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Tucson Mayor Warns Trump Campaign; Schools See Drop in Attendance; New Video of Kidnapping Suspects Training; Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 19, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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


[08:30:00]

MAYOR REGINA ROMERO (D) TUCSON, ARIZONA: Ask him and his attendants to please comply with a mask and follow CDC guidelines. We do not want to see a super spreader event.

And the other point of the letter was to really ask the Trump campaign to pay their previous bills. Back in 2016, he used the Tucson Convention Center and, of course, it is of utmost importance to us to protect the president of the United States of America in our city, but this is not an official campaign visit. This is a campaign -- this is not an official visit, it's a campaign visit. So what we're asking is that he pay back the Tucson taxpayers for the investment in security and the usage of our convention center in 2016.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Mayor Romero, you say there is a mandatory mask order in place for the city. You've also no doubt seen the pictures of every Trump rally over the last month. You know it will not be obeyed, the mandatory mask order. You know that people will not be social distanced and most of them not wearing masks.

So what are you going to do about it?

ROMERO: Well, and that is one of my biggest concerns, that since we instituted the mandatory mask ordinance, COVID cases here in Tucson, in Arizona, have declined 75 percent. We have seen some peaking, in other words, cases are going up. They're ticking up here in Arizona. Pima County is in a much better place than the entire state.

But we are very concerned that this can become a spreader event, a super spreader event. And as you've seen with other presidents -- other of President Trump's rallies, the spread can really continue, and make its damage here. And so we've made too many sacrifices as Tucsonans to allow this to happen.

We cannot -- we cannot do much --

BERMAN: Will you try to enforce it? Will you try to enforce it somehow?

ROMERO: I'm sorry.

BERMAN: I was going to ask, is there any way for you to enforce this -- this order, though, the mask mandate? ROMERO: There's not much we can do unless we have a police officer

handing tickets. And we're not going to do that. Police officers in this event are going to be protecting the president of the United States. That's our number one concern. But we are asking that the Trump campaign really look at themselves and do this for us, because we cannot be standing in a corner handing out tickets. We're asking for people to practice their -- their judgment and help us here in the city of Tucson.

BERMAN: What's the response been from the Trump campaign so far?

ROMERO: We haven't heard back. We actually heard that they wanted to expand their rally. We're very concerned about it. They are saying that they're expecting about 10,000 people. And at the beginning of their gathering, we had heard they wanted to have 5,000 people. So maybe my letter, you know, exacerbated their plans to make it bigger, but we are very concerned and, again, I want to very seriously ask the Trump campaign to consider the CDC guidelines and following our mandatory mask ordinance.

BERMAN: I've got to let you go, but if there really are 10,000 people there and the virus is spread, will there be any way or how will you contact trace from an event that big?

ROMERO: We have had a very good relationship with the Pima County Health Department. They are the department, the health department, that takes care of and plans and contact traces, and is testing for free here in the city of Tucson. And so we're working hand in hand.

We are going to do everything that we can to contact trace and make sure that people are following CDC guidelines. But we're, again, we welcome the president to Tucson, but we do ask them to comply with CDC guidelines and the mandatory mask ordinance in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It's very serious. We're very concerned. We've been in this spot before in Arizona, and in Tucson, and we don't want to get back to massive spread of COVID-19 in our community.

[08:35:03]

BERMAN: Mayor Romero, we wish you the best of luck.

ROMERO: Thank you.

BERMAN: I think it's going to be a frustrating day for you based on what we've seen before.

ROMERO: Very, very much so.

BERMAN: Appreciate your time.

ROMERO: Thank you so much.

BERMAN: It is a troubling reality of remote learning during this pandemic. Some students not logging on at all. We have a report, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Online learning is a struggle for families nationwide. It's a struggle for educators too.

[08:40:00]

But that struggle is a little bit easier when you actually have the resources for it. In California, one school district, where the majority of the students live below the poverty line, is seeing an alarming drop in virtual attendance.

CNN's Bianna Golodryga joins us now with more.

And this is what a lot of districts were concerned about, Bianna.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: And, Erica, this is an issue I've been focusing on since the spring.

Data suggests that only 60 percent of low income students are actually logging on to classes as opposed to 90 percent of higher income students. And CNN spent some time with one low income school district in California as officials there are struggling to find some of those missing students.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, we're from the school.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): On any given week since the start of the pandemic, Lori Butler Enchandia (ph) and Elisa Olmo set out together on a mission.

ELISA OLMO, SOCIAL WORKER: The goal of what we're doing today is student engagement.

GOLODRYGA: They work for the Robla, California, school district in Sacramento. Like many California school districts, Robla's more than 2,000 students, ranging from preschool to sixth grade, began the year learning virtually. Since the start of the school year, as many as 200 or more haven't logged in, according to school officials.

RUBEN REYES, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT, ROBLA SCHOOL DISTRICT: The circumstances that our families face, unfortunately, are very much characterized by poverty.

GOLODRYGA: Ninety percent of Robla's students live under the federal poverty level. According to Superintendent Ruben Reyes, 20 percent do not have permanent housing.

REYES: I think the first challenge for us was making sure that when we were up and running with the program, that our children had devices at home. We did have families who did not have Internet, they did not have Wi-Fi in their home or in their apartment. And, unfortunately, we also serve a pretty large homeless population.

GOLODRYGA: School administrators are alerted when a student doesn't check in with their teacher for three consecutive days or more.

REYES: There's been some very interesting stories, families who are just gone. The instability of poverty is a big part of this. So they were there and now they're not.

GOLODRYGA: CNN recently had a chance to accompany Lori (ph) and Elisa as they set out to find three students. We were warned not to get our hopes up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the most challenging is when our families aren't there that's the hardest, which happens quite a bit.

GOLODRYGA: With more than half of the nation's largest school districts offering only virtual instruction, teachers, superintendents and social workers are facing similar crises. Chicago's public schools have had the largest drop in enrollment in decades this fall by 15,000 students. Dallas has reported a 7 percent decline. And Metro Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee saw enrollment decline by more than 4,200 students. Middle and upper income districts are also reporting some declining in online participation. The biggest declines in attendance, however, tend to be in lower income districts like Robla.

OLMO: We have some families that are just -- that they are having a difficult time with life in general right now. They're, you know, losing their jobs. They're maybe losing their house. And so school gets put on the back burner. It's no longer a priority.

GOLODRYGA: Studies show that student who miss 10 percent or more of school days a year are at greater risks of dropping out in later grades, which is why locating those students is so critical. Out of the three Lori and Elisa set out to find, they successfully spoke to just one parent, a single father who says his 11-year-old daughter has missed classes because he's had difficulty logging her in. Lori and Elisa walked him through it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really appreciate that, you know, for stepping out, coming out and reaching out, you know, because I do need it because I'm by myself.

GOLODRYGA: It's a sentiment shared by Lori and Elisa.

OLMO: I'm so appreciative of having -- being in a position and having a job where I can go out to a person's house and say, we are here to help any way we can.

GOLODRYGA (on camera): Is your goal to ultimately find them all and bring them back online through the help of these wonderful social workers?

REYES: It is very much our goal. We cannot let even one child slip through the cracks. I mean that's a lofty thing to say, but that's -- that has to be our goal. We have to make sure that we're reaching out. (END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And, Erica, among the biggest drops in class attendance for all socioeconomic groups are pre-k and kindergarteners. Now some parents that can afford to are putting their kids into pods, teaching them at home and even sending them to private school, but the majority are among the lower income families that are just not offering them any education at all because perhaps they think that these aren't important years. But as we know, evidence suggests that these are such crucial, foundational years for students, which is why it's so important that these social workers are doing what they're doing.

And I have to say this, because it's so frustrating, Erica, there is no federal tracking program. So all of these school districts, all of these states are on their own. And God bless them for all the work they're doing to find these students.

HILL: Yes, and thank God they're doing it, as you point out. It's hard enough at those ages without everything else going on.

[08:45:01]

Bianna, thank you. Great reporting, as always.

New video evidence in the kidnapping plot against Michigan's governor. We're going to show that evidence to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Prosecutors released new evidence in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. This is video played in federal court of the training drills that prosecutors say were carried out in a plot to storm Michigan's capital and kidnap the governor.

CNN affiliate WXMI obtained the video from the U.S. attorney's office after the preliminary hearings where six men were charged in federal court with conspiracy to kidnap a sitting governor. That's something.

Joining us now, CNN contributor Miles Taylor. He's a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security and CNN national security commentator Mike Rogers, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, former FBI guy, former Michigan congressman.

Mr. Chairman, so I'm going to start with you here.

[08:50:00]

Just on that video. That wasn't messing around. I mean that was serious weaponized training for this alleged plot to kidnap a sitting governor.

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Yes, this wasn't a few guys sitting around the bonfire, drinking beer, talking about wouldn't it be great to storm the capital and send a message. This was an advanced plot with advanced training. So they were going through sophisticated weapons training, including

magazine load and reload, things that you would normally do if you had some experience in that realm about what it would be like and what that would be is more like a combat situation. Remember, they were talking about storming the capital which means somebody is going to get killed along the way. They have Michigan State Police protection there.

So this was a serious plot and I think they -- the FBI followed that through its logical conclusion. And then once they started to test IEDs and other things, they decided, hey, this thing is real. So surveillance, real-time training for a specific target, actually accumulating the weapons and devices that they believe they need to be successful. This was domestic terrorism by its very definition.

HILL: It is so scary to look at that. And yet, Miles, what is I think equally frightening for a lot of people is what we're not hearing about this, what we're not hearing from the top, that lack of concern. Based on your experience, any reason to think that that might change?

MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, no. I mean so far I think the president has demonstrated that this is a topic he doesn't like to talk about because he's got concerns that some of these extremist groups share the same ideology as his supporters, so he's really reticent to do it. That's not a good excuse, though, Erica. And, in fact, I would look back at my time at DHS and Chairman Rogers knows this, too, from his time monitoring many of the same terrorist plots, this is more serious than a lot of the ISIS terrorist plots that we were monitoring that had a nexus to the United States because we're talk about U.S.-born, U.S.-based individuals that were engaged in this broad network, that were engaged in the pre-operational planning that Chairman Rogers described.

But the other element here that I think is significant, and that is eerily reminiscent of the ISIS plot, is the remote radicalization piece. We have a president of the United States who's using rhetoric that is, in some ways, remotely radicalizing these individuals. If that continues, my fear is that you see American backyards become the battlegrounds in the war on terror. Something that neither Chairman Rogers nor I, I think, ever really anticipated and certainly not coming from a commander in chief.

BERMAN: I'm glad you both used the words alleged domestic terror plot because the video is very reminiscent of an ISIS training video. That's what it looks like.

And if you're talking about remote radicalization, Miles, and I don't want to play it. We can choose, by the way, not to play President Trump and some of the language he uses on the campaign trail when he talks about Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and incites the crowd to chant "lock her up." We don't have to play that because it could be the type of thing that would incite people.

But I do want to play for you Governor Whitmer's reaction to what happened to these Trump rallies over the weekend where President Trump attacked her again. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): You know, it's incredibly disturbing that the president of the United States, ten days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial and execute me, ten days after that was uncovered the president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism. It is wrong. It's got to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Miles, your reaction to that, and the line between politics and incitement.

TAYLOR: Well, it's very clear that the system is blinking red when it comes to domestic terrorism. And worse than covering his eyes and his ears about the threat, in some ways the president is fanning the flames of it.

I mean, John, we saw him out there of course telling extremists to stand by. He should be telling them instead that they will stand trial if they engage in activities like this. It doesn't matter if the governor of Michigan is a Republican or a Democrat. The president needs to condemn this. And his own FBI, and I've talked to senior FBI officials that I'm sure Chairman Rogers talks to as well are very concerned that there are more of these domestic terrorism plots around the country and the president's rhetoric could further incite them. So that's a big concern here. We've got to be vigilant against it and we have to make sure that people within the president's own party are calling him out on this rhetoric so that we don't end up in a worse place.

HILL: And, really quickly, Chairman Rogers, before we let you both go, we're hearing from Governor Whitmer. I mean since we're not going to hear from the president on this clearly, what if we did hear from more bipartisan coalition, for example, of state and local leaders? What kind of an impact do you think that could have?

[08:55:00]

ROGERS: Well, listen, these groups ideology was there before Trump. Trump has certainly added a little fuel to this fire. They're going to be here afterward. This absolutely needs to be a bipartisan effort.

I mean what we're watching is the death of decency in politics in America and our lifetime. That worries me more than anything because we're going to -- somebody will be disappointed the day after the election, one party or the other, and that constant careening to both ditches in the extreme is going to mean that some people are going to act out in ways that we would find unacceptable, including violence, by the way.

So, yes, I would love to see a bipartisan effect from every local official to every senior -- federal official coming out and condemning violence of any sort toward the government. Politics needs to get back into the arena of which it is intended, which is debate and sometimes it should be and most times it should be civil debate. And, again, that civil sense of decency we just seem to have lost.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROGERS: And that ((INAUDIBLE) for American democracy as we go forward.

BERMAN: Mr. Chairman, Miles, thank you both for being with us this morning. Have a terrific day. Appreciate it.

ROGERS: Thanks.

BERMAN: Obviously a lot going on. We're getting new numbers in on the pandemic. And the presidential race, just 15 days left to vote. CNN's coverage continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:01]