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Virtual Democratic National Convention Kicks Off Today; Rep. Nancy Pelosi Calls House Back To Vote On Post Office Legislation; Millions Of Americans In Limbo Without A Stimulus Deal; Bleacher Report; Students & Parents Call On Colleges To Slash Tuition For Online Classes; U.S. Death Toll Surpasses 170,000 Ahead Of Flu Season. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 17, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So we made it to the first day of the Democratic National Convention. It is here it is now. We've never seen anything like it, but it's actually happening tonight.

A new CNN poll shows the race between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, tighter than we've seen in a while. Joining us now is one of the convention speakers this week and a onetime presidential candidate himself, Democratic Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey. Senator Booker, great to have you back on the show. Long time no see.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): It's great to be on this morning with you. How you doing?

BERMAN: I'm doing great. So I've been at conventions where you gave big fiery speeches to thousands of cheering people. This week you speak on Thursday, and it's going to be a little different, right? I mean, what's it going to be like for you speaking in room hosted (ph) by yourself?

BOOKER: You adapt, and this has been a - that really for the last six months. You know, I was talking last night, like you usually do, to a warm up convention. I used to go around and talk to delegations from all over the country. Well, last night, I talked to some great heartland states, Nebraska, Kansas. Just talking to folks and having that same kind of energy and engagement.

You find a way to make it work. And what is exciting me is just to see the enthusiasm from all the Zooms I jump into all across this country. I think everybody gets the fact this is the most consequential election of our lifetime and will have an impact not just on our children and our children's children, but really the world.

BERMAN: So fill in the blank for me here, if you will. The success or failure of the Democratic National Convention this week depends on what? BOOKER: Well, there is no failure. Failure is not an option. And I know that this is going to be different. But I think it's actually going to be a little more intimate. You're going to have some - and I know a little bit - and I don't want to sort of let any surprises out--

BERMAN: Oh, do, do.

BOOKER: I think you're going to - I think people are going to actually really enjoy it. It's going to be tight and really informative that we're going to make our case very plainly, not simply about what we're against. We know the catastrophic leadership of this president, especially in this time of pandemic, economic decline.

But really, here are two candidates, they're going to talk about what we're for. Not just the policies, but what I think is the one of the most important calls that we have as a society right now, which is for revival of civic grace for us bringing decency and kindness and honor back, not just to the Oval Office, but inspiring it throughout our nation. The time of divisiveness and divisiveness (ph) and demeaning and degrading language. It's just - I think it's past and we've got to come together as a nation, and I think you're going to hear that call.

BERMAN: Well, you brought up divisiveness. So let me raise a subject which you have been, or your name has been invoked by the president, it's one he's talked about suburban housing, and what he calls suburban housewives and the idea of low income housing.

And in one of the tweets, he said that, low income housing will come back in even bigger form with Cory Booker in charge, he says. He made a point of name checking you, Senator Booker. I wonder why you think that is and what's behind his messaging there.

BOOKER: I really, unfortunately, think this comes from a guy who, in his past, was accused by the federal government for housing discrimination. I really do think that this comes down to this attempt for him to be demagogue, to try to scare people in the suburbs.

[07:35:00]

And for him to invoke my name, it's just curious. Because when I was a baby, 1969, my parents were refused housing in some of the best suburbs in America right here in New Jersey. And it was activists from that community, White folks and Black folks who joined together and said, no, we're better than this. And they put together a sting operation where White couples would follow my parents posing as them as house buyers when they were turned away.

The house I grew up in, not only we were denied housing, but on the day of closing, the real estate agent attacked my father's lawyers, dolloped (ph) on my dad. So that's my history. And this President is trying to drag up the worst of who we are. The worst of, not only his history, but American history and we are more loving nation than that. We're not going to fall for his fear mongering, for divisiveness and for bigotry. BERMAN: Well, I can't help but notice, Senator Booker, that you're African-American. And I'm wondering if the reason you think he named you, as opposed to all the other U.S. senators who support this is because you're Black?

BOOKER: Well, look, I grew up in the suburbs, but I'm so honored that for the last - I started my career representing the great City of Newark, New Jersey, majority minority city. That I'm the fourth black person ever popularly elected to the United States Senate.

Yes, I'm sure he knows that, and I'm sure that was one of the reasons he broke my name, thinking that I would be a scary person. But I love the memes on the Internet of the lot of the people that saying that I would love to have Cory Booker move into my neighborhood. It was rather more flattering sort of day or two, watching the great things that were tweeted back at the president.

BERMAN: Well, you help shovel snow. You help shovel when there's snow. I mean, so that's the reason in and of itself to have you move into the neighborhood. Senator Booker, Nancy Pelosi on the House side has called House members back to deal with the issue of the U.S. Postal Service.

I know Democrats in the Senate are calling for the Senate to do the same. As of now, we have not heard from Mitch McConnell, that he will. What do you think the most important issue here is?

BOOKER: The post office is intentionally, and they may use one reason or another. We may believe that they're doing it to try to and undermine an election. But we know they are intentionally taking actions that are choking the post office, slowing it down, undermining it in its noble, constitutionally mandated mission.

This is a crisis not just for the election, but for people who need lifesaving medicine that come through the mail. People who right now who are having trouble putting food on the table, who having a check be days late could hurt their ability to feed their family or pay their rent.

And so this is what we should do in Washington. Congress, supposed to be a check and a balance and oversight for the president. The president right now is not hiding the ball. He's saying, he's doing this, because he does not believe in mail-in voting, something done by Red states and Blue states from Utah to Oregon already. So this is a national crisis of his creation, amidst a national pandemic and combined (ph) that he's fail to rise and meet, Congress should be back in session.

BERMAN: I want - two quick two quick questions, if I can. Number one Paterson, New Jersey, there were some problems with mail-in voting and there are charges of mail fraud there. I know that voter fraud is infinitesimally small, mail voter fraud is also very small also. But how do you convince Americans that that can be prevented on a larger scale?

BOOKER: Well, thank you for stating the facts. It is infinitesimally small. And one of the reasons why mail-in balloting fraud is so easy to catch, as even Mitt Romney pointed out from Utah State that does it, is because there is a paper trail. You could compare signatures. It is very hard, with all the information you have, that it takes to go through voting by mail to pull off any kind of fraud.

So New Jersey people tried to cheat and they were caught as often will happen when you try to do something like that. And so I'm very confident, number one, that this is rare. Number two, if people try it, it'll be caught. And number three, we have the evidence of states from Oregon and Washington to Utah and Colorado in doing this for a very long time and it's been supported in those states by Republicans and Democrats,

BERMAN: Alisyn and I got a look at how close you are with Senator Kamala Harris. It was at the one of the first Democratic presidential debates in Detroit and we saw you greeting Senator Harris before we went to air there. So we saw how close the two of you are. I'm curious - and we have to go very quickly. But what was your reaction when you heard that she was the pick to be joe Biden's running mate?

BOOKER: I wish you'd allow me to stand up and show you my happy dance. But I was so happy not just because I love her dearly, but because I knew what this will mean for America, for generations yet unborn that will look to her and now in the pantheon of great Black women - great women, great Americans in history. And she is going to bring - you haven't seen anything yet. When American gets to know her better. They're going to continuously be inspired by the kind of heart, grit, guts and love that she has and has for this nation.

[07:40:00]

BERMAN: Senator Cory Booker, welcome back to NEW DAY. Great to have you on. Good luck this week at the convention.

BOOKER: Thank you very much. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. coming up in just minutes, we're going to speak with another former Democratic presidential candidate who is actually speaking tonight, Senator Amy Klobuchar will join us.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's how I wanted to greet you this morning, because I hadn't seen you for so long or been in the same room, but you just gave me the hi sign--

BERMAN: Six feet, in the cone. Do not come in the cone.

CAMEROTA: No, I'm not dreaming of it.

BERMAN: All right. President Trump says he will meet with Democrats over the next round of economic relief, he says when the time is right. What exactly does that mean? Can they reach a deal anytime soon?

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[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: Lawmakers are on summer recess, but there is still no stimulus deal on the horizon. And that leaves millions of Americans in limbo until at least September. President Trump's said he'll meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "when the time is right." Not sure when that is.

Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans joins us with more. So what do you know, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's really critical that they do this and do this quickly and come to some sort of agreement. We know that the American economy avoided going into a depression this summer, because of all of this record stimulus, and now it has expired. So the President - this is what kind of leadership he is taking on the next round of stimulus. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Will something happen? Possibly. But I want to tell you, the country is doing very well right now. We can live very happily with it, without it. But I'd like to do it because I want to give money to the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We can live with it or without it. Well, heading into an election, you'd think this president would want a lot of money flowing. The House Democrats have already passed $3.5 trillion worth three months ago. And we know, Alisyn, the evidence shows that all that stimulus worked.

The small business loans, the direct payments to all Americans, the jobless benefits. We saw retail sales - pre-pandemic levels of retail sales. Three months in a row retail sales rose. They're back where they were before the pandemic. That's because of the $600 a week in unemployment benefits and the direct checks to so many millions of Americans. So right now all of that is expired. That's when you need to keep it going, because the economy is not back to normal.

Now, the president did an end run, of course as you know, around Congress and passed $300 a week extra in benefits or promised them to states. Four states have signed up: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Iowa saying to citizens now hold on, we're going to get this money to you, but we don't know when, and we don't know how quite yet. And by the way, South Dakota said no, that they don't need the extra $300 a week for unemployment benefits for its citizens, because 80 percent of the jobs have come back.

Critical moment - I can't say it enough here, a critical moment, Alisyn, for figuring out stimulus and for some real leadership on getting it there to Americans.

CAMEROTA: I hear you Christine. I mean evictions are also coming due again-- ROMANS: That's right.

CAMEROTA: --so we'll be covering that. But, anyway, thank you for sharing those data points. That's really interesting. John?

BERMAN: But the Big Ten may have postponed his college football season, but Ohio State's quarterback not giving up just yet. Andy Scholes has more in the Bleacher Report. Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, John. There are a lot of people that are not happy that the Big Ten is not to be playing football this fall. And you got many players, parents and fans just not giving up without a fight.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who is one of the favorites to win the Heisman this year, creating a petition on moveon.org to reinstate the fall football season. He shared it on social media calling it a matter close to his heart.

Now, the petition has more than 200,000 signatures since it was launched yesterday morning. The 21-year-old, he wants the conference to allow individual teams and players to choose whether or not to participate in the upcoming season. Adding, they believe, that safety protocols have been established and can be maintained to mitigate concerns of exposure to COVID-19. The Big Ten has not yet commented on that petition.

All right, in the NFL, what a moment for Alex Smith, the Washington football team quarterback getting cleared to practice yesterday, capping a remarkable recovery from a leg injury that nearly cost him his life. Smith had to have 17 surgeries since he shattered his leg in a game against the Texans 21 months ago.

But I mean, he was determined to play again and now he's back with his teammates. And check this out, Alex's family celebrating the news with the champagne shower in the driveway. His wife Elizabeth posting that video with a message, "Hard work pays off."

And John, and I remember watching that game when he got hurt. It was a horrific injury. You know one of the worst you'll ever see on a football field. Props to him for such an amazing company back and good luck the rest of the way.

BERMAN: Look, it's great to see him back on the football field. He's going to have a hard time getting the champagne smell off. I'm told tomato juice is the only thing that's effective with that. Andy Scholes, that's so much for this report.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: Appreciated.

CAMEROTA: Or orange juice.

BERMAN: I mean, that's a skunk. I can't remember. CAMEROTA: It's a skunk.

BERMAN: OK.

CAMEROTA: But they shouldn't have wasted all that champagne.

BERMAN: All right, with many colleges starting the year fully remote, should families have to pay full tuition? That's next.

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BERMAN: So with an increasing number of colleges closing campuses and switching to online-only classes, many students and parents are questioning why they are getting a break on the cost of tuition.

[07:50:00]

Joining me now is Scott Galloway. He's a Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business. Professor, thanks so much for being with. There's kind of a lot going on here. So I just want to establish at the beginning, what do you think of the decision by many colleges to switch to online only?

SCOTT GALLOWAY, MARKETING PROFESSOR, NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: Well, I think it's the right decision, and I think it should have been made a while ago. I think that if you're somewhat cynical you could say that as soon as the tuition checks were sent in, they sobered up and realized that bringing a cohort that has proven to be super spreaders in an environment where you have very tight living quarters, and the primary value of college revolves around density.

So I think this was overdue. I think we should have had a more honest conversation earlier about the upside and the downside risks. But going remote is absolutely worth. In my view, every university should be doing.

BERMAN: Now, given that many schools are going remote-only what is it that you think they should be doing with tuition?

GALLOWAY: Well, that's an easy one. They should be lowering it. But the question is, they probably should have lowered it a long time ago or not raised it as fast. Universities have backed themselves into a corner. And that is, we have raised tuition on average two and a half fold over the last 20 years.

[07:55:00]

We've raised prices faster than healthcare. But if you were to walk into an emergency room now and need surgery, the techniques, the surgery, the medications, the protocols are substantially improved.

Whereas, if you walked into a university classroom 20 years ago, the fashion might be different, but it's not much different today. So we have a product that has gotten much more expensive without any underlying increase in innovation. I think COVID-19 was just the straw that broke the camel's back were families across America are saying enough already, we're not going to pay $58,000 for Zoom classes,

BERMAN: Some schools have cut tuition 10 percent to 15 percent, others have not. And those schools that have not largely say look, we're actually spending more now. There are some studies that suggest that it's costing colleges on average 10 percent more to shift to online classes, so what do you say about that?

GALLOWAY: There's no doubt there's an increase in expense. I would argue that if we'd spent a fraction of the time that we spent in these meetings and taskforces around AB protocols, plexiglass, if we spent a fraction of that time investing in small and big tag, we could move to a future that would involve a lower cost per student delivery and much broader freshman seats.

We haven't increased our seats. Stanford has tripled the number of applications, hasn't increased their seats. Harvard has a $38 billion endowment, but has decided not to increase its seats. We have universities that have taken on this notion that we're no longer public servants. That we're luxury brands.

So we have an opportunity here to embrace technology instead of trying to deploy these weapons of mass entrenchment and complain about our costs. We've had this coming. It is time to embrace technology, lower cost and move education back to what it used to be and that is upward mobility for the middle class, which is overdue.

BERMAN: You're a business school professor, I don't know if you have college age kids, but what is the price point? What do you think the appropriate tuition cost is for a college freshman?

GALLOWAY: Well, I think it's situational. What - I think in general, what you need is back, when I applied to the University of California, Los Angeles and Berkeley, it was a stretch, but it was doable. And when I came out of college, I didn't have more debt - so much debt that I couldn't start a business or so much debt that I couldn't go into a field that I wanted to go into.

I didn't have so much debt that it put enormous pressure on my parents. Spring is supposed to be a time of discovery and joyous learning. Where are you going to school now? It's become a season of despair as we have levied more debt on middle class households and credit card buyers - so price just needs to come down?

BERMAN: Would you pay the price right now.

GALLOWAY: I'm sorry.

BERMAN: If tuition is $60,000 or $70,000, would you pay that tomorrow to send your kid to college - to private college?

CAMEROTA: It depends on the brand. At the end of the day, the primary value here is the certification and it depends on your financial situation. It's situational, John.

BERMAN: Scott Galloway, I appreciate that. As you said, college loans - look, my wife and I didn't pay off our college loans, including her business school until we were in our mid-30s. It takes a long time. It takes a long time and hangs over you for a long time. It's an important discussion to have independent of the pandemic, I think. Although, as you said, it accelerates that discussion. Professor, thanks so much for being with us.

GALLOWAY: Thank you.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fall and the winter are going to be probably one of the most difficult times in American public health.

TRUMP: If you look at these numbers, they're coming down very substantially.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a moment that if we change our behavior, there's a clear path forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President doesn't have a problem with anybody voting by mail. He opposes universal mail-in ballots.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The President thinks that more Americans voting is a bad thing for him personally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 2020 Democratic National Convention is set to kick off. This is going to be convention unlike any convention we've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

BERMAN: All right, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY and it is a new day of sorts for us. We're sort of nearer each other. There's not a wall between us.

CAMEROTA: I know I can't believe it.

BERMAN: Not a physical wall. I mean, there's a metaphorical wall. There always be.

CAMEROTA: No, of course. I mean, obviously there's an emotional wall. But my point is, it's great to see you.

BERMAN: Yes, is it.

CAMEROTA: It's great to see you. It is. I mean, we're actually - we're standing up. I'm wearing shoes.

BERMAN: You're sitting down.

CAMEROTA: OK. I did stand up should go over to our magic wall, and I am wearing shoes for the first time in five months. You're wearing pants as far as I can tell for the first time in, God knows how long. BERMAN: Yes, that's very true. And so I just think that it feels great to be back together here.

CAMEROTA: It is. America is happy I'm wearing pants. Let me assure you of that. All right. The number of Americans who have died from Coronavirus has now passed 170,000.

We've seen more than 1,000 daily deaths on average for the last three weeks. And the last thing you want to see, as we're seeing increased deaths and all these cases, is an actual decrease in testing

You can see 15 states conducting fewer tests than the previous week and as you just saw this. Seven-day average of new testing peaked in mid-July and then dropped. So why on earth do less testing now? One thing that might help.

END