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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Republican Convention Speakers Link Violent Protests to Democratic Leaders; Laura Now Extremely Dangerous Category 4 Hurricane; Governor of Louisiana Says Storm Surge Is Unsurvivable in Some Areas; Official Says Pence to Attack Biden in His Speech. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 26, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Vice President Mike Pence is expected to claim tonight that the Democrats are out of control and dangerous. A message we have heard echoed by Republican National Committee speakers -- the convention speakers all week, who claim a country led by Democrats means looting and violence and more.

Let's talk about this with CNN's Gloria Borger and Abby Phillip who join me now. Gloria, what do you make of this basic argument that we're hearing that we're supposed to hear from Vice President Pence this evening that Democrats basically mean anarchy?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it is not a surprise. We've been hearing it throughout the convention to varying degrees and it is trying to tie Joe Biden to what they call the radical left saying he's been effectively taken hostage by the radical left.

And when you talk about anarchy then you can talk about what the President wants to talk about which is restoring law and order. And what they're aiming at are those suburban voters whom they think this might appeal to. Which is to say, I don't want this at my front door. I don't want this kind of violence at my front door. I don't support it.

And it gives them permission or so they hope to say, OK. I might not like a lot of things about Donald Trump but he might keep me safe in my own back yard.

TAPPER: And let me ask you, Abby, there is so much we don't know about the shooter in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We know he is 17, he shot with a long gun, he's an Illinois resident. We don't know his motivation.

So this is a speculative question. But if his politics are not on the left, does that complicate Mike Pence -- Vice President Pence, trying to tie the violence in Kenosha to Biden and the Democrats? In other words, if he is a right winger, and again we don't know, but might that complicate it? ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think

frankly it really matters what his politics are specifically, But I think what we do know based on the press conference that happened earlier is that officials in Kenosha believe that he was a part of a group of white men who came into the city carrying long guns to try to be almost a deputized force, an anti-protester force in some ways or anti-rioter force, and that the result was this incredibly deadly situation.

Why that matters is because, yes, this rioting and the violence is something that could be a very important political tool for Republicans to use to say that this is what could happen if this continues forward. But there's also a responsibility I think for the President and the Vice President to take the temperature down.

And two nights ago at the Republican National Convention they had as a primetime speakers, two individuals who became famous effectively for pointing guns at protesters, now two people are dead on the streets of Kenosha because someone decided to come into town with a long gun.

I just think that that is a completely different situation from politicization and it's something that I want to see how the Vice President is going to address because it does not fit neatly into this idea that it's all about, you know, violent anarchists and, you know, law abiding citizens. There are forces on both sides of this that need to be told to get violence off of the streets.

TAPPER: Yes. Gloria, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden just released a video message on Twitter reacting to the police shooting earlier this week of Jacob Blake. Biden says he just spoke to the family of Blake. He said he's sick over the shooting, he condemned the violence that's been occurring in the wake of the shooting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But burning down communities is not protest. It's needless violence. Violence that endangers lives, violence that guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community. That's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your reaction, Gloria?

BORGER: Well, I think what he's trying to do first of all, this is Joe Biden consoling a family, which he does very often. But I think what he's trying to do is say, look, this kind of vigilantism, taking it into your own hands, doing violence to communities that don't deserve it, taking advantage of a divisive situation, is not where he is.

And I think what you hear at the Republican Convention is that Joe Biden wants to defund the police. If you dial 911 nobody's going to answer if there is a Biden administration. And he is trying to draw a distinction here. Don't forget you have a President who wanted to send in the National Guard without the governors giving him permission. Now the governor has given him permission, but I think that Biden is

trying to say, look. It's not -- it's a complicated issue here and none of us, none of us approve of this kind of wanton violence.

[15:35:04]

We just have to be careful about how we handle it.

TAPPER: Well, it's nothing like -- nothing the American people likes more than nuance. Abby, I want to ask, I mean, I'm old enough to remember Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for that matter being attacked as too pro police and in fact Harris didn't answer a question the other day when she was asked about her suggestion in a book that there be more police.

If you look at the Biden policy proposals they are actually talking about more police, community police, in black and brown neighborhoods. And yet the Republicans are attacking them as defund the police types. While at the same time by the way we're also hearing criticism of them for being cops.

PHILLIP: Yes, this is hard to do which is why you're not actually seeing the Republicans trying to do it. What they're saying instead is that Joe Biden has been sort of captured. That it's a case of the body snatchers. Someone has taken over him and that that is the reason why a Biden administration would lead to a defunding of the police.

The Republicans I think know it's harder to make that argument because both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are not exactly darlings of the defund the police movement. So instead they've had to resort to saying, you know what, it's not them. It's actually all the other people who are going to take over.

I think that is a harder argument, frankly. You have to make a couple leaps to make that case but that is really the strategy that we've seen over the last several nights.

TAPPER: Abby Phillip, Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

We have some breaking news for you now along the Gulf. Hurricane Laura is intensifying fast, nearing landfall. The areas most in the danger zone as one Louisiana parish warns residents to brace for a catastrophic event. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Some breaking news in our national LEAD where hurricane Laura is rapidly intensifying at this hour. The latest warning described unsurvivable storm surge. The massive storm is barreling towards the Louisiana and Texas coast expected to make landfall overnight. More than 1.5 million people are currently under some type of evacuation order. More than 23 million people are under watches and warnings because of the storm.

CNN's Jennifer Gray joins me now from The Weather Center. Jennifer, what's the latest?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Jake, this could become a strong Category 4 and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes landfall as a Category 5 because it still has time to intensify even more before making landfall. It's moving to the northwest at 16 miles per hour, it is expected to make a turn more northerly over the next couple hours. We're still waiting on that to happen.

Winds of 140 miles per hour, gusts at 155 miles per hour. And you can see some of those outer bands already onshore. Of course we'll have waves of that as the night goes on and then as the storm gets closer and closer that's where those winds will definitely have an impact.

But there are reports along the southwest Louisiana coast that water is already rapidly rising so we already have a surge of say 3 to 4 feet in some locations. That could go up to 20 feet before it's all said and done. But with this storm still 150 miles from the coast already seeing a water rise of 4 feet is really incredible. This is going to only get worse as the night goes on.

But you can see there is going to be a flooding potential, there's going to be a tornado potential, over the next day or two as this storm comes onshore. But I think the biggest threat with this storm not only the winds very close to the center, but the storm surge is really going to be what we remember from this storm.

We already have a rise of more than 3 feet in Calcasieu, Freshwater more than 4 feet. Sabine Pass almost 3 feet. Could see 15 to 20 feet right there in Cameron Parish, the entire parish is going to be underwater with a rise like that. In fact, this is such a low lying area we could see water all the way to I-10, Jake. This is not a storm we want to mess with. Hopefully, everyone has gotten out of the way that's in that part of Louisiana and east Texas.

TAPPER: All right, Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

Gary Tuchman is currently in Louisiana at Lake Charles some 35 miles inland where residents are bracing for the possibility of a horrific storm surge. Gary, what's happening where you are now?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Jake. Lake Charles, a beautiful city surrounded by bays, bayous, rivers, lakes, and the elevation here is 13 feet. And you heard from Jennifer the storm surge can be up to 20 feet. And nevertheless you can be very clear about this, people here despite the fact that they are savvy when it comes to storms because they live on the Gulf coast, they are scared. They are uneasy.

This is the Calcasieu River. This is a makeshift beach that people go to, we just had our first outer band go through here about 45 minutes ago. Now there's an eerie calm.

You heard Jennifer talking about I-10. You can see that bridge over there that overpass, that is I-10 to our north. The storm surge of up to 20 feet can go up to that interstate 10 bridge and you may be wanting it OK. So if you have a storm surge of 20 feet and you were at an elevation of 13 feet, how do you stay safe? People have been asking me that, I just want to give you an idea. Emergency officials, police are staying in this casino hotel, this is the Golden Nugget, so it's considered a relatively safe spot.

What we can tell you right now there's a curfew in effect in this parish from 7:00 p.m. until 6:00 A.M. and even the jail has been emptied. The inmates sent to other parts of central Louisiana to keep them safe as they wait for this very strong and potentially devastating hurricane -- Jake.

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TAPPER: All right, Gary Tuchman, thank you so much, stay safe, my friend.

How more cities along the Gulf Coast are preparing for this intense Category 4 hurricane? That's next.

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TAPPER: And we're back with our national LEAD. The city of Port Arthur, Texas, is already evacuating and the city just issued am 8 P.M. curfew. Home to more than 50,000 Americans, it's right on the coast where Louisiana and Texas meet and squarely in the path of hurricane Laura. Peak winds gust in the city may reach up to 125 miles an hour. With me now the mayor of Port Arthur, Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie.

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Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. Based on what we know right now, Port Arthur, Texas, is going to be in the direct path of the hurricane. What are your priorities in these final hours right before Laura hits?

MAYOR THURMAN BILL BARTIE, PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS: Right now it's to be sure that all who have had a desire to get out have gotten out. I think we have probably until about 4:00. C-130 aircraft out of our regional airport that's available there for citizens will have to drive into their relative airport drive to the airport and they will be flown into DFW, and getting people out of harm's way.

We've been at this really since on Saturday. And we've made it mandatory on Monday. So we are doing everything that we possibly can to be sure that the citizens would not remain in harm's way because this storm is going to be packing a real big punch.

TAPPER: And Mr. Mayor, Port Arthur's already under mandatory evacuation orders. Are you confident that enough of your citizens are taking the storm

seriously and leaving?

BARTIE: Yes, yes. On my drive back down here to city hall from my home. The streets are almost bare. I have in several of the neighborhoods you can still view automobiles in driveways. But I believe most of the residents have actually evacuated or they are hunkering down somewhere because there's not any walking movement that is noticeable.

And neither do you see anyone moving just around just to be moving around. And this actually began on yesterday. So hopefully we have gotten just about I would say 70 to 80 percent of the citizens away -- I could be another 20 percent with who decided they're going to ride it out, but that's their choice.

TAPPER: Why would they do that? Why? The people that are staying behind, the 20 percent, why are they telling you that they're staying behind?

BARTIE: I have no idea. I've never done it before so I don't know what frame of mind they're in. I don't know what angle they are thinking from, their frame of reference. So I really can't answer that as to why they would stay.

TAPPER: Is your city prepared? Do you have all the supplies and support you're going to need in the coming days?

BARTIE: Yes. Well, we have -- I work with a great team of emergency management individuals who are well knowledgeable of how to actually perform in situations like this. We have city staff. Those employees are considered essential employees. They are trained and prepared and ready.

So I'm very confident that, God willing, that this thing passes over and we've got about another 24 to 36 hours we will be able to come out, assess damages that we know is going to be there. Because with 105 to 120, 130-mile-per-hour winds, we know that there are going to be trees down and powerlines down. Some of the infrastructure will be inoperable.

However, we're going to be sure that we have the personnel prepared to put all of these things back into service. Now, the amount of time that it may take for all of those services to return may be a greater number of days than folks would want.

So I've asked all the citizens, at least prepare to be gone from five to six days. Hopefully in about six days we can tell folks that they begin to return. But we're not sure because in the past there have been some times that some of the electricity has taken two weeks.

TAPPER: Yes, Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie, thank you so much. Stay in touch with us. Make sure that we know if there's anything you need that you're not getting from your government, either state, local, or federal. I appreciate your time today, sir. Best of luck.

BARTIE: OK. Sir, thank you for having us on.

TAPPER: In our next hour, now how hospitals along the Gulf Coast are getting ready for the possibility of more patients from this hurricane in the middle of a deadly pandemic. Plus, the norms destroyed at the Republican National Convention. Do

the political props cross the line? I'll ask the President's former National Security Adviser John Bolton what he thinks. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We begin this hour with the 2020 LEAD as we head into the third night of the Republican National Convention.

Tonight, Vice President Pence will deliver his nomination acceptance speech from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, with an audience of more than 100 guests expected.

Pence's remarks are still being written we're told. But a source tells CNN that he plans to address the recent violence in Wisconsin hoping to make a case for standing for the national anthem, and he will attack the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

One source saying he plans to, quote, take some lumber to Joe. Pence's wife, second lady Karen Pence, will also as speak as well as outgoing White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.

And Trump campaign official says President Trump will participate in tonight's program and he has every night so far. White House officials are defending President Trump's use of the White House, the people's house as a political backdrop throughout the convention. Which breaks, of course, longstanding precedent and a 1939 law called the Hatch Act that bans federal employees exempting the president and vice president from using their positions in government for political election purposes.

As CNN's Kaitlan Collins now explains.