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Second Night of RNC; CDC Changes Testing Guidelines; Doc Rivers Emotional about Blake Shooting. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 26, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:31:27]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We all know Donald Trump makes no secrets about how he feels about things. Total honesty is what we, as citizens, deserve from our president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Total honesty is what the citizens deserve from our president. First Lady Melania Trump really the headliner of the second night of the Republican Convention with that message of irony.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator Matt Lewis, he's a senior columnist at "The Daily Beast," CNN political commentator Amanda Carpenter, she is the former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. We should note, Amanda has said she is now voting for Joe Biden. Also with us, CNN White House reporter Kate Bennett, who covers the first lady. She's the author of "Free, Melania: The Unauthorized Biography."

Amanda Carpenter, you're the author of Gaslighting -- "Gaslighting America." And when you hear the first lady say that what the American people deserve is total honesty from the president, it seems like that could be a chapter in your book.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I'd need about ten sequels given the last three months.

There's been a lot of talk throughout this convention about law and order, honesty, and I've just got to say, John, every day I wake up feeling more queasy. Republicans like me have -- who just can't stomach Donald Trump have been increasingly worried how he will abuse his powers as president for personal and political gain throughout his presidency. And it's only getting worse.

I mean just look at the set-up last night and -- and contrast that with the chaos in the streets happening right now where people on both sides, the militias, the protesters feel like they have so much to lose that they are resorting to violence in the streets. I mean, I -- I am worried for our democracy. I don't care about the Republican Party anymore. I feel that the alarm bells are ringing so loud and that is only going to get more perilous as we get closer to the election.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I hear you, Amanda. I mean that -- I think that the juxtapositions of what we've seen at the RNC and then what's happening in -- out in the world.

I mean, Matt, there's -- there's the McCloskeys who brandished their weapons at peaceful protesters and they're evaluated at the RNC at the same time that these people with -- these militia men, as the sheriff calls them, in Kenosha are showing up with their long guns and shooting people. I mean this is what's happening on the split screen.

But I know that you say that some elements of the RNC have been very effective. So what's your takeaway?

MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. Well, look, I mean I echo Amanda's concerns about the abuse of power and sort of exploiting the trappings of the presidency. I think it's pretty horrible.

But, theatrically speaking, I think this convention has been wildly successful, much beyond my expectations. I think that, you know, Donald Trump normally just panders to his base and throws them crazy red meat.

CARPENTER: Yes.

LEWIS: And I think that this has been just a much better message in terms of appealing to people who don't wear MAGA hats, right? The suburban soccer mom who doesn't follow politics that closely, isn't comfortable with Donald Trump's rhetoric or actions, but also fears the chaos happening out there. And, look, we -- you know, logically speaking, you could say, well, hey, this is all happening on Donald Trump's watch, blame him. But I feel like, you know, the -- the unrest, the rioting in the streets is going to redound to Donald Trump's benefit.

[06:35:00]

And I think that they have exploited that. I think this race is going to tighten. And I think, again, theatrically speaking, this convention for Republicans so far has exceeded my expectations, politically.

BERMAN: Theatrically speaking, Kate Bennett, you can weigh in on this. And what we saw, it was more the theatrics. From the first lady last night, this was a speech I know you have reported that she didn't share, necessarily, with the White House, the West Wing apparatus and the Republican National Committee.

Tell us about the message she wanted to convey and what you heard.

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I mean, first of all, John, I would say this, that everyone is sort of expressing surprise and, oh, my goodness, she spoke about the coronavirus and -- and race in America. That's not a heavy lift nor should it be for the first lady of the United States. I mean let's be honest, having -- expressing condolences for millions of Americans affected by Covid-19 shouldn't be something that we're taken aback by hearing from her. However, in this White House, she has done her own thing and at times

that has frustrated the West Wing because it is out of step with the messaging of the president. And I -- you know, I think that's probably part of the reason why she didn't vet her speech. She didn't need to get it approved, didn't feel the need to do so. I think she talked a lot about herself last night and about the things that she -- she's done as first lady, more so than what her husband has done. I think it was interesting to me that she referred to him as "Donald" many times, something she's never done. I've covered almost all of her speeches and she usually says "my husband" or "the president" or "the president and I." She almost never says "Donald." So I think she was trying to soften him. But, at the same time, I don't think she -- she was saying, and now go vote for him, and now go vote for him at the end of each thing she stated. We have to read into that a little bit because this is a first lady, again, that we don't hear from all of that often.

CAMEROTA: Oh, no, Amanda, it's all so confusing. I mean the message from the first lady is so different. She -- she wants respect for immigrants. She wants no bullying. I mean it's all -- it's all in such stark contrast to the very things that her husband stands for. And, I mean, I know that you point out that the whole reason they are able to have the optics and the majesty of the White House is because of coronavirus. This was all supposed to be happening in Charlotte, which the president, hasn't mentioned, had to be canceled because of his handling of coronavirus.

CARPENTER: Yes, I mean, the bar is so low. And Melania kind of did the basic thing of expressing sympathy, which everybody thought was a big deal. That should have been going all along.

And the idea how fear will play in this election, I think is pretty big. And Donald Trump is certainly trying to hype that fear. Melania's trying to make people feel safe. But I think suburban women, and I -- I've just got to say, the whole soccer mom thing is so outdated from the 1990s.

Suburban women are scared. But who are they more scared of, Donald Trump, who is stoking these tensions at every possible turn, or Joe Biden, a guy who makes great lengths to show how sympathetic and caring he is. There is fear. And this is a negative partisanship election. And people will vote against the person they are more scared of.

BERMAN: Matt Lewis, we're lucky to have you here this morning in the sense that you're in one of these rare positions of pissing everyone off. Like, everyone hates you this morning on social media, Matt Lewis, because you're a Republican who has said you're a never-Trumper and that you didn't vote for Donald Trump before and I don't think you intend on doing it again, although I don't think you've said you voted for Joe Biden. And we've got to the point of, there's a question of what's right versus what works. In terms of what's right, using the power of the presidency, like the president did in this convention last night, a naturalization ceremony in the White House, issuing clemency to someone, which you could argue the merits of issuing clemency, you know, you can't argue that it was done during a convention for political purposes.

And then Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, delivering an address. Secretaries of state don't do that. There's a reason why they haven't done. It is exploding the lines between politics and government and using the trappings of the presidency for pure political campaign purposes.

I know you don't think that's right. The question is, does it work?

LEWIS: Well, that's right, John. I mean it's an interesting position. I try to look at this as an analyst.

You know, look, I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan, but if they're playing the New York Yankees and I'm objectively looking at it and the Orioles do something stupid or the Yankees do something good, I'm going to say it. And that's how I view this from a political standpoint.

When I'm -- when I'm writing about a convention like this, I try to check my opinions at the door in the sense of, like, I may think what Donald Trump or Melania is saying is BS, but the question is, does it work? Will it resonate? And I think we've really -- I -- I was surprised by this. I assumed that this would be more like a Donald Trump rally, where all he does is throw red meat at his base.

[06:40:03]

And instead we've seen these pretty heart-warming stories about things that Donald Trump has done. And, again, I think it's very inappropriate and an abuse of power to have like -- to pardon somebody as part of the theatrics of a convention or to have a naturalization ceremony, but I think it works. I think the production value has been superb. I think this is like a Mark Burnett, "Apprentice"-like production.

And if all you knew, if you were a Martian who just showed up in America, you know, a couple of days ago, you -- you would think Marco Rubio or Mitt Romney was president by, you know, two-thirds of the things we've seen at this convention. We can find it despicable, but I think it works. And if the goal is to kind of rebrand Donald Trump as a kinder, gentler Donald Trump, someone that if you are -- I won't say "soccer mom," but if you're a suburbanite who's very uncomfortable with Donald Trump's rhetoric and actions, all of a sudden now you might say, well, he's not that -- he's not so bad after all. I'm not going to be embarrassed or ashamed, this is what you might say, to go cast a vote for Donald Trump. If he can do that, I think this race is going to narrow.

BERMAN: It does ask people, though, to forget the last three and a half, four years, which may be a very high bar given the saturation of Trump content that he himself insists on providing day in and day out.

Kate Bennett, thank you for your reporting. Amanda Carpenter, Matt Lewis, thank you both for getting up. Love having you here on the show. Appreciate it.

LEWIS: Thank you. BERMAN: Coming up, just a huge reversal from the CDC on testing that has doctors up in arms and wondering if the goal here is to actually find fewer cases. What changed? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:54]

CAMEROTA: Major questions this morning about changes the CDC made late yesterday to their testing guidelines. The agency now says that people exposed to coronavirus may not need to be tested. Many in the medical community are saying, what?

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

I don't get it, why wouldn't people exposed need to be tested, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it doesn't make any sense. I'm not just going to say "what," I'm going to say "what the" and I'm going to let you fill in the blank. This is ridiculous.

The CDC used to say, if you've had close contact with someone with coronavirus, meaning within six feet of them for 15 minutes or more, you should get tested. Now they're saying, you should consider getting tested but you might not need to unless you're a vulnerable person, which usually means older or have an underlying health condition, or your doctor or local politic health official tells you to.

What? People who are exposed to someone with coronavirus should get tested. Experts will tell you that that is the case. Why wouldn't you want to get tested?

And this kind of back and forth with very subtle language where you have to click on three different places to figure out what they mean is crazy making. It is not public health communication. It is clearly pressure from some force in some way. If you want to communicate clearly to the American public, the CDC knows how to do that. They do that for a living. They are not doing it here and there must be a reason for it.

BERMAN: And to be clear, the people that this would leave out and the place that this would abandon in terms of the spread of this pandemic is asymptomatic people, because what it's saying is, unless you get symptoms, you don't necessarily need to go get tested.

Well, if you've been near someone who was sick, and you aren't showing symptoms, you could be that asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic person that we know is such a key player in the spread here. And it would just leave that person out.

COHEN: Exactly. What this change does is it actually -- it actually encourages the spread of Covid because it's saying, oh, if you don't have symptoms, you don't need to worry about this so much. I mean, obviously, it doesn't say it in those words, but essentially that's what it's saying. If you don't have symptoms, you don't really need to get tested.

What they've done is they've given permission to that person to just kind of go out there and keep spreading it. This is ridiculous. If I have been within six feet of someone for 15 minutes or more who is now known to have Covid, of course I'm going to get myself tested. Why wouldn't I?

CAMEROTA: What is Dr. Redfield saying about this, the director of the CDC?

COHEN: I don't know that we've heard him come out and say anything specifically. This was a change. I mean, we might have, but I haven't heard that. This is a change that was made on the website that is so subtle and wasn't alerted, so we sort of had to discover it on our own. It's the kind of thing, again, crazy making. The language is subtly changed, Americans aren't going to get this. You have to have sort of a team of scholars pore over it, as if it were a biblical passage, to figure out what they're trying to say. This wasn't heralded in any way.

BERMAN: I will say, 1,200 people dead in the last 24 hours reported and a policy that may lead to fewer tests and fewer known cases. Ask yourself why.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: OK, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers gets emotional talking about the Jacob Blake shooting. He has a pointed message for President Trump. We have all the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:31]

BERMAN: All right, break overnight, a deeply emotional response from NBA players and coaches to the shooting by police of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Doc Rivers is the coach of the L.A. Clippers with this really remarkable statement about what it's like to be black in America.

Andy Scholes with that and the "Bleacher Report."

Good morning, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

So Doc Rivers tearing up when he was asked about Jacob Blake last night. Rivers saying you don't need to be black to be outraged. Every American should be outraged by that video. And Rivers also saying, how dare Republicans and President Trump talk about fear when it's black people are the ones who should be scared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOC RIVERS, LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS COACH: Just watching the Republican Convention and they're spewing this fear, right, like, all you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones that were denied to live in certain communities. We've been hung. We've been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It's -- it's amazing to me why we keep loving this country and this country has not loved us back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, and Rivers went on to say that training has to change for police, John, and that they need to start protecting black people like they protect everybody else.

[06:55:08]

BERMAN: Doc Rivers saying everyone is talking about fear, and he's saying that he and his children are the ones that are so scared right now.

SCHOLES: Yes.

BERMAN: Andy Scholes, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

We have major breaking news this morning. Two dead in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A manhunt underway. And the sheriff there warning of armed vigilantes exploiting the protests following the death of Jacob Blake there. He even used the word "militia." We're going to bring you the very latest on what we know and what our reporters are seeing on the ground. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And we do begin with braking news. A very dangerous situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Two people are dead in clashes that may have involved armed vigilantes.

[07:00:01]

The sheriff there even using the words "militia." People may have moved into that city to counter the protests following.

END