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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Biden And Trump Duel Over Race In Defining Moment Of Campaign; Election Security Briefing Scaled Back Ahead Of Vote; U.S. Escorting Israeli Officials On Commercial Flight To UAE. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 31, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: After the Portland shooting.
But the same president who previously said there were good people on both sides of a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville -- well, he has refused to call on his backers to deescalate and has yet to offer any real solution to improve community -- police-community relations. And is yet to say a good word about racial justice protesters, including two who were shot and killed in Kenosha.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: After a summer of protesting in many big cities, the president is again zeroing in on Portland's mayor for things getting out of control, but Ted Wheeler is forcefully pushing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TED WHEELER (D), PORTLAND, OREGON: It's you who have created the hate and the division. Your campaign of fear is as anti-Democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country. You've tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history and now, you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Overnight, Oregon's governor releasing a plan to curb the violence in Portland after more than three months. The plan includes help from nearby police forces and state police. Overnight, Portland police declared the protests an unlawful assembly and began taking demonstrators into custody.
ROMANS: President Trump is still pushing ahead with plans to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin this week. He's expected to meet with law enforcement and survey some of the damage from recent protests.
And that's despite Democratic Gov. Tony Evers urging the president to reconsider. Evers is concerned the visit could do more harm than good as the city grapples with the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Kenosha County is now extending its curfew through Tuesday in anticipation of the president's visit. Meantime, Joe Biden heads to Pittsburgh today. He's looking to flip the script on the main theme of President Trump's convention.
CNN's Jessica Dean gives us a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Christine, later today we're going to hear from former vice president Joe Biden in remarks that campaign aides say will provide a contrast of his vision of leadership -- presidential leadership -- with that of President Donald Trump's.
And it's going to focus in on a central question, which really turns around the Trump campaign's attack on him, asking if people are safe in Donald Trump's America. He's going to be calling out what he says are failures of Donald Trump as the president, especially in this moment.
Now, this comes after Sunday when he released a statement strongly and vehemently condemning the violence in Portland. I want to read you a bit about that.
He said, "Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind of anyone, whether on the left or the right, and I challenge Donald Trump to do the same. It does not matter if you find the political views of your opponents abhorrent, any loss of life is a tragedy."
And we also learned that Biden and his aides considered going to Kenosha, Wisconsin to condemn the violence there personally but they were concerned -- they heard from local officials, some of whom were concerned about President Trump's visit there. And the Biden campaign simply didn't want to be a problem and didn't want to cause any other additional stress on that community at this time. So instead, they settled on Pennsylvania, which is where we will hear from Joe Biden later today -- Christine and Laura.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Jessica, thank you for that.
President Trump's director of national intelligence is defending a move critics say is the latest to undermine election integrity. The top intelligence office will no longer brief Congress on election security in person. There will be written updates, but that means no chance to press Intel officials on any of those critical conclusions.
Democrats are now threatening a subpoena over this.
The decision comes just weeks after the Intel Community warned that China, Iran, and Russia are all trying to interfere in the upcoming 2020 election.
So why the move toward secrecy now? Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Laura.
Over the weekend, we learned that the director of National Intelligence has informed congressional leaders that his office will no longer brief members of Congress in person on matters of election security and these questions of foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election.
Now, this is a big change because, of course, we have seen briefings in the past from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, including a series of briefings in July during at which point I was told that the director of national intelligence and his officials indicated to members of Congress that they would continue to provide these in-person briefings. But now, no longer.
The director of national intelligence and the President of the United States suggesting that this change is coming because of leaks by members of Congress.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Director Ratcliffe brought information into the committee and the information leaked. Whether it was Shifty Schiff or somebody else, they leaked the information before it gets in. And what's even worse, they leaked the wrong information -- and he got tired of it.
[05:35:03]
DIAMOND: Of course, they didn't provide any details or any evidence to back that up.
And, Democrats responding with wholesale condemnation, calling this an abdication of the director of national intelligence -- his responsibility and duty to inform Congress on these sensitive intelligence matters.
And, of course, there's also the broader issue of President Trump's claims about the 2020 election. He has repeatedly claimed that -- falsely, we should note -- that there would be widespread voter fraud as a result of mail-in ballots and also suggesting that mail-in ballots make -- are more vulnerable to foreign interference and that foreign countries might seek to take advantage of that system. That is something that U.S. intelligence officials, in recent weeks, have said is patently false.
But, of course, this is another issue that these members of Congress won't get the opportunity to press intelligence officials on because these in-person briefings with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence won't be happening -- Christine, Laura.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: All right, Jeremy Diamond. Thank you so much for that. Demands for loyalty came more frequently in the Trump administration than previously known. Axios is reporting that back in 2017, President Trump offered then-Homeland Security Sec. John Kelly director the day after he fired James Comey.
Axios has obtained excerpts from an upcoming book by "New York Times" reporter Michael Schmidt.
Schmidt writes, quote, "If he became FBI director, Trump told him Kelly needed to be loyal to him and only him. Kelly immediately realized the problem with Trump's request for loyalty and he pushed back on the president's demand. He said that he would be loyal to the Constitution and the rule of law, but he refused to pledge his loyalty to Trump."
This tracks with Comey's story that Trump demanded his personal loyalty.
Schmidt quotes Kelly as saying that telling Trump no was like French kissing a chain saw.
ROMANS: Oh, that's an image.
All right.
New guidance from the Treasury Department lays out what President Trump's tax holiday means for companies and their employees. Starting September first, companies can stop withholding employees' payroll taxes. That would mean bigger paychecks today but workers have to pay it back -- have to pay the taxes at the end of April 2021.
The new guidance only applies to workers whose bi-weekly paychecks are less than $4,000. And it's up to the companies to decide if they will opt in to this deferral.
Remember, even though the president signed an executive action giving workers this tax holiday, only Congress has the power to actually waive taxes. All the president can do is push back their due date.
Trump has said the tax cut would save working families thousands of dollars. But it does nothing to help the millions of Americans out of work because of the pandemic, who don't get a paycheck.
JARRETT: Well, a video posted by the second-highest-ranking Republican in the House has been flagged by Twitter as manipulated video. It shows Joe Biden talking to Ady Barkin, a progressive activist with ALS. Now, the clip edits in two misleading words in a digitized voice as Barkin and Joe Biden talk about funding for police. Barkin speaks using a computerized artificial voice because of his ALS.
Scalise deleted the tweet Sunday night after first defending it.
ROMANS: Gosh, it's just another warning -- right, Laura -- that as we head into this election season -- folks, if you're looking at video or clips or even graphics on Facebook and Twitter, just be careful. There's so much manipulated garbage out there. You know, I mean, don't be gullible.
JARRETT: Even coming from sitting members of Congress and the president.
ROMANS: Oh, yes, absolutely.
All right. Next, remembering a superhero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:42:42]
JARRETT: Welcome back.
Today, the United States will top six million coronavirus cases. Over 183,000 Americans are now dead. More than 2,200 lives were lost since we signed off the air just Friday.
Health experts are now calling for an independent review of all vaccines before they're allowed on the market. Physicians say an extra review could help rebuild confidence after several government blunders during the pandemic and growing public mistrust of vaccines.
ROMANS: Now, the FDA chief tells the "Financial Times" the agency could consider emergency use or approval for a vaccine before phase three trials are complete.
Dr. Stephen Hahn says the decision would be based on data, not politics, even though the president has openly pushed for a vaccine before the election and Hahn had to apologize last week for misrepresenting benefits of one coronavirus treatment.
The COVID response coordinator at the White House says waiting for a vaccine is the wrong strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, RESPONSE COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: Don't wait for the vaccine to do the right thing. Do the right thing today because if we do the right thing today we go into the fall with much fewer cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: New cases in the U.S. have dropped about 35 percent in a month, but the curve -- well, it's starting to level off now. Twenty states, many in the Upper Midwest, are reporting a rise in cases, up from 10 states early last week. And, 36 states are now reporting cases on college campuses.
ROMANS: Yes.
Temple University in Philadelphia is transitioning to remote learning for two weeks after reporting more than 100 cases there. The University of Alabama has recorded more than 1,200 cases since classes resumed on campus two weeks ago. And, Northeastern University just sent warnings to 150 freshmen for planning a party on Instagram -- in some cases, threatening to withdraw their admissions.
JARRETT: Right now, top White House officials, including Jared Kushner, are escorting Israeli officials to the United Arab Emirates on the first-ever commercial flight between the two countries. It's another step towards normalizing relations between the two Middle Eastern countries. The flight is heading to Abu Dhabi Airport.
And Sam Kiley is there for us live this morning. Sam, what do we expect to see today?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're going to see a remarkable scene in an hour and a half or so when an El Al flight number 971, which is the international dialing code for the United Arab Emirates, lands here and is -- here at the presidential flights -- the VIP reception area for the United Arab Emirates.
[05:45:07]
It's a remarkable moment in history that the Palestinians, Laura, have described -- because of the normalization of relations between this Gulf state and the Jewish state -- as a betrayal. And the reason they say that is that this would a deal struck that only got Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to suspend his unilateral annexation, and that is annexation without negotiation with the Palestinians of large areas of the West Bank. That's only been suspended.
But as a consequence of that, the Emirates are saying that that at least gives them, if you like, a foot -- knees under the table with the Israelis. They can talk to them. They think that they're preserving the two-state solution for the Israelis and the Palestinians.
But really, deep down, this is the beginning, certainly from the Emirate perspective, of what they hope to be quite a deep relationship in terms of security, particularly when they're looking towards Iran.
Now, of course, the Iranians will be portraying this very much as a moment of which they are now the principal champions of the Palestinian cause, not least because this aircraft is currently flying over Saudi Arabian airspace. That's the first time an El Al flight has ever done that.
JARRETT: All right, Sam Kiley. Thank you so much for being there for us. Historic, indeed.
ROMANS: All right. The death toll from Hurricane Laura in Texas and Louisiana rising to 17. Carbon monoxide poisoning from the use of generators blamed for more than half of those deaths.
As of Sunday night, nearly 360,000 customers were still without power. The storm devastated Louisiana's power grid and coastal residents could face long outages.
JARRETT: A St. Louis police officer who was shot in the line of duty on Saturday has died. Officer Tamarris Bohannon was responding to a call when he was shot in the head. Bohannon was a 29-year-old and served in the department for 3 1/2 years. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
A second officer was wounded as well. Eight St. Louis officers have been shot since June.
The suspect was taken into custody after a 12-hour standoff.
ROMANS: In California, cooler weather is helping firefighters gain ground on nearly two dozen wildfires. That includes two complex fires in the San Francisco area that have burned 750,000 acres. More than 60,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders throughout California.
Temperatures are forecast to get back near 100 degrees with gusty winds this week.
JARRETT: All right, this one is every kid's fantasy, but when it actually happened on Sunday, it was terrifying. That is a real-life 3- year-old girl at the bottom tip of that orange kite you see there. It's a festival in a seaside town in Taiwan.
Local media say it's unclear how she got wrapped up in the kite's tail but she's obviously in the air. You can see onlookers rescued her and she only suffered only mild scratches to her neck and face.
ROMANS: That's terrifying.
All right. More than $1 million worth cocaine seized after it washed up on a beach in Hollywood, Florida. A beachgoer spotted the 30 packages filled with cocaine. And this is part of a bizarre trend. In the past two months, agents in Florida have seized over 210 pounds of cocaine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR, "BACK TO THE FUTURE": Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, ACTOR, "BACK TO THE FUTURE": Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Doc Brown would be proud of this one. A Japanese company called SkyDrive announcing the first successful test drive of a flying car. In a public demonstration, the car took off and circled around the Toyota test field for about four minutes. The company says the car is equipped with eight motors to ensure safety in emergency situations.
ROMANS: All right.
Elon Musk unveiling his next big thing. It's called Neuralink and it combines artificial intelligence and the human brain. Musk rolled out the technology on Friday in a pig named Gertrude. He says the coin- sized device can one day be implanted in a human brain, an operation that is no more invasive than Lasik eye surgery. Musk calls the technology a Fitbit in your skull and claims it could
one day help fight memory loss, blindness, and paralysis, among other medical conditions.
JARRETT: Well, after more than a month of delays due to coronavirus, Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated film "Tenet" finally opens to big crowds overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Scene from Warner Bros. "Tenet".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The time-twisting sci-fi thriller opened in 41 countries this weekend and made $53 million at the global box office. Warner Bros. will release "Tenet" in the U.S. this coming weekend. Seven states though, including California and New York, still not allowing movie theaters to open.
Warner Bros. is, of course, owned by CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia.
ROMANS: All right, let's start a new week with a look at CNN Business this morning. Taking a look at markets around the world, you can see Asian markets closed mixed here. Europe has opened mixed as well.
[05:50:05]
The Nikkei surged after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought stakes in Japan's five leading trading companies. The London Exchange closed for a holiday.
On Wall Street right now, leaning higher here, and stocks finished higher Friday. The Dow closed up 161 points. The Dow is now positive for the year.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs. The Nasdaq is now up 30 percent for the year. Wall Street and Main Street on very different pages here.
New Chinese rules could complicate TikTok being sold to an American company. Chinese officials revised rules that govern the sale of certain technology to foreign buyers.
The notice did not name the app specifically but experts say the change would require TikTok owner ByteDance to get government permission before it could sell the app. ByteDance said it was aware of the new rules and it would comply with them.
Some much needed good news for your next flight on United Airlines. United is eliminating change fees on economy and premium tickets for flights within the U.S. forever. Free same-day standby and flight changes will begin January 2021. United CEO said getting rid of the fee was a top request from United customers. Air travel is still just a fraction of what it was before the pandemic. Now, some experts predict travel levels won't return to pre- pandemic levels for another three to five years.
Wrapper Master P has launched a new black-owned food brand to replace Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's. Uncle P's Louisiana Seasoned line includes pancake mix and rice and oatmeal. A portion of the profits will go toward educating inner-city kids and helping elderly people in black communities.
The New Orleans rapper said he decided to create the brand after learning about Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's problematic histories.
JARRETT: Well, tributes are still pouring in for actor Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday after a very private four-year battle with colon cancer. He was just 43 years old.
In his all-too-brief Hollywood career, Boseman portrayed a number of iconic black Americans from Jackie Robinson to James Brown to Justice Thurgood Marshall. He made the leap from history to myth in Marvel's billion-dollar blockbuster "Black Panther" as the king of Wakanda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHADWICK BOSEMAN, ACTOR, BLACK PANTHER: Wakanda forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: His "Black Panther" director, Ryan Coogler, penned an emotional tribute to the star.
Quote, "He lived a beautiful life. He made great art day after day, year after year, and that was who he was. He was an epic firework display. I will tell stories about being there for some of the brilliant sparks till the end of my days.
What an incredible mark he's left for us. It is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us until we meet again."
The tweet announcing Boseman's death had 7.3 million likes. That the most-liked tweet ever.
And one of Boseman's youngest fans, 7-year-old Kian Westbrook, held a heartbreaking memorial in front of his Missouri home for the actor who played his favorite superhero. Kian placed his Black Panther toy on a shoebox wrapped in black silk. All if his Avengers action figures were in attendance.
ROMANS: Oh, heartbreaking -- just heartbreaking.
All right. The first major awards show of the pandemic era taking place last night with a socially-distant MTV VMAs. The show began with a tribute to him. Performances were held at locations all over New York City. The Weekend's performance first -- performed first from the edge of the observation deck here at Hudson Yards. He also dedicated his two award speeches to the fight for social justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THE WEEKEND, SINGER: It's really hard for me to celebrate right now and enjoy this moment. So I'm just going to say justice for Jacob Blake and justice for Breonna Taylor. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Lady Gaga took home several awards for her song "Rain On Me."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LADY GAGA, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Rain On Me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: But the real winner of the night was her impressive mask collection. She seemed to have a different one for every appearance.
And, Taylor Swift marked an incredible milestone. Her video for "The Man" made her the first woman to win the VMAs Best Director award.
JARRETT: Leave it to Gaga to have like amazing masks, right?
ROMANS: I know. Oh my gosh, she's so talented.
All right, thanks for joining us this Monday morning, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:58:58]
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, August 31st, 6:00 here in New York.
And as of this morning, just under six million Americans have been infected by coronavirus. One hundred eighty-three thousand Americans have died.
One American, Jacob Blake, is in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down after being shot seven times by police.
Three Americans are dead in two cities -- Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon -- in clashes surrounding protests over racial justice. And the question this morning should be what is being done to make the situation better. What is being done to address police treatment of black men? What is being done to keep protests peaceful and not an excuse for violence?
Today, Joe Biden will deal with the issue head-on with a speech in Pittsburgh. In a statement he said, "Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally."
He also says of the president, "He may believe tweeting about law and order makes him strong, but his failure to call on his supporters to stop seeking conflict shows just how weak he is."
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump appears to be stoking.
