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Trump Signs Executive Actions After Stimulus Talks Break Down; U.S. Food Banks Face Shortages As Demand Surges; US COVID-19 Deaths Rise For Fifth Straight Week; Foreign Policy Gives U.S. Lowest Score For Fact-Based Communication; Biden Narrows Down VP List With Convention Just Days Away; Ohio Governor And Wife Test Negative For COVID-19; FBI Testing Ballistic Evidence From Inside Breonna Taylor's Home. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired August 08, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

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[21:00:29]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Hello to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Boris Sanchez in Washington.

Five million people. The United States is just on the cusp of confirming that five million Americans are either sick with the coronavirus or have been infected and recovered. And if the doctors and health care experts are correct, the wave of COVID-19 infections is not even close to over. More people will get sick, and that other number that you see on the right-hand side of your screen, American deaths.

Today it's more than 162,000 people. That number also going up, and it's crucial to remember it's not just a number. It represents our loved ones, friends and family members who perished because of this virus. Public health professionals plead with people to wear masks in public. The president himself saying it is a patriotic thing to do, but still so many refuse. Doctors say don't go to crowded beaches, don't have house parties, but people still do.

One key university model now predicts that 300,000 Americans will die of COVID-19 by December 1st. And with that picture hanging in the air take a look at this. Sturgis, South Dakota, this weekend.

An estimated quarter million people from around the country revving their engines at the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, bikes as far as the eye can see. Masks, not so much. They've been recommended but not required. As one festival goer put it, quote, these people calculate their risks every time they get on a motorcycle.

I want to welcome Chris Cox, he's joining us now. He's the founder of Bikers for Trump. Chris, thank you so much for spending some of your Saturday night with us. As far as I understand you're from South Carolina. Why was it so important for you to be in Sturgis this weekend and did you take your bike all the way there? CHRIS COX, FOUNDER, BIKERS FOR TRUMP: Yes, my bike is here along with

our command center and our voter registration team. With your intro there, you know, a lot of predictions have been made. They were predictions that over 5 percent of the people that caught this would actually die when actually it's less than 1 percent.

So, we've got to mitigate these predictions and put them in perspective, and a lot of us believe this might be a plan-demic as opposed to a pandemic and I am one of them. But that being said, we do have several hundred masks outside of my command center where we're doing voter registration.

The restaurant I would just add had the Biker for Trump rally had over 10 gallons of hand sanitizer and 5,000 masks, so we're taking the precautions that we need to take, but quite frankly, I think it's being blown out of proportion. I think it's being polarized by the left because of the simple fact they would like mail-in ballots and that might be the only change they have defeat my president and if they have an opportunity to maybe cheat a little bit.

SANCHEZ: Chris, let me ask you something. I appreciate the fact you're holding voter registration events. It's important to have people have access to the ability to voice their thoughts in that way, but I want to clarify here. Did you say that you subscribe to the idea this was a planned pandemic?

COX: Well, it would seem so. The fact that they predicted over 5 percent of the population that got the virus would die when in fact it's less than 1 percent --

SANCHEZ: But hold on, wait, wait. I'm not talking about the projections. I'm asking if you believe that this pandemic, coronavirus, COVID-19 was planned?

COX: I believe that it's being polarized by the left for the simple fact --

SANCHEZ: No, no. I'm not asking you about the political reaction. Do you think that this is a plan by some nefarious organization to hurt Americans?

COX: I think this is planned by the left to sink this amazing economy that our president has built greater than anyone else, and that these numbers are being just exaggerated across the board. I have a friend, a doctor in South Carolina that took one of the swabs put it in an envelope and sent it in and it came back he was positive. I think people are dying from heart attack and strokes on their death certificates it's saying they died of COVID.

I think that the COVID is being -- if you have a cough or you sneezing or runny nose they're saying that you have COVID, but do they really have it you know?

[21:05:09]

Isn't it convenient that this is happening during -- on the eve of an election and that all of these protests around. Ands so, where you guys aren't happy with the bikers that are coming together, it's working collar, the blue collar and this working class community, the veterans and the rest of them are coming here. But yet we don't hear any push back with these big demonstrations from Black Lives Matters and other organizations like Antifa are marching through the streets.

If we look in Portland, was there any concern with your network voicing their concerns about the pandemic spreading --

SANCHEZ: Actually, there absolutely was, Chris, because I was in the streets with protesters and the first question I asked them is why are you here knowing that there is pandemic happening right now? It's something CNN has covered.

I'm curious, though, because I have friends who have died from COVID- 19. I'm curious, do you think they died because of the virus or someone, you know, faked their death or made it up? Because that is extremely offensive.

COX: And it certainly is. I definitely think this to be taken seriously but I think it's being blown out of proportion. I think right now the left sees an opportunity to polarize this situation to drive - to get America where they can mail in their ballots instead of exercising their right to vote at the precinct and that's what we would like to see. Go ahead.

SANCHEZ: So I'm really -- I want to understand your perspective, Chris, I do. And I'm really curious. So you're saying that Democrats planned to release this virus into the United States to beat President Trump in November?

COX: No, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that they see this is an opportunity.

SANCHEZ: OK, so what I asked before --

COX: And they see this is an opportunity to polarize a nation, to exaggerate what's happening right now, to take some of these cases of people who have died from different ailments that their death certificates are saying they died of COVID when they died of heart attack or --

SANCHEZ: Somehow every coroner in every county in the United States is conspiring together to fill out death certificates falsely? Is that what you're suggesting?

COX: I think that we've got to do some political math here --

SANCHEZ: Do you understand how a death certificate process works, Chris?

COX: -- electing of a president who have insult against them on every turn that he made.

SANCHEZ: Chris, do you understand the process that doctors and coroners go through when someone dies to fill out a death certificate? It's a legal process, and it has to be verified by a coroner. There are coroners in every county in the United States. For what you're saying to be true all of these coroners from across the country have to be sitting in a room conspiring to falsify death certificates. Is that really what you're saying?

COX: I'm saying that it's being recorded by doctors on both sides this is not as bad it's being reported to be. I'm suggesting that a lot of people are dying from different things at their death certificates are coming out died in COVID.

SANCHEZ: OK.

COX: I told you have I have firsthand experience of someone sending in a test log without it even touching it with a rubber glove and it coming back they were tested positive. I have friends that have been in line to get the COVID test and it took so long they left, and because they left it was reported they had COVID when in fact they didn't.

SANCHEZ: That's fascinating and I wish you would stay on the line with us after this interview to give us their contact information so we could have them on CNN, and if not CNN, Fox News or Reuters or any other news organization because that deserves to be exposed.

I have another question for you. If all these coroners are conspiring to falsify these numbers as you've suggested then what about other countries? Why have almost 20 million people around the world have been reported to died from coronavirus? Are their coroners in all these other countries -- rather forgive me, 20 million cases, some nearly 725,000 deaths -- are coroners in other countries also falsifying death certificates?

COX: Well, let me ask you this are more people dying from the common flu, or more people dying from car accidents, are more people dying from aids, are more people dying, you know, just from --

SANCHEZ: I appreciate the intent to deflect from the question, but I'm asking you if you think that people in other countries are also faking their numbers and if Democrats are somehow controlling them, too, Chris?

COX: No, I don't think that the Democrats are behind it, but I think that they are trying to polarize the nation. I think they're trying to use this as a steppingstone to try to get mail-in ballots which is just absurd. We need to go to the polls and exercise our right to vote. There's too much wiggle room for cheating if we mail in our ballots --

[21:10:12]

SANCHEZ: If you believe that Democrats are playing politics with this that's one thing, but if you believe there's actually a conspiracy to fake deaths that's an entire -- or to fake the cause of death that's an entire other subject. But I want to go back to the question I asked you because you mentioned a lot of your organization believes this is a planned pandemic, and I want to ask you again just to clarify the point. Do you believe that some nefarious organization actually planned to put this in the United States to affect the outcome of the election? Was this by design, Chris?

COX: Well, that remains to be seen. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I need to see hard evidence before I am able to ascertain an answer for that. But I do believe this is being polarized by the left and being blown out of proportion, and I think that time will show that it's not as bad they're saying it is. After November 3rd I have a feeling this is going to disappear. To me it's ironic it comes on the even of an election where our president who had built an economy better than any president before him that we have --

SANCHEZ: So, wait, Chris --

COX: -- jobs that have come out (INAUDIBLE) from African-American, Hispanic, Asians and so forth and so on. If you're more women in leadership positions in this administration than ever before, it just seems to me this is just another jab, and why do I think this? I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Let's go back --

SANCHEZ: Right. But what you're saying is unscientific and you're suggesting that somehow an organization decided they were going to kill all these people to affect an election. You're suggesting that by saying that it's coincidence it's happening in 2020. It's not a coincidence.

For years medical experts, people who know more than I do about science and medicine have been predicting something like this is going to happen. But you somehow believe this is all done to target the president.

COX: I think that the fact they said that 5 percent of the population that got this disease of this pandemic would die when in fact it's less than 1 percent --

SANCHEZ: Yes, Chris, the president himself also predicted this was going to go away by April when it got warmer. So, you know, predictions -- I'd rather take the word of scientists and people who actually know what they're talking about, their area of expertise than the president who doesn't seem to know much about medicine and science and this virus.

Chris Cox, I really appreciate your time.

COX: We've had plenty of doctors come out and say this is not as bad --

SANCHEZ: Yes, we've also -- there are certain doctors have also said that sex with demons is to blame for a number of medical ailments. Chris Cox, we're going to leave it there. I do appreciate the perspective. I hope you stay healthy and the people you and your friends come in contact with over the next two weeks also stay healthy. Thank you again, sir.

COX: Thank you. God bless America.

SANCHEZ: And god bless you as well.

Tonight, President Trump signed four documents at his golf resort in New Jersey. They were executive actions aimed at helping millions of financially struggling Americans pay their bills, buy food and pay their rent because of the pandemic. That's after congressional negotiators failed to reach a stimulus deal.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is with me now. Kristen, plenty of questions remain after the president took this unilateral action today, and one of them is where will this money actually come from?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. So we have four executive actions, one executive order and three memoranda. And I want to break it down for you because there's a lot of nuance here and there's still a lot of questions. We've actually asked the White House for clarification on a few things, but here's what the four were.

One was deferring student loan debt, pretty self-explanatory. Two was the tax holiday for people making under $100,000 a year. Now, this would be retroactive and would start August 1st and go through December. But a lot of questions how this is going to work because you're looking at people and families who might face an enormous amount of back tax and not be able to pay it back.

Now, President Trump said if he was elected in November that he would dissolve this back tax but obviously that's a big question mark there.

On eviction there was some reporting it was an eviction moratorium. It was not. It was an executive order that was not a straight eviction moratorium. I was just want to be very clear there. It calls on agencies like the Health and Human Services to essentially consider whether it was necessary to temporary halt evictions -- to temporarily halt evictions.

Why is this an issue? Well, we're talking about a lapsed moratorium right now and it doesn't appear this will fix anything anytime soon. The last one also very complicated. So complicated we have a graphic here for you.

This is the enhanced unemployment benefits. Now, we know people were getting $600 a week. That ended when these stimulus talks fell through. Now President Trump is saying people will get $400 a week. Well, there's a bit of a catch there.

[21:15:09]

It's actually only $300 a week that is coming from the federal government. He is asking states to pay that extra $25 which ends up being $100 per person. Now why is this an issue? Well, we know some of these states have been financially crippled from the pandemic. And when President Trump was asked if governors were going to be able to pay this, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITES STATES: If they don't, they don't. That's going to be their problem. I don't think their people will be too happy. They have the money so I don't think their people will be too happy. But if they don't they don't but, again, the states have the money. It's sitting there.

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HOLMES: So obviously a lot of questions there. If they don't, they don't. Well, that means people would be getting essentially half of what they were getting before of money they rely on for groceries, child care, rent, et cetera.

Now top Democrats have already reacted. They slammed these executive actions. They called them weak and narrow, and this is what Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had to say. They put out a statement that said today's meager announcement by the president shows President Trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crisis facing working families.

Big question here, Boris, is when is all of this going to actually come into play? There seems to be a lot of questions as when people will actually start seeing money that they desperately need.

SANCHEZ: All right, Kristen Holmes, traveling with the president near Bedminster, New Jersey.

40 million Americans are at risk of evection and millions more also facing hunger due to the economic downturn as the result of the pandemic. As food banks struggle to meet the growing need across the country why can't Congress make a deal to help those in need?

We have former democratic Senator Barbara Boxer joining us live next.

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SANCHEZ: President Trump's announced new executive actions after Congress failed to a pass a new stimulus bill as tens of millions of Americans suffer from the economic catastrophe caused by the coronavirus. The president circumvented Congress by enacting a payroll tax deferment and reducing weekly unemployment benefits from $600 to $400 of which states are going to have to kick in a $100.

The president's actions also included protections for 40 million Americans facing evictions across the country, but there's no clear time line of how soon this will help will reach those that need it most.

With me now, former long time democratic U.S. senator from California, Barbara Boxer. Senator, thanks so much for joining us tonight.

BARBARA BOXER (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR FOR CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: After the president -- of course. After the president announced his executive actions late today on stimulus relief, Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer called his announcement weak and narrow. What would you say to Americans that say that at least the president did something while Congress remains gridlocked?

BOXER: The president doesn't know how to be a president. Thanks to the people of California I've served for a very long time in the Congress and House and Senate for 34 years combined. Five presidents.

Now this president had an opportunity to do the good thing, the right thing, to walk into a negotiation. He says he knows the art of the deal. Where was he? He sends I call them the M&M brothers, Mnuchin and Meadows who don't really want a deal and they can't deliver a deal. You know, Meadows is from the tea party. He doesn't believe the government should do anything.

So the president took this moment and instead of doing his job that he's supposed to do, he turned it into one big mess. And everything you said about what he did I would question because I think that it's really -- he was stealing money from the social security trust fund and Medicare trust fund to pay for stuff, from FEMA. It's just one big mess. That's why there's no deal.

SANCHEZ: And Senator, I'm curious as far as Democrats go, do you believe they made the right decision by walking away from a negotiating table over funding for state and local governments. Republicans not wanting to give them a trillion dollars. But, again, Americans sitting down at home facing unemployment, facing hunger, they're going to hear from Republicans saying they wanted to do something -- some thing, some form of help but Democrats didn't.

BOXER: The Democrats did not walk away. The Democrats who had passed a bill weeks and weeks ago, OK, $3 trillion bill. Yes, to make sure that our heroes get the PPE, to make sure that state and local government, they're the ones who are carrying this whole fight against COVID, the president walked away from that. He doesn't even want to help them out. They're going to start laying people off. The schools, the president said, oh, you must reopen. And the Democrats have money in there for the schools.

So what did they do? I was almost going to say Chuck and Nancy because that's what the president calls it. Speaker Pelosi and Democratic Leader Schumer they said, OK, we'll go down, we'll drop down a trillion dollars, meet us halfway, and they said no.

And therefore people are going to be suffering. It's as simple as that. I do not see what the president did as really being effective. He didn't even extend because he's not allowed to extend the unemployment money. He setup a new program. It's a mess. As you point out the states have to provide money when he's not giving the states any money.

[21:25:00]

So I think he just wanted to stamp his feet and he wanted people like you with all due respect to say to people like me why do the Democrats walk away? A, the president never walked in, B, the Democrats didn't walked away. And they're still available. They're still ready to go.

SANCHEZ: To be fair we ask tough questions of everyone, senator. I do --

BOXER: It's all fair. It's a fair question. But it's just what the Republicans want the people to believe that the Democrats walked away when they did not walk away. People are hungry. People are hurting, people are sick and dying. And we need to do something to help the people not just some flimflam, quick, you know, quick thing so people think everything is going to be great. So I'm proud of the Democrats.

Look, they're going to make a deal if they can make a deal. Believe me, they will.

SANCHEZ: Senator Boxer, I want to turn now and pivot to the 2020 election and Joe Biden's search for a running mate. In March you said that he should listen to Congressman Jim Clyburn on this after he said he wants Biden to pick an African-American woman.

We see Senator Kamala Harris right at the top of that list. I've spoken to people who say the good money is on her, the smart money is on her. She's a senator from California, as are you. Should she be the pick?

BOXER: My seat it was a great election, yes. When I left the Senate she won that seat. I think I have no idea who is going to be picked, and I do think Jim Clyburn should be very, very involved with the pick. Because, look, as Joe Biden often says you stick with people who brought you to the dance. And with that, Jim Clyburn, you know, wow, he wouldn't have made it.

And so Jim just stood up, he was a character witness and people listened. And they voted for Joe who was one of the nicest, most wonderful, compassionate people -- the opposite of Trump who doesn't seem to care or have one soft spot in his heart for anybody but himself. Really.

SANCHEZ: You dance with the one who brought you and former Senator Barbara Boxer, we're glad you came out to the dance floor to be with us on this Saturday night. Thank you very much for your time.

BOXER: Of course.

SANCHEZ: The United States is home to some of the top medical experts in the world but a new study ranks the country's response to the pandemic in the bottom six of all countries. What went wrong? We'll discuss next.

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[21:32:05]

SANCHEZ: The US is home to some of the world's top doctors, hospitals and medical schools. And as recently as 2014, the world looked to the United States to clamp down on a different deadly virus outbreak, ebola. Despite that America's coronavirus response, when you look at the raw numbers has largely fallen short.

Again, this is not political. This is about numbers. As the New York Times puts it, "One country stands alone as the only affluent nation to have suffered a severe sustained outbreak for more than four months, the United States." And a Foreign Policy Magazine study ranks America's coronavirus response in the bottom six. So what went wrong?

Joining me now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Max Boot, and Dr. James Phillips, he's a Physician and Assistant Professor at George Washington University Hospital. Thank you both for joining us tonight.

Doctor, we have the money, we have the expertise, so why did the United States wind up in a worse position than other developed nations like Germany or South Korea?

DR. JAMES PHILLIPS, PHYSICIAN & ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Well, Boris, thanks for having me on tonight. It's a profound question. It's not that we weren't prepared. It's not that we haven't trained, performed drills and had thought exercises about viral outbreaks for the last two decades.

What my best deduction of this is, it's a lack of willpower, and it's on two major fronts. One is a lack of political willpower. So they've early on that there were something coming that could be destructive to our country, and then having the courage to go to take the steps forward in order to sort of implement the things that needed to be implemented besides just shutting down travel bans.

You know, we fought for weeks to try to get the President to enact the Production Act in order to increase the amount of testing we have, the PPE that we were struggling to get. And so, that lack of willpower was passed onto the governors where they were expected to be able to lead within their own states. But they're doing so in a setting where the President himself will come after them if they break rank, and affect their political chances in their future elections as well

And then in addition to that, we failed early onto adapt the testing that was necessary. And even more so, we failed to ramp that up to a degree that we're going to need in the coming season.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Max, on the category of fact-based communication, Foreign Policy Magazine gave the US the lowest possible score. The world is watching the United States. They're watching all of this unfold, what does this pandemic mean for America's standing?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think what this pandemic has done for America is, as I wrote not long ago is, it has turned us into a pitiful pariah. We are all used to people around the world resenting and fearing the United States, but what we're experiencing now is that people around the world pity us. They can't believe what America has become.

[21:35:02]

I can't believe it myself. I mean, this is truly the most shocking and extensive governmental failure of my lifetime. It is just unbelievable failure of leadership on the part of President Trump.

As you alluded to we have the resources. We are the richest country in the world. We have an incredible medical sector. We have the best drug companies in the world. We have the capability to deal with this but we haven't.

I mean, this should be a subject -- a matter of profound embarrassment to us that poor countries like Vietnam have done a much better job of dealing with this problem than we have. No other country in the world is suffering the way we are. With about four percent of the world's population, we have about 25 percent of the world's cases. And it really comes down to a President who early on said, I don't take responsibility at all.

And President Trump has really been guided by wishful-thinking here because at least two dozen times he has said the fires will go away of its own accord. It clearly is not doing that, it is actually getting worse. But President Trump and especially the governors who follow him, in states like Georgia and Florida, have not faced up to the threat that we face.

They refuse to mandate simple things like wearing masks, which is one of the most effective things we can do. But a lot of people just refuse to do it, and that is why we are still struggling with this. That is why we have 160,000 deaths and counting. This is just a catastrophe due to the horrible lack of leadership that we are seeing in Washington and many of our state capitols.

SANCHEZ: Doctor, are there any signs for optimism? Are there bright spots that you could look at in the data and think, you know, however many months ahead, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

PHILLIPS: The data doesn't necessarily show that currently, but what previous data has showed is that we were able to flatten the curve. When people -- I was talking about willpower before and it's not just the political willpower but the individual willpower. The decision of the individual to take the virus seriously to sacrifice their personal freedom, if they want to call it that, and don a mask in an attempt to try to reduce viral spread.

To space away from people in public. To stay away from people who aren't wearing masks. And to understand that there's enormous sacrifices as far as closing school and businesses. And a lack of that willpower has hurt us too.

When we look at the data we showed, that whenever we had lockdowns, if you want to call it that, whenever we forced that those non- pharmaceutical interventions on people, the curves flattened. You look at what New York was able to do at the height of their epidemic and that they're now at the lowest rates we've seen in most states.

There's proof that it can be done. And so, the most important thing I've seen from the data is that, it's possible and we can do it again if we find the willpower.

SANCHEZ: And, doctor, is a fall and winter surge inevitable? Do you think we may still have time to get it under control?

PHILLIPS: Well, I don't know that it's inevitable that we're going to see surges everywhere. We certainly will continue to see this wave, if you want to call it that, run its course through different states. My biggest concern as an emergency physician and as a disaster specialist is the fact that we're coming into flu season, cold season and cold weather where people tend to spend most of their time indoors. And so, the testing that we need is far from adequate.

Imagine that the number of people that come into my emergency department every year, because they have a cough or a fever, and it turns out to just simply be a cold or the flu. We're going to have to test all of those individuals as well. And we don't know necessarily what the reparations of co-infection will be for people who get both COVID-19 and either another coronavirus or another cold, or even concomitantly develop the flu while they have coronavirus.

So we have a lot of questions to answer ahead, but we have so many more people that we're going to have to test over the next six months. We are clearly not prepared for this.

SANCHEZ: Max, I want to ask you about foreign interference in the 2020 election, shift gears a little bit. The intelligence community's top elections security official said that Russia is working to damage Joe Biden's campaign. China, though, would prefer a Joe Biden win. What's your take away?

BOOT: Well, there's no equivalence here. I mean, this is really an attempt by the intelligence community to placate President Trump because there was a blockbuster article in the New York Times Magazine today about how President Trump has put his thumb on the scale and is trying to prevent the intelligence community from --

SANCHEZ: Sorry, you cut off there for a second. Max Boot, Dr. James Phillips --

BOOT: There was a New York Times article today about how President Trump is trying to prevent the intelligence community from coming clean about the extent of Russian interference in our election because the Russians are trying to elect President Trump. And the way that they're trying to triangulate here is by saying, well, yes, the Russians are interfering to help President Trump but the Chinese and others prefer Joe Biden.

[21:40:02]

But there is not equivalency here because there's no evidence that the Chinese are mounting the kind of covert disinformation campaign that the Russians are running in order to elect President Trump. It's the Russians who are the primary culprits here and trying to undermine our elections. And President Trump doesn't want to hear about it because the Russian interference is going to benefit him.

This is a truly, this along with the COVID, this mishandling of the COVID, this is really another shocking dereliction of duty on the part of our President. SANCHEZ: All right. We have to leave the conversation there. Max Boot, Dr. James Phillips, we appreciate both of you and your expertise. Thanks so much.

Finding the right running mate, former Vice President Joe Biden on the cusp of picking his VP contender for the 2020 election, we break down his choices after a quick break.

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SANCHEZ: Joe Biden is running out of time to choose a running mate with a Democratic National Convention just nine days away.

[21:45:01]

We're told these six women are under serious consideration. They're in no particular order. In fact, sources say Biden met with Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, just last weekend. And while neither side will confirm the meeting, flight records do back it up.

Joining me now former Advisor to four U.S. presidents both Democrat and Republican, David Gergen. David, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We found out about this meeting, of course, with Governor Whitmer, this meeting with Governor Whitmer just last night. Were you surprised to learn that this late in the game she's still a contender?

GERGEN: I was surprised. I think it was a wise move. She's been a good governor here. She ran into a lot of flack out there on the virus, when she was so tough about it. But it turned out she was right, and she was vindicated on that. And her popularity numbers in Michigan are strong, and it's an important state.

So I'm not surprised she's in the finals. I do think, Boris, that she's probably not in the top tier. My sense of it is, for whatever reason, the expectation has grown is not only is it going to be a woman but a black woman. And, you know, Governor Whitmer obviously and Elizabeth Warren don't make that cut. They're both very, very strong individuals.

I think Elizabeth Warren is the brightest of the whole crew. But I do think it's more likely to go to an African American black woman.

SANCHEZ: David, I want to ask you about the executive actions that President Trump took today. He has tweeted multiple times about previous executive actions taken by President Barack Obama. The President, on multiple occasions, criticizing Obama for executive actions. He writes, "Why is Barack Obama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority?"

Senator Ben Sass just issued this statement, this hour, pushing back on the President's moves, calling it unconstitutional slop. What do you think of the President issuing these executive actions in comparison to President Obama?

GERGEN: Well, I think he's outdone Obama. He's stretched the limits of the constitution and the norms of the criminal justice system far beyond what any other president has done. And it's been a surprise.

I have the sense, Boris, that the White House was happy not to have this negotiated out at the negotiating table. And when it collapsed, they really -- the President really preferred to leave the action, executive action on his own plate. That way he would be the center of action, he'd be fighting for, you know, the unemployment benefits. We have to do it now for all sorts of reason, they'd be doing it now for student loans.

I think it was done partly for political reasons. It certainly appears that way.

SANCHEZ: The camera just captured me asking my producers for one quick second, because I want to ask you about the thinking behind the Democratic leadership. They are going to get pounded by Republicans who are saying they walked away from a deal that could have helped a lot of Americans.

It wasn't a deal. The Democrats wanted the trillion dollars for state and local government, but Republicans will argue that it was something. Is this strategy a mistake?

GERGEN: I don't think the Republicans are going to get away with that very long if Democrats play their cards right. The Democrats have to have a very clear message. We actually wanted to do more for Americans, especially for those in the working class and for students and the like. And the nasty Republicans wouldn't do it, and that's why we're holding on.

We're going to get a better deal. We're promising you a better deal. You know, Trump has said basically if you vote for me, you may not have to pay the payroll taxes. Well, the Democrats are saying, if you vote for us, look at the goodies we're going to provide. So I'm not so sure it works in the Republicans favor.

I want to say one last thing if I may, Boris. Going to go back to the question of the vice presidential pick, if you don't mind, just for a minute.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

GERGEN: And that is, as we look at these candidates, I do think that the questions that have been published in the press about what questions the campaign are asking I think are good but they're not the right question. The published report says they're asking a question, would this person do a good job as vice president, would this person fit well with Joe Biden, would this person be an asset or liability on the ticket. All interesting questions, all should be asked.

But the most important question when you pick a vice president is, is this vice president, my running mate, going to make a great president if history calls? And what we know is, we've had 15 vice presidents since World War II, five have gone onto the presidency. In other words, there's a one in three chance, if history repeats, there's a one in three chance that the person that Joe Biden named will be a future president.

SANCHEZ: All right. David Gergen, thank you so much for the time, sir. Appreciate it.

GERGEN: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Of course, we are following some breaking news tonight into the investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor. We're going to tell you what the FBI says they are now testing next.

[21:50:00]

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SANCHEZ: The governor and first lady of Ohio have tested negative for coronavirus a second time. This was done through what's called a PCR test. The governor and his wife also had a negative PCR test Thursday. Governor Mike DeWine and his wife were tested this rigorously because the governor received a positive result after taking a rapid antigen test just before he was scheduled to meet with President Trump. That meeting did not happen because of the initial false positive test result.

We're following breaking news tonight into the investigation of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, the unarmed woman who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, after officers forced their way inside her home.

[21:55:06]

The FBI now says they are testing ballistic evidence recovered from inside her apartment. The FBI Louisville Field Office says the findings will be shared with the Kentucky attorney general who has yet to press charges against those officers. The state attorney general says they are still waiting for additional evidence but that his office remains committed to an independent and thorough investigation.

Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old EMT. Police say they were executing a search warrant in a narcotics investigation when they rammed down her door. A no-knock warrant, no drugs were found in that apartment.

Hey, I'm Boris Sanchez, thank you so much for watching. But please don't go anywhere. Up next, CNN's Special Report "The Road to Change America's Climate Crisis." Thanks for joining us, have a good night.