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QAnon Conspiracy Theorist Wins Georgia GOP Primary; Pelosi: Maybe You "Mistook" GOP For "Somebody Who Gave A Damn"; U.S. Intel On Russia Could Undercut Trump's Hopes For Durham Report. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 13, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And on Sunday he said, the President did not want to eliminate the payroll tax cut permanently if he was reelected. He just meant that this deferral that right now that the President has signed in this memo would be forgiven at the end of the year. Of course, Congress would play a role in that.

But the President repeated what he said again yesterday, if he's reelected, he wants to make the payroll tax cut permanent. Now, of course, that would need broad congressional support. It doesn't have it. And one of the primary reasons is because they're worried that this is the way that Social Security gets funded. And there is no alternative to funding it so far.

When the President was asked for, you know, more specific details yesterday, the only thing he said is that it would come from the general fund, but of course, there is already a massive deficit there. So the President isn't really explaining where this money would come from. And of course, that's really what helps put the president in office. One of the things that we heard voters point to it's his promise to protect social security because it is incredibly important to a lot of people and now he is threatening the primary way it is funded.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Well, another question we will watch, the evolution of that one as it goes forward. Let's put it that way. Kaitlan Collins live at the White House, thank you so much.

Up next for us, a little compare and contrast, the President says Kamala Harris is radical. He says the Georgia congressional candidate who spouts racist, anti-semitic and Islamophobic statements is a real winner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:45]

KING: This is cliche but it's also true. Elections are about choices. President Trump and his Republican Party allies say, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris a radical on healthcare, radical on taxes, radical on climate change, OK, they can make that argument. But radical compared to what?

Well, the President is very happy to help us here. On the very same day he called senator Kamala Harris nasty and radical. He called Marjorie Taylor Greene, you see the tweet right there, a real star, a winner in all caps. Greene calls the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi unAmerican, and a word that rhymes with rich. She spews racism, anti- semitism, Islamophobia, and this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), U.S. CONGRESSIONAL NOMINEE: He was a patriot. He is someone that is very much loves his country. And he's on the same page as us. According to him, many in our government are actively worshipping Satan, or they call Moloch. I mean, is it going to be true that the child pedophilia and the elites in the Washington DC, is that what we're really going to see come out? Is it true, is the type of corruption we're going to see come out? Is it going to be satanic worship?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: If you didn't follow that, the queue conspiracy alleges among other things, that our government, your government is controlled by Satan worshipping pedophiles. The top Republican in the House says Greene will be welcomed into the caucus. Should she win in November? And she will be given committee assignments. Well, welcome to today's Republican Party. Kamala Harris is radical. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a star, a real winner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: There is an Islamic invasion into our government offices right now. You can have a whole bunch of wives or goats or sheep or whatever you want. You stay over there. But in America, see, we've made it this great, great country, we don't want it messed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: CNN's Manu Raju joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Manu, are there republicans raising their hands and saying we got a problem here?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Only a couple. One of them Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, raised concerns saying that there's really place in the halls of Congress for such conspiracy theories and such rhetoric. That is not the message that is coming from the House Republican leadership. In fact, most of them had been silent after her victory on Tuesday, including Steve Scalise who raised concerns about her comments during the primary. But after she won, he has not weighed in. And there is Liz Cheney, who was also a member of the Republican leadership in the House.

House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, through a spokesperson said yesterday that he welcomes her and other Republicans winning if they do win in November. We do expect her to win because of the fact that that district is a heavily Republican district. Now, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker told me yesterday that it appears that the Republicans are comfortable with this QAnon conspiracy theory. And she was just asked at a press conference, moments ago about the comment that Marjorie Taylor Greene said about her cursing about at her just a couple of days ago and Pelosi said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): You know what, do you know how little attention I pay when the President of United States calls me horrible things? I don't pay attention to that. It's a judgment to be made about them as to who they welcome into their ranks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And one of the reasons why the Republicans have not really spoken out much is the fact that President gave her a full throated endorsement yesterday morning calling her a real winner, calling her a fast, a Republican star, putting Republican leadership in an awkward spot. And that's why we haven't heard much from them.

And notably, John, the National Republican Congressional Committee, which typically endorses all Republican nominees was refusing to say whether or not they will endorse her candidacy in setting deflecting questions about that into an attack against Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. John?

KING: OK. Look at your own family before you go after the other one. Manu Raju live on Capitol Hill, appreciate that.

Now, Greene is not swayed by this criticism. Quote, if Republicans want to win in 2020 they need to listen to the message that I'm speaking, that's what she says. Joining me now our CNN political commentator, former Republican Congressman, Charlie Dent.

Congressman, thanks for being with us today. Just why, why can't somebody in the leadership of the Republican Party stand up to the President and stand up to this candidate and say, I'm sorry, you are not welcome. We do not want people who spew racism, Islamophobia, and who believe in this crackpot QAnon theory. Why?

[12:40:19]

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, John, it's a -- that's a mystery to me because I think what Republican leadership ought to be doing right now is giving this woman the same treatment they gave Steve King. The Steve King treatment, that is deny him committees or deny her committees. They should not welcome her into the House Republican conference. They should let her know that if should she win this election, that they will in fact work with the Georgia GOP to defeat her in the primary.

Just make her a persona, non grata, put her in the broom closet. Hey, Senate Republicans, as I recall, walked away from Roy Moore a few years ago and they lost a Senate seat over it. I mean, sometimes you almost have to take the loss. You almost have to take the loss here. And then come back with a with a sensible candidate. So I think it's a mistake. Kevin McCarthy, you know, kick Steve King off the committees. They should do the same thing with this woman, should she win.

KING: Now, there will be Trump supporters watching or other Republicans watching. They'll say well, Charlie Dent, you know, he's a rhino. He's one of those guys that wasn't with the President all the time. I would make the case that the Republican Party without Charlie Dents and Mia Loves and Carlos Kerberos (ph) is a party that's in the minority, that if you want to be back in the majority, you got to broaden your tent, not shrink your tent. But the President clearly thinks otherwise. Listen to the President talking about his view on the election to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to take back to House, we're going to hold the presidency, and we're fighting very hard in the Senate. I'll be honest, the Senate is tough. We have a couple of people that aren't as supportive of Trump as they should be, and those people are going to lose their elections. If they don't support Trump, they lose their elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That's -- the last part there, I don't know anybody who thinks the Republicans are going to take back the House this year. The presidency is in play. The Senate is very much in play. But is that last part there. If they don't support Trump, they lose their elections. Is that your view why you think that there are not more Republicans willing to stand up, look, make your case against Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, make your case, call them radical, call them liberal, lay out your policy differences, that's why we have campaigns. But how can you call them radical when you then embrace somebody who says what she says about black Americans about George Soros, who's a survivor of the holocaust, she calls him a Nazi, racist, Islamophobic, and again, this Q's theory, how can you make your case if he won't stand up to this?

DENT: You really can't make your case, John. And the truth is, you know, you mentioned earlier, you know, they call guys like me rhinos and squishes and others. And I can take that. But, you know, there's going to be a reckoning. If the President loses this election, which is looking more and more likely and if the Senate goes Democrat, guess what, we're going to have a real conversation at some point about what this party should look like. It has to become much more socially tolerant and more sensible on issues like this.

It has to embrace free markets with reasonable regulations. And it has to become constructively internationally engaged. Because, you know, when you elect people like this woman that they're talking about Marjorie Greene, I mean, this is just crazy. This is black helicopter, tinfoil hat brigade stuff. And she'd be the leader of the group. So we have to condemn it. And, you know, after this election, let's have this conversation. And we'll find out who's a real Republican and who, you know, has a, you know, more conventional and traditional values.

KING: The challenge at the moment, your former colleague, Mr. Kinzinger, raised his hand. And the Trump campaign tweeted out supporting her, not him. So the trend is against your position at the moment, but we will continue to see how this one plays out. Congressman Dent, really appreciate your insights and your courage today to stand up for this, someone needs to do it. Appreciate it very much.

DENT: Thanks John.

KING: Moments ago, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slamming Republicans as stimulus negotiations are not just stalled, they're off the rails right now. Arguing the Trump administration, doesn't care in her view about the needs of the American people. The Speaker says, the two sides still very far apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: This is not half a loaf. This is not even being in the same room, boardroom table, kitchen table. So I appreciate the goodness that you asked that question. Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gave a damn. That isn't the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Tough words from the speaker there.

[12:44:26]

Up next for us, the new intelligence report that could undercut the President's hopes to discredit the Russia investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: The U.S. intelligence community says Russia is interfering right now in the 2020 election and that they are doing it to help President Trump. And that threatens to undercut the President's hopes, that Prosecutor John Durham will discredit the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation into his 2016 campaign. In an interview this morning, the President seems to be counting on his FBI director and his attorney general for help. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Bill Barr can go down as the greatest Attorney General in the history of our country or he can go down as just an average guy, it depends on what's going to happen. Christopher Wray was put there. We have an election coming up. I wish he was more forthcoming, he certainly hasn't been. There are documents that they want to get, and that we have said before want to get. We're going to find out if he's going to give those documents. But certainly he's been very, very protective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:50:06]

KING: Our senior justice correspondent, Evan Perez, joins me now live. Evan, in a word pressure, pressure from the President on to top law enforcement officials.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. The President making it very clear, you know, he's very transactional, he wants an election assistance essentially from Bill Barr here at the Justice Department from John Durham, the prosecutor who has been hired to look into the origins of the investigation of the Russia investigation.

And as you pointed out, one of the key things that -- one of the things that Durham has been looking into is whether, perhaps, you know, the deep state whether the intelligence community, whether Obama administration officials like John Brennan, at the time the head of the CIA, cooked the intelligence that showed that the Russians were preferring Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Of course now, that's a lot more complicated for Durham to undercut that finding since the intelligence community is now seen saying that in 2020, the Russians are interfering and that they're doing that to boost President Trump's reelection hopes.

That's of course, there's a lot of pressure for Durham to produce something before the election. And you can see that in comments that we've heard from Bill Barr, who says that he expects that even if Durham doesn't finish his work before November, that he expects that he's going to be able to release something before the election.

And to give you a sense, John, of how politicized all of this has become. We've learned that part -- one of the things that Bill Barr looked into before appointing John Durham to do this investigation was to talk to Michael Mukasey, who is the former Attorney General, former law partner with Rudy Giuliani. He considered having Mukasey be the person to do this investigation. Of course, in the end, he went with John Durham. And we'll see what Durham produces whether he disappoints the President or gives the President what he wants.

KING: We are waiting on that one. Evan Perez, we know you'll bring it to us as soon as we do know. But those words from the President, that's supposed to be little separation between the President, the Justice Department, the FBI, but not in this presidency. Evan Perez, appreciate the reporting, thanks so much.

Up next for us, the President of the Philippines says, he has so much confidence in Russia's new coronavirus vaccine. He's willing to test it himself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:51]

KING: A global look now at the coronavirus, 20 million cases, 750,000 deaths. Some countries around the world seeing cases rise after lifting their lockdowns. Here's a look at how they're responding starting with CNN's Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong. New Zealand recorded 14 new COVID-19 cases overnight on top of the cases reported yesterday. And a lot of these are tied to the first household where the cluster of infection took place or the workplace of a member of that household.

It's actually a company headquartered in the United States that specializes in temperature controlled transportation and storage. And in China, there have been incidents where the virus actually survived on food packaging that was kept refrigerated. So they're going to have to look at all of the sanitation measures in place at their factory. They're going to have to test everyone. People around Auckland are being told to stay home and there are even police checkpoints set up to enforce it.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: I'm Vedika Sud in New Delhi. India is reporting nearly 67,000 new pieces of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, a record high for the country. It is inching closer towards 2.4 million cases of the virus and remains the third most affected country across the world, India over to the United Kingdom on Thursday to register the fourth highest number of deaths across the globe.

A religious leader who stood next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function on August 5th, has tested positive for the virus. Also another cabinet minister, Shripad Naik, has taken to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that he has been infected. The western state of Maharashtra and the southern states of Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, remain the worst affected.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Al Goodman in La Coruna, Spain. Six weeks after lifting a nationwide lockdown that slowed down the coronavirus last spring. Spain is now recording the highest level of new cases in Western Europe. There are about 330,000 cases in Spain even more than in Britain.

There are about 600 outbreaks in Spain. But a top government health official says it's still too early to talk about a second wave, even though the number of new coronavirus patients in hospitals and in ICUs, is on the increase. The official say these outbreaks are especially due to young people at drinking parties in nightclubs and outdoors. And at large family events like weddings where some people are not wearing masks and are getting infected. And among seasonal farmworkers who live in work in close quarters.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew chants in Moscow. And despite concerns about its safety and effectiveness, one world leader is stepping forward to have the controversial new Russian coronavirus vaccine. The Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, says he has confidence in the vaccine. And will take it whenever arrives in his country.

I will volunteer to receive in public, he said, in the address to the nation. I believe the vaccine is really good for humanity. Yet, critics say, the incomplete third phase human trials in the vaccine, the first time be approved by governments in this pandemic remains risky.

[13:00:03]