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Don Lemon Tonight

Dozens Of Secret Service Agents In Self-Quarantine; Most Populous States Seeing Record-Breaking Virus Cases; President Personally Instructed Interior Secretary To Restore Confederate Statue Torn Down In D.C.; John Bolton: I Do Not Have Confidence In President Trump's Handling Of Coronavirus; Dems Call For Investigation Into Department Of Justice Role In Forceful Clearing Out D.C. Protesters Before Trump's Photo-op. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired June 24, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Best part of the night, introducing "CNN TONIGHT" with D. Lemon right now.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: So, I got my specks on because -- I'm going to take them off, guys, so don't worry about the glare. But, Chris, this information is just coming over about dozens of Secret Service agents quarantined after the Tulsa rally. Dozens. When you say dozens that's more than 24. That's a heck of a lot of Secret Service agents.

All because the president wanted to have his rally or people may not be social distancing or doing what they're doing what they're supposed to be doing in the administration. This is -- this is terrible.

CUOMO: Two points. One, it's unfair to the men and women who were there to protect the president. But you're supposed to make it reasonable for them. Yes, they put their life on the line but why do it unnecessarily.

Now being quarantined doesn't mean that they have the virus.

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: It could be that somebody has symptoms so they quarantine all those people. But it makes a bigger point, Don. When it comes to the president, they lock all those people down. Everyone wears a mask. Every one of them have been tested and tested often. And God forbid one of them does have a case you know what they are going to do? Contact trace their asses off.

But for the rest of us you don't need a mask. A mask is weakness. It's all a hoax. It's all fine. The Arizona governor, I'm taking this off.

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: Why? Because it's ugly politics, Don. That's all it's about for him and his cronies. LEMON: Well, and he said, people who wearing a mask, right, they

believe or he believes that it's because they don't like him. It is -- they're showing their dislike for him by wearing a mask. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

CUOMO: Completely believable.

LEMON: Well, I mean, OK. Yes, you're right, it is completely believable.

CUOMO: Of course, I'm right.

LEMON: But you're right. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. You look good tonight. That's all --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Thank you for bringing paisley back. In 1987 called (Inaudible) likes your ties.

LEMON: And sexy. Don't forget the sexy.

CUOMO: I didn't forget.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. I'll see you later.

CUOMO: I love you, Don Lemon. Tell the truth, brother.

LEMON: Always. And I'm going to tell the truth right now. And you know how I feel about you. So, yes. That goes double for you.

But listen, I'm going to tell the truth right now. And this is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Here's the truth. All time high. All time high. That's not a good thing. Because tonight, the three most populated states in this country hit all time high coronavirus numbers.

Just everyone. I want you to please listen to this entire opening segment what I call my take tonight. Everything in it is true. And it's a dire warning. So, I need you to sit and pay attention to this. Because it's really important for your health and the health of the country. OK?

California, hitting a single day high of more than 7,000 new confirmed cases. That's California. Then there's Texas. Texas now reporting its highest single day number of new cases. More than 5,500. And then there is Florida. Florida too making its highest number of new confirmed coronavirus cases in a single day. More than 5,500. OK?

Arizona, reporting 88 percent of intensive care unit beds are full. They are warning they can hit capacity by the Fourth of July.

And don't let the president fool you. This has nothing to do, everyone, OK? This is nothing to do with increase testing. Nothing at all. More than half of states are seeing an increase in case. Look at the map in front of you with real and frightening spikes across the south and the west.

This is a warning. OK? New confirmed cases across this country are the highest they have been since April. Please, it's incredibly sad that I have to say this, but if you value your health at this point, do not believe the President of the United States.

[22:05:06]

The President of the United States who was acting today as if the coronavirus is in the rearview mirror. Welcoming Poland's president to the White House and calling his visit the first after COVID. And promising a beautiful surprise on vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is the first after COVID after the start of the plague. As I called it. And it's an honor to have you here.

Because I think you're going to have a big surprise. A beautiful surprise. Sooner than anybody would think. But the answer is yes, we will be getting Poland involved. Both in terms of helping but also in terms of taking care of the Polish people once we have the vaccine. But I think we're going to have it very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. We have a president who refuses to accept reality, who refuses to wear a mask, who downplayed the virus for months, encouraged Americans to take a potentially dangerous drug, even taking it himself. Suggested that ingesting disinfectant could knock out the virus even saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I mean we had a lot of people saying maybe we shouldn't do anything. Just ride it. They say ride it like a cowboy. Just ride it. Ride that sucker right through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It turns out after all the sacrifices Americans made in the beginning of the pandemic, all the lost lives, all the lost jobs. Everything that was done to flatten the curve in the end did we learn nothing? Did the president learn nothing?

Why have we allowed this to happen? When did we decide to just ride that sucker right through? When did we decide that? I need you to take a look at this. Cases soaring in Tulsa where President Trump held his campaign rally over the weekend conspicuously not wearing a mask.

Now that rally, that rally was five days ago. And we knew cases were on the upswing before that. But the president he went there anyway. And this does not bode well for Tulsa. Dozens of Secret Service agents and officers who were working at the rally have been ordered to self- quarantine after two of their colleagues tested positive for the virus.

And the president followed up with a visit to a virus hot spot again. Arizona just last night. Which was also a pretty much mask free. Listen, everyone to Dr. Anthony Fauci who says wearing masks should not be a political issue and anybody who thinks it is needs to get passed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There's no secret formula for that except to say get passed it, you know. It should not be a political issue. It is purely a public health issue. Forget the politics. Look at the data.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Science has nothing to do with politics. Dr. Fauci is right. It's not political. Never was. The president had chaps to tell everyone in this country to wear a mask. Instead, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute desk, the great Resolute desk. I think wearing a face mask as I greet president, prime ministers, dictators. Kings and queens. I don't know, somehow, I don't see it for myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was a queue to everyone who supports the president that they didn't have to wear a mask. But now it looks like the reality of the virus is catching up to a lot of members of his own party. Republicans who usually follow his lead, there's Texas Governor Greg Abbott. He was one of the first to reopen his state. That was back on May 1.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Because the spread is so rampant right now, there's never a reason for you to have to leave your home unless you do need to go out. The safest place for you is home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Quite a 180 from the governor who reopened his state almost two months ago. Now he's telling people to stay home. Where's the sense in that? And then there is Senator John Cornyn, another Texan. He is contradicting the president's insistence that he wants to slow down testing, telling reporters, quote, "it is pretty clear to me and I think it is clear to all of us that with the uptick of cases now is not a time to retreat from our vigilance in testing."

[22:09:59]

And then there is Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio who said today and I quote, "everyone should just wear a damn mask. Like you guys are. Like I am right now."

Florida's junior Senator Republican Rick Scott saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Serious. We haven't beat it. You've to wear a mask. You've got to social distance. You got to get more information out. We got to tell people where there's local transmission. And so, people can make decisions. The -- but, I mean, we haven't beat it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's right. We haven't beat it or beaten it. The coronavirus. They and we knew that all along. Why didn't this president? Why are some people so late to the game? And shamefully, this president is trying to distract you from reality by throwing around his new favorite racist slur. Calling the coronavirus kung flu. Really? Come on, man. He did it again last night at a crowded event in an Arizona megachurch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's got all different names. Wuhan. Wuhan was catching on. Coronavirus. Right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kung flu.

TRUMP: Kung flu, yes. Kung flu.

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: Kung flu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Shameful. Shameful. And they cheered. You don't need me to tell you that that's racist. Right? You don't need me to tell you that, you can hear that for yourself. And you know why he's doing it? To get exactly the kind of cheers that he got from that crowd.

Shameful. Shameful. Just today Kellyanne Conway who once called that slur highly offensive is defending him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president has mentioned it several times at two different events. Can you give us your reaction?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sure, my reaction is that the president has made very clear he wants everybody to understand and I think many Americans do understand that the virus originated in China. And had China been more transparent and honest with the United States and the world, that we wouldn't have all the death and destruction that unfortunately we've suffered.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: China. It's like Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. China, China, China.

And there's more. She goes on to try to blame CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang who first brought to light that someone in the White House used that racist phrase back in March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONWAY: You should have come forward 100 days ago when you had the chance. You lost your opportunity. You lack the courage to tell everybody who said that to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Kellyanne Conway sure has changed her tune. In March, she was outraged. Outraged at the idea that anybody in the administration would say kung flu. She found it offensive. She demanded to know who said it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONWAY: That's highly offensive, so you should tell us who it is. I'd like to know who it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And now that she knows at least one person who said it. One person who sits behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. She's apparently not offended anymore. The truth always catches up to people though even those in the White House. Hypocrisy. Unbelievable.

The three most populated states in this country hitting all-time highs for coronavirus case numbers. Even though we know what to do to stop it. Our very own Dr. Sanjay Gupta he's been the leading expert on this. He's here to tell us what we've got to do now. Right after the break.

[22:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The coronavirus spreading further across the U.S. as the three most populous states all set record highs for case today. California more than reporting 7,000 as Florida and Texas each record more than 5,500.

Let's discuss now with CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I'm going to talk to you about -- welcome, doctor. I'm going to talk about the Secret Service agents, dozens who have to self- quarantine now.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

LEMON: But let's get to the big picture. Cases are hitting all-time highs, hospitalizations are spiking. The virus is spreading across the country. And it's not like we don't know how to stop it. This in incredibly frustrating. GUPTA: Yes. I mean, we're five and a half months into things now, Don.

It is frustrating. This was not inevitable. There's many places around the world where they count their deaths in the tens, or the hundreds, not the thousands or the hundreds of thousands.

And as you point out, Don, this is the exact wrong direction we should be going in. We knew that as things opened up the numbers were going to increase a little bit. The question was, was it going to go from this sort of level to this level, or was it going to go into exponential growth.

If we look at the states you just mentioned, I think it's becoming increasingly clear that this is going into exponential growth. What does that mean, Don? That means, you know, you go to bed tonight, tomorrow when you wake up, you're going to be like, rubbing your eyes, wait, what are the numbers now? How fast are they going up, you get behind the curve. And then all of a sudden you have no control over it anymore. Decisions get made for you.

Don, let me show you one other graph because I think this is an important one. This gives you a little bit of trajectory of the country. Since March since February time frame to now. Those are the hospitalizations. And this is sort of makes this point that you made in your opening which is very true. Increased testing is not what's fueling this increase spread of infections.

[22:20:02]

Increase infections is what's increasing the spread here. The hospitalizations would not go up as a result increased testing, right?

LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: People are getting sick and going to the hospital. So, I don't know if we have this other graph. If we do, I want to show you where the previous peaks were. As you mentioned, we've just now had the third highest number of infections, you know, here in June.

Take a look there, Don. Back on April 9, 34,000 some people.

LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: On April 24, 36,000. And then we got a little bit of a break. The lowest was 17,000. That was our basement. That was the best we could do, 17,000 people becoming infected in a single day. That was on June 1.

And look what's happening now. The problem is we have so much infection out there in the environment that these numbers are going to continue to go up. So, you know, people kept talking about the second wave. It's not a second wave. This is another peak now. We're going to have within the first wave. Which this did not need to happen. Without a doubt. This could have been prevented.

LEMON: Boy, doctor, let's talk about what I mentioned to you before. We have this learned that now dozens of Secret Service agents are in quarantine, self-quarantine, by the way after the president's rally in Tulsa because two of their colleagues tested positive.

GUPTA: Yes.

LEMON: And they were warned in advance that they need to quarantine. In other words, the danger was known.

GUPTA: That's right. The danger was known. And so what has happened here is very interesting and I think a little bit of a microcosm now that people need to pay attention too.

Two Secret Service agents tested positive. They've now said I don't know what the number is. They saw in the low dozens, I think, or low dozen, I don't know what the number is. But enough people had close contact with the two positive Secret Service agents that there's concern and these other folks now have to quarantine.

Keep in mind, in that arena in Tulsa, what was it 6,000, 7,000 people ultimately that were in there? Just think about it. If you have two Secret Service agents. Multiple people now get quarantined. Imagine trying to apply those same principles now to the probably hundreds of people within that arena.

You got to go back and find them. Who is positive? There's probably lots of people who showed up positive without even knowing it. And now they're going to spread this into the community. It's laborious work. We're spending public health resources basically trying to put this fire now.

It's kind of like, you know, somebody starting a fire, you got to send all the firemen, firefighters to go put it out. And then they are going to go somewhere else and do that sort of work. They got better things to do but that's what they're going to be doing now is finding all those new infections.

LEMON: Let's talk about openings, reopening, delaying, what's going to happen if this continues. Because Disneyland in California has now delayed its reopening. That's probably a very good thing, the right decision from public -- from a public health perspective. But what about Disneyland in Florida where you're seeing all these new cases as well and the hospitalizations are going up.

GUPTA: Yes. Disney world in Florida. I mean, they don't have at this point any plans to revisit their reopenings. Meaning that they are sticking with the plan. July 11, I believe for Magic Kingdom. July 15, I believe for Epcot.

So, it's still the plan despite the graph that I just showed you of what's happening in Florida. If I had to go out on a limb, Don, I would guess that maybe that's going to be delayed as well. They're just not coming around to it yet.

You got a lot of employees of Disney World that are signing a petition saying they got to slow this down. A lot of people within the community. They recognize that people come from all over the country, all over the world to a place like this. The potential they could be bringing infection in. They could get infected in Florida because there is so much virus

spreading there. Take it back to their communities. And obviously just within a park like that, it's good that it's outside mostly. That's going to be really helpful. But there's so many shared areas, there's so many shared high touch surfaces. That's part of the problem.

And I don't have to tell you, Don, I think most of your audience knows as well, that a lot of people could show up they're feeling just fine. I'm fine. I don't need to wear a mask. But they could still have the virus, they could still be spreading the virus.

People always say I don't want to wear a mask. I'm not afraid of getting it. I think by now you know that you should be afraid of giving it. That's why you wear the mask. Right? So, if you're not wearing a mask in an environment like that, I mean, that's real cause for concern.

LEMON: Dr. Gupta, you've just been excellent on this. And thank you so much. We really appreciate you joining us. Thank you, doctor.

GUPTA: You got it, Don. Any time.

LEMON: President Trump doubling down on stoking culture wars and racial divisions with election day not even five months away. We have some new information just in tonight on exactly what the president did about one confederate statue that came down.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, we have more breaking news tonight. We are learning that the president personally demanded the interior secretary restore the only confederate statue in Washington, D.C. after it was torn down last week.

So, let's discuss now with Ryan Lizza, our chief Washington correspondent for Politico or the chief Washington correspondent for Politico, and Toluse Olorunnipa, White House reporter for the Washington Post. Gentlemen, good evening.

We're going to start with this breaking news, Ryan. The president personally intervened with the cabinet secretary to put confederate statue back up? That's a whole another level. In 2020 we have a president erecting a confederate statue.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Look, I think what's driving so much of this is the fact that Trump's play book on some of these culture wedge issues has and, you know racist issues, has failed. Right?

His -- Joe Biden's lead over Donald Trump has widened ever since the killing of George Floyd and the mass protests across the country. Right? I think Trump saw those protests as an opportunity for him and he has been shocked that actually it has united a broad cross section of the society against, you know, in favor of black lives matter, in favor of reforming the police.

[22:30:07]

And the Biden campaign has looked at that and come up with policies to address it. Trump has look at that and he looks to cultural racial wedge issues to try and you know, win -- I don't know who he's trying to win over. Because anyone who is already cares about a confederate statue in Washington D.C. is with him. So, I think he's been shocked that he's about how much he's alienating previous supporters and just driving people to his opponent's side.

LEMON: Toluse, you know, he is still laser focused on the debate over statues. And he made this claim. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think many of the people that are knocking down these statues don't even have any idea what the statue is. What it means who it is. When they knock down Grant. When they want to knock down Grant. But when they look at certain out there, looking at Jesus Christ. They're looking at George Washington. They are looking at Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, not going to happen. Not going to happen. Not as long as I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So to the Jesus thing, right. There is no widespread reports of activist tearing down statues of Jesus. Probably getting this from conservative media coverage of Sean King -- activist Sea King calling for statues depicting Jesus as white to come down. This is an issue the president's gut tells him that will work for him.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALSYT: Yes, that's exactly right. The president got -- is telling him that this is an issue that he wants focus on. But he's finding himself alienated when he tries to defend confederate generals, when he tries to keep the names of confederate generals and soldiers on military installations, even as Republicans have voted to change the names of some of those military bases. The president finds himself isolated.

That's why you see him starting to try to shift and try to bring in some of those Republicans by saying, this isn't just about the confederate generals who fought against the United States and against the union army. This is also about, you know, American founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and people like Jesus Christ.

The president realizes that when he's fighting about confederate generals, he's fighting for a very small sliver of the American electorate and he's trying to expand that by talking about people who are more popular, people who have more widespread support.

Even though, you know, the broader part of this movement is not calling for tearing down statues of Jesus or calling for widespread, you know, denunciation of all of the founding fathers. This is a president trying to shade his argument and trying to figure out if he can get some more allies. Because when he is defending confederate generals, when he's bringing

confederate generals and getting them and re-erected in Washington D.C. He is really fighting for a very small sliver of the American electorate. And he has very few allies even within the Republican Party calling for calling for that kind of action.

LEMON: Ryan, I want to talk to you about what Adam (Inaudible) in the Atlantic wrote. Here's a new piece out and he's talking about how President Trump is struggling to run against Joe Biden. And he is writing this. He says, after 12 years of feasting on white identity politics with a black man and a woman as preeminent villains. The Republican Party is struggling to run its Obama era culture war playbook against an old moderate white guy. Adam points out that this doesn't mean Trump can't win though.

LIZZA: It doesn't, I mean, I think it remind us that 2016 was a much different election. One because Trump didn't have a record then. And two, because Hillary Clinton was far more polarizing than Joe Biden is. I think that's no offense to Clinton's many fans. But she had a large segment of the public that did not like her. And were willing to -- the swing vote in 2016 were people who hated Trump and hated Hillary Clinton, but broke for Trump. Right?

If you look at some of the polls now, people who hate Biden and hate Trump much smaller group of people. Because Biden isn't as hated. Those people are to the extent they are swinging for Biden. Right? So, this is a very different election. We have four year record with Trump that the verdict of which is extremely negative among the number of groups especially suburban women who helped the Democrats win the House in 2018.

And I think Trump's view was those suburban women -- you know, this is 1968. Law and order. And the silent majority. And once you have protests in the streets, those white suburban women will be scared about this uprising.

[22:35:00]

And what we found over the last month, we found that that coalition of the Democrats that put together are rising support for black lives matter. Rising support for antipolice brutality policy like banning chokehold. And Trump just read this totally wrong.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you. Thank you both. Ryan, you should go check this out and see your picture is doing all kinds of weird things. So, we apologize for that. But we heard every single word.

LIZZA: I apologize for that.

LEMON: Thank you, Toluse, thank you Ryan. I appreciate that. We don't only delve into these conversations on this program. We do it -- we go deeper in my pod cast. So, I just want to make sure that you know about my podcast. Silence is not an option. I'm taking on the hard conversations about being black in America, about racism and so on and so forth. So, find it where ever you get your favorite podcast. OK? We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:40:00]

LEMON: Former White House national security adviser John Bolton telling CNN tonight that President Trump turned a blind eye to the coronavirus pandemic. And in a moment I'm going to talk to James Clapper and General Michael Hayden about this story. But remember, General Hayden suffered a stroke in 2018.

But he is speaking out now. He's alarmed about the state of affairs right now in the country that he loves. As Americans in crisis. America's in crisis right now. But first I want you to listen to what John Bolton told our Wolf Blitzer about whether he has confidence in the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMB. JOHN BOLTON, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I think there's an empty chair in the Oval Office. Because the president did not want to hear bad news about Xi Jinping. His friend. He didn't want bad news about the cover up of the virus in China. Or its potential effect on the China trade deal that he wants so much.

And he didn't want to hear about the potential impact of a pandemic on the American economy and its effect on his reelection. Turning a blind eye to all these early signs. I think hampered the country' ability to deal with this and continues to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Joining me now is the former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. And the former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden. Gentlemen, so good to have you on. Thank you so much. Director Clapper, I'm going to start with you. John Bolton says President Trump turned a blind eye to the pandemic and from what we are seeing unfold, is he right?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, he's exactly right. And I think what Bolton's book and his media tour represent is an inside baseball perspective of what we're all seeing, witnessing and suffering from. And it seems as though the best I can tell the White House is kind of given up on the pandemic. And so, I think what John Bolton says is exactly right.

LEMON: General Hayden, John Bolton is making very serious claims about President Trump's decision -- he's decision making process. Saying that he's worried about entrusting key national security decisions to Donald Trump. What concerns you most about these allegations?

MICHAEL HAYDEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Everything. Really, when you think about it, what is the problem with the United States for the Middle East or anywhere in the world? I don't know. And believe me I have done a lot of thinking about this. And the president I don't know what he's trying to do. LEMON: So, Bolton is saying he is concerned about the president of the

United States making key national security decisions. That has to concern all of us.

HAYDEN: That's exactly right. And you go to the Middle East. Or south Asia. Or anywhere in the world and what did we do? You know. I don't know what I look at this, I say OK, what is the problem and what it is the solution. I don't know. I don't think the president does. And so, I'm worried about now and the future.

LEMON: And the future of this country. Listen, Director Clapper, in a speech to the naval war college graduates. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley warned of division. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL MARK MILLEY, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: Cohesion. A force multiplier in divisiveness leads to defeat. Just as each service wears a different uniform and brings a different strength to the table of an organization. Our different experiences and backgrounds as people make us better than we would be alone. The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. Eliminate anything that divides us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Director, but it's actually the president who is stoking division. He is waging a culture war over confederate statues. Using racist terms about coronavirus as it surges. What do you think the state of the country is right now?

CLAPPER: Well, Don, I don't know. And I'm very concerned about it. When you think put this all in historical context, think back to the influenza pandemic of 1918. The great depression 1929. The racial strife of the 60s, notably 1968. And then we just endured an impeachment. Someone to akin to Nixon in 72. Well, the problem is, now we have the analogs to all this, all at once. And we're confronting an election. Which I'm very the conduct of which the outcome of which I'm very concerned.

So, this is a difficult time for the country and just make one more point, To General Milley is exactly right. But the sum of parts -- sum is being greater than the parts. That has historically been the strength of this country and instead our current president capitalizes and exploits the divisiveness and polarization in the country which is exactly what we don't need.

[22:45:12]

LEMON: Having said that. General Hayden, you know, we're dealing with struggling over race. Public health. And the state of our politics. What's your concern about the state of our nation now?

HAYDEN: The truth. The ultimate thing is truth. And a lot of times the president doesn't know what the truth is. And so, it's very, very concern. You know, we have a lot of problems and we talk about that. But right now, nothing is being done. And I'm really worried about the truth.

LEMON: Director, Democrats are also calling for new investigations into the DOJ's role and forcefully removing protestors from Lafayette Square ahead of Trump's photo-op outside of St. John's Church earlier this month. We have discussed it here on this program. But we all saw the Attorney General surveying the scene moments before he gave that order. Are you concerned with Barr's role in this?

CLAPPER: Well, yes. I'm concerned about the Department of Justice and institutionally. And it's being a stall work for the rule of law which is supposed to be. And that is under assault right now. And by the Attorney General himself. And I thought the House Judiciary hearing today just yet another manifestation of this marginalizing of the rule of law. And so, you know, I'm very concerned about it.

LEMON: So, Barr said the park police wanted a wider perimeter. But the president calls the protesters anarchist, agitators, low-life, general, what did you think when you watched them being gassed and beaten.

HAYDEN: I watched it and I said this is not happening. Not in America. And yet, it was. It was awful. And you know, you can see it every day. Now, you can think about it. And I watched it again and again. And I thought what is America coming to be? Now, we have three months, four months for the election. And now, well, I'm sorry, for the first time in my life I'm worried about my country.

LEMON: General Hayden, Director Clapper. Thank you both so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

HAYDEN: Thank you.

CLAPPER: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: And make sure you join CNN's Jake Tapper for a new CNN special report. It's called Trump and the law after impeachment. That's Sunday night at 10:00, of course right here on CNN. Three of the biggest states in the country hit their highest number of coronavirus cases today. What about where you live? That's next.

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[22:50:00]

LEMON: The three most populated states in this country hitting all- time high coronavirus case numbers, and it's got nothing to do with increased testing. More tonight from CNN's Erica Hill.

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ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: California, the first state to issue a stay-at-home order, shattering a daily high set only two days ago. Adding more than 7,000 new cases on Tuesday.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It is our behaviors that are leading to these numbers, and we are putting people's lives at risk. HILL: Covid-related hospitalizations and ICU admissions also at an

all-time high. The numbers in Arizona, Florida, and Texas also surging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not just the increase in the number of cases, it's the slope, the way it's accelerating. It's almost vertical.

HILL: One south Florida health system seeing a more than 100 percent increase in the number of covid-19 patients in the last two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not where we need to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't like wearing a mask, you're not going to like wearing a ventilator.

HILL: As of Tuesday, just 12 percent of Arizona's ICU beds were available.

WILL HUMBLE, FMR DIRECTOR ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: We're going to go into surge capacity mode probably by Fourth of July, so the most urgent thing, I think, is to get the hospital systems ready.

HILL: Nationwide more than half of U.S. States reporting an increase in new cases over the past week. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, where cases are trending down, want to keep it that way.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): People coming in from states that have a high infection rate must quarantine for 14 days.

HILL: As of Wednesday night, eight states subject to the new order which comes with hefty fines in New York State, starting at $2,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for personal responsibility.

HILL: The New York City marathon, which attracts more than 50,000 runners and nearly 1 million spectators every fall cancelled over coronavirus fears. Major League Baseball, however, will take the field this summer. 60 games starting in late July. Coinciding with that news, more positive cases among the Phillis and reports of infection for the Rockies, too. Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Erica, thank you very much.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says there's nothing political about wearing a mask. Is he sending a message to the president?

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LEMON: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. Coming up on 11:00 p.m. here on the East Coast. The coronavirus pandemic surging across the United States tonight. At least 26 states are reporting an increase in the number of cases as compared to last week. And three of the most populous states, California, Texas, Florida all setting records for the number of new cases recorded in one day.

President Trump refusing to acknowledge the alarming statistics. Suggesting today that the pandemic is over. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, calling the surge in new cases disturbing and imploring Americans to just get past it and wear a mask in public to limit the spread of the virus.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALERGY AND INFECTOUS DISEASE: There's no secret formula for that except to say get past it. You know, it should not be a political issue. It is purely a public health issue. Forget the politics. Look at the data.

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LEMON: And breaking tonight, dozens of secret service agents will be quarantined as a precaution after President Trump's rally in Tulsa.