Return to Transcripts main page
Don Lemon Tonight
President Trump Wants to Rush Elections; Predecessors Present at John Lewis' Funeral; Herman Cain Succumbed to COVID-19; Coronavirus Cases Rising in the Heartland; A Child Inspired by John Lewis. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired July 30, 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: Thank you for watching. CNN Tonight with D. Lemon starts right now. I agree with the president.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: What do you agree with him about?
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: I think the pandemic makes the election in November too sketchy. We should hold it next Tuesday.
LEMON: OK.
CUOMO: He said, he said it may not be safe then.
LEMON: Both you and I feel the same way. Get it over fast.
CUOMO: Well, he said it may not be safe. Why wait? Let's do it right now.
LEMON: Let's do it right now.
CUOMO: Let's talk to Congress.
LEMON: Yes. Let's do it -- because he said -- I mean, he said it was safe to go to those rallies, right? He said it was safe.
CUOMO: Yes, right now it's good. You can go to school. You can reopen. You can do all that stuff.
LEMON: I think you're right, Chris.
CUOMO: Do it now.
LEMON: I don't know, can we do some voting online. Maybe people wouldn't have to if we can do it now.
CUOMO: Yes, sure. Just do it now. It's good, right?
LEMON: Yes. CUOMO: We're all reopening. Right? Everybody should reopen, he says. Great, let's hold the election now.
LEMON: Next Tuesday.
CUOMO: Sure.
LEMON: And he could do what the other, the former president who spoke today said. Make it a national holiday.
CUOMO: Right.
LEMON: That way everybody gets off work. They get to go --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: And you know what we'll call it? Trump day.
LEMON: Wow.
CUOMO: Let's call it Trump day and we'll have the election in a week, maybe two. We'll give it two weeks. Still be so safe. But, you know, because 100 days from now, it could be really unsafe.
LEMON: You never know.
CUOMO: There is a pandemic out there.
LEMON: Yes, a virus.
CUOMO: It could get worse.
LEMON: What about a Trump virus?
CUOMO: No, Trump day.
LEMON: Trump day.
CUOMO: Two Tuesdays from today. And we'll have the election. And then, there, it's good. I mean, you've got to be kidding me. Not only --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Sorry, I'm setting up my computer over here. Come on.
CUOMO: Then this guy Pompeo, yes, the DOJ could do it. Shut up.
LEMON: Trump day two days -- two Tuesdays from now or one --
CUOMO: Yes, Trump day.
LEMON: Or Tuesday after next?
CUOMO: Yes. Trump day.
LEMON: I like that. CUOMO: Let's vote. Let's get it out of the way, you know, before 100
days from now the pandemic could be real.
LEMON: You know he's watching. So --
CUOMO: Great idea. Move it up.
LEMON: -- you understood, Mr. President, Congress, Senate.
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: Let's do it.
CUOMO: Well, he said he could do it. You know, maybe you should think about it, right? Pompeo said the DOJ could do it. You know? And if you want to go the Congress route, might as well. One of his friends just told me he's working so hard with Congress, I'm sure he's got a lot of deals going.
LEMON: You're really, really smart. Maybe, I don't know. Someone said to me the other day and maybe it's right that you and I should run.
CUOMO: Run? Run from what?
LEMON: Run, Forrest, run.
CUOMO: We're going to be -- we're going to be running from the maskless masses.
LEMON: Do you know how many of these things I have? I have so many of these masks. I just yank one when I -- when I come out the door and I keep, like, three or four in the car now.
CUOMO: We -- everybody has got a whole lot of masks.
LEMON: But it's good.
CUOMO: I actually have this kid in my life who is a tennis teacher, and now he took some money and he sells advertising for masks for kids and he's made all of this -- all of this money.
LEMON: He puts it on the mask?
CUOMO: All this money online. No, he just advertises online to buy masks and people buy them through the company and he gets some big out of it. I use the fishing sleeve that I pull up and fold over.
LEMON: Yes. I do that, too.
CUOMO: And I like that better than the mask personally because when I put it down it's like a scarf, which is part of my signature look.
LEMON: No, I do that because in the heat it's more comfortable. Especially if you're out doing something, it's the fishing thing is a lot more comfortable than the mask because it gets a little bit cumbersome and it slides down. The fishing thing doesn't slide down. It stays.
CUOMO: Good. You put it up there and you fold it over.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Headline for me today, Don, I don't know what you're starting with, this is the worst quarter of economic activity.
LEMON: Ever.
CUOMO: In our history. And it's because of how we have mishandled this pandemic. Germany handled it better. China actually grew. I thought we were going to get on top of China because of the negotiations.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: I thought the president had it all figured out. This is why he's down in the polls.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: And the question is, will he be able to do something about it. We'll see.
LEMON: It's got to be somebody who likes the numbers. Man, I mean, it is. He did make history with his numbers. So, there you go.
CUOMO: That's true.
LEMON: Yes. All right, sir. I'll see you soon.
CUOMO: Always a pleasure, D. Lemon.
LEMON: Guess what, man, I was going to say it first.
CUOMO: Yes, you don't mean that.
LEMON: All right.
CUOMO: See you.
LEMON: This is CNN tonight. I'm Don Lemon.
Well, today, if it wasn't already obvious to you what President Trump has done to the highest office in the land, it should be. All day, from first thing this morning until night, three decades -- did you notice this? Three decades of presidential leadership on display, living proof.
[22:04:53]
You have President Trump and you had the three presidents who proceeded him. You had Bill Clinton, you had George W. Bush and you had Barack Obama. Today we saw what it means to be president. We saw the dignity the office can bestow and the dignity that can be stripped away. So why don't we begin with the current president, who with the death
toll from the coronavirus in this country passing 152,000, and while mourning Herman Cain who died of the virus. Just can't resist lobbing a slur at China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let me begin by expressing our sadness at the passing of a wonderful man and a dear friend of mine, Herman Cain. He was a very special person. I got to know him very well. And unfortunately, he passed away from a thing called the China virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A lot to be said about that. But someone has died, so let's be respectful. The president who as cases approach 4.5 million nationwide says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The numbers are coming down and coming down very substantially. They're starting to come down in Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Florida reported a record number of coronavirus deaths today. And those cases are only leveling off because leaders are finally, finally doing what needs to be done instead of listening to the president. What they're doing is not listening to him. They're doing the right things. So, guess what? The numbers are coming down.
We have a president who started the day tweeting a threat, as Chris and I just talked about, to delay the November election, which he has absolutely no legal authority to do. And which members of his very own party promptly just shot it right down. And he followed that threat by throwing around baseless charges that the election will be rigged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the net effect of what you tweeted this morning and what you're talking about now to cast doubt on the results of the November 3rd election?
TRUMP: Well, it's had an interesting impact. I didn't know it was going to be the impact it had. What people are now looking at is, am I right, but not me, are all these stories right about the fact that these elections will be fraudulent. They'll be fixed. They'll be rigged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The President of the United States, who took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution is now trying to delegitimize our most Democratic act?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But I also don't want to have to wait for three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything. That's what's going to happen, Steve. That's common sense. And everyone knows it. Smart people know it. Stupid people may not know it. And some people don't want to talk about it. But they know it.
And, no, we want to have an election where people actually go in and what's your name? My name is so and so. Boom. You sign the book like I've been doing for jeers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Stupid people may not know it. You heard what he said, OK? But they're doing what he has been doing for years. Right? Listen to me, everybody, OK? Pay attention.
The fact is this president voted absentee in New York in 2018 and in Florida's March primary. He also listed the wrong birthplace on a 2017 absentee ballot for New York mayor that according to an analyst -- analysis, I should say, by the Washington Post, OK?
And as for the president's claim that he has been signing the book and voting in-person for years, I said -- watch, OK? I want you to watch this. It is from a 2004 Access Hollywood video. Donald Trump turned away from one New York polling place after another. Finally filling out, guess what, an absentee ballot. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Right. Do I have to go to a different place, actually?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a little drama at the polling place.
TRUMP: Do me a favor, double check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the paperwork.
TRUMP: Double check.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me see what's that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling my lawyer right now.
TRUMP: Go ahead. Work on it.
Wherever you want us to go. Where do we go?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five twenty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five twenty. TRUMP: Five Twenty Park Avenue. OK. I like that location better. Hi, folks. How are you doing? Make sure there's no cheating here, right. They don't have any area (Ph). Can you believe this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have it in this book either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check this up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not in my book neither.
TRUMP: All right. So, it's not here, right?
Hi, fellas. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Do you have my name here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His name is not on these rolls. There will be a huge combustion in here.
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to fill out the absentee ballot.
[22:10:00]
And I've just voted. At least you can say the Trumpster doesn't give up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
TRUMP: Right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Don't fall for the okey-doke, people. Calling our election into question is one of the most un-American things that a president can do. And he has done it before. He still claims that the previous election, that he won, by the way, he said it was rigged.
So why? Because he is trying to distract from an economy that has fallen off of a cliff, contracting at a 32.9 percent annual rate from April through June, the worst drop on record. But what's he really afraid of? The reason that he wants you to think that the election is fixed is because he's on course to lose.
I mentioned the other three presidents earlier and how they showed us today how much we have lost in this Trump era. Not one of them was perfect. No one is. Every one of them made mistakes in office. And they owned up to them.
But today at the funeral for John Lewis, they reminded us. Yes, that's what being a president looks like. It's been so long since we've seen it. That's what being a president looks like. You look at them. And they look like presidents. And then they open their mouths and they sound like presidents. And then they move through the world and they -- that's what a president should look like. There was former President Bill Clinton saying that the late
congressman left us our marching orders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He never lost heart. He fought the good fight, he kept the faith, but we got our last letter today on the pages of the New York Times. Keep moving. It is so fitting on the day of his service he leaves us our marching orders. Keep moving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What is that ease, looks and sounds like a president. Former President George W. Bush paying his respects with love and with dignity. Even though John Lewis boycotted his inauguration in 2001.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: John and I had our disagreements, of course, but in the America, John Lewis fought for and the America I believe in, differences of opinion are inevitable elements and evidence of democracy in action.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: We, the people, including congressmen and presidents, can have differing views on how to perfect our union while sharing the conviction that our nation, however flawed, is at heart a good and noble one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: George Bush. Humility. Self-deprecation. A sense of humor. Empathy. Presidential traits. And then it came time for former President Barack Obama -- you could tell this was going to be fire. And when it came, he brought the heat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bull Connor may be gone, but today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of black Americans.
George Wallace may be gone, but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive I.D. laws --
(APPLAUSE)
[22:15:06]
OBAMA: -- and attacking our voting rights with surgical recession, even undermine the Postal Service in the run-up to an election that's going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don't get sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I tell you something, my mom tells me stories all the time about how she and her sisters would have to go to the polling place with my grandmother. Because they would make her count the jellybeans or guess the number of jelly beans in a jar before she could vote. And guess what? It was not that long ago.
Do not take the right to vote for granted, anyone, especially black people in this country. That is what John Lewis fought for so that you can ride around in your car like you do, go to the club, work, talk back, be on TV as a news anchor. Don't get it twisted. The right to vote is yours. Your people earned it. So, do it.
And after Barack Obama finished, the church said amen. They were yelling preach. Lewis himself spoke out today, today in his death about just how precious the vote it from beyond the grave.
In a New York Times op-ed he wrote shortly before his death to be published on the day of his funeral, the congressman writes this.
The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it. You can lose it all right, especially when the president himself will not defend it.
John Lewis is what makes America great. Rest in peace, John Lewis.
Our White House correspondent is Kaitlan Collins and she joins us now live from the White House. Kaitlan, good evening to you.
The president came out and made more false claims about the virus today. I think it was because he wanted to distract from the attention the former presidents were getting. He knew that he can't change the date of the election. Why does he talk about this instead of talking about the virus?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question. And I think what he's realized is his aides have been like you need to focus on the virus so your standings with voters can be boosted again and get back to the levels at least that you had been several months ago.
And instead of, you know, doing that precisely at these briefings, the president reads these scripted remarks and then he often goes off script either in the answers to reporters or when he's on Twitter that morning, and that's why he's faced with questions like about delaying the election. It doesn't seem like the president even seriously thinks he can move
the election. I think he heard what these Republicans were saying today in this pretty rare rebuke of him. But what he does by saying that, Don, is he puts that idea out there. The president knows that his standing is not good in the polls right now. He's trailing Joe Biden.
And so now it puts this idea out there for his supporters, for him to make later on to potentially undermine the election. Instead of focusing on the coronavirus, which is the purpose of bringing back these briefings, is so the president can look like he's at the helm of the government's response to this.
LEMON: Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Kaitlan, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
When we come back, why President Trump is being called a heckler in his own government.
Plus, where are the new coronavirus hot spots? Is the virus moving to the Midwest?
[22:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Today presidential leadership was on display as the former commanders-in-chief honored Congressman Lewis, John Lewis at his funeral. Ninety-five-year-old Jimmy Carter couldn't attend for health reasons, but his remarks were read out loud.
Joshua Dubois is here. He is the former White House religious affairs director under President Barack Obama, and CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen is here as well. He is a former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.
Gentlemen, thank you for joining me this evening.
David, you first. Seeing the former presidents all together while President Trump was left out and spent the day questioning the legitimacy of our elections, another big day in what has been a very, very bad season for President Trump. David?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I'm sorry. I thought you were playing something. Don, it has been a very bad season. He's had week after week after week, it's been relentless, he's been tumbling downhill.
My own sense is that something about his judgement is off. He hasn't, you know, he -- one thing he could count on before in the past was, he could connect with the spirit of the country. I didn't like a lot of the things he was doing. I didn't like what he saw in there, what he was appealing to, but the fact was he had a bond. And we all know that.
But it recently -- he seems to be miscalling things. He's misjudging event after event and I think it's getting him in deeper trouble. It is likely that these polls will close in the election season. I can tell you. This is one of the first times we've watched an election season unfold, and I'm beginning to think this president could wind up worse off than he is now before this is over.
[22:24:56]
LEMON: Josh -- Joshua, I've been wanting to speak to you about this because the former president said something that I've been saying. And I think many people. If not now, when? Right? His eulogy was a stinging rebuke of President Trump. He compared him to George Wallace. He said he knew that there would be people who would say this isn't the time, right? But if not now, when?
JOSHUA DUBOIS, CO-FOUNDER, VALUES PARTNERSHIPS: That's exactly right. Because, Don, the stakes are high. Today the President of the United States intimated that we might postpone or cancel an election.
And, listen, there was a dramatic tension on display, a contrast between the former presidents that we saw today and the current president sitting in the White House tonight, probably thinking about what he's going to tweet next.
And what that contrast is, you know, and I disagreed with President Obama on some things, my former boss and mentor and friend. Certainly had disagreements with President Bush, President Clinton, but I knew that when they sitting at that desk in the Oval Office, at that Resolute desk, they were fight for a vision bigger than themselves.
I may not agree with all parts of that vision, but it was about something bigger than themselves. Donald Trump is all about himself. And he will tear anything down, including our democracy, in the process of his own self-preservation. And that's what we saw today. We saw people with a vision that was bigger than them contrasted with a man who is -- who is flailing to try to preserve his own self.
LEMON: Joshua, listen, we lost your picture there, but I mean, John Lewis did not attend George Bush's inauguration in 2001, right? And he didn't attend President Trump's inauguration. President Trump didn't really say anything about John Lewis, right? He hasn't really -- but guess what? President Bush ended up going to the man's funeral and speaking.
GERGEN: Yes.
LEMON: Right. You know, I mean, David, I see you nodding. That says a lot about knowing -- about the office being bigger than you and you being a bigger person and understanding what this experiment, America is all about.
GERGEN: I agree. And Donald Trump looks smaller and smaller compared to the country's problems. He's not only diminished the office, he's diminished himself. He does not seem big enough to settle the big problems we face, to solve them.
And I do think what we saw today, as you said in the beginning with President Obama, whom I thought gave the finest, most eloquent speech since he left office. And what we saw the contrast between Obama rightly praising Martin Luther King, saying he was the greatest pastor of the Ebenezer Church, the church in which the service was held and his first disciple was John Lewis.
That was a really wonderful way to set that speech up, but then in effect he said, and you know what? George Wallace is gone, but his spirit hasn't left the country. He's still got a lot of followers in this country, and he set up the Wallace/Trump father of son -- the leader and then the disciple in a really, really interesting and I think telling way.
DUBOIS: Yes, I think that's exactly right. And, you know, part of it is in this theme of, are you a leader that calls us to our better angels or are you a leader that feels like your only tools are force and hatred and division?
Those tools work sometimes. They work for Donald Trump sometimes. They worked in 2016. He's hoping that they work again no place 2020. But you have these other leaders today saying, you know what, that is not the way we have to be. We can actually unite. We can bring ourselves together across lines of division, across partisan lines and actually fight for change in this country. They're speaking to our better angels, and all he knows how to do is speak to the worst of us.
LEMON: This is how the New York Times put it. It says, this is where we are now. Far from a strong man, Mr. Trump was -- has lately become a heckler in his own government, promoting medical conspiracy theories on social media, playing no constructive role in either the management of the coronavirus pandemic or the negotiation of an economic rescue plan in Congress and complaining endlessly about the unfairness of it all. And yet, he is the President of the United States.
Gentlemen, I'm out of time. Thank you so much. I appreciate you joining me.
GERGEN: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: The death toll for the coronavirus passing 152,000 people tonight. That after the country yesterday recorded the highest number of deaths in one day since May. Where the disease is spreading now, that's next.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. quickly approaching 4.5 million as multiple states report the highest number of deaths from the virus in a single day. Now there are concerns the virus is spreading into the American heartland.
Joining me now is William Haseltine, the former professor at Harvard Medical School. Concerns that it is spreading or it has? Right? Is that -- is that a done deal. Welcome, by the way. WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: It is.
Thank you very much. It definitely is spreading. I've just been looking at the numbers in states like Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Illinois. That's our heartland. And the numbers are going up.
LEMON: President Trump referring again to the virus as the China virus and saying other countries are having coronavirus spikes, too. You say that despite what he says, this is now the American virus.
HASELTINE: This is becoming the American virus, there's no doubt about it. You know, I wish we'd stop fighting with China and start learning from how they control it.
I'll give you a number to think about. More -- twice as many Americans have died from this disease as Chinese have gotten the disease. They have 0.3 percent of our deaths. And our infections, 0.3 percent. And their country four times bigger than us. We could go to school and learn how to control this virus without a test, without a drug, and without a vaccine. It can be done. I wish we could do it.
[22:34:56]
Other countries have come close to what China has done and they've been democracies. It's not -- you don't need a dictatorship to do this. We have a system which is a federal system which depends on a leader who is persuasive and who is convincing. That's the only way to get all of our states aligned. That's what you need to fight this epidemic.
LEMON: Let's talk about some of the places. Because health experts are sounding the alarm that the coronavirus moving inland. Cases are rising in states like Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee. There you see the numbers up there --
HASELTINE: Right.
LEMON: -- on the screen, far from controlling the virus. I mean, this -- it is -- it's frightening when we see these numbers.
HASELTINE: It is. And we know why it's happening. There's three or four different kinds of epidemics. There are young people going out to party and we know that they shouldn't. They should know they shouldn't. There are people who have to go to work who are working in unsafe conditions.
There are minorities groups that are in unsanitary and close, crowded, and those are overlapping groups. And then there are elder care facilities and our correctional facilities and some others that are driving this. But there's another one which I am very worried about, which is our schools.
We're about to add, if we follow the state governments' advice, 50 more million people to crowded conditions, and those are our young people. The latest data just shows that children under 5 have 10 to 100 times as much virus in their nose. There a new study out from Trento in Italy that shows that they're very good transmitters, the best transmitters are young kids.
LEMON: Yes.
HASELTINE: It's something every parent knows. Because you know how you get a cold. You send your kids to school. Grandparents know that. If I get a cold it's because my grandkid went to school.
LEMON: Professor.
HASELTINE: This is how the cold virus happens. It has the habit. And everybody should know that. It should be in people's minds.
LEMON: Since you're talking about kids, I want to play this what the, play what the president said today about kids and the coronavirus. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you assure people that schools will be safely reopened?
TRUMP: So, can you assure anybody of anything? I do say, again, young people are almost immune to this disease, the younger the better. I guess they're stronger. They're stronger. They have a stronger immune system. It's an incredible thing. Nobody has ever seen this before. Various types of flu will hurt young people more than older people. But young people are almost immune.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: My God, professor, it's so frustrating. Does he understand how dangerous what he's saying is? Because what he's saying is false. Young people are almost immune? They're less likely to get sick, but studies show children 10 and older can spread the virus just as much as adults and another study suggests children under 5 can have a higher viral load than older kids and adults, so -- go on. I'm sorry.
HASELTINE: It's incorrect and it's extremely dangerous. And rather than helping fight this virus, we have a central government that in some ways is promoting the spread of this virus.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: What's going to happen when schools open?
HASELTINE: I am very worried. It depends where you are. You know, my analogy is, think of the weather. If there's a hurricane, you take your children and you go to the basement. If there's a thunderstorm, you don't go outside. If it's raining hard, you'll only go out with an umbrella or in this case a mask.
If there's a light rain, you protect yourself, and if you're thinking about having a picnic, you figure out how well they're protecting the place where you're going to go. This is not rocket science. Figure out COVID as if it were the weather. And you'll have it just about right.
LEMON: Put your kid in a car seat. All those things.
HASELTINE: Right.
LEMON: But you're going to send them to school in a middle of a pandemic --
(CROSSTALK)
HASELTINE: And where -- and people have to know what their schools -- I'm writing a book right now about what parents should think about with their schools. And the first thing to do is know your situation. Is there a thunderstorm out there? Know your risk. Am I or my kid at special risk?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes. I've got to go, professor.
HASELTINE: And then know what your school is doing to protect you and what their backup plans are. All of those things depend on what you should do with your kids, and we don't have good guidance.
LEMON: All good advice.
HASELTINE: And just isn't guidance.
LEMON: Thank you, professor. I'll see you soon. Thank you so much.
HASELTINE: Thank you.
LEMON: I just want to make sure that you guys know about my new podcast. A new one dropped today. Silence is Not an Option. That's the name of the podcast. And I'm talk -- taking on tough questions, tough conversations about race in America, about being black in America.
This week the push for police reform. We delve into the origins of policing in America. You're going to learn about how policing started in America. And I talk with Eric Garner's mother six years after her son's death. That episode is out now. You can find it on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app.
[22:40:03]
In the meantime, former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain passing away from complications of coronavirus. And it's a take this that I'm going to tell you about. He was hospitalized just days after attending an indoor Trump rally without a mask.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Herman Cain, who was hospitalized for the coronavirus earlier this month, has died. The former Republican presidential candidate and businessman was just 74 years old. President Trump said this about his passing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Let me begin by expressing our sadness at the passing of a wonderful man and a dear friend of mine, Herman Cain. He was a very special person. I got to know him very well.
[22:45:01]
And unfortunately, he passed away from a thing called the China virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A post on Herman Cain's Twitter account from earlier this week said he was being treated with oxygen in his lungs. Cain was considered at risk, at an increased risk for coronavirus due to his age and the history with cancer. It is unknown where he contracted the virus, but his last public appearance was at President Trump's Tulsa rally.
A photo of Cain posted of himself with others not social distancing and not wearing a mask at that indoor rally in June. There it is right there. This is another photo of Cain at the rally not social distancing. Cain later claimed that he wore a mask when around people.
He tested positive for coronavirus on June 29th, just nine days after that rally. The incubation period for the virus is up to 14 days.
Following that same rally, at least eight Trump campaign staffers tested positive for coronavirus. An editor for Cain's web site says that Cain, quote, "did a lot of traveling prior to his diagnosis, including Arizona, a coronavirus hot spot."
Then in commentary videos for his web site that aired six days after the Trump rally, Cain called on Americans to wear face masks, saying that the guidance now shows its effectiveness. But that flies in the face of his own actions in public and at that rally, and some of this -- his statements on social media.
Following that guidance, all the time, without exception is the only thing any of us can do until there is a vaccine. It is a very hard thing to do, and even when people do all the right things, some -- some still get this virus. That's because the virus does not care about your politics. The virus does not care if you are rich or poor. The virus does not care about the color of your skin. We are all at risk. Our condolences tonight to the Cain family.
Up next, a 12-year-old inspired by Congressman John Lewis speaks at his funeral, and he speaks with me right after this.
[22:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis was laid to rest today. He changed all of our lives. The former President Barack Obama at the memorial likened him to a founding father. One of the people whose lives John Lewis changed was 12-year-old Tybre Faw. Tybre first met the congressman in Selma, Alabama. It was March of
2018. His family drove seven hours to give him the chance to get a glimpse of his hero and hold up a sign, a sign that read this.
Thank you, Rep. John Lewis. You have shown me how to have courage.
But a photo wasn't enough for Congressman Lewis. You know why? Because he asked Tybre to join him for his annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the same bridge where John Lewis was clubbed almost to death by police during the 1965 march for voting rights.
In the years after their meeting, Tybre became active in the fight for justice and maintained a friendship with his hero. He was asked to read Congressman Lewis's favorite poem at his home going today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYBRE FAW, 12-YEAR-OLD INSPIRED BY JOHN LEWIS: It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I'm the master of my fate. I'm the captain of my soul.
John Lewis was my hero, my friend, let's honor him by getting in good trouble.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Tybre joins me now. Tybre, I'm so happy that you're here. You did a really good job today and everyone is extremely proud of you. What did it mean to you to read that poem in front of John Lewis's family and former presidents in front of the whole world?
FAW: It meant to me -- it meant to have honor that he believed in me, and he had faith in me, to go to his funeral and speak to him. And to me, that felt like giving my last respects to him before my last time.
LEMON: Yes. Listen, I understand and I have been told by people who know that you have been very, very emotional about this. And I'm sure today was overwhelming. How are you doing?
FAW: I'm doing pretty good. And I always -- and I always said in my head that his death had a purpose, and he fulfilled it.
LEMON: Yes. We're going to show the video now of you crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge with Congressman Lewis when you first met him. Tell us what that experience was like, Tybre.
FAW: It was -- it was a dream come true. Once in a lifetime that a lot of kids can't have when they are younger. And it's -- and to see your hero and marching with him and eating with him and talking to him about daily life moments is pretty honorable.
LEMON: Tybre, I understand that you spoke with the congressman just a couple times this spring. What did you guys talk about? Tell us about your relationship and the kind of conversations you had? FAW: Well, sometimes I talked about what is he doing and how is he
doing in Congress? And he usually asked me just, you know, giving me advice to get straight A's, don't be bad at school. Just do good in life.
[22:55:08]
LEMON: The former President Barack Obama spoke about the fight and all the work yet to be done. Do you think that we're going to see equality in your lifetime?
FAW: I believe we would because I feel like this generation has leaders. Not in just including me but other leaders around the world that will change this world.
LEMON: Yes. And so, for everyone who -- everyone who's watching, what would you -- what do you want people to know about your hero, John Lewis?
FAW: That he was honorable man and never give up on your dreams, speak out. Don't give in, and don't give out.
LEMON: Well, Tybre, as I said in the beginning, we are very proud of you. I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend, and I thank you for appearing on this program. And you take care of yourself, you and your entire family. And I look forward to everything that you accomplish in your lifetime. I know I'm going to be here to witness you do great things. Thank you very much.
FAW: Thank you.
LEMON: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
