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Joe Biden Ready to Face Trump; Trump Expected to Retaliate; Russian Critic Fighting for His Life; In-Person Learning Still Not Advisable; Biden Accepts Democratic Nomination For United States President; Military Veteran Backs Biden, Rips Trump; The USPS Crisis And The 2020 Election; Steve Bannon Charged With Fraud; U.S. Senators To Hear From Postmaster General DeJoy; WHO, Daily New COVID-19 Cases In Europe Rise To 26,000; Australian Quarantine Hotels Linked To Coronavirus Outbreak; California Wildfires Burning Thousands Of Acres. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 21, 2020 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to you, our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. We're live at CNN center.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks for joining us.

Well, it's a major event in American politics, a key moment of the 2020 presidential race and the biggest day of Joe Biden's half century of public service. Thursday night, the former U.S. vice president officially accepted the Democratic nomination for president.

He capped off a political convention that looked like none before it. It's usually a raucous American tradition. It was virtually reinvented because of the deadly global pandemic that's now a major election issue.

In his acceptance speech, Biden touched on all the major crises the country is facing. Health, economic, social and environmental, and said, his campaign is about more than getting votes, and unseating President Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme, with passion and purpose. Let us begin, you and I, together. One nation, under God, united in our love for America, united in our love for each other. For love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. And light is more powerful than dark.

This is our moment. This is our mission. History may be able to say, that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight. As love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation. And this is about a battle we will win, and we'll do it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Biden, and his wife Jill, along with Kamala Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, walked outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware for a post-speech firework show and waved to the cars parked outside.

Now earlier, several of Biden's former Democratic rivals spoke on his behalf and ripped into President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), SOUTH BEND, INDIANA: Joe Biden is right. This is a contest for the soul of the nation. And to me, that contest is not between good Americans in evil Americans. It's the struggle to call out what is good in every American.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Last week, Donald Trump, said, and I quote, "our economy is doing good." While 40 million Americans are at risk of losing their homes, 30 million aren't getting enough to eat, and 5.4 million people have lost their health care because of this crisis. He has failed us.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, CEO, BLOOMBERG L.P.: Would you re-hire, or work, for someone who ran your business into the ground? And who always does what is best for him or her, even when it hurts the company? And whose reckless decisions put you in danger? And who spends more time tweeting than working? If the answer is no, why the hell would we ever rehire Donald Trump for another four years?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN senior political analyst, Mark Preston joins me now from Washington, D.C. Thanks for doing this, Mark. So, the Republicans unintentionally lowered the bar for Joe Biden. Did he meet expectations?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I certainly think so. I think that if you look back at the beginning of the week, the Democratic convention didn't get off to a big boom until we got that speech from the Michelle Obama.

However, I think Joe Biden, as we are heading into Thursday night, there's a lot of pressure on Joe Biden, could he deliver a speech that we can instill confidence in the American people who might have any doubts, specifically, about his age, Kim. And I think he did that. He did that effectively on Thursday evening.

BRUNHUBER: You've been covering this conventional week. It was a unique challenge to try and generate enthusiasm without all the usual trappings. Did the Democrats achieve their goals this week? Did they energize the base? Maybe convince a few undecideds, if there are any out there?

PRESTON: Well, I think this. I certainly think that we can't compare this from past conventions because there was an unbelievable amount of electricity that was generated during those events, having covered so many of them. But I do think the Democrats were successful in trying to get the message out, in reestablishing their candidate as their flagbearer, heading into November.

You know, a lot of people know about Joe Biden, but they don't know about Joe Biden. Right? That is -- that's the big mystery behind him. People think that they do know everything about him.

[03:05:01]

But it seems like you do or can learn something new every day about him, and certainly, about his character. So, I think that the Democrats were successful in doing that. I think that Republicans, heading into this week, certainly will have learned some lessons from the Democrats about what didn't work, and what will work.

But I think, Kim, we know that Donald Trump is certainly going to be a showman of his own and it will be a convention as we head in to the next one like none other, I believe.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, I wanted to ask you specifically about that. The Republicans have the advantage of seeing how all of this unfolded and be able to react and tweak both their medium and the message. So, do you think there are specific things that they will take to their convention or is, you know, Donald Trump just such a wild card that it will be its completely own thing with no relevance to what happened this week.

PRESTON: OK. So, I think it will be a bit of both, if it makes that. That his advisers they are all smart individuals that they are crafting a convention that is, you know, as conventional as possible. A convention that's as conventional as possible, understanding that their candidate is not a conventional person. Right? He is somebody who marches to the beat of his own drum.

So, I think that you are going to certainly see elements of successful things that we saw this past week from Democrats. I think you are going to start hearing voices from the Republicans, pushing back against issues such as the cancel culture, and what have you.

So, I think you will have those kinds of voices. But at the same time, I think you are going to see Donald Trump is going to have a lot of surprises that he is just going to pull out of his sleeve, I believe, each night. So, I do think that he is going to relish in the opportunity, he loves the spotlight and he is going to have it for a full week.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll see whether that will happen. Thank you so much, Mark Preston. I appreciate your insight.

PRESTON: All right, Kim. Take care.

BRUNHUBER: Now, President Trump was quick to lash out at Joe Biden as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Trump tweeted, in 47 years, Joe did none of the things which he now speaks. He will never change just words.

Meanwhile, sources say the president is working in overdrive to produce an extravagant national convention. It will look vastly different than the Democrats all-digital platform.

Hours before Biden spoke, the president delivered a scathing speech outside of Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Mr. Trump accused his opponent of abandoning the state and being a puppet of the radical left while painting a dark picture of what he says will happen if Biden is elected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you want a vision of your life under Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town and every single town in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now, John Phillips is a radio talk show host at KABC, and political columnist for the Orange County Register. He joins me now from Palm Springs, California. Also joining me is Caroline Heldman, Democratic strategic and associate professor of politics at Occidental College. And she joins me from L.A.

So, thank you very much both for being here. First, super quick take on Joe Biden's speech. Billed by some, as the speech that he has been waiting 50 years to give, how did he do?

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I would think that Joe Biden did exactly what he needed to do. He delivered a solid speech. He had a quiet grace, I wouldn't say, you know, he is a great orator like President Obama or Ronald Reagan. But the expectations for this speech were so low. Right? He just had to come in and show empathy and show that he is a normal politician and he did exactly that.

And I think the GOP really shares a burden here in him doing so well in that they lowered expectations by promoting a false narrative that Joe Biden somehow isn't able to deliver or has some cognitive deficit. And to night he showed that he is a fine politician, he just showed up, delivered the speech and I think there was a collective kind of sigh because nothing, you know, there were no faux pas, he delivered, he did exactly what he needed to do.

BRUNHUBER: Sigh of relief, presumably. So, John, he wasn't sleepy.

JOHN PHILLIPS, TALK SHOW HOST, KABC RADIO: Well, somebody clearly woke him up and like to spit off his mouth and drag him to the podium so he can give the speech tonight. But they should have woken him up yesterday because we have major American cities that are currently in unrest. We have people being dragged out of cars in Portland and beaten senselessly. Couples.

We have unrest going on in Seattle where parts of town are ungovernable. We have violence in the streets of New York, Chicago, and major American cities and there was zero mention of any of this. This was --

(CROSSTALK)

[03:10:00]

BRUNHUBER: Yes -- but this is all under Donald Trump's presidency, it should be pointed that out. I'm not sure that Joe Biden can be pinned with that. Sorry. Go ahead.

PHILLIPS: Joe Biden is trying to become the president of the United States, and he literally didn't mention any of it. It was a speech filled with Democratic Party platitudes. And if we want to know what Joe Biden's agenda is for America, I'm clueless to it. And he certainly didn't articulate that message tonight. I guess we have to wait until next week.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, the aim here for this convention, presumably for Democrats, what threefold. Introduce their nominees for the country, unify the wings of the party, and energize the voters in the run up to this election. Did he accomplish any or all of these?

HELDMAN: Well, I think if you look at polling, poll after poll shows that Democrats are energized in this election because they want Donald Trump gone. They want him gone because of the sort of, you know, made up stories that John just shared about like violence, when in fact violent crime is down.

And Juan Williams, a Republican, actually clarified that today. So, this idea of fear and racism that Donald Trump has been promoting for the past three and a half years, that's the playbook of the Republican Party. So, all the Democrats needed to do at this convention was show that they are normal.

Because people, decent people, are exhausted from the presidency that is self-aggrandizing, that is self-enriching, the largest number of indictments of any sitting president's cabinet and inner circle. We are an international or global embarrassment. We are 5 percent of the population, but 25 percent of the COVID cases, an abject failure.

So, Trump can't run on the economy, he can't run on his anti-science COVID response, he can't run on foreign affairs. So what is he running on? The things that are coming out of John's mouth, made up ideas that we are suddenly in the state of crisis in American cities when in fact violent crime is done. So, all the Democrats needed to do --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNHUBER: Although it should be -- it should be pointed out, murders in major cities are up. But John, what do you have to say on this?

PHILLIPS: Yes. The violence is real. When we're talking about the statistics of the video that's been shown on the news tonight, Juan Williams who was a Republican, if you're talking about enthusiasm, poll after poll shows that Republicans would walk across glass to go vote for Donald Trump.

And for whatever reason -- and I'm willing to acknowledge it's a shame that COVID-19 has been politicized -- Democrats are more fearful with COVID-19 than Republicans. So, if you are trying to spike turnout, if you're trying to get people to turn out to the polls, you need to give them a reason to go out besides Orange Man Bad. And this was the convention of Orange Man Bad. They did not give their voters a reason to be enthused, to go to the polls, to pull the lever for Joe Biden.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, in the shopping list of the aims for the DNC, I left out, sway undecided or convince moderates. Is that even possible? Do you think, by having, you know, Kasich or Cindy McCain supporting Biden? In some way did that help? I'll start with John.

HELDMAN: When John says -- when John says Republicans will walk across glass for this man, we have never seen the number of people from the opposing political party appear at a national convention the way that we just saw on the last four days. More Republicans showing up and saying, they will not be voting for Donald trump.

Did the Democrats do a good job of speaking to Republicans and independents? I think they did. And the reason I think they did is because I'm on the left wing of the party, and how much did we hear about faith and God. How much did we hear about military families? That's not appealing to me. That is definitely appealing to independents and some Republicans who are exhausted from the Trump presidency.

BRUNHUBER: All right, actually, let me come in here because I want to, with the time left, I want to make sure to talk about the Republican convention that's coming up. So, I'll start with John on this.

Shifting to that here, President Trump has criticized the Democrats, you know, the tape segments, saying they lacked energy. He said the RNC will be more live. You know, if there's one thing Donald Trump knows well, it's how to make compelling television. So, what does a successful convention look like? What can we expect?

PHILLIPS: Well, Donald Trump is going to juxtapose his agenda, the agenda of the White House, to the agenda of the Democrats. Their mayors that are controlling cities like Portland, Seattle, New York City, Chicago, and what results in Democratic rule. It is people being shot in the streets, dragged out of their cards, beaten mercilessly.

Mayors that are absolutely incapable of controlling those cities. Cities that are functionally bankrupt. And Democrats, who at their convention, didn't even mention any of this going on in the country. That is their vision.

Joe Biden would be controlled by these people. These people would be the ones making decisions. He tries to portray himself as moderate Uncle Joe, but he wouldn't be the guy who would be pulling the levers of power.

[03:15:05] It would be the radicals that are running the cities, and the radicals that are supporting them.

BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate both of your takes, John Phillips and Caroline Heldman, both in California. Thank you very much for joining me. I appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Kim.

HELDMAN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Well, that's it. The Democratic convention is done. Now it's the Republican's turn. So, tune in for our coverage of the Republican National Convention, starting on Monday night.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is now in the middle of a fight between his family and colleagues on one side, and Russian doctors on the other. His spokesman says he's in a coma after a suspected poisoning, and that the intensive care chief is blocking him from getting treatment in Germany what she calls a threat to his life.

The anti-corruption activist became ill on a flight to Moscow which had to make an emergency landing.

CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is how the Kremlin's most prominent critic was struck down, the painful groans from Alexei Navalny. These medics evacuated him from this commercial flight, forced to make an emergency landing when he was taken ill.

A fellow passenger also recorded the anti-corruption campaigner appearing unconscious being stretchered into an ambulance on the tarmac outside. Supporters say, they believe he was poisoned having drunk tea before the flight. Russian doctors at the Siberian hospital where he is now in intensive care, say they can't yet confirm what would be an extremely disturbing diagnosis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANATOLY KALINICHENKO, OMSK EMERGENCY HOSPITAL PHYSICIAN (through translator): The patient is in serious condition, on a ventilator. But he is stable. Currently, there are multiple diagnoses which we are trying to eliminate or confirm. Naturally, poisoning is one of the possible reasons for the deterioration of his condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Here is another possible reason. More than any other opposition figure in Russia, Alexei Navalny gets ordinary people out to protest. The Kremlin says it's aware that Navalny is in serious condition and wishes him a speedy recovery.

But his unrelenting campaign to highlight corruption in Vladimir Putin's Russia is broadcast on social media have proved immensely popular here, and at times, a real problem for the Kremlin. It wouldn't even be the first time Alexei Navalny has been attacked. In March and April 2017, he was pelted with green dye by unknown assailants. Resulting in a serious chemical burn and damaged vision in one eye.

Of course, it didn't stop him to work against the reign of Putin, he told me, the threat of violence was the price you have to pay.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Have you accepted that you could be killed for this?

ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Anyone who is engaged in opposition activities in Russian can be arrested or killed. This thought gives me no pleasure or joy, I assure you. But it is a simple choice. You can be silent or you can speak. Taking into account all the risks, I continue my work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: And in Russia, speaking is not the easy path.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN Newsroom, as Joe Biden promises to reunite the divided America, he's also making a case to conquer one of its biggest obstacles. The coronavirus pandemic.

Plus, yet another former member of Trump's inner circle is facing federal charges. Coming up, what the president has to say. Stay with us.

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: One of Joe Biden's key messages is that he is the right choice to fight the coronavirus in the U.S. It's killed more than 174,000 people in the country so far. Biden says, the Trump administration's response has led the U.S. in an exceptionally fatal direction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The tragedy of where we are today is that it didn't have to be this bad. Just look around. It's not this bad in Canada, or Europe, or Japan, or almost anywhere else in the world. And the president keeps telling us, the virus is going to disappear. He keeps waiting for a miracle. I have news for him, no miracle is coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now as college students across the United States return to campus, many are ready to party, play sports, and get back to a semblance of normal life. But some are bringing the virus with them.

Nick Watt explains.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fifteen student athletes, now COVID positive at Ole Miss, two new clusters identified at North Carolina state sorority houses, five new collegiate outbreaks in Kansas, Greek life in the spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE NORMAN, SECRETARY, KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT: There needs to be a significant curtailment of their social activities because they're just not getting it, quite honestly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: COVID-19 cases now reported at colleges and universities in at least 17 states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH BIRX, COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: Each university not only have to entrance testing, but what we talk to every university about is being able to do surge testing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Massachusetts now mandating flu vaccines for most students from kindergarten through college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: We really cannot afford to have both illnesses circulating at a significant level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: COVID-19 vaccine news? The Warp Speed chief estimates one will be widely available by spring or early summer. He told Business Insider, we might be back to normal end of 2021. After claiming the first viable vaccine in the world, Russia is just now planning phase three clinical trials. But details of their vaccine are still a mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: They don't hold themselves to any sort of standard. And I do worry deeply about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Nationwide, the rate of new cases is falling for now. But there are spikes in Maine and Wyoming. And in these 18 states, the average daily death toll is still climbing. Nationally?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [03:25:08]

BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Deaths are the lagging indicator, and deaths are now flat. They are not yet decreasing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: We're told they will, but only if we are smart. And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: The population seems to have a divided itself into two groups. There's the safe group, and then there is the other group that are more carefree, rather than careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Allegedly, in that latter category, a Tik Tok star who reportedly owns this Hollywood Hills party pant. The city of Los Angeles just cut the utilities after complaints of crowds from neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dozens of kids without masks piled against my door. I can't get in or out. So that was it, I'm a rat. What can I say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Here in Los Angeles, school started on Thursday but online only. Hundreds of thousands of kids, tens of thousands of teachers, this is a massive undertaking. But the children will be missing what my kids tell me they are missing most. Contact with other kids. But according to the governor, we cannot open schools in Los Angeles yet because there are, still, just too many cases.

Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

BRUNHUBER: Dr. Raj Kalsi is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, and joins me from Naperville, Illinois. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us tonight.

I'd like to start with a view from the E.R. on from the front lines. How are things looking right now at the hospitals you work at?

RAJ KALSI, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: So, as you may know, I work at small hospitals and big hospitals. Today, I finished a 10-hour shift. And work is extremely busy. We're busy with the stuff that we always see, traumas, psycho patients, which are coming in the droves these days, unfortunately.

People have a hard time dealing with things like coping. And you know, everything from heart abnormalities to cancer, but also COVID and in particular, in the Hispanic population in my community.

BRUNHUBER: From a national perspective, there is some more good news as well, both the number of cases and the positive, the rate seem to be on a slight decline. So that's the good news. The bad news is, infection seem to be rising in young people in general, and in school specifically.

So, I'd like to ask you about a study in the Journal of Pediatrics which found that infected children have a significant -- significantly higher level of virus in their airways than adults hospitalized in the ICU for COVID-19 treatment which, you know, suggest that in the words of one of the authors, children maybe as susceptible as adults but just not as visible.

What do you make of the growing body of evidence that children might be silent spreaders here?

KALSI: Yes, it's scary. I read the article. And one of the most important things and takeaways from that article is that, it seems like, based on all the sciences and the studies that have been done on pediatrics, that this is right out of Harvard. This is out of Massachusetts General Hospital, a wall renowned institution.

The kids have less immunoreceptors to the virus. And here is what that means. Kids, children, under 18, are less likely to take the virus and turn it into COVID-19 the syndrome, which is the cytokine storm, the inflammation, the swelling of the lungs, the clots, and all of the terrible things that you are hearing about.

However, because of that, they're able to procreate and increase the amount of virus in their body. And when they breathe out, when they cough, when they touch other human beings they are just as likely to transmit the virus as an adult.

So, the scariest thing is, that the littlest people in our world are ones that are probably the most dangerous to us adults.

BRUNHUBER: Well, that's certainly worrying when we're talking about having so many kids go to school, and then also the fall. You know, we have COVID, the seasonal flu so authorities are trying to step up efforts to get people to get their flu shot this year.

They are letting pharmacists give the shots to kids 3 to 18. But the take up for the flu shot is so low, and quite low for children. So how important is it for young people to get the flu shot? And how do you -- how do you encourage people to get them? I know the state of Massachusetts, for instance, is mandating them for students. But is that the answer here?

KALSI: You know, this is America. Mandating anything is going to be a challenge. Right? We're going to have two opinions on every single topic. For years and decades, people have been up in arms about debating vaccinations and this is not going to be any different.

Maybe with the insight that preventing one more fever causing illness that would cloud the situation when a parent has to face whether or not their kid may have COVID, maybe that's going to encourage more people to get this vaccination, which is very safe, something that also the healthcare we're required to get it and we welcome it.

[03:30:01]

And certainly, I think it's absolutely necessary. I will go on the line saying that everybody should get a flu shot who is not allergic to it or whose doctor says that this is something it is safer for them to do that.

As far as the mandate, I can't play the politics here. But I certainly know that, it would save more lives. And it would help health care industry absolutely. If everybody got one.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, listen, I really appreciate all of your time, Dr. Raj Kalsi, thank you very much for joining us.

KALSI: Thank you, Kim, take care.

BRUNHUBER: Well, it's been a bad few weeks for Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, and he is about to be grilled by U.S. Senators. What postal service workers say about the crisis coming up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you, our viewers watching here in the U.S., in Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. In the U.S., Democrats have gotten their official business out of the way and now they can focus on November.

Thursday, Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. His speech cap the unprecedented virtual Democratic National Convention. Now, he did not mention Donald Trump by name, but Biden drew a sharp contrast between himself and the current president and likened a vote for Trump to evoke more anger and darkness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know this about this president, if he is given four more years, he will be what he has been for the last four years. The president takes no responsibility. Refuses to lead, blames others. Cozies up to dictators and fans the flames of hate and division. He will wake up every day, believing the job is all about him. Never about you. Is that the America that you want, for you, your family, your children?

[03:35:15]

BRUNHUBER: One of the convention speakers was Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. She is an army veteran who lost her leg serving in Iraq. Duckworth said Biden understands what military families endure, because his late son, Beau also served. She had less flattering comments about the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH, (D-IL): As president, Joe Biden would never let tyrants manipulate him like a puppet. He would never pervert our military to stroke his own ego. He would never turn his back on our troops or threaten them against Americans peacefully exercising their constitutional rights. Joe Biden would stand up for what is right, and stand tall for our troops and stand strong against our enemies. Because unlike Trump, Joe Biden has common decency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A man who helped President Trump win the election in 2016, now faces federal charges. Former chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon is accused defrauding donors and pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors say Bannon and three others help create a fundraising campaign to build President Trump's border wall, promising that all of the money would be spent construction. And then said they used much of the money on personal expenses and lavish lifestyle. After Bannon's arrest on Thursday, President Trump tried to distance himself from his former adviser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a long period of time. As most of the people in this room know. He was of involved in our campaign. He worked for Goldman Sachs, he worked for a lot of companies. But he was involved likewise on our campaign. And first small part of the administration, a very early on. I have not been dealing with him at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Bannon pleaded not guilty, and was released on bond. He now joins a long list of Trump associates charged or convicted of crimes since he took office.

In the coming hours, U.S. Senators will hold a virtual hearing on the United States postal service, and hear from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Postal workers and election observers have been watching him closely. Wondering if and by how much, he'll serve President Trump's interest during the 2020 elections.

Now, remember, Mr. Trump has said he opposes much needed funding for the U.S. postal service because he doesn't want to see it use for mail-in voting this November. He has repeatedly raised unfounded concerns that mail-in voting would, somehow be fraudulent. The postal service could see a massive increase in those ballot, submitted that way as voters take extra precautions because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Samantha Hartwig is the president of branch nine of the National Association of Letter Carriers and joins me from Minneapolis. Thank you very much for speaking with us. So, on Thursday, at a briefing press, Democrats, from a former postal service inspector general who resigned in protest in April, said the Trump administration appear to want to turn the agency into a political tool, he said.

You represent letter carriers in the Minneapolis area. What is it like for your members to be in the middle of this maelstrom? To have this service politicized, and have your clients, you know, effectively taking sides?

SAMANTHA HARTWIG, PRESIDENT, BRANCH NINE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS: Yes. It is tough for the carriers. They don't like being in the middle of it. They would rather just be left alone to do their job. Get the mail to our customers, every piece, every day, as we have been doing since the 1700s, when the postal service was founded.

And we just want to get our jobs done. We don't want to be in the middle of some political agenda. Our job is to get it done. And get it done, every piece, every day, six days a week. They just want to get it done.

BRUNHUBER: So you just want to get the job done. Have you seen any evidence on the ground about efforts to dismantle the service, or slow things down for the election?

HARTWIG: Yes. The post office has removed some of our sorting machines which has slowed the mail down. It's been taking longer to get a letter across town than it used to. Our packages have been getting delayed for an extra day. So, if you order your medication, and you need it today, you might not get it until tomorrow and that is a problem. And we are not OK with that at all.

BRUNHUBER: I heard, in your area, a herculean efforts carried out during the primary, despite the loss of overtime hours and some are sorting equipment, as you say. People running around trying to get ballots to the right place. So, I'm just curious, are ballots treated differently by workers even though they are bulk mail like junk mail, essentially? The same class?

[03:40:09]

HARTWIG: Well, ballots are not the so called junk mail. Ballots are treated as if they are priority mail. They're handled special, they are getting special priority treatment.

We had upper level postal management taking ballots and giving them to their destination, to make sure everything went through and got to its destination on time and smoothly. And so the postal service is actually treating all ballots as a priority. And that is great, because the more people that can vote, the better it is for the American people to have their voices heard. So, it's a good thing. And we can handle it.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, I want to delve back into the politics. You know, the current postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, back down on many of the proposed changes to the postal service. But we are hearing there are massive long term reforms in the works after the election. We've only heard sort of reports of what they are, but presumably they are meant to cut costs, and could have a huge effect DeJoy's testimony before a Senate hearing today. So, what are you hoping to hear from him and what are you worried most about down the road?

HARTWIG: Well, what I would hope to hear from him is that he was hearing what the American people have been saying. Don't slow down the mail. We need our mail, stop removing those sorting machines that we need to effectively get our job done and understand that slowing down the mail affects everybody. Every demographic, rural America. Anyone living in a metropolitan area.

I'm really hoping that he is listening to the American public. My concern is that after the election, because we temporarily have a hole in these operational changes, and removing equipment, my concern is that after the election, they will go forward with continuing to remove all of this equipment. And it will be detrimental, going forward, after the election, also. It is a short sighted solution to the problem.

When prefunding in 2006 was mandated by Congress that we refund future retiree health benefits for 75 years that's is actually the roots of the postal services' financial issues. COVID-19, it doesn't quite help.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Listen, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us, Samantha Hartwig with the National Association of Letter Carriers. I appreciate it.

HARTWIG: Thank you so much.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We will be right back, stay with us.

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[03:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: The World Health Organization has a warning for Europe, now that it is reporting an average of more than 26,000 new COVID-19 cases each day. The Director of WHO Europe says new clusters are becoming more common, especially in closed settings. Joining me now for more on all of this is CNN's Anna Stewart in London. Anna, tell us what countries are of greatest concern right now?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER, PRODUCER: Yes. We all see worrying numbers, really all across the border, across lots of different European countries at the moment. The WHO picking a pretty dismal picture with 40,000 new cases in the first week of August across the continent compared to the first week of June.

The big difference since then, of course, has been the lifting of national lockdowns across the continent. Now, each day, this week, we have been reporting on countries recording their highest daily increase in cases since lockdown was lifted. Today that is the case for Italy, once again, and France. France has recorded over 4,700 new cases just in the last 24 hours,

Kim. Now, WHO yesterday was attributing this to relaxation in public health measures. Also, reduced compliance though from people with social distancing. And a real warning for young people who are increasingly cropping up these numbers, perhaps they weren't early on in the pandemic, whether that was a reduced level of testing or not.

But they are being urged not to attend large gatherings, not to go out partying. They are very much hone in on here by the WHO. There is growing alarm across the continent. What you are seeing currently is spikes could develop into a second wave of coronavirus, if it isn't cut.

There is some glimmer of hope though I guess in recent weeks from a huge certain Portugal. I can tell you that has manage to curb its spread of its new cases. They have less than 300 new cases yesterday which means the countries like the U.K. here have said that travelers from Portugal will no longer need to quarantine. So, this is something that needs to be done, of course in these countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain where we are seeing this big surges. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Anna Stewart in London.

Let's go to Australia now. New details emerging from that country about the links between the country's recent coronavirus outbreak and hotels used for quarantine. Officials say a number of hotel workers in Melbourne became infected and help spread the virus throughout their community. Here to discuss further is journalist Angus Watson, live from Sydney.

So, there's been an ongoing inquiry into the links we mentioned there between those hotels uses for quarantine, the outbreaks in the state of Victoria, the numbers are quite incredible. You've been following that inquiry, so what is the latest?

ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST: Well, Kim, this inquiry has heard a gross inadequacies within that hotel quarantine system for return travelers coming back to Melbourne. Today we heard from those return travelers and we also heard from staff, who had been recruited to mind them while they are in a 14-day quarantine.

One staff member said he received absolutely no training in infection control. No training either in to how to properly put on, or take off his PPE. He said he just had to use his own intuition to figure out how to correctly do that. And as we know, it's an incredibly delicate process, particularly the removal of that PPE, just to make sure that it doesn't become contaminated.

Now the judicial inquiry will hand down its findings in November and there will likely be a reckoning for Premier Daniel Andrews, because 99 percent of cases in a brutal second wave of coronavirus that hits Vitoria can be traced directly back to breeches within that hotel quarantine system. So, if that system had done its job, Kim, perhaps Victoria, could have avoided a second wave.

Now, some good news today, the numbers are slightly down again. Just 179 new cases of covid-19 in Victoria. That's the lowest number in five weeks. In New South Wales where I am, we had just one case today. So the Prime Minister came out today and said that he is hopeful that it's been a week filled with hope. Let's hope that that can continue, Kim.

[03:50:06]

BRUNHUBER: All right. Good news there. Thank you so much, Angus Watson in Sydney. I appreciate it.

The heat wave and lightning sparking massive wildfires in California. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned so far. When will relief be coming? Well, we will look at that, coming up after the break.

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BRUNHUBER: Wildfires in northern California, sparked by lightning killed a utility worker. Helping first responders. A helicopter pilot, making water drops on the fires has also died. There are among four people killed so far. More than 500,000 acres have burned as people in California not only deal with the most coronavirus cases in the U.S., but also, sweltering heat and the smoke from the fires is creating the worst air quality in the world. Meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, joins us now. Derek, I mean, on the ground, in the air, north Cali really struggling here.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: yes. That's right. And Kim, this is what the worst air quality in the world looks like. This is when it covers the entire Golden Gate Bridge with that kind of hazy smoky look to the horizon.

[03:55:03]

And it was so prominent, that it was visible from space. Here's the bay area, San Francisco. Zoom just out, this is a satellite image of the smoke. You can see that kind of gray look to the map behind me. That is from the ongoing fire over the central and western portions of California.

Of course, degrading the quality of our air. That is why the National Weather Service has poor air quality alerts in place across the San Joaquin Valley, portions of Colorado and into to the Pacifica Northwest including Oregon, where other wildfires continue to burn.

Now this isn't an experimental product from (inaudible), it shows the dispersion of the smoke and the degraded quality of air. And look at how that plume of red and orange moves eastward across the country. The smoke is actually going to travel over 1,500 miles within the next several days, bringing that thick cloudy haze to the horizon. Even as far as the Great Plains.

Now, it's hard to believe that over 10,000 lightning strikes in three days' time spark over 350 wildfires. Well, we kind of combined them into what is known as the lightning complex fires across the greater bay area. The bottom line you need to know at home is they are largely uncontained, and they are still raging out of control. There's something I would like to point out for 2020. I would say

right as we near the peak of our Atlantic hurricanes season. We are monitoring several tropical waves, the tropical rain we'd like to call it and the tropical depression across the Gulf of Mexico, for the early parts of next week was a serious threat for the southeastern United States. Something we will monitor very closely. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Trouble on both coast. Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam. I appreciate it.

VAN DAM: All right.

BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber, CNN's live coverage continues right after this. Stick with us.

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