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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Warns Pandemic Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better; President Trump Encourages To Wear Mask, Social Distance; GOP And White House Divided On Coronavirus Spending Plan; Fact-Checking The President In His White House Coronavirus Briefing; Texas Reports More Than 9,300 New COVID Cases; Neither Side Is Backing Down As Federal Agents And Protesters Clash In Portland. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired July 21, 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. 11:00 p.m. here on the East Coast and the United States is nearing 4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus since the pandemic broke out earlier this year. Nearly 142,000 Americans have died from the disease. Today the daily death toll topping 1,000 for the first time in two weeks.

Earlier, President Trump holding his first public briefing about the coronavirus since April, admitting that things will likely get worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will probably, unfortunately get worse before it gets better. Something I don't like saying about things but that's the way it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president also reversing himself and encouraging Americans to wear masks, saying that masks may have an impact and that when people can't socially distance they should put on a face covering. However, he was not wearing a mask at the briefing and it was noticeable that Trump was not joined at the podium by any of the task force doctors. Dr. Fauci telling CNN this afternoon that he expected to be invited to attend the briefing but in the end he was not.

Joining me now is CNN's White House Correspondent, John Hardwood and Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Dr. Reiner is the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Program at George Washington University Hospital. Gentlemen good evening to both of you.

John, I'm sure you saw that briefing today, so let's talk. More than 141,000 American haves died from this virus. Months later, the president finally acknowledging the problem. How long do you think this scripted, more realistic Trump will last?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, you wouldn't bet on it lasting a whole long time, because as he said in that bite that you played, that's something I don't like saying, that things are getting worse before they get better.

But I do think we have to acknowledge that whatever his motivation, the fact that the president adopted a more realistic tone, the fact that he encouraged people to wear masks, the fact that he girded people for the challenge ahead in getting on top of this resurgent virus, that is a step forward. That is positive from a public health perspective.

We know that the reason he did it is because his poll numbers were cratering. He had two polls last week that showed him down in double digits to Joe Biden. He's getting terrible marks for handling the coronavirus. Most Americans don't believe what the president says. So he was pushed into doing this.

We will see, first of all, whether we get control of the pandemic and he can say more positive things. Not clear how long his attention will remain focused in this particular direction, but the longer it is, the better it is.

LEMON: Yes. I think everyone -- most people can agree with that. Dr. Reiner, I want to you take a listen to what the president said earlier. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're instead asking Americans to use masks, socially distance and employ vigorous hygiene, washing your hands every chance you get while sheltering high risk populations. We are imploring young Americans to avoid packed bars and other crowded indoor gatherings. Be safe and be smart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: This is what you have been calling for, but is it enough to get this virus under control?

REINER: Well, not anymore. I'm glad he said it. We have been begging for this, for a statement, unequivocal stated just like this for four months. The CDC recommended that Americans wear face masks on April 3rd. That's 109 days ago. There were a little over 7,000 deaths in the United States on April 3rd. Now there are 141,000. There were about 281,000 cases and now there are 3.8 million cases.

So imagine the impact that that statement would have had the first week in April. But we didn't get it, OK, so since we can't go back, we need to go forward. So he needs to amplify that every day. But the hard work now really is going to be putting the virus down in places where it's really out of control and wearing a face mask is not going to be enough in places like Texas and Florida.

And let's see if he has enough smarts at this point to urge and -- the governors of those states and to give them the political cover to shut down places where the virus is out of control. That's how you get control of this, and we'll see what happens going forward.

[23:05:17] Wearing masks now is a very important step, and I'm glad he did it,

but there are harder things to come. We have to deal with how to open schools, whether to open schools in places, and we need the president now to be honest about this. You know, this has been a come to Jesus moment for him? Maybe. We'll see tomorrow.

LEMON: John, we're hearing that the White House and the GOP deeply divided over the coronavirus spending plan. What do you know?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is that both from the Trump administration and the Republican Congress, the Republican Party is not very good at governing in the 21st century. They are deeply anti-government. They're anti-tax. They don't believe in most of the functions of domestic government, and so they come along very reluctantly to things that have to be done.

The House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion bill. Lots of aid for state and local governments, lots of aid for election security, lots of aid for schools, for testing and tracing all those sorts of things. The Senate Republicans weren't convinced they needed to do anything else so they dragged their feet until now.

Now that the pandemic has gotten a lot worse than it was when the House passed their bill, the Republicans have gotten on to the fact and the Trump White House has gotten on to the fact that they need to do something.

But they're in disarray. Their priorities are all over the place. You've got some Republicans who go along with the idea of more money for testing and tracing, more extension of unemployment benefits which are due to run out in a few days and that's been a major support for the economy. So, they've got a very limited time to get their act together.

Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary is motivated by the idea of trying to keep the economy from cratering again, and so he's likely to be the force for more action, more spending, and a negotiator with Nancy Pelosi. But they have a much less coherent position on the Republican side than the Democrats do.

LEMON: It sounds like that's what happens when you don't have a backbone and you just go along with whatever the president says, because then you end up having -- you say it's a hoax and it's not real and you have to give all this money to your constituents and then they're sitting at home --

(CROSSTALK)

HARWOOD: Well, Don, it's not --

LEMON: -- and then, hang on, I'll finish my statement. And then you say, OK, face masks. Then you open your states back up or you open your district back up or whatever it is and then the president says, OK, well, maybe you should wear a face mask.

How do you know what to do unless you do what is at your core instead of just listening to the president and going along with him because of for political reasons? You understand what I'm saying, John.

HARWOOD: I do, and that's certainly a problem, but I think this is more of a Republican Party issue than simply a President Trump issue. President Trump doesn't have any ideological beliefs. He could care less. He's looking at any given moment to do what advances his cause. And when -- if he believes that spending a whole bunch of money is going to help him win re-election, help him keep the economy going, he'd gladly do it.

The challenge is when you have so many people within the Republican Party -- even his White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, part of the freedom caucus in the House, deeply, deeply anti-government.

They were the ones taking a hammer to government when Barack Obama was president. Pushing us toward debt crises, that sort of thing. It is hard with a party that has such a hard right anti-government to then mobilize the government to deal with a pandemic of the kind that we're facing right now.

LEMON: Vice President Pence spoke with South Carolina affiliate WIS-TV today about the White House's handling of the pandemic. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there one or two specific things you wish yourself and the whole administration would have done at the start of this pandemic reaching the United States?

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I must tell you that the fact that before there was a single case of community transmission in this country, the fact that President Trump suspended all travel from China was of enormous importance to our national response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you wouldn't have changed a thing?

PENCE: I must tell you that I'm very proud of our administration's response. The early action, suspending all travel from China --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So not one thing would be changed, just to clarify -- if you could, not one thing would be changed, just to clarify?

PENCE: My focus is completely on today and going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:10:00]

LEMON: Doctor, it is astounding. I mean, so Pence is following the Trump marching orders never to admit a mistake, and you know as a doctor, there were plenty of things that they could change in order to mitigate this disaster.

REINER: Yes, I would have changed a few things. So it took 51 days from the time the first case was identified in the United States for the U.S. to test 21,000 cases. It took 51 days. We didn't recommend wearing face masks until April 3rd.

We had no PPE for health-care workers. We've barely invoked the defense production act, you know, to fix those problems. You know, we had really no masks, no ventilators, no swabs. Still we're not testing nearly enough.

You know, if you look at really thoughtful people like the Rockefeller Foundation, they feel strongly -- these are people like Michael Osterholm and the Nobel Prize winner, Paul Romer, they feel that for us true to get our hands around this pandemic, we need to test 30 million people a week.

Right now we're testing about 5 million to 6 million people a week. Right? So we need about a six fold increase in testing to really get our hands around it. So, there's plenty that we should have done much differently, and it's really astounding to me that the vice president can't simply identify a simple mistake like our total failure to test for weeks and weeks and weeks. That's when the virus gained a foothold in this country.

LEMON: I just, I think that confirms my question for John about going with what is at your core instead of just going along with this president. I have to run. I have to get to Daniel Dale. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it.

Now I want to get to our resident fact checker, Daniel Dale. Daniel, good evening to you. You're not the right person to ask, but I wanted to ask them, what happens to his supporters now? All of the sudden, are they going to start wearing masks because he did? But anyway, I digress. We are seeing surges, right? That's a good one, right. We are seeing surges in cases across the country, but President Trump claims that states have what they need. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: My administration currently has zero unfilled requests -- for unfulfilled request for equipment or anything else that they need from the governors. No governor needs anything right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The truth, Daniel.

DANIEL DALE, CNN FACT CHECKER: This was not true when I checked in with governors, at least a couple of weeks ago. I didn't check today. But a couple weeks ago, the Office of the Governor of Washington said that they want the federal government to use the defense production act to get more personal protective equipment, PPE made.

The Office of the Governor of Colorado said they need help with PPE and testing supplies, as well as preparing for the looming flu season. And the Office of the Governor of Michigan said they want help producing and distributing both testing supplies and other if they want financial support. So, some governors might be fine, but it's certainly not the case that every single governor is, Don.

LEMON: Here's what the president said, Daniel, about supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have tremendous supplies and a great supply chain, whether it's ventilators or gowns or just about anything they need. So that's a big difference from inheriting very, very empty cup boards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Give me the facts, Daniel.

DALE: Two things. Again, first of all, there are shortages of supplies like gowns in parts of the country, again. Second of all, again, President Trump did not inherit empty cup boards of ventilators from the Obama administration. In fact, a spokesperson for his own administration's department of health told me that the Obama administration left them about 19,000 ventilators in the national stockpile.

That is significantly more than the Trump administration actually distributed as of June 23rd. That was less than 11,000. So, you know, Trump could have argued they could have left more, but it was far from nothing.

LEMON: Yes. The president continues to claim that the U.S. is doing better than other countries when it comes to this virus, but that's not what the numbers show, right, Daniel?

DALE: It's certainly not. I mean, the metric the president keep citing most often is the number of tests the U.S. is conducting. We have conducted more test than such in such combined. As Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on CNN earlier today, the reason the U.S. keeps having to test so much is because the outbreak is so out of control in the U.S. compared to elsewhere.

In, you know, Germany or South Korea, in Australia, you know, people aren't demanding as many tests because they're not getting infected. And so this metric the president is using as evidence of success is actually, I think, you can make a better argument, evidence of the U.S.'s failure here.

LEMON: Daniel Dale, I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Coronavirus cases soaring in Texas. A record number of Texans hospitalized. One doctor calling it overwhelming. We'll go there, next.

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[23:15:00]

LEMON: Coronavirus cases continuing to rise in Texas. The state recording a record number of hospitalizations with close to 11,000 coronavirus patients overwhelming hospitals. As cases continue to rise, one of the hardest hit counties in the state is declaring a shelter in place order. Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the daily routine for Dr. Federico Vallejo, a critical care pulmonologist. When he gets dressed it looks like he's getting ready to be launched into another world. That's exactly what it's like to work in a COVID-19 unit of a South Texas hospital.

DR. FEDERICO VALLEJO, CRITICAL CARE PULMONOLOGIST: It's overwhelming, it's a tsunami what we are seeing right now.

LAVANDERA: Coronavirus patients have filled the hospital where Dr. Vallejo works. On most days Dr. Vallejo says he's treating about 70 different patients. Four to five times more than he usually sees in a single day.

[23:20:04]

VALLEJO: I have never had to sign this many death certificates that I have been signing in the last couple of weeks. Talking to these families has been very, very difficult.

LAVANDERA: Can you describe the suffering that you've seen among this patients.

VALLEJO: This is a disease that affects the lungs. And they will have trouble with their breathing, and when it happens it's heartbreaking.

It's so difficult to watch them, many saying goodbyes to their relatives by picking up the phone and saying, I'm having more trouble. I'm having more trouble. I don't know what is going to happen next. I see nurses crying all the time. I see doctors breaking down all the time, but then again that is what we do.

LAVANDERA: South Texas is the COVID-19 hot spot inside the Texas hot spot. Health officials are warning that hospital bed and ICU space are running out. Nursing and doctor teams are stretched to the limit.

Do you feel when you walk into these COVID units that it's like a parallel universe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely a parallel universe. If they only knew what lurk behind those walls, if they can only have x-ray vision and see the pain and the suffering.

LAVANDERA: Dr. Ivan Melendez, is the Hidalgo County health authority based in McAllen Texas. He says the COVID units are filled with the sound of patients gasping for air, many needing ventilators and gut- wrenching conversations.

DR. IVAN MELENDEZ, HEALTH AUTHORITY, HIDALGO COUNTY MCALLEN TEXAS: So, you have people telling you, you know, doc, please don't put me on that. Don't put me on that and you struggle because that's what they need, and then finally they just give up and they say, go ahead but you know, you may be the last person that I ever talk to so please tell my family, tell my parent, tell my kids that I love them and that I fought hard.

LAVANDERA: Jessica Ortiz says her twin brother, Juval Ortiz, fought the virus for almost two weeks, the 27 year old worked as a security guard at a jewelry store.

JESSICA ORTIZ, BROTHER DIED OF COVID-19: It hurts. (Inaudible).

LAVANDERA: Juval died on July 3rd.

At the funeral. Friends and family paid their respects through a plastic shield, over the casket. There was a fear his body still might be contagious.

ORTIZ: I just wished it wasn't him and I had him with me. Because he didn't his live his life yet.

LAVANDERA: Jessica is left with this last image of her brother, a screen recording of one of their last conversations. Juval Ortiz waving goodbye. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: One of the hardest hit places its South Texas is Cameron County, where hospitals are quickly becoming overwhelmed. A Cameron County judge joins me next.

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[23:25:00]

LEMON: Well, here's what Texas is reporting tonight, close to 11,000 coronavirus cases. Coronavirus hospitalizations, I should say, and the rising numbers are overwhelming in many of the state's hardest hit counties. Let's discuss now with the judge of Cameron County, Texas, Eddie Trevino Jr. Judge, thank you so much.

I really appreciate you joining me this evening. I know that you're very busy with what's going on there. What is happening inside the hospitals? It is heartbreaking. Your county has reported over 6,200 cases of coronavirus and 111 deaths. But you say the death toll is actually much higher.

JUDGE EDDIE TREVINO JR., CAMERON COUNTY, TEXAS: Unfortunately, we have to say that it is much higher. We were at 1,500 cases about a month ago and we had 6,500 here earlier this evening.

We're reporting 111 deaths -- I'm sorry, 126, because we got 15 more today, but our health authority and talking to the administrators at the hospital, emergency management team, we know that we're probably anywhere from 200 to 300 plus cases behind.

We're lagging two to four weeks behind. It's a very, very sad and fragile situation. I feel for the families who want to make sure that their individuals, that their family members and their loved ones that they've lost to this terrible virus are recognized. And we're trying to do everything we can to catch up, but it's a terrible admission to know that we're way behind on reporting of the fatalities.

LEMON: Yes. Well, you pleaded with people to take the virus seriously. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVINO JR.: It's not slowing down because of the heat. It's not slowing down because there's a presidential election at the end of the year. It's slowing down because it doesn't care that our hospitals are at and beyond capacity.

It's not slowing down because our hospitals and health professionals are working 24/7. It's not slowing down because our essential workers continue to extend themselves to do what's necessary to provide for us. The virus doesn't care. Do you? Do you care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Judge, what do you think it will take for people to really understand how serious this is and that it requires a change of behavior.

TREVINO JR.: You know, Don, when all this first started back in March and we had your first case in mid-March, and the cases started to slowly and steadily increase, I was trying to stress and ask for everybody's help. And I remember saying in one of the press conferences, what's it going to take? Is it going take somebody to die in Cameron County?

And here we are four months later and we're talking about 200, 300, 400 people who died because of the virus and you see people acting as if there's nothing going on, that they can go about their lives like any normal day. And it's very disheartening, it's frustrating and disappointing. You know, I know that this country is capable of so much more when we stick together, when we do the right thing, when we care about one another.

But unfortunately, we've seen a lot of evidence lately where people are more concerned about themselves and their own personal rights as opposed to doing what's right.

LEMON: Amen. In your press conference on Monday, you showed this video, I have it up on the screen now, of dozens of people together on a boat. Many of them are not following your county's mask mandate and partying like everything is just normal.

The tour company manager is telling CNN, I quote it here, it says, "We have remained open to accommodate tourists and our employees and follow the certain guidelines such as requiring facemasks, sanitizer stations in several places, monitoring the health of our employees. We are operating all vessels at 50 percent capacity, and we have been following other recommendations."

They say other companies are also operating like this and they feel singled out. The person who actually shot that video tells CNN he saw at least five other party boats. Why was this video so concerning to you and can you do anything about it?

TREVINO JR.: Well, first of all, that's the first time that I had been made aware that the party boats are not exercising and enforcing social distancing and masks. They want to say that the individuals themselves are the ones that -- they asked for them to do it but they can't enforce it while they're on the boat.

If that's 50 percent occupancy, I guess we should be thankful because that certainly didn't feel or look like it was 50 percent occupancy. But in any event, it goes back -- the business owners have a right and responsibility. The people on the boat have a right and responsibility.

What I'm trying -- what I'm having a very difficult time understanding is why people want to or feel the need to go out and party like it's 1999 at New Year's eve and yet people are dying. I know those people know somebody who has been infected.

And if they're waiting for a family member to get sick, be in the hospital on that risk, on a ventilator that you showed earlier or dying, it shouldn't take that for people to do the right thing. That is why it is so disheartening.

We are looking at all of our options and we are going to be enforcing -- in enforcement mode in a much different fashion going forward. We're not going to allow this to continue.

LEMON: Judge, thank you so much. Be safe. Come back and update us, please.

TREVINO JR.: Thank you, Don. God bless you. Appreciate it.

LEMON: Thank you. You, as well. Dozens of federal arrest in Portland after weeks of protests and the standoff between demonstrators and the feds showing no signs of stopping. We are on the ground in Portland, next.

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[23:35:00]

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LEMON: So, protests going on in Portland, Oregon for over 50 days now. Tear gas deployed again last night by federal officers outside the federal courthouse.

Let's discuss now. Josh Campbell is here. He is CNN's security correspondent and a former FBI supervisory special agent. Josh, hello to you. I see you're at a protest now. I can hear the noise and I can see you. You're on the ground in Portland. Give us -- what is the situation like now?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, it's very peaceful right now. We are at the epicenter of some of these protests just outside of a federal building. I will step out, you could see that there's already a crowd that's gathered here.

They're demonstrating in support of racial justice. They want to see an end to police violence. They want to see this influx of federal officers sent in by the Trump administration to leave.

Again, this is the daytime hours here. Again, this crowd is very peaceful. The man that is actually talking there to this crowd is discouraging them from conducting any type of violence against this building behind us.

I have to point out, though, when the sun goes down, sometimes, this turns very, very differently. But the crowd we have seen, peaceful protesters, but then there are a number of agitators, rioters who will come in and try to deface this building. Last night, they tried to get into the building itself. But nevertheless, that's one subset.

There have been protesters in here, a group of "Wall of Moms," as they're called. These are the moms that have come out to support this cause. We saw them last night, part of this crowd, over 1,000 people out here, "Wall of Moms" that were, you know, again, protesting in support of racial justice against violence, against police excessive use of force.

I know you're going to talk to one of them in just a bit. But it is a very diverse crowd out here. We'll see what happens tonight, Don, when the sun goes down, whether we see those same types of escalation by both rioters and the authorities. Again, we will wait and see, Don.

LEMON: So, listen. Talk to me more about the crowds because you have been -- Josh, you have been out since Friday in Portland. The crowds are growing, right, and you mentioned -- you said that there's a -- what did you call, a mother's -- who's out there protesting?

CAMPBELL: Yeah, a very diverse group that's out here, Don. The numbers are kind of come in waves throughout the day. There are a lot of people o out here during the day, at night. There are several hundred. Last night, there were over 1,000 people that came out here.

Again, you see people from Black Lives Matter. There are local residents here. So many local residents who just want to see peace in their city. They want to see law enforcement, in their words, held accountable, those that act with excessive use of force.

It is just a very diverse set of people here that are coming out. They seem to be united. Each one has different causes, but their unity is that they want to see justice.

[23:40:02]

CAMPBELL: They want to see racial justice. They're coming out here to get their voice heard.

LEMON: There's been a lot of concern over this incident. We'll put it up for our viewers to see it, Josh. But you know what it is. This is the incident where officers refused to identify themselves. They detained an individual. As a former FBI agent, you have specific things to say about this, specific reasons why this concerns you. Walk me through them.

CAMPBELL: Yeah, Don. You know, so much of this anger that we heard about here from some of these protesters, especially the rioters, has stemmed from that video, fueling outrage, where you see these two federal agents in tactical uniforms, wearing police insignia.

But they take a man and put him in an unmarked vehicle and drive him away. Now, the criticism that we are hearing from people here is that they were asked by some of the bystanders here, who are you? What are you doing? They didn't say a word.

Now, there's this question about, you know, whether they are identified, will they have to identify themselves. By policy, they actually don't. You know, if you're conducting an investigation, you can go do what you need to do. They said they felt in danger. They wanted to move this man away from additional questioning.

But it is the perception, Don. That is the issue and this is why there has been this criticism. You know, they didn't have to talk to the crowd. They could have said something as easy as, you know, we're federal agents, move back. They were silent, which kind of feel (INAUDIBLE).

Finally, Don, I will say -- you know, we heard today from the acting secretary of the Department of the Homeland Security. We heard from the acting director of Customs and Border Protection where those agents worked, and he really blasted the protesters and members of the media who have been calling this Orwellian, saying that it's actually offensive to say that his officers were acting, you know, outside of policy.

I will point out to you that, you know, we talk to law enforcement officers all the time. You know, we cover their actions when they do good things. I think in this instance, it was a failure of leadership at CVP to get information out.

I could tell you, I personally reached out to them after we saw that video, trying to get information about the circumstances, trying to identify the officers. Hours and hours went by. No one knew who these people were. There was no information.

And so I think if there's criticism of what was taking place, I think CVP leadership needs to do some soul searching because I don't know -- you know, we have heard about it from other journalists as well -- that the rank and file weren't necessarily represented by this lack of information, by saying nothing, which continue to fuel this narrative that perhaps something was going wrong, that being the narrative that has fuelled the anger in so much of this crowd, Don.

LEMON: All right. Josh, thank you very much. You're right. We are going to talk to one of the "Wall of Moms" organizers coming up shortly. Thank you, Josh Campbell.

Joining me now is CNN senior national security analyst Lisa Monaco, former assistant to President Barack Obama for homeland security and counterterrorism. Lisa, thank you for joining. I hope you're safe and your family is safe, as well, and healthy.

LISA MONACO, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks very much, Don. Same to you.

LEMON: Acting Deputy of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said about the criticism that the presence of the feds is leading to increased violence. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DEPUTY HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: They're operating under legal federal authority, protecting federal facilities and the people at those facilities as best they can. They have been there for about two weeks. You have seen the violence every night from Portland, but it was there every single night.

They have had violence for 35 or 40 nights before we had expanded our presence there. So, the idea that somehow the federal government caused this, which Mayor Wheeler there has occasionally asserted, is just belied by the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, what do you think, Lisa? Part of the problem or solution, are they?

MONACO: Well, look, I think there's got to be real concern. You just had the report from Josh Campbell on the ground there saying that a lot of what is happening where he is, is a response to the presence of kind of unmarked, unidentified federal agents, who are not necessarily only operating to protect federal buildings.

I mean, let's get a few things out on the table, Don. Look, there can be a legal authority and there certainly is and it is the right and responsibility of federal government to protect federal property. That's fine.

But the question arises, you know, is this actually about law and order or is it creating disorder and more chaos? And if these agents, even if they have the authority to be there for a certain mission, which is to protect federal buildings, well, then the question is, why are they out performing what seems to be policing functions, which are the responsibility first and foremost of state and local law enforcement?

I mean, I've got a few concerns about this, Don. I spent -- you referenced I was the homeland security adviser for the president and that's true, but before that, I spent 15 years in the Justice Department as a career prosecutor, as an official in the FBI and the Justice Department.

[23:45:00]

MONACO: And I can tell you, I worked on issues when there were real crises, where state and local officials actually were overwhelmed, did need help from the federal government, and it was always a question of -- a situation where there was cooperation.

They were invited in. There was -- the mantra was, the federal law enforcement is acting as a partner with state and local law enforcement. That's what you want to have happened. Why? Because if you're not in that posture, you really risk sewing distrust and fear in the populous that you're there to seemingly protect.

The other thing is, Don, accountability. So, why is it that these agents are not identified? Why are they not wearing uniforms?

I know there's been some questions about, well, it's for officer safety, and that may be the case in the investigation stage, but once you've detained someone, once you've taken their liberty away from them, I don't understand as a former federal prosecutor why there isn't an explanation from those agents and from their leadership as to under what authority and what is the reason people are being detained and what are the charges if any.

LEMON: Well, and you mentioned liberty. This is the administration that cares so much about liberty and, you know, not wanting to wear mask, you're taking away my liberty. We've heard so much of that.

I want -- the acting DHS secretary, Chad Wolf, says that he is ready to pull his officers out if the violence stops. But it doesn't seem like the protests will stop as long as the feds are there. Are we looking at a game of chicken between the feds and protesters, Lisa?

MONACO: Well, I mean, when you have statements -- I've heard the acting secretary also say things like, you know, I don't need to be invited in to perform my job. That's not the type of rhetoric that is one that says, you know, we're willing to work with or we want to work cooperatively with the state and local officials.

And we should point out, Don, this isn't a situation where it is a partisan question, right, where it's democratic state and local officials against a republican administration. The U.S. attorney, the Trump administration U.S. attorney in Portland has asked and called for an investigation into the actions of DHS.

So, there's real fundamental concern on the ground of law enforcement across the board, it seems like, locally there about the presence of these agents and what in fact they're doing, under what authority, and why? So why are they there, what is the mission, and what's the impact?

LEMON: Lisa Monaco, thank you so much for your time. Again, be safe. Thank you.

MONACO: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thank you. We'll be right back.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: The violence we have seen in Portland is very disturbing. But I want to you take a look at the moment and listen to what happened at last night's protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LEMON (voice-over): So that is the sound of a group of moms standing between federal officers and the protestors. The organizer of that group, the "Wall of Moms," is Bev Barnum, and she joins me now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Bev, I appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much. So, tell me about that moment when you were -- when everybody was singing.

BEV BARNUM, ORGANIZER, "WALL OF MOMS": It was perfect. That is what we want. That is what we expect from a nonviolent protest. And we had the opportunity to do it. For about four hours, in fact, it was absolutely (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: Yeah. Listen, I know that you are standing there now. The reason you're on your phone is because you're getting ready to go back out. And I know that you're excited about it.

BARNUM: Yeah.

LEMON: But listen. You started this group just four days ago on Facebook and you already -- you have over 8,000 members. That is quite a response to what is going on in Portland. How did you come up with the "Wall of Moms" idea?

BARNUM: It was a video. It looked like military officers carrying away a protestor in a mom van. I was confused about it. I didn't understand. So, I Googled it. I was like, what -- who are these people? Why there are soldiers? And I realized they were federal officers.

And the more I dug, the more my stomach hurt. And so I put out -- I called action on the Portland working moms Facebook group and they delivered. They said they would come with me, even though I don't know what I'm doing. I still don't know what I'm doing. So there's that.

LEMON: Well --

BARNUM: Here we are.

LEMON: What are you doing?

BARNUM: We are protecting human rights, specifically black human rights. They have been traveled upon these last 50 days in ways that incite nightmares. You know, you see war-torn countries where flash bangs are used on peaceful protesters and you also see the gas and people running away and not being able to see well. We experienced that. So, yeah. Sorry.

LEMON: Yeah, you experienced it. That was on Saturday night. That was the group's first demonstration, and you guys were tear-gassed by the federal agents.

BARNUM: Yeah.

LEMON: Talk to me about that. What is that like?

BARNUM: You know, I didn't expect it. The protesters, they were like, oh, moms, you know, you shouldn't be here, you're going to get hurt, they're going to hurt you.

[23:55:00]

BARNUM: And I looked at them and I said, no, they're not going to hurt us because we are peaceful, we're not going to throw things at them, we're not going to (INAUDIBLE) at them, it's going to be great, we're here to help you.

And I was so wrong. The federal officers exited the justice building on the sides, not in front of us, so we didn't see them coming. When we did, they were walking slowly. So -- I was disarmed. I thought, oh, my gosh, it is working and they are not going to shoot us. But within seconds, flash bangs, bean bag rounds, and the gas, the gas that burns your eyes and makes you run away and puke.

LEMON: The pepper balls or what have you. Thank you.

BARNUM: Thank you.

LEMON: Bev, be safe. OK?

BARNUM: Thanks. You, too.

LEMON: Thank you very much. I appreciate you coming on. And thank you, everyone.

BARNUM: Bye.

LEMON: Thanks for watching. Bye. Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Our coverage continues.

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