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Sheriff Refuses To Enforce Mask Mandate; Atlanta Mayor Expected To Sign Executive Order Mandating Facial Coverings In The City; Fox Host Attacks Senator, Iraq War Vet As Coward And Moron; Facebook Audit Paints Deeply Troubling Handling Of Hate Speech. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 08, 2020 - 13:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, HOST: This is the study -- this is the data that the White House relies on.

[13:30:03]

This is good data, I promise you.

SHERIFF RICHARD K. JONES, BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO: Well, I'm not trusting what you say. I don't know that well. But, listen, every week, they change, how you can catch this, how you can't. First, wear to a mask, then not to wear a mask. Then there's a certain kind of mask and how it's spread. It's on a surface.

Then it'd be in the air ten days. People are confused. I'm confused. I wear a mask. But we shouldn't have our government demand that we wear a mask that we can't work. The economy's shut down, and I believe that there's more people -- when this is all over and studies come out, they'll be more people that have died from not being able to go to the hospital without being able to get their medication.

This is my opinion. I wear a mask. I wash my hands. I encourage that. But I don't want the government to mandate that you wear a mask. Pretty soon, they're going to be having to wear a mask in your car, in your house. We got to go back to work. There's more people that are dying with the flu. There're people that are dying in car crashes. There're people dying in the big cities that are shot every day. Hundreds and hundreds --

KEILAR: How do you go back to work if people aren't wearing masks to protect other people? I mean, this is what -- you know public health experts say, if you wear masks, if you want to go back to work, if you want to reopen the economy, you need to wear masks. This is going to keep infection rates and deaths down. Do you doubt that?

JONES: I believe that the reason that we're getting all of these tests -- we have drive-through testing now. And I believe that people are getting more tests and they're going to test positive. And here in Ohio --

KEILAR: That's not the case of positivity. It sounds -- sir, it sounds like you're just very confused about how this works and the facts about this, because the positivity rate has been going up.

JONES: I believe that you and the media are confused and you're trying to put me in a hotspot, which I don't mind being. I don't --

KEILAR: You literally are in a hotspot. You're literally -- Butler County is a hotspot.

JONES: Listen, I've been in a hotspot my whole career. I understand hot spots. This is a thing that we're going through right now, and the whole country was locked down. And we had the news media such as yourself trying to pin people down like me for speaking up and saying what I believe is the truth.

And we have our politicians that will not get together on either party. We have doctors and we have scientists that have different opinions weekly. And we -- here in the trenches have to try to figure this out ourselves?

KEILAR: Okay, but we're talking masks. Look, we're talking masks. I understand you have a lot of grievances. But let's talk masks because there is consensus. Scientists don't disagree on masks. There is consensus in the scientific community about masks. So what do you say that?

JONES: I wear a mask. I'm good with that. I'm not going to be the mask police, period.

KEILAR: So you're not -- you're not going to be the mask police. But --

JONES: No, myself --

KEILAR: Okay. But I know. But you still obviously see a role for your department in protecting people from other public health issues, right, like seat belts?

JONES: Sure. Sure. We protect people with seat belts. We've tried to keep people from killing each other. We try to do all we can to police our community. And in Ohio, there's 88 counties and 88 sheriffs.

And I'm not the only law enforcement person that says they're not going to enforce mask wearing. We're not going to be the mask police. I'm not the only one in the country. I'm just one here in Butler County that's not going to do that, period.

KEILAR: If the president had a federal mandate that there should be masks, Sheriff Jones, would that change your mind?

JONES: It may and it may not. I -- we'll see what happens.

KEILAR: Why would it may or may not?

JONES: Well, I have to see what it says. Just because you say, if he had, I don't have that in front of me. I don't know he's going to do that, period. So we'll wait and we'll see, but right now, I'm not the mask police. It's all we can do to keep police on the street.

KEILAR: But why would you reserve -- why would you reserve the possibility of complying with the president but not complying with your governor, with your Republican governor?

JONES: Oh, I see where you're going. You're trying to make it a president thing against President Trump. I -- I never mentioned the president's name. I support the president, but I am not enforcing this regulation, this mandate by the governor.

KEILAR: No, you said if he -- okay. But you said if the president mandated you may or you may not follow it. The governor has the mandate, you will not follow it. So I'm saying you give more leeway or consideration to a presidential decision to mandate masks?

JONES: I may, and I may not, pretty simple.

[13:35:00]

KEILAR: Well, it covers all the bases, I'll tell you that, Sheriff. Sheriff Jones from Butler County, thank you so much for being with us.

JONES: Yes, ma'am. Thank you too.

KEILAR: And just in, there are only 145 ICU beds left in the entire State of Arizona. We're going to be taking you there.

Plus, a big test for sports tonight as professional soccer comes back in America.

And more and more Republican senators bowing out of the convention because they are concerned about the health risks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:00]

KEILAR: New today, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is expected to sign an executive order that will mandate facial coverings in the city. The mayor's spokesperson telling CNN, quote, details are forthcoming.

And this is coming just two days after Atlanta's mayor revealing to CNN on Monday that she and her husband have tested positive for COVID- 19. Also one of the mayor's children has tested positive for the virus.

For more national headlines, let's check in now with our CNN correspondents across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Evan McMorris-Santoro in Tucson. Arizona still leads the nation in average daily per capita new cases per day. It's put a strain on the hospital system here. ICU beds have hovered around 90 percent capacity in the entire state with fewer than 200 beds being available over the course of the last few days.

Here in Pima County where I am, that number has gotten as low as six ICU beds. It's just one of those struggles that public health officials are dealing with as this pandemic continues to grow.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sara Sidner in Burbank, California, where the number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalized is spiking. There are now about 6,000 patients in hospitals with coronavirus. Those numbers spiking out of control, and health officials very worried that if the numbers keep continuing that way that they will run out of ICU beds in the state. So they're trying to get that under control.

Also, the number of people coming back with positive COVID-19 testing, that has jumped in the state, 6.8 percent across the state. But in L.A. County, the most populous state, it's at 11.6 percent. Officials say they to get these numbers down.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Carolyn Manno in Orlando, Florida, right on the edge of Major League Soccer's bubble as they look to restart their season later this evening. NBA also welcoming 22 teams to this campus for resumption to their season July 30th.

So far in MLS, trouble with the coronavirus, players from three clubs out of a possible 26 have already tested positive. The keys here are being described to me by one MLS executive as diligent testing a socially distanced atmosphere that is somewhat militant and also everybody working together to ensure that this bubble gets stronger as the weeks go on.

The one thing that both commissioners can agree on that might jeopardize play here in Orlando, Florida, will be an outbreak inside the bubble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Thank you so much to our reporters across the nation for those updates.

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson doubles down on his insults to Purple Heart recipient Senator Tammy Duckworth, this time calling her a moron and a coward.

Plus, the WNBA is revolting in reaction to a team owner opposing the league's Black Lives Matter initiative. We're going to talk to a former player calling on her to leave.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:00]

KEILAR: Controversy is surrounding the repeated comments by Fox News Host Tucker Carlson, questioning Senator Tammy Duckworth's love for her country. Tammy Duckworth is a combat veteran who lost both of her legs in Iraq after an RPG took down the chopper that she was co- piloting back in 2004 and she received a Purple Heart.

Tucker Carlson criticized Duckworth because he disagrees with her statement that there should be a national conversation about statues. This was Carlson on Monday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: I mean, not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in anyway because she once served in the military, most people just ignore her, but when Duckworth speaks in public, you're reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is.

Well, what's long been considered out of bounds to question a person's patriotism is a very strong charge and we try not never to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion can't be avoided. These people actually hate America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Duckworth responded on Twitter. She said this. Tucker Carlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America.

But Carlson who, it's worth pointing out, never served himself, is trying to capitalize on the attention that this moment has garnered for him and he doubled down on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: George Washington was a genuinely great man, but to morons like Duckworth, Washington is just some old white guy who needs to be erased.

Keep in mind, Tammy Duckworth is not child, at least not technically. She is a sitting United States senator who's often described as a hero. Yet Duckworth is too afraid to defend her own statements on a cable T.V. show. What a coward.

Tammy Duckworth is a callous hack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Carlson is mad that Tammy Duckworth will not come on his show, but where, oh, where, did he get the idea that this was a good strategy, that this was a sound argument? When did conservatives start questioning the patriotism of someone who lost their limbs in service of the United States because they disagree on an issue? I don't know. Maybe --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It hit me. He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured.

[13:50:00]

I like people who weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In 2016, that was then candidate Donald Trump insulting John McCain, who was a POW in Vietnam, spent over five years in a notorious prison known as the Hanoi Hilton. And amid questions of whether that would end Trump's candidacy, he refused to apologize. It certainly did not end his candidacy and he normalized that rhetoric.

But the Purple Heart recipient that Tucker Carlson most publicly goes after calls a coward, well, she is a potential vice presidential pick. But there's something else and I couldn't quite put my finger on it until Tucker Carlson made it so incredibly clear when he put Duckworth up on screen next to Ilhan Omar, a liberal House freshman, whom Republicans have made into a very effective boogieman for their constituents. She's a woman of color.

So Tucker Carlson is trying to go after the service that really works to the advantage of any politician of any political persuasion here, and you can disagree with policies. He says, you can't disagree with Tammy Duckworth. You can and he can. He should if he descents with her. Disagreement is American. That is what members of the military serve for. They'll tell you over and over; that they're there to protect American freedoms.

But Tucker Carlson, maybe he just doesn't know that because a war of words is the only place that he will ever wage battle.

We have more on our breaking news. The White House task force pushing schools to reopen as cases in the U.S. surpass three million.

Plus, Facebook's own auditors say the company's policy decisions failed to combat discrimination and that they were setback for civil rights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:00]

KEILAR: A new Facebook audit paints a deeply troubling picture of the company's handling of hate speech. It concluded that decisions made in the last year represents significant setbacks for civil rights by continuing to carry hateful content on its site.

The report comes on the heels of a meeting between civil rights and leaders of the activist group, Stop The Hate For Profit. With Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives to discuss the demands of a large advertiser boycott that now includes hundreds of brands.

I want to talk to someone who was at this meeting. Let's bring in the president of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson. Derrick, tell us what happened in the meeting.

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Very little to nothing. We had some expectation that after two years of discussions, providing Mark and Sheryl Sandberg with the requested three weeks prior to the meeting that they'd call, that we would hear feedback and what we received was nothing.

We are now positioned to continue to push to have some level of corporate responsibility. It is important for our communities to be safe and our democracy to be protected.

KEILAR: So, they issued a statement after the meeting, which I want to read. It says, quote, they want Facebook to be free of hate speech and so do we. That's why it's so important to get this right. Adding, quote, we have banned more than 250 white supremacist organizations and are holding ourselves accountable by producing regular reports about our content moderation efforts.

I know you think that's not enough. Tell us why.

JOHNSON: Well, first of all, they banned those groups after the fact. They were alerted that the group was convening on their platform and created an environment to execute actions. They did nothing. That group killed a federal officer. And after the fact, after we announced this boycott, they banned 200 groups.

We need proactive approaches, not reactive approaches. It's been over two years (INAUDIBLE) called for an audit. We have not seen the third iteration of its audit. They have not implemented the recommendation from the first two audits and now we have a third audit. They have the ability within their system, within their corporate structure to do more and they have not done more.

KEILAR: So, you've been in conversations with them. We've heard from other people as well. And they feel, many of them, like this is kind of a cultural problem. What's the hang up here with Facebook? I mean, maybe it's not a surprise that they don't see exactly eye to eye with you, right? But why do you think that they're not understanding more where you're coming from?

JOHNSON: Well, this is what you get when you have a corporation with no accountability. You have one person who owns 60 percent of the stock. So, shareholders nor can the board hold the company accountable. There are no governmental regulations. There are no true competitors. This is a sovereign nation within the nation and no accountability.

We have to stand in unison as society to say hate speech should not be provided as platform on Facebook and that hate speech is actually carrying out activities that's harmful. This platform should not be used by foreign or domestic interests to subvert and mislead concerning our election process. We must protect people. We must protect our democracy. And we cannot have a sovereign nation within this nation that think otherwise.

[14:00:00]

KEILAR: Derrick, thank you for coming on, President of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson. Thanks.

JOHNSON: Thank you for the opportunity.