This is a rush transcript from “The Story with Martha MacCallum" November 24, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, Bret, and thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to
you. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. I'm Sandra Smith in for Martha
MacCallum. And this is THE STORY.

As millions of Americans hunker down this year for a socially distanced
Thanksgiving. Millions of others are hitting the road. In fact, the TSA is
reporting the highest number of travelers since the pandemic began, despite
the CDC urging Americans to stay home for the holidays, but many are
growing frustrated and in particular with state officials because they
believe some measures just go too far. For example, in Pennsylvania
businesses cannot serve alcohol on Thanksgiving eve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WOLF, PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: The biggest day for drinking is the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It leads to an increase in the exchange of
the fluids that leads to increased infection.

SMITH (on camera): And in Oregon Governor Kate Brown urging people to call
the police if they see someone violating COVID mandates.

KATE BROWN, OREGON GOVERNOR: This is no different than what happens if
there's a party down the street and it's keeping everyone awake. What a
neighbor do, they call law enforcement.

SMITH (on camera): And in New York Governor Cuomo says law enforcement
officials that do not enforce mandates are dictators.

ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: You don't have the right to pick laws that
you think you will enforce, and you don't enforce laws that you don't agree
with. Right. That's not a law enforcement officer. That's a dictator.

SMITH (voice over): And then there is this video out of Orchard Park, New
York, business owner Robby Dinero defying state restrictions on gatherings,
held a large protest in his gym with other local business owners who feel
COVID restrictions go too far. Then the Department of Health and local law
enforcement showed up and this happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've lost friends (inaudible) who killed themselves.
I've seen clients die because they've lost their livelihood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry to hear that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you are and I'm asking for you to get a sense of
compassion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're just doing their job. You should all be wearing
mask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not doing anything wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry about my health. My health isn't your
concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're meant to be wearing a mask. It's the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Well, then write me off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. But then take me to jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get a warrant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get a warrant. Yes, you do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come back with a warrant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get out. Get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH (on camera): Robby Dinero is a business owner in Orchard Park, New
York and he joins us now. Robby, good evening and welcome.

ROBBY DINERO, NEW YORK STATE BUSINESS OWNER: Thank you for having me here.

SMITH: You've got quite a crowd there behind you. I'll let you tell me
about that in just a moment. But what did we just see happen in that video?

DINERO: I do. They're still coming in.

SMITH: I've got you here live on TV right now, Robby, what happened in that
video that we all just saw

DINERO: OK. I posted on Facebook Friday night that I wanted to get
together, business owners and protest and fight the lockdown that I feel is
infringing upon our freedom. They showed up Friday night. We are about 20
minutes into that meeting when some sheriffs and a Department of Health
official showed up uninvited. My business was closed. We were not
conducting business. This was a protest. They walked in uninvited, a couple
of the patriots that were here with me said, hey Robby, there's some
sheriffs here and Department of Health officials, what do you want us to
do. And I said get them to leave.

And while the video speaks for themselves, those patriots took it upon
themselves to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and tell them to get out. And we
were right because if we were wrong, they would have called for backup and
come back. But they didn't. They left.

SMITH: It is our understanding though there is an update to this story
tonight and the Department of Health did come knocking this evening, what
happened?

DINERO: They did. My business is closed just like they - what they want me
to. But I was here after hours and the sheriffs came again escorting a
Department of Health official. I told them to get off my property. I told
them that their procedures they need to follow. This is after hours and
they have no right to be on my property without a warrant. I told them to
come back. He said he wanted to deliver this piece of paper in an envelope.

I said, no. Call and make an appointment. It's after hours. You can call
and make an appointment. He taped it to the door. I finished kicking him
off my property and I opened it up and it is a fine for $15,000.

SMITH: Robby, why do you feel these restrictions go too far.

DINERO: Any infringement on our liberty goes too far. We were born with
inalienable rights bestowed upon us by our creator. They are guaranteed by
the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights that the 1st through 14th
Amendments specifically. Any infringement on our freedom for any reason is
too far. Our freedom cannot end where people's fear starts.

SMITH: And I want to make everyone well aware that you are a native of New
York. You've spent 14 years serving as an infantry officer in the United
States Marine Corps. You've earned many honors in the military. You've got
four children. And we know it's a tough situation. We see your supporters
there behind you. How far do you plan to go with this?

DINERO: I plan to take it as far as I possibly can. I want to ask Governor
Cuomo and Poloncarz. I want to ask them. It's a challenge to them. Come to
my dinner table, come to any of the dinner tables back here, look our kids
in the eyes and say, your father, your mother is an essential worker. They
don't have the guts to do that.

They also don't have the guts to answer why they get to draw a $225,000
salary for Governor Cuomo and for Poloncarz, it's $103,000 salary. But the
working men and women doesn't get to earn. They get to take our money, but
we don't get to earn. They don't have the guts to tell us that, that's the
worst kind of leadership.

SMITH: Your story is getting a lot of attention. We thank you for your
service and we'll continue to watch where this story goes. Thanks for
joining us tonight. And we hear the supporters there behind you.

We will follow up on that story. And also, here tonight is Texas Lieutenant
Governor Dan Patrick. Dan, can you react to what you just saw and heard
there?

DAN PATRICK, TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Well, Robby is a patriot. Our
founding fathers, they were upset over the Stamp Act and other actions by
the king. I would say a lot less egregious than what Democrats are doing to
citizens everywhere in this country. And this is a peek into the future
under the Biden administration, Sandra.

If they lock down this country, they are pushing Americans beyond where
they want to be pushed. And Americans put up with a lot from their
government, but they will not have their freedom and their rights taken
away. And that's what we try to protect in Texas, and we are here.

SMITH: Lieutenant Governor, although we do know that we face a very serious
situation as a country. This virus is spiking, and it is not taking places.
It is all over this country. What do you say to the 29 million residents of
your state tonight, two nights before many will gather at the Thanksgiving
table?

PATRICK: So, Sandra, I look at - let's compare Oregon to Texas if I can.
Oregon, you have a governor there that says if you have dinner with more
than six people, I will fine you $1250 and send you to jail for 30 days. By
the way, where you'll be having dinner with a lot more than six people for
the next month. And that's the kind of state that says we don't care what
you smoke, we'll assist you in a suicide. We let protesters fill the
streets. We let people set up their own cities in the city. But you can't
share cranberry sauce and turkey and prayer with your family.

There's something wrong with that. You're not going to find that in Texas.
In Texas, Sandra, we're saying to people, look, here's the facts. Here's
what we recommend. Here's what we suggest. But I'm not about as lieutenant
governor to tell the people in Texas that you can't sit down, pray, and
share a family dinner with your family, not about to do that--

SMITH: But I do want to hear about that recommendation is, though, because
it's important that they know where their leaders stand in that state as
far as being safe and helping at least stop the spread of this virus. This
is the Arigona (ph) family of Arlington, Texas. They decided to create this
PSA. They said we are not like unlike other families, we've made mistakes.
Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we took my mom to the hospital, our hearts broke.
We feel guilty for gathering. Please don't be like my family and ignore the
CDC guidelines by staying apart, we can fight this virus together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: And the CDC, Dr. Redfield, was on our air today saying that it is
these private gatherings in private homes where the spread really happens,
not necessarily out in public. That family decided to use their families
mistake as a teaching moment. They said that we let our guard down. 12
people walked away from a private dinner on November 1st with Coronavirus,
a serious situation. So, knowing that, what is your message to the people
of your state?

PATRICK: So, my message is social distance. Wear a mask, wear a mask out of
respect to other people and to protect yourself. But I'm not - I'm going to
give you all the facts. I'm going to give you all the information. I'm
going to let you make that decision as an adult for yourself and your
family. I believe that the overwhelming majority of people know the risk
and they know the rights.

And so, in Texas, we believe giving you the information. And again, I
recommend being careful, being careful, making that decision. Maybe your
gatherings aren't as big as they are in the past. Maybe they're smaller.
That's your decision. But these are your rights. And I'm not going to take
away your rights and tell you what to do when it comes down to having
dinner with your family, praying with your family and just be smart about
it. And that's what we tell you in Texas. We trust your judgment.

SMITH: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, thanks for joining us and Happy
Thanksgiving to you and yours.

PATRICK: Thank you, Sandra. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. You too.

SMITH: President-elect Biden introducing his first cabinet picks today,
including a top post for John Kerry. Karl Rove and Marie Harf on what that
means. And White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro joining me to talk
China. And a record-breaking day for the Dow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: As Joe Biden introduces his foreign policy and national security
team today, it may have looked like a scene from the days of the Obama
administration. Not only was President Obama's former secretary of state,
John Kerry, front and center as Biden's pick for climate czar. But in fact,
all of Biden's picks so far served under President Obama.

Today, Biden and his nominees making it clear that their aim is to end
President Trump's America first foreign policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: These public servants
will restore America globally, its global leadership and its moral
leadership.

ANTONY BLINKEN, BIDEN PICK FOR SECRETARY OF STATE: We can't solve all of
the world's problems alone. We need to be working with other countries. We
need their cooperation. We need their partners.

JOHN KERRY, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will strengthen the security
of every nation in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: This after President Trump touted his record earlier in the day,
noting the Dow traded above 30,000 for the first time ever on his watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The stock market just
broken 30,000, never been broken that number. That's a sacred number,
30,000. Nobody thought they'd ever see it. That's the ninth time since the
beginning of 2020. And it's the 40th time that we have broken records in
during the Trump administration. And I just want to congratulate all the
people within the administration that work so hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Joining us now, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro. Peter,
great to see you tonight. Welcome.

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: That was quite a - it looks like
the Miss Globalist pageant there that you showed in the clip there with
everybody ready to basically ship our jobs back offshore. That guy,
Blinken, if I'm not mistaken has run kind of a consulting firm where he
specializes in getting market access to communist China. This is kind of
going to be interesting depending on how this election turns out.

But I'm not impressed with the choices so far in terms of taking care of
blue-collar America, the men and women of America who work with their
hands. These are the people that President Trump cares about, who I've
worked for four years to get jobs for. So, a new world here.

SMITH: OK, Peter, so let's talk about the stock market topped 30,000 today.
And of course, both sides want to take ownership of that. Some are saying,
well, it's in hopes of the Biden presidency. Some are talking about the
vaccine, adding to the optimism. And, of course, the Trump administration
says, it's a result of all the policies enacted over the past four years,
rolling back regulations and lowering taxes. Can this stock market rally
continue under a Biden administration?

NAVARRO: I've got a little street cred on this, Sandra. I remember when
President Trump first got elected, the day after the election. I predicted
25,000 on the Dow. And some months ago, I said we were going to get over
30,000. We got there. It's all because of President Trump's deregulation,
tax cuts, fair trade and higher defense spending and things like that.
Here's a cautionary note. Here's what I'm really concerned about.

And as I work across the street every day now, what I'm seeing is this
economy needing a bridge from the first three phases of the stimulus
relief, the stimulus and relief package to a phase four. And my concern,
Sandra, is unless we provide that bridge, we should have done it two months
ago, to be honest, and there's a lot of people have already fallen through
the cracks. A lot of small businesses have fallen through the cracks. And
once they fall through the cracks, it's hard to get them back up.

So, yes, we got great 30,000 on the Dow. I'd say its President Trump's
policies. But if we have a 2021, that's economic stagnation and recession.
Part of the big reason, Sandra is because today and for the last two
months, we haven't been able to get a phase four deal that gives the PPP
more for the small business and stuff like that.

SMITH: OK. All right. So, what we heard today from that new leadership,
restoring America globally, global leadership, moral leadership, you just
threw around some of those words. You have continued to crack down and the
Trump administration cracked down on China all the way into the final days
of this administration. Are you - is the administration considering
cracking down on China even further with the weeks that are left?

NAVARRO: Well, I think we need a new drinking game. Every time they say
global in some sense, I'd throw another shot down or we'll be drunk by the
end of the night. We did do a very nice order President Trump signed last
week, which cuts off investment to any Chinese companies that build weapons
to kill Americans. Certainly, there's some other things under
consideration, but it's not for me to jump the gun on what the president
may or may not do.

SMITH: Peter Navarro, thanks for joining us live from the White House
tonight.

NAVARRO: You take care, Sandra.

SMITH: Thank you. Also, here tonight, Karl Rove, former Chief of Staff to
President George W. Bush, now co-founder and adviser to American
Crossroads, and Marie Harf, Executive Director of Serve America PAC and a
former U.S. State Department and CIA spokesperson. Both are Fox News
contributors. Welcome to both of you. I know that you were listening to all
of that, and Karl certainly saw what went on today and the introduction of
what is shaping up to be the new Biden team. What are your thoughts on it?
What is this looking like to you?

KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's going to be interesting,
because these are people who have been around Biden a long time. They were
potentially advising him when he did things like came out against taking
out Osama bin Laden, as Bob Gates, former secretary of defense, who once
famously said Biden's been wrong on virtually every foreign policy issue
since he entered Congress. And these were the people advising him.

But they are accomplished people. They're going to be his choices. They're
going to be accepted. The big challenge is going to be this. Can they - the
circumstances in which they find themselves are new and different. The
world is a lot different than it was four years ago and certainly eight
years ago. And are they going to be able to adapt to a much different
world, a world in which there is an aggressive China, that it's a rival of
the United States, far more aggressive since 2012, ever increasingly
aggressive.

Are they going to adapt to a new world in which it's going to be
impossible, I think, to put back the Iranian nuclear deal? And frankly, the
calculus in the Middle East is far different with an emerging Sunni Israeli
front against an aggressive Iran. Are they going to be able to deal with
China on trade issues as they did in the first four years of the Obama and
Biden administration?

Abraham Lincoln in 1860 said, as our case is new, so must we think and act
anew. And that's going to be the challenge for the old members of the Biden
team who've been with him, some of them for 20 years.

SMITH: I'll put that question to Marie Harf while first saying, Marie, that
not only do you know a lot of the folks that were on that stage today, you
worked with them. And I'll remind everybody with this flashback to 2014,
the late Senator John McCain taking issue with Tony Blinken's nomination to
become deputy secretary of state under Obama. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCAIN, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I rise to discuss in my opposition to the
pending vote concerning Mr. Antony Tony Blinken, who is not only
unqualified, but in fact, in my view, one of the worst selections.

Mr. Blinken has been a functionary and an agent of a U.S. foreign policy
that has made the world much less safe today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Making it very clear that he was angry about the lack of help that
was coming from the Obama administration for the people of Syria.

MARIE HARF, FOX NEWS CONTIRBUTOR: Well, Tony Blinken is an incredibly
accomplished policymaker. He's gotten compliments from actually across the
political spectrum since his name was announced as secretary of state and
around the world. World leaders know him. And look, these are folks except
for John Kerry, who I worked proudly for at the State Department. The rest
of these appointees are not politicians. They're policy makers. They're
intelligence professionals. They've never run for office.

And I think that that's really one of the things the Biden team wanted to
put forward today, that this is an administration that is going back to
experience and back to expertise. I will agree with one thing that Karl
said, and that's that the world today is very different than four years
ago.

And when you hear people like Jake Sullivan, an incredibly young national
security adviser, that's about to take over the helm of that, when you hear
Tony Blinken, they know that. They know that we can't just go to Obama
around 3 that too much has changed, and we need to work to create a new
future where America is back in a leadership role. Not this America first
America alone Trump policy. But I actually think the Biden team understands
they can't just go back. They have to look forward.

SMITH: It's an important point. And you mentioned Jake Sullivan for the
role of national security adviser. Let's hear from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR PICK: We will be vigilant in
the face of enduring threats from nuclear weapons to terrorists, but you
have also tasked us with reimagining our national security for the
unprecedented combination of crises we face at home and abroad. The
pandemic, the economic crisis, the climate crisis, technological
disruption, threats to democracy, racial injustice, and inequality in all
forms. The work of the team behind me today will contribute to progress
across all of these fronts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Doesn't sound like the national security adviser role in the
traditional sense. Karl, your thoughts?

ROVE: No, not at all. In fact, it's too expansive and I think doomed to
failure as a result. How is the national security adviser going to solve
the problem of racial injustice in the world and economic inequality is his
job really is to help advise the president on key foreign policy issues.
And instead, we had - it sounded like a throwaway line.

It sounded like I'm part of the Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden sort of
traditional Democrats. I'm part of the establishment. So, I've got to have
some progressive language in here to soothe the squad and the people on the
left of the Democratic Party. An adroit political statement, but I don't
think particularly effective as a national security adviser.

SMITH: Marie, I want you to respond to that, but also respond to a tweet
about your former boss, as you just mentioned, John Kerry. This is Tom
Cotton, a senator very critical of the decision to put him in place as the
climate czar. John Kerry thrilled that prospect of returning to his dream
job of living in Central European luxury hotels while negotiating deals
that are bad for America. The New York Post this morning, Biden climate
envoy John Kerry is a lifelong joke. Your response?

HARF: Well, Tom Cotton is not a serious person, and that was not a serious
comment.

SMITH: He's a U.S. senator.

HARF: Climate change is an incredibly - well, he was not a serious U.S.
senator. I will say that. Climate change is an incredibly important. One of
the most important challenges we need to face as a country. John Kerry has
experience working across the government to do so. And what you heard Jake
talk about and what I think John Kerry will be doing, they recognize that
domestic policy and foreign policy are not separate. The trade wars, Donald
Trump has started overseas, and China has made economic inequality worse
here at home. They've hurt our farmers and--

SMITH: I've got to wrap it there, but I want to give Karl 10 seconds to
finish up. Go ahead, Karl.

HARF: So, that's what I think Jake was talking about today, Sandra.

SMITH: Karl?

ROVE: Well, we have to have an argument about what he was talking about
because we don't know. I mean, this was a bunch of palaver, in my opinion.
These are able people. Let's see if they can come up with some new
thinking. I'm a little bit dubious. Count me reluctant to believe that
these people are going to be able to adapt to the new conditions in which
the world finds itself. I think they're going to go back to Biden-Obama
leading from behind, blame America first.

SMITH: Marie Harf and Karl Rove, thank you. Good to be - both of you. Happy
holidays to you. Up next, a startling new study showing a huge spike in the
number of students failing in school due to remote learning. Former New
York Times reporter Alex Berenson saw this coming and he will join us live
next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH (on camera): A new study shows the dire consequences from online
learning. Students in Virginia's largest school district are seeing failing
grades spike by a staggering 83 percent when compared to last year and
despite top government health officials reassuring the public that it's
safe for schools to reopen, teacher's unions continue to fight back.

In Virginia they have just petitioned the governor to send the few students
who remain in class back home. Quote, "in schools that are already open,
COVID-19 cases are increasing and employees report unsafe working
conditions. Fairfax County must transition everyone to virtual learning
until it is safe.

Alex Berenson will join us in just a moment. But first, one of the parents
from Fairfax County school district, Anna Buchanan. Anna, good evening,
thanks for being here. All parents out there, we know how difficult this
is. What has it meant for you and your children? How's the challenge been?

ANNA BUCHANAN, FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT: Thank you so much for
having me on tonight. You know, this has been an extremely challenging time
for parents, certainly for our family. We have -- had a second-grader and a
fourth-grader in Fairfax County public schools. We've been doing virtual
schooling since about March of last year. So, it's about five months.

We made the hard -- very hard decision to withdraw our students from
Fairfax County. It has just become what was obviously just an unworkable
situation for our kids. You know, being online, our kids would get on about
9.15 in the morning and be on until -- given the day, 2, 2.30, sometimes 3
o'clock in the afternoon and they would have breaks in their but it was an
extremely challenging thing for them.

You know, I know how I feel after a couple back-to-back Zoom calls and I'm
an adult, and so for them to try to stay focused for that long was really
hard and it's emotionally exhausting for them to just have to stay focused
for that long.

So, my kids had headaches. They would be in tears often. And this was
despite having tremendous teachers. I can't speak highly enough about the
teachers at my kid's school and our school principal.

They are going above and beyond, but I really believe that the reality is
virtual school is an unworkable situation and although teachers and
principals are doing their best to try to make this into a workable
situation, kids don't learn well in this environment. And I think that's
what the study really showed.

SMITH: Not to mention the economic impact for so many families balancing
in some cases two-parent working families, single parent families. So many
different challenges out there.

Final thoughts as we do know that there are many teachers who feel
concerned about the spread of the virus in schools. We hear otherwise from
the CDC. But so many different ways to look at this.

BUCHANAN: Absolutely. You know, I think -- we have friends that are in a
couple different private schools around the Fairfax County area and friends
who are in smaller public school systems elsewhere in the country that have
been able to bring their students back, keeping them socially distanced,
keeping them with masks on, able to keep their kids, the teachers, and the
staff safe. I think that we -- I think that we can do better than this for
our kids.

SMITH: OK. Anna, I appreciate it and our heart goes out to you and you are
doing a great job. I feel like as parents we all have to --

BUCHANAN: Thank you.

SMITH: -- pat each other on the back. Because we never saw ourselves in
this world --

(CROSSTALK)

BUCHANAN: Absolutely.

SMITH: -- as teachers.

BUCHANAN: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

SMITH: And fair point, the teachers are doing a great job too. Many of
them. Also, here tonight, Alex Berenson, former New York Times reporter and
author of the newest edition of "Unreported Truths About COVID-19 and
Lockdowns" part three.

Alex, thanks for being here tonight. It's devastating to hear what this is
doing to so many as far as grades and their ability to learn.

ALEX BERENSON, FORMER REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, Sandra. It's
terrible. I want to talk about that in detail, but I have to tell your
audience something about the new book, a little about "Unreported Truths
Part 3" which is that Amazon has once again censored me. They censored me
today, they are not selling the booklet. You can only get it on Apple and I
can't believe that they are doing these six months after they censored the
first booklet and had to back down.

You know, the booklet just basically lays out the case that masks are
probably not nearly as protective as we've been told and people can judge
that for themselves.

SMITH: OK. So, let's go off what we do know that the --

(CROSSTALK)

BERENSON: I think that's crazy that -- but let's go back to schools. So, I
-- so the fact is, schools have to be open. There is tremendous evidence
that what we are doing to our children is seriously damaging to them.

There's actually a very long piece in New York magazine which is hardly,
you know, a right-wing outlet today just talking about how damaging closing
schools has been. It's damaging to teenagers. There's evidence that, you
know, overdoses are way up this year.

You know, and although I haven't been able to confirm it with hard data
because we don't collect very good data on suicides, even in Fairfax County
for example, Virginia, there's evidence that there have been several
suicides of teens this year.

It's bad for little kids who really have a hard time focusing on -- you
know, and we don't want the kids in front of screens all day. It's bad for
parents. It raises the stress in the household and frankly, it may even be
one of the reasons why some hospitals are having staffing shortages.

Because you know, if you have a situation where you're a single parent,
you're a nurse, and you can't go in because your kids are stuck at home,
that's going to affect hospital staffing. Schools have to be open.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: So many communities too are trying to step in and help out with
those front-line workers so that they can remain at work with child care.
We hope that as many communities that can do that do. I do want to put this
in your --

(CROSSTALK)

BERENSON: That's right.

SMITH: Dr. Redfield from the CDC was on Fox News earlier today, Alex, and
as far as the science and what it says about children spreading this virus
when they are in the classroom, here's Dr. Redfield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION:
We've seen that really the K through 12 schools have not been a source for
significant outbreaks or significant acquisition. When we've gone into
schools to evaluate, the kids that are infected or the teachers that are
infected, it turns out the teachers got infected from the community. The
students didn't get infected in school. They got infected from their
household or their community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: It's really important to put that out there, because there's not a
lot of science or evidence that points to the spread in schools. That's
when the kids are behind the Plexiglas wearing the masks, social
distancing. That's where they are safest.

BERENSON: I mean, frankly, we don't need any of that stuff for kids in
schools anyway. It's sort of absurd, but if it's the price we have to pay
with this teether to get schools reopened temporarily, you know, we have to
put up this Plexiglas and make them more shields, that's better than having
schools close.

This has been clear since May at least, OK, that children are really not
spreaders of this and don't get very sick when they do get infected, that
they are more likely to get it from adults than the other way around. You
know, there is tremendous evidence out of Europe on this.

You know, as far back as early May, the Australian -- one of the senior
medical officers in Australia said schools should be open and it is
disgusting in the United States that we have allowed the teachers unions to
block this. And right now, there are communities where schools are saying
they're not going to be open at least through April if not through the end
of this school year --

SMITH: Yes.

BERENSON: -- which would mean that some kids are not going to be in school
for 15 months.

SMITH: Yes.

BERENSON: OK. I -- my -- I can't imagine that. Our two -- you know, with
three kids through with school age.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Well, we hope to see the vaccine here soon.

BERENSON: Yes.

SMITH: Dr. Redfield said the vaccine could be rolled out in the second
week of December, so we hope that changes a lot. Quick thought.

BERENSON: You know, hopefully that will make a difference but the vaccine
is going to be -- you know, the vaccine is going to take months to roll out
and every day that kids are not in school, they are losing out and we are
punishing them for no good reason.

SMITH: tough situation for everyone. Alex, thanks for your time tonight.

BERENSON: Thanks, Sandra.

SMITH: OK. Straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: They promised blockbuster stuff and then
nothing happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH (voice over): RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel response to those
comments from Rush Limbaugh and outlines the party's strategy moving
forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: For weeks, President Trump's legal strategy has been critique,
criticize and dismissed by all the usual suspects who complain about a lack
of evidence. His legal team said give it time. The evidence will come. But
Rush Limbaugh says Trump supporters have waited long enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIMBAUGH: You call a gigantic press conference like that, one that lasts
an hour and you announce massive bombshells, then you better have some
bombshells. I understand -- look, I'm the one that's been telling
everybody, this stuff doesn't happen at work speed, light speed the way
cases are made for presentation in court, but if you're going to do a press
conference like that with the promise of blockbusters, then there has to be
something more than what that press conference delivered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Joining us now to respond to that is RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Always good to see you, Ronna. Welcome.

RONNA MCDANIEL, CHAIR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Great to be with
you. Thanks for having me.

SMITH: How do you respond to Rush?

MCDANIEL: I think we've seen a lot of issues, starting with the laws being
changed in the name of COVID that allowed a more porous election and
stripping away a lot of the safeguards to election integrity going up to
election day where many of our poll watchers and observers and major
Democrat counties were unable to observe to now, as we are getting into
this recount situation and you see in Wisconsin, 243,000 voters said they
were indefinitely confined. Which meant that they didn't have to show voter
I.D.

That's four times the amount of voters that did that in 2016. In Georgia in
2018, 200,000 ballots came in with a 3 percent rejection rate. Absentee.
This time you had a million too with a .2 rejection rates --

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: But to Rush's point -- Rush's point, I don't think he was denying
any of that, that there have been discoveries, that there have been things
learned through this process, but specifically he said if you're going to
do a press conference like that, with the promise of blockbusters, then
there's got to be something more than what was delivered at that press
conference. So, is the strategy just not working, Ronna?

MCDANIEL: Well that's the president's legal team and they are presenting
things based on affidavits and their research and they've got to have time
to present that, but what I will say is we still have recounts ongoing in
Wisconsin --

SMITH: OK.

MCDANIEL: -- and in Georgia, it was an audit but we didn't do the
signature match and I do think that's a valid point that you've got to
match these signatures with that big change and the rate of rejection from
2016 or 2018 to 2020. That's a huge difference.

SMITH: OK.

MCDANIEL: And the problem is, Sandra, it's like the car has broken down
and you can't figure out what happened until you get a look under the hood.
And that's what the canvas and certification process allows in some states,
you can't do an audit or recount until after the certification, but we do
need to figure out where things went wrong in some of these states and why
we see such differences from 2016 and 2018 as to how basic laws were
applied to ensure election integrity.

SMITH: As we all know there's a big emphasis being put on Georgia now and
those runoff races by both parties. Here's Frank's Lunt (Ph) -- Frank Luntz
on the impact that the president will have on those Georgia races. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LUNTZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: If you continue to
dissolution voters by saying that the elections were rigged and that your
vote doesn't matter, this could have severe consequences for the
administration in trying to keep those two seats Republican.

I would argue that what Donald Trump says and does over the next six weeks
is going to determine the outcome of the Georgia Senate race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: So how important is what the president does over the coming weeks?
What does it mean, what impact does it have in Georgia in January?

MCDANIEL: Well I think the president is perfectly within his rights to ask
questions about the election process and make sure that it was fair and
transparent and I don't think that affects voters at all.

What I will say is he got 350,000 more votes in Georgia than he did in
2016. This is a president with coattails. You look at what happened in the
House with us picking up 13 seats. You look at the Senate, we're at 50. If
you look at the 135 legislative seats that we picked up across the country.
This is President Trump bringing up the whole ticket and they're going to
want him in Georgia campaigning with these two candidates.

SMITH: Will he?

MCDANIEL: I know that and he's going to be critical.

SMITH: Will he?

MCDANIEL: I'm sure. This is a president whose helped everybody. Everybody
who has asked on his Twitter account was win red with what he's done for
the entire party. He has lifted the party. He's brought out new voters. I
can't imagine that he won't go down and campaigned for those candidates.

SMITH: But has he said that he will campaign in Georgia? It's obviously --

(CROSSTALK)

MCDANIEL: I'm not going to put words in his mouth.

SMITH: -- critical to day.

MCDANIEL: I can't -- I'm not going to put words in his mouth. You've seen
the vice president there, but the president is the leader of our party and
I think he will support these candidates. He's been doing it all over his
Twitter and he's absolutely invested in those races.

SMITH: What's next for President Trump and what's next for the party?

MCDANIEL: You know, the Democrats were repudiated in this election. They
had mountains of money, this blue wave, this green wave of money that was
anticipated, the blue wave that was anticipated, we were supposed to be
wiped out and President Trump lifted the ticket with 73 million voters, 10
million more than he had in 2016, more Hispanic, more Asian.

Look at the House races, women, minorities, veterans. Picking up 13 seats
and may be more on the horizon.

SMITH: OK.

MCDANIEL: Socialism, defunding the police and what the Democrats are
talking about, stacking the Supreme Court was repudiated and they will get
the exact same thing if they vote for Democrats in Georgia in the Senate
races.

SMITH: Ronna, great to talk to tonight. Thank you.

MCDANIEL: Thanks for having me.

SMITH: OK. Will the media be just as aggressive with Joe Biden as it was
with Donald Trump and what are the consequences if they are not?
Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson with a glimpse into the future of
the mainstream media. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They want the
ratings. They are fantastic ratings. But at the same time, they don't want
to be talked about in a bad manner, right? But you have to talk about them
because they are corrupt. They have to report the news. They are the enemy
of the people. They really are. They are the enemy of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: That was President Trump slamming the media throughout his
presidency over reports he often claims are false.

In my next guest's new book, she dissects these reports with a 25-page
index of all the times the media got the story wrong. To name a few, in
2017, CNN claimed Frank Sinatra's daughter was not happy her father song
was used at Trump's inauguration. However, she tweeted that's not true. I
never said that. Why do you lie, CNN?

In 2018, a local newspaper reporter falsely tweeted that a newsroom shooter
dropped his make America great again hat before shooting. And just this
year Newsweek had to issue a correction after claiming a Catholic group
associated with Trump appointed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett
inspired the dystopian show "The Handmaid's Tale."

Here now is Sharyl Attkisson, investigative reporter and author of
"Slanted: How the News Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism."
Sharyl, good evening. Thanks for being here.

SHARYL ATTKISSON, AUTHOR, SLANTED: Thanks for having me.

SMITH: Why did you decide to write about this?

ATTKISSON: Well, I consider this really the third book in a trilogy where
I've traced what I now have come to think of the devolution of the news as
we once knew it. Foretelling in the second book which was called "The
Smear" what was coming with the control that we are seeing today with
social media.

And I see that as an extension of the corporate and political interest who
really have great success in the first two decades of this century in
wielding control over what we report on the news, how we report it, the
language we use, the opinions that are censored, and the scientific studies
we are not to hear about and so on.

SMITH: Talk about what you called motivated reporting meant to lead the
consumer to a given point of view. Explain.

ATTKISSON: Well, this is a big change from many, many years ago I learned
in journalism school. Which was, when you're doing hard news reporting you
are trying to get the facts and explain both sides is, there are different
viewpoints and tell people what happened on the ground.

But as we all know, there has been a slow change over the years where more
and more news media people and reporters and journalists see themselves as
the ones who are supposed to tell you what the truth of the matter is even
when it's in dispute or in a matter of opinion or something that's not yet
decided.

And that they are to convince you. And then we saw in 2016 with the
entrance of Donald Trump on the political stage. That just threw everything
out the window and one fell swoop. The media admitted that's exactly what
they're doing and were encouraged by their bosses when they did such thing.
Blended news and opinion and even cheered on throwing out ethics and
standards so that they could cover differently what they called a uniquely
dangerous president.

SMITH: Sharyl, and perhaps what is a window into what we are about to see
with the Biden presidency and the treatment of him by the media.

Kayleigh McEnany pointed this out in a tweet today. This is reporting on
Joe Biden. Today he wore dark blue socks adorn with lighter blue dogs. She
retweeted a Bloomberg reporter's tweet pointing out George H.W. Bush was
known for his socks and maybe Biden will too. Today he wore dark blue socks
adorned with lighter blue dogs. Yes, there's plenty of more substantive
things to tweet about but when we can have some fun sometimes too.

So, is this a suggestion perhaps at the soft or light treatment we may see
of a Biden presidency by the media?

ATTKISSON; Well, I think there is little doubt. We in the media promised
after we were so wrong in 2016 to self-reflect and self-correct, instead we
doubled down with a lot of information for years without evidence, without
counterpoints when we're talking about the Trump Russia collusion.

And then after that proved to be wrong, we doubled down as we cover the
campaign for 2020. And kind of with no holds barred with our one-sided
reporting. Refusing to get counterpoints, calling everything Donald Trump
said a lie on its face while calling anybody who defended any attacks he
had, we called them truth tellers without knowing which side was telling
the truth r when it was a matter of opinion. Taking sides. And I do think
we'll see more of that under a Biden presidency.

SMITH: This is about 10 seconds. This is Biden last week when asked a
question by a reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Mr. Biden, the COVID task force said it's safe for students to be
in class. Are you going to encourage unions to cooperate more to bring kids
back to classroom, sir?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Why are you
the only guy who always shout out questions?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Legitimate question but he was asked why do you shout, why are you
the guy who shouts.

Sharyl, great to have you here tonight. I really appreciate your time.

Thanks so much for having me.

SMITH: All right. Good to have you here. And that's us for THE STORY on
this Tuesday, November 24th, 2020. Thanksgiving week. But as always, THE
STORY continues and we will see you back here tomorrow night at seven. And
I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning America's Newsroom from 9 to
noon. Thank you for joining us. Have a lovely evening.

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