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Trump Echoes Attacks on Obama, Pushes Birther Lie Against Harris; Beloved Husband and Teacher Dies after Suffering COVID Symptoms. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired August 14, 2020 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: OK, hang with me here because this is important for me to say today. You know, there are weeks that history remembers and, yes, we are in the middle of a pandemic and the sputtering federal response to it and the nationwide disruption caused by it and the hard to glimpse scale of American death will define this most difficult year.
But this week is defined by a different and happier kind of first. For the first time in our nation's brief history a black woman, Senator Kamala Harris of Oakland, California, will appear on the presidential ballot in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Jill, I'm so proud to stand with you. And I do so mindful of all of the heroic and ambitious women before me whose sacrifice, determination and resilience makes my presence here today even possible. This is a moment of real consequence for America. Everything we care about, our economy, our health, our children, the kind of country we live in, it's all on the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Put her policies to the side just for a moment and Senator Kamala Harris of Oakland, California, is what the rest of the world still thinks as the American dream. Her parents came to the United States in 1960s in the middle of a totally different racial crisis to pursue graduate degrees at Berkeley.
Her and her parent's story looks and sounds a lot like what those who come to the country hope their story looks like. They move here, they study here, they work here, they have children here. And then those children reap the benefits a generation down the line. And Senator Harris of Oakland, California, is living that story as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee and now the Americanness of her story should not overwhelm a full vetting of her policies.
[15:35:03] The President accuses Senator Harris of Oakland, California, of being a radical. And listen, that is up to you decide if that is true and we should, and we will talk to voters and ask if they feel the same way about Senator Harris of Oakland,
California now as they did last year when her own primary campaign flamed out. But there is something not worth investigating about Senator Harris of Oakland, California. Past is prologue. Such is life and such are political campaigns and these women were nasty then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we want to do is replenish --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Such a nasty woman.
Elizabeth Warren, I call her goofy. She's a nasty person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, Senator Harris of Oakland, California, is the nasty one now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Plus she was very, very nasty to one of the reasons that surprised me, she was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden. She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden and it's hard to pick somebody that's that disrespectful when she said things during the debates, during the Democrat Primary debates that were horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And the President reflex to dismiss women as mean and nasty, it's nothing new. So too has his history of conjuring up racist junk theories to make the familiar seem foreign. And he got an assist this week from "Newsweek" which is under fire after publishing that op-ed that questioned Senator Harris' citizenship.
And again, Kamala Harris, born in Oakland, California and the 14th amendment along with an 1898 Supreme Court decision gave citizenship to people born in the territorial United States and that along with being at least 35 years of age are the Constitutional requirements to be vice president and president.
But none of those facts stop the President from pushing this vile falsehood right from the White House briefing podium.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- we say whether or not Kamala Harris is eligible, meets the legal requirements to run as vice president.
TRUMP: So, I just heard that. I heard it today. That she doesn't meet the requirements. They're saying that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she was born in this country, but her parents
did not -- the claim says that her parents did not receive their permanent residence at that time.
TRUMP: I don't know about it. I just heard about it. I'll take a look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You just heard the reporter question the citizenship status of Harris' parents which is a key focus of the "Newsweek" piece and again I point you to the 14th Amendment. But the symmetry is numbing including the President and his team suggesting that it is other people are pushing this B.S. but birtherism is the President's default setting and he believes it will work again. Why do it otherwise?
But there is a simple fact, and it is the one I keep repeating here. Senator Kamala Harris, the first black woman on the major party ticket. The first South Asian woman on a major party ticket is of Oakland of California. Perhaps Senator Harris said it best herself during this interview with the Breakfast Club last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So, I was born in Oakland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HARRIS: And raised in the United States except for the years that I was in high school in Montreal, Canada. And look, this is the same thing they did to Barack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HARRIS: This is not new to us. And so, I think that we know what they're trying to do. They're trying to do what has been happening over the last two years. Which is powerful voices trying to sew hate and division among us and so we need to recognize when we're being played.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: With me now, Jill Louis, she is Senator Harris' sorority sister, an Alpha Cappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and the two who have been friends more than 30 years, they met at Howard University. So welcome, here's a picture from the archives. Jill, nice to have you on.
JILL LOUIS, KAMALA HARRIS' ALPHA CAPPA ALPHA SORORITY SISTER: Great to be here.
BALDWIN: You have described Senator Harris as unflappable. What do you think is going through her mind right now as the President of the United States hurls this racist attack at her in the midst of this historic moment?
LOUIS: I think she's not going to dignify foolishness. I think she's not going to come off mission. We have really important work to do here in this country and one of the things that she is very good at is maintaining focus.
BALDWIN: Can you tell me anything about any phone conversations the two of you have had since this whole thing happened?
LOUIS: We have not had a phone conversation since this has happened. So I would have to update you at some later date.
BALDWIN: She's -- I imagine she's been a little busy. Listen, AKAs are no stranger to having remarkable historical members with high- profiles, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Ava DuVernay and women belonging to black Greek letter organizations are not unfamiliar with having members in the White House administrations or in Congress.
[15:40:05]
But Jill, this is a VP ticket, the possible, you know, second in command of the United States. Does this feel different to you?
LOUIS: It does and it feels bigger than one person. It feels like a movement forward for the country. It feels like a movement toward who we say we always wanted to be as a country. And I find it certain poetic justice that it's happening in 100th year of women's suffrage. And so, the fact that these things are dove tailing is really pretty spectacular.
BALDWIN: Speaking of women voting, you know, in the midterm elections, think back, you know, black women had a turnout rate that was 6 percentage points higher than the national average. And in 2020 we now have the additional factor influence of black sororities and fraternities. You know, looking ahead to November 3rd, Jill, should we expect a massive effort by the "divine nine" as they're known, you know, to get people to the polls in a couple of months?
LOUIS: I would say, absolutely. You know, each of the "divine nine" has always had a civic purpose. Each of them has always had things like voter registration, understanding policies, helping the poor, helping the underprivileged and bringing up of a people quite frankly, and so this is right in our wheelhouse.
And absolutely we will be organizing people around their right to vote, sort of regardless of who you vote for, your right to vote is so important as an American citizen. And we know that our lives depend on it.
BALDWIN: Jill Louis, nice to have you on. Thank you so much.
LOUIS: Thanks.
BALDWIN: And make sure to tune in to CNN's special live coverage of the 2020 Democratic National Convention for all the biggest moments, the most important speeches and insights, and of course, what it all means for Joe Biden and the future of the Democratic Party. It starts Monday night, 8:00 Eastern. Coming up. He was 42 years young. A beloved husband and football coach
and teacher and he just passed away after suffering symptoms of Covid- 19 and I'm going to talk to his wife, we'll honor his memory, next.
[15:45:00]
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BALDWIN: While schools and athletic departments around the country are grappling with how to proceed during a pandemic, just hours ago, in Oxford, Mississippi, Laticia James buried her husband, Nacoma. And James was a 42-year-old middle school teacher and an assistant high school football coach and he died last week while self-quarantining with COVID-19 like symptoms. And James had been around students all summer doing those football workouts and so all these students wrote these tributes to the man everyone called, "coach."
And let me just read one for you: Coach James will truly be missed but he will never be forgotten. His soul is anchored into Commodore nation for now and many more years to come. Signed BJ Curry.
And from Jason Sawyer here, quote, rest easy coach and thanks for never switching it up on us, doors for life.
Of course, doors short for Commodores. And just with those tributes in mind I want to bring in Laticia James, the wife of coach Nacoma James. And so Mrs. James, I am so sorry for the loss of your husband. Welcome.
LATICIA JAMES, JUST RETURNED FROM HER HUSBAND'S FUNERAL: Thank you so very much.
BALDWIN: I see those gorgeous flowers on your shoulder. I know that you came straight from his grave site to do this interview and I know my producer told you, you know, Mrs. James, we can do this another day and you said, no, that you wanted to come on TV and honor your husband. And so, let's start just by doing that. Tell us about him. Tell us about the man you married just four years ago the man everyone knew as "coach."
JAMES: Nacoma James was a wonderful man. He was always giving, always willing to help. All you had to do was one call and he was there to help you. If he couldn't help you, he will figure out a way to help you. And the things that he helped you with, no one else knew because that's the reason why he was helping you, because it was out of his heart and not for show and not for recognition. That just what type of man my husband was.
He showed me and my girls, you know, a wonderful love that I have never experienced before. He's so compassionate, caring, you know. Just an amazing man. And I'm truly, truly blessed to have been his wife and I thank God for the four years we've been together. It seems short but I'm grateful for it.
BALDWIN: We're looking at the beautiful wedding day photos and the big smiles. But let's talk about what happened. It is the end of July, I know your husband started not feeling well. And maybe thought he had a bad sinus infection. He goes to the doctor. They don't test him for COVID, doctor gives him a Z-Pak, says go home, you'll feel better and then a couple of days later he's running a fever and it all gets worse. How did he eventually realize he had coronavirus?
JAMES: The previous week he went -- because my husband suffered sinuses all of the time. He had sinus all year long, sinus problems all year long. So, he just thought it was like a worse case of sinus. So, on the 28th he went to the doctor and he got a shot and a Z-Pak. Finish out the rest of the week with the players, the 28th was the last day he was around players. That was a Thursday. The weekend came on, that Saturday he started going down a little bit.
[15:50:00]
Sunday is when he started running fever and the next day was our first day of staff development. So, he wasn't able to come. So, I was at work, and around 12:00 on the 3rd, that Monday, he called and asked to go to the doctor, will I take him to the doctor? And so, I left work because all my co-workers know that my husband never got sick. So if he's asking to go to the doctor something's wrong.
So, I picked him up, took him to the doctor. The doctor tested him for pneumonia and COVID. At first, they were still thinking it was maybe his sinuses. But, you know, it was best for us to test him for pneumonia and COVID. And we did X-rays that day.
They prescribed him medicine. They gave him a nebulizer to take breathing treatments with. As the week went on, you know, he was in a coma, he was still in a coma up until the last minute, my husband was in a coma.
BALDWIN: So, he was fine. When you say he was in a coma, he was your husband, he was still smiling, and then suddenly, you know, you, someone ends up dialing 911. And then he goes to the hospital. And I was reading some of your notes to our producers that, you know, folks started showing up for him at the hospital. The head coach, the sheriff, you know, people who loved him. And I read that you said death was the furthest thing from your mind. So how did you find out that he didn't make it?
JAMES: When the paramedics came, he still had a slight cough. When he was in my arms, he still had a slight cough. When the paramedics came, we left out up under depression we was going to get him stable so we can go to the emergency room.
So that's when I called head coach Fair to meet us there because we're Commodores, we're family. If something happens to one, it happens to us all. So therefore, I made sure I got in contact with our immediate Commodore family.
So, I'm waiting, time goes on. You know, I'm not really thinking about the time. However, after a while our Sheriff Joey East comes in and I'm thinking, you know, this is not right. But still in my mind everything's going to be all right. You know, this is my husband. I mean it's all right. We're about to go to the hospital and everything's going to be all right.
BALDWIN: And then it wasn't.
JAMES: It wasn't. He came -- the paramedic came and said, ma'am, we've been working on him for 45 minutes. We've done all we can. And I believe that because one of the deputies that was there who showed up with the paramedics once they asked for identity for Nacoma. And I said Nacoma James, and he said is that Coach James back there? And I was like yes. And you could see the sorrow on his face, the determination to try to make things right back there for him. But so, I believe they did all they could for my husband. But it wasn't in the plan.
It was unreal. You know, my husband was a healthy man besides his sinuses. And you could not pay me enough money to think that my husband's time would expire so soon. When people in the community heard about him passing away, you know, everybody's reaction was, no way, not coach James, not Nacoma because passing away and Nacoma didn't go together. It just really didn't.
We all know we have a date and a time, but no one, no one had the feeling that my husband's time would come so soon.
BALDWIN: And that is the thing with this virus that is just so profoundly devastating. And can I just say, Mrs. James, I so admire you. I admire your strength, how you're able to hold it together. You literally just buried your husband and you are here honoring him. I wish you all the love and health and peace to you and your girls. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing this story and honoring your husband. I appreciate it.
JAMES: Thank you so very much.
BALDWIN: You're welcome. Thank you. We'll be right back.
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BALDWIN: This pandemic has hit communities of color in the United States disproportionately hard. And since 2013 CNN Hero Robbin Carroll has been helping people in one Chicago neighborhood lift up their community. And now in the wake of COVID-19 and just renewed unrest following a police-involved shooting there, their efforts are more crucial than ever.
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ROBBIN CARROLL, CNN HERO: What the pandemic showed was the inequities between white and black America. Look at the amount of black Americans that are dying from COVID. We know that we are in a community that is very vulnerable and has very little resources and that they would be extremely hard hit.
We needed to step in and just provide even more supplies and comfort and security.
I think we always heal in community. We just hold space for the fact that there's just a lot of pain. And no matter how it comes out, we're here to support you, we're here to help you, we see you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And if you'd like more information on those stories, please visit CNNheroes.com. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me. "THE LEAD" starts right now.
