post-election shift. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> let's begin over at the white house. jeff zeleny is standing by. only moments ago we all heard it, the president was asked directly if he took any responsibility for the election outcome last night in virginia. tell our viewers what he said. >> wolf, president biden stopped short of taking any personal responsibility as the leader of the democratic party after last night's very dispiriting win for democrats in new jersey, potentially and the loss in virginia. the president talked about the divide in his party. he talked about the need to get the agenda through but he did not do any deep soul searching for what may have led voters to turn against him in states he won overwhelmingly just a year ago. but again, he did call for congress to act. >> what i do know is, i do know that people want us to get things done. they want us to get things done. and that's why i am continuing to push very hard for the democratic party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my build back better bill. i think we should have passed before election day. but i'm not sure that i would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out in the red districts who were trump voters, but maybe. maybe. >> the president talking directly there about, in his words, conservative folks who turned out in rid counties. but that is not a full reading of what happened in these off-year elections in both virginia and new jersey. in fact, in areas that the president won overwhelmingly, again, just a year ago, a decidedly different result. independent voters who had a major swing, according to our exit polls in interviews on the ground over the last several days. simply there were -- it was a rejection of what they see as the democratic policies and priorities here in washington and the president himself. his approval rating contributed to all of this. officials from campaigns certainly say. so the president was taking a few questions about these election results at the end of an announcement about vaccines but, wolf, it was certainly not a full-throated assessment of what happened or a look ahead to how to prevent deep democratic losses next year in the midterm elections. the president again said he wants congress to act. the question is how and when. >> good question. major, major political setback for the democrats. jeff zeleny, thank you. let's get more on election results that left democrats reeling, worrying and pointing a lot of fingers. cnn political correspondent sara murray has details. >> how much fun? >> reporter: republicans across the country celebrating big gains in the first significant elections during the biden administration. >> all righty, virginia! we won this thing! >> reporter: in virginia, political newcomer glenn youngkin handed former governor terry mcauliffe a stinging defeat as he flips the commonwealth red one year after the state delivered joe biden a ten-point victory. >> we're empowered by a conviction, a righteous conviction in our children's future. we're strengthened by our collective belief in the virginia promise. >> reporter: democrat mcauliffe made tying youngkin to former president trump a focus of his campaign. >> we don't need a donald trump in khakis. >> reporter: but the now governor-elect kept trump as arm's length. instead highlighting issues such as taxes and critical race theory and parents' rights in schools p. we're going to embrace our parents, not ignore them. >> reporter: a potential road map for other republican candidates to replicate in the 2022 midterms. in new jersey, another warning sign for democrats in a state biden won by double digits. the governor's race between democratic incumbent phil murphy and republican jack ciattarelli too close to call. focusing on the economic woes felt across his state. >> i love this state. and i realize it's broken. you know it's broken, and i'm convinced. i'm convinced that together we can fix this state. >> reporter: in other races across the country, moderate democrats showing some strength. eric adams coasting to victory in the new york city mayoral race. in buffalo, mayor byrum brown declaring victory after losing the primary and launching a write-in campaign against india walton. >> we are a city where no one will be left out and no one will be left behind. >> reporter: in minneapolis, residents rejected a referendum that would have replaced the city's police department with a department of public safety. the biggest referendum, though, aimed at the biden presidency with a majority of voters saying they disapprove of the president's job performance. that along with democratic inaction leaving the party looking for a path forward. >> a lot of congressional democrats hurt terry mcauliffe. it's humbling to say it, but if we had been able to deliver infrastructure reconciliation in mid-october, he could have sold universal pre-k, affordable child care, infrastructure, creating jobs. our inability to come together and get a result hurt him. >> reporter: the governors race in the garden state is still too close for cnn to call. obviously far too close for comfort for democrats, an indication of the struggles they are facing across the country. >> sara murray reporting. let's get more on all of this. important developments. chief political correspondent dana bash is with us. chief domestic correspondent jim acosta and david chalian is watching all of this very closely. just how big of a wake-up call is this for democrats? >> it's huge. this is -- yes, it is the swinging of the pendulum of american politics, but it swung pretty convincingly last night and there are real lessons to be learned here. most specifically, democrats need to find a way to run campaigns that are focused on what voters are focused on. there seemed to be a disconnect in the way terry mcauliffe was running his campaign and what issues he was being front and center with throughout the campaign and what we saw voters say were their most important issues yesterday. the economy, jobs, and, of course, education which the republicans sort of converted into a powerful issue for him. the winner youngkin. so i think democrats can look across the board last night and say they're in a tough political environment but there's no indication that political environment is going to get better for them so they need to get back and come up with a different approach to deal with how to run in a tough political environment because that's likely what it will be next november. >> clearly that's -- you're right. dana, just a little while ago, we all heard president biden say he's not sure passing legislation in congress would have changed the outcome of the election in virginia, but while democrats have been fighting amongst themselves, did they forget the basics of this race? because americans are clearly facing rising prices at the pump, at the grocery store and they're still, obviously, dealing with covid. >> yeah, i mean, the president might not believe that the stalled agenda in congress hurt terry mcauliffe, but his foello democrat, fellow predecessor in virginia, tim kaine, you heard in sara's piece, he believes that's the answer. and so i don't think there's any reason not to listen to what he is saying. he knows virginia. he won in virginia. and he happens to be a sitting senator. and, the fact is that if you look inside what is in the democrats' agenda, there are bread and butter issues. there are issues like universal pre-k, helping with education, like, you know, child care. like other affordable help for -- health care for elderly and so on and so forth and the larger separate infrastructure bill which you can and they will tout that as a jobs bill. but that's not what we heard. what we heard in virginia was the republican is donald trump. the republican is donald trump in khakis. the republican is donald trump in a fleece vest. and that's not what the voters wanted. and if you look back, wolf, when donald trump has not been on the ballot in midterms, democrats have been successful when they push issues that the voters care about and leave donald trump out of it as much as possible. >> jim, glenn youngkin was able to navigate the trump factor in this race. is that a one-off or is this the start, do you think, of a new political dynamic for republicans? >> well, i think republicans are going to try it. other republicans are not going to be able to get away with it because they've given donald trump too much of a bear hug here. but, look, wolf, right now the republican party is caught in a riptide of disinformation. it's carrying the rest of the country out to sea. glenn youngkin, even though he held donald trump at arm's length, fully embraced trumpism. if you look at what happened in virginia, he was carpet bombing the commonwealth with disinformation. saying that critical race theory was coming into virginia schools. no it's not. he was also saying that election results need to be audited in the commonwealth of virginia. is he going to ask for his own election results to be audited? i guess we should be satisfied there's not going to be an insurrection in richmond, but that's the kind of campaign that glenn youngkin was running. at the same time, dana and david are right. democrats have big issues here. some of them are candidate issues. i was talking to a democratic operative who was close to terry mcauliffe, has worked for him for several years who said that mcauliffe made a big mistake when he made that comment about parents not being involved in their children's education. that was a huge coup for glenn youngkin. but the other thing that you have to keep in mind and remember, i'm a virginia native. james madison university. i know the terrain pretty well. if you look what happened in the red counties, bright red counties from the shenandoah valley to southwestern virginia, dana knows this because she's such a trusted veteran political correspondent, that is trump country. and democrats have not been able to make inroads in that part of virginia and those kinds of rural areas around the united states for a very long time now. i suspect that democrats may need to do a little less lecturing and more listening when it comes to those rural voters to help them get back into the good graces of those kinds of americans. >> you're right. david, and as jim just mentioned, the issue of education clearly dominated the virginia race, especially the aftermath of the awkward statement mcauliffe made about parents having no role in their kids' education, which, obviously, was played over and over and over again on every ad that the youngkin campaign put out. democrats apparently haven't yet figured out how to address the anger parents feel over these long years of covid closures, restrictions, other issues, have they? >> yeah, wolf, think about it. this is the third school year that parents are dealing with covid and their kids in school. the third consecutive school year. the exhaustion around that, the frustration around that, is palpable in any conversation with any parent of a school-age child. there's no doubt about that. and clearly, in virginia, terry mcauliffe was not able to really tap into that in some way. and what glenn youngkin did strategically and quite deftly politically, he used the issue simultaneously to excite the base and enthuse the base as jim was just mentioning about sort of the critical race theory and fox news chatter, what the trump crowd wants to hear on it. but he also gave real voice to the parents' frustration about this going on for as long as it has. and that helped win over some independents. we saw big, huge swings among independents and in the suburbs. and this is -- this had something to do with it. he was able to use it both for the base and to start winning back some folks that drifted away in the middle. >> and dana, there's no doubt -- i just want you to add no doubt democrats have to look over exactly what happened, otherwise they'll be in enormous trouble a year from now in the midterm election. >> that's exactly right. what david was just saying, wolf, about independent voters. if you -- leading into election day, we all saw the momentum that glenn youngkin had. you could feel it. you just could. so we looked at that and we felt that but we also looked at the data and the reality of where virginia has been for the past decade plus, which is rapidly moving toward the democrats. and that is still the case. so what that means is that youngkin was able to use all of the arguments that we've talked about, particularly education, particularly the bread and butter issues from grocery taxes on down to lure not just those rural republicans, because you can't win with them in -- just them in virginia. to lure independent voters in the voter rich suburbs. and as david chalian said until he's blue in the face, the modern political story, the story of our time is that the suburbs are where races and statewide races and national races are won and lost. >> that clearly was underscored yesterday in virginia. guys, thank you very, very much. coming up, so what is the best strategy for democrats now in the wake of the very disappointing election results? 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>> two different schools of thought shaping up among democrats. the house democratic leaders are pushing ahead trying to get a vote as soon as tomorrow on that large social safety net bill. $1.75 trillion. and then move on to the infrastructure package that's been awaiting action in the house for months. nancy pelosi just told her caucus that a vote could happen as soon as thursday. but that timing could slip in there. there's significant disagreements within the ranks about what should be included in this bill. an abrupt shift, nancy pelosi changed her strategy. for months she's been saying that the house would only take up a bill, the social safety net expansion that could also pass the senate. that's no longer the case. she announced she'd include four weeks of paid family leave in this proposal. even though it has the opposition of senator joe manchin who says he will not support this bill if it includes that. he's indicated he'll push to get this stripped out saying it's not the right legislative vehicle to include that. pelosi is facing criticism among some of her lone moderates who want to vote on a bill that will only pass the senate not take this vote multiple times. it's uncertain how that plays out. and one school of thought, too, that in the results after last night that they should take more time to vet these bills thoroughly and wait until having those final votes. senator joe manchin has that and is urging his caucus to slow things down. >> i am not going to speak on the message that was sent. i just think the message that was really sent, if we're going to do something, let's take time and do it right. let's make sure that people know what's in it. >> but still uncertain how quickly this will get done even though they want to have a vote this week. it may slip into next week and the senate democratic leaders want to put it on the floor as soon as the week of november 15th but it would get pushed after thanksgiving so a lot of questions, wolf, on how this ultimately plays out. >> manu, thank you very much. manu raju on capitol hill. joining us, house majority whip, the south carolina democratic representative james clyburn. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. as you just heard, president biden said he recognizes that people want their government to get things done. how much was democrats' failure to get things done responsible for last night's devastating blow to the democratic party? >> first of all, thank you very much for having me, wolf. i think all of us are aware that the people like to see their problems addressed. and there are significant problems. covid-19 has exacerbated many of those problems. and so they would like to see us get those things res resolved. i think we did a great job with the rescue act. to rescue families, getting children out of poverty and doing other things that were necessary to get families stabilized. now we have been debating for some time what we'll do about our infrastructure. people want to see their roads and bridges fixed. they want to see water and sewage developed, ports and rails repaired, and these are the kinds of things that create jobs. so people know that if you make these investments in their communities, the jobs will be created and a lot of them will have things like broadband. so we have not done it and so they want it done. and i think that a lot of what we saw yesterday, with people exasperated over that fact. >> you mentioned the infrastructure bill. the senate passed it bipartisan, 69 senators, 19 republicans voted in favor. all 50 democrats in the senate voted for it. mitch mcconnell, senate minority leader voted for it back in august. it's now november. it's still sitting in the house. was it a mistake, congressman, for house democrats to link it to the other spending plan and fail to pass that traditional infrastructure bill, $1.2 trillion creating millions of jobs, and building roads and bridges and airports. was it a mistake to kick that to the side and delay it? >> some people might think so. >> what do you think? >> here's what i think. i think that that was a pretty -- what i would call moderate and conservative piece of legislation. now there's some other things we need to do that people want to see get done. one of them is reducing the price of prescription drugs. that's not in that bill. that's in the build back better bill and that's what we're trying to do. we are trying to take care of more than one segment of the american people and, quite frankly, within our caucus, which is a diverse caucus, we have a harder job of finding common ground than you have with people who, by and large, have the same sets of experiences and backgrounds, and that is what the problem is. there are 57 african-americans in our caucus. only two in the republican conference and that is the kind of thing that makes it difficult to find common ground. >> but congressman, i understand completely what you're saying. the reconciliation package, the $1.75 trillion package has a lot of critically important issues, but it's been, what, 30 years since congress passed a traditional infrastructure package, $1.2 trillion. it would have created enormous jobs. both democratic senators in virginia, senator warner, senator kaine, both say if you had passed it in august when it came to you, it would have changed things dramatically. with hindsight, congressman, was it a mistake to keep it on the sidelines and link it to that broader package? >> as i said, some people think so. and that may be the case. but that is water under the bridge, i would say. so what we need to do now is go forward. so we can spend a lot of time saying what would happen if we had done it back then. we didn't do it back then. it is still before us now, and i think that the better part of wisdom is for us to get to common ground within the next several hours. try to pass that bill this week. both those bills this week. if we did pass both, pass the infrastructure bill. do and send the other bill over to the senate. >> because the infrastructure bill, you'll pass it, i assume, in the next day or two. that has already passed the senate. it will go to the president. he will sign it into law. the reconciliation bill. that's going to take probably weeks to go back and forth between the senate and the house, right? >> that's correct. we'll send it to the senate. they'll have their vote-a-rama which might last until far beyond thanksgiving. and maybe we'll get something out of them before the end of the year. and that's just the way the senate operates as opposed to the way that we operate. and these are the kinds of things that the american people don't understand. when we passed this bill, they're going to be looking for something to get done about prescription drugs because we'll have passed it in the house, but it won't get done until it's agreed to by the senate. and i do know there's some people over there that may see it differently. >> at least the infrastructure bill, the traditional infrastructure bill, correct me if i'm wrong, will become very quickly the law of the land, right? >> yes, it will. i'm sure the president will sign it as soon as it arrives at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> i'm sure he will. i'm sure he would have signed it in august when it first came to the house of representatives as well. congressman, good luck. i know you've got a lot going on. we always appreciate your joining us. >> thank you very much for having me. coming up -- children aged 5 to 11 here in the united states now eligible for the pfizer covid vaccine. but many parents are voicing concerns. we're going to address them with one of our medical experts when we come back. slam, pan, still...fresh move, move, move, move aaaaand still fresh. degree. ultimate freshness activated when you move. ♪ ♪ for deb, living with constipation with belly pain was the same old story for years. trying this. doing that. spending countless days right here. still came the belly pain, discomfort, and bloating. awful feelings she kept sugar-coating. finally, with the help of her doctor, it came to be. that her symptoms were all signs of ibs-c. and that's why she said yess to adding linzess. linzess is not a laxative. it helps you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. and is proven to help relieve overall abdominal symptoms belly pain,discomfort, and bloating. do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. could your story also be about ibs-c? talk to your doctor and say yess to linzess. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. a major milestone in the fight against covid-19. the first of 28 million american children are now receiving a first dose of the pfizer vaccine after the cdc endorsed the recommendation of its advisory panel. joining us to discuss, dr. ashish jha, the dean of the brown university school of public health. dr. jha, thanks for joining us. the problem is only 27% of parents want to vaccinate their children right away while 33% want to wait and see what happens. as a doctor and as a parent yourself, doctor jha, what do you say to parents who want to wait before getting their kids vaccinated? >> so good afternoon. thanks for having me. i do want to get my 9-year-old vaccinated right away. and i'm excited to do that because i think it's the right thing for him. what i say to people who are not so sure is i explain my logic of why i think vaccines clearly protect children against covid and it's much, much better for them to be vaccinated than to unfortunately get covid. but for people who have lingering questions, it's straight forward. talk to their pediatrician, family practitioner. talk to people who have been taking care of their kids and get advice from them. >> which would be really, really important. but what do you say to parents, dr. jha who are worried about what could be unknown long-term side effects from the vaccine? we've heard concerns over all sorts of things, but fertility, for example. >> yeah, so what i remind people is that the history of vaccines, we have never seen a side effect show up more than about eight weeks out after people have gotten vaccinated. there is no such sort of thing as a vaccine side effect that shows up five years later. it doesn't happen. it's not how vaccines work. but we do know that there are real long-term effects of covid. and those we're still sorting out. so we know the safety profile of these vaccines quite well. there's no effect whatsoever on fertility. that is a piece of misinformation that gets brought up on every vaccine. we have given vaccines to almost 4 billion people in the world. they're very, very safe. >> are there any children, dr. jha, who shouldn't receive a covid vaccine? >> well, there are people who might have a severe allergic reaction to some of the ingredients, so that's a place where if you have a very specific allergy to those very specific ingredients, talk to your pediatrician. those are extremely rare. and again, they're just, not for general allergies but allergies to specific ingredients in the vaccine. other than that, everybody benefits from the vaccine. >> what about children who have already recovered from covid? should they get the vaccine? and if yes, when should they be vaccinated? >> this is a really good question. and the cdc is arguing, and i agree with this, that those kids should still get vaccinated. i think it's reasonable to wait a little bit of time. so if you want to wait up to 90 days after the child has been infected and recovered, that would be reasonable because you still have a very high degree of immunity. the problem of natural infection is that you do see a waning of that immunity over time. and so it's really important that those kids still get vaccinated. maybe three months or so after their initial infection. >> very important information as usual from dr. ashish jha. thank you very much for joining us. just ahead -- minneapolis voters soundly reject the controversial ballot measure that would have replaced the city police with a department of public safety. we're taking a closer look at what message voters are sending about law enforcement. and get back to your rhythm. feel the power. beat the symptoms fast. the election results make it clear voters in both parties care about and support law enforcement. former police captain eric adams easily won new york city's race for mayor. in minneapolis, a large majority turned down a ballot measure that would have replaced the city police with what they called a department of public safety. let's take a closer look right now at what's going on. baltimore's former police commissioner anthony barksdale is joining us and errol lewis is with us as well. errol, in new york, eric adams ran a law and order campaign, touted his credentials as a former police officer but also talked about his own personal experience with police brutality and he ran on reforming the police force. where does someone like him fit into the broader democratic party right now? >> well, if we're lucky, we'll have a more adult conversation within the democratic party and everywhere else about the proper role of policing. that's really what the adams victory signals. this is somebody who spent 22 years in the nypd but also was a vocal critic even while in the nypd. this is stuff anybody can look up. some of the major litigation against the department over abusive stop and frisk tactics was opposed publicly by eric adams while in the police department. and it was that combination of credibility when it comes to actually fighting crime, and he strapped on a bulletproof vest and gun and went out in the streets every night, and real reform credentials. that's what made the difference in the democratic primary and carried him to victory last night. >> good point. anthony, what do you make of the fact that minneapolis, a city that we all know was traumatized by the murder of george floyd, resoundingly voted down a measure to replace the police department with a so-called department of public safety. >> i think that it shows the citizens are watching the crime. they see what's happening in their communities, and they're tired. so if you just want to get rid of the police department, what are you going to do? who is going to do the job of the police? how effective will it be? so i believe that it's a vote to say, we need officers. just treat us right. we'll stick with them, but you have to improve. >> yeah, you have to protect people out there. errol, how much of a setback was last night for what's called the defund the police movement? >> well, look, it's a corrective to the defund the police movement, which properly speaking, if you think about it, wolf, really should have been called the reconfigure the police or unbundle the police. the reality is, if the george floyd killing represents anything, it represents the idea that you don't need a squad of men with guns to go investigate the possibility passing of a $20 counterfeit bill. some things the cops don't need to be involved in. they should be chasing down scary criminals, people carrying guns and using guns and robbing banks and selling drugs. when it comes to emotionally disturbed persons, squabbles on a playground between kids, passing a $20 counterfeit bill, there are other agencies that need to do it. and so defunding is not about the dollars. it really should be about reorganizing police departments to do what we need them to do with deadly force when it's called for. and not so much of everything else. it's tricky. it's an adult conversation. it involves skillful management and leadership from the political class. and in many cases we just haven't had that. >> what do you think, anthony? >> i think he's 100% spot on. there are a lot of things you can take away from the police right now. take it off their plate. but they still have to deal with violent criminals with guns out there shooting, killing people, robbing. the police have to deal with that. we look at the increase in homicides in 2020 versus 2019. 30% increase in homicides. the police must get back to policing, but they have to treat the community the right way with dignity and respect. get them back to working again. >> anthony barksdale, errol lewis, thanks to you as well. coming up, new questions right now of possible sabotage in the deadly shooting on the set of the alec baldwin movie "rust." did someone deliberately put a live bullet in a box that was supposed to contain blanks? when traders tell us how to make thinkorswim even better, we listen. ♪ ♪ because platforms this innovative, aren't just made for traders - they're made by them. thinkorswim trading. from td ameritrade. to make progress, we must keep taking steps forward. we believe the future of energy is lower carbon. and to get there, the world needs to reduce global emissions. at chevron, we're taking action. tying our executives' pay to lowering the carbon emissions intensity of our operations. it's tempting to see how far we've come. but it's only human... to know how far we have to go. in 2016, i was working at the amazon warehouse when my brother passed away. and a couple of years later, my mother passed away. after taking care of them, i knew that i really wanted to become a nurse. amazon helped me with training and tuition. today, i'm a medical assistant and i'm studying to become a registered nurse. in filipino: you'll always be in my heart. 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(woman) yeah, y-you did. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. finally yasso! a ridiculously creamy, crunchy, chocolatey dipped ice cream experience with 25% less calories because it's made with greek yogurt. so, thanks for everything ice cream, but we'll take it from here. yasso audaciously delicious one of the most important things you can do is to make sure you call 811 before you dig. calling 811 to get your lines marked: it's free, it's easy, we come out and mark your lines, we provide you the information so you will dig safely. new developments in the investigation into the deadly shooting on the set of the alec baldwin movie "rust." nick watt is working the story for us. a lawyer for the young woman who was in charge of weapons on the set is now raising the possibility that the gun that baldwin fired had been sabotaged with a live bullet. what's the latest? >> well, wolf, that is a pretty bold accusation to be throwing around, and so far we've had no proof from the lawyer for that armorer. we are still waiting, of course, for the fbi analysis and for the local sheriff's incident report. both of which might give us some facts and shed a little bit more light on just what happened nearly two weeks ago. >> the armorer on the set of rust is in the spotlight. her lawyer now claims this could have been sabotage. >> there was a box of dummy rounds and the box is labeled "dummy." she loaded rounds from that box into the handgun. >> but, of course, we now know the round was live, fired by alec baldwin, killing cinematographer halyna hutchins. >> we are assuming someone put the live round in that box. i believe someone who would do that would want to sabotage the set, would want to prove a point and say they're disgruntled and unhappy. >> no comment on that theory from the sheriff's office. meanwhile, a crew member who resigned the day before hutchins died he's talking. >> i think with "rust" it was the perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director and the culture on set and the rushing. >> luke sent an e-mail to producers. during the filming of gunfights on this job things are often played very fast and loose, he said. so far there have been two accidental weapons discharges. luper lambasted lax covid restrictions and lack of accommodations for the group. >> a lack of rehearsals and preparing the crew for what we were doing that day. >> the budget and safety is patently false. it is truly awful to see some using this tragedy for personal gain. baldwin, producer and star said he can't comment on the investigation, but shared what looked like comments from the film's costume designer with the instruction read this, it reads in part, the story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is b.s. >> now, we haven't been able to reach that costume designer for comment, but we have seen another resignation e-mail from another crew member who quit. i also feel anxious on set, he wrote, and went on saying that the assistant director, quote, rushes so quickly that props hasn't even had a chance to bring earplugs and he rolls and the actors fire anyway. wolf? >> nick, thank you very much. nick watt with the latest on that front. meanwhile, a very disturbing warning from the pentagon saying in a major new study that china is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and could have as many as 1,000 warheads by the end of the decade. our pentagon correspondent orrin lieberman is with us. >> how alarming is this report? >> it is concerning not only on the nuclear stockpile and how fast china is modernizing and expanding that and also in the long term. the 2021 power report which looks at chinese actions over the course of the last year says it could go from the low 200s in the nuclear stockpile they have now to 1,000 by 2030. that's not the only concerning part and it's the speed with which they're modern iedizing. general mark milley put it best when he spoke earlier today. >> we are witnessing in my view, we are witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power and it only happens once in a wheel. china's broader goals as they've stated before from their leadership is that by 2049. so by the midpoint of this century china aims to subplant u.s. global influence, replacing u.s. alliances in the region and around the globe with their own. 2049 is the 100th anniversary of the people, focuses on that goal with intermediate deadlines, wolf? >> orrin, this report comes in the middle of heightened tensions between china and taiwan. is there concern over china's plans for this expanded arsenal? >> absolutely. china in the past has stated for decades now that it wants a lean and effective nuclear stockpile, but obviously, 1,000 nukes would be well beyond that. it also puts into question the stated no-use policy with some exceptions to that where there would be a first-use policy and there are other warning signs, as well. a report from the federation of american scientists says china is building out a number of missile fields and missile silo fields in the western part of the country and it's intent by 2027 and it's one of the intermediate deadlines or interim deadlines and modernization deadlines. blockading the island or an am fibius assault. >>yia. lots going on indeed. very worrisome. orrin leishman, thank you very much for that report. >> there's more breaking news coming up in the situation room. president biden reel after deeply disappointing election results and worry about what it results and worry about what it means for next year's midterms. results and worry about what it means for next year's midterms. but with the new law, i found an affordable plan and only pay $47 a month. actually, a friend of mine recommended healthcare.gov and now we're paying less than $60 a month for coverage. i was skeptical at first, but it is real. i'm covered with no monthly payment. new law. lower prices. more people qualify. at healthcare.gov ♪ someday you'll be better than your grandpa. - you try it. - i don't know what to draw? it doesn't matter what. just... a line. throw yourself in. ♪ don't be frustrated! okay. ♪ show me what you got there. ♪ wow... absolutely beautiful. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. happening now, breaking news. president biden just responded to the warning voters sent to him and his party. he admits a key piece of his agenda should have passed before the election, but he's declining to take responsibility for the democrats' disappointing night. we are also following all of the political fallout from the republican victory in the virginia governor's race and the razor-close contest for new jersey governor that's still playing out tonight. also this hour, young children are finally getting covid-19 vaccines after the cdc gave the final green light. what will it mean for the pandemic now that nearly 95% of all americans are actually eligible to get a shot? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. we begin this hour with president biden speaking out as election night results are giving democrats nightmares about the future and triggering finger-pointing within the party. let's go to our chief national correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, we heard from the president just a little while ago and he was askedf