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Deadly Shooting in Portland Amplifies Racial Tensions in U.S.; Wisconsin Governor Urges Trump to Reconsider Visit to Kenosha; Dems Slam End of In-Person Election Security Briefings; FDA Chief: Agency Willing to Approve Vaccine Before Phase 3 Trial Ends. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 31, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

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

[05:59:03]

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 31, 6 a.m. here in New York. And as of this morning, just under 6 million Americans have been infected by coronavirus; 183,000 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 supporters to stop seeking conflict shows just how weak he is."

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump appears to be stoking the unrest with his Twitter feed, tweeting his support of the caravan of hundreds of his supporters in pickup trucks, rolling into Portland after they clashed with protesters and before a man identified as a supporter of a right -- a far-right group was shot and killed.

Tomorrow, President Trump plans to visit Kenosha. Wisconsin's governor is pleading with him not to come.

And this morning, growing concern over the Office of National Intelligence deciding to end in-person briefings on election security just two months before the presidential election. What they say the reason is.

Let's begin with CNN's Lucy Kafanov. She is live in Portland with our top story. What's the situation, Lucy?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning.

President Trump and the Portland mayor now a war of words over the deadly violence on Saturday that saw one man lose his life. Authorities still not releasing the name of the victim or the suspect. Now, there was concern, according to law enforcement, of Trump supporters coming to Portland last night to seek retribution. That has so far been averted. But this city now a powder keg that could ignite.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR TED WHEELER (D), PORTLAND, OREGON: President Trump, you bring no peace. You bring no respect to our democracy.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Portland's mayor, Ted Wheeler, slamming President Trump after a weekend of unrest in a city that left one man dead.

WHEELER: Your campaign of fear is as anti-Democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country. And now you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped.

KAFANOV: After the death of George Floyd in May, Portland has seen three months of intense protests, with demonstrators demanding the mayor, who also serves as the police commissioner, put an end to police brutality and racial injustice.

But on Saturday, protesters against police brutality clashed with a caravan of Trump supporters. According to "The New York Times," one video shows counter-protesters shooting a paintball gun into a crowd of protesters from the back of a truck. Then later in the night, gunshots were heard, and a man was shot and killed.

"The New York Times" reports the victim was wearing a hat with the insignia of the far-right group, Patriot Prayer. Police have not yet released the name of the victim or any information about the suspect in the shooting, who remains at large.

CHIEF CHUCK LOVELL, PORTLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT: And it's critical that everyone refrain from conjecture. Our Constitution permits freedom of speech and assembly, and individuals are free to disagree. But criminal activity, especially violence, is out of bounds.

KAFANOV: The president responding to the mayor's attack in a string of tweets, calling Wheeler, quote, "weak and pathetic" and even, quote, "wacky" and "a dummy."

Earlier Sunday, the Trump administration threatened to step in if Portland doesn't gain control of its city.

CHAD WOLF, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We've been asking Portland to do their job, really, for over three months now. We need them to step up, and if they can't, or they don't have the ability or the resources, ask the federal government. We'll provide those resources.

KAFANOV: President Trump has tried to vilify Black Lives Matter protesters in Democratic cities as violent agitators, a theme that is becoming a focal point of his re-election campaign.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know what I say? Protesters, your ass. I don't talk about my ass. They're not protestors. Those aren't protest -- those are anarchists. They're agitators. They're rioters. They're looters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: Now, Governor Kate Brown yesterday released a plan to deal with a violence that includes a community forum for the mayor, community leaders and protest organizers to work towards racial justice and police reform. But with tensions and emotions in the city so high, it remains to be seen whether that's going to be enough -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Thank you very much for reporting from the streets there.

Now to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the tensions there. Police are extending the curfew ahead of President Trump's planned visit tomorrow. Wisconsin's governor is urging Mr. Trump to stay home so that his state can heal, he says.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live in Kenosha with more. What's the situation there?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn. And the governor writing a two-page letter to President Donald Trump, urging him not to come here. And here's what he wrote in the letter.

He writes, "I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together. I am likewise concerned that an in-person visit from you will require a massive redirection of these resources and to support your visit at a time when it is critical that we continue to remain focused on keeping the people of Kenosha safe and supporting the community's response."

[06:05:03]

That's the governor here, urging the president not to come here tomorrow.

Now, the White House has responded, said that the president intends to still visit this city. The White House says that the president has heard from businesses and some of the community leaders here and that they want him to come. So he's coming here, and he still intends to come here on Tuesday.

Now, the White House also responded over the weekend, actually. The president spoke about the Jacob Blake shooting, saying that it was not a good sight. And -- but when asked about his reaction to some of the police violence, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What you don't see is the thousands and thousands of great decisions that are made where people are saved. So we have to understand that. I mean, people can make a mistake. It doesn't make them bad. They choked. Bad things happen. And it can happen.

And we have to protect our police. We have to allow our police to have the respect that they used to have. And if you look at these Democrat- run cities, it's a disaster, what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And John, just some context around perhaps the reason why, really, the president is visiting this county, this city. He was the first Republican to win Kenosha in over 44 years. Obviously, also, he won this state by less than 23,000 votes. So that is something to consider, as his visit draws closer.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, Shimon, bad things happen, people can choke. This was the first time the president actually directly addressed the shooting of Jacob Blake. Isn't that so?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, that was the first time that he addressed the shooting, in any way, really, right? So yes, that was the first time, John.

BERMAN: All right. Shimon Prokupecz for us. I appreciate your reporting. Please keep us posted.

This morning, growing fallout over a decision first reported by CNN. The director of national intelligence has canceled in-person briefings to Congress on election security. Why? Why would he want to tell Congress less with an election just two months away?

The change comes just weeks after a top counterintelligence official warned of Russian efforts to promote President Trump's re-election, also activities from China and Iran. The head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam Schiff, is slamming the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): President Trump's motivation is, as always, solely about himself. It's to get himself re-elected. And he realizes, if the country learns again that the Russians once again are intervening to try to help him in the election, he feels that that takes away from their assistance. So he doesn't want the American people to know about it, doesn't want Congress to know about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Joe Johns is live at the White House with the latest. You would think, Joe, that with the election 60-plus days away at this point, that's the very time you want the American people and Congress to know even more about meddling efforts.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you would think that. But, look, this is about openness and transparency in government in the run-up to the November election.

The administration made a promise on transparency, but now the director of national intelligence, in fact, says they won't be giving live briefings to House and Senate committees. They will be providing, they say, written updates.

So the reason for that, according to the administration, according to the director of national intelligence, is because information from some of the briefings leaked. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I reiterated to Congress, Look, I'm going to keep you fully and currently informed, as required by the law, but I also said, We're not going to do a repeat of what happened a month ago, when I did more than what was required at the request of Congress, to brief not just the oversight committees, but every member of Congress.

Within minutes of that -- one of those briefings ending, a number of members of Congress went to a number of different publications and leaked classified information, again, for political purposes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So what this change means is that people from the administration will not be subjected to live, on-the-record questioning from members of the House and Senate committees. They won't have to be put on the spot.

Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intel Committee says he is not ruling out the possibility of subpoenas to compel people from the administration to testify.

This comes, of course, at a time when the president has been seeking to undercut the election, even before it occurs, including cutting off funding to the United States Postal Service and -- and other measures, if you will.

John, Alisyn, back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Joe. Joe Johns at the White House, keep us posted throughout the morning.

The question is, what's the impact of this on the safety of the U.S. election? How might it help Russia? Also, could Russia have a role in the protests we're seeing around the country? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:14:06] CAMEROTA: This morning, Democrats are threatening to subpoena the nation's top intelligence officials after the director of national intelligence informed congressional leaders that his office will no longer do in-person briefings about election security.

At the same time, the top intel official on election security warns that Russia, China, and Iran are actively trying to interfere in our 2020 election.

Joining us now is CNN national security analyst James Clapper. He's the former director of national intelligence.

Director Clapper, great to have you here. What do you make of in- person briefings for Congress going away?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think this is very disturbing, particularly, you know, just about two months away from the election. Not to brief, in live sessions, the Congress, particularly the two oversight committees.

And what's missing, of course, is the back and forth give and take with responding to probing -- probing questions, which, you know, I guess, insulates the DNI from responding or saying something that might displease the White House.

And obviously, the rationale given that, Well, we'll provide written briefs, doesn't -- you know, that dog doesn't hunt to me, because you can leak written materials just as easily as -- as oral.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, if they're worried about leaks --

CLAPPER: It's also a lot of --

CAMEROTA: I'm sorry to interrupt. But if they're worried about leaks, why not stop the leaks? Why stop the briefings?

CLAPPER: Well, no, exactly. And it is too important a subject not -- not to brief.

And the other thing that's odd about this, Alisyn, is apparently, representatives from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security will continue to brief, but the most important voice in all of this, that which would portray the threat, the profound threat that the Russians are posing to election 2020, just as they did in 2016, a lot of that gets lost.

And Alisyn, if I might, I think there's a bigger issue here, which has to do with, this is another chipping away at the efficacy of our three-branch system, three co-equal branches. And so this -- this is disturbing to me on several levels.

CAMEROTA: So why do you think DNI Ratcliffe is doing this?

CLAPPER: Well, I think he's doing it at the behest of the White House, because some, I think, uncomfortable revelations have already been made about the Russians, again, favoring President Trump. And -- and by the way, the fact that the Chinese might favor Vice

President Biden pales in comparison to the active aggressive effort made on -- by the Russians to sow doubt, discord, distrust, and exploit the divisiveness in this country. And you can bet the Russians are messaging Black Lives Matter and white supremacists.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that. So you think you can see already evidence, as we saw in 2016, that some of this unrest, some of this online ginning up of discord, you see Russian fingerprints?

CLAPPER: Absolutely. And compounding that, of course, is, I am sure, the disinformation they are spreading about the pandemic. And particularly how disproportionately minorities are affected by the pandemic.

And there's no question the Russians are exploiting this. Why shouldn't they? They had huge success in 2016. Why not do it again in 2020. So it's, to me, beyond logic that they wouldn't be doing that.

CAMEROTA: You say that, in fact, you likened the unrest and what's happening at -- well, not just the unrest, the election interference and the lack of briefings to the president's COVID response. If you shut down testing, you don't know if you have an outbreak.

CLAPPER: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: And if you shut down briefings, what, you don't know if you have election interference?

CLAPPER: Exactly the point. If -- if we don't test, well, then, I guess we don't know the magnitude of the number of people that are actually affected. And if we don't talk about the Russian interference, then, seemingly, it isn't there. I mean, this is, you know, another Orwellian world here, quite divorced from fact.

CAMEROTA: Since you already see evidence of the Kremlin sowing the discord, what can be done about it at this point, two months before the election?

CLAPPER: Well -- and this -- you know, that's a great question. What needs to be done actually devolves, I think, to individual voters. And it is up to everyone, the citizenry and the electorate, to try to corroborate information and not to believe everything they see, read, or hear on the Internet. And unfortunately, a lot of people don't do that. They don't -- they don't probe. They don't question the information they're getting.

So at this point, it really boils down to individual citizens. It would be great, you know, if -- if the president, occupying the unique bully pulpit that only he occupies, would speak to this and what the Russians are doing to the public. But of course, he's chosen not to do that.

CAMEROTA: I think it's really hard to ask individual citizens to be investigative reporters or to be gumshoe detectives and to figure it out. And you'll remember in 2016, one of the things that the Kremlin did

was gin up protests. Like, they basically staged fake protests, and people fell for it and showed up at those protests. So that there were, you know, faux online listings, postings of upcoming protests. It wasn't a grassroots effort. It was a Kremlin-sponsored effort. People showed up.

[06:20:00]

And already, we may be seeing some of that in terms of what's happening in Portland or Kenosha, that there are these militias who are falling -- one of them was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. People are falling for these groups.

CLAPPER: Exactly. And I well recall very vividly, an interview that CNN did with a woman in Florida, who couldn't -- who just couldn't believe. It was just beyond her belief that the Russians actually instigated a meeting, a gathering that she attended.

That's why, getting back to the issue here, it's so important that the DNI, the director of national intelligence, be able to speak freely about this. Not only to the Congress, but to the public.

And I couldn't help but think about, you know, if I had written a letter like that and dropped it on a weekend, a Friday or a Saturday, the reaction I would have gotten to blow off hearings with the two oversight committees. I'd have the wrath of God from -- from both parties.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I think that your timing -- bringing up the timing is really important. They announced it on a weekend. I mean, doesn't that tell you the kind of -- the level of attention that they were hoping it wouldn't receive?

And so -- so Director, just explain again, without the in-person briefings, what is lost?

CLAPPER: Well, again, that interplay between the members and -- and either the DNI himself or his senior representative. And hearings are -- and I can attest, they're often more painful. But they turn out to be better when you have that interchange.

I think Senator Angus King spoke very eloquently about the value of having that interchange.

And there should be questioning, probing questions from both sides. This is not a Democratic or Republican thing. This should be something that is of concern to them and to all Americans. We have foreign nation states meddling in our election process. I mean, this is a genuine threat to the safety and security of this country.

CAMEROTA: Senator King is sounding the alarm about all of this, as you say, and he will be on our program in the next hour. Thank you very much, Director Clapper. Great to talk to you.

CLAPPER: Thanks, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: The head of the FDA says he's open to fast-tracking approval

of a vaccine before large-scale trials are complete. Will that be safe? We discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:37]

BERMAN: The United States will pass 6 million cases of coronavirus today with 183,000 deaths. Took about three weeks to add the last million cases.

Now, this comes as the head of the FDA says that he would be willing to approve a coronavirus vaccine before Phase 3 trials are complete.

So joining us now is CNN political commentator, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He's an epidemiologist and public health expert.

Dr. El-Sayed, what exactly does that mean that he would be willing to approve a vaccine before the Phase 3 trials are complete. And what questions does it raise for you?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the FDA has a history sometimes of giving emergency use authorizations before a complete investigation of evidence is made. I find this, to be honest, very frightening.

The reality of it is that just today, if you were to poll Americans, 33 percent, about, would say that they're unwilling to take a vaccine. And that reflects a distrust in the process that created that vaccine.

And of course, there's a difference between vaccines and vaccinations. The theoretical existence of a vaccine is one thing. A vaccination, a shot in the arm for millions of Americans, that would get us to that herd immunity that would stop the spread of this virus, that's another. And that requires trust.

And so, given what happened with what we saw just a couple of weeks back with convalescent plasma and the rush to -- the rush to issue that emergency use authorization, seeing that on the heels -- seeing this comment about the vaccine on the heels of that issue, I worry a lot about the way that politics may be shaping the process here.

And so I'm going to hold the FDA Chief Hahn to his word to say that he's going to let the data speak. And of course the community of scientists has to be very vigilant to make sure whatever comes out of that process is, in fact, a vaccine that Americans can trust.

This is not Russia. We should not have political impact on the scientific process. And Americans need to be able to trust the vaccine that comes out of this process.

CAMEROTA: But in terms of the emergency use authorization before the -- the completion of all the trials, does that just mean for front- line emergency workers? Meaning for healthcare workers and hospitals? Is that what they're talking about? EL-SAYED: It could. But the problem is, is that, given the way that

the conversation was had, the American people need a lot more clarity about exactly what it means.

And the reality is, is that usually these Phase 3 trials are only ended or they're concluded before they're completed if and when you see that there are negative outcomes.

We hope, of course, that each one of these Phase 3 trials gives us positive outcomes in a vaccine that will work, but we've got to let the science take its course. And so we just need a lot more clarity from this administration, given the track record that they've had, both from the president and, of course, from his FDA chief under political pressure of, potentially, putting politics ahead of the science.

And you -- we can't ignore the context here. We're barreling toward an election in November, a highly contested election, and there's always been this question of an October surprise.

And so to hear the FDA chief playing into some of those consternations, I think, is really worrying, particularly falling on the heels of what we saw a couple of weeks ago.

BERMAN: That's right. He made gross misstatements, or at least one gross misstatement in terms of the convalescent plasma, which raises serious concerns about what he might say then. And he's got to address that. He has, to an extent.

There is something happening at colleges across the country, Dr. El- Sayed.