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Report: White House Task Force Recommended Georgia Implement Statewide Mask Mandate; Admiral Brett Giroir: Some Playing "Statistical Shell Game: With COVID Data; Dr. Anthony Fauci: You Can't Ignore The Virus And Reopen The Country; Kevin Clinesmith Admits To Falsify Documents Used In FISA Warrant; Former FBI Lawyer Pleads Guilty As Part Of Durham Probe. Aired 12-12:30p ET
Aired August 14, 2020 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you so much for sharing your Friday with us. In just a moment, we will see the Democratic ticket, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Kamala Harris signing the paperwork necessary to put their name in for nomination for the Democratic Party's Presidential and Vice Presidential Nominee. The convention of course is next week. We'll take you there live when that happens.
Also, in a bit, some reckless birther deja vu from the President and his win at all cost team. Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. Hold that for later. The President hold the news conference, next hour, we'll bring you there when it happens as well.
But first, the Coronavirus pandemic is what matters most and it is the source of the president's daily if not hourly efforts to distract you with his conspiracy theories. The case count inching up again at the end of the week, and we end this work week with this sober assessment of where the pandemic fight stands seven months in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Unless we all pull together, to get that down and we don't have disparities in some states that are doing this and some states are doing that, we're going to continue to have this up and down. Bottom line is, I'm not pleased with how things are going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Also new this morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci telling our Sanjay Gupta the U.S. government now planning a backup plan to test a Coronavirus vaccine including making its own laboratory strains of the novel Coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci cautions we won't know for months if such a course is necessary and that this is "Absolutely far out contingency". In the here and now these are among the data points that leave Dr. Fauci as you just heard him say not pleased. 51,000 plus new cases added to the infection count here in the United States on Thursday.
Over the last week, 365,000 new infections. California is now the first state to crack the 600,000 case mark. Plus, word today of a White House Task Force warning to the State of Georgia, dated Sunday urging the Governor to implement a statewide mask mandate.
And these 18 consecutive days averaging 1,000-plus American Coronavirus deaths. The president insists things are going well with the few hiccups and schools and the economy should open and stay open. Dr. Fauci says it's a lot more complicated than that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FAUCI: To think that you can ignore the biologic and get the economy back is not going to happen. It is just not going to happen. You got to do both. You got to get control the biologic as you carefully open the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Control the biologic, yes. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Let's take a closer look at the national trends and look at a map where we close the work week here. Six states trending up meaning more infections this week compared to last week. 21 states, that's the beige holding steady. 23 states, you'll see a lot of it across the South here not into the West, going down.
The green means fewer cases right now than a week ago. The red again six dates, the red and orange trending up. The map relatively static throughout the week in terms of the number of states trending up. That's more or less a flat line.
The death trend map, this is a bad map right, you look 18 states now reporting more deaths this week compared to the data last week. 18 states reporting more heading up, 12 holding steady and 20 going down.
Remember the 18 though, if we do go back two weeks ago, we had 27. Two weeks ago 27 reporting. This was the summer surge that a couple of weeks after the peak of the summer surge, you'll see more deaths, so it is hard to look at this map and say it is better news.
A lot of pain and sadness here, but it is somewhat, somewhat of an improvement in those numbers. If you look at the case trend, this is what Dr. Fauci is worried about. You've had a pretty static line, you have around 60,000 cases.
You saw some evidence that was starting to drop a little bit. The last two days, 50,000 cases plus, that's what Dr. Fauci is worried about that even if this is a flat line plateau, it is way too high. Need to shut that down.
If you want to look at the new testing trend, we did have a big day of reporting testing yesterday. That's a good thing. The more test, the more eyes you have on the virus in the community spread. That had been dipping a little bit here, at least sometimes out of the weekend you get bad data.
But the tests are up there. This is where it gets interesting, and this is a big debate now on the public health community. The positivity rate. Below 6 percent yesterday, that is progress, especially if you look at all this above 8 percent. You had one day here or what spike way up there.
Don't look at any one day, look at the trends. Hopefully it stays down here and moves on further down. Here is why Dr. Fauci, another reason, Dr. Fauci is worried, though. 34 states are reporting their positivity rate this week is higher than it was last week, even if it's relatively low, higher this week than last week is not good. Still the country's testing CZAR Admiral Giroir says in his view, we have enough tests, things are heading in the right direction.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, HHS: I'm very concerned about these statistical shell games that are being played with the data that are misrepresenting the actual situation on the ground in the country right now. The number of cases are decreasing. The percent positivity is going down. We're now under 7 percent as a country.
Hospitalizations are going down. If Americans continue to do what they're doing, wear a mask, watch the distance, wash your hands, that this is a strategy that work, we've seen it work across the Sun Belt, if continue those strategies with smart testing, mortality will decrease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Tom Inglesby. Here is the Director of Health Security at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Inglesby, thanks for being with us. When the admiral talks of a shell game, clearly the people inside the task force, they get mad sometimes when I show that map or when public health experts like yourself come on and question the testing strategy. Is there a shell game?
Do you see people distorting the data or do you see the administration maybe trying to put a rosy outlook on the data?
DR. TOM INGLESBY, DIR, CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes, no. I think that the data are the data. We are as admiral Giroir said, there are some positive trends in the last couple of days, but there is still a lot of very serious concerning trends.
The fact that we're above 5 percent when so many other countries in the world are well below 5 percent, some countries that we compare ourselves frequently to in Europe are 2 percent or less. Some places in the world are less than 1 percent. So I think the diagnostic test positivity rate being up above 5 percent for so long, I think is a serious concern. KING: And so, let's follow up on that very point, because one of the
things that the admiral says is when people say we need more testing, sometimes tens of thousands more testing, you need more testing, diagnostic testing, you need faster results. The Admiral says they're surging them to where they're necessary. Let's say here's a little bit of a debate about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIROIR: "You beat the virus by smart policies supplemented by strategic testing; you do not beat the virus by shotgun testing everyone all the time."Not only do we not recommend this strategy of testing everyone on a frequent basis, but I think it could instill a false sense of security.
DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: I think Admiral Giroir is fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of testing, which is unfortunate because he is our national testing CZAR.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You would talk to CZAR; you think the admiral misunderstands the purpose. Is there some middle ground? If you are out there, if you're watching at home, if you're a parent or your company just said, it's time to come back to work, this debate confuses people.
INGLESBY: Yes. I think - I mean, the highest priority for the country is to test the people who are symptomatic or those who are recently exposed to someone who had COVID, and people who are going to hospitals for getting medical procedures.
So those things are high priorities, but there are many institutions, schools, universities, businesses that would like to be testing much more frequently and probably could if we had more testing capability.
But one of the problems right now is that, it's possible for those asymptomatic testing strategies to crowd out the testing of people who are actually sick. So for now, with testing capability where it is, we have to focus on the people who have symptoms, people are hospitalized. Or getting procedures for hospitals I should say.
But hopefully down the road when more point of care testing becomes available, we will be able to test on larger scale, be able to test in our own homes, that's just not possible right now.
KING: All right. The frustrating part, I don't pretend to understand the science like you do sir is that, seven months in, we keep having these conversations down the road when we have the capability built up. Why seven months in, we're still having those conversations is a mystery to me in the United States of America.
Let's add your context to that if you will in this text part. You just talked about how the positivity rate above 5 percent it's a bad thing. And again if you look around the world, you're right, especially many developed nations if that had a problem, look across Europe, looking Asia, they have shoved it down to 2 or 1 or lower. I mentioned the case count, two days in a row above 50,000 down a bit
from the summer surge, yes, but still a stubbornly high and troublesome baseline. And then we can look at these hospitalizations in the United States. And again if you follow the blue line on this graph, it is starting to trend down. At any time we see that, we should be less mad, I guess, I don't want to say happy.
But still that is a stubbornly high, more than 40,000 people are hospitalized in the United States. Again, seven months in, that many people hospitalized. The positivity rate above 5 percent. 50,000 cases a day. Where are we?
INGLESBY: We are still in a really bad place with this pandemic. It's my concern is that, when we begin to see glimmers of good news that people then have a sense that things are going away and that they might be able to kind of relax their own behaviors around this virus. This virus hasn't changed. It is the same as it was before and it's doing very substantial damage to the country.
[12:10:00]
INGLESBY: I think we really have to be very focused on mask use, avoiding large gatherings, social distancing, hand hygiene all those things. And if we do those things consistently across the country, then I think we have the chance to keep going down, but this plateau we're in now, it's fragile.
It could go back in the other direction if people begin to relax. So I think we should welcome good news, but we should also be aware that things change quickly with this virus and we can move in the wrong direction if we're not careful.
KING: All right. I appreciate it. I don't think that's very candid straight talk, right. The right perspective, Dr. Tom Inglesby. As always sir, very grateful for your insights and expertise and your candor. We'll continue that conversation and another developing story we're following closely.
The White House confirming President Trump's younger brother Robert has been hospitalized in New York. Sources say the President is expected to stop by to visit his brother later today. It is unclear, we don't have any details yet as to why the younger Trump is in the hospital. We certainly wish him the best.
Up next for us, mail-in voting is getting easier across the country, but President Trump is pushing back in more ways than one.
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KING: An important ceremonial moment, just moments ago. Former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris signing the paperwork necessary to put their names into nomination at next week's Democratic Convention. Let's take a look.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thank you. Can any of you say, go.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'll tell it go. That's it.
BIDEN: You make me sign. You make me sign a lot more in Delaware.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, what do you make of President Trump and Republicans talks on you since you became the running mate for Mr. Biden?
HARRIS: I'm signing this because I'm in this race to win and with that guy right there. And we are going to get it done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, guys. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Senator Harris not saying much, giving a smile, pointing to Joe Biden saying, we are in it to win it. Borrowing a phrase in the last campaign, not responding directly to Republican attacks on her and more on that story a bit later in the program. But that's the official paperwork to put those names, Joe Biden for President, Kamala Harris for Vice President into nomination at next week's Democratic National Convention.
Her latest story right now, New Jersey today announcing it will send a mail-in general election ballot to every registered voter statewide. Governor Phil Murphy telling CNN the state also plans to increase the number of secured drop boxes, those for voters who might be nervous about putting their ballots in the mail.
Pennsylvania also responding to rising doubts about the post office. Pennsylvania says it will now accept mail-in ballots up to three days after Election Day as long as those ballots are postmarked by Election Day, November 3rd.
Other states are rethinking the process, too, because of recent postal service delays and management changes, policy changes, many Democrats suspect are politically motivated. Here is one flash point.
The postal service plans to remove nearly 700 high volume mail processing machines from service. Postal officials say many of those machines are not used anyway. The Democrats worry about a deliberate effort to delay the processing and then delivery of main-in ballots, which in turn could lead to challenges about the legitimacy of those ballots.
It is easy to see why at least on the surface Democrats are nervous. The President recently installed the top campaign donor as Postmaster General. And the President said, quite plainly in an interview yesterday that he is reluctant to give the postal service more money because it would use that money to make mail-in voting more efficient. I want to bring in our CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins
as well "The Daily Beast", Washington Bureau Chief Jackie Kucinich. Jackie, I want to start with you because a short time ago, the Former President of the United States Barrack Obama weighing into this big debate about, is the President tinkering with the postal service? Why is the president trying to undermine the credibility of mail-in voting?
Former President Obama tweeted everyone depends on the United States Postal Service. Seniors for this Social Security, veteran for their prescriptions, small businesses trying to keep their doors open. They can't be collateral damage for an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus. He went there.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. He did. But the President has sort of opened it up to that sort of criticism with his comments just this week on - Fox Business saying exactly what you said, that, you know, that if the postal service gets the money it needs it's going to be able to facilitate mail-in voting.
The President's problem with mail-in voting seems to be situational and vary state to state. Because in Florida, he says it's fine, because there's a Republican Governor and yet in Nevada, it's a problem.
So it really isn't it, it can be directly correlated as to where the President thinks he can win. In North Carolina, he said that he told a tele-rally this week that people should - that it's safe and that they should request their absentee voting which he prefers, even though it's the same thing as mail-in voting.
So it really depends on where he thinks he can win, frankly, as to whether or it seems to be as to whether he supports sending your vote in by mail or not.
KING: And again, the new Postmaster General says, I'll do it by the books, but he did meet with the President Kaitlan Collins before he went up to see the Democratic leaders in Congress who had a lot of questions for him. He is a big Trump donor.
You tried yesterday, if the management is watching, give Kaitlan Collins a bonus this week. This is a big story that country you tried to get the president to clarify and explain what he is doing here. Let's listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Doing anything where the people aren't taken care of and the people aren't being taken care properly.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is what you said they need that money in order to make the post office work to take all these millions and millions of ballots. And you said that would be fraudulent, so it sounded like you said --.
TRUMP: I said it will end up being fraudulent. To go to a voting booth like they use to and vote.
COLLINS: You don't feel safe voting in person. People want to vote by mail because--
TRUMP: Where they're going to have to feel safe and they will be safe and we will make sure that they're safe and we're not going to have to spend $3.5 billion to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:20:00]
KING: He was pretty calm in that exchange with you, the often rails against mail-in voting. He was pretty calm there, but he didn't directly address why not give the post office the money, sir? They asked for it. They need it to keep this election on track.
COLLINS: No. And it seems that confusion and doubt seems to be the president's end game here because what he was saying in that exchange with me was contradictory of what he had said just hours earlier. When he said, he wanted to block funding for the postal service that was the Democrats have said, they want to include in this new Coronavirus bill where they're not getting anywhere on those talks.
But then the president said, no, that he actually would sign a bill if it did include funding for the postal service. He didn't say how much. He seemed to imply that he would use it as a bargaining chip for Democrats. But then he raised questions about why there was an added $3.5 billion for election security.
And there that would be for Democrats to say, it's a hell, make sure that states can handle mail-in voting that they're expecting to increase substantially because of the pandemic. And so, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
There's a lot of confusion happening from it and then there at the end, you saw the president. The point is and the underlying issue that people are facing is they don't feel safe going to vote in person this November. Because the pandemic is based on what health experts are saying is still going to be going on.
But the president was saying there that they should go vote in person. So he is not really finding any way to try to resolve or answer those fears this people have about going to vote.
KING: And so, Jackie, now congress is gone. So if there's going to be more money, it's going to be a while before we know this is going to be more money probably until September. We know that president is opposed to it.
So when you see New Jersey says, we're going to mail everybody a ballot. Phil Murphy, the Governor saying, I'll keep my eye on the post office. I hope things will be okay. Pennsylvania changing the rules. Are states not just Democratic states, are all states now, do you see this coordinated effort to change, to rules, to do more to be safe because they don't know what's going to happen. KUCINICH: And it does seem to be moving that way and what you are also seeing particularly in the states that are being challenged by the Trump Campaign is you're seeing attorneys for democrats saying, okay, and some judges, frankly, in Pennsylvania you are saying okay, you need to show us what kind of fraud you're worried about because right now you're just putting out hypotheticals.
But I there's actual fraud, we need to know concrete examples of what you are talking about. And we'll see today if the Trump Campaign responds in Pennsylvania. But it does much like the pandemic seem like states are going their own way, they're not listening to the president.
And they're making sure that people are able to vote if they want to by mail so they don't have to feel like that to stand in lines in November or even with early voting where they might not feel as safe during the pandemic, which has had no national response and continues to rage across the country.
KING: Right. We're going to have to track a lot of lawsuits, legal challenges over the next 80 days, Jackie Kucinich and Kaitlan Collins will stand at top of this story back to the Coronavirus health threat when we come back.
Still ahead this big question is Georgia and its Republican Governor doing enough to stop the spread of the virus? The White House, the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force says, no.
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[12:25:00]
KING: Some important breaking news now out of the Justice Department. A Former FBI lawyer intending to plead guilty to falsifying a document used as part of a worn applications backed used to conduct surveillance on President Trump's 2016 Campaign. These charges the first out of that investigation into the origins of the Russia probe being led by the U.S. Attorney John Durham.
Let's get straight to our Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. Evan we've been waiting to see some results. Here's the first one.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. John, this is one of the things that the president has been asking for which is to see something out of the John Durham investigation and Kevin Clinesmith is the name of this former FBI lawyer.
During the time that the - that this was under investigation, they found that some anti-Trump messages that he had written in text messages, but this is the thing that got him in trouble was in June of 2017 as they were getting ready to do the fourth warrant on Carter Page, Former Associate of the Trump Campaign, he altered an email that came from the CIA. It turns out Page had been a source for the CIA and this was information that needed to be told to the FISA court.
Kevin Clinesmith altered an email to say that Carter Page was not a source of the CIA as part of the preparations for these documents that were submitted to the FISA court. So Clinesmith is now going to plead guilty to one count of making a false statement, which is sending that email, forwarding that email from the CIA officer saying that Carter Page was not a source.
We got a statement from Justin Shore, who is Clinesmith's Attorney. He says "Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email". It was never his intent to mislead the court or his colleagues as he believed the information he relayed was accurate, but Kevin understands what he did was wrong and accepts responsibility.
John, obviously, the President and Bill Barr have been building expectations that something big would come before the election, you know, from the Durham investigation. I guess that this would count as one of those things.
