out for me, it's all I got right now. So, I need to -- I need to do this as long as I can and for all the members as well. They are so happy that we're still doing it.

BLACK: Perhaps, they'd feel differently if they saw this.

Uppsala Hospital, the ICU, a ventilated patient is being prepped for helicopter transfer to another facility with more free beds.

BLACK (on-camera): You're surprised that you're already having to juggle capacity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not surprised, no. That's what we expected.

BLACK (voice-over): After a quiet summer, the coronavirus is again surging in Sweden.

This isn't like the spring peak. It's nowhere near as intense yet, but it feels -- to this -- to the staff here so familiar. They are tired and frustrated because there is a sense that this could have been avoided.

A powerful second wave hasn't changed the essence of Sweden's distinctive approach to slowing the spread. Still no force locked down few rules, mostly just advice and social distancing with an emphasis on personal responsibility.

On the front line, they say it's not enough.

RAFAEL KAWATI, HEAD OF ICU, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: We need to put some, you know, consequences for not doing this.

BLACK: Enforcement.

KAWATI: Yes, enforcement.

BLACK: Sweden's official list of recommended behavior is tougher now. It reads more like a voluntary lockdown discouraging all non-essential mixing.

AGNERS TEGNELL, SWEDISH STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST: Can you hear me or?

BLACK: But Anders Tegnell, the architect of Sweden's approach admits too many aren't following his advice.

So that's the key difference. Your recommendations aren't enforceable.

TEGNELL: So far, I mean, during the spring, this worked really well. We managed to get people to stop meeting each other to great extent. If we can get back to that level of follow up on our advice, I think we can handle the situation also doing this for.

BLACK: Go and flex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BLACK: Make him look angry.

TEGNELL: Tegnell is lionized here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has been our like national hero in this crisis. He had put out guidelines that have kept our freedom.

BLACK: There's broad support for the country's policies. Even though officials admit Sweden failed its elderly, almost 90 percent of people who've died so far were over 70. And Sweden's total death toll is more than four times the combined figure of its Nordic neighbors, all of which embraced tougher measures.

Hello.

ANDERS EIDSVIK, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: Welcome.

BLACK: But even among the sick, you meet advocates for prioritizing freedom. Anders Eidsvik knows the suffering COVID-19 can cause.

EIDSVIK: It shouldn't be too easy to close down the society, I believe.

BLACK: Sweden is sticking with a model that relies on consent instead of legal force. But it's now asking people to voluntarily give up more than ever before, and it's not yet clear they're willing to do it.

Phil Black, CNN, Stockholm.

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BLITZER: Thank you, Phil, for that report.

Coming up, yet, another setback for President Trump and his continued refusal to accept the results of the election. We have details when we come back.

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BLITZER: Presidential candidate, Secretary of State, Senator, Hillary Clinton has held all those roles during her career. But before all that, she was First Lady of the United States. Tomorrow night, a new episode of CNN's Original Series, "First Ladies" takes a close look at Hillary Clinton's time in the White House. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 1995, the first lady is invited to speak at the United Nations Conference on Women. No one least of all Hillary is surprised when some in the administration tried to block her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S.-China relations are rapidly deteriorating.

MELANNE VERVEER, CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY: There were those, within the government, who felt she might set our China foreign policy back, she might create some kind of contra on. Do we really want this to happen?

LISSA MUSCATINE, HILLARY CLINTON'S FORMER SPEECHWRITER: And she said, well, if I can't go as First Lady, I'll just get on a plane and go as a private citizen and we're all, you know, rolling our eyes going, that is not clearly going to happen.

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE FIRST LADY: She said, excuse my French (BLEEP) them. I'm going not as First Lady. I'm going as Hillary Clinton. Here's my passport. Here's my credit card, book me a flight. And I said, OK. I'll do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Make sure you don't miss the new episode airing tomorrow night 10:00 p.m. Eastern right after our special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM only here on CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world.