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Trump Praises Conspiracy Group Deemed a Terror Threat by FBI; Updates on Coronavirus Responses from Around the Country; Pedro Pierluisi, (PNP), Puerto Rico Gubernatorial Candidate, Discusses Former DHS Official's Claim Trump Wanted to Trade Puerto Rico for Greenland. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 20, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:30:50]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: It's a group of conspiracy theorists deemed a potential domestic terrorist by the FBI, whose center at West Point says the group is a public security threat.
Yet the president of the United States essentially just embraced them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There's a belief that you are secretly saving the world from this Satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. Does that sound like something you are behind or --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Well, I haven't -- I haven't heard that. But is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: If I can help save the world from problems, I'm willing to do it. I'm willing to put myself out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, this is just a -- we'll pause here. This is remarkable. The president -- this is a group that believes there's a -- based on anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic tropes that have been for generations.
You know, used to be that there was a cabal of Jewish bankers controlling the world and pulling the strings of everything.
This group QAnon, people who believe in it or follow it online, they believe that the world is essentially run by a secretive group cabal of pedophiles who worship Satan and are plotting against the president while operating a child sex trafficking ring, communicating in code involving pizza.
They believe falsely that the leaders are people like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Pope Francis, Dalai Lama. I'm on a list somewhere, somehow involved in this, or I think my mom is.
They believe falsely that, in addition to molesting children, this group of Satan worshipping celebrities and Democrats kill and eat their child victims in order to get a chemical from the blood of children that extends their lives. They actually believe this.
They believe that a group of military generals recruited President Trump to break up this conspiracy and end their control of the government and the media.
In fact, a couple years ago, when this started, and it's just -- it started from some anonymous person posting under the letter "Q" on a -- you know, Internet chat site.
And all these people continue to believe little, you know, obscure clues or hints that are put out by this anonymous person or it could be Russia, it could be anybody. Who knows who it is?
They kind of link dots and build this conspiracy theory as they go.
It used to be that the -- that Robert Mueller -- according to this conspiracy, Robert Mueller was actually secretly working for Trump to indict Hillary Clinton and all these other people on child sex trafficking. And of course, that turned not to be true at all.
But then the conspiracy theory just kind of forgot about that and invented a new reason and they've kept going, kept going.
To try to expand their umbrella and attach themselves to anti-vaccine groups, people who actually do work on child trafficking. Because for all these people talking about child trafficking, it doesn't seem like they raise money for any groups that work on child trafficking.
[13:35:07]
CNN's Gary Tuchman spoke to some "Q" at a Trump rally a few years when the group first started to form.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the shift. I can feel it coming. Some call it the great awakening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is an entity of 10 or less people --
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- that have --
TUCHMAN: Involved in the government?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- high, high clearance, you know, security clearance.
TUCHMAN: How do you know that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm just telling you this is what it appears to be.
TUCHMAN: What it appears to be?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: You don't have any proof of that? You're just guessing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have any proof there isn't.
TUCHMAN: You believe there's a Deep State?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: What do you think that Deep State is doing? You think they're running the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they were and they're petrified now.
TUCHMAN: Who are the people in it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I definitely believe, like the Clintons, the Bushes, the Obamas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: QAnon is the people that believe in what Trump's trying to do to change our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are --
(CROSSTALK)
TUCHMAN: You don't believe in the First Amendment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I totally
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are weaponized. You guys are totally weaponized by the CIA.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: So, it would be actually kind of funny if it wasn't something that had real-world consequences.
You may remember, a few years back, a person showed up heavily armed to a pizza parlor in Washington believing, I think, that one of the Clintons was running a child sex trafficking ring out of the basement of the pizza parlor. They showed up with weapons to liberate the pizza parlor. There were no children being held captive there. The guy is in jail.
QAnon supporters are accused of murdering a Mafia boss. A really weird case. Another one that was arrested for threatening to kill Joe Biden.
Yet, a supporter of this movement just won a Republican primary in Georgia. She's also a 9/11 truther, doesn't believe a plane went into the Pentagon. And is favored to win a seat in Congress in November.
A former DHS official - oh, and the president said that person is a bright future star of the Republican Party.
Guess why the president refused to do the easy thing?
A former DHS official, by the way, who is endorsing Biden after calling the president dangerous.
Guess why the president was unwilling to basically distance himself from QAnon? He pretended not to know anything about the whole cannibalism, child sex trafficking -- oh, Satan worshippers, yes.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES TAYLOR, FORMER DHS CHIEF OF STAFF: If we have learned one lesson about Donald Trump, it is that he thinks if something aligns with his personal interests, it is good. If it doesn't align with his personal interests it is bad.
In the case of things like QAnon and conspiracy theories, as long as they support and reinforce the president's world view, he will embrace them with a full hug.
But if someone walks into his office with a contrary world view or something to dispel a conspiracy theory, they won't get over the threshold without a full cavity search, OK?
This president isn't interested in truth. He's interested in his truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And you know how the reason you can know that's true?
I'm joined by Brian Stelter, chief media correspondent.
Brian, you can tell what he said is true because the first thing he said when asked about it yesterday, said, they say very nice things about me. And that's -- for him, that is -- that is the number-one bullet point on QAnon.
Doesn't matter they say the slanderous, outrageous, insane, you know, things based on anti-Semitic tropes about a cabal of Democrats drinking the blood of children, which is literally something Nazis said about Jews long ago. It is extraordinary the president of the United States doesn't have
the moral courage to even, you know, stand up and just say, you know what, this is ridiculous.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: He's claimed that he doesn't know what QAnon is all about. But he's retweeted Twitter accounts that promote this idea.
And there are lots of QAnon supporters that used to show up at the rallies when they had rallies wearing QAnon paraphernalia.
It is very hard to imagine the president doesn't know what this about.
But whether he knows or not, it is disgraceful. If he doesn't know, he needs to know. Because too many of his supporters are buying into the lies and spreading these lies and endangering fellow Americans.
If he does not what it's about and he is winking and nodding to them, that is incredibly dangerous.
I hear, Anderson, sometimes this as a conspiracy theory. They say it's just a conspiracy theory. No. This is a virtual cult.
This is dangerous to the country, dangerous for Trump supporters, as well as for Trump's opponents, because it buys into the looniest ideas on the fringe.
But because people like President Trump are giving winks and nods, it is no longer fringe. It is becoming mainstream.
COOPER: Again, they believe a group of Hollywood celebrities and Democratic leaders are torturing children, trafficking children, and then harvesting their blood for some sort of a chemical that's supposedly in their blood that will keep I guess the people young or something? I'm not sure on the blood drinking thing.
[13:40:11]
STELTER: It should not be hard to denounce this. If you're a GOP leader, it's should not be hard to denounce this.
I interviewed Adam Kinzinger the other days. He's one of the only GOP congressmen speaking out about this problem.
Conspiracy theory thinking, I understand why it happens. People want to get wrapped up in crazy ideas. They go down rabbit holes on the Internet, on Facebook and Twitter.
People need to be helped away from the nonsense.
Facebook and Twitter are both removing QAnon-aligned accounts.
But frankly, Anderson, it is probably too late. This stuff has been spreading for years. And now even the president is being asked about it.
COOPER: Yes.
Brian Stelter, appreciate it. Thanks.
AMC theaters reopening in some cities tonight. Hear what precautions are being taken.
Plus, a Puerto Rican official joins me to respond to the claim that President Trump wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:46]
COOPER: As COVID-19 ravaged rural and underserved communities, California lawmakers call telehealth the pandemic silver lining. Virtual care visits quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, expanding to areas like New York and the Navajo Nation where language and access barriers proved difficult.
Here's a look at more coronavirus headlines across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik, in New York City. AMC Theaters says it's opening some cinemas today. The world's biggest movie theater chain said it's celebrating the 100th birthday offering retro movies at 15 cents a ticket for the day.
AMC has had to delay the reopening several times but will reopen theaters in almost a dozen states across the country.
By the time new movies are released, like "New Mutants," AMC says it expects to have 400 of its more than 600 theaters opened.
The theater chain says new health and safety measures include requiring guests to wear masks except when eating and drinking, lowering theater capacity, and upgrading ventilation systems.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon, in Vacaville, California, where a wildfire is raging out of control and happening during the middle of a pandemic.
There are nearly two dozen major fires burning in the state and resources are stretched thin, in part, due to the virus.
The state traditionally relies on prisoners to battle wildfires. But this resource is being depleted because of outbreaks within the prisons. Some 10,000 prisoners had also been released early because they were nonviolent.
The state is trying to augment its firefighting force to make up for the shortfall.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Omar Jimenez. A person who spent hours at a bar during the Sturgis motorcycle rally last week in South Dakota has tested positive for COVID-19. Now health experts were already concerned that this could turn into a
super spreader event because it is one of the largest events and gatherings we have seen over the course of this coronavirus pandemic since it took hold here in the United States.
Moving forward, this potential exposure at the Sturgis bar is one of several COVID-19 cases that are now being connected to bars and even concerts over the past few weeks in South Dakota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: I want to thank all of our correspondents.
L.A.'s mayor making good on a threat to turn off power to a Hollywood Hills home-turned nightclub. It's a violation of public health orders.
Plus, a former DHS official says the president was serious about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:52:43]
COOPER: You may remember a while back when President Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland. Well, that was only the first part of the story. A former member of his administration filled in the rest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR: The president's talked about wanting to purchase Greenland. But one time, before we went down, he told us not only did he want to purchase Greenland, he actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico. Could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland, because, in his words, Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.
I want to be fair. The president can be funny. Behind the scenes, he can be irreverent. But when you're expecting him to be presidential, sitting behind the desk to be presidential, and he makes statements like that, and he means them, it gives you a great deal of pause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I want to bring in Pedro Pierluisi. He's currently a candidate for governor of Puerto Rico, formerly represented Puerto Rico in Congress as a none voting resident commissioner from 2009 to 2017.
Thanks for being with us.
What was your reaction when you heard this?
PEDRO PIERLUISI, (PNP), PUERTO RICO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE & PUERTO RICO RESIDENT COMMISSIONER CONGRESS: Hi, Anderson.
Well, you know, it's hard to find someone who President Trump has not offended at some point.
But that was such a -- so disrespectful to the American citizens of Puerto Rico, it is so hard to fathom.
We have to remember we're American citizens. We, Puerto Ricans have fought in all American wars. And we've gained five Presidential Medals of Honor.
What is he talking about? It's so disrespectful.
COOPER: And it's worth noting, he apparently made the comments ahead of a hurricane-relief trip.
PIERLUISI: Exactly. And that's when we were in need of federal assistance like it happens everywhere in America.
And by the way, since then, what we've seen is, you know, different requirements for Puerto Rico as opposed to the states. We're not getting equal treatment.
And we should. We're American citizens. There shouldn't be two types of American citizenship. You should be treated like an American citizen regardless of where you reside.
And that's what's wrong with the current status of Puerto Rico and the way the federal government deals with us.
[13:55:03]
COOPER: Pedro Pierluisi, I appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.
PIERLUISI: Thank you.
COOPER: Any moment now, we could get our first glimpse of former campaign manager, Steve Bannon, in court charged with fraud. Stand by for that.
Plus, Actress Sharon Stone sharing an emotional video detailing her family's fight with COVID-19 and rebuking the president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for joining me.
Despite a continued decline in new daily coronavirus cases across the U.S., the nation's colleges and universities are quickly becoming new hot spots. Schools in at least 17 states reporting positive new cases for a total over more than 1,000 infections of students and faculty.
Now, White House task forces member, Dr. Deborah Birx, is making this recommendation to schools to help contain the spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE (voice-over): The last trip through the heartland really brings attention to how each university not only has to do entrance testing and what we talk to every university about is doing surge testing. How are you going to do 5,000 samples in one day or 10,000 samples in one day?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: On the issue on testing, signs it may be on the increase. The 17-day average showing a gain of 5 percent compared to a week ago. While the majority of states are holding steady or even showing decline in new deaths, an average of 1,000 deaths have been reported every day for the last three weeks, 173,000 Americans.
[14:00:03]
Just into CNN, the CDC out with a new report on COVID testing in the nation's prisons and jails.
