GSA says Biden transition can formally begin

Anderson Cooper 360

CNN

News

3.7 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, breaking news, Joe Biden won again.
0:05.8	John Berman here in Ferranderson actually has been crystal clear for more than two weeks
0:09.7	that Joe Biden won the election and was the president-elect.
0:13.2	The voters knew it, the states knew it, the courts knew it.
0:16.5	Even a Republican lawmaker who lacked the courage to say it out loud knew it.
0:21.1	But tonight it's different and will constitute a major development.
0:25.2	Now the Trump administration knows it, admits it, and crucially, ascertains it.
0:31.9	In a story that CNN broke a short time ago, the General Services Administration and its
0:36.2	much-maligned leader have finally ascertained that Joe Biden won the White House, giving
0:42.0	the president-elect the green light to officially begin his transition to the presidency.
0:46.7	This opens up public money for Biden's transition team.
0:49.8	It also means that Biden may speak with current office holders, such as national security
0:54.0	officials, as well as public health officials battling the coronavirus.
0:58.8	As we noted, Biden's win has been a fact for weeks now, but until tonight, the GSA had
1:02.9	effectively sided with the Trump campaign argument that the election outcome was still
1:08.0	in question, which it was not.
1:10.8	Tonight, shortly after Joe Biden won Michigan, again, the state-cambusing board certified
1:15.9	Biden's win there, the GSA had Emily Murphy issued a one and a half-page statement.
1:20.8	Most of it, a defense of her own actions.
1:23.0	quoting Murphy now,
1:24.4	I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any executive branch official, including
1:29.2	those who work at the White House or GSA, with regard to the subsist or timing of my decision.
	...

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