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CNN Special Report Examines the Electoral College; Trump to See Younger Brother Hospitalized in New York; Update on Coronavirus Responses Across the Country; Trump Speaks as U.S. Averages 1,000+ Deaths Per Day for 18th Straight Day; Trump Praises QAnon Supporter Who Won GOP Primary. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 14, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Alexander Hamilton wanted these men -- and they were all men at the time -- to go in and vote for whatever they thought was best no matter what the states decided.
And now clearly, that's not where we are. And legally speaking, most electors can't even do that now.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That's right.
While I have you, I want to ask you about President Trump's comments that New York State is in play this election because of a spike in crime and high taxes.
Which I hear like this record scratch in my mind. Does anyone else think that's the case?
BERMAN: No. I don't think Donald Trump even thinks it's the case.
Look, I covered the Bush campaign in 2000, when they actually competed for California. It's unbelievable to think that 20 years ago the Republican Party devoted serious money to competing in California. They didn't compete for New York then. They won't complete for New York now.
I will say there's an interesting electoral vote tie-in to this, which is that New York has 29 electoral votes, a lot of electoral votes. What happens to those voters that show up at the polls and vote for Donald Trump in New York?
How much does their vote count in the end? Zero. Double zero. Hold up two hands for that. Double zero.
Their votes mean nothing because we have a winner-take-all system for electoral votes by states. So ultimately, if the candidate you want loses by one vote in the state, your vote means nothing.
And there are people -- and you will hear them in the documentary tomorrow night -- who think that's incredibly unfair.
KEILAR: I can't wait for this, John. You always make -- you see politics as so fun as interesting and always comes through when you cover it. So I'm really looking forward to this.
John Berman, thank you.
BERMAN: There's music, too.
KEILAR: Oh, there's music.
KEILAR: It is set to music, so it is even better.
KEILAR: Excellent. We are looking forward to that.
Be sure to tune in for it. This is a special report of "COUNT ON CONTROVERSY, INSIDE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE " with John Berman. It will air tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. And there's music.
The White House task force warning Georgia of a dangerous spread and issuing guidance to stop it. The problem is Georgia kept it secret from the public.
Plus, hear what happened at one of the first football games to be played in America since the pandemic began.
And the president will head to New York this afternoon to see his younger brother who has been hospitalized. We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:09]
KEILAR: President Trump's younger brother, Robert, is in the hospital. A source saying that the president is expected to pay him a visit today.
Joe Johns is following developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, the White House announcing that Robert Trump, the younger brother of President Trump, has been hospitalized in New York.
Robert Trump, like the president, is in his 70s. This is the second time he's been hospitalized this year.
We are told the president plans to visit his brother in the hospital in New York later today.
A senior administration official telling CNN the president has a good relationship with his brother and his brother is very special to him -- Brianna?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Joe Johns, thank you so much.
There are growing fears that the Las Vegas economy could face long- term devastation. The state is facing an unprecedented Catch 22. Reopen all bars and entertainment venues and risk a massive new surge of cases or keep the bars closes and protect residents and lose money. A whole lot of it.
Casinos have been open at half capacity since June, but bars remain closed in the city. Nevada has an unemployment rate of 15 percent right now. It is the fourth highest in the U.S.
For the biggest COVID headlines, let's check in with our CNN correspondents across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Omar Jimenez, in Chicago. Based on the direction of coronavirus numbers in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker says he is deeply concerned.
When looking at the total number of cases over the past few months, we are over 200,000 for the state.
And while we are seeing near record levels of testing, the positivity rates in some parts of the state have continued to creep up.
Chicago, for example, had a positivity rate of less than 4 percent just about a month ago. And that number in recent days has been over 5 percent, with the highest case rate coming from the 18- to 29-year-old demographic, according to city health officials.
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN BUSINESS MEDIA WRITER: I'm Frank Pallotta, in New York. AMC is finally reopening their theaters but with 1920 prices. The chain reopened more than 100 August 20th but it will only cost 15 cents a ticket on the opening day.
AMC closed all of its theaters back in March when the pandemic took hold. The reopening has been delayed multiple times since then.
AMC said it's implementing new health and safety measures to keep moviegoers safe and curb the spread of coronavirus. That includes everything from lower capacity seating to making guests wear masks to upgrading the ventilation systems.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Andy Scholes, in Milton, Georgia, where high school football is back. High schools hitting the field last night in Utah in what's believed to be the first high school football game since the start of the pandemic.
[13:40:03]
Now, things certainly looked different. Only 25 percent capacity was allowed, which they did fill. Masks were required. And they had assigned seating. So if someone tested positive later, they can do contact tracing.
According to "Axios Sports," more than 30 other states across the country plan to start their high school football seasons in the coming weeks. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Thank you all so much.
And moments from now, the president will answer questions from the press as he has been amplifying a racist Birther lie about Kamala Harris. His son-in-law not disputing it either.
Plus, as the U.S. saw one of the deadliest weeks in the pandemic, experts say the nation needs millions of more tests as soon as possible.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:06]
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- in the last hour. Would you be willing to accept the $25 billion for the postal service, including the $3.5 billion --
(CROSSTALK)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they give us what we want. It's not what I want. It's what the American people want.
(TRUMP NEWS CONFERENCE FROM 13:45:19 TO 13:53:29)
[13:53:29]
TRUMP: No, that was a great deal by very talented people that work with me. And it's been praised all over the world. What you'll see now is other countries will come into that deal and you'll have peace in the Middle East,
And Biden doesn't even know -- he doesn't even the name of the countries I'm talking about.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: All right. President Trump there in the briefing room at the White House, taking questions after his coronavirus briefing, which covered a number of other topics as well.
I want to bring in Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst, to talk about this.
The first thing, Gloria, of note here, really has to do with mail-in ballots, because he was asked about $25 billion for the postal service, which is, clearly -- look, snail mail is going to be essential when you talk about voting in a pandemic.
And he said, sure, if they give us what they want, meaning the other things he wants in stimulus negotiations with Democrats, but certainly funding the postal service. At least he's consistent on this. It does not seem to be a priority, which is mind boggling with an election coming that will rely on the postal service.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: So, it's no surprise the Postal Workers Union has just endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
This president has been saying it out loud. Remember, during the Russia investigation, lawyers used to wonder, can you obstruct justice in public. I think the question and answer was yes, after they listened to Trump threatening witnesses.
[13:55:11]
Now the question is, can you try to derail the election if you're the president of the United States from the podium inside the White House. And I think the answer to that is yes.
He's saying, OK, holding them hostage, saying you have to give us everything else we want before I'm going to give you this money.
And this money, of course, is for the American people to be able to vote in a safe manner and in a fair manner. And I think both sides ought to get back at the table. Both sides.
KEILAR: Yes. He was also asked about Marjorie Taylor Greene, who just won her primary, and is expected to do very well in the general. She's expected to win the general in Georgia.
And he was asked if he agrees with her. She's a QAnon supporter, so she supports these nutso conspiracy theories. He really side stepped that. He complimented her and the state of Georgia.
BORGER: You know, this is a president whose pretty good at that. Yesterday, when asked at the press conference, are you -- do you apologize to the American people, or whatever the question was, for the amount you lied, kind of swatted it away. He swatted away that part of the question today as well.
He did say she did very well and that matters to Donald Trump because she won. She had a tremendous victory, he said. I did congratulate her.
And the question was asked again: Do you support what she stands for? And he paid absolutely no attention to it.
But he didn't swat it down either. He didn't say of course not, of course I don't believe in it.
And he also took the opportunity to say he hasn't been tough on Kamala Harris. And he said, you know -- I forget the exact language. He said, you know, she treated Joe Biden worse than anybody else.
Which, in his view, is Joe Biden is weak because he appointed somebody who actually criticized him during the primaries.
And from the Joe Biden campaign's point of view, it shows how inclusive he is.
And this isn't the first time a presidential candidate has appointed a former opponent to be a running mate.
KEILAR: I want to make a little note on that to our viewers. He also described how she comparable to Elizabeth Warren in treating Joe Biden. And used basically a slur to describe Elizabeth Warren, something very offensive to Native Americans.
He does it all the time. It's almost like he just -- to address it every time is to address it constantly. But I think we can't let it slide off of our backs.
I want to bring in Kaitlan Collins, who has been watching all of this at the White House.
He also, Kaitlan, something I thought was interesting, was he was asked about the vaccine, who gets it first?
And first off, there's no vaccine. The president is projecting a much quicker timeline than other people.
He did say there would be, he thinks, announcing something in the not- too-distant future. That's one of his throw-away lines he uses.
But asked who would get it first, he said the elderly or nursing homes. He didn't mention anyone else.
Talking about himself, he said I'll go first or last, whatever they want me to do. I think we know what that means, if there were a vaccine, if it were to be under his time in the White House.
He didn't mention pregnant women. He didn't mention first responders. I guess I was surprised about no mention of pregnant women, considering he's trying to make a play for women right now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It doesn't seem to be well thought out yet how the roll out would go. And that's something the medical experts have pushed on, that's what they need to be ready for.
Not only how to execute when a vaccine ready but it's so much more than actually being able to give people a vaccine. It's also convincing people to want to get a vaccine.
Some polls have shown people don't trust the process or fear it's going too quickly. And you've seen so many experts say we're not cutting any corners, we're not doing this.
But it's not clear who exactly would be first in line to get the vaccine. The president doesn't seem to be apprised of one, if there's one inside the administration. That is something to keep an eye on.
I want to point out and go back to the president avoiding that question from Joe Coleman, of the Associated Press, about that candidate he recently endorsed and congratulated on Twitter for winning her congressional race.
The president was not being asked if he congratulated her or endorsed her. We already knew he did because he did that on Twitter.
The reporter was asking if he agrees with the fact that she has embraced and promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, which is off the wall, if you look at some of it.
[14:00:00]
But instead of answering what he knew she was asking, he did not answer. And when she tried to follow up, he moved on to another reporter.
KEILAR: He certainly did. He was very careful to not respond to that follow-up question.
