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Georgia County School Plan; Trump to Give Convention Speech from the White House; Trump talks Vote Counting; "On The Trial" Begins Tomorrow. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 05, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:57]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we've talked a lot about whether children should go back to school. What about teachers? A school district in Georgia has decided to begin the school year with the kids at home, briefly, but teachers back in the school building. What happens when they're all together?

Joining us now is Amy Forehand. She's a first grade teacher in the Gwinnett County School District.

Amy, great to have you here with us.

So let me just get this straight. You have been back in the classroom preparing. It's just the teachers in Gwinnett County right through. But soon -- you're a first grade teacher -- August 26th, the first graders are going to be coming back into the classroom.

Are you prepared for that?

AMY FOREHAND, FIRST GRADE TEACHER, GWINNETT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, GEORGIA: Thank you so much for having me.

Wow, that's a really loaded question, are we prepared for that?

You're correct, we have been working on digital plans. Teachers have been in the building. And we were notified yesterday that the county is going to proceed with starting to allow kindergarten students and first grade students back into the building August 26th.

This came as a big surprise to us. So up until now we have been doing and preparing to go virtual. So we're going to have to pivot.

CAMEROTA: And so what are you worried about?

FOREHAND: I have a lot of fears. The community spread is still very high. I have asthma. My two-year-old son is showing indications he, as well, has asthma. And I'm worried even bringing in just kindergarten and first grade students, that's a very large population at my school. To give you an idea, there are eight first grade teachers. So even if we have a couple of classrooms that are going digital, we're still going to have a large number of students in the building at the same time. And there is no social distancing on school buses.

So, yes, I know fears and anxiety are really high right now as we are trying to contemplate what this is going to look like for our students and for us and our safety.

CAMEROTA: Is the physical space of your school prepared for this? Do you have desks placed far apart? Do you have extra -- you know, sanitation stations, all of those things we've heard about?

FOREHAND: No. My principal has been wonderful and said she was going to follow-up with the district to see if we could get desks. At this point in time, I have 24 beautiful six-year-olds on my roster and I have six tables. That does not allow for social distancing. School buses, we've been told, just due to logistics, there is no social distancing. Our main hallway, the way our school is laid out, we can't even have one way directions in the hallway. And there is a very large number of students that will be coming back shortly that we will be cramming in a very small area.

So these are concerns that teachers are worried about. It's already hard to socially distance when it's just adults. And then when you add children into the mix, it just complicates things and adds another level of anxiety.

CAMEROTA: What do you say to parents who say, I pay taxes in this district. I want my kids in the public school. I have a job. I need my kids back in that public school. Teachers, do your job. What do you say to them?

FOREHAND: I want to say, I understand. I love my job. No teacher they I know wants to do digital learning. That's not why we signed up for this profession. Staring at a computer screen, I get it, that's not ideal. But right now I am actually afraid for my life. And I'm not going to be able to teach any children if I am having to take extended medical leave or if I die.

[08:35:03]

And so while I want to empathize with parents, I just want to say that I understand your concerns but please know that we love our jobs and we love your children. And we want them back as quickly in the classroom as possible, but not until it's safe. Safe for them and safe for us.

CAMEROTA: Amy, we only have about ten seconds left, but what are you going to do? You have a decision to make.

FOREHAND: I do. At the moment, my husband and I are not comfortable with me returning in these situations -- in this circumstance. I am plan for the worst, but I am very optimistic that we can figure something out where maybe we go virtual again. I'm not giving up hope. Not yet.

CAMEROTA: Amy Forehand, thanks for explaining just your personal experience and all of your thought process with us. We'll be watching to see what happens. Stay healthy. We really appreciate you. FOREHAND: Thank you. Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: OK, President Trump just made more baseless claims about the upcoming election in a live television interview. We'll bring you the headlines, next.

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[08:40:05]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news, President Trump just announced where he is likely to give his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination. You'll remember the Republican Convention was going to be in North Carolina and then in Jacksonville, Florida, and then back in North Carolina.

Well, moments ago, the president just announced that he will likely give his acceptance speech at the White House.

Joining us now, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash, senior national correspondent Kyung Lah and White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Dana Bash, that's going to be problematic.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I don't even know where to start.

Yes, there -- there is a law called The Hatch Act where it says that you're not supposed to politic from government grounds. The president is exempt from that. So there may be legal grounds for him to stand on, relatively firmly, to do this at the White House. There are questions about the aides that are working for him to do it.

But let's just talk about whether it is appropriate. And I know a lot of people are going to laugh saying, appropriate, that ship sailed a long time ago. But this is different. This is the president of the United States accepting a political party's nomination for re- election. And to use the back drop of the White House, the power of the incumbency, takes the kind of meshing of the two to the whole nother level and that might have been a trial balloon to see whether it floats or bombs. And we'll see what happens with that, John.

CAMEROTA: Why wouldn't he do that? If it's not against the law, we know he breaks norms. He's a norm breaker. He prides himself on breaking norms. If it's not against the law, what would stop the president and his team from doing that?

BASH: Probably nothing. That -- I mean you're exactly right, why not? I mean, you know, he -- he throws political Hail Mary's all the time and the thing that would be stopping him from doing that is whether it's appropriate and whether he would feel shame for doing something that is inappropriate. And he's shown no evidence that that is something that has stopped him in the past.

BERMAN: Historically, it would be inappropriate. Very inappropriate. And it would be very difficult to have a single staffer who could actually do something like set up the teleprompter there because they would be in violation of it.

I'm with you, Dana, I think this is a trial balloon. I have a hard time believing it will come to pass.

Kaitlan Collins, more from the president just moments ago. The president has been attacking mail-in balloting unless it comes in a state where a Republican is governor. And moments ago he said -- there's concern among senior citizens to vote in person, by the way, and the poll workers, by the way, because they are, by and large, the majority of people who work in polling locations. The president just said that he didn't see that as a problem come November because he thinks the virus will be in a very good place by then. This sounds, Kaitlan, a little bit like the president who said that the virus was going to go away in March.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes. And that's only three months from now is when the election is and the president is expressing this optimism that he thinks by then people will be able to go, stand in line, wait, be around others, be in proximity to others and be able to vote. And that is really not something you're hearing from many other people, if anyone else outside of the president's circle at all, because they have voiced that very concern.

And that was how the question was posed to the president. These are the people who are the same age as you. They are in an at-risk category for this. And so the concern is for them going to vote.

But the president is dismissing that. And what really is notable about what the president is saying, by November, saying he thinks things are going to be looking good by then, none of his own health experts have said that. And, actually, their concern is how bad things could be by November because what they're worried about is the flu season happening at the same time that you are seeing the pandemic still going on. And, of course, even the rosiest projections about a vaccine do not have one by November to where it's distributed to people. So that's why people have been trying to make provisions for mail-in voting, for alternatives to voting so people can still cast their vote but also not have to worry about risking their lives to go do so.

And so that's why it's been so notable, the president pushing back, raising all these concerns without any kind of basis about mail-in voting is that some people say, well, if you're so concerned about getting the ballots counted, about this being an efficient and fast process, why don't you give states the resources so they can start preparing now? And that's a question that the White House has not been able to answer.

CAMEROTA: Oh, yes, Kyung, the president does not think this is going to be a fast process. He just said another eyebrow-raising dozy. He thinks that we may not know the results of the November election for years.

[08:45:06] KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. For years. That is extraordinarily unlikely in talking to -- especially here in California where it has taken a little time to count mail-in ballots. It take days. At the most it's taken a couple of weeks. So, year, extraordinarily unlikely.

So in many of the states, especially out here in the west, where a lot of voters like mail-in voting, like absentee voting, they are accustomed to perhaps having to wait a little while, especially when you look at the congressional races, some of the local races, district attorney. I takes a little while. So it's something, at least here in California, and some of the other western states, that they're accustomed to.

Years is something that is very difficult to understand because that has not happened.

BERMAN: No. It won't take years. And as you note in California, it does take some time, a week or sometimes two. But the votes get counted, which is what really matters out there.

Dana, Kyung, Kaitlan, stick around for a moment. We have more breaking news from the president. And, also, much more on a remarkable project that the three of you are involved in. We'll have a preview on that, next.

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[08:50:22]

CAMEROTA: We are back with Dana Bash, Kyung Lah and Kaitlan Collins. They are part of a new project called "On The Trail."

Here's a little preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: When I got my job on air, I was 31. And that still felt young to me. I went on the road. I worked my butt off. By the time I got to really focusing on having a family, it was so hard.

The idea of having kids late, it just kind of happens to a lot of women in my business. It's not intentional.

I know how hard it is to be a woman in this business. You can have it all, but not always at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: It looks great. I mean that is just a great little tease there.

So, again, this is HBO Max. It begins streaming tomorrow. And I can't wait to watch more of it.

And, Dana, that's really, I think, appreciated what you shared there. You know, as part of your personal struggle because I think that it's easy to see all of us on TV and think that, well, everything has just, you know, come up roses. And I think that women in particular appreciate when you talk about how hard it has been throughout your career to balance some things.

BASH: No question. And, you know, the more I have talked about it with other women of my age and older women in our business and politics, the more it has become clear that this is -- tis is universal, that we are so focused, that we -- things have changed but one thing that will never change as a woman is our biological clock. I mean physiology is what it is. And so, you know, younger women, like our rock star friend Kaitlan and others, they may not think about this, but -- and I didn't think about it when I was younger until it was almost too late and I'm glad it wasn't. I'm very blessed that it wasn't. But then you have people like our friend Kyung, who, you know, defies what I said, you can have it all but maybe not all at the same time because she is having it all at the same time and it's because, and she'll tell you, as she did in this extraordinary documentary, she has a lot of help.

BERMAN: I have to say, I think it is so fitting that the preeminent campaign book of the 1970s was the boys on the bus. And it literally was the boys on the bus. And it pretty much when I started in 1996 and 2000, two though a little bit less.

And, Kyung, there's a great clip that we want to want that's from you too of what it's like now behind the scenes a little bit to be a political reporter. And it's not the boys on the bus at all anymore.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're awaiting the results -- the first results from the Iowa caucuses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by (INAUDIBLE).

LAH: About this time, you know, we're starting to expect to hear candidates lay out how they did for the night. We don't have any results.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll keep walking around.

LAH: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kyung and I work very well together. I figure out the information that I we need to get and then get that information. We call it --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's just so glamorous, Kyung. It's just so glamorous.

LAH: You didn't see my shoes, I was wearing sneakers. You know, very, very glamorous. You know, the -- and I think you see it there with Jasmine, you know,

she's an embed (ph). She was the Amy Klobuchar embed. That scene is out of Iowa. And we were the -- the team following Amy Klobuchar. A Korean-born woman and a black woman from Chicago. And every time we would land, we would make the joke in various cities that we upped the people of color quotient by at least double. So it is changing. It is the people who are covering, the people who are running for office look different. There are more women.

And it was in New Hampshire I really, really noticed it at an Amy Klobuchar event. I looked at the press riser. Every single photographer, every single embed, every single reporter, both television and print, was a woman. And I was so taken aback because that is really a marker, a sign of how it's not just the boys on the bus anymore, John. It is a much more diverse field of reporters trying to cover a more diverse field of candidates who are running, not just for president of the United States, not just being considered as vice president to Joe Biden, but also running for Congress.

[08:55:05]

We talk about 2018 being the year of the woman. 2020, those numbers are higher. So it's really important to remember that we are changing because America's changing.

Kyung, I remember that moment when I saw you in New Hampshire at the Amy Klobuchar event and, you know, ran up to you like, OK, what do I need to know? I -- and you -- you, you know, kindly shared with me all of the information that you'd gathered already on the trail and were so supportive and, you know, that's another --

LAH: Oh, you were good.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's another really, I find, helpful thing about this band of sisters.

And so, Kaitlan, we also have a trailer that shows you in action, you know, behind the scenes, though we all see you in action every single day. And so what do you think voters will -- I mean, what are -- viewers, I mean, will get out of watching this special?

COLLINS: I think what is so great about this documentary, and I've already seen it, so I can speak with authority, is that it really does give you an inside look of what it's like to be on the campaign trail, not just with candidates, but also with the president himself. And that's something that I don't think a lot of people know what it's like and what your hours are like where you're getting up at 4:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m. to take a flight. You're hitting the ground running, you're going to rallies, you're waiting in line, you're talking with voters.

And this gives you such a good look at that. So you can see our embeds who, you know, give up their apartments to go follow these candidates around, day in and day out, in places that they've probably never been before, in states they've never visited. But also what it's like doing that from the White House, where you're still covering the president on a daily basis and the news of that day, but also looking at him from his view of 2020 and trying to get re-elected and going into a Trump rally, which a lot of people, you know, Trump supporters even, have not been to. And so it's a good look at what it's like to be in the room when you are surrounded by thousands of the president's supporters and you get to talk to those people who -- how they view the president and his accomplishments and what his time in office has been like. And sometimes it's good. Sometimes they don't like some of the things he's done.

So I think this just gives you such a good view. And it really does take you inside what it is like on the campaign trail. And I just think it's so fascinating to see that in any election, but also this one because it is such a moment where everyone, it feels like, is paying attention.

CAMEROTA: It looks great. It looks great. I can't wait to watch more of it.

Kaitlan, Kyung, Dana, thanks for giving us a sneak peek of it. Congratulations. It looks really good.

So you can follow the fearless female CNN political reporters as they cover the 2020 presidential campaign. It's a new documentary. It's called "On The Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries." It starts streaming tomorrow on HBO Max.

BERMAN: CNN's coverage continues, next.

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