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Biden Calls GOP Senators To Hold Off On Barrett Confirmation; Trump Baselessly Tell Supporters Democrats Will Steal Election; Dr. Fauci Urges People Of Color To Volunteer For Clinical Trials. Aired 3- 4p ET

Aired September 27, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:22]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: President Trump continuing to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming election without offering any evidence. Several times in recent weeks, he has baselessly claimed that the only way he will lose the upcoming November vote is if the election is rigged. The President continuing to sow distrust in the integrity of the upcoming vote at a campaign rally last night.

All right, for more, let's bring in Jeremy Diamond at the White House. So sorry -- it's not Jeremy diamond. There you go. It's Arlette Saenz. Okay, let's talk about just two days away. Now, I'm with you, two days away from the first presidential debate. How is Joe Biden preparing? What do we know of how the President might be preparing?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe Biden and President Trump are preparing to face off for the first time in this debate. They will be one-on-one here in Cleveland in just two days, each of the candidates preparing in their own ways. Biden really starting to intensely focus on his debate prep on Thursday.

His early preparations have involved reading through briefing books and holding smaller prep sessions. But now he is really getting into the nitty gritty of debate prep as he prepares to take on the President.

Biden has said he is expecting a lot of the President's attacks to be personal that he doesn't necessarily think many of them will be based in fact, and that is something he and his campaign are bracing for.

The President has been studying up on possible attacks that Joe Biden could lob his way as they are preparing to face off for the first time in this debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Never before in our nation's history has a Supreme Court justice been nominated and installed while a presidential election is already underway.

It defies every precedent, every expectation of a nation where the people -- the people are sovereign -- and the rule of law reigns. There is no mystery about what's happening here. President Trump is

trying to throw out the Affordable Care Act. He's been trying to do it for the last four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So that was a little bit earlier today when Joe Biden was speaking in Wilmington, Delaware trying to tie the Supreme Court vacancy to the issue of healthcare. Biden and his campaign and Democrats really are hoping that they can invigorates voters heading into the November election to think about what is at stake with healthcare with the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Now President Trump tweeted a little bit earlier today saying that, for the Supreme Court to terminate Obamacare would be a big win. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case shortly after the election challenging Obamacare, and Biden really has tried to lay out the stakes for voters saying that they need to focus on this issue of healthcare and the threat that filling the Supreme Court seat right now with the Justice like Amy Coney Barrett would threaten Obamacare.

WHITFIELD: And Arlette, you know, there are new polls out that give us a clearer picture perhaps of where the two candidates stand nationally ahead of this debate. What can you tell us?

SAENZ: Right, so we have a new snapshot of where this race currently stands nationally, and right now, our CNN Poll of Polls, which takes a look at all of the national polls that are out there shows that Joe Biden is leading President Trump by nine points at this moment in time.

Of course, some of the battleground states, the race is a little bit tighter, those states where this election will be decided. And on the issue of the Supreme Court, a new poll released this morning found that a majority of voters would like to see the next President, the person that wins the presidential election, select the Supreme Court nominee after the election is concluded.

And right now, that poll has also shown that the majority of voters believe that Joe Biden would do a better job choosing a Supreme Court Justice. There's also another portion of that poll that says that people disapprove of President Trump's handling of the court right now by about 48 percent.

So the Supreme Court continues to be a hot topic of conversation, especially as we're getting closer to the debate.

[15:05:13]

WHITFIELD: All right, and of course, we are going to watch that. Our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much, in Cleveland.

All right now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is accusing the President of rushing the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett so that she will be in a position to rule on the Affordable Care Act.

CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider joins me with more on this. Tell us more about what Pelosi is saying.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Democrats are really drilling into this idea that the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett and in particular, a speedy confirmation of her could be detrimental to healthcare around this country, and that's because on November 10th, one week after the election, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, in particular, whether the individual mandate now that it's been zeroed out to a zero dollar penalty for people who don't purchase insurance, whether that's constitutional and if it isn't, whether the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down.

Now, you'll remember, it was in 2012, that it was Chief Justice John Roberts who really saved the Affordable Care Act by ruling that the individual mandate was okay because it was a tax. Well, after that in 2017, five years later, and just before Amy Coney Barrett joined the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, she wrote this. She said, "Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute."

And many democrats are pointing to that one line as evidence that Amy Coney Barrett would vote to strike down the ACA and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked today about that and talked about what the practical effects on healthcare could be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It doesn't matter what the process is here, what matters is what it means personally to the American people. If you have a preexisting medical condition, that benefit will be gone. If you are a woman, we'll be back to a time where being a woman is a preexisting medical condition.

If your children are on your policy, your adult children on your policy, no longer will they be and that in a time of a pandemic, and if you have seniors in your family who are having long term care paid for by Medicaid, they're going to be pretty soon moving back home and living with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: And it is the Trump administration, of course that is advocating for the court to strike down the ACA without really presenting a plan as to what would happen for those people with preexisting conditions.

It is notable, though, Fredricka that the court will hear arguments on November 10th, but a decision likely would not be issued until the late spring or early summer of 2021 -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Among the other key issues that the Supreme Court would be tackling, possibly in 1973 Roe v. Wade case that Coney Barrett could, you know, rule on or consider if indeed confirmed. How has she addressed that case in the past?

SCHNEIDER: Well, Democrats are pointing to a 2013 Law Review article where she really dismissed the idea of stare decisis, the idea that Supreme Court precedent should stand and in this article, she specifically referenced Roe v. Wade. So here's what Amy Coney Barrett wrote in 2013. She said, "The public response to controversial cases like Roe reflects public rejection of the proposition that stare decisis can declare a permanent victor in a divisive constitutional struggle."

So those words really casting doubt on stare decisis and whether Roe v. Wade should continue to stand and maybe potentially could be overruled. That's leading conservatives and Democrats to believe that Amy Coney Barrett could be the decisive vote here.

Now Coney Barrett, she has written or actually joined dissents in some opinions on the Seventh Circuit concerning a birth abortion. She joined a dissent that actually called into question the majority striking down on abortion restriction in Indiana.

So she has somewhat of a record on this, but conservatives are counting on her to be that vote. Could Roe v. Wade, come before the Supreme Court and could that issue of it being overruled be brought to the court -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica Schneider. Thank you so much in a very busy Nation's Capital today.

All right, right so if confirmed to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett's presence on the bench may not only cement a long term conservative legacy for President Trump, but also usher in a wave of potential changes on social issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights.

Today, we're going to have several conversations about landmark rulings that affect millions of Americans and how a single nominee could potentially impact lives for generations.

My next guest would be directly affected if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law giving same sex couples the fundamental right to marry. Greg Bourke and Michael DeLeon are married and living in the red state of Kentucky, and they both served as plaintiffs in the Supreme Court marriage equality case.

Greg, good to see you. How confident are you that marriage equality will remain the law of the land if Barrett were to be confirmed?

[15:10:23]

GREG BOURKE, PLAINTIFF, SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASE: First of all, thank you for having us here today. We're grateful that you sought us out and want to hear our opinion on this because it is a matter of concern to us.

I won't say that I'm having trouble sleeping thinking about it, but it is something that I think all LGBT people should be concerned about as some of your prior discussions have said, typically, the Supreme Court once it has made these minor decisions and these major decisions, they tend to let them stand so that the law can be stable, and they don't overturn them.

So we've had the feeling that we perhaps have a bit of security in that knowledge, that things like Roe v. Wade, which I've been hearing about for my whole life might be overturned, have remained intact.

So we think that the vertical decision will stand. However, things are very different these days than they were last year or four years ago, and I kind of get the feeling like anything can happen going forward.

WHITFIELD: And, Michael, good to see you.

MICHAEL DELEON, PLAINTIFF, SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASE: Yes, you, too.

WHITFIELD: So you both are men of faith, having been active members of your Catholic Church in Louisville, you know, for more than three decades. So what's your message to those politicians in Washington who cite religion as justification for taking issue with same sex marriage?

DELEON: Yes, for me, the issue is, you know, it's a blanket issue where one party is saying that, you know, they are pro-life that, you know, they're anti-abortion, but you know, they're really not pro- life. They're just pro-birth.

So, you know, from a perspective of the religious right, you know, coming down on, you know, LGBT people and not respecting us and demonize us and pass laws to keep us down. You know, we've been fighting that our entire lives.

So, you know, the message is consider yourself to be pro-life, respect life, not just to defeat us.

WHITFIELD: Greg, your two Kentucky, Republican senators, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell are right there in your backyard, what is your message to them right now?

BOURKE: Right. So we know Senator McConnell quite well. Michael and I have been together for 38 years, and he's been our Kentucky State Senator for almost all of that time. So we know him well.

We do communicate with our senators whenever we can, by terms of e- mail and phone calls and we try to communicate to them that we are their constituents, and that we think that they need to slow this process down.

What we saw in 2016 was incredibly frustrating to us, but we knew that Senator McConnell have the power to do what he did to delay the hearings and the vote on Merrick Garland in an election year, so we know that he was kind of doing what he does.

But for him to now do this, just you know, two months before -- less than two months before the election just reeks of hypocrisy. And it's the kind of thing that Americans like and Kentuckians like us look at and we see the partisan politics that are being played and it's what everybody in America is so tired of. We are tired of this politic -- playing politics with every important decision that affects common people like us.

WHITFIELD: And Michael, how do you see this timeline?

DELEON: Yes, yes. Unfortunately, you know, Justice Ginsburg has not even been -- you know, her funeral hasn't even taken place. So, Greg and I were talking about that earlier today that, you know, as far as Judge Barrett from what I've seen and read about her, that that's not the issue. The issue is how fast and with fervor -- it's like Greg says, it is strictly political.

President Trump wants to energize his base, and he feels like this is a good move to do that, because he has been promising conservative justices all along. So it's just the timing. Yes.

Even if -- you know they could have waited a few weeks or a month or so, I think, you know. But then, you know, it's the election. So we see all -- we're not -- and we can all see what's happening here. It's just pure politics. And like Greg said, we're tired of it. You know, hopefully we can make some changes this fall.

WHITFIELD: We will leave it there for now. Gentlemen, thank you so much, Greg Bourke, and Michael DeLeon. Appreciate it.

BOURKE: Thank you.

DELEON: Thanks for having.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right, still ahead. With just weeks to go until the election, the President is doing all he can to cast doubt on voting in the 2020 election. The White House's latest target, the FBI A live report next.

Plus, worldwide deaths from COVID-19 set to surpass one million, and it is disproportionately impacting minority communities. What this could mean for a potential vaccine.

And it's happened again, a driver ramming through a crowd of peaceful protesters. We are live. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:38]

WHITFIELD: President Trump continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming election without offering any evidence. Several times in recent weeks, he has baselessly claimed that the only way he will lose the upcoming November vote is if the election is rigged.

He continued to sow distrust in the integrity of the upcoming vote at a campaign rally last night.

[15:20:02] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to try and steal the election. Look at this crowd. The only way they can win Pennsylvania, frankly, is to cheat on the ballots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, for more, let's bring in now Jeremy Diamond at the White House. Perhaps you didn't notice I called on you earlier. But anyway, here we are all in place.

All right, so it's not just the President attacking the integrity of the election. Now, one of his top aides is going after the nation's top law enforcement official for testifying that he has seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Explain.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. This morning, the White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows for the second time in a matter of days refusing to say that the President, whether the President does or does not have confidence in the FBI Director, Chris Wray.

Now, Chris Ray, of course, has been a frequent target of criticism by President Trump for a number of issues, but this time, it's about factual comments that the FBI Director is making about the lack of any evidence of widespread voter fraud, particularly as it relates to this question of mail-in voting. Listen to what the White House Chief of Staff said just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: To suggest that there is a process that is full of integrity is trying to make a verdict before you've actually heard the case, and that's my problem with Director Wray, they need to investigate it and make sure that the voting populace and make sure that their vote counts and no one else's does.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS HOST, FACE THE NATION: Are you confident in him? Is the President confident him?

MEADOWS: I beg your pardon?

BRENNAN: Is the President confident in him?

MEADOWS: Well, I mean, as we look at this, we want to make sure he's doing his job. There are different degrees of confidence in different Cabinet members, and certainly, he is still there. The minute that the President loses confidence in any of his Cabinet members, he'll -- they serve at his pleasure. He will certainly look at replacing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, the President and his team, of course, have also been upset with the FBI Director, because of what they view as his lack of cooperation with this Durham investigation, which is investigating the investigators in that election interference case as it relates to 2016.

But on this front, what Christopher Wray said in congressional testimony last week was saying that, "We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election."

And so he was just speaking the facts there. At the same time, he made clear that the FBI is staying vigilant and looking out for any potential cases of voter fraud as it relates to the 2020 election.

But the bigger picture here, Fredricka, is the fact that this is part of the President's overall attempts to continue to sow mistrust, and to really attack the legitimacy of the 2020 election in a wholly unprecedented manner for any American President in modern American history.

This is the President who several times over the last several days has said if Joe Biden wins, the only way Joe Biden can win is if Democrats cheat. That is not only false, but it is also of course, potentially dangerous if Joe Biden actually wins the presidential election. What happens to all these supporters of the President who hang on his every word -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much, at the White House.

All right, my next guest knows just what leaders are capable of when trying to stay in power. John Dean served as President Richard Nixon's White House Counsel, and he is the co-author of the new book, "Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers."

John, good to see you.

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Fred. Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: So your reaction to the White House's continued efforts to sow doubt about the election. You saw Meadows, you know, on TV again today, criticizing the nation's FBI Director saying that he hasn't done enough to investigate voter fraud.

DEAN: It appears to be a simply a verbal attack. He hasn't really taken any action to try to bolster the security of the election, or to try to undermine it in some way that would favor him after the election. So we're getting lots of words and lots of doubt, and sowing lots of discord. But that's the extent of it so far.

So it's not quite clear how this is going to play out, particularly if there's an overwhelming tsunami election. This will all just wash away.

WHITFIELD: But wow, out loud. The President of the United States telling the American people, don't trust the electoral system. I mean, can you ever imagine a day when you thought you would hear that coming from the President of the United States?

DEAN: No. It is unprecedented. I don't think Richard Nixon, my President who I work for, in his darkest day, and he had some dark days would have made that sort of outlandish claim. You've got to remember, the Federal government really doesn't administer the elections. It's done in over 10,000 separate jurisdictions throughout the United States.

It's run by state and local law. There are federal laws and there are constitutional requirements that really, the Federal government doesn't run it. So he is really accusing lots of people who have the best of intentions. They're largely volunteer people who come forward because they want to participate in democracy.

Hopefully more people will come for between now and Election Day to volunteer so they can be comfortable and actually see the process firsthand and make sure it is working properly.

[15:25:21]

WHITFIELD: Not it's not just the President, it's the Department of Justice, you know, criticizing the states. I mean, D.O.J. just recently released a bizarre series of statements this week saying that nine discarded ballots were found in Pennsylvania, and that seven of them were votes for President Trump. And the White House immediately used this as proof of a very serious problem. So, it's not just examining the White House, it is examining D.O.J.

DEAN: It is and it's really a rather sorry, situation for justice to be, one, talking about anything that is going on, any investigation or anything they're working on. That's unprecedented. Secondly, to sort of join this chorus to verbally cast doubt on the process when it proved to be nothing. It was just a mistake that was quickly explained.

So they're pumping up the rhetoric also and that's got to be very disheartening to an awful lot of career people in that department. I once worked in that department. And most of these people are really dedicated public servants and this isn't in that tradition.

WHITFIELD: John Dean, your book, "Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers." I mean, that's a very severe statement just in the title. What was the impetus of you authoring this book? Can you look back at a particular moment over these last four years that made you say, I've got to put my thoughts into a book in this form?

DEAN: I've actually been studying authoritarianism for over a decade. I worked for the last authoritarian President. That didn't work out so well, Fred. So I've been aware of this subject, and it's just not the leader that interests me, it is why people follow someone like this and that's really the focus of this book.

Who are these people that tolerate this kind of behavior? And why do they tolerate it? And what can you do about it? That's the focus of the book. I realized nobody else was looking at this. Really, it's about a half decade's -- excuse me, a half century of science that my colleague and I draw on and report in this book.

WHITFIELD: We see there are so many that seems to just blindly follow the President, and then there are those within the party who are breaking with the President.

A latest -- one of the newest endorsements for his challenger coming from Tom Ridge, former Governor of Pennsylvania, Republican endorsed Biden today. He worked under the Bush administration. And he said this, in an op-ed with just about one month until Election Day, "President Trump continues to claim the only way he can possibly be defeated is a rigged election. Can you imagine the hubris? Can you imagine any other President in our lifetime or ever saying something so dangerous and un-American?"

What does it take? What has it taken for so many Republicans to come out? I shouldn't say so many, but a handful of Republicans who have come out to say something of that nature and then endorse the Democratic challenger.

DEAN: Tom Ridge is a big endorsement in a very important state. He is somebody who has legal training. He knows what's going on, and I think that a lot of Republicans who I know and those are the ranks I came out of, they are really disgusted with what's going on and many of them have left the party or really don't want to be affiliated with the party.

So hopefully more, Fred, will come out between now and the election, and similarly, say this isn't the way we want our President behaving.

WHITFIELD: Do you see that as potentially influential?

DEAN: I think Tom Ridge is terrifically influential, and I think he will influence other Republicans to come forward. So hopefully, this is the beginning of a parade.

WHITFIELD: All right, John Dean, congratulations on the book. And thank you so much for being with us today.

DEAN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And we get to have a little chuckle, too, so appreciate that.

All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:34:08]

WHITFIELD: Dr. Anthony Fauci doubling down on the need for black and brown people to get involved with ongoing coronavirus vaccine trials. The nation's leading infectious disease specialist explaining why minority representation in clinical trials is so important in an interview with rapper, Fat Joe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If only white people get involved in the clinical trials or 95 percent white people and Latinx or brown and black people don't get involved, if a vaccine is really effective and really safe, you will not have proven that it is safe and effective in brown and black people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: My next guest recently wrote a piece for ""The New York Times"" explaining the need to recruit more Black Americans, brown Americans in coronavirus vaccine trials. Joining me right now to discuss, Dr. Wayne Frederick, President of Howard University. Doctor, always good to see you.

[15:35:09]

DR. WAYNE A.I. FREDERICK, PRESIDENT, HOWARD UNIVERSITY: Same here. Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So make your best argument as to why is it so important to have a diverse group of people participating in clinical trials? We're not necessarily talking about access to the vaccine, once it were approved, but just in the clinical trials, why does it make a difference?

FREDERICK: In this particular situation, it is going to make a huge difference. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected black Americans. When you look at it 200,000 deaths, black Americans have been disproportionately represented by having about 40 percent of those deaths. And so if you've come up with a vaccine, you want to make sure that the people that are most likely to suffer from this virus, again, black Americans -- that it is safe.

And as Dr. Fauci said, if we don't have enough of them represented in the trial, we will be extrapolating data from white participants and hoping that it will protect black Americans, and we've had a history of this in the country before where some of the clinical trials, that was not the case.

WHITFIELD: Right. Well, you know, in your op-ed you talk about the variation of immune systems. But when people hear this and say there needs to be a greater recruitment of brown and black people, and there is a historically huge distrust of clinical trials dating back to Tuskegee experiment, syphilis, et cetera, then there are going to be people who argue, wait a minute, you know, why should black and brown people be part of these clinical trials when the disproportionate impact on black and brown people has a lot to do with the healthcare, the lack thereof healthcare that they receive, the jobs that make them more predisposed to COVID, but not necessarily because of their genetic makeup, or their -- or anything with their DNA.

FREDERICK: And that's part of the reason why we need to have them participate so that we can prove that that is the case. The second part of that, which I think is also critical is making sure that there is trust built up, and you will see in that op-ed, we also make the argument that we should involve community leaders as well as trusted medical professionals who have been in those communities in order to make sure that they can trust that vaccine. So at Howard University Hospital, we're planning to participate in one

of the trials, but we want to participate on the science side as well as on the recruitment side. So I think you have to have a holistic approach.

WHITFIELD: Okay, now we're looking at the calendar, 37 days away until Election Day, and then listen to President Trump, who laid out for black voters during a speech here in Atlanta why he is the one black Americans particularly should vote for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We call it the Platinum Plan -- Platinum Plan. And that's a contract with black Americans, and it's going to be something that people talk about for a long time to come.

If you vote Republican over the next four years, we will create three million new jobs for the black community, open 500,000 new black owned businesses, increase access to capital in black communities by $500 billion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: As the President of a Historically Black College University, Howard University, how is that message being received?

FREDERICK: You know, I think several things here that we have to be very cautious of. The history in this country that black Americans have been faced against has been involving a bait and switch. People making promises, especially around election time and then not delivering on those.

I would love to see substantive proposals. I would also love to see a clear path for engagement of African-Americans because we are not a monolithic vote, and that's something that I think has to be made clear. We have to look at the African-American population and what the issues are, and there are structural issues that need to be addressed. And I don't necessarily hear that on an ongoing basis with a consistency.

And then the last part of this that I think is extremely important as well, Fredricka is that we can't ignore some of the rhetoric that has been passed on around some of the social and racial injustice. We have to do that.

So when we have the issue of Charlottesville, we have to speak out and we can say that there was some good people there. We have to call those things for what they are and I don't think African-Americans will trust the system if those things are not consistently done.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Wayne Frederick, President of Howard University, of which both of us are alums. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

FREDERICK: Good to see you.

[15:40:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead. Cameras capture yet another driver plowing through a crowd of peaceful protesters. Is this becoming a norm? We're live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It has happened again. Peaceful protesters across the country suddenly run down by drivers. Watch as a vehicle strikes at least two people during a Black Lives Matter protest Saturday in Yorba Linda, California. It's the second time in three days this has happened.

Is it becoming part of a trend in cities across the country? We're seeing vehicles being used as weapons against Americans who are taking to the streets, particularly in the name of Black Lives Matter.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro has been looking into what's behind this very worrisome phenomenon.

Evan, hey, we saw it -- what -- in Charlottesville and then we saw it one Halloween night in New York. So tell us what's going on here.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it feels like these are happening more and more often. The research shows that is the case. I spoke to a few people about this, including a freelance photographer who witnessed one of these on Friday night in Los Angeles. Now, I need to warn viewers that what's coming next includes some disturbing footage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA, FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER: Everyone gathered around 7:00 p.m. They start marching around 8:00 p.m.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): An hour later, came a terrifying moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTERROSA: They, you know, surrounded the vehicle to try and get it to stop and the truck then accelerated, and the woman who was directly in front of it was swept off of her feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Christian Monterrosa, a freelance photographer captured it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTERROSA: You go into this fight or flight sort of reaction, right? You see this very gruesome thing happening where, you know, a large vehicle is basically driving through a crowd of people. It feels very surreal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Scenes like this are common now. Ari Weil is a PhD student at the University of Chicago. He's been studying vehicle involved incidents at Black Lives Matter protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI WEIL, PhD STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: So far, I've tracked 104 incidents since late May through early September, and the vast majority of those occurred at the end of May and early June.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Charges are not often filed, Weil says, and it's not always clear what motivated the driver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEIL: There are a few different types of people behind the wheel. At one end are the true clear extremists, the card-carrying members of extremist organizations. Step down are those who are yelling slurs and are clearly racially motivated. We also have some non-racially motivated ones with just angry drivers, and then there are true accidents like someone whose GPS brings them into a protest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): But Weil says there are people who like to see cars running protesters down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEIL: There's an online environment encouraging these incidents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Memes about using cars as weapons have spread on the right. Remarkably, some even celebrate the killing of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

Some conservative lawmakers have tried to pass laws that protect drivers who claim they're afraid for their lives. Those efforts have failed for the most part, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis introduced new legislation this week.

The proposals running into stiff opposition, including from some in law enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): If laws like that are not written carefully, do you think that we could see more of these cars being weaponized in these protests? CEDRIC L. ALEXANDER, NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY EXPERT: Absolutely, you

could, because what it will do, it will allow those with nefarious intent. It will give them an escape to be able to use as to why they plowed through a crowd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Despite the danger, Monterrosa says he has seen no indication. Protesters will be pushed off the streets by fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTERROSA: I think this only adds fuel to the fire. I don't think this stops anybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Now, Fred, what has people like Ari, that researcher I mentioned worried is the return of these legislative efforts to protect these drivers. He tracked what impact those laws had the last time they were tried and he said that they led to an increase in these because some people feel like even without the laws passing, it's a tacit endorsement of this idea.

So it's a very scary situation and it's something we're seeing more and more -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: This is really scary. All right. I didn't realize the number was that high until I saw your graphic over a hundred since May. That's extraordinary.

All right, Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much.

All right, next, the fate of popular social media app TikTok will be decided in a matter of hours. Will the judge over the case side with the President?

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WHITFIELD: All right, we're waiting for a Federal judge's decision on whether the popular app TikTok will be banned in the United States. A ban is set to go into effect at midnight and will impact some 100 million U.S. users.

CNN tech reporter, Brian Fung joins us now. So Brian, which way might the judge be leaning?

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: That's a great question. At this point, it's anyone's guess. It ultimately could come down to the question of due process. TikTok argues that the government didn't give it enough of a say as it was trying to decide what to do in enacting this ban against TikTok and downloads of TikTok on U.S. app stores. And on this point, it seems the judge appears to be sympathetic, at

least to TikTok's argument. Earlier today in a hearing, he said that this appears to be a unilateral decision with very little opportunity for TikTok to be heard, and the result is a fairly significant deprivation, he said, of due process.

Now, ultimately, this decision could determine whether or not TikTok can be downloaded on U.S. app stores and we're expecting it to come sometime before midnight tonight, Eastern Time. And we'll have to see where it ends up.

WHITFIELD: Wow. In this rare Sunday court session. All right, Brian Fung, thanks so much.

All right, next, the 2020 election now a battle for the future of the country. Joe Biden making the case that Trump's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court will directly impact the healthcare of all Americans.

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WHITFIELD: Live team coverage straight ahead.

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