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Coronavirus Pandemic; Trump Attacks Biden On Religion And Race; Brent Scowcroft, Prominent Elder Statesman Has Died. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 07, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: And so Michelle, this is why I'm grateful you're here because you write about people out there, outside of the beltway and inside the beltway, but real families who have to make real decisions. And most of the things they hear from Washington is essentially blah, blah, blah, it would say Charlie Brown's teacher, making a noise they don't care it and they don't understand but they have a high stake in this one.

Those bonus unemployment benefits expired. The PPP program if you're a small business is running out. What is your advice at this moment for Americans whether they're individuals who have lost their job or a small business who is struggling who is waiting to see if Washington is going to help some more and right now the answer is we don't know?

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, WASHINGTON POST SYNDICATED PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST: So first of all, get mad and write your Congress people on both sides and just flood them with your real stories because the commentary coming especially out of the White House is that, oh, if we give them more money they won't go want to work which is just ridiculous and clearly people who are saying those things have never actually worked with people who are out of work.

Nobody in the right mind would turn down a full-time job that has, you know, security in a sense to take an unemployment check. But until we have those policies in place, we have extra money, you know, you got to -- you know, people are already tight. You know? We got to be even tighter with the budget. You know? Reach out to public service organizations.

You know if you are renting and you aren't getting anywhere with the landlord, and you just don't have them many, you know, contact some of the legal services in the community to sort of figure out how can you stay where you are if you get an eviction notice. What should you do? I mean you got to be proactive with these things. If you can't pay, stay in contact with the creditors, your credit card company, your mortgage company.

The more information you give them the -- they may work with you more. Certainly the banks will. And your landlord, too. And I think sometimes we have to think about the landlords as well. They got bills to pay. So, we all have to work at this together to get through and I don't think the White House should rejoice at the numbers because there are a lot of people out of work and there are a lot of people who are going to be out of work even more as more cases come up in the various states.

KING: All right, people's legs are tired from all this uncertainty and all the difficulty.

SINGLETARY: They are.

KING: Michelle Singletary, Julia Chatterley, Lauren Fox, very much appreciate your insights. It's a very important day. We'll see Lauren instructing up in Capitol Hill if those talks get us anywhere. Ladies, appreciate it very much.

Up next, sports in the bubble, is this new way of testing, training and living really keeping players safe?

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[12:32:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Expect from the bench, right? Like getting some help for the guys on the (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back in front. And scores. Travis Sanheim --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The Washington Capitals they're losing to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday by a score of 3-1. That is a very normal sentence about sports in a normal time, also happens to be a sentence written by a young man who writes for the program who's a Flyers fan and we let him get away with it today.

But just look at that highlighted cell. There are no fans. Hockey, men's basketball, women's basketball all playing inside bubbles right now. The hope is that isolation can keep this seasons going uninterrupted and avoid hiccups. We're seeing right now baseball and prompting (ph) talks perhaps of nixing the college football season.

Joining me now that matters deeply involved in this experiment, Ted Leonsis, Chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which means he is the owner of the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, and the championship winning Washington Mystics.

Ted, it's good to see you. I see you in the arena sometimes and I don't do that anymore because we can't go to the arena. Walk through. You have three pieces of this remarkable and dicey experiment. So far, we could put up the numbers and this is the sum zeros. Or there are lot of bad numbers when we go to the coronavirus. Zero positives in the NHL since July 26th. Zero positives in the NBA since July 29th. Zero positives in the WNBA since July 10th. The bubbles appear to be working. What is the key in success in your view?

TED LEONSIS, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MONUMENTAL SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: Well, we took players and staff safety as paramount and first and we assured everyone that they would go into this bubble. They would be tested. They would follow protocol. And they would have an opportunity then just to focus on their craft and play the game. But also, use that bubble and the platform that pro sports would supply to be able to do social justice work.

And so, so far so good. I've often said I wish we were all living life in a bubble right now because it seems to be working. And people are taking it very, very seriously. We also know how fragile it is and I think that, that collective partnership between the players and the union and the league and ownership is making this work.

KING: You are not just an owner, you are a fan. I said you see you at the arena and you're not just there watching the team you own, you're there rooting for the teams because you love the games. What's it been like for you as a viewer? It is strange to watch these games with no fans. There's nobody yelling at the refs, there's nobody booing in the players or cheering the players. Take us inside that experience from your perspective.

LEONSIS: Well, actually you can see I'm wearing my orange WNBA hoodie. We have two games tonight, the Mystics are playing and the Wizards are playing. Today, thank you for mentioning that we're the defending champ. I feel terrible that Mystics weren't able nor were the Nationals to be able to celebrate the way champions do.

[12:40:03]

Today all of our employees are going to the arena, socially distanced to pick up. We gave everyone rings and we love watching the games. In fact, I would say that the production value in the wubble for the WNBA and bubble for NBA up in Toronto with caps are playing is been really high quality. The syncing of the crowd noise, the new camera angles, all of that has worked. Putting the Black Lives Matter on the floor at both the WNBA and NBA, allowing the players to self express has allowed for there to be great competition, the quality of the games has been better than the regular season.

I think the average ten-point differential in the NBA so far in the bubble's about 75 percent during the regular season it's 55 percent. So, everyone is playing hard. Every game matters. The ratings are up nationally so the players know that there's a lot riding on this and, you know, we're very, very grateful that so far the leagues and the players have been able to deliver if you will basketball nirvana and hockey nirvana and I think fans are really enjoying the games and can't wait for the playoffs to start.

KING: You mentioned the social justice, racial justice messages that many of the players in all three leagues, the NHL, the WNBA and the NBA are trying to advance during this period of time. As you know the president of the United States doesn't like it. Listen. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think this is going to hurt. I personally won't be watching much. I think when you have people kneeling, there are of plenty places you can protest, you don't have to protest when they raise the flag and playing the national anthem and when they're kneeling during the national anthem I'm not a watcher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It's players exercising the first amendment right at an important time in the country but the president doesn't like it. Lebron James said the other day, great, we won't miss you. You don't have to watch, sir. What's your take on that especially as someone that lives in the nation's capital?

LEONSIS: Well, right now it's a player driven self expression and we want to support the players and it was a part of our promise. We were living through a pandemic and we also had this Black Lives Matter moment which we promised that we would work with the players to turn it more into a movement.

And so, we have to meet our commitments. I think long term obviously is a media property you want to have a wide reach and we want to make sure that the focus is more on the game but right now I think it is very, very appropriate.

KING: Ted Leonsis, Chairman of Monumental Sports, good to see you. I wish I could see you in person. That day will come.

LEONSIS: I know. I miss you, John. Don't you miss the little things? You know, just walking through the arena. The smells of popcorn, being able to see fans, high five the players, all those little things and can't wait until we get that back and things can proceed back to normal.

KING: Yes. Both my youngest son and the oldest son yelling at the refs is something I miss very, very much. All right, it will work out soon, Ted, we hope. Thank you so much for your time today. Best of luck in the days for all three teams as we go ahead there.

LEONSIS: Thank you.

KING: When we come back, we shifted the campaign. The president is attacking his rival. We'll be right back.

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[12:48:16]

KING: President Trump is attacking Joe Biden today saying the former vice president's comments about diversity show that he doesn't deserve, this is President Trump's views, votes from the black community. The president tweeting this morning, after yesterday's statements Sleepy Joe Biden is no longer worthy of the black vote. Here's a reminder of what the former vice president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And by the way, what you all know but most people don't know, unlike the African-American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. You go to Florida and find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you're in Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Biden trying to clarify those remarks. You see his tweets there saying in no way did I mean to suggest the African-American community is a monolith, not by identity, not on issues, not at all. I have witnessed the diversity of thought background in sentiment within the African-American community. I will never stop fighting for the African-American community.

With me now to discuss is our senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Nia-Malika Henderson, it's always dangerous to give this president a platform on race issues kind of hiring an arsonist to be the fire chief, but he is pressing this because Joe Biden did have to clean up his words.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPOTER: Yes. He did have to clean up his words there basically trafficking in stereotypes about African-Americans. I think one thing it goes to show is that even if you have black friends, even if you were the vice president of the nation's first black president, you can hold stereotypical views of African-Americans. And you saw Joe Biden there try to clarify. I imagine that this is a moment where his staffers are pulling out their hair.

[12:50:00]

Listen, we don't know the kind of campaigner Joe Biden will be when things get really tough. We have seen so far that the strategy has been kind of just stand back and let the president essentially set himself on fire, particularly around racial issues and here he is today having to clarify a very, very troubling remark he made about African-Americans.

Joe Biden's strategy in some ways in terms of getting African-American voters has been sort of the noun, verb Barack Obama approach to getting that vote. I think he's going to have to fight much more for it. He certainly going to have to be I think much more humble when he talks about race, when he talks about African-Americans, too, because he -- I don't think he quite realizes that there's going to be a number of African-Americans, particularly progressive African- Americans who really have to hold their noses to vote for him with the object -- ultimately being to defeat Donald Trump and to defeat Trumpism so he's making that harder and harder by in some ways reminding people of some of the issues he has had in the past around racial remarks and the crime bill and other issues, so a real gaffe by this candidate that I think again is going to have to humble himself in terms of talking about race and African-Americans in particular.

KING: Right. And the president again some people question the credibility on the issues but he smart to try it in a way, to drive a piece of Joe Biden's base away. He's driving enthusiasm down is smart.

To that point, we're learning a little bit more about the Democratic National Convention. This is the campaign like no other. I'll put it that way. Neither candidate going to their convention to accept the nomination. People will speak remotely. But we know the lineup on Monday night could change, but the tentative lineup right now is Bernie Sanders, Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich, former governor and then First Lady Michelle Obama.

So, if you're the Biden campaign, this is an effort to show the diversity of the coalition. We have the Obamas, very important. We have Bernie Sanders, trying to put together the progressives with the more centrist Joe Biden and we have Republican governor, a guy who's running the house balance the budget. What is the message here?

HENDERSON: I think the takeaway from that night will be Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama and Michelle Obama. She is a powerhouse speaker. Probably the best speaker that the Democratic Party has to offer I would say. And so I think that's going to be homerun and probably really the only speech that anyone remembers out of that opening night. African-American women obviously so crucial to the Democratic Party's fortunes in the fall.

So listen. Bernie Sanders, true gave a great speech. John Kasich, I'm sure he'll give a great speech and certainly emblematic of wanting to get the moderate Republicans to vote for Joe Biden and then with Bernie Sanders wanting to have those progressives excited about this candidacy of Joe Biden but listen, Michelle Obama, I think that's going to be murky (ph) takeaway from that evening.

KING: I think more generally going to be fascinating to see how both parties try to pull it off and make the production you get out of the convention the quality we will see. It's a remarkable moment. Nia- Malika Henderson, appreciate your reporting and insights there.

And today sadly we've lost a remarkable patriotic and public servant that word coming in today that Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft passed away of natural causes yesterday.

Scowcroft was born to (INAUDIBLE) parents in Orgen, Utah back in 1925. And for 60 of his 95 years, Scowcroft spent his life in the military or in government service. He served as national security adviser to two Republican presidents, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. He picked up the phone for every president, Republican or Democrat to advise them on security issues, from Richard Nixon through Barack Obama. General Scowcroft leaves behind daughter Karen and his granddaughter Megan.

We'll be right back.

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[12:58:23]

KING: Before we leave you this hour we'd like to send condolences to a man we were very lucky to meet back in the early days of this pandemic. One of the unsung heroes across America, trying to keep their communities up and running and in good spirits in these very challenging times.

Mike Graham owns the Jukebox Junction &Soda Shoppe that's in Canton, North Carolina. From the very beginning, he decided to offer his neighbors free food even if they couldn't pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE GRAHAM, OWNER, JUKEBOX JUNCTION & SODA SHOPPE: I may go bankrupt but it's more important for my family, my employees and the people in this community that supported me for over 17 years. I loved them to death. You know? And I can adapt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The jukebox junction is thankfully still open certain carryout at the moment, but this is the sad news, Mike's mother Carolyn became one of Haywood County's first deaths from the coronavirus. You see Mike looking through the window trying to visit her there. She received her positive test results back on Monday, July 20th. That's Mike's birthday. And she died just over a week later. Her funeral service is tomorrow.

Carolyn worked for Bank of America for 50 years. In her free time enjoyed camping and spending time with five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. Carolyn Graham was 85 years old. I think that's Mike would put it 85 years young. Our condolences to Mike and his family.

Thanks for joining us today. I hope you see back here this Sunday morning 8:00 a.m. Eastern. I'll also see you on Monday as well. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good afternoon and good weekend.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I'm Brianna Keilar and I want to welcome viewers here in the United States and around the world.

[13:00:00]