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Trump Calls it Another Fake News; All Eyes on Presidential Debates; Rush Nomination to Supreme Court; Clash Between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Israel and UAE in Win-Win Relationship; President Trump Denies Avoiding to Pay Taxes; Coronavirus Death Toll Close to One Million; Students Compelled to Self-isolate; France Trying All Restrictions. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 28, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the -- in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

We begin with an explosive report on U.S. President Donald Trump's finances. It's raising fresh doubts about his carefully crafted image as a successful businessman. The New York Times examined more than 20 years of tax return data for Mr. Trump, and his business organization. Among the many revelations, he paid no federal income taxes at all for many years. He denied the allegations Sunday evening using a familiar refrain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's fake news. It's totally fake news. Made up, fake. We were through the same stories. You could've asked me the same questions four years ago I had to litigate this and talk about that, totally fake news.

Now, actually, I pay the tax, and you will see that as soon as my tax returns -- it's under order. They have been under order for a long time, the IRS does not treat me well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Just a quick fact check here. An IRS ordered does not prevent the release of tax returns. But there is so much more, the Times report details Mr. Trump's extensive financial losses, even when he was campaigning for president as a successful businessman. It also raises questions about potential conflicts of interest.

CNN's John Harwood as more.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On the eve of the first presidential election debate, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, a bombshell report in the New York Times reporting that the president paid only $750 in taxes the first year he was president and a broader picture of a president under financial pressure who was relying on his status as president to keep himself afloat financially.

This New York Times report says that intended a previous 15 years before he became president, Donald Trump pay no income taxes, says that he has $300 million in loans, that he has personally guaranteed coming due within the next four years, potential loss of another $100 million dollars from a disputed tax refund that he received from the IRS, paints a picture of a president who is there for using his properties to attract business from lobbyists, from the U.S. government, from foreign officials. All because of the tightening financial squeeze that they depicted as him being underwrite.

Now, this is a president, of course, you sold himself to the American people as a highly successful businessman and set his success was the reason why they should hire him as president to turn the country around. This report cast doubt on whether he had that success at all, whether he's a millionaire as he has claimed, and whether or not it shakes his own voters.

Many of those small donors, those blue-collar voters who support the president, they may not defect from this. But this report takes away time, which is the one commodity the president doesn't have very much of.

He just has a few weeks left in the general election, he is trailing significantly nationally and in battleground states to Joe Biden, and the more time he has to spend defending himself against his charge, the more difficult it is for him to come back and you can bet that he is going to be defending it on that debate stage with Joe Biden on Tuesday night.

John Harwood CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: And as John just mentioned, this story emerged just two days before the first U.S. presidential debate. A campaign official for Democratic nominee Joe Biden says the report underscores the differences between the two contenders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BEDINGFIELD, BIDEN DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I mean, look, it's the latest reminder how clear the choices her between - in this race - between Park Avenue and Scranton. You have in Donald Trump, a president who spends his time thinking about how he can work his way out of paying taxes, of meeting the obligations that every other working person in this country meets every year.

You know, with Joe Biden, you have somebody who has a completely different perspective on what it means to be a working family in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Democrats on the House Ways and Means committee requested Mr. Trump's tax returns back in April of 2019. They have not been provided, but the chairman of the committee insists these new reports show why Congress needs the information saying in part, and I'm quoting here, "today's report underscores the importance of the Ways and Means Committee's ongoing lawsuits to access Mr. Trump's tax returns. And ensure the presidential order program is functioning effectively without improper influence."

[03:05:07]

Well, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also referenced that lawsuit in her reaction to the report on President Trump's taxes. The top Democrat released this statement writing, the New York Times reporting provides a window into the extraordinary measures that President Trump has used to game the tax code and avoid paying his fair share of taxes while hardworking Americans are.

This report provides further evidence of the clear need for the Ways and Means lawsuit spearheaded by Chairman Neal to access Trump's tax returns and ensure the presidential audit program is functioning effectively.

Well, President Trump meantime has spent years defending why he can't release his taxes to the public. Here are just a few of his excuses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Tax returns are very complicated. I have many, many companies, I have, you know, tremendously -- you know, I have every complex system of taxes. And frankly, I get audited every single year. So, you know, mine, unlike everybody else who never gets audited, I get audited every single year which I think is unfair.

I will release my tax returns against my lawyers wishes when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: The only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when you had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. So, if he's paying --

TRUMP: That makes me smart.

We're under audit despite what people said, and we're working that out, -- I'm always under audit it seems. But I've been under audit for many years because the numbers are big and I guess when you have a name, you're audited but, until such time is, I'm not are under audit I would not be inclined to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Renato Mariotti joins me now. Good to have you with us.

RENATO MARIOTTI, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, thank you.

CHURCH: So, after years of hiding his tax returns, the New York Times now has access to two decades of Donald Trump's tax documents revealing he paid no income tax at all for 10 years except for $1,500 in 2016 and 2017. He enjoyed vast write-offs while his properties struggled he is currently in an audit battle with hundreds of millions of debt about to come due. Donald Trump calls it fake news. What do you say to that?

MARIOTTI: Well, if he wants to prove the New York Times wrong then he can release his tax returns like everyone else does when they run for president in the United States. I have to say this is a matter that is causing so much speculation and so much concern, that really, if he doesn't want to release his tax returns ordinarily this is a sort of thing that you would think is either the Department of Justice or Congress is going to want to investigate.

CHURCH: So, if he doesn't release his tax returns, can we assume that this is all right then?

MARIOTTI: I would not say that at all. First of all, obviously there's an ongoing federal audit. And I think that right now of course the Department of Justice is under control of the Trump administration. So, I think what we are going to have to do is that we are going to have to wait and see what happens after he leaves office, and of course the New York state authorities here in the United States are investigating his state tax returns. So, there may be some news there as well.

CHURCH: So, his tax data also reveals that he's using the presidency to keep himself afloat. So, what will happen when and if he loses office, what's his legal vulnerability?

MARIOTTI: You know, it will be interesting to see what the next administration does, I have to say there are some matters here that seem worthy of investigation. You know, a mere, for example, incorrectly taken deductions is not a crime, but if for example there was false statement here that Trump knew about when he signed it, that potentially could be a criminal violation. And it seems on its face that his documents are at odds with Trump's financial disclosures, which show him with significant assets that don't list the debts that are listed here by the New York Times.

CHURCH: And we've also learned that he's in the middle of a tax audit that involves a $72 million tax refund that he requested. That presumably was the red flag here, so what have you learned about that?

MARIOTTI: Well, what we have learned here of course is that, that audit is still ongoing. I will say I represent lots of people who run into tax trouble, and it is possible to delay those investigations significantly.

[03:09:58]

But I am surprised that Trump has been able to delay at this long. I think that Congress needs to provide oversight and to see whether or not Trump or any of his allies in the administration are interfering with the IRS.

CHURCH: And what's your sense of how these documents sell into the hands of the New York Times? Do you think someone within the IRS wanted to see these go public?

MARIOTTI: I guess more likely, someone, for example, Trump's accounting firm wanted to see them go public, there's been a huge battle here in the courts over those tax returns. And in fact, his accountant -- accounting firm actually was willing to comply but had to wait for the Supreme Court of the United States to issue a ruling along those lines.

So, it seems that since that ruling has delayed, release since until after the election I won't be surprised if someone at the accounting firm took it in his or her hands to release this before the election.

CHURCH: And what about the legal vulnerability of his company?

MARIOTTI: Well, his company very well could have -- it's more likely to have liability than him because the company itself is, you know, making the statements, and it's a little bit easier to prove that the company is doing so woefully than it is for Trump individually because Trump's own head it can be difficult to decipher in terms of his intent.

So I think there are -- is potential liability for his company, and we are going to have to see whether or not he wins reelection, because I think we can count on the Justice Department not to take action until he leaves office.

CHURCH: Right. We'll watch to see the ramifications of all. Renato Mariotti, thank you so much.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

CHURCH: And all of this coming right in the middle of a fiercely contentious debate about the president's ultra conservative pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. On Sunday, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called the rush to seek Judge Amy Coney Barrett an abuse of power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Someone have to stand strong for our democracy. They must not act on this nomination so the American people finish the process they've already begun, selecting their president and their Congress. And the voters in my view are not going to stand for this abuse of power. And if we were to call ourselves a democracy, their voices must be heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Senate judiciary committee is expected to approve Judge Barrett's nomination in less than a month, setting up a full Senate vote by the end of October.

Meanwhile, the president keeps pushing false rhetoric about widespread mail-in ballot fraud, telling the media on Sunday he hopes Judge Barrett is paying attention to potential cases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do, I'm sure she is. I think everybody is, I think everyone in the country. I think we've made it a very big issue, and it's an issue that the Democrats started to get away with, I don't think they're getting away with. I mean, so many reports now of phony ballots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Anticipating President Trump will contest the election. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues urging them to focus on winning state delegates. She wrote, how many state delegations the Democrats win in this upcoming election could determine who our next president is.

Well lockdown in a dorm room, why U.K. officials have told thousands of university students to self-isolate. The details in a live report from London.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Global coronavirus deaths will soon reach one million. And India is reporting that it now has more than six million confirmed cases, that country has seen more than 95,000 deaths. But in the United States, President Donald Trump keeps incorrectly insisting that the pandemic is winding down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are rounding the turn -- they hate when I say that, the opposition. But we are rounding the turn on the pandemic, and very incredibly we have some of the great vaccines -- quick companies and we're going to have different vaccines, very powerful vaccines, great vaccines and therapeutics, but this is all happening very, very soon, so we're in great shape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, as you can see on the map, cases are trending up across much of the United States. And top infectious diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that the U.S. is still in the first wave of the virus. U.S. Health officials are warning of a potential surge in coronavirus cases during the fall and winter months.

And this comes as almost half of the country is reporting an increase in new infections and flu season is getting underway.

CNN's Natasha Chen has the latest.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the past week, the seven-day average of new cases in the U.S. has been steadily above 40,000 a day. And that's concerning because the trend had come down in early September compared to the nationwide peak back in mid to late July. And now that trend has started to slowly creep back up. On Sunday, Florida became the third state in the country to top

700,000 total cases following Texas and California over the summer. But Florida is also among about a dozen states whose new cases have actually fallen in the past week compared to the week before. And Governor Ron DeSantis has moved the state into phase three removing any sort of restrictions on capacity limits in places like restaurants and bars.

Meanwhile, in New York City, deputies broke up a wedding of around 300 people in Queens over the weekend, issuing them tickets for multiple misdemeanors. And health officials there on Sunday warned that the cases of COVID-19 are growing still at an alarming rate in parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

On Saturday, the number of new cases across the state of New York broke 1000 for the first time since early June. And Governor Cuomo is warning people to still comply with wearing masks, social distancing, and following local health guidelines as the flu season approaches.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

[03:20:02]

CHURCH: Anne Rimoin is a professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She joins me now. Good to talk with you.

ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR, UCLA DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY: It's nice to be here.

CHURCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci has pointed out that the White House has pivoted away from daily task force meetings. How concerned are you that this is an effort to make it look like COVID-19 is starting to go away as the presidential election draws near and as Donald Trump focuses on the economy instead?

RIMOIN: I don't think that the American public should be listening to the White House press briefings as the sole way of determining whether or now where we are with this virus. There are plenty of -- there is plenty of evidence to suggest where we are going looking at the daily tracker, looking at the John Hopkins web site, looking at the state web sites where we live, listening to any public health professional on the news, D. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, even Dr. Hahn.

I think if you listen to the public health professionals, they'll tell you we are -- we are still in the thick of it and whether or not we have the task force meetings, which tend to be very political in nature. The facts still remain, we are seeing plenty of cases, we are seeing more cases, we are seeing cases spike in many places, and we're going to continue to see this.

CHURCH: Right. And a recent study just showed that fewer than 10 percent of Americans have COVID-19 antibodies. So, we are nowhere near herd immunity and a vaccine for the whole entire population is a long way off. So how likely is it that we will all be wearing masks throughout next year? Do we just need to get used to that idea? RIMOIN: Rosemary, even if we do have a vaccine that comes available,

even this, at the end of this year or beginning of next year, it's going to take a very long time for that vaccine to be distributed to the entire population. And a vaccine is not likely to be so effective that it will be the only measure in place.

We are still going to be needing to wear masks to social distance, use hand hygiene. And so, I think that the American public, I think that the world needs to get used to wearing masks. Masks do work, and in fact, we can be saving lives right now by wearing a mask. Because we do know how effective masks are.

We don't know what vaccine candidates are out there, and so I think we need to be stop it -- stopping -- we need to stop waiting for a magic bullet and do what we can right now which is to wear a mask and to get used to it. Because it is something that can save your life and save other people's lives as well.

CHURCH: We appreciate your scientific audience as always, Anne Rimoin, many thanks.

RIMOIN: My pleasure.

CHURCH: We turn to Europe now where governments are grappling with how to handle a new wave of infections. In Manchester, England 1,700 university students have been told to self-isolate in their dorm rooms after a large number of cases were confirmed on campus.

Meanwhile, in Marseille, France, all bars and restaurants will close from today for at least a week. Several other cities will also see tighter instructions.

Well CNN's Scott McLean is live for us in London this hour, and CNN's Melissa Bell is in the French capital. They join us both now. Good to see you. So, Scott, let's start with you. How are universities in Manchester planning to feed and look after the 1,700 students being forced to self- isolate?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rosemary. So, yes, both the city council in Manchester and the university said -- say that these students will be taken care of in terms of food, their healthcare, their mental well-being, as well while they are under isolation for the next 14 days.

But obviously, the number one priority for the broader community is the public health response to the coronavirus. And universities right now are pretty big concern. In fact, Scotland has actually banned university students from going to restaurants or bars to try to contain outbreaks on campus and stop them from getting into the wider community, while that university that you mentioned in Manchester is forcing 1,700 students to quarantine or else, they will face disciplinary action.

The U.K. government has made all kinds of restrictions, rules, and regulations over the past two weeks. But now British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing somewhat of a revolt from M.P.s within his own party who want to make sure that parliament gets a chance to actually vote on any new coronavirus restrictions or rules or laws that are made. Here is one of those MPs over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BAKER, MEMBER, BRITISH PARLIAMENT: I had people say that liberty dies, it does like this with government exercising draconian powers without parliamenta ry scrutiny in advance, undermining the rule of law by having a shifting blanket of rules that no one can understand. I mean, it's extremely serious. I don't think I'd look like a hysterical person to you. I'm saying that this is a very serious moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:25:04]

MCLEAN: So, a prominent Labour M.P. was asked about this amendment that those conservative M.P.s are pushing in parliament and he said that he was sympathetic to their cause, but ultimately would not say whether his party would support it, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. And to Paris now, Melissa, several cities are tightening restrictions. What all are they doing?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is the steady rise in positivity rates, and more worryingly, Rosemary, here in France a rise in the number of people in ICUs. When you look at it from the start of the month, the number of people in intensive care units in France has nearly tripled in less than a month. That's how fast this illness is progressing here. It's how fast the second wave is going.

Heading to new restrictions in 11 cities including Paris from tonight, bars will have to close at 10 p.m. There was pushback from that from local authorities, as you would imagine, but the hardest rule will be for the Marseille region where that rise has been even faster and the ICUs are under even greater strain.

It is there that bars and restaurants from last night were closed entirely. Now we had been told that would be told for two weeks, we're now hearing there will be a reassessment in a weeks' time because of course it is a constant balance between trying to protect the healthcare system, which is once again, just as it was during the first wave, threaten, Rosemary, but trying to ensure that what fragile recovery had been achieved economically can continue.

And there is a great deal of unhappiness from restaurant owners bar owners in places like Marseille, and you can expect, I'm sure over the coming days a few protests. They've threaten them. They think it's unfair that they're being made to bear once again the brunt of this.

But again, quite objectively, it is about the number of people entering ICU, the number of COVID-19 patients entering ICU, that has been shooting up and it is about protecting the healthcare system and ensuring that it can continue to function, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Melissa Bell in Paris, Scott McLean in London, many thanks to both of you.

And explosive new report, details President Trump's financial losses along with how little he may have paid in Texas and it's sure to come up in Tuesday's debate against his Democratic rival.

That on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church.

I want to return now to the New York Times report that as U.S. President Trump did not pay any federal income taxes for 10 of the previous 15 years before 2016. It says he paid just $750 in taxes the year he won the election. And that same amount the first year of his presidency.

The New York Times concludes that Mr. Trump has had more success playing a business mogul than actually being one. President Trump is dismissing the report as fake news and claims he pays a lot in federal income taxes, he also says he is willing to release his tax returns once he is no longer under ordered by the Internal Revenue Service.

David Cay Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who has written extensively on President Trump. He spoke earlier about the Times report with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Donald Took enormous deductions in 2008 to 2009, $1.4 billion of deductions. And there is nothing I see in the Times reporting that would explain the deductions of that size. Now why is that important? Well, Donald has been tried twice for income tax fraud. Story I broke five years ago. And he lost both of those cases, he just made up deductions in that case.

And one of the implications of the Times stories is that he may just made up deductions. There are questions specifically in the Times report about whether improper deductions were taken for certain kind of legal fees that are personal, and whether possibly there was a disguised gift that was turned into a tax deduction involving Ivanka.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: While President Trump defends his tax issues, he is also preparing for another battle, the president and Joe Biden will face off for the first presidential debate on Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio.

CNN political correspondent Arlette Saenz has more on how both men are preparing. ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Joe Biden and President Trump

will face off here for the first time in Cleveland, as they are heading into that first general election presidential debate. And each of the candidates has been preparing in their own ways. Joe Biden spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware and he has been meeting with his top advisers as he strategizes how to take on President Trump.

And the President Trump has also said that he is prepared a little bit, but ultimately says that the job of the presidency is what has given him preparation heading into this debate.

Now this debate will look completely different from past general election presidential debates. Due to the coronavirus pandemic there will be no handshake between President Trump and Joe Biden as they take the stage, one of the precautions that's being taken because of COVID-19.

The audience will be much smaller. Sometimes these debates can have up to 900 even 1,200 people, depending on the venue. This one we're told will have between 60 to 70 audience members. Everyone who is on hand will be tested for COVID-19 as the debate commission has really adapted to ensure that the candidates and the audience is safe and healthy in the middle of this pandemic.

But this will not be the first time that Biden and Trump will be on stage face to face, making their case to general election voters. Biden has said that he expects a lot of the president's attacks to turn personal as they are both preparing to make their case to voters on Tuesday.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.

CHURCH: And be sure to tune in, CNN will carry Tuesday's debate live. Our special coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern, that's midnight Wednesday in London, and 7 a.m. in Hong Kong for our international viewers.

Well President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court is heading toward one of the quickest confirmations in modern U.S. history. The Senate judiciary chair, Lindsey Graham says he expects the committee to sign off on Amy Coney Barrett on October 22nd. That could set up a full Senate vote to send her to the high court just days before the November 3rd election.

Democratic leaders say the president is in a hurry, so his nominee can invalidate Affordable care Act. That is the health care law known as Obamacare.

CNN's Jessica Schneider reports from Washington.

[03:34:57]

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Democrats are really drilling into this idea that a confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, in particular, a speedy confirmation would be detrimental to healthcare in this country.

That's because one week after the election on November 10th the Supreme Court will hear arguments about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, in particular whether that individual mandate which has been struck down to zero dollars penalizing people if they don't get insurance, whether that is constitutional, and if it's not, if the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down.

Not it was back in 2012 where the Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberals to save the Affordable Care Act, ruling that the individual mandate was constitutional because it was a tax. But in 2017, Amy Coney Barrett before she was on the seventh circuit, she wrote this about the decision saying, Chief Justice Roberts push the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.

And it's that line that's giving Democrats pause as to how Amy Coney Barrett would come down on the question of the Affordable Care Act. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is saying it could have huge practical effects all across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It doesn't matter what the process is, here, what matters what it means personally to the American people. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, that benefit will be gone. If you are woman, it will be back to time where being a woman is a pre-existing medical condition. If your children are on your policy, say your adult children on your policy no longer will they be and that in a time of the pandemic.

And if you have seniors and your family who are having long term care paid for by Medicaid, they are going to be pretty soon moving back home and living with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The Trump administration is advocating for the Affordable Care Act to be struck down. In fact, the president tweeting on Sunday that it would be a quote, "big win if the Affordable Care Act was struck down," saying that they would come up with something to replace it.

However, the president so far has only issued an executive order with really no teeth about pre-existing condition, saying they will be protected but not really explaining how. Now the arguments while they will be one week after the election, a decision likely wouldn't come down from the Supreme Court until the spring of early summer of 2021.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: CNN political commentator Doug Heye joins me now. He is a Republican strategist and former RNC communications director. Thank you so much for talking with us.

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks. It's good to be with you. CHURCH: So, the New York Times has obtained President Trump's tax

returns data, which reveals he paid only $750 in federal personal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017. But no income tax at all in 10 of the previous 15 years because he reported losing significantly more than he made.

Stunning when you consider he claims he is a man of considerable wealth, and infuriating when you consider what the rest of us pay income tax. What do you think middle class Americans and blue-collar workers will make of all of this?

HEYE: Yes, I think it's going to be simultaneously important and not important. And let me explain why I say you that kind of contradictory thing. It's important because this tells us a lot of what I think a lot of us already knew. And it's important politically because Donald Trump for the first time with the announcement of the Supreme Court nominee has been on offense.

For seven months as we've been going through COVID and obviously the more than 200,000 American death toll and economic impact that that has had, he has been on defense for seven months. he'd been on offense.

Last night his event announcing the Supreme Court nominee could not have gone better for him, and less than 24 hours later he's back on defense. That's why it's important. Why I say it's unimportant is because only about 5 percent of voters right now are undecided. That's less than half of what we saw in 2016.

So there just aren't a lot of voters right now who are going to be able to make up their minds on this. So, it's more unimportant that I think we would have thought of four years ago when everybody was clamoring this.

CHURCH: And nonetheless, all this leaves the president, particularly vulnerable Tuesday night when he debates his Democratic rival Joe Biden, who will no doubt exploit this new formation placing the burden on the president to put up or shut up by presenting his tax returns if he wants to prove this is, as he suggests, fake news.

How will he likely to respond to this during the debate, because I'm sure Biden will keep hammering this.

HEYE: Yes. For Joe Biden, it's a very clear opportunity, he can say Donald Trump, which is it, are you the successful businessman that's been lying to the IRS, or are you the unsuccessful businessman. Are you -- to use Donald Trump's parlance-- are you a loser who should have been fired and have been lying to the American people?

[03:39:55]

But we know what Donald Trump is going to say on this. It's what he has said on so many issues that have gone against him in the past. He'll call it fake news, he'll dismiss it. To his base that will work for Donald Trump. The question is then, so that's 5 percent of voters who just haven't made up their minds right now, and I should emphasize, people are already voting in swing states right now. Will this be the issue that drives them?

CHURCH: Doug Heye, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

HEYE: Any time. Thank you.

CHURCH: President Trump's former campaign manager has been hospitalized after reports of attempted suicide. Police responded to a call from Brad Pascale's wife who said her husband was armed and threatening to harm himself.

Officers took him to a medical center for temporary detention and evaluation. Parscale was demoted from his job earlier this year but still maintains a senior position in the Trump campaign. The campaign says they are ready to support him and his family in any way possible.

For our viewers in the United States, if you or someone you know is in need of help, please call the suicide prevention hotline at the number below.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Long simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to have flared up again. Both sides blame the other for new fighting. They also accuse each other of attacking civilians.

And these images come from the Twitter account of an Azerbaijani official. They appear to show damage to a building and someone wounded. And this is from the Armenian defense ministry. It shows what is said to be destroyed tanks from Azerbaijan. The latest clashes center around the region seen in green here. It is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan but it's governed by a majority group of ethnic Armenians.

[03:45:03]

So, let's go live now to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He joins us from London. So, Nick, what is the background to this fighting? And what's the latest information you have?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Well, at this point, we are just hearing from Azerbaijan that they have called for a partial mobilization of some of their forces which would suggest a continuing escalation of this fight.

Now past mobilization brings in some reserve, potentially to bolster the forces that they already have. Now there have been flare-ups over the past three decades, plus of the simmering conflict. And Nagorno- Karabakh is a mountainous area, as you said, which is run by ethnic Armenians but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has long said it intends to retake it and its rhetoric has got tougher in the past months. At times, often it seemed bolstered by Turkey, a key backer of Azerbaijan whose President Erdogan just recently said it will come forward in all means to assist Azerbaijan here.

Over the weekend, clashes began, not entirely clear who is responsible for initiating the conflict. There have been flare-ups, as I've said, over the past decades. The most recent one in 2016 as it currently stands. We are seeing over 30, it seems, casualties on the Nagorno- Karabakh, I should say, Armenian side of fighting here.

Azerbaijan accepts it's got some military casualties too, and possibly over 20 civilian deaths as well. Claims too, that perhaps territory has been taken by Azerbaijan but that's being contested to by the Armenians who say it's being retaken.

Very unclear precisely how this is escalating at this point. What is clear is that you would normally in the past expect these flareups to be diplomatically fixed quite fast. It seems to be continuing to be escalating at this point. Moscow, who traditionally take the side of Armenia in this, often with some mutuality as well, are playing the phones here, diplomatically it seems to try and solve this.

Turkey, as I said, clearly in support of Azerbaijan. And this falls into a more troubling pattern more broadly of Turkey on the other side of frontlines, for Russia's proxies as well. We've seen that in Syria, we've seen that in Libya too. The problem is now, we are heading possibly into the third day of violence here in this long simmering conflict.

And the U.S. once calling for restraint here and it end to the hostilities, isn't so foremost in the diplomacy. Distracted elsewhere, many concerned this can continue to escalate. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, many thanks, joining us live from London.

Well the first weekend since the secret inauguration of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was filled with unrest. In Minsk, tens of thousands of people took part in demonstrations against his election saying the results were not legitimate. It is the 50th day of such protests.

The European Union and the United States say they also do not recognize Lukashenko as the country's legitimate leader. But police detailed dozens of people and used tear gas in at least one city to clear the streets. Protesters have been turning out by the thousands each week to support an opposition candidate now living in exile and demand an end to Lukashenko's regime.

New evacuation orders have been issued in Napa County, California after a wildfire burned at least 2,500 acres overnight. Nearly 2,000 people are under mandatory evacuations as the Glass fire continues to spread. The fire is burning near St. Helena in California just east of Santa Rosa.

California is in the midst of a historic fire season. Five of the top 20 largest wildfires in the state's history have occurred in 2020.

Well, access to Dubai's ports played a large part in the historic agreement between the UAE and Israel to normalize relations.

Ahead, we will talk to an Emirati business leader who says it is a win-win situation for the Middle East.

[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back. Well, access to a port in Dubai was a critical part of the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations. The Abraham Accords, as they are known, will impact multiple economic sectors including shipping, medicine, technology, and banking.

Now, the chairman of international logistics company, Dubai Ports World, says it will make the entire region more secure.

CNN's John Defterios joins me now from Dubai with more. Good to see you, John. So, can business be the glue that keeps diplomacy and trade on the same track moving forward?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I like the way you say that, Rosemary. There is a very strong view here that if you share a common interest in business that diplomacy falls into place, and they do have a common DNA for my travels, about a dozen times is you're on an assignment but living here for nearly a decade, there is no overlap when it comes to business here. And it's about market access.

This is a country of federation of 10 million people. But with access in the broader neighborhood of two billion, right, Rosemary? The agents some continent into Africa where they've made great inroads over the last 20 years from the UAE. But this is also thinking about peace in a different way, saying that the last seven decades haven't work, so let's turn that upside down, if you will.

Here is the chairman D.P. World.

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SULTAN AHMED BIN SULAYEM, GROUP CHAIRMAN & CEO, DP WORLD: We have been wasting our time in a confrontation, in cold war, hot war. It didn't work, for us at least. And we believe that this is going to strengthen our opposition in resolving the issue. In the meantime, as UAE, we are looking at an opportunity that can come out of this that helps both.

DEFTERIOS: Many believe that you signed the number of MOUs and it's, as we say in English, window dressing, a lot of show, nothing inside. What's the counter argument to that, what has been signed so far?

[03:55:07]

SULAYEM: And not at all. Actually, one thing you know in UAE, we don't waste our time on MOUs. MOUs are just kind of document to set the base for what you are going to do, but we know what's going to do. We know the business. And we know how we can get the business. It's about technology, adoption, it's about logistics, it's about connection. It's about ability of both to trade and do business.

We need something from them in technology, they need something from us. They need our market, they need our location. They need to learn how we do business in UAE because the way we do our business is totally different. They've been in isolation for a long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEFTERIOS: Isolation no more though, I have to say, Rosemary, and they're looking at new frontiers. He talked about the sectors in agreements they've signed already, but they're looking at new areas, like defense, particularly when it comes to electronics and A.I., for example. Energy, Israel has major gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean, they have the expertise here.

You have food security which is a major issue for both, because of the Arab climates, and finally, tourism development, property development. We have seen Emirates Airlines sign an agreement to serve kosher food on flights as they reestablished those in the region and carry Israeli passengers going forward in all corners of the world.

And finally, one sensitive issue is the Haifa Port, this is Jebel Ali but DP World is looking at Haifa with an Israeli partner right now, but the U.S. is not eager to see the Chinese there in the agreement they have into place and they are resisting and pushing against the Israelis to break that contract, I don't think it's likely.

CHURCH: All right. John Defterios, many thanks.

And thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with another hour of CNN Newsroom after the short break. Stay with us.

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