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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Playing Demur on Reality in Front of Him; Protesters Tirelessly Asking for Justice and Change; President Trump Defiant as Cultural Change Sweeps America, Tweets He Will Change Tulsa Campaign Rally to June 20th; President Trump Suggests Ending Bigotry and Prejudice Will be Quick and Easy; CDC Predicts 130,000 U.S. Coronavirus Deaths by July 4th, More New Cases as States Reopen; Trump Administration Rolls Back Obama-Era Transgender Health Care Protections. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 12, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon.

For an 18th straight day, protestors taking to the streets of cities all across this country. They are demanding justice for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police officers has sparked the demonstrations.

But President Trump claiming in an interview that protestors don't know why they're out in the streets. Anyone who has seen the video of the former officer with his knee on George Floyd's neck knows why they are protesting.

And this president also weighing in on the use of chokeholds, saying he generally supports banning them, but that in some cases they may be necessary. More on that in just a moment.

And hopeful words from Dr. Anthony Fauci tonight, telling CNN that he is optimistic the U.S. will have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. At least 19 states are now seeing an increase in the number of cases.

And the grim prediction tonight from the CDC. Possibly 130,000 deaths from the virus in the U.S. by July 4th.

Let's discuss. A lot to discuss as a matter of fact. John Hardwood is here, and CNN's senior legal analyst Laura Coates here as well. There we go. That's my A-team again. So glad to have you. Good to see you again today, John.

So, listen, President Trump was out of sight in -- at his New Jersey golf club today after another week of missteps. The country is changing right under this president's tweet.

And CNN is learning a number of his advisers, John, telling him to adapt. Is he still out of step that he is being left behind here? JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And even though he

was out of sight today, we got an extended glimpse of him through that Fox interview that was fully released today with Harris Faulkner. And what we saw in that was a 73-year-old man, he turns 74 this weekend, who is stuck in the past, replaying a tape in his head, reacting to cues in his head from a very long time ago.

He is not capable right now of engaging with the scale of change that has convulsed the country. And there were a couple of tells in this interview. You mentioned one of them a moment ago when Harris Faulkner said separate out the looters out from the protestors. Think about the protesters and their cause, and he gave this meandering answer, saying that they don't even know what they are protesting about.

Obviously, that's prong. They do. Then there was a moment even more personal when Harris Faulkner said, look, you know me as Harris on TV but I'm a black woman, I'm a mom. Talk about the concern that people have when they hear things like, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.

And he actually went into this disposition about Frank Rizzo and how tough Frank Rizzo was as the mayor of Philadelphia. Completely out of step with the moment. Then you had another moment when Harris asked him about the military breaking with him over the use of force and in incendiary way on against Americans.

And he said, well, maybe they feel like that but I rebuilt the military. He is not engaging with the reality of the moment. He is repeating things that some members of his base approve of. They love him for the fact that those are his instincts. He may not love them but he loves the fact that they love him. And so, he is going to keep repeating those things. But it's not what --

LEMON: Laura --

HARWOOD: -- he is responsive to the country right now.

LEMON: Listen, Laura, I'm sure that part of the interview where Harris Faulkner said, you know, you know me as this person on television but I'm a black woman and I'm a mother. And I'm sure that resonated with you and with a lot of women, African American women, but just women all across this country who can imagine themselves and who are trying to find ways now, Laura, to the language, to talk to their children about this. And this president seems completely tone deaf about it. He is actually, I believe, losing viewers, losing voters.

[23:05:02]

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, you're absolutely right. It's particularly poignant and resonates particularly if you just heard your interview with Ms. Vicky Scott about what it's like to see your own child in this position, let alone what the experience of, I know his mother is deceased but to hear Mr. George Floyd call out for his mother.

And to think about all the variety of people who have lost their lives at the hands of tragedy like this. Who was on their mind at the time? Who were they're calling out for the protection of?

And of course, you think about this. And there is an interview with Benjamin Crump earlier today where the discussion with Wolf Blitzer, I believe, was, look, normally people are looking for protection where at certain communities, particularly African American, get policed, not protected but policed.

And so, the head of the executive branch of government whose job it is to oversee the Justice Department, the FBI, amongst other entities, has missed the opportunity. Some would say politically. But I would say a dereliction of duty to address this full scope, the scope of the authority that he has. The idea of being able to look at his U.S. attorneys, the civil rights division, color of law claims, public trust and mistrust and integrity issues. All this falls really underneath his umbrella.

And so, when he distracts and looks away at other things, it really feels as though he is not only dismissive of the people who are asking for assistance and equality, but also, your role as the head of this branch of government.

It's a dereliction of duty, politically and perhaps morally, and certainly one that as John has talked about, misses the mark and many opportunities.

LEMON: Well, let's talk about an opportunity here, Laura. Again, to you, the president giving word salad when he was asked about chokeholds. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the concept of chokeholds sounds so innocent, so perfect, and then you realize, if it's one on one, no, if it's two on one that a little bit of different story depending. Depending on the toughness and strength. You know, we are talking about toughness and strength. We are talking there is a physical thing here also.

With that being said, it would be, I think a very good thing that generally spiking, it should be ended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Is double -- is that double speak, Laura? What is that?

COATES: It is. First of all, the idea of it being so benign exists in the world, perhaps a professional wrestling and chokehold, but in reality, Mr. President, as he should know that the Fourth Amendment, that Supreme Court chase cases, that police department, that the rule of thumb is that you can only use the level of force to actually repel the same level of force.

Lethal force can be used if you are faced with lethal force. But the idea of having a chokehold in your box of tools and in your arsenal, so to speak, to be used simply because you think there is a problem with the person or their verbal statements to you, or perhaps as he called it bad people, really misses the park on what use of force standard should be in this country and beyond this country as well.

And so, he is kind of waffling and equivocating on this issue, maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. He has to fall in line with many police departments who are saying we don't want them used. And if they are ever to be used, it can only be under the requisite level of use of force provisions. And if it's not, it is criminal.

LEMON: Yes.

HARWOOD: And Don --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: The president wants --

HARWOOD: I think one of the things --

LEMON: -- comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln.

HARWOOD: I mean, look --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: John, let me play the sound bite.

HARWOOD: -- that's preposterous.

LEMON: Let me play the sound bite.

HARWOOD: Yes, OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: -- black community than any other president. And let's take a pass on Abraham Lincoln. Because he did good. Although it's always questionable. You know, in other words the end result --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS FAULKNER, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, we are free, Mr. President. He did pretty well.

TRUMP: But we are free. Do you understand what I mean?

FAULKNER: Yes, I know.

TRUMP: So, I'm going to take a pass on honest Abe as we call him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: John, you said it was preposterous before I ran the sound bite. But questionable? Come on.

HARWOOD: Look, those are ludicrous statements. He's made them before. Again, it shows him out of touch with reality in the thrall of this idea that he is a great man and has done great things. But I want to go back to what you're talking with Laura. And when you

played that bite with when he was talking about it's about toughness and strength.

Remember, this is somebody who has consistently identified with strong man. he identified with the way the Chinese crushed the rebellion in Tiananmen Square. He's identified with the strength of Vladimir Putin's leadership in Russia the other day at that round table in Dallas, he was marveling that the guard troops went like a knife through butter through protesters and pushed them back.

[00:04:57]

Obviously, he set through Bill Barr, federal officers against peaceful protestors outside the White House with tear gas and with rubber bullets.

This is someone who is enamored with the idea of people in power having the ability and exerting their will to keep control. He is now in a situation right now when the country appears to be spinning out of control. And I think the appeal of those mechanisms for maintaining control are ever more relevant to him.

And so even as he was saying well, maybe chokeholds should go away in an ideal world or something, he was still plainly identifying with him as a means of retraining people who were resisting him.

LEMON: Yes. All while this is happening. We have been watching, you know, for days now. Protestors and what happened to George Floyd.

Laura, I just want to -- I have to ask you about comparing himself to Lincoln and saying, you know, he's done more than anyone for the African American community, perhaps than any other president since Lincoln. And then saying his reputation is questionable. His legacy. Really?

COATES: To who. I'm not sure who he is referencing, who he's questioning, Abraham Lincoln's legacy or anybody who's actually perhaps read, I don't know, the Emancipation Proclamation or his role in the Civil War.

It's hard to actually try to understand the president's though of comparison point. Because just a few years ago, don't we all recall him believing that he was just like Abraham Lincoln, that he was lauding and saying that he was as good or example of somebody?

And I think maybe he is getting confused upon here, Don. It's the fact that the joke is that every great statement, every great phrase or quote is always attributed to Abraham Lincoln, because of all of the breath of his knowledge and his literature, and he was quite prolific in his speech writing.

And so perhaps he conflated to issues about this joke of his everything good, everything said attributed to Lincoln, and his confusion about, wait, maybe I've actually done more for the African American community than the president who, by all accounts was responsible for the Emancipation Proclamation. And there's been, by the way, many other since Abraham Lincoln who could claim certain benefits and treatments towards African Americans as well. I'm going to go out in the limb and say there is an immediate predecessor of Trump who may have a bone to pick with an Illinois presidential comparison.

LEMON: Thank you. Thank you, Laura. Thank you, John. And by the way, Laura is going to be working hard. She is working this weekend. So, make sure you tune in. Laura Coates hosts a CNN town hall on race and coronavirus. She is going to speak with four of the nation's top mayors. Mayors who matters. It's going to be live Sunday night at 9.

Again, thanks to Laura and John.

COATES: Thank you.

LEMON: Meantime, George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis more than two weeks ago and his death has sparked a nation -- a national outpouring of anger and calls for major changes, not only in policing but in American society as a whole and how black Americans are treated. You can feel it with each passing day. Monumental changes under way in America.

Here is Tom Foreman.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The roiling relentless wave of protests is finally hitting home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUNIOR SMITH, PROTESTER: If we want change, our generation has to step up right now and demand that change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: State and city leaders are suddenly moving fast on new rules to fight systemic racism following the horrific death of George Floyd at police hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D-VA): We still have black oppression in our society today just in a different form.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and California are among places enacting or discussing changes to police procedures, funding, and other measures. And there are desperate demands for federal changes too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: Please listen to the call I'm making to you now. To the calls of my family. And the calls ringing out the streets across the world. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: At the start of the year with President Trump's re-election train running hot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The people can hear the crowd, they know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: And less than two weeks ago when peaceful protestors were forcefully driven back for a presidential photo-op, serious reforms seemed hopelessly out of reach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I am your president of law and order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: But Trump's mishandling of the arrest and the coronavirus outbreak has seen his never strong approval rating plummet and presumed Democratic challenger Joe Biden adding another layer to his pledge to pick a female running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I promise you there are multiple African American candidates are being considered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:14:54]

FOREMAN: The corporate world is also responding with Nike, Twitter, professional football and other companies recognizing Juneteenth as a company holiday, celebrating the end of slavery. All while sales are exploding for books about the black experience.

TV shows under intense pressure to revamp how they portray police and their tactics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down. Sit down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: With a highly rated "Cops" and live P.D. canceled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will it take?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For one of us to be murdered by police brutality. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: After NFL players posted a video and some police started imitating the kneeling protest of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the league commissioner responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL FOOTBAL LEAGUE: We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: NASCAR banned the confederate flags from its events as the military considers renaming some bases named for confederate leaders despite the commander in chief's vow to oppose such a move.

And more confederate statues are falling. Some white people say taking these symbols is an attack on their history. Some black people say leaving them up is something worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: It's my great-great-grandmother Julia Branch (Ph), born a slave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: The confederate flag to me represents the viewpoint that she should have remained a slave for the rest of her life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: HBO Max owned by the parent company of CNN is even pulling the classic film "Gone with the Wind" from its streaming service for racist depictions until it can return with historic context. It is a measure of how fraught the debate remains that the movie immediate shot up on Amazon's bestseller list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATTIE MCDANIEL, ACTRESS: No, Ms. Scarlett, you come on and be good and just --

VIVIEN LEIGH, ACTRESS: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Still, it's old and enough to spur former President Barack Obama to speak out about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The kinds of epic changes and events in our country that are as profound as anything that I've seen in my lifetime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: I talked to protestors who one after another have said they just want to be treated the same with other communities. They want to get a fair shot of the justice that they know they believe no matter what their color may be.

Here's the problem, Don. I had those conversations covering the L.A. riots almost 30 years ago. And I guarantee you, many of those communities, many of those people are still waiting to see if this time it will stick, and if this time it will be different. Don?

LEMON: We certainly hope it does. Tom Foreman, great reporting. Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

So, is it a turning point in this country, and will it lead to lasting change?

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, can you guys believe? Can you believe it's been 18 days of protests since the death of George Floyd? Thousands of Americans taking to the streets to demand justice. It is clear that our country is going through a moment of great change. But how will we remember the summer of 2020?

I want to discuss now with legendary journalist Dan Rather, the president and CEO of News and Guts, also CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and Omar Wasow, he is an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.

It's so good to see both of you. Omar, it's so good to see you back on television and have you as a guest once again on CNN.

OMAR WASOW, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

LEMON: So, Dan, I'm going to start with you. Because. I mean, this -- wow, this summer, what we have seen is amazing, events are unfolding so quickly since George Floyd's killing, the protest, the police reaction, videos emerging and more police brutality. And now possibly, possibly reform. What does it mean, a turning point in America? Lasting change? What?

DAN RATHER, PRESIDENT & CEO, NEWS AND GUTS: Certainly, the indicators point to it is a turning point for America. But we can't know for sure until at least after the November elections. Because let's see it clearly. That President Trump, he hasn't been sending dog whistles. He's been using a fog -- a fog horn to say that he has dedicated his political strategy at least for the moment in probably through November to a bet that racial fears will prevail.

Therefore, he is taking the attitude, I'm going do to do what Richard Nixon did in 1968, what Ronald Reagan did in 1980, what President H.W. Bush did in 1988 and what I did in 1960 and that is play the race card. He's betting the fact that it still prevails.

Now, the indicators are that he has outdated himself. You know, President Trump, his attitude generally is don't bother me with the facts and reality, I have my mind made up. Now his frequent in error but he is never in doubt about what he thinks has happened. He thinks the old way of winning about race card will prevail just again.

If he's right about that, then what we're seeing in the streets now may not matter very much. If he is defeated in November particularly --

LEMON: You know --

RATHER: -- if he is now defeated then that will change the political history on race relations in the country, in my opinion. You know, William (INAUDIBLE) the second (INAUDIBLE) documentary -- he had written that history changes in our country when at least one of the following four things happen. We're at war. We have a dramatic downturn in the economy, we have a pandemic or we have mass demonstrations in the streets. We have all four. So that could indicate that we are very on this crux of a very big change.

[23:25:07]

LEMON: Douglas, the president has so mishandled and misjudged everything that has happened. You know, the crackdown that happened in Lafayette Park was a fiasco. He is calling protesters terrorist who want to burn and pillage our cities. How is history going to judge this president during a moment of crisis?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, if Abraham Lincoln ranked as our top president, you are looking at Donald Trump being on the very bottom of the heap. That might seem like a premature judgment. We are in the middle of an election year.

But this, you know, this idea that Trump past of dividing our country, of using racial slurs, of being a leader of birtherism, I mean, he is more, you know, George Lincoln Rockwell than Abraham Lincoln in his behavior. And then the way he's misled the country during the COVID-19 crisis when it started. We missed or loss a month or two of action. It's been muddled leadership.

You know, now we're already second-waving and it's the middle of the summer. This has been a disastrous 2020 for Donald Trump. I see he is sinking in the polls all the time. But I'm still amazed that, you know, 35 percent of the American public thinks he's doing a good job right now.

Because our economy is in tatters and there is really not any -- you ask a simple question, are you better off than you were four years ago? And the answer in America is no. So, thank goodness these protestors are starting to stand up and challenge Trumpism which has an aura around it of white supremacy.

LEMON: You can -- you can ask now are you're better than you were four months ago and get probably a very similar answer.

Omar, listen, I want to bring you in because I read your piece in the Washington Post. A fascinating piece. It's called the protests started out looking like 1968. They turned into 1964.

I think you started out wanting to write about '68, right? And then I think you were pushed to 1964, if I'm correct here. Why is it significant to the protests that we are seeing now?

WASOW: Right. So, the contrast is really that, you know, in both '64 and '68 we had, you know, sort of two parties, one campaigning on law and order and one campaigning heavily on civil rights. And in '68, law and order won. And it won in the wake of a wave of protests for black equality that often escalated to protester-initiated violence.

And that helped in the research I've done tipped the scale in favor of the law and order coalition. But in 1964, law and order lost. And the reason I wrote that piece was, I think what we've seen in the last 10 days is a wave -- a global wave of massive overwhelmingly peaceful protests, often met as in the early part of the '60s with remarkable levels of police violence.

And now because everybody has a video camera in their pocket, much of that has been documented. And so, the combination of peaceful protests and violent repression by the state really paints a portrait that to America, the way the media represents that and the way that it affects public opinion in voting tends to elevate a concern for rights, not a concern for law and order.

LEMON: I just want to read a piece of your piece here that you write. You said, when police crackdown with dogs and clubs, those actions ultimately serve the protesters' aims -- the protesters' aims by visually dramatizing injustice, just as images of the police brutality used to clear the area near Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. last week appeared to have done.

We have seen so many videos of police violence against protesters in the past week, Omar. Are they -- are they helping the protestors' cause?

WASOW: So here is the very bitter truth that sort of the geniuses of the early civil rights movement figured out, was that the media loves conflict. And so, a nonviolent protest wasn't quite enough to get national attention a lot of the time.

So, if they could make themselves the targets of violence, that would draw media and get a sympathetic portrait in the kind of the national press. It's an exceedingly hard strategy to sustain to put yourself in harm's way, as John Lewis did, you know, in unbloody Sunday marching in Selma. But it's a very effective tactic.

And what we're seeing now is something that looks very much like an echo of that. Peaceful protestors met with a remarkable amount of state violence, tear gas, rubber bullets. And you know, the example in Lafayette Square being really the kind of emblematic case where people are totally peaceful, and there's just this remarkable amount of repression.

[23:30:00]

And those images for the person who is watching from afar really tell a story about what's the issue here. Is the issue crime or is the issue, you know, a kind of classic redress of grievances in a grand American tradition?

And depending on what happens on the ground, either of those stories might carry the day. What we are seeing now is that they really are emphasizing peaceful protest and violent state repression. That's hard to sustain but fundamentally good for the larger cause.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Yeah. Listen, Dan, I've got to get this in, and I want your respond because the segment, the president just tweeted this.

He said, "We had previously scheduled our MAGA rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma for June 19th, a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this will fall on the Juneteenth holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this holiday."

"And in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents, I have therefore decided to move our rally on Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their request. We already had ticket requests in excess of more than 200,000 people. I look forward to seeing everyone in Oklahoma."

Dan, what do you think?

DAN RATHER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEWS AND GUTS: Well, he yielded some to the pressure, the pressure against what he is planning to do, the irony and outrage. But he hasn't yielded much. And it indicates that once again he is doubling down on his reelection strategy of divide -- keep the country divided along racial times (ph) and try to adhere to Steve Bannon's advice.

You remember Steve Bannon in 2016 told candidate Trump (INAUDIBLE) keep them, which is to say that (INAUDIBLE) talking about race, we win. What this (INAUDIBLE) announcement, which is a minor adjustment by him, says he is doubling down on that.

LEMON: Yeah. Gentlemen, thank you. I appreciate it. Made some news during this segment. I hope to see you all soon. Be safe. The president is suggesting that ending bigotry and prejudice will be easy, it will happen quickly. That's what he says, and I've got something to say about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Trump likes to say that major issues, some centuries- old, can be solved quickly and easily. Solving racism, a problem that has plagued this country since its inception, that's easy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear. But we will make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labelling tens of millions of decent Americans as racists or bigots.

We have to get everybody together. We have to be in the same path. If we don't do that, we have problems. We will do that. We will do that. I think we are going to do it very easily. And it will go quickly. And it will go -- it will go very easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president said that last night. And to know how to quickly solve an issue, well, it is necessary to understand what the problem is, if the president cannot articulate to Fox News why protesters have been out on the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: We had protesting also because, you know, they just didn't know. I've watched. I watched it very closely. Why are you here? They really weren't able to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And then, there's a coronavirus pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Except months into the pandemic, President Trump said everything figured out, very quickly, that the virus is highly contagious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: One thing about this disease that everybody has learned very easily and very quickly is the way -- it's so contagious. It's the most contagious thing people have seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: To say that everyone figured out. The president is playing catch-up, OK? And even now, it seems like he doesn't grasp how contagious the virus is despite his claims. On testing, experts here in the U.S. dropped the ball since the start of the pandemic. The president, well, he says it differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: You know, the system of testing now is so quick and so easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now, President Trump has moved on. He is focused on reopening the economy. That, too, will be taken care of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: You know, we had the greatest in the world. I presided this administration, presided over it. It got great for a reason. And we will do it again. We will do it again very quickly and very easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president's quick and easy solutions also include international relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: The United States is committed to the complete and permanent denuclearization of North Korea. So important. China can fix this problem easily and quickly.

And getting back to Iran, I do have to say that I think the Iranian situation could be fixed very quickly and very easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Listen to the president's suggestion for a quick and easy fix for the years' long situation in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: We have been in the war in Afghanistan now for 19 years.

[23:40:02]

D. TRUMP: We have substantially reduced the force, as you know. We are really acting more as a law enforcement agency than we are as a military because we can win that very quickly and easily if I was willing to kill millions of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So when you hear the president say that something can be solved quickly and easily, think about that. And remember, when it comes to these quick and easy solutions, the president only sees one man for the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: I alone can fix it. (APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the coronavirus is not over yet. Nineteen states are seeing rising cases. What you need to know about the disease that is still very present in this country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tonight, Dr. Anthony Fauci telling CNN he is cautiously optimistic the U.S. will have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. His comments coming as at least 19 states are seeing an increase in the number of cases and the CDC is predicting 130,000 deaths from the virus in the U.S. by July 4th. More tonight from CNN's Erica Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reopening now on pause in Oregon and Utah as new cases mount.

AILEEN MARTY, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: As long as we give the virus an opportunity to jump from one host to another, that's what it's going to do.

HILL (voice-over): The governor of Texas is looking to July 4th for a full reopening of his state as Harris County, which includes Houston, records some of its highest number to date for new cases and hospitalizations.

JUDGE LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: We've got to take action now so that we avoid a shutdown in the future.

HILL (voice-over): Houston's energy stadium being prepped as a field hospital just in case. Nineteen states are trending up in the past week. Texas, Florida, and South Carolina are posting single day records as the CDC predicts 130,000 virus-related deaths by July 4th.

RICHARD BESSER, FORMER CDC ACTING DIRECTOR: We are in the early days of the pandemic and if only five or 10 percent of the population has had this infection, we have a really long way to go.

HILL (voice-over): The agency recommending the best way to stay safe, keep your distance, avoid travel, and wear a mask.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: I know it's become politicized. Put that aside. The virus knows no politics.

HILL (voice-over): Face covering is required in L.A. County which moved into phase three today after reporting its highest single day increase this week. Gyms, day camps and TV and film production are among the businesses reopening. Missouri will fully reopen next week. Concerts and conventions can resume in Georgia in July 1st.

Meantime, anyone attending the president's campaign rally next week in Tulsa must sign a waiver, promising not to sue if they contract the virus.

LEANA WEN, FORMER BALTIMORE CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We know that the types of conditions that lead to the highest rate of COVID-19 transmission are crowded indoor spaces with a lot of people who are shouting and screaming. I think it's almost certain that we will see super spreader events come from these rallies.

HILL (voice-over): Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Erica, thank you so much. Dr. Fauci is speaking out to CNN this evening. He has got a warning all Americans should hear if you want to keep the cases down in this country. That's next.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: More than 114,000 people have now died from coronavirus in the U.S. And today, the Centers for Disease Control projecting that the death toll will rise to 130,000 by July 4th. This as 19 states are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases.

Let's discuss what is going on with Dr. Esther Choo, associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University. Doctor, I'm so glad to have you on to help us with this. I just want to play this. This is a warning from Dr. Fauci today. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you leapfrog over different phases, you increase the risk that you're going to have the kind of resurgences that we're seeing in certain of the states.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Has the United States stalled in the fight against coronavirus?

FAUCI: I'm not so sure we could say it's stalled. What we're seeing right now is something obviously that's disturbing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Do you share his concern?

ESTHER CHOO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: I do. I mean, all along, we knew that reopening was never going to be a binary thing. You know, we're closed, now we're open, go out and do your thing now. I mean, this has to be a phased, very gradual thing, and we have to stay vigilant about what is happening with coronavirus cases, and then pull back as we can as we, you know, as we need to when we see that there is a disturbing trend around us.

So, this isn't an easy thing. We have to be really nimble and responsive. And sometimes, we have to cancel plans that we made for the upcoming weeks because we see that the trends aren't going well.

LEMON: Listen. We -- you have been on since the very beginning covering this. I feel like we're old friends, and we didn't even know each other before COVID.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I mean, this has gone on for a long time.

CHOO: Yeah.

LEMON: Oregon and Utah have put reopening on pause as cases are on the rise. Do you think that we're going to see that happening in other states, doctor?

[23:55:00]

CHOO: We will. In Oregon, here, where I am, we were -- you know, we're overall a success story and we remain so. And I think the governor is doing exactly the right thing. We're going county by county. We're opening in phases, as make sense for that county, based on local information.

And when things happen like they did this week, we had our largest surge in cases this week, and the governor has called for us to stop reopening. I am actually waiting to see whether we are able to do that. Can people pull back? It was so exciting to be able to reopen and, you know, see the possibility of doing things like getting a haircut. But now we have to pause and wait for directions from our public health officials and see.

LEMON: Before we run out of time, doctor, I want to ask you this question because I think it's very important, another important story that I want to ask you about tonight. The Charlotte administration is announcing that it is eliminating an Obama-era regulation, prohibiting discrimination in health care against transgender patients. What kind of effect will that have on the transgender community when they try to seek medical care?

CHOO: This is really heartbreaking. I mean, these are basic protections put in place by the ACA under the Obama administration to prevent discrimination and things like, you know, denying insurance coverage for basic care.

Already 70 percent of people who are transgender, 1.5 million people in the United States, it's not a small number, already experience discrimination. And now, we're taking away the most basic protections at a time when it's been very challenging to receive care because of coronavirus. People have had to delay gender-affirming surgeries. They've had to have disruptions in their hormonal treatments. This has been a really rough time for this group of vulnerable patients. And, now -- and now, this, just a heartbreaking story today, and I'm really scared about the quality of care that transgender individuals will receive.

LEMON: And, not to mention, it's coming on the fourth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting -- massacre, I should say. June is pride month. So, insult to injury. Thank you so much, doctor. I appreciate it.

CHOO: Exactly. Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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