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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Claims the System is Rigged; Nine Ballots Retrieved in Pennsylvania; Wisconsin Welcomes Mail-in Ballots; Gov. Ron DeSantis Lifted Restrictions; Trump Campaign Using Dirty Robo Call Tactics; President Trump Ready to Announce his SCOTUS Nominee. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired September 25, 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]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Right now, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the high holy day, 10 days after their New Year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And I'm asking all of them to pray for all of us. Pray for all of us.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Yes.

CUOMO: Boy, boy. We could use it.

LEMON: We need it. I was just -- you took the words out of my mouth. Happy Yom Kippur to everyone. But, here's the thing. What a week. Just think about it. We got a pandemic, we got a presidential election, the first debate is about to come up. We have unrest in the street. We have racial issues. We have a president who is lying. A president who says he's a -- he's not for the peaceful transition of power. I mean what's next? Seriously.

CUOMO: I had H.R. McMaster on tonight. The lieutenant general, you know, he's the national security adviser and there for a while.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: He is talking about what Russia wants to happen here.

LEMON: It's a -- they --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: And I'm playing some of Trump --

LEMON: We're doing it for them for free.

CUOMO: And he is echoing all of it.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: He got impeached in part because of the stupidity of the people around him and who they met with. His own lawyer is meeting with a guy they are telling him is a Russian agent.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: And says they are wrong.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: I mean, it's just so bizarre.

LEMON: And then because the FBI director is not saying what he wants him to say. He should resign. What he's -- he's got it wrong. Listen, it's -- it's really -- it's really, really, really -- I was talking to a friend today and she said my spirit is crushed. Especially after Breonna Taylor. And my spirit is crushed. And I tried to cheer her up and say, you know, this is America. We all -- I'm going to talk about how much power we do have as the American people.

But there are a lot of people whose spirits are crushed. And not because this isn't like he's not my president thing. It's because people believe the lies. There's a big portion of this country that believes in the lies of this man. This has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat. Because I am neither.

This president lies to the very people he supports. He puts them in danger. He has them believing things that are not real. He is changing the social outlook and the social -- and the way people think in this country. What they think is right. He's changing all of that. And it is we are in an upside-down world because of this man. And not only that, look how many people died because he handled this pandemic so poorly. Saying it's a hoax. And telling people that they didn't have to wear masks.

CUOMO: You know, in a weird way he acts like somebody with nothing to lose. You know when you were growing up somebody told you --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: He doesn't.

CUOMO: -- don't fight with that guy, he's got nothing to lose. You've something to lose. Don't do it. He acts like he's got nothing to lose. He will trash the election. He knows the DOJ is investigating what happened in Pennsylvania with that handful of ballots. He knows what happened. Those are his guys.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: He doesn't have to -- he says you don't know. Who knows what happened? They are in a stream. What stream?

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: Stream of consciousness is more like it. Because these words just like fly out of his mouth like some river of a fluvial.

LEMON: Yes. Well --

CUOMO: But it's dangerous stuff, Don. I got to tell you. And look, people feel their spirits are crushed because it's so negative.

LEMON: That's what I mean. It's everything is negative that comes up --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: He hasn't said a nice thing about anybody but himself.

LEMON: Hoax.

CUOMO: In like seven months.

LEMON: Hoax. Mobs. You know, everything is negative. I did a word -- I did an experiment as I was listening to his speech. And I was just writing down the words that came out of his mouth. And everything was just so negative.

CUOMO: Yes.

LEMON: He's not trying to bring people together. He's trying to push people apart. And what an opportunity. We talk about this all the time, Chris, you and I do. What an opportunity we had after George Floyd to bring this country together. Especially on the third rail in the society which is race. An opportunity for people. Because people's guards were down. They saw that man dying on the sidewalk with an officer.

Just such callous and wanton disregard for human life. That opened a lot of people up. Right? And you know it and I know it. Friends from everywhere, people calling, what do I do. Give me the language to talk about this. My gosh, Don. You and I talking about it on the air.

If this president had leaned into that spirit, imagine where we would be that - today. And guess what? He probably would be bumping and jamming in all the polls. Right?

CUOMO: Yes.

LEMON: Because people would be like, he gets it.

CUOMO: Right.

LEMON: But instead --

CUOMO: The bar is so low for him to do something right.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: I mean, even now, you know, with schools and kids and the pandemic. I mean, you know, who doesn't want to help kids? He could still do it. He could still say --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Who doesn't want businesses to open? Who doesn't?

CUOMO: But he could still say --

LEMON: Think about it.

CUOMO: -- I'm going to take this over the states aren't getting it done. I'm going to get our kids back in school.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: We're going to buy all the tests. We're going to make all the tests. Here we go. He just doesn't do these things.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: And then people say this as well, you're negative too. It reminds me of talking to Cha-cha, my 10-year-old. I'll say to her, hey, don't talk like that to somebody. And she says, well, listen to you, you're negative too. I said, no, no, I'm pointing out what you said.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: It doesn't make me negative.

[00:05:00]

LEMON: It is.

CUOMO: That's our job.

LEMON: He is a, I know you are but what am I. That's the kind of guy he is. And what is that, that's juvenile behavior.

CUOMO: But it works.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: But look, the job has never been more important.

LEMON: Yes. I will see you this weekend. I have a lot -- we have all kinds of secret stuff planned behind your back. Christina and I. So, I'll see you this week.

CUOMO: Really?

LEMON: Yes. I can't tell you.

CUOMO: Are you paying for it?

LEMON: No, you are. Thank you, sir.

CUOMO: Love you, D. Lemon.

LEMON: You -- I love you more. I'll see you later.

This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. So, what a week, right? How are you feeling? Yes. It's a lot. It's a lot. So, I'm going to walk you through this. So, stay with me. It will get better. Trust me. It's going to get better. We are. This is America. And we have -- we believe. We believe.

So, the breaking news is the president tonight is in Virginia and he is doubling down on his false claims of election fraud. And joking around about cancelling the election. This is where we are. Election day. Just 39 days away. This president is as usual lying to you. No other way to put it.

It's a -- you know how hard it is to sit here and say I remember the first time I had to call the president a liar. It's like gosh, this is so tough. When I had to say the president was racist. It's so tough. I don't take these things lightly. But I'm a journalist. I have to point out the truth. This president is a liar and a racist.

And he is lying when he raises doubts about mail-in voting. But he only seems to care about mail-in ballots in blue states. In the red states like Florida where he, he mails-in his own ballots, he thinks mail-in voting is great.

He is lying when he claims the election is rigged against him. I have said it before. He is trying to lay the groundwork for an election that he wants you to believe can only be resolved by the Supreme Court. As he does everything, he can to force his own justice into that court before the election.

He is lying to you because he is losing. And he thinks that his big lie is the only way that he can win. But in this country, in this country, you have to remember this even if your spirit is crushed or broken, if you're sad you don't know why. This is why, it's so much negativity. You have to know this. In this country the president doesn't hold all the power. You do. Your power is your vote.

Here's Joe Biden today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people aren't going to be shut down in this election. They are going to vote. They are going to vote in large numbers. And they're just not going to be denied. And, it's going to be clear from the beginning exactly where this is going.

But look, this is a typical Trump distraction. He is trying to make everybody wonder whether or not the election will be legit. And whether or not absentee ballots matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Like I said, listen everyone, we have to be vigilant. The democracy the republic is on the line. We have to be vigilant. But there's something really ridiculous about this president's constant whining. That the system is rigged against him. I want you to pay attention to this. Frankly, that may be his -- his

most outrageous lie out of more than 20,000 counted by the Washington Post back in July. The truth is, Donald Trump just might be the luckiest man in the world. I think he -- I think he is.

Think about what happened in the electoral fluke. All that. He just might be the luckiest man in the world. A man who is either benefitted from the system, exploited the system, or ignored the system to get what he wanted every step of the way.

I'm going to go through it for you. Here's why. I like evidence. Right? Facts. He inherited millions. Money that was just handed to him. A New York Times investigation found that by age 3, he was earning $200,000 a year in today's dollar from his father's real estate empire.

He was a millionaire by the time he was 8 years old. By the time he was 17, his father had given him part ownership of a 52-unit apartment building. He was handed at least $413 million -- million in today's dollars. All from his father's empire.

Does that sound like a system that's rigged against him? I like to see one that's rigged for him which is the one he's living in actually. But let's -- I digress.

[22:09:56]

He branded himself a billionaire deal maker. Even though 10 years of tax information obtained by the Times shows that year after year Donald Trump lost more money than nearly any other American taxpayer. But it didn't matter. He can do it because of the tax system.

He managed to avoid any consequences for his company's multi- bankruptcies. He owed so much, that banks decided to cut their losses and work with him. Just to get anything at all. He plastered his name on buildings around the world but he didn't own them. He let developers take the risk while he pocketed the cash. Quite a system. He turned tabloid fame into reality TV stardom. Entertainment system.

He settled a $25 million fraud lawsuit over Trump University without having to admit any wrongdoing. Thanks to our legal system. A lawsuit by the way presided over by a judge once Trump said couldn't be fair because of his Mexican heritage.

He built his political career on a racist birther lie that President Barack Obama was not born in this country. And when it came time to run, he benefitted enormously from the political primary system. Trampling the entire establishment in a hostile takeover of the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican Party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person. Again. We're looking for you to raise your hand now. Raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight.

(CROWD CHEERING)

BAIER: Mr. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He defeated his challengers in part because none of them would drop out and consolidate opposition against him. He then ran against the most unpopular Democratic nominee in history. They were the two most unpopular candidates ever. And a lot of observers think without that, he wouldn't have won.

With one month to go until election today a tape came out of him bragging and gross terms about sexually assaulting women. And somehow, he survived it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever you want.

TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: When you're a star, they let you do anything. Does that sound like a man who thought the system is rigged against him? Does it sound like a man who knows how privileged he is? And saw all kinds of spoils as his for the taking.

Just one hour after the video surfaced WikiLeaks published more than 2,000 e-mails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Boy, that was lucky. Right.

Eleven days before the election, FBI director James Comey wrote to Congress about e-mails he said appeared to be pertinent to the Clinton election. A pre-election gift that just dropped right into Trump's lap. Two days before the election the FBI director said there was nothing to it after all. Boy.

That brings me to our electoral system. Which allowed Donald Trump to draw an election inside straight, winning the Electoral College by getting 79,646 more votes in three key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin while losing the popular vote by 2.9 million votes. Almost three votes.

He was impeached using the system laid out in the Constitution but got off scot-free because he turned the Senate into his lap dogs. They didn't even allow any witnesses to testify. They shirk their duty in order to benefit him.

Can you believe this president wants you to believe that this the system is rigged against him? Really? Get the you know what out of here. A man who has had by luck or by design exploited every system he has ever encountered to his benefit. That man is trying to pre- convince you that the election is rigged? Against him? Come on, you all. Really?

Did you just fall off the turnip truck? Because that's what he thinks.

[22:15:01]

He challenged the validity of an election he won. Did that stop a peaceful transfer of power? No, it did not. Are you going to fall for this now? Look, I know these are crazy times. What this president is trying to do is frightening. It's scary. And like I said, it is un- American. But do not let any of that dissuade you from voting. It is your right. Maybe your most important right.

And do not forget in this country, the people decide. You do. Not the president. The people vote. And every single vote count. You can vote by mail. You can vote early. You can go to the polls on November 3. Mask up. But vote. This is our system.

I want to bring in now CNN's White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond at the president's campaign rally tonight in Virginia. Jeremy, good evening to you.

President Trump continues to push a false narrative on widespread voter fraud tonight and the Attorney General, Bill Barr, appears all too willing to help by briefing him about incorrectly discarded ballots in Pennsylvania. They are in cahoots on this.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, before that press release from the Justice Department was even released yesterday, what we saw was the president and his White House press secretary already using, already using this issue about the mail-in ballots about this issue in Pennsylvania.

And the president this evening, Don, is continuing to discuss that. The president referencing that issue with those nine military ballots. Talking about that this evening as once again an example of why this election in his view is going to be rigged and why it is going to be fraudulent.

Of course, Don, there is no evidence that that is what is happening. But the president this evening once again raising the specter. Saying that if -- if the only way that he can lose this election is if indeed the Democrats cheat and if there is massive voter fraud.

So, there's no question, Don, that he is preparing his voters in a very dangerous way for the possibility that the only valid election result in 2020 is one in which the president is the victor. And that is of course extremely dangerous, extremely concerning.

And as you talk about the Attorney General Bill Barr, Don. Bill Barr briefing the president on this is extremely unusual according to multiple election law experts. You know, this is a question of nine ballots that were thrown into a trash can according to the county election officials. A county by the way that is controlled by Republicans.

This was something that was done in error that they immediately began investigating. And there's certainly no evidence that this is the sign of any kind of widespread voter fraud that the president continues to try and convince his voters is happening in this country.

LEMON: So, I just want to be really clear as we're talking about this, Jeremy. These nine ballots in Pennsylvania were incorrectly thrown out by a contractor three days on the job and officials say the mistake was quickly noticed here. But despite that, Barr's Justice Department puts out an unusual press release about it.

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. And every, you know, former federal prosecutor who has appeared on CNN to talk about this, every election law expert has said it's extremely unusual that they would release something like this. The question of nine ballots. And especially a situation where the Justice Department just opened this inquiry.

So far, they have found no evidence, Don, that there was any kind of voter fraud at foot here. And yet, that is exactly what the president and his supporters including the president's campaign they have seized on this issue of these nine ballots in Pennsylvania to suggest that there is already voter fraud happening in this 2020 election when, Don, we know that there is no evidence of that happening. Certainly not on a widespread scale.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Jeremy Diamond. I appreciate it.

The president is spreading misinformation about voting by mail. But we're going to give you the facts about how a vote in one big battleground state that was one of the key -- keys in 2016 how is that going. The secretary of state in Wisconsin is here next.

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Thirty-nine days to go until the election and we're seeing a surge in requests for mail-in ballots all across the country especially in key battleground states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

So, let's bring in Douglas La Follette, Wisconsin secretary of state. Secretary, thank you. I really appreciate you joining us. I know it's a very busy time for you. So, thank you.

DOUGLAS LA FOLLETTE (D), WISCONSIN SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, greetings from beautiful northern Wisconsin. The colors are changing up here. It's a beautiful place to be.

LEMON: Well, it's good to see you. Sturgeon Bay, it looks -- Sturgeon Bay is a beautiful place.

So, listen, the president is spreading misinformation about mail-in voting. So, I just want the facts here for our viewers and all voters. All voters in Wisconsin can request a mail-in ballot. Right? Tell our viewers how it works there.

LA FOLLETTE: Well, they certainly can. And that's been the case for many years. I have voted by mail in almost all of the past elections from 10 years or more. And what we're doing now is making it easier for people by sending them an application if they don't have one so they can apply to get a ballot.

And we have started collecting those now. They're coming in. You know, as I was listening to, I thought of another thing about our good president. You know, he was benefitted in this election by the so- called third-party candidate.

If it wouldn't have been for the third-party candidate in Wisconsin and Michigan, he would have lost the election. And I think that's another thing that he feels so sorry for himself. But he has that great benefit.

[22:25:05]

LEMON: Yes. Well, you were listening to the opening to the show as we were talking about the system that he says he didn't -- he is not benefitting from. That it's rigged against him. So, thank you for pointing that out.

For people who prefer early voting, Secretary, can they do that in Wisconsin?

LA FOLLETTE: Early voting will start in about two weeks. And so, in about two weeks people will be able to go to certain places and vote early if they wish to.

LEMON: Secretary, more than 1.1 million voters have already requested absentee ballots in your state. That's more than all the in-person and absentee votes cast before election day in 2016. That's a lot. How are you preparing for that?

LA FOLLETTE: I just heard from the clerk in Dane County which is the county in which I live. And they are prepared. They are ready to do it. They are very experienced people and they've been doing this for many years.

One of the complications that we should maybe mention is depending on the state, they're are not allowed to count those ballots until election day in many, many states. And that makes it very difficult. There have been efforts to allow them to start counting the ballots several days ahead. So, they'll have them prepared.

But in many states when you cannot start counting until the election day, that means that the results will not be known possibly for a couple three days after the election.

LEMON: So, you've heard all the concern that GOP controlled legislate -- legislatures in swing states that they may try to claim election results are fraudulent and appoint electors themselves. What will happen if they try to do that in Wisconsin, sir? LA FOLLETTE: Well, in Wisconsin, that's not possible. The law does not

allow that. Ever since he started mentioning it, people checked immediately. And Wisconsin would not allow that sort of thing to happen. I think that it's pretty clear that the Republicans in general are not promoting that. That's just another one of his pipe dreams that he comes up with. Several times a day he comes out with some outrageous idea which is not in any way justified or legal.

LEMON: Yes. Secretary La Follette, thank you, sir. I appreciate you joining us. And please be safe.

LA FOLLETTE: I thought of another quick thought I had.

LEMON: Yes.

LA FOLLETTE: If anybody who is listening who is out of this country, for example in Canada, there are over 600,000 U.S. citizens in Canada. And many times, they don't think to vote. But they can also vote by mail. And I encourage them to do that. It's very important.

LEMON: Anyone who is out of the country vote by mail.

LA FOLLETTE: Exactly. And there's thousands and thousands of people who can change the election.

LEMON: Secretary, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

LA FOLLETTE: You bet. Thank you, Don.

LEMON: U.S. coronavirus cases passing seven million today. But Florida is lifting state restrictions on bars and restaurants. Will the state see another big surge?

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There are now more than seven million coronavirus cases in this country as nearly two dozen states show spikes especially in the west and Midwest. And in the face of all that, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now allowing bars and restaurants to operate at 100 capacity even as the states' test positivity rate remains around 11 percent. The governor says he wants a packed Super Bowl in Tampa Bay in February.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I also want to be able to show we're going to be able to host the Super Bowl in February. We expect to do a full Super Bowl and we're going to show that we're going to be able to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, let's discuss now. Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor and dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine joins us. Doctor, good to see you. I haven't seen you in a while. It's good to have you on.

PETER HOTEZ, INFECTIOUS EXPERT, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, Don.

LEMON: Florida's test positivity rate is over double the recommended 5 percent for reopening. The state is averaging more than 2,000 cases and about a hundred deaths every single day. Does this decision make any sense to you?

HOTEZ: It does -- it does not make any sense to me, Don. You know, it's not, things are not as bad as they were over the summer. When you had over 10,000 new cases a day. But 2,500 new cases a day is still pretty high.

Remember that's an under estimate. That's just the ones that test positive. And the ratio could be as high as 5 to 10 times more. So, we could be talking about 10, 25,000 new cases a day in Florida which is still way beyond anything that was back in May.

So, there's still a pretty screaming high level of transmission going on in Florida. And just by letting everything rip, you know what's going to happen. It's going to circle going back up again.

LEMON: Goodness. So, Governor DeSantis is also suspending fines for people who don't wear a mask which basically nullifies those rules. The governor called it act of executive grace to suspend those penalties. I mean, really? This means masks are optional? How much sense does that make?

HOTEZ: Yes, I don't get the grace part, Don. Right? I mean, one of the -- it's one of the only tools we have until vaccines come along next year. That's all we have. Our masks to reduce that transmission. We've learned so much about this virus as an aerosol. Why do that? Why be so deliberately provocative and try to poke the bear and you know what's going to happen. Transmission is going to go up.

[22:35:02]

And it's not just going to be in Florida, Don. We are going to see a big third peak, by third I mean, we had that first terrible peak in New York City with sirens day and night in March and April. And then we had that big southern surge across the summer.

That fall surge -- that fall third surge is coming. It's already starting now in the Midwest in the Great Plains states. Wisconsin is starting to look pretty bad. And it's -- that's where we're probably going to see it first. But it's going to affect the whole country.

LEMON: Goodness. So, Governor DeSantis is making it really clear that, he's saying this is about showing Florida can host a Super Bowl. But the experts are saying that this virus will get worse in the winter as you said. You called it another surge. What do you think about this being done in the name of the Super Bowl?

HOTEZ: Yes. I mean, it's basically going to be called the super- spreader bowl because we're going to have -- it's going to facilitate a lot of transmission across the country. Remember how this works. People are coming from all over the United States to come to Tampa. I think it's in Tampa, right, in Florida.

And it will be from all over the high transmission areas and then people after the Super Bowl is over, well, let's say during the Super Bowl. It's not just the Super Bowl. Remember they are piling into bars at night. That's why Sturgis was a super-spreader event back in the Dakota's --

LEMON: So, the bars --

HOTEZ: -- over the summer. It wasn't the rally per se. It was they are piling into bars at night. And that's what's going to happen in Tampa. And they are going to go home and facilitated as well.

The only way around I see a Super Bowl as if the vaccine has become available by then. And everyone is vaccinated. But I don't see a path by which that happens in the first week of February.

LEMON: Boy. Doctor, thank you. I appreciate it.

HOTEZ: Thanks. All the best.

LEMON: So, here's what the RNC is doing. They're using robocalls of Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle making a false distinction between absentee voting and vote by mail. We're going to clear up the lies and give you the facts, next.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Take this. President Trump's false claims about voting now showing up in misleading robocalls made by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle who's Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend.

Reporting from our KFile unit shows in similarly scripted recordings made on behalf of the president and the Republican National Committee. Both women encourage Republican voters to use absentee ballots but condemn other forms of voting by mail. The calls are primarily aimed at voters in key battleground states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina.

Here's part of Kimberly Guilfoyle's robocall.

(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, DONALD TRUMP, JR.'S GIRLFRIEND: Absentee voting and universal vote by mail may sound similar, but could not be more different. Absentee voting is safe, secure and supported by President Trump. The radical left wants universal vote by mail, which is proven to be filled with fraud, abuse, and mistakes. Democrats want to scare you away from voting absentee.

(END VOICE CLIP) LEMON: Radical. Everything is radical. Facts first. Because facts matter. Experts say there's no difference between absentee voting and voting by mail. No difference between the absentee voting and voting by mail. Trump himself votes by absentee ballot. Which is fine. But the biggest lie here is the idea that it's Democrats who want to keep people away from voting that's really -- that is really audacious. Trump is the only one who is constantly trying to confuse and scare voters away from using mail-in ballot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When you do all mail-in voting ballots, you're asking for fraud. People steal them out of mailboxes. People print them and then they sign them and they give them in. Now the people don't even know they are double counted. People take them away. They force people to vote. They harvest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: One lie after another. It is just shameless. Some states have been doing universal mail-in voting for years with little evidence o fraud. And this year nine states are doing it due to the pandemic. Dozens of other states are allowing voters to cast the ballot by mail if they request one.

And then there is this congressional testimony yesterday from the FBI director Christopher Wray.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, take this. Ignore the lies from Trump and his supporters. Voting by mail is a safe to cast a ballot in the election. OK?

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lying in state at the U.S. Capitol as President Trump says he'll announce her replacement tomorrow. Ginsburg's personal trainer of more than 20 years, Bryant Johnson giving his own personal tribute to the late justice, kneeling down and doing three push-ups.

We'll be right back.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Trump says he will announce his nominee to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court tomorrow. Sources telling CNN he intends to choose Judge Amy Coney Barrett for that position.

A lot to discuss now with Sunny Hostin, the co-host of The View on ABC and the author of "I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds."

It's like old times again. I'm so happy that you're here, Sunny. We're going to talk about your book because it relates to what's happening in this country right now. But I have to get you on the news as I -- we used to do in the old times here at CNN.

Let's talk about the Supreme Court. The latest with the Supreme Court. CNN is reporting that President Trump intends to nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Explain how big an impact this would be.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: Well, it certainly is a huge impact and it could be simply because she is taking the place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Who is a pioneer in terms of civil rights and especially women's rights. And it will shift the balance of the court to firmly cement the court as a conservative leaning one.

And we're talking about a vote of probably six to three. And I also think it is significant in the sense that you're sort of, you would be pushing a Supreme Court nominee at the end of a president's term.

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And if this president isn't reelected, then it's really a lame duck nomination, and that just doesn't seem appropriate, because it should be someone that is appointed by the will of the people and by the current president and Congress.

But I will say this, Don. I am a Notre Dame law grad, which is where Amy Coney Barrett went to law school. I'm also a practicing Catholic, as you know. And what is a little bit disconcerting to me is that you're hearing sort of this narrative that she is being attacked for being Catholic. And I don't think that that is fair, and I don't think that that is accurate.

Every Supreme Court nominee needs to be vetted, because it is a life- time appointment. And I think that there are some things in her record that certainly need to be questioned. She has said things -- go ahead?

LEMON: No, no. I was going to -- I was going to go off what you were saying. Is that, these are lifetime appointments, and she is going to be making decisions that will affect not just one person or two people but the entire country. And the fabric that this country was built on.

And one of those things is -- you know, I'm not sure if it will be policing, but you know what we're dealing within this country when it comes to race and policing and the election, right? So, she is going to be overseeing some of those things. Some of those decisions will come her way.

Let's talk about Breonna Taylor's family. They're in anguish. No one is being held responsible directly for her death. Ben Crump -- and, and then you a will talk. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TAYLOR'S FAMILY: Breonna Taylor's entire family is heartbroken, devastated and outraged and confused and bewildered, just like all of us as to what the Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron present to the grand jury. Did he present any evidence on Breonna Taylor's behalf?

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LEMON: So, the attorney general. Elections have consequences. A president gets to weigh in on all of that. This family is demanding that the Kentucky A.G. release the transcript of the grand jury proceedings relating to Breonna Taylor's death. The governor also says they should be released. What do you think? What's your take?

HOSTIN: I think that that is appropriate in this case, because this has been such a flawed process, and people are questioning the very integrity of the law, the very integrity of the process.

And let's face it. The Attorney General Daniel Cameron, we know that he has no criminal trial experience, none whatsoever. And to have him be the top prosecutor in the state of Kentucky is really, really inappropriate. It's sort of an abomination of the process, and he gave sort of selective information out at the press conference.

It was, you know -- he released that information to the public. And I think that leads to sort of the misinformation that is being bandied about in the public discourse now, and it also leads to the fact that people are now not trusting the investigation.

So, in the spirit of transparency, now he has to, I think, release everything to the public, because we need to feel comfortable that the system works. We need to feel comfortable that justice did in fact occur, which is what he told everyone happened, that this was just. That this wasn't mob justice, but justice.

LEMON: Justice.

HOSTIN: And if that's the case, they have to release the transcripts.

LEMON: In "I Am These Truths," you talk about life as a biracial child and your journey. You say you haven't had an easy life. Why did you decide to write this now? I mean, you know, I have spoken to you about this. I know about this, you feel like you're between two -- you know, you don't really fit in anywhere. Why did you decide to write this, Sunny?

HOSTIN: Well, because, you know, we're in a position now in our country that is so divisive. And I think that racial identity is at the top of mind -- it's at the top of mind right now. And it is I think -- and not a moment.

And because of that, I thought it was the right time to give people the language that they need to address it, to talk about race, to talk about identity, to talk about people like me that sort of live in the gray, not in the black world, not in the white world, but really in the gray. And bottom line is, you know, the title, "I Am These Truths" comes from the Constitution. You know, we hold these truths --

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LEMON: We hold these truths to be self-evident, right? That all men are created equal.

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But here you are in between here. You call out, Sunny -- I know you are outspoken. You call out racism wherever you have seen it, even if your career.

HOSTIN: Yes.

LEMON: We're going through a racial reckoning at this moment. Can something positive come from this, Sunny Hostin?

HOSTIN: I sure do hope so. I get very personal in the book, Don, as you know. I talk about the discrimination that I experienced, just recently with my employer. And I did that because I think that now is the time to have the courage to speak up to effect change because I think it is so very important to change where we are in our country. It can't get any worse than it is right now.

And I just hope that this discussion even that you and I are having continues. It's that uncomfortable truth that no one wants to talk about, but it's not going get any better if we don't talk about it.

LEMON: Sunny Hostin, "I Am These Truths." Thank you so much. Good to see you.

HOSTIN: Good to see you.

LEMON: And President Trump trying to undermine confidence in the election and spreading false claims about voting by mail, and the election is just 39 days away. All of our breaking news in just a moment.

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