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House Voting To Pause Postal Service Changes Amid Trump Attacks; Trump In Overdrive To Produce A Blockbuster R.N.C. That Outshines Democrats; COVID-19 Outbreaks Hit Universities In At Least 19 States. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 22, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:14]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, thanks for being with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York and right now in the House of Representatives, the vote is underway on a bill that would send $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service and halt the recent changes that have caused delivery delays from coast to coast.

This bill is expected to pass largely along party lines in the Democrat-led chamber, but the White House is already signaling the President will veto it.

Now, the agency has been under relentless attack from the President including this pair of tweets just moments ago where he claimed among other things, the Post Office has said it doesn't need money.

Here are the facts. Earlier this year, the Postal Service Board of Governors did ask for $25 billion, the exact amount in this bill to help offset the impact of COVID-19. And the pandemic is also expected to lead to an increase in mail-in ballots for the presidential election, something the President repeatedly claims will lead to widespread voter fraud even though there is zero evidence of that.

President Trump also alleges the Post Office won't be able to handle the volume of ballots, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who testified before the Senate this week is pushing back. He says the USPS is more than ready for the election.

He also says he will hit pause on removing any more mailboxes or sorting machines until the election is over.

Let's get right now to Capitol Hill and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Suzanne, the vote on this bill is finally underway. Tell us what's happening inside and what House leaders expect the final vote tally to look like?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Ana. There was a little bit of a delay, but it was a fierce debate that happened this afternoon between largely Democrats and Republicans over this very issue. We expect that how this is unfolding is that there will be seven voting blocs or voting groups that will be called up to make sure they are socially distanced, and those groups will be called up by alphabetical order last name. And with the proxy votes as well, it should take about an hour or so

before we get those results and Ana, Democrats, very confident that they will see passage of this bill. It will largely be along party lines, but they expect all the Democrats to say yes to this bill and a handful of Republicans, those being, of course, the co-sponsors of Brian Fitzpatrick and Jeff Van Drew, the Democrat who turned Republican after the President was impeached, and then three others to look out for, to watch for as they vote -- that would be Representatives, John Katco, Peter King and Tom Reed, all of them Republicans from New York.

But for the most part, Ana, we are seeing Democrats who will say yes to this bill, and the arguments could not be more clear, they could not be more of a divisive contrast between these parties. The Democrats simply saying, hey, we're taking our cues from President Trump, the Postal Service is a mess. The Board of Governors says we need $25 billion and things are slowing down.

And Republicans accusing the Democrats saying this is all a hoax. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): We all know the motto, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." But of course, no one foresaw that any American President would willingly crowbar our mail system to sway an election.

Don't mess with the USPS. Pass this good bill.

REP. BOB GIBBS (R-OH): My colleagues on the left are faking outrage over made up crisis to score points during the election. The United States Postal Service is under no greater stress than it was before the coronavirus pandemic and well before this election cycle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Ana, we don't expect any kind of compromise on this. We've already heard the veto threat from the President. We've also heard from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying they are certainly not calling the Senate back from their recess to address this.

But what we did hear, which was critical yesterday from Senator Ron Johnson, in that hearing with the Postmaster General was that perhaps there is some sort of coronavirus relief package later on down the road that might have some sort of aid for the Postal Service.

They were able to come up with a figure of $10 billion last go round when the White House negotiators and Speaker Pelosi were working with them, those negotiations fell apart. So perhaps there is some sort of solution in the future, but certainly not now.

CABRERA: Okay, and we're looking at the vote count as it's ticking up and it does look like at least 24 Republicans so far have voted with Democrats on this. Thank you Suzanne Malveaux, from Capitol Hill.

And as we await the finish of that vote, CNN has learned President Trump is really in overdrive to produce a Republican National Convention that outshines the Dems.

Joining us now is former R.N.C. spokesman, Tim Miller. He has worked on campaigns for everyone from John McCain to Jeb Bush; and also with us, Mark McKinnon, co-host of Showtime's, "The Circus" and former George W. Bush campaign adviser.

Gentlemen, thanks for being here. Tim, the President has said he doesn't want the pre-recorded speeches. He told Sean Hannity he thinks that's boring.

[18:05:17]

CABRERA: We just saw this week he was willing to hold events with few masks and no social distancing, even though we are now in the middle of this pandemic, what do you think we're going to see?

TIM MILLER, FORMER R.N.C. SPOKESMAN: Well, I think the President has had a pretty big problem over the past six months, and it's the fact that he gets bored very easily. He's like an ADHD child who has been spending his time complaining about Joe Scarborough and when making up conspiracy theories and defending Q when what the nation is looking for is what Joe Biden had to offer, which is a clear message for how we're going to fix this pandemic, how we're going to fix this economy.

So I think it's a good sign for Democrats if the President is concerned about the boringness of the convention, because honestly, the best thing that Trump can have would be a boring convention where he talks about how he was going to fix the things that are ailing economy because that's what's dragging his numbers down, not the fact that people aren't entertained by his wheels off tweets. And, you know, having kind of these weird populist guests show up and give speeches.

CABRERA: Mark, Trump advisers have told CNN, they don't think the coronavirus will be a heavy focus of the event this week as it was during the Democrats' convention. Is that a mistake? Because what bigger issue is there right now?

MARK MCKINNON, CO-HOST, SHOWTIME'S "THE CIRCUS": Well, there is no bigger issue, Ana, and greetings ingredients from your hometown. This is a referendum on his handling of the greatest crisis is country has faced in quite a while and that's what presidential leadership is supposed to be all about.

Now, he's going to make an argument that the economy can't be shut down because of the virus. In fact, I'm sure he's going to talk about Joe Biden's comment yesterday that he would shut it down if the scientists said so.

So, that would be the contrast he will try and make. It is that he is the guy and by the way on the economic numbers, the perceptions of his leadership are stronger than Joe Biden. So that's the one place where he has got a lifeboat is on the economy.

But the Democrats really raised the bar as far as the convention goes. You know, with the exception of some minor glitches, it was really a good show. And I would hate to be the producers on the phone with Donald Trump over the last couple of days, because I'm sure he is raising hell about what they're going to do to try outdo the Democrats.

This whole notion of going live versus taped is first of all, the audience doesn't know. And second of all, it raises the possibility that things could go wrong in a big way.

CABRERA: Oh, gosh, we all know, live TV, anything can happen. And obviously in this age of technology, especially with the coronavirus there, it does open -- you have mistakes and just bugs and glitches and all of that kind of thing.

You mentioned the economic aspect of this situation and Joe Biden recently sat down for an interview. It's his new interview since the convention. He was asked how he would handle the pandemic. And here's what he told ABC News. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: If you're sworn in come January, and we have coronavirus and the flu combining, which many scientists have said is a real possibility. Would you be prepared to shut this country down again?

JOE BIDEN (D), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw this administration is thinking to begin with.

In order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus.

QUESTION: So if the scientists say shut it down?

BIDEN: I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I'm sure the scientists and doctors are applauding that line. But Tim, on the flip side, the shutdown has caused a lot of economic pain. Do you think that was smart of Biden to say politically?

MILLER: Well, look, I mean, I think what's caused a lot of economic pain is the fact that this administration had no plan for dealing with the virus.

I mean, the shutdowns happened everywhere, but in a lot of countries around the world, they are starting to get back to -- they are starting to get things turned back around. People aren't prisoners in their own home. And so I laughed when he said that the Trump fans don't want or the

Trump's advisers really don't want him to talk about the virus. No kidding. He's got nothing good to say. He hasn't done anything about it.

You know, all he's done is golf and complain on Twitter about how unfair it is that this has happened to him.

And so, you know, look, I mean, maybe Biden could have made that point in a little bit more politically advantageous way, but his broader point, which he said, which is we can't get people back to work until we deal with the virus is exactly right. It's what Trump doesn't understand.

And on balance, the polls show that people are more on Biden's camp on that regard.

CABRERA: And, Mark, I have to ask you about this tweet from the President today. It was a blatant lie. "The Democrats took the word God out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention," he writes, "At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn't. It was done on purpose. Remember evangelical Christians at all. This is where they're coming from. It's done. Vote November 3."

Now, we checked the taped. Here's what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GROUP: One nation under God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation --

GROUP: Under God.

GROUP: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

GROUP: Under God.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: One nation under God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So there it was, all four days. How do you even spin that, Mark?

MCKINNON: Well, that's -- I mean, nobody believes that Donald Trump is more religious or has more faith than Joe Biden and somebody compared speeches, and Joe Biden mentions the word God, you know, five to ten times more than Donald Trump does. He rarely mentions that at all. And Donald Trump thinks the New Testament is just an edited version of the old one.

But to your earlier point, I would just say, I think that Trump is going to use that as a political weapon, what he said to ABC about shutting down the economy. I think they're going to use that like sledgehammer.

CABRERA: The President has also accused Biden, who is a devout Catholic of being against God. I want you to hear how Biden has talked about his faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose. As God's children, each of us have a purpose of it in our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Tim, as someone who has worked on multiple campaigns, what do you make of this strategy to attack Biden on faith?

MILLER: Well, if you want to play to your strengths, and here's the thing about Joe Biden, it is that Joe Biden talks about his faith naturally because it's authentic. It's real. And he's an Irish Catholic. He's gone through a lot of pain in his life.

Irish Catholics, you know, do funerals better than anybody and Joe Biden knows about it, understands that in a deep way, understands faith and pain and sacrifice.

And here's the thing about Donald Trump, this worked for him in 2016. He cut this deal with the Evangelicals over the judges and it was the best political move he has made.

But you can see how he has lost touch with what Evangelicals actually want. I mean, I'm political director for Republican Voters against Trump. We hear from voters a lot over the last three months who said when he gassed those protesters and went to hold up that Bible for a photo-op in front of the church across the street from the White House, when he did that, you saw that he was using these voters.

He didn't believe it. He didn't read from the Scripture. He can't speak about it naturally.

So for me, this is a losing game for Donald Trump because he's playing from a position of weakness where Biden is playing from strength, and it worked for him in 2016, so he is going back to the same playbook, but we're in a different environment now.

CABRERA: But do you really think Evangelical voters will turn away from him? MILLER: I don't know, but look, here's the thing, and he only needs

to peel off five percent. If you look at the 2016 voters for Hillary, about 15 percent of Evangelicals voted for Trump and said they didn't like him.

You know if you can peel off half of those voters, get them to not to write in somebody or if you can get a third of them to vote for Joe Biden, this election is over. You know, Donald Trump is going to lose North Carolina and he's going to lose Florida.

And so yes, I think that's absolutely realistic for Joe Biden not to win a majority, but to win enough to flip this election. Absolutely.

CABRERA: You both once worked with the late Senator John McCain, and we saw at the D.N.C., Cindy McCain narrating a video about the friendship between McCain and Biden. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF THE LATE SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (voice over): And when millions of Americans were faced with losing their health insurance, it was Joe's friend who saved Obamacare by crossing the aisle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McCain cast his vote with a thumbs down.

BIDEN: John and I have been given several awards about bipartisanship. We don't understand why you should get an award for bipartisanship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for your example on how to remain the same good guy that you were when you first got here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I just wanted to ask both of you, did you think that was effective and terms of outreach to Republicans? Mark, you first.

MCKINNON: I think it's very effective, not just in terms of the outreach to Republicans, but overall, it's a unity message. It's a message about working together and reminding people about a time when people like John McCain and Joe Biden worked together to get things done.

And that's what people are hungry for and that's the bell they were ringing.

CABRERA: Tim, your thoughts?

MILLER: Yes, I'd say look, well, this week actually is the anniversary of John McCain's death and his birthday, and so I think across from the convention, you're going to see more counterprogramming from the Democrats and from groups like us, at Republican Voters Against Trump to talk about John McCain's legacy, and how much of a contrast that is with Biden. And I think that look, if you look at the videos on our website, from

real Republicans, some of them who voted for Trump last time who are flipping this time, many of them mention John McCain, many of them mention the fact that they're looking for that kind of decency, bipartisanship as Mark said.

So you know, yes, I think this is working for at least a percentage of these voters.

CABRERA: Okay, Tim Miller and Mark McKinnon. Thanks to both of you and Mark, I'm so glad to see you looking strong and healthy after that horrific bike accident I know you had.

MCKINNON: Thank you.

CABRERA: Thank you both for being here.

[18:15:10]

CABRERA: It only took one week for COVID-19 outbreaks to hit universities and colleges in at least 19 states. At least one Dean attributing it to quote, "incredibly reckless behavior." We will take you live to one of the colleges experiencing an outbreak right now. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: As college students head back to campus, coronavirus outbreaks at universities in at least 19 states are prompting leaders to take action.

Just today we learned that Syracuse University has suspended 23 students after they convened on the campus quad, Wednesday night. The university's Dean calling the event incredibly reckless behavior.

In another large gathering of students, this time at Penn State, it has prompted the School's President to ask those flouting the rules, do you want to be the person responsible for sending everyone home?

Meanwhile, scenes of crowded bars near the University of Alabama's Tuscaloosa campus has sparked outcries from the mayor and the school's athletic director. Police issuing about a dozen citations and arrests for others. They arrested four others for violating COVID regulations.

CNN's Natasha Chen joins us now from Miami, and Natasha, we saw some developments out of FAU today. Fill us in.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Ana, the FAU Athletics spokesperson told us that they suspended football practice temporarily when three of their players tested positive for COVID-19.

Now, that temporary pause is at least until Monday when they can test the players again and review those results, and these are the first positive test cases they've had since the beginning of preseason practice, according to the spokesperson who talked to us, and that's been since August 5. So they typically he said test all the athletes every week, again, the

first three positive test cases since August 5. That being said, now is when all of the rest of the student body has been moving on to campus, into the dorms because classes begin Monday and they're on that campus.

A lot of the classes are going to be virtual. Some of them like labs are still done in-person, but even those rooms have reduced capacity with a number of students who can be in there. There are strict requirements with wearing masks as well as social distancing.

Even so, just as in the examples that you listed at other schools, people are thinking about the fact that they can't control other people's behavior a hundred percent of the time. Here's one freshman we talked to who hopes to become a doctor one day about her considerations in coming to campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVANIA LAUSCAR, FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN: It does take that one person to ruin it for the rest. So I do have my worries sometime, but then I take my steps to kind of step away and then I know my building. They take their steps. They always check you. They make sure no extra guests. Everybody is in their dorm so maybe kind of try to work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Yes, and both she and another freshman I talked to said that when they moved in, everything was done on a staggered schedule. And so the dorm was eerily quiet.

There were -- it was a controlled timeline so that not that many people would be in this space at a given moment. They also told me that out of all their classes they're about to begin, only one of them for each of those students is actually face-to-face, but of course, we've already seen at other universities, clusters of COVID cases pop up where students do have face-to-face instruction.

And one of the student's parents told us you know, that she said, you can't really hide from this. All you can do is best protect yourself from being infected and not contributing to the problem -- Ana.

CABRERA: Okay, Natasha Chen reporting. Thank you.

For insight on COVID's effect on colleges and more, Dr. Peter Hotez joins us now. He is a professor of Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and Doctor, another university hitting the pause button, Notre Dame after more than 300 positive COVID cases on campus and that's despite all the students that are being tested prior to returning to campus with over 99 percent testing COVID free.

So if they thought everyone was coming back clear of the virus, how did this outbreak happen?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, this is tough, Ana. You know, I think one of the major reasons we're seeing this, you know, everyone is blaming the students for their behavior.

I tend to be a little less harsh with the students and really want to emphasize the importance of the fact that we have widespread transmission of COVID-19 in many parts of the country, including the southern part of the United States and the Midwest, and you're bringing in students from all of those parts of the country to a central location like University of Notre Dame, like University of North Carolina.

And when you have that screaming level of transmission going on, you're just going to be -- it's pretty easy to overwhelm the system.

So even if you're putting in place a system of testing, just doing the contact tracing could easily overwhelm universities and the problem is, you know, again, this gets back to the fundamental flaw that's happened in the United States, which is the White House did not undertake a good faith effort to reduce transmission during the summer of 2020 and allowed all of this widespread transmission, and now we're seeing the consequences of it.

It may not be possible to open up a lot of campuses for in-person classes and for dormitory housing. That's the unfortunate reality.

CABRERA: I mean, just difficult to catch up, it sounds like. The Trump administration did declare teachers essential workers this week, and I want you to listen to Vice President Pence on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To keep our economy rolling, to keep our healthcare economy rolling, to keep food on the table, we recognize that they are essential workers in America.

What it does, John, is it prioritizes supplies and PPE and testing, so we want our teachers to know we're going to continue to prioritize their health, their safety, the safety of our schools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Dr. Hotez, do you think that declaration was necessary?

[18:25:06]

HOTEZ: You know if I had the opportunity to speak to the Vice President, and I have a lot of respect for him, I would say, Mr. Vice President, the problem is, sir, you did not hold up your end of the bargain as head of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce.

You knew the consequences of allowing this screaming level of transmission across the country especially in the southern parts of the United States and the Midwest and in California, and you did not undertake a national strategy to bring this down, and now is not the time to be putting this on the backs of the teachers, to tell them, well now you figure it out, which is essentially what he is saying and doing.

So you know, it's this lack of recognition what national treasures our teachers are, not taking ownership of the fact that it was his responsibility as head of the Coronavirus Taskforce to bring down transmission. He didn't make it happen.

And now he's mad that teachers don't want to go back to the classroom just to protect themselves and their families and their students and it's outrageous and I find that unacceptable.

CABRERA: Without providing any evidence today, the President accused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials, pushing any possible vaccine until after the election.

And in this tweet, he tagged Dr. Stephen Hahn, the man he picked to head the agency. I know you read this tweet, what's your response?

HOTEZ: Well, it's outrageous and it's offensive. Look, our group is developing a vaccine for COVID-19 at Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine. We're scaling up production now in India, but I'm also working day and night to help the other Operation Warp Speed vaccines.

I wake up at four o'clock in the morning, five o'clock in the morning to be on teleconferences with colleagues. The whole scientific community is rallying to get these vaccines advanced through clinical trials.

I am working very closely with the N.I.H. Our N.I.H. active working group for vaccines has been really giving a lot of thought to this. Everyone is rolling up their sleeves working as hard as they can. And then the President pulls this kind of stunt. It's offensive and I won't accept it.

The reality is this, things are not going as quickly as we'd like partly because the Phase 1 trials told us something very important that for most of these early Operation Warp Speed vaccines, you need to give two doses of the vaccine to get a reasonable level of immune response and virus neutralizing antibody.

That right away add six to eight weeks to any of the clinical trial. Enrolment is going pretty well, it's actually -- this is probably the fastest I've ever seen groups get together to enroll patients.

So the bottom line is, Mr. President, do not blame the scientists. We're doing everything we can.

CABRERA: Do you see any scenario that there's a vaccine that is proven safe and effective by the election?

HOTEZ: No. And partly because we have that requirement for two doses. It's going to take time even after the second dose to follow those individuals both for safety and to see if compared to the placebo that there's a protective effect of the vaccine.

I don't see you having that information until the early part of 2021, and even then, that's a world speed record doing that.

I've been saying vaccines won't be rolled out until the third quarter of 21. Dr. Fauci said Q1-Q2, I say, well, let's split the difference sometime in the early middle part of 2021. And again, that is an extraordinary accomplishment.

CABRERA: Right. Because typically vaccines take years, sometimes decades to develop. Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you for all you do. Thank you for getting up early for all of us and the work you're doing behind the scenes and the information, the knowledge you're sharing with us on air day in and day out. We really appreciate it.

HOTEZ: Thank you for giving attention to this, Ana. Appreciate it.

CABRERA: Thank you. Be well.

Two tropical storms named Laura and Marco could make rare back-to-back land falls in the Mainland U.S. and that has the Governor of Mississippi worried the coronavirus pandemic could complicate preparations.

Governor Tate Reeves says shelter space has been reduced by up to half due to COVID-19. He is urging people to plan ahead and to act early.

Hurricane watches have now been issued along the Gulf as Marco intensifies and could become a hurricane within hours.

Meantime, Laura is passing by Puerto Rico today. It is headed toward Cuba. Laura could pass just south of the Florida Keys come Monday. We'll be tracking this and bring you new information.

Up next, a former Army Green Beret now accused of spying on his country for Russia and his connection goes back decades.

We'll have more on this elaborate scheme right after this. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:02]

HERE

CABRERA: The Department of Justice revealing a stunning development. A former Army Green Beret has been arrested and charged with espionage. Now, according to the department, he knowingly leaked U.S. National Defense secrets to members of Russia's intelligence service for more than a decade.

CNN's Ryan Browne joins us now. Ryan, I mean, this is a scheme that goes back decades. What more can you tell us?

[18:35:00]

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, that's right, Ana. We're told according to the charges filed by the prosecutor's office, he, this member of the Army Special Forces, was first recruited by Russia intelligence back in the late 90s. He visited Russia. He was assigned a codename by Russian military intelligence and they were the ones who even convinced him to join the Elite Special Forces.

He initially had a different specialization. The Russian intelligence operatives allegedly were the ones who encouraged him to join the Special Forces so that he could have access to more intelligence, more classified material that he could then pass on to Russia. He's accused of passing on the identities of his fellow Special Forces members, as well as information about operations and tactics and procedures.

Though he never deployed to a combat zone, but he did have extensive operational experience going to places like Korea elsewhere before leaving the army in 2005. He was in the reserves for some time that only being charged now which indicates that Some new intelligence came to light about his association with the Russian military intelligence service.

That is the same intelligence service that has been blamed by the U.S. government from everything from election meddling to a series of assassination plots in Europe. So a lot of concern that they were able to recruit someone and maintain someone like this for so long in the Army's Elite Special Forces, Ana.

CABRERA: So how does this play into the bigger picture of us Russia relations?

BROWNE: Well, there's obviously a lot of tension, a range of issues right now. Officials are closely watching what Russia will do with regards to the upcoming presidential election and there was that allegation that the same military unit they've recruited to spy was also involved in possibly targeting U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, the payment of bounties, those reports.

Now, the Trump administration has sought to downplay some of those. Officials have told CNN that they do have intelligence indicating that this same Russian intelligence unit was planning to target U.S. troops. So it's a wide range of issues with Moscow right now and tensions remain very high.

CABRERA: And we know the intelligence services are saying Russia is actively right now trying to meddle in the 2020 election. Ryan Browne, thank you very much for your reporting.

Up next, would it even be 2020 without a massive asteroid hurdling past Earth. True story will explain after this. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:41:45]

CABRERA: Economic collapse, food and medicine shortages, political unrest, those are just some of the reasons Venezuelans are leaving their country and flocking to the U.S. And in tomorrow night's episode of UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA, W. Kamau Bell visits Miami to ask new and established Venezuelans about the problems which made them flee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: How long have you been driving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, for over about four years.

BELL: And what do you do for work in Venezuela?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lawyer. I was a lawyer there and since then I've been here battling my case of asylum. But, I mean, last year they got me detained.

BELL: You were in detention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, for a month.

BELL: What was that like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was bad. I mean, it was really a kind of experience. I had never been in jail in my life before. It changed my life the way I see things now. I mean, I was there on Christmas and New Year. I mean, it was really, really bad.

Mentally, they destroy you there. I never want to go there again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: He's talking with an Uber driver. W. Kamau Bell is here with us. There's been this mass exodus from Venezuela in the past 10 to 15 years specifically. Kamau, tell us more about the political situation there and why so many people are forced to leave.

BELL: Well, first of all, I think it's hard to, as an American, describe what's going on in Venezuela, but it has led to a humanitarian crisis. People everyday, they're trying to fight for water, for electricity, for food and a lot of those people are turning to the U.S. for help and right now as we say in the episode, the immigration system is broken.

So a guy like him who was a lawyer in Venezuela, who wants to come here, his family lives here and he wants help. He doesn't know how his immigration status is going to go down because our system is broken.

CABRERA: It seems the Venezuelan community in the United States has somewhat a complicated relationship with the Trump presidency. I know you spoke to some people who oppose him, but there are many others who are big supporters. Why is Trump such a divisive topic person to the Venezuelan community specifically?

BELL: In there world there are (inaudible) with Venezuela.

CABRERA: Venezuelan people.

BELL: OK. All right. Early on in his presidency he said that all options off the table, something to that effect saying that he was going to do everything he could to help Venezuela and just saying that for a lot of Venezuelans. They hadn't heard American President speak that forcefully about that what's going on in their country.

But he hasn't really done much since then and also America has sanctions on Venezuela, which is really hurting Venezuelans. So even though he said that some people are looking to what he said, but not actually what he's doing.

CABRERA: You asked most of the people that you talked to in this episode if they think they'll ever go back to Venezuela, was there any consensus?

BELL: I mean, everybody who I talked to wants to go back. From what I understand, it's a beautiful country. A lot of people had good lives there under Chavez. But right now for the most part, people know that it's not the same country that they left or the same country they grew up in. But yes, everybody has a lot of love for that country.

CABRERA: As we continue to all endure during this pandemic. The Trump administration has continued to place even harsher restrictions on immigration and asylum then when you should shot this episode and you reference this.

[18:45:03]

But since the episode and as we continue through the situation, have you been in touch with any of the people that you interviewed that were hoping for citizenship and has anything changed for them in the process here?

BELL: For the ones I've talked to, they still feel very confused about what's going to happen next and they're still living very much day-to-day. And asylum should be a very clear thing you apply for, you're applying for because the place you live things have gotten so out of control, you are desperate. It should be a very easy system to go through. It's not about immigration. It's about I'm desperate for help and yet our system is broken right now, so people are really just living day-to-day and the community of Venezuelans in South Florida are really working hard to help those people out but it's very much up in the air.

CABRERA: Well, it's good that you're educating all of us through these conversations you're having in your program. W. Kamau Bell, thanks for taking the time to talk to me as well.

BELL: Thank you.

CABRERA: Be sure to tune in on all new episode of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA airs tomorrow night at 10 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:31] CABRERA: Breaking news, the Democratic-led House has just passed a

bill that would offer $25 billion to rescue the struggling U.S. Postal Service as well as halt recent changes that caused delivery delays from coast to coast. Really, it's those delays that have raised serious concerns about the delivery of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election.

Let's get right to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux with the latest. Suzanne?

Suzanne, I don't know if you can hear me, it's Ana Cabrera and we're live right now. Fill us in on what just happened?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Well, this is extraordinary. I mean, if you take a look at the vote, the final vote was 257 Democrats, 231 - the story here is 26 republicans joined them. This was an indictment of the Trump administration and an outright rejection of the GOP leadership's messaging, the talking points and what we've heard before that somehow this was a hoax, it was a sham, it was a scam, that there was no reality behind the real concern of what was happening in terms of the Postal Service's ability to deliver the mail.

What we saw anecdotally from Republicans and Democrats was that their constituents and their voters were complaining. They were saying we are not getting our packages, we're not getting our prescriptions and we are very concerned about this. We even saw the chair of the Oversight Committee, House Oversight Committee Carolyn Maloney today presenting new documents, internally from the Postal Service saying that yes, about 10 percent, the mail had slowed down in terms of its delivery that it wasn't being processed on time.

And so what you have here is really a reality call and a wake up call, potentially, to Republicans. This was an issue that resonated not only with Democrats, but also with Republicans. Some of the Democrats that I spoke to were quite surprised and very pleased at these numbers here because they thought perhaps a handful of Republicans would join them. This is astounding and this says - you've heard representative Jim Jordan, again, calling this a hoax and something that was akin to things that had been made up regarding the impeachment or children in cages, things like that.

He tried to draw some parallels to these things that have been dismissed by Republicans. Clearly, there were Republicans who represented those states rule districts. Those close races, those who depend on the Postal Service for their essentials that this was an outright rejection of that kind of messaging.

And we heard it earlier today, Ana, as well from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, in a way, was addressing everyone. Saying it might be a cultural issue or an issue of democracy or you might see this as an election issue or a social justice issue when she said, well, we all look to the mail in different ways, whether it's receiving packages from Santa Claus or letters from the tooth fairy or the 1.2 billion people who get their medications and prescriptions through the mail each year. Eighty percent of those, the veterans, getting it in that form, that this is a very serious issue, a health issue and an issue that impacts every American.

So that's what I see from this, really kind of an extraordinary rebuke, if you will, of that line that was coming from Republicans. They whipped them very hard in terms of trying to reject this right.

CABRERA: Right.

MALVEAUX: And some Republicans just said, no, we're not going in that direction. Our voters, our constituents see the need to actually improve and to bolster the Post Office in this very, very significant way.

CABRERA: And it was more than two dozen Republicans who voted with Democrats on this.

MALVEAUX: That's right.

CABRERA: But Suzanne, last weekend, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the White House would support a standalone bill to fund the Postal Service. So, I mean, is there any chance the White House supports this bill and we only have about 30 seconds?

MALVEAUX: Well, I think what's more likely is that you're going to see some sort of coronavirus relief package in which they will include some sort of support for the Postal Service perhaps in the tune of $10 billion as they had negotiated previously, before the talks exploded before the summer recess.

CABRERA: OK. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for bringing us the very latest from Capitol Hill. And that's going to do it for me this evening. Thank you for joining me. I'm Ana Cabrera.

[18:55:00]

Wolf Blitzer picks up our live coverage of the breaking news with a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM right after this. Have a great night. I'll be back here at 4 pm Eastern tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:54]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a Special Edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.