Anderson Cooper 360

President-elect Joe Biden says he would consider appointing Republicans who voted for Trump to his cabinet because he wants “this country to be united” and “we can't keep this virulent political dialogue going.” Biden’s transition team has been in contact with all federal agencies, including the White House, just 24 hours after the GSA said the official transition process can begin. The President-elect says all outreach has been “sincere.” Christine Todd Whitman is the former Republican Governor of New Jersey but endorsed Biden in the 2020 election. She joins AC360 to discuss how Trump delayed the transition and still refuses to accept the results of the election. Plus, the U.S. is approaching 260,000 Covid-19 deaths and has seen another day of record hospitalizations with at least 88,080. Dr. Craig Spencer is the Director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. He tells AC360 the system can’t last that much longer if we continue to have such a crush of new cases throughout the country. Airdate: November 24, 2020 Guests: Christine Todd Whitman Dr. Craig SpencerTo learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The General Services Administration has informed President-elect Joe Biden and his team that the Trump administration is ready to begin the transition process more than two weeks after the former Vice President was declared the election winner. In a letter, GSA administrator Emily Murphy said she wasn’t pressured by the White House to delay the formal transition. Now that the transition can officially begin, current administration officials can coordinate with the incoming Biden team. David Gergen is a former Presidential Adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton and is also a CNN Political Analyst. He tells AC360 he thinks Trump did the right thing but it’s vital that he tells his base and the whole country that Joe Biden is a legitimate president and he is not put there by fraud. Plus, Covid-19 hospitalizations and cases are rising with Thanksgiving only days away. The CDC is advising people to not travel to see family and friends. White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said what worries him most is “the immediate situation with people traveling from different places, coming home for Thanksgiving.” Dr. William Schaffner is a professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt Medical Center. He joins AC360 to discuss his concerns for the upcoming holiday season.     Airdate: November 23, 2020   Guests: David Gergen Dr. William Schaffner  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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    To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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      To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 TrumpTo learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President-elect Joe Biden is continuing his transition plans by narrowing down his list of potential West Wing advisers. Biden has chosen his longtime adviser Ron Klain as White House chief of staff.  Meanwhile, Pres. Trump, who continues to fight the results of the election with baseless accusations, met with political advisers to discuss a path forward. Thomas Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times. He tells Anderson Cooper we have a President “who puts himself before country” and who is “trying to soil what is actually the greatest expression of our democracy.” Plus, Trump’s refusal to accept the election results has stalled the required steps to transition government to President-elect Biden. Bob Bauer is a Senior Adviser to the Biden Campaign. He joins AC360 and says the election will not be overturned.   Airdate: November 11, 2020   Guests: Thomas Friedman Bob BauerTo learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President-elect Joe Biden says he is “well underway” with his transition effort despite Pres. Trump refusing to accept the results of the election. Biden called Trump’s actions “an embarrassment” and that it “will not help the President’s legacy.” Bob Woodward is the author of “Rage” and spoke to Trump frequently on the phone and in person throughout the year. He joins AC360 to react to the President’s refusal to concede and says he is “obviously wounded.” Plus, Democrats have shifted their focus to Georgia where incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are both expected to miss the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff, pitting them against Democrat candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Ossoff and Warnock need to win their runoffs to get Democrats the majority in the Senate. Jon Ossoff tells Anderson Cooper “Democrats in Georgia right now are invigorated like I’ve never seen.”   Airdate: November 10, 2020   Guests: Bob Woodward Jon OssoffTo learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices