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New Documentary Examines 2020 Presidential Campaign; Beirut Explosion Aftermath; Trump's Shifting Positions on Mail-In Voting; Some Schools Start Reopening. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 05, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: For the first time in four months, President Trump took part in this in-depth meeting on the pandemic that has now killed more than 157,000 of his fellow Americans and sickened nearly 5 million.

[15:00:05]

And even though the president tweeted it was a -- quote, unquote -- "great meeting, " one source tells CNN that it was clear that the president -- quote -- "still doesn't get it" on the severity of this crisis.

In an interview just this morning, the president bolstered that claim, repeating his belief that the coronavirus will just somehow disappear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My view is, the schools should open. This thing's going away. It will go away, like things go away. And my view is that schools should be open.

If you look at children, children are almost -- and I would almost say definitely, but almost immune from this disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's -- let's -- on that last point there, in his push to reopen schools, you just heard the president of the United States claim that children are immune from coronavirus.

That is not true. The latest CDC data shows that nearly a quarter-of- a-million kids from birth to age 17 have tested positive. And we will have much more on the situation facing U.S. schools in just a moment.

But, first, here's a look at where we all stand now nationwide, and there are some positive signs. It's nice to report that today. Just a handful of states are reporting an increase in cases compared to last week, while the majority are holding steady or on the decline.

But the nation reported almost 1, 400 new deaths Tuesday. That is the second highest daily total this summer. And moments ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci talked to our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta about what's driving the virus' spread, saying Americans need to get on the same page in order to stop this thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: The good news about COVID-19 is that about 40 percent of the population has no symptoms. The bad news for messaging is that 40 percent of the population get no symptoms.

Even though you are likely not going to get symptoms, you propagating the outbreak. As long as you have any member of society, any demographic group who's not seriously trying to get to the endgame of suppressing this, it will continue to smolder and smolder and smolder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Fauci there with Sanjay.

And I want to get you back to Georgia, where schools are reopening, problems are already emerging.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live in Atlanta.

And, Dianne, a second grader has tested positive. And we're also seeing these images of hallways just jam-packed with kids without masks. What's going on in Georgia?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, they're trying to figure out what going to school during a pandemic looks like.

And across the state, you have districts that are trying different scenarios, different ways of getting the kids educated. And, in some cases, they went back to school this week. At one elementary school, Sixes Elementary school in Cherokee County, on Monday, kids were back in school.

And you can see some of these pictures that were posted. Look, the kids are happy. They are enjoying themselves. Most of them are wearing masks, although there's not a whole lot of social distancing going on. And yet a second grader who was in school that day went home and, according to the district, started to not feel very well.

The parents got that child tested, and they tested positive for COVID- 19. Now, we don't know if any of those pictures are from that second grade class. But there are now 20 second graders in that child's classroom and the teacher that are having to quarantine at home for 14 days.

We're told the teacher isn't showing any symptoms at this point. So they're going to continue teaching virtually from home during this while that classroom is being deep-cleaned. But that was just the first day of school.

There are a lot of districts that have decided to allow parents to decide to send their kids back if they want to in-person. You see some of these pictures. And overall the students seem ready to go. But at another school here in Georgia, just before the first day of school, letters went out to parents saying that many members of the football team, which had been practicing, had tested positive for COVID-19.

And it's not just the schools that are choosing to go back in-person. In some districts, they're asking the teachers to return for planning. In Gwinnett County Public Schools, which start back virtually next week, they have 260 employees who have either tested positive for or come in close contact with a case of COVID-19. And they can't work.

No word right now on whether or not that's going to impact the start of school, again, virtually next week.

But, Brooke, this kind of illustrates just how difficult this really is in planning out school during a pandemic. They have teachers to worry about, parents that aren't sure what to do if the students have to stay out of school. And you have the children who, by and large, do want to go back.

But as we saw just up the road in Cherokee County, Georgia, there is risk in that as well.

[15:05:02]

BALDWIN: As the debate rages on, I mean, you can't help but wonder, as you hear these stories reported out, is this a sign of what's to come if kids go back to school?

Dianne, thank you so much for what's going on there in Georgia.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Celine Gounder is with me now just to talk through all of this.

And, Dr. Gounder, first, just what's your reaction to some of the images we're seeing, crowded school hallway in Georgia, second grader already sick, bunch of kids now in quarantine? How dangerous is this for children?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Brooke, the president is right about one thing, that children are at lower risk for severe disease, but he's very confused about what is the difference between severe disease or mild disease and the difference between that and being immune.

Being immune means that your immune system has some knowledge about this infecting virus and knows how to fight it already. That is certainly not the case in all these children that we're seeing on the screen here.

And while they may be at less high risk, relatively speaking, of severe disease, they can still transmit the virus to all of their teachers in the school and their parents and other family members at home.

So this has me very concerned in terms of propagating widespread community transmission, where -- especially where there is already widespread community transmission.

BALDWIN: What do you say to parents who are thinking, listen, I have got a job to do, I'm juggling 1,000 things at home, I got to get my kid to school, the school is saying they will be open, and my kid is healthy, it'll be fine? What do you say to that parent?

GOUNDER: You know, I think COVID has really shown a very bright spotlight on many of the gaps in our various different systems of government and support for families in this country.

And I think the fact that we do not have universal child care makes us actually an anomaly compared to most developed countries. Most developed countries have some form of government-subsidized child care. We rely on schools for that, because there isn't something else.

And there's actually a precedent for this kind of thing here in the United States. During World War II, when men were off at war and women were the ones working outside the home, the government did step in. And we are now combating a new war.

This time, it's against the virus, the coronavirus, and we really need that kind of support.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GOUNDER: And New York City has an example of this with their recreation centers, where children are socially distanced. They're not there for in-person, in-class learning, but they are getting virtual learning.

And that's the kind of system that we really need in this moment.

BALDWIN: Right. No, it's like if we could do it World War II, why not consider doing something much bigger?

Let me play you something else, just back to the president and how he's opining on all that's going on. This is what he said just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Most states are coming down. You look at a map, and white means good. Most of the -- most of the map is in the white color. The red color is the corona or potential. And it's a very relatively small portion, but it's coming down.

Some states are going up a little bit, but they will very shortly -- they're under control. They will be coming down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Gounder, although some states are seeing a decline in cases, which is wonderful news, the death rate is still incredibly high. Yesterday's death toll was one of the highest in two months.

Is now the time to then ease those restrictions? GOUNDER: We relaxed our restrictions too quickly and too abruptly earlier this summer.

This is certainly not the time to be relaxing whatever restrictions we still have in place now. And we're basically plateauing at a very high level. That is nothing to be cheering about at this point.

BALDWIN: Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you so much.

GOUNDER: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: Speaking of school, teachers are also speaking out over their fears for their own safety, one even writing this mock obituary for himself and sending it to Iowa's Republican governor, in protest of her push to open classrooms. We will talk about teacher live.

And the president's huge flip-flop on mail-in voting, but only in Florida, the swing state where he is losing ground to Joe Biden. We got to talk about that.

And the search for answers and survivors under way in Beirut, after a massive explosion levels a huge section of the city known for its restaurants and nightlife. We are live in Beirut.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:13:38]

BALDWIN: We're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Mail-in voting for some, not all, that is the view from the Trump campaign, which overnight filed this lawsuit against the state of Nevada over its plan to mail ballots to all of its registered voters.

But then, just yesterday, President Trump was urging voters in Florida to request mail-in ballots. Confused? Well, this morning, the president tried to explain why he feels there is a difference, while making yet another fact-free claim about the November election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Fraud is different, in the sense that they have been doing it. And they have had two very good governors, frankly, and they have an infrastructure that's taken years to build.

But Nevada, they start voting very soon. And he just threw it out there. Then the other thing is, the votes don't have to be counted or tabulated until seven days after November 3.

So that means, if we're waiting for one state, and it's a very great important state, big state, if we're waiting for that state, you don't know what the answer is going to be until after maybe seven days.

And -- but it's not going to be seven days. It's going to be months or years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's start there with CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

And, Dana, listen, obviously, the president's position seems to change, but one thing is consistent. He is attacking these Democrat- run states over this issue. Yet he is praising Republican-led ones. Oh, and you know, it just so happens that one happens to be this key battleground state. Is this just all about politics?

[15:15:05]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: And thanks -- back to you.

(LAUGHTER)

BASH: Yes, exactly.

I mean, yes, it is, because--

BALDWIN: Yes.

BASH: But the question is, to what end? Because this is a political move that the president is making, based on his belief that -- maybe he believes that there's fraud, even though that there is no evidence to back that up in the states that have been conducting -- three states in particular have been conducting exclusive mail-in ballots in the past.

But when it comes to his politics or his political point of view, he believes that the more mail-in ballots, the better it is for Democrats, the worse it is for Republicans. That might be true.

But what he is also doing is -- this is not me talking. These are Republican operatives that I talk to, that our colleagues talk to -- potentially suppressing his own vote, because the people who listen to him are Republican voters more than anybody else.

And if they hear him say, it's fraud and you shouldn't vote by mail, but they don't feel that there's a safe way to do it, they won't do it, and he's the one who will get hurt.

BALDWIN: Then they won't do it.

How about the president's good friend Kanye West, Dana, who has launched this long shot bid for the White House? "The New York Times" is reporting that several Republican operatives, including Trump supporters, are actually involved in this effort, possibly hoping to siphon off black votes from Joe Biden. Could this actually have an impact?

BASH: It could, if it's done successfully.

I mean, the fact that it's been exposed will potentially mitigate it. But it absolutely could. It only has to kind of -- it depends on where we're talking about, what states we're talking about. But if we are talking about a state like Wisconsin, which is going to be one of the most, if not the most important battleground states, if he can get on the ballot, if he can kind of carve out just a little bit of the vote, if it's very close, it could make a difference.

I mean, you saw there were some -- there's some evidence of a third- party candidate hurting Hillary Clinton on the other side of the aisle four years ago, it is possible. I wouldn't say that this is going to be a widespread problem.

But it's very noteworthy that, according to "The Times, " there are Republicans working to do this in order to suppress or to not -- suppress is probably the wrong word, siphon, as you say, siphon off--

BALDWIN: Siphon the vote from Biden.

BASH: Siphon off Biden votes.

BALDWIN: Hang with me. I have more for you.

But let me just read this for everyone watching.

Election Day may be three months away, but the race for the White House has been in full swing for more than a year. And now the new HBO Max documentary "On the Trail" follows several of CNN's female reporters and embeds on the campaign trail as they cover 2020 and this presidential election.

Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN POLITICAL EMBED PRODUCER: This is what we call hell week.

Oh, my God, this feels so nice.

On a normal day, I do three events a day.

This isn't going to work. I need--

(CROSSTALK)

DIAZ: I'm a campaign embed. I stalk presidential candidates for a living.

Let me just get in there. I run around with a 20-pound camera seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Oh, there she is.

Documenting everything that a presidential candidate is doing. Right now, I'm covering Senator Elizabeth Warren. I have been traveling the country with her for eight months full-time, nonstop, providing the base for coverage to our company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I'm so excited for this film.

That was Daniella Diaz, our CNN political embed producer. She's joining me from Capitol Hill. Of course, Dana Bash is part of all of this as well.

But, Daniella, I just want to start with you. I mean, man, I just -- to be an embed, what was your -- this was your very first presidential campaign? What was the experience like for you during primary season, which was the time which was covered in this film?

DIAZ: You know, Brooke, it was so fulfilling. I had never covered a campaign from the ground. It was incredible to be that person for the network covering presidential candidates, feeding video, reporting the news, being able to help our correspondents and producers to do that job.

It was incredible. And it was also amazing to work with so many -- such strong, empowering, incredible women.

BALDWIN: Yes.

And just tell me the thing that people may not know about you, whether it's how many hours of sleep or how many cups of coffee in the morning or how -- to zigzag the country the way in which that you guys have to is not thing short of extraordinary, Daniella.

[15:20:01]

DIAZ: Yes.

And a lot of people may not know that we live not seeing our family and friends for so long. We live out of a suitcase. We are carrying so many pounds of gear across the country to all these states, unpacking that those that gear to film an event, packing it back up, running to the next event.

It's so exhausting, but it's amazing.

BALDWIN: Daniella, well done.

Dana, this is, I know, old hat for you. You have covered a bunch of presidential campaigns. And you allude to this a little bit in the film. But how do you think the experience of women reporters differs from the guys?

BASH: How much time do you have, Brooke? No.

BALDWIN: A lot.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: No. It differs a lot in a lot of ways.

But one of the things that is really shown in this film, which I should say is the brainchild of our friend Katie Hinman, who just did a remarkable job with this, along with Toby Oppenheimer and so many others -- but it is to show that it is different.

Even when I first started, there were a lot more dudes and a lot fewer women. And now there are -- there's Daniella and there Jasmine, and there are so many women at all levels in various parts of the news media, from broadcast to print.

And to watch Daniella, to learn from her, the way that I did, because she is and was our eyes and ears with that candidate in particular, with Elizabeth Warren, has been remarkable. It is really, really hard to shoot, to edit, to write, to log, to feed information, and, by the way, drive a car, get on a plane, pack your bag, and maybe every once in a while get something to eat at a gas station.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BASH: I mean, it's remarkable. And women like Daniella are just -- I'm so lucky to work with.

BALDWIN: No, Daniella, I want to come back to you. And I promise. I mean, I have a gazillion questions for you. But my last question really is, did you feel like -- seeing those shots of you where you have got this camera and you're trying to get your way into the scrum with all the other embeds or reporters, did you feel like -- and especially as we talk about women reporters, did you feel like the other women now were helpful to you?

Or was it really having to have sharp elbows on the trail?

DIAZ: Brooke, it's a partnership out there.

I became so close to the other embeds and the other reporters that were also covering Senator Elizabeth Warren. Of course, we all focus on getting the story out to our networks, prioritizing that, but you really form these special friendships and bonds with these other women.

It was mostly women covering Senator Warren. And we all help each other. It's incredible. I miss it every day.

BALDWIN: Daniella, Dana, thank you both so much.

DIAZ: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And I want to tell everyone, follow these fearless female CNN political reporters as they cover the 2020 presidential campaign. You can watch this new documentary, "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries, " streaming tomorrow on HBO Max.

Look at M.J. there. Rock on.

Coming up, CNN is live in Beirut, where rescue workers are searching for survivors amid a devastating result from this massive explosion, an explosion that the people and that government officials now say could have been avoided.

Those details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:15]

BALDWIN: In Beirut, the Lebanese cabinet has declared a two-week state of emergency after this massive explosion. It is suspected the blast originated in a warehouse storing nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate.

Watch this. This wedding shoot, the wedding party and the photographer were able to run indoors safely, but you can just tell how profound this blast was.

We know at least 100 people were killed, thousands were injured, and dozens are still missing. And the casualty count is expected to continue to rise.

CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is live in Beirut.

And, Arwa, first just talk to me about the source of the explosion. What else do you know?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, that amount of ammonium nitrate should not have been stored in the port that close to a densely populated area. Everyone can agree on that at this stage. And it should not have been stored there for six, seven years, which is exactly what happened.

And that is why so many here can't wrap their minds around how it was that their government, consecutive governments, allowed this to continue, because, according to court documents that CNN just obtained, the head of the port warned on numerous occasions over the years that these materials needed to be moved.

This was not the sort of place where you would store something that is this volatile, especially given the climate conditions.