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Steve Bannon Calls Arrest a "Political Hit Job" from the Left; Bannon Tells Friends He & Trump Speak from Time to Time; Skeptical Progressives React to Biden's Convention; Trump Says Democrats Held Darkest, Angriest, Gloomiest Convention in American History; CNN Special Report Examines Gender Equality in 2020 America; Lori Loughlin & Husband Sentenced in College Admissions Scandal. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired August 21, 2020 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: If it's proven that, in fact, they were skimming off money, it's just so hypocritical and so -- I mean, so cynical for Steve Bannon and others.
OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: It's a wonky thing.
COOPER: Yes.
Oliver Darcy, I appreciate it. Thanks.
As I mentioned, Steve Bannon is already trying to frame this prosecution as an attack from the left. Here's what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: Look, I'm not going to back down. This is a political hit job. Everybody knows I love a fight.
This was to stop and intimidate people who want to talk about the wall. This is to intimidate people that have President Trump's back on building the wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Bring in CNN chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.
The president says he hasn't dealt with Bannon, for, quote, "a long periods of time." You have reporting on how often Bannon and Trump have been in touch.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's not quite the case, Anderson.
I spoke to a source close to the president earlier today who said he and the president have been speaking time to time and these conversations have been happening as recently as in the last few months. I spoke to a second campaign source in the last hour or so who
confirmed the president and Bannon did speak. Insource described as weeks ago. But the conversation only lasted a few minutes.
So, the president and his former chief strategist have been in contact with one another.
I think that contradicts what the president said when he said he hadn't been dealing with Bannon for a long time.
You'll recall, after Charlottesville, Bannon was seen as too close to the white nationalist movement. But they've been able to repair the relationship, it appears, over the last couple of years.
And recently, he was telling FOX News in July, he appreciated the supportive words he's been hearing from Steve Bannon. Bannon has been hosting a pro-Trump podcast for several months now.
It does appear to be the case they have been talking to one another.
The two men have a kinship, was the word that was used to describe their relationship, because of a shared ideology of nationalist populism.
In the words of the source, Bannon has the ideology and Trump is the vessel -- Anderson.
COOPER: Jim Acosta. Jim, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
Any minute now, we're expecting to hear how much jail time Actress Lori Loughlin may have to serve for her role in the college admissions scandal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:36:31]
COOPER: Joe Biden now the Democratic presidential nominee, getting pretty decent marks for his acceptance speech on the final night of the DNC.
The historic virtual event hosted four days of veteran Dems, Hollywood stars, and something you don't normally see, several long-time Republicans.
How are progressives viewing Biden and the convention? They shared the spotlight with speeches from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.
Former Ohio state Senator, Nina Turner, is a CNN political commentator and former co-chair for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign.
Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
You've been critical of Biden in the past. I'm wondering how you're feeling after the convention. NINA TURNER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The convention is show and
tell, or basically, a show for the party, a big infomercial. My Republican colleagues will do the same during their convention.
I think what was missing from that is really the whole tale part in terms of how the poor, the working poor and barely middle class in this country are going to be taken care of.
What is the vision for the provision, Anderson? That was missing.
With so much suffering going on in the country, the Democratic Party has an awesome opportunity to be the party that's going to stand in the ready and implement policies, not just words, but policies that will help to lift the least of these in this country.
COOPER: Do you feel the progressive wing was adequately represented at the DNC?
TURNER: Not at all. The corporatist wing was well represented. But, no, progressives were not well represented.
And progressives are the future. They are the future of the party. And as Reverend Jesse Jackson once said, you need two wings to fly.
It seems to me, based on what I saw, that the corporatists and neoliberals don't have that message. The progressive movement is a part of the party that has the most energy and synergy.
COOPER: There was certainly a lot of reaching out to Republicans, possibly Independents.
I'm wondering what you thought of the Republicans taking part in the convention. Obviously, there's political reasons for it. What are your thoughts on that?
TURNER: Listen, it's OK. There are Republicans out there who, for now, believe they got to stand to try to defeat President Donald J. Trump and they want to help do that. That's fine.
But what was not fine was to highlight Republicans at the expense of the progressives. That's not fine.
And you saw that overwhelmingly compared to -- if you just look at the time slot given to progressives verses Republican and neoliberal Democrats, there's no measure for that.
You cannot throw away the base of the party, Anderson, and expect to win.
It is very clear the American people believe what progressives believe, whether they call it progressivism or not. And 69 percent, Medicare For All, overwhelming majority, Green New Deal, making sure we have unions.
People are suffering, Anderson. So, that was not represented. And they have to make sure they're lifting up and speaking up to a
part of the Democratic Party that has the type energy and synergy that is going to be necessary to defeat President Trump.
COOPER: I want to play something. President Trump described the convention, the event in Arlington today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But over the last week, the Democrats held the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history. They spent four straight days attacking America as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:40:17]
COOPER: I mean, I guess what else would he say? I wonder what you make of it.
TURNER: You're reading my mind, Anderson. I mean, because he does need to be redeemed. I don't which convention he was look at though. But this country needs to be redeemed. This country is racist. It's rooted in racism.
When we talk about immigration, it's a country founded on the back and blood and sweat and tears of enslaved Africans and in the first generation born of African-Americans for generations.
It is a nation that stole the land from indigenous people.
Come on. We're trying to get to the high ideas but we're not there yet.
So, I'm not surprised President Trump would paint the Democratic convention in that way. That is what he does. He is delusional if he thinks it's rewriting revisionist histories.
It's not OK for him to do as Republicans and not OK for Democrats to do either.
And 92 million people in this country are either uninsured or underinsured. As you know, the pandemic wiping people out left or right, whether literally or through their livelihoods.
We have an opportunity, if it is taken, to show that the Democratic Party will be the answer to the corporate interests.
There are 12 billionaires who are at $2 trillion. They control a trillion worth of wealth. Meanwhile, back on Main Street, people are catching all kinds of hell.
So, we're going to stand up for the poor, working poor and barely middle class. And it's better than how the BLM are quoting or mentioning Ella Baker's name. It is living up to the high ideas and the principals by which the freedom fighters fought for.
This is the time to do that. People need it.
COOPER: I wonder what you thought of Senator Sanders' remarks embracing Joe Biden. Clearly, asking his supporters to get Joe Biden elected.
TURNER: The Senator was clear he's a man of his word. He said it in 2016 and will say again in 2020.
He created a movement and the movement is the fire. The notion that we need Medicare For All does not change. The notion we need to legalize cannabis and take it off schedule I because it has ruined so many lives, particularly African-American lives with the war on drugs, that doesn't change. Environmental justice.
None of those core fundamental issues change because it was never about a personality. It was more about the mission.
And so, progressives are still on a mission. Understand very clearly, we have two dragons. We have to slay the dragon of neo-fascism and slay the dragon of neo-liberalism.
And the progressive movement is here for it.
COOPER: Nina Turner, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
TURNER: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: At the forefront throughout this week's Democratic convention were the women leaders of the past and present, former a way for historic nomination of Senator Kamala Harris. She's the first black woman and South Asian woman nominated for vice president on a major party ticket.
Her nomination was a mirror to the progress of women's rights and equality in this country and how far we all have left to go.
Tomorrow, only on CNN, Erin Burnett speaks to some of the most prominent feminist thinkers across the country who have, in their right and in their own way, broken unthinkable barriers -- Erin?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Anderson, you know, with the historic nomination of Senator Kamala Harris and the 100-year anniversary of women's suffrage, it has all of us thinking about the many barriers that still block so many women in the country.
In this new report, "WOMEN REPRESENTED," on Saturday, we're going to take a look at the barriers and how they've changed through the years, what we've accomplished and what we have not. Among all the fascinating women, I spoke to Jessica Alba and Carly
Fiorina. Both know a lot about making it in the world of business. Jessica Alba has a billion-dollar business. Carly Fiorina, first woman to break into the Fortune 50.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLY FIORINA, FORMER HEWLETT-PACKARD CEO: The very first time I was supposed to meet our client, my colleague said to me, you can't come meet the client because we're going to a place called the Board Room. It turns out the Board Room was a strip club.
And so, I ended up going. My male colleagues kept trying to get the young women to come over and dance for them.
And three young women approached our table. And all three of them said, not until the lady leaves.
[14:45:00]
And I experienced this moment of connection and empathy with women I didn't think I had anything in common with. And yet we all knew what was going on.
And honestly, that was a moment of grace for me.
BURNETT: You were the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Hewlett-Packard. That was the late 1990s. Here we are about 20 years later, just over, 37 of the Fortune CEOs are women, only 37.
FIORINA: I mean, to me, 37 is shocking.
JESSICA ALBA, ACTRESS & FOUNDER, HONEST COMPANY: So, operations is here. Social marketing is there. Digital marketing is there.
I guess I didn't really understand the gravity of how your sex and gender and gender biases really play into business until I was trying to raise money for the Honest Company.
And walking into many rooms, venture capital rooms and, literally, I think I can count, say, one woman I ever met with -- out of, you know, probably seven firms we sat down with.
Even today, when you look at the amount of investments that go to men verses women, it's quite the gap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, their stories are amazing. And you're going to hear a whole lot more from them, Anderson.
But you know this. Only 37 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. That's incredible. And women of color, it's even more small.
So it is pretty stunning, the work we still have to do to reach gender parity in America.
And the big question is: Why has this proven so difficult?
In this special, we talk about unfinished business with many fascinating women across all kinds of fields, Hollywood, politics, race relations, all of it.
It's an important conversation and it really is a conversation the way we present it.
I think you're going to find it fascinating. And I think everyone will tune in with their daughters, their sons, too. You can watch together.
Back to you, Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: I definitely will be watching. An important conversation.
Join CNN's Erin Burnett for the new CNN special report, "WOMEN REPRESENTED, THE 100-YEAR BATTLE FOR EQUALITY." It begins tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
Right now, Actress Lori Loughlin hearing from judge how much time she'll have to serve in prison for her role in the college admissions scandal. I'll have that breaking news for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:51:58]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COOPER: Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband are going to prison. Moments ago, she agreed to a plea deal requiring she serve two months in prison in the college admission scandal. Her husband was sentenced to five months in the plea deal.
They admitted to paying half a million dollars to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.
Crime and justice correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz, and CNN legal analyst, Laura Coates, join me now.
Shimon, when do they begin serving their sentences?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The court has ordered the husband to surrender in 90 days. She'll likely have the same fate, that she'll have to surrender in 90 days.
This is still ongoing so we're waiting to hear from the judge in terms of when he's going to direct her to report to prison.
Of course, this is still one of the biggest scandals in this country, one of the biggest investigations here in terms of cheating scandal, ultimately, in colleges all across the country. Their two kids, their daughters, entered USC, and as she has admitted
today they lied and they paid money, $500,000, to get their daughters into the school.
Today, she entered an agreement with prosecutors. They have pleaded guilty and she's expected to serve about two months -- Anderson?
COOPER: Laura, does it seem reasonable to you, that sentence?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is in line with what the prosecutors have asked for other parents who have been involved. Remember, this is number 23 and 24 of the people who pled guilty.
Remember way back, a year and a half ago, we have Felicity Huffman, a fellow actress who pled guilty and had a two-week sentence imposed to what's being offered now. Two months and a far more reduced amount of fines and lingering supervised release, which includes community service.
But what the judge said this morning, being her husband, you weren't trying to steal bread for your family. You have no excuse for this crime. It was a clear manipulation of what many people have to go through and have to endure. And to capitalize on one's wealth is unconscionable.
Most judges could say you could have an agreement with the government but what I say will go. Here it was baked into the cake.
Before they pled guilty, they would have this particular sentence be issued. It is likely the judge will honor that.
And only Lori Loughlin and her husband were allowed to pull out of the plea agreement, only if the judge failed to accept it. We'll see what will happen now. Whatever they agreed to will probably stand there.
But which prison they go to and how much time they have and a fine is going to be the crux of the issue.
But make no mistake about it, this judge is playing no games and offering no bit of lenience in terms of conscience for the reasons that they have done what they've done.
COOPER: Laura, Shimon, thank you very much. Appreciate in.
[14:54:53]
Just in, a disturbing new forecast from the CDC about how many Americans may lose their lives to the coronavirus over the next three weeks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
We begin with our national lead. We're 74 days out from an unprecedented presidential election, happening in the middle of a deadly pandemic.
With the president of the United States yet again this afternoon railing against vote by mail. A process, we should point out, that is part of the nation's history since the U.S. Civil War.
[15:00:01]
Today, President Trump, with zero evidence, claimed that the election will be an embarrassment and a catastrophe because of vote by mail. While his postmaster general was elsewhere stating the exact opposite in congressional testimony.
