CEMETERY TODAY.
BUT NO REMARKS ARE PLANNED.
SAVANNAH?
>> ALL RIGHT, PETER.
STAND BY.
WE WANT TO BRING IN OUR CAPITOL
HILL CORRESPONDENT.
I’LL START WITH YOU.
IT SEEMS LIKE THIS ENTIRE
TRANSITION TURNS ON WHAT
REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS
PARTICULARLY MITCH McCONNELL OF
THE SENATE HOW LONG THEY’RE
WILLING TO GIVE THE PRESIDENT TO
KIND OF WORK OUT THIS ACCEPTANCE
OF HIS LOSS.
WHAT DO YOU GET EITHER BEHIND
THE SCENES OR FROM WHAT YOU’RE
HEARING FROM MITCH McCONNELL?
>> SO REPUBLICANS, FRANKLY, ARE
AFRAID OF DONALD TRUMP FROM A
POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEY’RE RUNNING TWO RUNOFF
RACES IN GEORGIA THAT ARE GOING
TO DETERMINE CONTROL OF THE
SENATE.
I THINK THERE IS TWO DEADLINES.
ONE JUST HEARD FROM MITCH
McCONNELL IN PETER’S PIECE
TALKING ABOUT WHEN THE LEKT RALE
COLLEGE WILL MEET AND SELECT THE
PRESIDENT.
THAT’S AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
DEADLINE.
THE ELECTIONS WON’T BE HELD
UNTIL JANUARY 5th.
I THINK YOU’LL SEE THIS DYNAMIC
OF REPUBLICANS BEING VERY
DIFFERENTIAL TO PRESIDENT TRUMP
EVEN THOUGH HE LOSS CONTINUE
UNTIL WE SEE THAT ELECTION,
SAVANNAH.
>> WHAT ABOUT JOE BIDEN, PETER?
IT SEEMS LIKE HE HAD A PRETTY
LOW KEY REACTION TO ALL OF THIS
WHEN HE GAVE REMARKS TO
REPORTERS YESTERDAY.
>> YEAH, YOU’RE RIGHT.
JOE BIDEN’S MESSAGE COMING IN TO
THIS WAS ONE OF UNITY.
HE WANTED TO TRY TO COOL, LOWER
THE TEMPERATURE.
AND THAT’S WHAT BIDEN TRIED TO
DO YESTERDAY.
THE FORMER VP SAYING, YOU KNOW,
WE’LL BE JUST FINE.
THIS DOESN’T CHANGE THE DYNAMIC
AT ALL.
BUT IN TERMS OF WHAT THE
PRESIDENT IS THINKING HERE, IT’S
HARD TO REALLY KNOW.
WE HAVEN’T HEARD FROM HIM
DIRECTLY NOW IN SIX DAYS.
BUT IN CONVERSATIONS I’VE HAD
WITH SENIOR WHITE HOUSE
OFFICIALS, ONE SAYING TO ME LAST
NIGHT THIS IS UNSUSTAINABLE.
THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE LOST.
THEY SAID OVERWHELMINGLY THAT IS
THE UNDERSTANDING INSIDE THIS
WHITE HOUSE.
SO I SAID WHEN DOES THIS FIN
ISH?
HOW DOES THIS END?
THEY SAID YOU’LL NEVER HEAR THE
PRESIDENT CONCEDE.
BUT IT IS CERTAIN THEY BELIEVE
THAT AFTER CERTIFICATION OF THE
RESULTS, WHICH MEANS THIS COULD
LAST INTO DECEMBER, ULTIMATE LIT
PRESIDENT
-- ULTIMATELY THE PRESIDENT
WILL MOVE ON.
IT IS STRIKING TO HEAR THE SPREZ
STILL
PRESIDENT IS STILL IN THIS
DEFIANT MOOD.
OFFICIALS ARE SAYING WHAT HE IS
SAYING IS NOT TRUE.
>> THAT’S INTERESTING.
IT DID SEEM LIKE THE REPUBLICANS
WERE SAYING LET’S GIVE HIM A
LITTLE SPACE TO COME UP WITH
SUFFICIENT ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD
THAT WOULD TURN THIS ENTIRE
ELECTION OVER ON ITS HEAD WHICH,
OF COURSE, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
SEVERAL STATES AND TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF VOTES.
BUT BE THAT AS IT MAY, DO YOU
PERCEIVE THERE IS SOME CRACKS IN
THIS REPUBLICAN WALL OF SUPPORT?
I NOTICED ON THE NATIONAL
SECURITY PIECE OF THIS, YOU
KNOW, WE JUST SAW IN PETER’S
REPORT THAT THE 9/11 COMMISSION
ACTUALLY SAID WHEN DEMOCRATS
SLOWED THE TRANSITION TO GEORGE
W. BUSH’S ADMINISTRATION BACK IN
2000 THAT HAD AN EFFECT ON WHAT
HAPPENED IN THE PREPAREDNESS FOR
9/11.
NOW, OF COURSE, THE SITUATION IS
TOTALLY REVERSED.
ARE REPUBLICANS WORRIED ABOUT
THE NATIONAL SECURITY
IMPLICATIONS OF DELAYING ALL OF
THIS?
>> I THINK THAT’S ABSOLUTELY THE
RIGHT QUESTION, SAVANNAH.
I THINK THAT YOU ARE STARTING TO
SEE A LITTLE BIT OF MOVEMENT ON
THAT FRONT.
CERTAINLY BEHIND THE SCENES
THERE IS A LEVEL OF ALARM, I
THINK, THAT PEOPLE FEEL CALMED
BY THE WAY JOE BIDEN HANDLED IT.
BUT THERE’S A LOT OF CONCERN
ABOUT THE REAL WORLD NATIONAL
SECURITY IMPLICATIONS.
AND YOU’RE STARTING TO SEE THAT
COME OUT A LITTLE BIT IN PUBLIC
EVEN FROM REPUBLICANS.
MOST NOTABLY FROM THE ACTING
CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, MARCO
RUBIO WHO TOLD REPORTERS
YESTERDAY, HEY, WE GOT TO GET
THIS GOING.
THIS OBVIOUSLY AFFECTS ALL OF US
AND COULD HAVE PRETTY
SIGNIFICANT RAMIFICATIONS.
AND THE REALITY IS THERE IS NOT
A LOT THAT CONGRESS CAN DO.
I’VE BEEN ASKING SOURCES, HEY,
IS THERE A WAY CAN YOU
ACCELERATE THIS?
CAN YOU ADJUST THINGS?
THE REALITY IS THEY DON’T HAVE A
LOT OF OPTIONS.
THEY WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE THE
LAW BECAUSE THEY NEVER
ANTICIPATED WHEN THEY WROTE THE
TRANSITION LAW THAT ANYONE WOULD