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Pandemic Threatens to Set Back Generation of Women; Mnuchin Says He'll Advise Trump to Take Executive Action after Stimulus Offer Rejected; Biden Fires Back after Trump Falsely Claims He's Against God and Bible; At Least 66 NFL Players Skipping Season. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 07, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MAYA RAGHU, DIRECTOR OF WORKPLACE EQUALITY AND SENIOR COUNSEL, NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: So, we're not going to be able to talk about reopening and increasing employment until we address that problem.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Women have been -- I hear you, but, you know, and women have been working for years now, right, to increase representation in the workplace, close the pay gap. And to your point about how now so many women are forced, maybe temporarily in some cases, to, you know, quit jobs, stay at home and take care of the kids. How, Maya, how might this have a detrimental effect on that overarching progress?

RAGHU: What we're seeing is a lot of women are being put in a very difficult position of choosing between a job and caring for their family. So, they're the majority of the people working in essential jobs in this crisis are women. So they're the ones putting their lives online to work in health care, in childcare, in grocery stores, as teachers. But at the same time, they're risking their health to do so. And they also have their own care giving responsibilities at home.

But with all of the uncertainty around schools and around childcare centers reopening and whether they're safe, a lot of women are finding that the only solution is to cut back on their hours or in some cases step out of the work force for a while.

In some cases they're being pushed out of the workforce by their employers who are saying, you know what, you can't take care of your kids while you're working or they keep interrupting too many phone calls. You need to make a choice.

BALDWIN: Discrimination.

RAGHU: That's right. And that's been happening for a long time. That's nothing new. But I think it's being made clearer and more acute because of this crisis. You know, our workplace is, even before this pandemic, were outdated and they didn't reflect the reality of many women's working lives. So, what we're seeing now is that problem is being made even worse, without employers who are flexible and understand the reality of this situation.

BALDWIN: But some employers -- I was reading and you tell me if this is legitimate or not, that there is at least some sort of silver lining to all of this because we are sitting here on national television talking about it. You know that this is now out in the open, the fact that women do so much, you know, at work and at home. How are companies stepping up, some companies, to provide childcare or perhaps fathers, our lovely men, you know, stepping up at home?

RAGHU: That's right. And I think it's true that a lot of employers and a lot of other family members are stepping up to take on their share of care giving, or other responsibilities and employers are implementing more flexible policies. That's great for the people who have the ability to work from home. If you're an essential worker and you have to go in the grocery store or the hospital, that poses its own set of problems.

But even then, for people who can work from home, they're there are all kinds of additional pressures and unless we have workplaces that are reconceptualized and rebuilt to center the needs of women and people who can caregivers, I don't think that we're going to make the giant changes and positive steps that we need to see.

You know, the wage gap you mentioned, that's been around for a long time. It hasn't changed basically in about a decade. And the real concern here is that as women are being pushed out of the work force, pushed into lower-paying jobs or cutting back on their hours, that is going to magnify the wage gap over time.

BALDWIN: Right. The worries is long-term that it all worsens and then we're just that much farther back when we finally, you know, are able to get back in the workplace and do all of the juggling that so many women are good at doing.

Maya, I am glad you are working on this. Keep fighting the good fight and shining a light on this, and thank you so much for coming on, Maya Raghu, appreciate it.

RAGHU: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Joe Biden's faith is under attack. And now he is responding after President Trump claimed Biden would, quote/unquote, hurt God if elected. That's next.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, another round of stimulus talks today but hopes of a deal are fading fast. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. And Manu, we know the meeting just wrapped. Both sides gave you a briefing. Any progress?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, in fact talks have essentially collapsed and there's no plans to have any additional talks and already the administration officials are indicating that they're going to recommend to the President to move forward with executive actions on a number of these issues as soon as this weekend. Because of the talks for a major legislative package have essentially broken down.

Now this came after Nancy Pelosi hosted a meeting with Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, along with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in her office. About an hour after that meeting everybody emerged and essentially said that they are stuck on the same issues.

Now one of the things that is major issue is the price tag. Well, the Democrats said that they have offered as a come down from their roughly $3.4 trillion package to about $2.4 trillion. They've asked the Republicans -- the administration negotiators to say come up from the Republican offer of $1 trillion for another trillion. So, it's about a $2 trillion plan that the can negotiate. Now the Republicans say that that is not an area that they want to be talking about at the moment. They are rejecting the price tag.

[15:40:00]

On the other side, what Steve Mnuchin just said is that he wants the Democrats to make an offer about the amount of money that the Democrats are proposing for state and local governments. Democrats have proposed a trillion dollars roughly for state and local governments, far more than what Republicans want to propose. They're asking for an alternative amount of money.

They're also asking for an alternative for those expired jobless benefits at $600 a week that so many people are waiting to see what will happen. The Republican -- the administration's resisted extending that $600 a week. They've asked Democrats to come back with a counteroffer to that. They say the Democrats have not proposed a counteroffer so what does this all essentially mean?

It essentially means that the talks are essentially over at the moment. They are not planning any additional talks. The administration will try to move on some of these issues administratively. It's unclear exactly how much they can do. Steven Mnuchin suggested it would be an executive order about student loans, something involving jobless benefits, as well as trying to extend that federal eviction moratorium that already has lapsed as well.

But there's concerns that that really will not go far enough and so many people will be waiting for additional aid that is just not coming at the moment. So, these two sides are essentially going back to their own corners. Will they come back together? Will they continue talks? Uncertain at the moment, but major issues about the big overarching -- the number, how much they want to spend as well as the details continue to divide the two parties -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And so, the million plus Americans, additional Americans, who filed for unemployment this week will just have to wait. Manu, thank you for the update on Capitol Hill.

A recent Pew Research Poll shows President Trump support among most Christian groups including the white evangelicals who so overwhelming backed him back in 2016, has dipped since April. And maybe that's what inspired this baseless attack on former Vice President Joe Biden just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's going to do things that nobody ever would ever think even possible. Because he's following the radical left agenda. Take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible, hurt God. He's against God.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He's against God. Joshua DuBois is a former White House adviser. I see you shaking your head, sir. To President Obama on faith and race, he is supporting Vice President Biden in 2020.

And so, Joshua, let me just read for everyone, this a statement that Joe Biden fired back saying in part --

Like the words of so many other insecure bullies, President Trump's comments reveal more about him than they do about anyone else. They show us a man willing to stoop to any low for political gain and someone whose actions are completely at odds with the values and teachings that he professes to believe in.

Joshua, you've worked in the White House on issues of faith, is this a make-or-break issue with voters and how would you grade Biden's response?

JOSHUA DUBOIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER TO OBAMA OF FAITH AND RACE: I thought his response was phenomenal yesterday. And what was interesting how clear the contrasts were. You know, when it comes to faith, Vice President Biden is the real deal. He really does attend church regularly. And really does sort of motivate his values. He's a committed Christian, a Catholic and he also happens to be a progressive because you can actually be both.

But Donald Trump was just flailing, making it up as he goes along. I mean hurt God. What is that? The God that I serve can't be hurt by any human being, won't be mocked either. It's like President Trump is mocking God and his supporters by trying to flail attacks like this out there.

BALDWIN: Earlier this year, "The Washington Post" wrote about this, wrote specifically about President Trump and his faith. Here's the quote.

He does not belong to a church in Washington, though he refers to himself as a Presbyterian. He only occasionally attends a service. The President says the Bible is his favorite book but has declined to name a verse that is particularly meaningful to him. And he has said multiple times that he does not like to ask God for forgiveness which is traditionally seen as a core part of the Christian faith. And Joshua, just with all of that in mind, why do you think President

Trump just seems so comfortable if not even eager to attack, you know, his political opponents, Joe Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Mitt Romney on religion?

DUBOIS: He's trying to rally his evangelical base. But the reality is folks are starting to feel in their gut, even among moderate and conservative evangelicals that there's something wrong here. And it's because this is not real for President Trump. You know, he discovered the need engage the faith community on the 2016 campaign trail. He's the same person that talked about Two Corinthians and said that he never as you mentioned has to ask for forgiveness.

He's clearly trying to manipulate the faith community for his own good and people starting to see through that. And the question evangelicals will have to ask them is what does it profit them to gain a few judges but lose if not their soul at least their integrity and credibility of their witness? And a lot of people are starting to ask that question.

[15:45:00]

BALDWIN: Joshua DuBois, I appreciate you every time you come on. Come back. Thank you so much.

DUBOIS: Absolutely. Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Dozens of NFL players and a couple big college football stars saying, nope, we will not be playing this season. Let's talk about all of this with a doctor who's advising the NCAA on returning to sports, next.

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BALDWIN: It is becoming very clear that fall football will look nothing like it has before. Dozens of NFL players have now opted out over COVID-19 concerns. At least 66 out of nearly 3,000 players are choosing to sit out the 2020 season. And college game days, those iconic rites of autumn are also in flux.

[15:50:00]

Penn State University, Purdue, Virginia Tech and the University of Miami have all had major stars who say, nope, not playing. Some colleges have canceled fall sports all together and the ones that are still playing games may not allow fans to crowd the bleachers.

Dr. Colleen Kraft is an associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital. She's also on the COVID advisory committee for the NCAA. So Dr, Kraft, welcome to you, and let's just dive in on football. You know, as I said, dozens of NFL players, big name college players opting out. Do you think they made the right decision?

DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I do think they made the decision. I think this is part of a bigger issue that we're dealing with in our country, which is we need to learn how to live with COVID. And I don't think we're doing that in our country right now, right.

There's still a lot of confusion about what we should be doing. And so I think whatever it takes to get people motivated to be creative and innovative about how they live with COVID, how we act while we have a pandemic that's still going on, I think it's really important and I think if sports can draw the attention to the bigger public health crisis, I think that that's a good thing.

BALDWIN: I'm curious about your role. Take me inside your role on the NCAA COVID advisory committee. You know, Penn State says they're going to play but they're going to play without fans. Is that enough in terms of safety precautions? You know, what are you and the committee advising just to keep these players safe?

KRAFT: Right. So, in general we are an advisory task force. So, we're not, you know, we're not implementing any of these guidelines and we're actually, you know, we cannot enforce them in any way.

And so, the main part of the task force is really to be a think tank that every -- actually twice a week we get together and we talk about the actual crucial issues that are occurring that week. We, you know, you use the word "flux" in your introduction. That is exactly what's happening. You know, what's the best testing going on right now? You know, what is safe? What are we learning clinically that's different?

And so, there's a nice group of individuals with this type of expertise and also in policy and decision making. But I think ultimately what we want to do is keep players safe. We want to keep all their support services safe, coaches, other individuals, and then obviously fans, keep fans safe.

BALDWIN: What about youth sports? I'm thinking of all the parents, right, whose children are going slightly crazy after these many months, you know, cooped up indoors. And maybe mom and dad are a little bit too. You know, do you think it's safe to put your kids back in a sport in the fall?

KRAFT: I think you have to be really selective. I think in general people are making great strides to keep safe to have things that are, you know, sort of pre-socially distanced just because of the type of sport.

If you look on the NCAA website and many other sources, you will see that we've sort of put sports into three different categories, right. Low, moderate, and high. And so, a high-risk sport may be something you want to avoid.

BALDWIN: Like what? Like contact sports, like football? Or what?

KRAFT: Like football, right. Football, basketball. Low-risk might be cross-country, right. So, can cross-country practice still occur? I think that's a possibility. But again, there's things that have to be thought about. Riding to meets potentially. You know, having wider places for them to run, right. You don't want them running right next to each other. And so, in general we want to mitigate any type of risk in any type of

setting to the transmission of COVID. And in general, you know, it's also a little bit of a balance about whether if doing some of these sports is going to just lead to more transmissions and continue to set us back as a country.

BALDWIN: Got it. Got it. Dr. Colleen Kraft, thank you very much. Good to have you on.

KRAFT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: America is stressed out over COVID. And people like former first lady Michelle Obama are speaking out about fighting what she described as low-grade depression. Advice on how to cope coming up in our next hour.

But first, three CNN heroes are offering help and hope to people behind bars and those recently released from prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELLEN STACKABLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, POETIC JUSTICE: They closed down every jail and prison in Oklahoma. No visitors, no volunteers, no outside programs at all. For at least 30 days, women at one facility were on a bed lockdown. But we were able to bring to all 800 women coloring books, puzzle books, colored pencils, writing journals. And we now have 120 people writing to women on the inside every week too.

RICHARD MILES, FOUNDER, MILES OF FREEDOM: Coming back home under the uncertainty of the pandemic increases the level of stress and anxiety. We are still working with people to get them assistance with employment. Our lawn service is essential so we're gaining more contracts. It actually allows us to put people through temporary employment while they're in our program.

[15:55:00]

BECCA STEVENS, PRESIDENT, THISTLE FARMS: We are still welcoming women into our residential program. We have eight new women coming on board. But we've shifted. We've done that awful word that everybody is using now "pivoted." We pivoted. We've done it! You don't abandon people in these times. You champion people and champion each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: You can read all about these stories. Go to CNNheroes.com.

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