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Judge To Decide If Trump's Niece Can Speak About New Book; Trump Retweets Tweet That CDC Is Lying About Virus (Without Proof); Brazil Nears Two Million New Coronavirus Cases. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 13, 2020 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[07:30:43]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today, a judge in New York is expected to decide if Mary Trump, the president's niece, will be allowed to talk about her tell-all book about Donald Trump. She has been gagged, thus far, from promoting it, though the book will be released tomorrow.

Joining us now is CNN chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. Jeffrey, great to see you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR (via Cisco Webex): Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So, why can she publish the book but she can't talk about it?

TOOBIN: Because there -- well, she can -- because of this court order. But frankly, this court order is outrageous because there is a deeply-held principle in American law that there should be no prior restraints. You should not stop people from speaking, stop people from publishing under virtually any circumstances.

Now, the problem that she faces, potentially, is if she violated her non-disclosure agreement -- and we don't know if she did -- she could have to pay damages, and that would be appropriate.

But stopping her from speaking is something that's really counter to the First Amendment and how the courts work. So I anticipate that at this point, the judge will say well, she can speak but she may have to live with the consequences.

CAMEROTA: Speaking of being prevented from speaking, Michael Cohen, the president's longtime fixer and personal attorney, was ferried back to federal prison this weekend. Is it because he refused to sign a document saying that he would not publish a book or that he would not speak to the media?

TOOBIN: Well, that's certainly what his lawyers say. And, you know, when you go to prison you give up certain rights, obviously. When you are on parole you give up certain rights. Well, the question in the Cohen case is is he being singled out for

special treatment for being -- is he being told that he can't speak because it may damage President Trump? That would be wrong. That would be counter to the First Amendment.

If he's being treated like everyone else, then I don't think he'd a have a ground to complain. The question is is this restriction on his speech something that everyone gets or is it just to protect the president. That's something that's very important to know.

CAMEROTA: What's the answer?

TOOBIN: I don't know. I mean, I think we need to hear more from the Bureau of Prisons. We need to hear -- you know, just more facts. What are the requirements that are imposed on all citizens?

I mean, this is an unusual situation because she -- he was released because of the virus. This wasn't like a normal parole release. So, I mean, it's an unusual situation but it's also an unusual restriction.

I mean, remember, going -- Martin Luther King wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail." A lot of people write things in prison that ultimately get published.

And there's a real question here about whether Michael Cohen is being singled out because he's critical of the president. That's something that we need to know.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, as far as the reporting I've seen there's no standard probation form that includes language about not being able to speak to the press.

TOOBIN: And -- but if that's the case and if there is something that's being -- that is just designed to silence Michael Cohen, that would be inappropriate and probably unlawful.

You know, the problem for Michael Cohen is that he has to litigate this from back in prison.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

TOOBIN: And, you know, that's a -- I mean, it's just a disastrous situation for him, needless to say.

CAMEROTA: And then if you look at the split-screen of Roger Stone -- whose sentence was commuted for seven felonies and he was commuted by the president, as you know, late on Friday -- and Michael Cohen going back to prison. At the moment, we're told he's in solitary confinement because of having to quarantine. And so, Roger Stone is free to say whatever he wants, it appears.

[07:35:00]

TOOBIN: Well, and not only that, while Roger Stone was out on bail he threatened the judge. He put out a social media post that had a -- like a bullet target by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. He almost had his bail revoked. So it wasn't like he was a model citizen out when he was -- when he was out on bail, and doing so publicly.

So, I mean, the contrast between the two -- I mean, there's no allegation that Michael Cohen behaved inappropriately in prison. All he did, apparently, was write a book.

But, you know, it's the whole story with how the president and the Justice Department have treated the president's enemies and how they've treated their friends. You know, Michael Flynn gets his conviction overturned, Roger Stone gets a commutation. You know, the whole Russia investigation is now under investigation, itself, by the Justice Department.

But, Michael Cohen, who is an enemy of the president, gets locked up, apparently. And we'll see whether it's, appropriately, simply because he wrote a book.

CAMEROTA: OK. We'll also see what the judge decides about Mary Trump and what she can talk about.

TOOBIN: It's an important thing. I mean, you know, people don't realize how unusual prior restraints are and how inappropriate and wrong they are. The idea of telling someone you can't talk, you can publish a book is really counter to all of American First Amendment law.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much.

TOOBIN: All right.

CAMEROTA: President Trump just retweeted a tweet that claims, without any proof, that the CDC is lying about the coronavirus. Why is the president doing this? Why is this his focus?

We discuss with a former Republican lawmaker, next.

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[07:40:53]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking moments ago, the President of the United States just promoted a statement from game show host Chuck Woolery saying that the CDC is lying about coronavirus. And this follows the coordinated White House attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci.

So let this sink in for a moment. What we have here is Chuck Woolery versus Anthony Fauci. As an expert just whispered in my ear, this could not humanly get stupider.

On the one hand, you have science and the nation's leading infectious disease expert. On the other hand, you have the former host of the "LOVE CONNECTION." And the president is going with the "LOVE CONNECTION" guy.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator and former Republican congressman, Charlie Dent. Charlie, it would be laughable if not for the fact that 135,000 people have died.

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (via Cisco Webex): Yes, John, sometimes you just have to call crazy when you see it. This is completely inexplicable.

Why would the President of the United States want to undermine the CDC and the NIH for that matter -- the crown jewels of the American public health and medical research system? There's no explanation for it.

It's in the president's interest to make sure these organizations are strong and robustly funded and able to answer the nation's questions and he's doing everything he can, it seems, to undermine it. It just defies logic. It's just simply crazy, John.

CAMEROTA: Charlie, Chuck Woolery? Chuck Woolery is who the President of the United States wants Americans to listen to this morning instead of the man with the decades' long resume of fighting diseases -- deadly diseases like this?

I mean, the idea that the White House is putting out this opposition research against Dr. Fauci, who they say has made mistakes -- yes, early on he didn't get it 100 percent right, but he never told Americans to inject bleach.

DENT: Yes, and look, let's be honest about this. Dr. Fauci is an infectious disease expert, public health expert. He has not been well- schooled in the art of bootlicking and sycophancy and that's really the whole problem here that he is just -- he's -- Dr. Fauci is blunt, he's direct.

I had the privilege of working with him. I was on the Appropriations Committee. I was responsible -- on the subcommittee -- dealing with his department -- with the NIH and the CDC, and they gave us unvarnished answers. That's what we expect them to do. They're professionals, they're not politicians.

So, again, you just have to call crazy when you see it. And the president expects people -- I guess, to work in the White House and many of these political jobs, a prerequisite is to be a bootlicker and Fauci is not. And so, they're attacking him. I mean, undermining his own people is beyond belief.

BERMAN: I don't see how this saves lives. I don't see this as evidence that the president wants to save lives. And, in fact, I see this the opposite.

Let me ask you a question, Chuck -- sorry, Charlie. I shouldn't call you Chuck.

Could Chuck Woolery get Senate confirmation now to a job in the administration? And I'm not even being facetious because where is the Republican Party in checking this right now? The president could nominate Chuck Woolery to an important job tomorrow and he could very well be confirmed.

DENT: Well, John, I've been saying for some time the GOP is going to have to start thinking about where it's going post-Trump, post- Trumpism because this presidency could end pretty quickly.

And the party is going to have to get to a place where it becomes much more socially sensible, socially tolerant, and more constructively engaged internationally. And, you know, it's important to regulate more free markets.

We're in a -- it's in a very bad place and I -- it would -- it would -- I would shudder to think that a guy like Chuck here could -- Chuck Woolery could somehow be confirmed to just about anything. I mean, he's a game show -- what, he was a host of some T.V. show that I've never watched in my life, to be honest with you, and I just don't think that qualifies him for much of anything.

[07:45:05]

I can't imagine -- I would hope that the GOP would never have confirmed somebody as unqualified as him.

CAMEROTA: Well, he does try and make love connections, which we need right now.

But, Charlie, I think that the larger point is that with so many people dying in Florida, in Texas, in Alabama, Arkansas, with hospitals reaching capacity, are you seeing a shift among people who have been really -- Republicans who have been dedicated President Trump supporters at this point?

DENT: Well, as we move closer to the election many of these members are going to have to find some separation between themselves and the president, and it might be too late for many of them now.

But there's no question -- I've spoken with many Republican members in the House and the Senate and they are very concerned about this coronavirus and they're doing what they can. And they see the president constantly stepping on their messages, doing things that are harming not only -- not only their constituents but harming them politically.

So I think there's a great deal of frustration and anger within the Republican ranks about the president. I just wish more of them would speak up, just as Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey did.

And by the way, the president just called Pat Toomey a RINO. He was head of the Club for Growth. I mean, the whole world has been turned upside down. I mean, you're a RINO if you simply don't agree with the president.

There was a time when guys like me were called RINOs because we weren't doctrinaire enough on certain policy matters. And now, it's just about whether or not you are 100 percent behind the president.

BERMAN: You're a football -- I'm going to change the subject quickly here because I know, Congressman, you're a football fan -- an NFC East fan, too -- a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

And the Washington football team announced overnight that they are going to change their name. Finally, they are going to change their name. I want to know your reaction to this.

DENT: Well, I always kind of stayed out of that fight. But, you know, I know they've talked about dropping Washington from their name -- OK, that's a good one -- or go back to the Deadskins because they haven't been playing well.

But on a serious note, it seems like you would never name a team the Redskins in today's era. So I think it's probably right that they change the name even though there's a lot of history. And I don't think it was bad intent but it's just not the greatest name.

If I were the Redskins I'd probably want to move on and find some name more acceptable. And I certainly hope we have a season.

BERMAN: Charlie Dent, it is always a pleasure to have you on. Thanks so much for being with us today.

DENT: Thanks, John. Thanks, Alisyn.

BERMAN: All right, Brazil quickly approaching two million coronavirus cases. That's the second-highest total in the world. We have a live report with new concern for the most vulnerable people in that country, next.

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[07:51:21]

BERMAN: The number-two virus hotspot in the world, Brazil, is nearing two million coronavirus cases. The country's indigenous people are dying at an alarming rate amid a battle for their land and their lives.

CNN's Bill Weir live in Brazil for us this morning with much more on that. Good morning, Bill.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Yes, as you can imagine, it is a very different experience battling COVID-19 if you're one of the original Brazilians, as opposed to the elites running the country now. Certainly, a very different experience for most of the 200 million Brazilians compared to their president.

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WEIR (voice-over): A long lens found Brazil's most famous COVID-19 patient up and about this weekend, and this Twitter selfie was part of a post that informed the nation they are on the verge of recession, as he called for families to depoliticize the pandemic after so much, quote, "misinformation was used as a weapon."

To his critics, that is outrageous, since President Bolsonaro often defied a judge's order to wear a mask in public, and pushed out two health ministers who disagreed with him. Who only now has a team of doctors and his own palace ICU at the ready, hospitals across his country are jammed. Here in the geographic center of Brazil, a husband and wife suffer in adjoining beds. A son comforts his ailing father. And their doctor is still regaining his strength after 10 days in intensive care.

DR. WILSON VILELA, DOCTOR: So today, my boss, her (ph) boss, is inside with the ventilation, with tube.

WEIR (on camera): Really?

VILELA: Yes. Be better --

WEIR (on camera): Oh my gosh.

VILELA: -- and not respond to chloroquine.

WEIR (voice-over): Chloroquine is among the cheap, abundant anti- malarial drugs pushed by Bolsonaro as a COVID cure, along with vitamins, steroids, and medication for parasitic worms. Dr. Vilela says he's tried them all with wildly mixed results.

VILELA: I don't know what to do -- what I do.

WEIR (on camera): Right.

VILELA: Water.

WEIR (on camera): Yes, water.

VILELA: Yes, Yes.

WEIR (on camera): You have very little -- you're trying everything you can, right?

VILELA: Yes, yes.

WEIR (on camera): Yes.

VILELA: It's a -- it's a new disease.

WEIR (on camera): Yes.

VILELA: It's a new -- it's a new pandemic so we don't have things to do.

WEIR (on camera): Right.

WEIR (voice-over): He says it's even more challenging treating the indigenous Brazilians who once had this edge of the Amazon to themselves but are now surrounded by farms and ranchers.

A soybean trucker first brought COVID-19 to this region and it is tearing through a community already struggling with vulnerable immune systems, diabetes, and a deep mistrust of the outside world.

CRISANTO RUCZO TSEREMEYWA, PRESIDENT, MATO GROSS INDIGENOUS FOUNDATION: (Speaking foreign language). WEIR (voice-over): "I would like Jair Bolsonaro to stop talking stupid nonsense," Crisanto Ruczo Tseremeywa tell me. "The doctors have to prescribe, not the president. His government did not take prevention seriously. It did not prepare."

The indigenous leader was on a ventilator when his mother died of COVID-19.

TSEREMEYWA: (Speaking foreign language).

WEIR (voice-over): "We have a very strong spirituality, so she was there and took my hand and told me that I'll get out of this to take care of my people. Five days later, my father died."

As the pandemic spread, Brazil's Congress passed a bill that would provide clean water, disinfectant, and hospital beds for this country's 850,000 indigenous natives. Last week, those efforts were vetoed by Jair Bolsonaro.

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[07:55:07]

WEIR: Now, the Congress can't override that veto but it's such a grim state of affairs. Officially, there's about 14,000 indigenous Brazilians infected right now, with close to 500 deaths. But it's likely those numbers, like the rest of the country, are woefully unreported due to a really, really dire lack of testing here, John.

CAMEROTA: I'll take it, Bill. That was -- what a remarkable story and just hearing from that man who lost both parents. Thank you very much for all of that.

A growing outbreak of coronavirus at U.S. military bases in Japan. CNN has reporters covering the pandemic around the world for you.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.

More than 35,000 U.S. Marines and their family members stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa are now under virtual lockdown after at least 94 U.S. personnel tested positive for coronavirus. Now, Okinawa hadn't seen any confirmed cases for more than two months.

The Japanese governor of the island says he's shocked. He's expressing doubt about the infection prevention measures that the U.S. has adopted against the pandemic until now.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

Now, the World Health Organization has sent a two-member team to China to set up a probe to look into the origins of the novel coronavirus. Now, they are experts in animal health and epidemiology. We also know that they're out to determine the agenda and scope of a broader investigation, so this is still very much early on in the process.

And while in China, they will try to answer two very key questions. Number one, we know that the virus exists in bats, but did it go through an intermediate species or another animal host? And number two, how did the virus make that leap from animals to humans?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem where some of the major numbers here are going in the wrong direction. Coronavirus cases are surging with more than 1,000 new cases most days over the past week.

Meanwhile, unemployment is also rising, hitting 21 percent this week, according to the Israel Employment Service. And perhaps because of that, the protests are growing. Thousands turned out in Tel Aviv for a protest against the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and the economic fallout. Some people holding signs that said "Economic War" and "Free the Money."

One number that is falling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval rating for handling of the coronavirus crisis. It stood in the mid-70s in mid-May; it's now below 50 percent and appears to be on pace to keep falling.

Meanwhile, the situation not much better in the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority has extended closures on some of the major cities there to try to keep COVID-19 under control.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: I'm Vedika Sud in New Delhi.

According to India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, over 800,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, of which over 300,000 cases remain active. India has also recorded its biggest single-day jump in COVID-19 numbers with over 28,700 new infections being reported on Sunday.

Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, along with his actor son, has been hospitalized after being tested positive for COVID-19. Bachchan's daughter-in-law, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and her 8-year-old daughter have also been infected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Our thanks to all of our correspondents there.

And, NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida continues to grapple with skyrocketing daily COVID numbers and hospitalizations.

MAYOR CARLOS GIMENEZ (R), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: Ventilator usage has gone up also. We still have capacity, but it does cause me a lot of concern.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TESTING CZAR: We are all very concerned about the rise in cases, but we are in a much better place. This is not out of control.

MAYOR KATE GALLEGO (D), PHOENIX: We continue to have a real challenge with testing. We are setting records of the type you don't want to set.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Educators across the country are trying to find a way to get students back in classrooms safely.

BETSY DEVOS, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: There is nothing in the data that would suggest that kids being back in school is dangerous to them.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We all want our children to go back to school, but they must go back safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And honestly, this day is already messed up in ways that are just deeply concerning. We have new records in cases and new records in inanity. The pandemic has set new records and the president, this morning, is promoting the medical advance of Chuck Woolery, the game show host.

Florida just shattered the single-day record for positive cases -- more than 15,000 cases. No state has had that many cases in a single day since this all began. That, by the way, is more cases than South Korea has reported since the start of the pandemic, in total -- the whole country over six months combined.

This morning, 35 states -- all the states you are seeing there in red.

END