Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Postmaster to Testify; Thousands without Power in Iowa; Retailers Report Higher Earnings; Arizona Man Ignored Pandemic Threat; Belarus Election Protests. Aired 9:30-10a
Aired August 18, 2020 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:31:59]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
And this just in to CNN.
The postmaster general is now set to testify before Congress as furious Democrats accuse the Trump administration of making changes in order to sabotage mail-in voting during the pandemic, when there's enormous increase in folks want -- who want to mail-in their votes. Louis DeJoy, he will appear before the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday now.
Later today, House Democrats are expected to unveil legislation aimed at blocking DeJoy's recent changes. Things like taking out sorting machines, mailboxes, et cetera. DeJoy will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All of this as the president says that the only way Democrats are going to win in November is if the election is rigged, his word. He's set to leave the White House in minutes. He's going to go to Iowa. He'll survey storm damage there and then he will travel to Arizona for a campaign stop.
Let's go to the White House. John Harwood joining us this morning.
What do you think -- I mean interesting maneuver, I guess, you know, to one up the house and the Senate Republican like (ph) committee to have him testify first?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But, you know, this is something where Democrats have raised the heat to a sufficient extent that they need to respond.
HARLOW: Yes.
HARWOOD: And at this point, Poppy, you mentioned the campaign stop in Arizona. Everything is a campaign stop at this point in the election season. The president just now commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women's suffrage. He announced that he would, this afternoon, pardon Susan B. Anthony
for having voting unlawfully, having been convicted for voting unlawfully in the 19th century. Of course, Trump's deficit with women is why he is losing to Joe Biden, especially suburban women, white, college graduate women.
The president will then go to Iowa, which is a state he won in 2016. He has a narrow lead over Joe Biden. He'll survey storm damage there. Then go to Arizona, another swing state where he is narrowly trailing Joe Biden. He needs that state.
Most of the electoral signs, in fact, are bad for the president, which is why he is trying to raise doubts about the integrity of the election itself, as he did in Minnesota yesterday.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we have to win the election. We can't play games. Get out and vote. Do those beautiful absentee ballots, or just make sure your vote gets counted. Make sure. Because the only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged. Remember that. It's the only way we're going to lose this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARWOOD: Now, of course, all of the polls indicate that that is not the case because he is trailing nationally, trailing in most of the swing states. But he alluded to those beautiful absentee ballots. He is trying to cast doubt on the validity of mail-in balloting. And that, of course, gets to the testimony that Jim referred to of Louis DeJoy before that House committee.
HARLOW: John Harwood, appreciate the reporting. Thanks a lot.
Let's go to Iowa.
More than 50,000 customers in the state still have no power. This is a week after a powerful storm system devastated parts of the Midwest.
[09:35:00]
You're looking at images there of Cedar Rapid, taking a direct hit, with roofs just torn off of those buildings.
SCIUTTO: Yes, the scale of this was truly remarkable. More than 800 buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed when that storm hit the city.
CNN's Ryan Young has been down there, seeing it firsthand this morning.
Tell us how far and wide this spread and how many people have been affected by it. RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, guys.
When you see this damage for yourself, you can see how widespread it is. We traveled several miles and we've seen building after building sort of damaged, showing the telltale signs.
But when you look behind me, you also see this. And there are plenty of tents all throughout this city where people have decided to stay in their tents near where they used to live. That is something that catches you off guard as you pull into this area. But you see the reasons why.
Look at this rooftop right here. It is gone. You're talking about hurricane force winds that tore through this area. Heavy equipment is being brought in right now to kind of try to restore things. But as you talked about, people are without power. They're without resources. When you see damage like this that's torn the roof off garages and pulled the doors back, you understand what these families are dealing with when it comes to the tough, economic times.
Let's take a look from above and we'll show you the drone video that we shot yesterday. You can see the wide path of damage that's all over this area. And they're asking for more federal assistance. They're hoping when the president arrives today he's able to get some of that moving.
We have seen the power crews all across the country working here to get things together. But when you talk to officials here on the ground, they say they feel like they've been left out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER OLSON, CEDAR RAPIDS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: We have hundreds of folks that are camping in their yards. And we're trying to find them shelter and food and water and make sure that they're safe. And we really need those federal resources. Those have started to trickle in, but for a few days we did really felt like we were -- we were being overlooked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: So you see this here, you can see the damage that has been left behind.
I just have to show you the balcony that's up here. You can see just how powerful the winds were. It's like this block after block. Businesses that have been damaged have been providing a lot of people work, especially the fast food and restaurant locations that now people are without jobs for a little bit. It's another blow during this pandemic that a lot of people can't stand.
Guys.
SCIUTTO: Yes, our hearts go out to them there. It takes ages to rebuild from that.
Ryan Young, thanks very much.
Well, some good economic news right in the midst of months of just heartbreaking news. But some of America's biggest retailers, they're actually reporting higher earnings over the last quarter. A lot of evidence there of people spending unemployment insurance, those stimulus checks and going to stores. And, listen, that's some good news in the midst of a broader, negative economic picture.
HARLOW: For sure. Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.
Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Obviously, as Jim said, the stimulus checks play a major part.
ROMANS: Yes.
HARLOW: And I'm not surprised that Walmart's doing so well. It's where you go to get everything you need, and Amazon.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: But what about like big picture for retailers?
ROMANS: Well, look, this is exactly what Congress set out to do, right, to immediately get money into the hands of Americans so that they could spend this summer and prevent a depression in the economy.
And when you look at Walmart earnings, for example, an increase of 97 percent of online sales. People changing how they're buying things too. They bought things like home goods and lawn products and electronics in big, big numbers. Home Depot sales up 23 percent. And we have a very strong housing market right now. All of the latest data, including this morning, strong for housing because of low mortgage rates, and those sales up big time there.
And even Kohl's lost less money than it was expected to. Kohl's sells a lot of, you know, apparel. And you couldn't really get to stores, right? But it even lost few -- lost less money and its online sales rose as well. So we're seeing the American consumer with its jobless checks and with the stimulus checks that they received spending that money.
Now the CFO of Walmart said on the call with investors this morning, but that money has run out. There's not that money any more in people's hands to go spend and we still have 13 million people out of work. So now where we go from here is the big question.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ROMANS: It's a real reminder for Washington, guys, they are not even talking about stimulus right now and stimulus is behind all these numbers.
SCIUTTO: Yes, you wonder what that information does to the continuing debate over extending stimulus and how much you do.
Christine Romans, thanks very much.
ROMANS: Great to see you guys.
SCIUTTO: Well, after dismissing the danger of coronavirus as simply politics, one Arizona family now has a simple message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The virus is real. I'm a healthy guy and it -- it really beat me up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Hear more of their story. It's a telling one. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:44:02]
HARLOW: Welcome back.
Well, listen to this story. One family in Arizona was not convinced about the true danger of coronavirus. They thought the debate had just become way too political.
SCIUTTO: Well, like so many things, it became personal, then it became different. Their father was diagnosed with Covid-19. Radically changed their view of this outbreak.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Phoenix with their story.
Miguel, what did you hear?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, guys.
Look, these are folks that -- like a lot of people that we've met along the way. They took it very seriously at first. And then when they felt it became more political than medical, they started to slack off.
This father of four that we spoke to, he was afraid to go to the hospital for fear he'd be intubated and never see his family again. He was even afraid to go to sleep for fear he'd never wake up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (voice over): Ryan Sanstrum, husband and father of four, got so sick with the coronavirus --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fear, when I was in quarantine is, I don't know if I hugged my wife for the last time, which is really hard to think about. And I was really, really grateful when I got to be with them again.
[09:45:05]
Life's good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go give him a hug!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's dad!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's dad!
MARQUEZ: For 17 days, Sanstrum held up in a room in their home, meals served on paper, trash piled up. When he finally emerged, he hugged the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, hi!
MARQUEZ: He hugged his wife and sobbed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrifying to think there were sometimes where it was like a five-hour stretch where you'd slept in the middle of the day and I just kept poking my head in the door, like, is he still breathing, is he still OK?
MARQUEZ: Early on the Sanstrum's took the virus seriously. Then like many Americans, stopped paying close attention when they felt the virus became political.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think my mistake was assuming that just because people had made it political that therefore it was wrong. So what I realized, you know, I -- that this is genuine. This is real. This is not some made-up thing.
MARQUEZ: The virus attacked Sanstrum's lungs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time I would breathe in, it felt like there was an ice pick just stabbing in my lungs.
MARQUEZ: Then it attacked the lining around his heart, swelling it.
MARQUEZ (on camera): You thought you were having a heart attack?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I had radiation down my left arm and a little bit of numbness down my left arm and chest pain.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Sanstrum, only 36 years old and healthy, no underlying conditions, he still has lingering health effects from the virus he thinks he gave to his wife, but she suffered only mild symptoms.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Why do you think you got so sick?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the million dollar question.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Cases like Ryan's, still a mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, yes, we're seeing it in young, healthy patients and it's setting it off and we're not sure why. Prevention is the best way to treat this. The best way to not worry about it is to not get it.
MARQUEZ: The Sanstrums speaking to us in the hope others will avoid what they suffered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like there's still some that don't believe it's as bad as it can be. I feel like there's some that just blame the politics of it. The virus is real. I'm a healthy guy and it -- it really beat me up.
MARQUEZ: A hard lesson. The Sanstrums today, closer, stronger, more alive than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: So it's about a month since Ryan Sanstrum got out of his sort of self-imposed quarantine in their home there. He still has heart problems. He has a heart monitor he wears.
What he feels worse about in all of this, he not only gave it to his wife, he thinks he may have given it to four other people. The idea that he not only could have died himself but that he could have injured somebody or killed somebody else weighs on him very heavily. They want others to learn from their experience.
Back to you guys.
SCIUTTO: Good for him.
HARLOW: What a -- what a story, Miguel. Thank you very, very much.
MARQUEZ: Yes.
HARLOW: A lot of people need to hear that right now. We're glad he's OK.
To Belarus, where the crisis is growing as thousands of protesters again take to the street demanding an entirely new presidential elect, but the country's long-time leader of 26 years says they're going to have to kill him before there will be another election. We'll take you there, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:52:35]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back.
The European Union is holding an emergency summit tomorrow in response to the growing election crisis in Belarus. This as anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in enormous numbers for a tenth straight day demanding another free and fair presidential election. The embattled leader, Alexander Lukashenko, says if they want another election, they would have to, quote, kill him first. Russia is getting involved now. It's a hairy situation.
HARLOW: And it's a big, big deal.
Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in the capital of Minsk.
Fred, just explain to people who may not be as familiar with how we got here, you know, what they're facing right now.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
Oh, these guys definitely takes a lot of courage for them to go out onto the street and protest. I mean one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that Alexander Lukashenko, of course, is one of the most repressive dictators in the world. This country is very repressive. And, you know, you're seeing this protests here around me. These are actually tractor factory workers who came out and they're in a general strike to try and force Lukashenko to have a new election here, a real election, they say, and to step down.
If three of these people would have been standing on the street just clapping about a week ago, they would have been arrested immediately. And now we can see how much they have already achieved.
And these protests are going on. They believe that it's going to be economic pressure that could get Lukashenko to step down. But, of course, they still face that repressive threat.
But one of the things, for instance, that we saw is at the tractor factory protest just a week ago, just a couple of days ago, Alexander Lukashenko was there and he was trying to give a speech and he was actually heckled by people there telling him to leave, telling him to get out. That's something that was almost unthinkable -- or was unthinkable just a couple of days ago. So they have already achieved a lot here.
But at the same time, right now it really hangs in the balance, are they going to be able to see this through? Is Alexander Lukashenko going to have to step down or is he going to be able to save himself? It certainly looks as though he's losing grasp on power by the minute.
And I think Jim was just saying, and he's absolutely right, the big wildcard here that everyone is looking at right now is Vladimir Putin. And one of the things that we've seen is that the U.S. is really a non-factor right now in the way that these things move forward diplomat.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
PLEITGEN: It's just EU leaders right now who are talking to Putin. In fact, today, Angela Merkel of Germany and Macron of France were the ones who spoke to Vladimir Putin saying that Lukashenko needs to assure that folks like these don't end up in jail, guys.
SCIUTTO: And those are word you've not heard from the president, by the way, there.
[09:55:04]
But remarkable, too. I mean these sort of people power movements, they've changed history before in Europe. We saw it in Ukraine. We'll see what happens here.
Fred Pleitgen, good to have you on the ground. We know you'll stay on top of it.
Back here in the good old USA, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has now hit pause on in-person learning. This after 100 -- more than 100 students test positive for coronavirus. Not so for college sports. How do you line that up? How does that make sense? We're going to speak to the UNC's student body president coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Top of the hour. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.
SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.
Lots of news this morning.
This just into CNN.
We're learning that the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, will testify before the Senate on Friday.
[10:00:00]
This will be his first chance to answer hard questions from Democrats that the Trump administration is willfully handicapping the U.S. Postal Service.
