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Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Trump Claims Coronavirus Vaccine Ready by Election Day; TSA Finds Tripled Rate of Guns Passing Through Airports. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 10, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Let's make sure we get the funding we need for the testing. He includes no funding for testing in his proposal. There was $75 billion that would have put our country back on track.

I just read today, New Zealand is on its hundredth day without coronavirus.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: That's true.

KLOBUCHAR: Countries all over the world are doing a better job. Get a testing regime in place that works, do something for our schools and our parents that are trying to educate their kids from home and figuring out what to do --

HARLOW: So --

KLOBUCHAR: -- make sure we have funding to make our elections safe. None of this is in his bogus --

HARLOW: Let's --

KLOBUCHAR: -- executive orders.

HARLOW: -- I promise I'm going to talk about parents in a moment, I care deeply about this, being --

KLOBUCHAR: I know you do.

HARLOW: -- one of them. But just to put a (INAUDIBLE) on that, you know, you are known, Senator, for reaching across the aisle, for working with the other side on things and getting things done. So if you were Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi, if you were in their shoes right now, where would you give, right?

Because Dana Bash asked Nancy Pelosi yesterday, you know, will you go down from $600, for example, weekly unemployment extension? And she didn't get a direct answer from the speaker. Would you propose that Democrats should do that, come down a bit off the 600 to get something done?

KLOBUCHAR: You know, the reason she didn't answer, she's not going to start negotiating on CNN, as much as you guys provide so much valuable news coverage every day -- HARLOW: Thank you.

KLOBUCHAR: -- that's not the place to negotiate.

HARLOW: But what would you do -- you know what I'm saying, right?

KLOBUCHAR: So -- but let me say this -- she already --

HARLOW: Should they come down to get something done?

KLOBUCHAR: OK, Poppy, look at what's happened here though. Three -- well, she's not negotiating the details. $3.6 trillion down to $2 trillion. Her House, including some pretty moderate and conservative Democrats, passed $3.6 trillion because they knew what their constituents needed in rural areas and suburban areas. And so now they're down to $2, and the White House still wouldn't budge and instead comes out with these bogus political gimmicks.

And so that's why I truly believe, in the end, that they just need to go back to the negotiating table. We cannot let the bottom fall out of this economy. It's already been tough enough for so many people.

HARLOW: Let's talk about parents, OK?

KLOBUCHAR: Parents (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Because (ph) you -- I'm sure you saw the reporting out of Goldman Sachs last week. We knew it, like, parents are feeling this. But they put numbers to it, and what Goldman showed is that it's single parents, parents with young children and parents who can't work from home that are the most at-risk groups of completely losing their jobs. Other reporting, 7 million people per week since May have not been working because of a lack of child care.

What should the American people expect Congress -- you guys -- are going to do about this? Because I fear that this is going to be devastating, especially for working moms. Of course it is.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes, of course it is. We all know people who are struggling, people who I work with every day, the ones that have kids at home, it's so hard because they're trying -- the ones that have jobs are trying to do their work at the same time with kids.

So what do they need? Well, they need for us to get a testing regime in place so we can start having our economy function again, so that if they had child care before, they can use it now.

Secondly, we need to help parents to pay for child care for the long term, for what I call the day after tomorrow. And some people already bringing their kids to child care. But when more will, we need to make it available and make it affordable. And that's actually --

HARLOW: What about vouchers?

KLOBUCHAR: -- part of Joe Biden's plan, as one of his major priorities --

HARLOW: What --

KLOBUCHAR: -- is to help on child care.

And the last thing is for people who are unemployed, they need a bill to pass.

Go ahead, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, no, I just keep thinking, how can we be creative and very innovative and take a lot of out-of-work people and perhaps get them to work, caring for children, maybe paid for or subsidized by the government? It's not my job --

KLOBUCHAR: Exactly.

HARLOW: -- to figure out, it's your guys' job to figure that out. But I hope Congress --

KLOBUCHAR: No, no, no --

HARLOW: -- does something. I just have --

KLOBUCHAR: -- there's actually -- that is a really -- there's a bipartisan proposal on AmeriCorps, expanding that --

HARLOW: OK.

KLOBUCHAR: -- that would be great. And the second thing is, I got a bill to take out-of-work people to have them employed by nonprofits that could also help in that area. Those are two great ideas --

HARLOW: Let's --

KLOBUCHAR: -- but if they're not at the negotiating table, that's hard to do.

HARLOW: -- let's hope -- let's hope something happens.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

HARLOW: Let me ask you about the vice president. He has a big decision to make this week, and that is on who his running mate will be. And I ask you because you spoke out when you took yourself out of the running for that, you spoke out and you said that you hope he chooses a woman of color. This was -- this was months ago.

We've learned over the weekend that in the past week, he did meet with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. What do you think, Senator, an all-white ticket would say about the Democratic Party right now?

KLOBUCHAR: You know, Poppy, Joe Biden is going to pick the best person for that job, and there are so many incredibly qualified women, including the governor of Michigan. They are all qualified. What I was trying to capture here was that this is a historic moment. It's a historic moment because of what's been going on in our country,

not just with George Floyd out of my state, but also with how we've seen so many African-Americans, immigrant workers that have been hit so hard by this pandemic in outrageous numbers. And so that's why I think this is a historic moment, to look back, what's happened in our country, where we got now and seize that moment.

[10:35:12]

But I can tell you, I think whoever he picks with the group he's got, I will be highly supportive. And he knows what it takes to be a good vice president. And a lot of it is trust, a lot of it is someone who's going to bring that same compassion and competence that he has. And I'm just excited to see who he picks.

HARLOW: Yes. I just -- I think everyone is, and I truly don't -- no one knows. I just wonder if you still feel the same way because you said this is a moment to put a woman of color on the ticket.

KLOBUCHAR: I do, but in the same breath I said --

HARLOW: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: -- no matter who he picks, I will be supportive because he will pick the right person. And they're -- every single one of those women that he is considering right now are very good and would do an excellent job.

HARLOW: Well, it's going to be a woman. We know that. Senator --

(LAUGHTER)

KLOBUCHAR: We do know that.

HARLOW: -- Klobuchar, we appreciate you being on. Thanks for the time.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you, it was great to be on, Poppy.

HARLOW: Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Important conversation there.

President Trump predicted there would be a coronavirus vaccine by Election Day. So what are the facts? Medical experts say there is no way that can happen safely and reliably. We'll explain why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:55]

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson has subpoenaed the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, as part of the Republican-led committee's probe into the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, and the appointment of the special counsel, Robert Mueller. The subpoena demands that Wray provide all records related to the

Crossfire Hurricane investigation. We're going to continue to follow that story. Of course, it comes as U.S. intelligence has warned that Russia is interfering in this coming election, right now, to benefit Donald Trump.

Well, a reality check on President Trump's claim that we will have a vaccine for coronavirus by Election Day -- note the timing. CNN has obtained a document from the biotech firm Moderna. That's the first company which is conducting so-called Phase Three vaccine trials.

That document reveals that thousands more people need to be recruited for this study. Poppy, that's just the way vaccine trials work.

HARLOW: Sure. And it's why, you know, they're not always very fast.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. Good morning ,Elizabeth. Can you tell us what else critical is in this document?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is an e- mail that CNN obtained, an internal e-mail from Moderna to its investigators at 89 sites across the country. And, you know, President Trump has said he is optimistic -- that's the word he used -- that he would get a vaccine by Election Day.

But these numbers that we found really call that into question. One researcher said no way. Other researchers we talked to -- these are outside researchers -- said this is not going to happen.

So let's -- get out your calendar, get out your calculator. Let's take a look at these dates and at these numbers. What the e-mail said is that between July 27th and August 7th -- so the first two weeks of the trial -- they gave shots to 4,536 participants, but they need 30,000.

Now, Moderna expects to finish their first round of shots sometime in September -- they haven't said when during that month -- but they have to give a second dose 28 days later. So even if Moderna does pick up the pace -- and by all accounts they likely will, this is the beginning and it will get faster, the enrollment will get faster.

But even if they do pick up the pace, you have to wait 28 days, give the second round of shots, wait about two weeks until the vaccine kicks in, because it doesn't kick in immediately. Then wait for these people to go sort of out into the world and, you know, get exposed to the virus and maybe or maybe not get infected. So the -- and so the vaccinologists that we talked to said there's just no way that that can happen by Election Day.

Now, one note, which is that Pfizer started their Phase Three just after Moderna did. They've offered up a much more optimistic timeline. They say that they think they can go to the FDA in October to get either a yea or nay to put their vaccine on the market.

But the same experts we talked to said they think that is incredibly unrealistic. They just don't see how that can happen -- Jim, Poppy. SCIUTTO: So even Dr. Fauci, of course, in measured voice throughout

this, has said consistently for the last several weeks that it is possible to have a workable, tested vaccine as soon as December, perhaps into early January next year. Is that still a reliable timeline from the folks you speak with?

COHEN: Yes, that's about the same timeline that they're saying. They are saying, first quarter of next year, one researcher -- Dr. Peter Hotez, who is, you know, on our air, you know, frequently, said maybe we will have a glimmer of information by Inauguration Day. That was sort of his outlook, that maybe by Inauguration Day we would have a feeling for yes this vaccine works or this vaccine doesn't work. But he didn't think we'd have even a glimmer any time before then.

SCIUTTO: Follow the science, that's what you do, that's what we always try to do on this broadcast. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.

Breaking news just in to CNN, CNN affiliates are reporting the multiple people are trapped after a major house explosion in a neighborhood north -- goodness gracious, look at those pictures -- northeast of Baltimore.

HARLOW: Oh my gosh. Wow. We are seeing these images -- to our viewers -- just for the first time, as you are as well. Alexandra Field joins us with more.

[10:45:08]

Do we know what happened? Do we know if anyone was in the house?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely stunning images, Poppy and Jim. We are hearing from the firefighters' union in Baltimore that there were several people trapped, including children. We know that there are rescue operations and search operations that are getting under way now.

Not clear how many houses may have been exploded. You can certainly see profound devastation there, totally unclear what could have caused the explosion at this point. We do know that emergency responders are of course heading there to help and conduct those rescue operations. We're also hearing that city officials are being briefed on the situation.

Of course, all of this developing. We'll bring you more as soon as we have it, but just take a look at those pictures. This is truly just a horrific sight in this residential part of Baltimore.

HARLOW: Gosh. Alex, please keep us posted. Thank you for that reporting.

Violent clashes between protestors and police after the man dubbed "Europe's last dictator" wins in a landslide re-election. We'll bring you the facts on that election, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:42]

HARLOW: TSA officers have noticed a trend across the country, fewer people are flying -- a lot fewer, like 75 percent fewer people are flying -- during this pandemic, but more -- more passengers on planes are carrying guns.

SCIUTTO: CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now. So, Pete, how much -- how many more and do they have any sense of why this is happening?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, you know, this is a risky time for TSA employees. And now, they say they're faced with this entirely new risk. Security screeners at checkpoints at airports across the country say they caught guns at a rate three times higher than a year ago.

And what's so interesting here -- as you noted -- is that the amount of people passing through security at America's airports is down about 75 percent. Security screeners caught 304 guns at America's airports last month. They say the rate, about 15 per millions passengers -- compare that to five per million passengers from a year ago. And what's worse yet is that about 80 percent of those guns are loaded.

Now, guns are not allowed in carry-on baggage through the TSA, only in checked baggage. And even then, in a specialized carrying case. The first offense for this carries about a $4,100 fine.

TSA says most of these guns were caught in Atlanta -- 27, about a rate of one per day during the month of July. What's so interesting is that that's an airport where the security checkpoint had to be closed down when a security screener tested positive for coronavirus around the July Fourth holiday.

The risks are great for these employees, about 1,500 TSA workers have tested positive for coronavirus. The TSA administrator says now is a risky time for employees, and no one needs to be adding new risks to that -- Jim, Poppy.

SCIUTTO: No. Yes.

HARLOW: Pete, yes, thank you very much for that update.

SCIUTTO: What (ph) passengers too, loaded weapons. Jesus.

Well, police in Hong Kong have arrested pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai. This, under a new national security law -- as it's called. Lai owns the Apple daily newspaper. He's a frequent critic of China. He was taken into custody, arrested in the newsroom there.

The charge? Colluding with foreign forces. Not clear what they based that on, it's a crime punishable with up to life in prison.

HARLOW: Ripple effects of what has passed, what is happening, Jim, in Hong Kong. He is the most well-known person arrested so far under the law that Beijing imposed last month --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Ten others, also arrested today.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Big question, whether that's about security or dissent, stifling dissent.

Well, police clashed with protestors in the country of Belarus after a contested election. Results there, showing what's claimed to be a landslide victory for the country's longtime president.

HARLOW: More than 3,000 people were arrested overnight. Fred Pleitgen joins us now.

What does everyone need to know, Fred, about this election?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Poppy. Well, one of the things that everybody certainly needs to know is that the opposition says that they believe that the election was absolutely fraudulent, that there was vote rigging done by the president, by Alexander Lukashenko. And they believe -- the opposition believes -- that they are actually the ones who won this election.

Now, of course, Belarus is a very small country but actually a very important country in Central Europe. Very important to the Russians, quite important to Europe as well. Kind of a crossroads country. But that president, Alexander Lukashenko, traditionally known as the last dictator in Europe, has been an ally of Vladimir Putin.

And there were signs of change in that country. There were arrests against the opposition, there were detentions. And yet there were big rallies before this election, where people were calling for change.

And so when these election results came in claiming a landslide for Lukashenko, people went out into the streets peacefully -- you could see that on the video -- and that's when the security forces stepped in, did those mass arrests, also used stun grenades and tear gas as well. And there were some pretty severe beatings that you could see also on some of that video.

Now, Lukashenko has come out and he still claims that he won that election, and he says that there are going to be tough things to come ahead. But the opposition has also come out and they say they're not going to back down either. They say they're in it for the long run, and they have promised that there's going to be more protests ahead -- guys.

[10:55:04]

HARLOW: Fred, thank you. Important update, we'll keep a close eye on it. We appreciate the reporting.

And thanks to all of you for being with us today, we'll see you back here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. NEWSROOM with our colleague Kate Bolduan starts right after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:05]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us this hour.

END