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Postmaster General Grilled On Capitol Hill Over Service Changes; Trump Assails Mail-In Voting; Pence Questioned About QAnon Conspiracy Theorists. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired August 21, 2020 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:30:00]
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Today the Postmaster General facing some contentious questions mostly from Democratic senators that made a back and forth over whether changes he is implementing at the Postal Service will slow election mail. Democrats worry these changes are political, and they believe some of them do anyway that they are meant to impact the election. Today, the Postmaster General says, absolutely not.
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LOUIS DEJOY, POSTMASTER GENERAL, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: I have never spoken to the President about the Postal Service other than to congratulate me when I accepted the position.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prior to implementing the changes, did you discuss these changes or their impact on the election with any Trump campaign officials?
DEJOY: I'm one new person in the organization with this -- with the whole structure around me, an operating structure and executive team around me that are involved in these decisions, OK. And we -- the -- having any -- moving forward with trying to have any negative impact on the election is an outrageous claim.
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KING: Joining me now is CNN's Phil Mattingly up on Capitol Hill. The Postmaster General, Phil, essentially saying there is nothing to see here. Are the Democrats convinced?
[12:35:07]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. No, and I don't think they will be for a while. And I think he's going to have to face even more heat when he comes and testifies in front of the House on Monday. House Democrats are going to move a bill related to some of those operational changes tomorrow, rare Saturday session in the middle of August. But look, I think what you -- the sound you play gave you a sense of what Louis DeJoy came to this hearing to do, a hearing where it was his first public appearance in front of members of Congress. He didn't have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate because he was given the post by the postal board.
And so his job was essentially to try and push back on allegations that have really spread like wildfire over the course of the last several weeks, concerns that the operational delays were intentional, concerns that there was some connection in some way, shape, or form to the tens of millions of mail-in ballots that will be coming in large part because of the pandemic. This was what he had to say about the election.
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DEJOY: This sacred duty is my number one priority between now and Election Day. There has been no changes in any policies with regard to election mail for the 2020 election. If everyone complies with the with the mail process that we've been identifying, there will be absolutely no issue.
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MATTINGLY: And John, one thing to keep in mind here, while he's trying to decouple this from the election, one thing that he acknowledged and all lawmakers from both parties were really paying attention to, is the fact that there have been delivery delays.
And those delays have not just been just because of the coronavirus, they've been largely in part from when he started in June, just a couple of months ago. And that is where you're going to see a lot of pressure going forward.
You've heard a lot about vote by mail. You've heard a lot about the election. But the delays in terms of the on the ground issues, those create not just for Democratic lawmakers or union members, but for members across the board and their constituents, that is going to increase pressure on the Postal Service in the days and weeks ahead, John.
KING: More questions to come. We will see how this one plays out. Phil Mattingly live on Capitol Hill. Appreciate it.
And when we come back, we'll take this question, the debate about vote in mail, the debate about the Post Office from Washington out to America. Colorado's governor joins us live, next.
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[12:41:34]
KING: The Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifying this morning at a Senate hearing, insisting his agency is fully equipped and up to the task of handling the expected surge in mail-in ballots this election season. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEJOY: As we head into the election season, I want to assure this Committee and the American public that the Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation's election mail securely and on time. We will deploy processes and procedures that advance any election mail in some cases ahead of first class mail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: One reason Democrats are skeptical is because DeJoy is also a Trump fundraiser. And the President continues to wage war on mail-in voting. The latest salvos in a Twitter barrage last night where the President accusing Democrats of demanding to harvest ballots saying they're trying to steal the election through mail-in voting.
Joining me now the Colorado Governor Jared Polis whose state has deep experience with mail-in and absentee voting. I want to come first to the credibility of the Postmaster General because he was essentially telling Democrats, look, there's nothing here.
I'm on top of this. I'm going to get the mail on time. I'm going to be on top of ballots and there was also a question about an order that went out to move these big, large sorting machines. A lot of Democrats said, aha, you don't want to process the mail quickly enough. The Postmaster General says we just don't need them. Listen, sir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be bringing back any mail sorting machines that have been removed since you become Postmaster General, any of those things come back?
DEJOY: There's no intention to do that. They're not needed, Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you will not bring back any processors?
DEJOY: They're not needed, Sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Governor, you've been in this town as well before you became governor. You've got out of Washington, wise man. I'm just tried to take this out into America. As the governor of your state, is the Post Office doing anything in terms of cutting services, moving machines, moving boxes, that you feel is a deliberate effort to undermine the election?
GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): You know, I think at best, John, that the timing is suspicious. And we all know that there needs to be improvements and efficiencies in the Postal Service. But what I think the administration is finally realizing is that the time is not, you know, 75 days before an election and the President's on the ballot.
I think we can have a rational, calm, logical discussion about this December, January, February of next year. But it's not the time to upset the card when we rely on it for over 99 percent of the votes in Colorado and in many other states, a large percentage of the votes as well.
KING: Rational calm, logical conversation. Good luck. I shouldn't be so snarky. I hope that can happen. I hope that can happen no matter who wins the election. I hope that can happen. One of the questions about this election, one of the reasons Democrats are suspicious and Mr. DeJoy tried to answer their concerns today. And we will watch how this plays out.
One of the reasons they are suspicious because the president several times a day questions. He says the election is going to be rigged. He says you can't trust the results. Listen to this from last night. You run your elections in your state, Governor, not the president United States. But listen to the President's take on how he's going to make sure the voting is fair.
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SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Are you going to have poll watchers? Are you going to have an ability to monitor to avoid fraud?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to have everything. We're going to have sheriffs and we're going to have law enforcement and we're going to have hopefully U.S. attorneys, and we're going to have everybody, and Attorney Generals, but it's very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Would that be tolerated in the State of Colorado if the Republicans decided to send in law enforcement?
POLIS: Absolutely federal not, absolutely not. Federal agents are not going to take over our elections. We have Republican and Democratic poll watchers, each party and in the minor parties as well. They're allowed in the room while ballots are counted and checked. They can observe it.
[12:45:14]
We are absolutely not going to kowtow to federal agents trying to take over our very fair election system in Colorado, which has elected Republicans and elected Democrats has broad widespread support and includes legitimate poll watchers from both parties in the counting rooms.
KING: I visited the election offices in Denver and in Jefferson County as well. I want you to listen to the President because this is the issue have a pandemic a record number of Americans are going to vote by mail, whether you want to call it absentee balloting, mail-in voting different states will call it different things. Your state has been at this, as you noted for quite some time, listen to the President's take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Absentee ballots are good, but the stuff where they take millions and millions of ballots and send them all over the place. We'll grab it. We'll just put I'm in a big pile there. Everyone grab it. It's a disgrace. So this is just a way they're trying to steal the election. And everybody knows it. Because the only way they're going to win is by a rigged election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: I don't think you rigged your election, Governor, when you won your election. Look, sometimes you laugh at this because it's outrageous. But other times this is the President of the United States undermining confidence in democracy. Does absentee balloting, mail-in voting, does it work in your state?
POLIS: It absolutely works. We have the integrity, the security. What the President talked about if somebody who's illegally filing a ballot. That is a felony in Colorado. We are very serious about prosecuting voter fraud. And there hasn't been a significant voter fraud in our state. We have a more secure system than many other states with signature verification and a number of ways to make sure it's happening.
So I don't know what he's talking about. He's talking about somebody committing a felony, they should go to jail. And of course, we are rigorous in our policing to that. And if he wants to talk about how people shouldn't be illegally voting, of course, that's the case.
But he's not. He's trying to cast aspersions on the way that over 99 percent of Coloradans vote, by the way. And in our state, we've been voting by mail as the default for more than a decade. Even before that, a majority of voters have voted that way. I voted that way, essentially, my whole adult life. I think I've been to a polling place once or twice in my life.
And many other states are moving this way because of the pandemic. But frankly, it's the future of voting anyway, John, especially as ballots become longer and more complicated. Colorado voters have 810 issues, they got to vote yes or no one. They want to research them at home, cast an informed decision, and drop it into drop box or send it back in.
KING: Yes. There's very little fraud in mail and elections. And they tend to increase participation, just what you want in a democracy. Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, Sir, appreciate your time today. Best of luck in the days ahead, both with this election and with continuing coronavirus.
And still ahead for us, the Vice President gets asked about a group the President the other day said likes him, QAnon.
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[12:52:39]
KING: Today, the Vice President Mike Pence says he knows nothing about the fringe QAnon conspiracy theory. You might remember in the White House briefing room the other day, the President said he didn't know much about the group either except that they liked him. Listen to the Vice President.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: He said they love America, Mr. Vice President. They love America.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know anything. I heard the President talk about. He appreciates people that support him very generally --
BERMAN: Do you believe they love America? Do you believe they love America?
PENCE: I don't know anything about that conspiracy theory, John.
BERMAN: How can you not know about it given how much it's been on the news? How can you not know about it at point?
PENCE: Well, I honestly, John, I just -- I don't know anything about that. I've heard about it. We dismiss conspiracy theories around here --
BERMAN: Will you dismiss it?
PENCE: -- and out of hand.
BERMAN: Will you dismiss it? Will you dismiss it?
PENCE: I just did, John.
BERMAN: No, you didn't.
PENCE: We dismiss conspiracy theorists out of hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: CNN White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins is with us now. This question comes up. I know the Vice President appreciate it. But the question comes up because the President not only says they like me. He praises some congressional candidates who believe this quackery.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He's congratulated several candidates who have backed this fringe conspiracy that believes things like that. There are a group of politicians who worship Satan and run child sex rings and they're plotting to take Trump down. That's one of the beliefs of this group. And the President was told about that when he was asked about it the other day during in the briefing room and this is why the Vice President is being asked, it's because the President responded like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Well, I don't know much about the movement other than I understand that like me very much, which I appreciate. But I don't know much about the movement. I have heard that it is gaining in popularity. And I've heard these are people that love our country.
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COLLINS: So you see there, he's giving them a boost. He's saying that he believes these are people who love our country. That's not how the FBI sees it, because they've labeled QAnon a potential domestic terrorist threat. So you've got to keep that in mind when you see how the President is viewing this.
But one more note, John, how the President and the Vice President are saying they don't know a lot about this group. It is something that has been elevated by Republicans by some people who work in the White House when they retweet memes and things like that from this group.
But also, I've been to a lot of the President's rallies back when we still had those before the pandemic. And you would often see a lot of the QAnon supporters there wearing t-shirts that have the letter Q on it, signs, things of that nature. And you often saw a noticeable amount of them at the President's own rallies.
[12:55:04]
KING: Kaitlan Collins for us live at the White House. Kaitlan, appreciate that.
Up next for us here, the CDC Chief Robert Redfield says a staggering, staggering number of Americans well beyond the public numbers may have been infected with the coronavirus.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I'm Anderson Cooper. I want to welcome viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.
[12:59:59]
Hundred and ninety-five thousand, that is the staggering number of U.S. deaths from the coronavirus that the CDC is now projecting by September 12th, just three weeks from now.
