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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Again Suggests Americans May Need to Vote Twice, Which is Illegal. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired September 03, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

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[16:32:37]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well, more states are calling President Trump out for his suggestion that Americans should vote twice on Election Day. After floating it yesterday, today the president pushed the issue. tweeting in part, quote, go to your polling place to see whether or not your mail-in vote has been tabulated, counted. If it has, you'll not be able to vote and mail-in system worked properly. If it has not been counted, vote.

To be clear, voting twice is illegal and a felony in many states. Don't do it.

And with his baseless suspicions of mail-in voting, this evening, the president is headed to battleground Pennsylvania, as CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though it's illegal, President Trump repeated his assertion today that people should vote twice to make sure their ballot is counted.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, let them send it in and let them go vote. And if their system is as good as they say it is, then, obviously, they won't be able to vote.

COLLINS: Facing a wave of criticism over his suggestion, Trump expanded on it today by arguing on Twitter that people should vote by mail and in person in order to stress test the system.

Voting twice on purpose is against the law and in some states a felony. One state official said it was like going to rob a bank to see if the security is as good as the bank says it is. The president's aides claim he's being taken out of context.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president does not condone unlawful voting. If it is not tabulated, meaning your mail-in vote, then you will be able to vote in person, if it is not tabulated.

COLLINS: For months, the president has tried to sow doubt about the outcome of the November election because more voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail than ever before because of the ongoing pandemic.

TRUMP: The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged. Remember that.

COLLINS: North Carolina's attorney general says Trump is damaging faith in democracy and going in person to make sure your ballot was counted is completely unnecessary.

JOSH STEIN, NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL: When you mail in your absentee ballot, you can track it online, and it will show on the website that your ballot has been received.

COLLINS: The president is also threatening to slash federal funding to cities that are governed by Democrats. In a five-page memo signed late last night, the president directed federal officials to find ways to cut funding to cities like Portland, Seattle, Washington and New York for violence that stemmed from protest over police brutality.

[16:35:04]

Today, reporters noted the president has made empty threats like this before.

MCENANY: The president will follow through. His memo is exceedingly clear.

COLLINS: The memo, which will likely be challenged in court, prompted this angry response from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: Forget bodyguards, he better have an army if he thinks he's going to walk down the streets in New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Pam, what's important to keep in mind when we're talking about the president encouraging people to potentially vote twice is all the ways he's trying to create doubt about this upcoming election, by saying things like mail-in voting is a scam, weighing the idea of postponing the election and refusing to say if he's even going to accept the results. Of course, he says that depends on what the outcome is.

BROWN: And it was alluded to in your piece, that for the president to suggest Americans try to vote twice, not only would that be illegal but it's also unnecessary.

COLLINS: Yeah, in North Carolina, they've got this way where you can go online, you can track your ballot to make sure it's been received. And many other states have a similar circumstance. You can go online or download an app to make sure that county election officials have your ballot, the one you mailed in.

And North Carolina officials said today the reason it's so unnecessary because it really defeats the purpose of voting by mail. That is so you're not in these long lines and so coronavirus doesn't spread even further. So, they say it is not necessary for people to come in on Election Day. It will actually only make things worse they say.

BROWN: All right. I want to bring in Laura and Ayesha and bring them back into the conversation. So, let's talk about this. The White House press secretary says the president does not condone unlawful voting.

Is this another example, Laura, of the president saying something and then, you know, everyone around them tries to put it into context. Well, he was just saying he wants to stress test the voting system. But you're seeing this reaction from all of these election officials across the country because he's the president of the United States and they seem to be legitimately concerned people will take him seriously.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. The president said this not only once. He said it twice. And as Kaitlan highlighted has come after months -- possibly more than the months, I mean, maybe multiple, the last two years he has taken steps to sow doubt about the validity of the country's election system, whether it's going far back to when he said, went against intel officials in saying that, no, Russia didn't interfere to now saying that vote by mail is a fraudulent system when election experts have made clear there is no evidence of that.

When I've spoken to Republicans in battleground states like Arizona, they have actually said this could potentially hurt them once early voting starts, which is voting by mail, because they are trying to tell Republicans in the state, yes, we know the president is saying this, but don't listen to him. Vote by mail. It is the safest option currently. It's also the way the vast majority of people in a state like Arizona cast their ballot. They are trying to counteract their own party's president in some states.

BROWN: And, Laura, this really is right out of President Trump's playbook to sow confusion and in a sense undermine his opponent.

BARRON-LOPEZ: It is --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I'm sorry, Ayesha, go ahead.

AYESHA RASCOE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, NPR: Yeah, it seems like this is what President Trump is doing. But like Laura said, it's actually something that seems -- that could potentially come back to bite him. I seems like maybe he was trying to get at that by telling people, oh, yeah, if you get a ballot, vote, but then go in person, too.

The problem is, of course, that's illegal. And as Kaitlan said, it defeats the purpose. It's a very confusing message to your supporters. Does he want them to vote by mail? Does he want them to vote in person? You know, is -- are they going -- are people going to end up breaking the law because of what he said?

BROWN: And, Kaitlan, several states pushed back on the president's suggestion as you pointed out in your reporting, this suggestion to vote twice. How big of a hurdle is it for them to clear up the confusion with just 61 days now until Election Day and early voting in some states well before that?

COLLINS: I think it does create a problem. I mean, we have seen polls where people actually are not sure and they do not trust mail-in voting. So the president is not just spouting off stuff on Twitter people are ignoring. People genuinely listen to what he says. And he has a bigger microphone since he's the incumbent and the power of the presidency.

And it's not just the president, because as you noted, there are officials who work around what the president says to try to defend it, put it in context, explain what it was that the president meant to say. This was never in clearer view when Wolf was interviewing the attorney general and he asked about this.

[16:40:03]

And the attorney general wouldn't say, no, you cannot vote twice, in any state, not just in North Carolina but any state. But instead he talked about how it can be different in certain states. And it really just goes to show how it's not just the president but those around him helping him sow this doubt that could genuinely affect the way people do go vote in two months from today.

BROWN: Right. I mean, the attorney general knows you can't vote twice in an election. That was a pretty stunning moment in the interview.

All right. Thank you, ladies. Appreciate it.

What will it take for the governor of the coronavirus hot spot to issue a mask mandate?

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[16:45:04]

BROWN: In our national lead: the newest COVID hot spot, Iowa.

The governor there says it has the highest rate of COVID cases in the country, seeing a 77 percent increase in cases from just last week. The White House Coronavirus Task Force says the state, from rural areas to cities, is in the -- quote -- "red zone" because of the drastic surge there.

But, despite the warnings, Governor Reynolds is refusing to implement a mask mandate, as the task force has recommended.

CNN's Omar Jimenez joins me now from Iowa.

So, Omar, health officials there say they are powerless to do anything more.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they go as the governor goes in this case.

And by at least White House Coronavirus Task Force standards, Iowa is a place of concern. It's why they have recommended that a statewide mask mandate be put in place and that bars be closed. And while Governor Kim Reynolds has said that some bars have close tied to locations with higher positivity rates, she has not taken that step to implement a statewide mask mandate.

Now, individual locations, we have seen have taken that step, including here in Des Moines. They put in place that mandate last week. But, after that happened, people are now wondering, well, when will that next step come?

And many medical experts are wondering the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. AUSTIN BAETH, UNITYPOINT HEALTH DES MOINES: Why is she resisting these evidence-based measures? I don't know.

We know, through science, how to slow down this pandemic. And she isn't doing it. I don't know what it's going to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And another reason Reynolds has cited is, she says that they were able to bring down the case rate earlier this year without a mask mandate, and so she feels that they're going to be able to do the same thing now.

However, it is worth noting that the one previously came with quarantine orders and safer-at-home orders, though we haven't seen that as of just yet.

BROWN: It's quite a big spike from just last week there in Iowa.

Do officials there know what is driving the sharp increase?

JIMENEZ: Well, for starters, Governor Reynolds says that this increase is basically surrounded or being driven by socialization among young people.

And when you look at some of the number breakdowns in some of the surrounding counties, I mean, they tell the story. When you look at one county that includes Iowa State University, for example, over 90 percent of the current coronavirus cases in that county are in the 18- to-40 demographic.

In the county that has University of Iowa, also over 90 percent of the cases are in the 18-to-40 demographic. And, specifically, when you look at that sort of college-age kids, 74 percent of those cases are in the age groups 19 to 25.

So they are trying to implement specific strategies geared towards where they feel these numbers are being driven by.

BROWN: All right, Omar, thank you so much live for us in Iowa.

Well, no other state has more coronavirus cases in California. And when you break down the 722,000 cases, Latinos make up an alarming 60 percent of them, even though they're not even 40 percent of California's population.

CNN's Stephanie Elam explains why, as she introduces us to a 31-year- old woman who lost her family and is still suffering from COVID in this heartbreaking story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNY RUELAS, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I get tired. I have to take breaks.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each step for Jenny Ruelas is a challenge.

RUELAS: I have to walk around with an oxygen can.

ELAM: She says her father's 38-year-old girlfriend, Kareena Bonia (ph), contracted COVID-19 in early May. Then Jenny's father, Humberto (ph) Ruelas, got sick. And then Jenny did too. They all live together with the couple's five other children.

Within four days, Jenny says she had headaches, chills, a fever, and lost her appetite.

RUELAS: I kept feeling chest pain.

ELAM: Jenny was admitted to the hospital first.

RUELAS: They have iced it right now, because they can't control my fever.

ELAM: Within days, Humberto and Bonia were admitted together, Jenny's dad in the room right next to her.

RUELAS: They're not giving my dad longer than 24 hours. I lost him. I was so mad. I hit the wall. And I was like, dad, don't do this to me.

ELAM: Within minutes, he was gone.

RUELAS: Even though he had passed already, in his facial expressions, you can see the pain. He was in a lot of pain. And that's the face I will never forget.

ELAM: Eight hours later, Bonia also died.

RUELAS: I can't wait to go home. I want to go home.

ELAM: In California, Jenny's story is not an anomaly.

[16:50:00]

Through August, the data shows that Latinos make up 60 percent of coronavirus cases and close to 50 percent of deaths, despite representing more than a third of the state's population.

(on camera): Why is the Latino population in California getting hit so hard by the coronavirus? DR. GIL CHAVEZ, CO-CHAIR, CALIFORNIA COVID-19 TESTING TASK FORCE: Latinos make really a very significant portion of what we would call essential work force. And we have very high rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, smoking.

There is some social disparities in terms of just financial opportunities, health care access and utilization.

ELAM (voice-over): But it's the agriculturally rich Central Valley of California where the positivity rate is staggering. In those eight counties, the rate is about double that of the state, as many of the farming jobs come with increased risk of exposure to the virus.

CHAVEZ: So, even within our very high risk, there's even higher risk there.

ELAM: The California Farmworker Foundation is now offering free testing at work sites.

Additionally, Governor Gavin Newsom deployed three support teams to the region to boost testing and contact tracing efforts, with social services support.

REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): I know that sometimes you have three generations of families living in a two-bedroom trailer, and so they don't have the luxury of self-isolating. It's about the contact tracing and providing the resources for them to take time off of work.

ELAM: As for Jenny, while she no longer has positive for the virus, she definitely hasn't recovered. The 31-year-old had a stroke.

(on camera): For the people who think this can't devastate a family, what do you say to them?

RUELAS: When you go through what my dad went through, trust me, nobody's going to tell you what to do, because you're not going to be here anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And the positivity rate in the Central Valley, we can tell you that that number has come down from where it was in July.

Those support teams that are there in the midst of a six-week engagement, and they're making sure to get the messaging out that testing is safe, and they're doing this in both English and in Spanish, which is very important to note. In fact, they're doing that all throughout California.

And as far as Jenny is concerned, she's not the same. She definitely has memory issues and a whole panoply of things that she's dealing with. And that just goes to show you, Pam, that this virus doesn't just come and go like a cold, like some people believe it does.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, that's one of the scary parts about this virus, what it -- how it impacts people in the long haul. Thank you so much, Stephanie Elam. We appreciate it.

The White House finally reacting to the chemical nerve agent reportedly used to poison a critic of Vladimir Putin. That's next.

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[16:57:14]

BROWN: Today, the Trump administration called it reprehensible.

Russia may have poisoned a top critic of Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny.

And, as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, Navalny may have been an easy target, with his every step under surveillance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no need to blame the Russian state, said the Kremlin today, but, for years, state surveillance of Alexei Navalny now fighting for his life in a German clinic, appears to have been constant.

This slick documentary broadcast in 2017 uses surveillance videos of Navalny with his family provided by the Russian security services, one of the filmmakers told me, to suggest the anti-corruption campaigner lives in luxury.

DMITRY BELOUSOV, FORMER PRO-KREMLIN JOURNALIST: It was spy videos, videos of meetings, Navalny with other politicians. It was kompromat about where you got money. It's main message, where are you -- Alexei Navalny got money.

CHANCE: The idea, of course, was to discredit.

His popular anti-corruption campaigns have made Alexei Navalny a painful thorn in the Kremlin's side. Even during his latest trip to Siberia, his colleagues tell CNN he was closely monitored, openly filmed in the street as he recorded his investigation.

Just days later, Navalny was writhing in agony, being stretchered off a plane, forced to make an emergency landing on the way back to Moscow. German officials say he was poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin insists no toxic substances were found in his body.

BELOUSOV: All kinds of his life was open to the FSB, exactly. It was a message, we are watching you all from -- from FSB.

CHANCE: So, if they're watching them all, all the time, if Alexei Navalny was poisoned, then presumably the people watching him would have seen that happen, wouldn't they?

BELOUSOV: Exactly. If they are looking -- if they are watching for every step of him, they must know who and when did it. They must know. They must know. CHANCE: Surveillance operations, say the Kremlin, are a matter for

the secret services alone, not approved by them.

But for a man watched as closely as Alexei Navalny, it's hard to imagine his poisoning could have been missed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, tonight, as we mentioned, the White House has joined international condemnation of the poisoning of Russia's most prominent opposition figure, although President Trump himself has remained silent on the issue.

One of the big questions now is, what consequences may Russia face as the U.S. and its allies decide how to respond, Pam?

BROWN: Thank you so much, Matthew Chance.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

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