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Don Lemon Tonight

Virus Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon; No Miracle Coming; Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) Was Interviewed About the Testimony of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy; Some GOP Supporting Joe Biden; More Lives to Lose by November; Diversity Seen in NFL Leadership. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired August 21, 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]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And it's been 60 years since two tropical storms have been a double thread in the Gulf.

Stay with CNN for the latest development on both storms. And be sure to join me Sunday for a special edition of 360 as we preview the Republican National Convention from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern on -- at -- on Sunday night and CNN's coverage at the convention kicks off Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern.

The news continues. Let's hand it over to Don Lemon for CNN Tonight. Have a great weekend.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. What a week. This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. I really appreciate you joining us.

And you know, on the day the death toll from the coronavirus in this country passes 175,000 people, and as a model from the University of Washington projects a stunning 310,000 Americans could die by December 1st, the President of the United States is over it over the pandemic that's killing some 1,000 Americans a day, over it, even though the virus definitely isn't over. It's not, far from it.

But the president is moving on, nothing to see here, nothing to say about more than 175,000 Americans who have lost their lives.

Trump advisers telling CNN that they don't expect the virus to be the focus or a focus of the Republican convention next week. I'll bet. The president and the vice president are expected to attend the in-person roll call and nomination speeches in Charlotte on Monday, the only in- person portion of either portion.

Like I said, they're over it. No masks in sight at the president's speech in Arlington, Virginia today, none, indoors with no sign of social distancing. Look at that. Barely any mention of the virus. Just the president bragging about vaccines he claims will be ready ahead of schedule.

So, I want you to compare that to Joe Biden telling ABC tonight that he'd do whatever it takes to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration's thinking to begin with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And then there's Mike Pence giving the boss exactly what he wants to hear and claiming there is a miracle, and that miracle is right around the corner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We think there is a miracle around the corner because the president called on pharmaceutical companies. We believe it's very likely that we'll have one or more vaccines for the coronavirus before the end of this year. All of that's a tribute to President Trump's leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Is that a miracle or that be science? But anyway. Gee, I wonder where he got the idea a miracle will save us from this deadly virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The virus. They're working hard. It looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.

We have done an incredible job. We're going to continue. It's going to disappear one day. It's like a miracle.

Just stay calm. It will go away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It has not gone away. No miracles. None. No miracles. None. No miracles on the horizon. Maybe a little science on the horizon but no miracles. But the vice president goes on to say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: This is a response the American people can be proud of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Proud. Proud? Proud. I don't think the Americans who are mourning 175,000 of our friends, our family and neighbors, I don't think any of us is proud, 175 Americans who lost their lives because of this president's, this administration's, deadly incompetence and negligence. But this administration just keeps trying to distract. It just keeps

trying to deflect. This is Kellyanne Conway attacking Joe Biden over his speech last night at the Democratic convention, accepting the nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: It's a confounding display of the intersection of arrogance and ignorance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: She accuses -- she accused Joe Biden of arrogance and ignorance. Arrogance and ignorance like this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body in which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that, too? It sounds interesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get the right folks who could.

TRUMP: Right. And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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LEMON: Hard to believe no matter how many times you hear it or see it. There's no better example of arrogance and ignorance while Americans are dying.

But this president doesn't want to talk about that. Too busy, he is, falsely accusing Democrats of calling America racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Over the last week, the Democrats held the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history. They spent four straight days attacking America as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Horrible country that must be redeemed. OK. So, this is from the president whose inaugural address was all about, these are his words, American carnage. Talk about dark and angry.

Remember former President George Bush said, that was some weird you know what. Joe Biden didn't call America racist, but he called out the president who said there were very fine people on both sides in Charlottesville this is three years ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I remember what the president said when asked, he said, there were, quote, "very fine people on both sides." It was a wakeup call for us as a country and for me, a call to action. At that moment, I knew I'd have to run because my father taught us in silence was complicity. I can never remain silent or complicit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Silence is not an option. That, as the president just keeps on harping on his baseless claims about mail-in voting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're not prepared for this, 51 million ballots. It will be a tremendous embarrassment to our country. It'll go on forever, and you'll never know who won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president sure doesn't like the idea of mail-in voting. In the middle of accusations that the White House is deliberately trying to slow down the mail with election day just 74 days away, the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign donor, was in the Senate hot seat today.

He acknowledged the mail has been delayed but insisted the postal service will be able to handle a surge of mail-in ballots, calling it his sacred duty. But he refused to bring back the sorting machines that have recently been removed, claiming that they're just not needed.

Listen to what he said. This is when Senator Gary Peters asked him if we had spoken to the president at all about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): I've got questions about independence and transparency. Prior to implementing the changes that you put forth in a postal system, did you discuss those changes or their potential impact on the November election with the president or anyone at the White House? And remind you, you're under oath.

LOUIS DEJOY, U.S. POSTMASTER GENERAL: I have never spoken to the president about the postal service other than to congratulate me when I accepted the position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, guess what. I'm going to talk to Senator Peters tonight. But as with the claim by the postmaster general that he didn't speak to the president about changes to the system, changes that still threaten Americans' ability to vote by mail in the middle of a pandemic, well, he didn't really have to talk to president about that, did he? He would have to be living under a rock not to know exactly what this president wants and why he wants it.

He put it in writing just months ago claiming mail-in voting, quote, "doesn't work out well for Republicans." Everybody saw that one. This is out there for the world to see. The president tweeted it.

Kaitlan Collins, our White House correspondent. Good to see you. It's been a minute.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I know. It's been too long.

LEMON: Kaitlan, let's start with what we're seeing from the White House when it comes to the coronavirus. No masks or social distancing. The vice president saying there is a miracle just around the corner. Meanwhile, the presidential candidate Joe Biden condemning their response to this crisis. What's going on?

COLLINS: Yes. The last four days what you've seen is really Democrats laying out this indictment of the president's response culminating with what Joe Biden said last night that the president, he said, was disqualifying in the way he acted in that he didn't do his one -- number one responsibility which was to take care of Americans.

And that comes on a week when the president held that event in Arizona where there were a lot of people indoors in an airport hangar that they later opened part of it. But you saw that no masks, no social distancing, the same at the president's event today.

And so, what we're hearing, you know, about the Republican convention next week is that COVID-19 is not expected to be a big topic. That's not a surprise as you watch what the president has focused on over the last several weeks.

[22:10:04]

But it's still notable given just how much of a focus and an emphasis was placed on it during the Democrats' convention.

LEMON: You know, today, we saw the postmaster general, I mentioned it in the open, Kaitlan, we saw him testifying as President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, even pledging to send law enforcement to polling places.

COLLINS: Yes. This raised a lot of eyebrows. He said last night that he would be sending sheriffs, law enforcement, potentially U.S. attorneys to polling places to monitor voters on election day, which, the president, we should say, likely does not have the authority to do this. It's against the law to intimidate voters while they're at polling places. It's also against the law for a civil military or federal officer to send armed men to polling places on election day.

But what we do know actually that what is happening is the Trump campaign is preparing to send tens of thousands of these election monitors to polling places. And that's something that's prompted criticism from Democrats who say they're that attempting to suppress votes. LEMON: So, Kaitlan, the president did not let the Democrats or Joe

Biden or Kamala Harris have their moment this week because he's tweeting, criticizing them all week, even though it's a Democratic convention. He's got his week coming up next week. What are you hearing about the Republican National Convention? What's -- what - - what is it going to look like? And if not COVID, what will these they focus on?

COLLINS: Economy is a big one that you're hearing from them, talking about this American come back that you've heard the president and his aides talking about. But the president was tweeting this week, he was making a lot of news trying to counter program the Democrats. But he was also watching them incredibly closely and he was calling aides at all hours of the night saying that he wanted to do this, he wanted to do that differently, watching and trying to really learn from what the Democrats were doing.

And one take away we are expecting next week is not a lot of taped programming during those big speeches from the main people that are speaking each night, the first lady, the vice president, President Trump himself. Because he doesn't like the way obviously a big a person on the receiving end of his criticism was Michelle Obama who he criticized for taping her speech this week.

So, we will see that. We're likely going to see Ivanka Trump speak. Jared Kushner was not initially scheduled to speak, but now it does seem likely that he's going to. So, look for that. But also, as far as topics, if COVID-19 is not a big one, look for those cultural battles that the president has tried to wage.

Remember, he tried to elevate the McCloskey's, that St. Louis couple that had the guns out in front of their homes when the protesters were coming through their neighborhood. They are expected to speak at this convention. So, you can get an idea of what it's going to look like compared to what the Democrats did.

LEMON: Yes, indeed. So, it has officially begun. Fasten your seat belts. Thank you.

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: Thank you, Kaitlan. Always good to see you.

More than 175,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus and there are fears that that number could go much, much higher. What will it take to save lives? That is a question for our experts. And there they are on your screen right now. I'm going to bring them in. Dr. Larry Brilliant and Leana Wen right after the break.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to tell you about a shocking new forecast from the University of Washington. It is projecting 310,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths by November. This country's passing a grim milestone of 170 -- excuse me in November -- 175,000 deaths today, meaning another 135,000 people could die in just three months.

So, joining me now, CNN medical analyst Dr. Larry Brilliant and former Baltimore City Health Commissioner, Dr. Lena Wen.

I appreciate both of you. Thank you so much. Good evening.

Dr. Brilliant, let's start with you. Frightening new projection. I mean, this just keeps getting worse and worse.

LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALSYT: No, it's a -- hi, Don.

LEMON: Hi.

BRILLIANT: It's terrible. I mean, if you go just a little bit beyond the projection to Christmas, it means it will double by Christmas. That's not what you want in your Christmas package --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes. I think I said November. I meant December. But go on.

BRILLIANT: But it'll double by Christmas at the rate we're going, over 1,500 cases a day. That's unconscionable. To think that there's nothing you can do better than that, we've done nothing wrong? People are dying in the United States every two days totaling all the deaths in China from the beginning of this outbreak. This is -- we can do much, much better than this. We still can. We still must.

LEMON: Yes, well, doctor, we talked about this. Dr. Wen, we about this over the last couple of days and months. We can do better. We're just not doing this. The WHO saying no country can ride this out until we have a vaccine. I want you to listen to what the president said, this is back in March about what his economic advisers were telling him. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had a lot of people who were 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: Even though at the time he was warning against doing that, does that drastically increasing death toll show that's exactly how he's handling this virus, doctor?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, this is the thing. The University of Washington, their model also has another number in there too. It shows that if we just relaxed the restrictions even more, we would be at 600,000 deaths by December, not 300,000 deaths.

And that's really important for us to know because the future here is not pre-ordained. These models are based on our behaviors today. It means that if we do everything, we can like wearing masks, like limiting indoor gatherings, like doing our part, we can actually reduce the number of deaths versus if we relax these restrictions, we could see so much more preventable death and suffering.

And so, it really doesn't have to be this way. We see the projections of all those deaths, and these are each lives of our fellow community members, family members and friends.

LEMON: Dr. Brilliant, Joe Biden, the former vice president saying that he is willing to shut down the country again. Is that something we need to consider?

[22:20:05]

BRILLIANT: You know, it always is something that we need to consider. I'd like to just review why we are where we are right now. We're still seeing the echo of the Fourth of July weekend. That's why the death rate has continued to plateau as high as it is. And we're about to go into Labor Day. We will get another bump first in cases three weeks after that, deaths six weeks after that. And we're going into the winter season where people come inside instead of being outside. And we're going into flu season.

All these things that will happen -- and schools that are open now. We've had two colleges already have to close again, hundreds of cases in college students already and college has only been open a few days.

If we are not careful, as Dr. Wen said, we could see numbers that are stratos -- stratospheric. And now is the time to contemplate how we're going to deal with the next 175,000. Maybe we shouldn't go back with recriminations for what happened so far. But do we really want to have as many deaths again as we've already had? We need to think very clearly on what we need to do right now.

LEMON: Let's see. Dr. Wen, let's talk -- let's see. Let's talk about the CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, saying middle America is getting stuck in this pandemic. And then let's put up this map now. It's showing where the deaths are increasing. It shows that -- look, that's the case right there. Why is this happening?

WEN: Well, basically we are playing whack-a-mole all across the country. Because first, we saw across the south, across the west, the sun belt, that they were in a lot of trouble. I mean, they were cases that were getting so high the hospitals were on the brink of becoming overwhelmed. And so, restrictions were applied.

We avoided catastrophes in these areas, but now other areas are experiencing surges. And that kind of pattern is going to continue unless we have a very clear national strategy. Unless everyone realizes that this is just the way this virus behaves. It's highly contagious.

And so, when we have students coming back as Dr. Brilliant said, when we have gatherings as well occurring over Labor Day, we are going to have increases in the number of cases. And so, I think it is time for us now at this point to have a clear national strategy to really ramp up our testing in a way that we have not to date and to make sure that we have clear, consistent public health messaging where the messaging from political leaders doesn't directly contradict what's coming from our scientists and doctors.

LEMON: Dr. Brilliant, Dr. Wen just mentioned Labor Day. You mentioned the Fourth of July. And then there's this. Two dozen cases across three states linked to that Sturgis motorcycle rally earlier this month. How far do you think this will spread?

BRILLIANT: Well, it was 250,000 people for 10 days. That's 2.5 million days of exposure. I don't think it's as big a bump as the Fourth of July, of course, which was hundreds of millions of people, or Labor Day, but it's a big deal.

And I'd like to just reflect on what Dr. Wen said, a national strategy, we're not going to get it from this administration. But we could get the equivalent of a national strategy by many, if not all, of the governors working together.

And in that regard, there's really good news. There's at least eight and maybe ten governors that have banded together and have begun to decide to buy in harmony test kits to produce a national strategy for test kits, and I hope that soon we'll add to that as the governors take up the vacuum that's left by this administration.

LEMON: Dr. Brilliant, Dr. Wen, thanks so much. I appreciate your time.

BRILLIANT: Thank you, Don. Thanks for having me.

WEN: Thank you.

LEMON: President Trump's handpicked postmaster questioned by lawmakers over his handling of the postal service. Senator Gary Peters was one of the people doing the grilling. Did he get the answers he's looking for? After the break.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy facing tough questions from senators today. DeJoy was on the hot seat over concerns that changes that he made will hurt the postal service ability to handle an unexpected surge in voting by mail this November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRS: In less than two months as postmaster general, you have undermined one of our nation's most trusted institutions, and wreaked havoc on families, on veterans, seniors, rural communities and on people all across the country. Will you be bringing back any mail sorting machines that have been removed to essentially become postmaster general, any of those come back?

DEJOY: There's no intention to do that. They're not needed, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I think that's what a lot of people wanted to know about those sorting machines and a lot of other things. So, let's talk to Senator Gary Peters now. He's the top Democrat on the panel, first call for the hearing on the postal service delays. Senator, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks so much.

PETERS: Great to be with you. Thank you.

LEMON: You have been pressing this postmaster general, Dejoy, for answers for weeks now. He is insisting that these ballots will be delivered, he's saying on time. Are you satisfied with what you heard today from him?

PETERS: Well, we did get some answers to questions, but clearly there's a lot more that we need to know. And I think some of those questions, you mentioned the sorting machines. And what I'm hearing from the men and women who are in these processing centers are postal workers who are dedicated people who want to move mail through. They're very concerned.

In fact, they've been told at times not to run the sorting machines through their full capacity to stop early which mails pile up. He says that he's not going to replace them. He says there isn't a need. And yet, if you look at the data which I presented at the hearing today from mid-July, the amount of on-time deliveries of first-class mail have gone down dramatically.

[22:30:01]

So, if mail deliveries are being slowed down now, and you're taking out sorting machines, how do you say you don't need them? It doesn't make sense, so we have to get more answers.

LEMON: Well, that's the question, how does that make sense that it's being -- you know, he admits that he's not bringing them back, it's being slowed down, the mail is sitting there, right? It doesn't make sense. So, how does he explain that?

PETERS: Yes, he didn't. He didn't explain it. That's why we want the actual data. What went into this decision making, we've been asking the postal service for some time since July when I started asking these questions. We have not gotten that information. There isn't the transparency.

Where I'm getting information are from the men and women who are working in these facilities, that as you know our letter carriers, our postal workers, they are dedicated individuals. They're used to the ethos of the postal service that you get mail out. If it's sitting on the floor, you get it out, get it into mailboxes.

And they're saying the management is not pushing it like it happened in the past. And when you have sorting machines that are coming out you also have situations which he also said, that he's not going to change some of the policies on trucks when they go from processing center to others, they have to leave right on time.

But what I'm hearing sometimes they need to sit an extra 15 minutes because another batch of mail is coming through. But if the truck leaves before the batch gets there, it sits there overnight.

LEMON: Yes.

PETERS: So, you can just imagine how you can just continue to build up delays.

LEMON: Can we talk more about these policies? Because he is claiming today that the United States Postal Service hasn't changed policies for e election-related mail. But postal service document CNN got ahold of showed planned policy changes that could resulted in longer delivery times for ballots. Is the postal service reversing itself because of public pressure, because of the outcry?

PETERS: I think it helped. There's no question the outcry has been important. You know, we couldn't get the postmaster general to respond to any of this. And then as a result of the pressure that you have put on and others across the country in highlighting this issue, he then said, well, we're going to -- we're not going to -- we're going to freeze the policies as they are right now. We're not going to continue with them going forward through the election.

But, you know, I think it's also important to bear in mind that mail delivery on time is important for people every single day. People need medicines. People need paychecks. People -- small businesses need to get their business conducted.

And these delays -- I have stories -- we have over 7,500 people who have contacted my office with stories. Stories like Mary. Mary talked about her daughter who has epilepsy and needs to take medicine. Normally she gets that medicine in three days. It wasn't coming. They didn't know when it was going to get there. It ended up taking nine days.

But in the process, she started to ration her medicine. And when he rationed her medicine, that has a bad result. And in her case, she had a seizure and ended up being hospitalized.

So, medicine needs to be delivered on time. This is an issue that's impacting us every day. The election is incredibly important. But on time mail delivery is something that Americans count on all across our country every day, and that's what we have to fight to make sure it continues to occur.

LEMON: For their health and their lives they count on it.

PETERS: That's right.

LEMON: So, the White House is issuing -- you know, they're issuing -- it is issuing a veto threat for the proposed bill that would provide $25 billion to the United States Postal Service. Can the American people, Senator, be confident that their mail-in or their absentee ballots will be counted?

PETERS: Well, we're going to keep focused on it. I think it's important to keep shining light on it. And as long as our -- the men and women who are in those postal processing centers or letter carriers have the resources they can do it.

Certainly, the postal service can handle a big surge, at least with prior practices. We do that every holiday season. An awful lot of mail comes through holiday. Mother's Day there's also a big surge of mail. So. but we have to be focused. We can't take our eye off this and make sure that the resources are available for the postal service to deliver mail each and every day on time for all those critical purposes and the election on top of it.

LEMON: I want to ask you about NBA super star LeBron James. He's been incredibly outspoken about voting issues particularly in black and minority communities.

And now the Washington Post is reporting that some of his tweets on the subject are being twisted by prominent conservative groups in paid ads. This is an attempt to sow doubt about mail-in voting. How much damage do you think has already been done to our democracy when it comes to this?

PETERS: Well, we have to push back aggressively on that. We know that mail-in voting, absentee voting as we do in Michigan, we've been doing it for years. Now it's expanding. Because now you can -- anybody can ask for an absentee ballot and get it before it was you have to have a reason or as a senior citizen.

But through all of those years it has been done safely. It's cure. There hasn't been any problems. And when we're in the middle of a pandemic, when we want people to vote from the safety of their home, we have to be encouraging folks to do that. And we know from years of experience that it's a safe, secure way to vote and people can exercise their constitutional right from the safety of their home.

[22:35:03]

So, it is completely irresponsible to have a president trying to distort what is reality and to have these other groups engaged in it is a direct assault on our Democratic republic and we can't stand for it and we have to continue to push back against it.

LEMON: Strange times, Senator Gary Peters. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time. Stay healthy and stay strong.

PETERS: You too. Thank you so much.

LEMON: Thank you.

PETERS: Take care.

LEMON: Thank you.

Prominent Republicans, I should say, getting behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Will they draw the ire of President Trump? Of course.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Joe Biden's now the official nominee of the Democratic ticket, and his campaign is drawing a lot of support from prominent Republicans.

[22:39:57]

Charlie Dent. Charlie Dent is a former GOP congressman who is supporting Biden. Toluse Olorunippa, White House reporter for the Washington Post joins us as well to talk about this, to join in this discussion.

Thank you, gentleman. I appreciate you joining us this evening. Good evening to both of you.

Joe Biden, Charlie, his speech last night getting praise from both the left and the right. How do you think he did?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I actually thought the vice president did a very good job last night in the speech last night, Don. You know, I thought what was interesting about that speech, though, he's really not trying to -- I don't think he was talking that much about policy. He was really talking about let's try to bring some sense of normalcy back to the country, stability, security.

I think people want a steady ship. They want the ship to be righted. And I think that's what the message was. At least that's what I got out of it. I think that's a very good message. People are just -- they kind of have had enough of all the chaos. They've had all the chaos and the drama. It just never ends and it's exhausting. I think that Biden is trying to provide some measure of reassurance to a lot of Americans that things will be better.

LEMON: Let's see if that works. Toluse, you know, there were quite a few Republican who is spoke at the DNC. We heard from John Kasich, we heard from Colin Powell, Susan Molinari, Meg Whitman, even Cindy McCain played a part there. Will the outreach you think persuade any moderate Republicans to vote for Joe Biden?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the outreach essentially makes it easier for these moderate Republicans across the line. These are Republicans who, in some cases, have never voted for a Democrat in their lives, who on policy generally they would probably line up with President Trump when it comes to things like taxes, financial policy, the environment than they would with any Democrat including Joe Biden.

But when it comes to sort of this question of the soul of the nation, when it comes to the issue of character, they would line up much more with Joe Biden. I think Joe Biden was willing -- was able to put a lot of these Republicans on the screen saying listen, it's OK to vote for Joe Biden. We know him. We may have served with him in the Senate but we served with him in Washington. And he's not a radical. He's a tough guy who's not going to be swayed by the progressive wing of his party.

So I do think he opened the door for a number of independents and moderate Republicans across the aisle and vote for him with the idea that even if they don't agree with all of his policies they would rather see him as a steady hand in the White House versus the chaos that comes with Donald Trump. LEMON: Charlie, you know, I've been wanting to talk about this, and we

talked a little bit about it in the post analysis last night. The president has ridiculed Joe Biden's speaking ability. Did he end setting the bar so low by doing that, you know, with that fake talking point, that Biden looks even better? Was that a strategic mistake, do you think?

DENT: Yes, of course, it was a strategic mistake. I mean, the president was out there saying Joe Biden was senile, you know, he's just not the same guy he used to be. So, the bar was very low. And after watching Joe Biden's performance last night, he exceeded every expectation. And again, those were low expectations.

So, I don't think that's a really good attack line for President Trump on Joe Biden. I don't think it's working at all. And you know, Donald Trump is not that young either. So, I'm not sure why he thinks this is to his advantage. All Joe Biden has to do is stand up there and look like a statesman and presented well and he just undermines the president's argument about his health.

LEMON: It's interesting because I've watched some conservative media today saying Joe Biden is being praised for reading a teleprompter and not making mistakes. Have you ever seen Donald Trump read a teleprompter? I mean, maybe they're just not paying attention. I have no idea. Go ahead, Charlie.

DENT: Yes. I have seen the president use a teleprompter. Then he often tries to ad lib. And that's where he gets in trouble. But when he's on a teleprompter, he tends not to make mistakes because somebody else has written the words for him. They tend to be a little bit more measured and controlled than when he just ad libs it.

So, I think the president has used teleprompters, so he's kind of going out there by trying to criticize Joe Biden for using it.

LEMON: Yes. I just -- I don't think he's so good at it. Listen, it's not -- it's not easy, you know, to read a teleprompter. Trust me, I know. I have to do it every day. Sometimes I'm not so good at it myself.

But, you know, when you're comparing abilities to read a speech, I don't think there's really any comparison.

Toluse, Joe Biden appeared to have a really great night at the DNC, it was a great week, I think, for Democrats. But listen, he is not going to be racing around the country campaigning. What does he have to do to keep this momentum?

OLORUNNIPA: He's got to figure out a way. I mean, 75 days is a long time. There's a lot that can happen. And the Democrats did set the bar very high for the Republicans at their convention. But President Trump has the power of Air Force One, he has the power of incumbency.

In general, incumbent presidents generally win re-election. So, he is going to be barnstorming the country. And Joe Biden for the most part has been staying in Wilmington, Delaware, and he does need to figure out a way to get out in front of as many American as possible using social media, using the virtual campaigning that he's doing, and also using some physical campaign.

[22:45:06]

I do think he's going to have to get out there. I think his vice- presidential pick Kamala Harris is going to have to get on some planes and get out in front of people to encourage people to vote.

This is going to be a turnout election. They're going to have to make sure that people who are planning to stay home actually get their mail-in ballots get out and vote and doing it over Zoom is not necessarily going to inspire as many people as you might if you might if you were in person.

So, I do think that we get closer to November we will see Joe Biden out on the stump, we'll see Kamala Harris on the stump as well, and definitely we will President Trump and Vice President Pence using the planes that they have to travel around the country to campaign and get people to vote.

LEMON: Well, I mean, they do have the bully pulpit, right? And the cameras go where the president and the vice president are. And yes, I think you're right about that. And what else did I want to say? They also had the advantage of going second. Right? So, they get to see what mistakes or what the Democrats did right. And they can approve -- improve upon it or do the same thing.

Thank you, gentleman. Good to see you.

DENT: Thank you, Don.

OLORUNNIPA: Great to be with you.

LEMON: We'll see you -- we'll see you next week. It's going to be crazy. So, get ready. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great weekend.

I want to make sure that you know about my new podcast. It's called Silence is Not an Option where I take on the tough questions about race in America and being black in America, all the issues we discussion on this program, but we go in-depth, further in depth. Find it on Apple podcast or your favorite podcast app.

Meantime, the Washington Football Team appointing Jason Wrights -- Jason Wright, I should say, as the NFL's first black team president. Is it a sign of more changes to come? Well, Jason Wright is with me after the break.

[22:50:00]

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LEMON: So, NFL tracing camp -- training camps are underway and with games just a few weeks away, the season is going to look very different during the pandemic. You can bet on that. The league's kickoff game on September 10th. It's going to take place with less than 17,000 fans in the stadium, that's just 22 percent of capacity.

And a newly renamed Washington Football Team will be one of the many teams with no names -- no fans, I should say, in the stadium to start the season.

Let's discuss now. Jason Wright is here. He is the new president of the Washington Football Team. He is the first black team president in the NFL. Jason, welcome. Thank you so much.

JASON WRIGHT, PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM: Thank you, thank you, my pleasure.

LEMON: You know, we've heard from so many different and former players about the need for African Americans, quite honestly, in top management in the NFL. Now you have done it, so congratulations.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

LEMON: So, what does it mean to be the first? And give me your top priorities.

WRIGHT: You know, it's always interesting, when you're the first or when you're a person of color or LGBTQ, whatever it is and you're the first in the role, you almost want to say like, you know, why do I got to talk about this, can I just get to work like everybody else? But I realize it's actually important to acknowledge it because of all the folks that came before. Right?

You know, if I think about Kevin Warren, who is the commissioner of the Big Ten, he was the COO at the Vikings for many years, he effectively did this job just without the title. So, there are a lot of cracks in that glass ceiling before I sort of landed in this. So, I think it's important to reflect there, and it's important to be the first.

And in terms of priorities, you start to hit it right away. We've got to be prudent about COVID, this is an uncharted territory. And while we have a good plan, COVID is a tricky son of a gun and we've also got to get our culture right. There's some real things that we need to do within the organization to make it a vibrant place for innovation can flourish.

LEMON: So, Jason, I have to -- let's talk about this, the changes that are being made. Because the NFL is announcing -- announced that the hiring of a chief diversity an inclusion officer today. They've faced tough criticism for how they have handled racial issues. But we are seeing a big turnaround or at least, you know, some effort for it, right? What do you think about where the league is now and where does it need to go?

WRIGHT: I mean, if we all took a step back and thought about, you know, when I was playing and there was no dialogue around these -- around issues that players are now raising with great effect, and frankly great shrewdness. And there was -- and certainly wasn't, you know, a national dialogue on this, where people are actually making productive progress, and people are learning and growing. And so, you know, I see a lot of momentum and positivity. It's great

that the league named a chief diversity officer. I know they have a black woman leading their people function there. You know, those are all positive things. Not just for the sake of diversity because of representation in numbers but also because it's going to help the league, it's going to help us, it's going to help others make better decisions.

LEMON: Yes.

WRIGHT: And better decisions are better for business, are better for creativity, are better for the fan experience, you know, that's the real power of getting more and different people to the table.

LEMON: Well, will that role actually have -- or the person in that role actually have any real power? Because as you know, many organizations name a chief diversity officer just to say we have a chief diversity officer but nothing really changes at the top or with the organization, it's just that they have a chief diversity officer, you know what I'm saying?

WRIGHT: Yes, yes. No clue. I don't know -- I don't know how the role is structured but I expect if they're going to invest it in, you know, they're going to try to put their money where their mouth is. But I've got enough to worry about in my own org, man.

[22:54:58]

LEMON: You're honest if anything, right? Your team is still working on a new name with the removal of the Washington Redskins. How is that going? And I mean, do you care to give us any hints on that?

WRIGHT: No hints for you. I was joking about this earlier that, you know, they hired a brother so everybody thinks the betting money is on red tails. But it's a -- there is no -- there is no slant in any direction on this, I promise you that.

To me, it's actually it's more, it's deeper than just a name or a logo or something you put on a jersey or something to yell in the stadium. It's more of an identity. And identity informs how we're going to engage with the community, it's going to inform how we design the fan experience and how we engage with fans and because it's going to inform what we do charitably.

So, it's that substantial that we need to engage our fans deeply, our players, staff, sponsors, leaders in the D and V (Ph) area because it needs to represents the area in which we live and operate. So, it's going to be a longer process.

And hopefully by the end, even if folks don't land on the name -- we don't land on the name that everybody wanted, we're going to -- everybody is going to be able to see their fingerprints on the process and there's going to be a shared sense of unity and identity on the other side.

LEMON: Because people were saying, the Washington Football Team, what, what the what? You know that. Jason, thank you. I really -- listen, best of luck to you. I really mean that. Please come back, keep us updated. Good luck. Thanks.

LEMON: Would love that. Thank you so much.

LEMON: Congratulations to you.

WRIGHT: I appreciate it.

LEMON: Thank you.

President Trump claiming that the Democratic convention was the darkest and angriest in American history, the same president who spoke about American carnage at his inauguration. What should we expect at his convention?

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