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Dual Storms Headed For Gulf Coast; Donald Trump's Sister On Secret Audio Recordings; Trump's Major Therapeutic Breakthrough; More Universities Move To Online Classes After Students Test Positive; Deadly California Wildfires Burn More Than One Million Acres; Outrage And Protests Continue Against Belarus Vote; Biden On Harris: I Didn't Feel Pressure To Select A Black Woman. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 23, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:15]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: His sister speaks on the eve of the Republican convention. We are hearing stunning audio recordings from President Trump's sister Maryanne Trump Barry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYANNE TRUMP BARRY, SISTER OF DONALD TRUMP: This Goddamn tweet and the lying -- oh my God, I'm talking too freely. But you know it is the change of stories, a lack of preparation, the lying the holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: State of emergency. More than a million acres burned by out of control wildfires in California. And conditions are about to get worse.

And COVID on campus, coronavirus cases mount at colleges across the country. How students and parents are responding.

Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Bianna Golodryga, in for Fredricka Whitfield.

And we start with breaking news on two major storms posing a significant threat to the Gulf Coast. The first one expected to make land fall, Marco now strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane. It is barreling toward the Louisiana coast with a direct hit likely tomorrow. And just days later another hurricane is expected to slam into that very state.

CNN meteorologist Tom Sater is tracking the latest developments for us. Tom, you just got an update moments ago. Tell us about it.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Marco is still a hurricane, it's a category 1. Laura is a tropical storm but expected to possibly make landfall within 48 hours behind Marco and be stronger. I mean who had this on the 2020 bingo card? We're going to start with Marco even though Laura was named first because it's a tropical and Marco will be making landfall first. In fact, when we take a look at what's going on, we'll try to advance this for you, 280 miles south/southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi.

It is a category 1 which means winds right now at 75 miles per hour sustained and as it makes its way to a landfall late tomorrow afternoon, we could see southeast Louisiana parishes easily have winds at hurricane strength -- 74, 75, 76 maybe some stronger. So in bright red are the hurricane warnings and then hurricane watches extended to east.

We will more in the hours and days ahead for when Laura approaches but let's break this down. Four to six-foot storm surge, three weeks ago when Isaias moved in to North Carolina, we had the same thing. Devastating the East Coast with over 3.3 million losing power.

So again, pretty much the same surge but those at low-lying ground is going to get hit very hard. Half a million people are without power in the Dominican Republic and massive landslides. This system Laura, even though a tropical storm, does not care about the high mountain. Usually it breaks them down. It doesn't even care that they're there so even though tropical storms warnings for Cuba, getting ready to move in to eastern Cuba, this is going to knock out power to possibly hundreds of thousands if not more.

It makes its way within 48 hours, 50 hours to make landfall just a little bit more to the west of Marco. However, there are some cities and communities that are within both of the cones of uncertainty.

Marco, where it is now -- look at Laura. Laura is actually going to be pretty close to the position Marco is now. And as it moves to the north and I mention those warnings will be extended westward, you can see how they kind of overlap in a few areas.

Lafayette, Louisiana, Lake Charles -- they're both in both cones. So this is going to be a big deal here. It gets very confusing to watch all of this. But again it is late tomorrow afternoon for Marco, Category 1 and then with Laura it will be pretty much as we get into Wednesday evening.

However, with that western track of Laura it could keep it in these warmer waters a little bit longer, they're not just be a category, expect it to be category 2, possibly even higher than that, Bianna. So again, Massive rainfall for areas of southern southeast Louisiana, coastal areas, of course, of Mississippi and Alabama. And that's just with Marco.

Unbelievable timing with this but what do you expect in this year?

GOLODRYGA: Yes. That is true. And that part of the country is familiar with hurricane season but not two within just a couple of days of each other.

Thank you -- SATER: And it's also I should say this is the 15th anniversary of

Katrina this week so we'll be -- yes.

GOLODRYGA: I was thinking the same thing when you had New Orleans highlighted right there. And we are going to be following this closely as I know you are. Thank you so much, Tom.

SATER: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: And CNN's Martin Savidge is in New Orleans for us. Martin, the storm is headed towards where you are. As we just heard from Tom -- the 15th anniversary of Katrina. How are officials there preparing?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, I was in Katrina in New Orleans so we know well what this city could possibly face. As it's done in so many times in the past.

So the problem with this storm is not the fact that it's one storm, it is two. And that's considered unprecedented. The officials here say look, either one of these storms manageable by safety measures -- by the measures of what they've got in place as far as flood protection systems.

[14:05:01]

SAVIDGE: But bring these two systems on the same path coming in just 48 hours, one after the other, it's unprecedented and they really don't know exactly what to expect.

The governor talking about that just a short while ago as to how people need to be prepared, both in their mindset and with their supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): These storms are not to be taken lightly especially because there are two of them. The second storms comes in so close that there may not be much of a window when we can fly search and rescue helicopters or when we can get out with high water vehicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: So that's the problem, water is always the concern and in a place like New Orleans and all these in the coastal areas of Louisiana.

And the problem is you're going to have Marco that comes in first. It dumps both rain and it brings a storm surge. Now, the good news is the Mississippi River is lower than usual so it should be able to accept both the storm surge and the amount of rain.

You're not going to get flooding from the Mississippi River. However, 48 hours later, then you get Laura coming in and the problem is did the city, did the area have enough time to drain in the interim period? That's what the governor was talking about. Whether they could get the rescue boats out there, get the helicopters flying in that relatively short window in between.

The power is most definitely going to go out. There will be flooding. And will the pumps be able keep up and drain it away before the next storm comes in? And that's why this is so unpredictable, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Flooding a huge concern, Martin, and also evacuations in the midst of a pandemic, as well. You will continue to follow this story for us closely, Martin Savidge. Thank you so much.

And now to the White House where President Trump is dealing with an unexpected family scandal, yet another one. Just one day before the start of the Republican National Convention we are now hearing remarkable new audio recordings of the President's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, unloading on her brother. And get this, the tapes were secretly recorded by the President's niece Mary Trump, you'll recall she just wrote a scathing book on the President.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House. And Jeremy, this drama could not have come at a worst time as the President is really trying to make his case for reelection within just hours.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. and over the last week, Bianna, we have heard that the Democratic National Convention, Democrats as well as some Republicans making the case that President Trump is unfit for office, trying to put character on the ballot and contrasting President Trump with Joe Biden.

And frankly, these remarks secretly recorded of the President's sister could have fit very nicely in that Democratic National Convention. In these comments, she describes the President as someone who is cruel, with no principles, someone who is a liar and a phony. And she also goes after the President in this private conversation she was having with her niece for him trying to take credit for her own success. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY: Donald's out for Donald. Period.

When he said -- he started to say something to me, well, look at what I've done for you. And I said, you have done nothing. Deliberately.

I have never asked him for a favor since 1981 when I was being highly considered to go in the federal court on my own merit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And Maryanne Trump Barry says that she did ask the President to have his lawyer Roy Cohen at the time call President Ronald Reagan to secure this nomination. But she said would have gotten it on her own merit but the President held this over her head for years after that.

Now, the President did respond to all of this in a statement just last night saying every day it's something else. Who cares? He also noted that I miss my brother Robert Trump who recently passed away and I'll continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before."

Now, of course, the President this coming week, he will have an opportunity to rebut these allegations about his character. The President's children, all four adult children are expected to be on full display with speaking slots at the Republican National Convention over this coming week, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

And joining me for more on this Brendan Buck, a former top aide to Republican House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner and Tara Setmayer, a former GOP communications director on Capitol Hill and is now supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Welcome both of you on this busy Sunday morning.

So Brendan, let's get to it. The President has been able to brush off damning attacks from those within his orbit before including his niece just a few weeks ago. But what impact do these recordings have given that it's happening on the eve of the Republican convention and that they all do seem to reinforce the descriptions the Democrats lobbed at him during their convention last week?

[14:09:49]

BRENDAN BUCK, FORMER AIDE TO PAUL RYAN AND JOHN BOEHNER: Yes. It is a terrible distraction right before the convention. And I'm sure that's not a coincidence. But I don't know how many minds are going to be changed by this. I think at this point, we need to realize that there's been this misperception among Trump supporters that somehow they don't understand who he really is and that somehow someone just reveals to them his true character, they'll change their minds.

We need to let that go. Republican voters who support him understand who he is. They know he's a liar. They know he's a bit of a huckster. But they think that he's their huckster. And they like what he does.

Now, how many times have we said this is the moment where people are going to move away from him? It's just not going to happen. Republicans have -- these people who support the President and have justified this, they have -- whether it's because it upsets the media or it upsets the Democrats or the things they get for it in Congress, they're ok with it. I don't think this is going to change a whole lot of minds. It's certainly not what he wants going into an election but I'm sure he'll change the subject very quickly.

GOLODRYGA: What do you make Brendan, of the President's response? Who cares? And I miss my brother.

BUCK: Yes. I think he's doing a good job of not taking the bait. I'm sure that Democrats would love to have this be the conversation. I don't know what situation is like with his sister. I can't imagine he wants to attack her and can continue this. This is actually the most disciplined you usually see from the President. Usually he gets attacked and he swings. I think it's notable that he is not doing that here. I think he wants this week to be about him.

You know, he's going to have a press conference even before his convention. He's making this whole week all about him and he wants it to be his message. And he's not going to let this take him off course.

GOLODRYGA: So, Tara -- well, we'll see if there will follow-up statements from the President but, you know, his sister really attacked his character. And listen to what she had to say about how he got into college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY: I mean, I didn't get him in but I know he didn't get into college and he went to Fordham for one year and then he got into the University of Pennsylvania. I guess he had somebody do it, take the exams.

MARY TRUMP: No way.

BARRY: And he had --

M. TRUMP: He had somebody take his entrance exams?

BARRY: SATs or whatever.

M. TRUMP: Oh Jesus.

BARRY: That's what I believe. I even remember the name.

M. TRUMP: Oh man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So Tara, this is a president who has constantly bragged about his scholastic achievement and accolades. Clearly there had been reports even from Mary in her book that somebody else had taken the SATs for him.

But all of that aside, you know, Democrats ran on going after Trump's character in 2016. And look at where they got them. to Brendan's point, people seem to know who they're dealing with.

Are Democrats risking the 2020 election again if they focus on comparing characters between the President and Joe Biden?

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think so. Because there's a big, big difference between 2016 and 2020. Actually two big differences.

One, Hillary Clinton is not on the ballot. Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. And two, there's an actual record now governing record, failed record of Donald Trump with a body count of 175,000 dead Americans and counting because of his failed leadership and response to COVID-19.

Those are really big differences between 2016 and now, and the character where character and empathy and compassion and competence come into play is when there's a national emergency which is what we're living through right now. And it's presenting itself in multiple ways, whether it's the pandemic and the actual treatment and response to COVID, the economic collapse as a result of that.

And then also the racial injustices and the rise in the American people over racial injustice after George Floyd and the President's response to that. o the dynamics are very different.

And when you're a stable genius you don't have to tell people that. The revelations on the Mary Trump tapes aren't surprising. And I think what scares me and what's most frightening is the fact that so many people, so many Americans don't seem to care that Donald Trump is a sociopathic liar who is in the greatest position of power in the greatest country of the world driving our democracy into the ground in order for him to hold on to power. That should scare the bejesus out of every American who cares about our constitutional republic.

But the fact that so many don't, that's alarming in and of itself and the Democrats need to make sure that they make that message clear what's actually at stake if we have another four years of Donald Trump.

GOLODRYGA: So Brendan, on the subject of falsehoods, the President tweeted another one just this morning attacking mail-in voting yet again. This tweet calling mail drop boxes a disaster, even potentially COVID spreaders.

Twitter has flagged it as misleading and making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participating in voting.

Let me ask you, how much longer can Republicans quietly disapprove of what the President is saying and reinforce and support the U.S. Postal Service and mail-in ballots as opposed to speaking out vocally? Because this is happening time and time again.

[14:15:00]

GOLODRYGA: Look. We are talking about the President's scholastic achievements. Any student having broken code this many times would have been kicked out of school. What are Republicans going to do about this?

BUCK: Yes. I don't think there's any way to look at what the President is doing right now honestly as anything other than setting a marker to dispute the outcome of the election later. That's clearly what this is. This is a pretext to say that the election was stolen from him.

I think you have seen people like Mitch McConnell up to now and said mail-in voting is safe. There's nothing wrong with mail-in voting and you're actually seeing Republican office holders all across the country encouraging people to continue doing mail-in voting.

Now, the President, you know, hasn't quite said what I honestly think he keeps doing, but while they're maybe perhaps looking the other way on that, they are telling people that you should vote by mail. They understand the situation that you're in.

I do think that ultimately if this election comes down and the President loses and it's obvious that he did, I think Republicans will, at least the ones in charge, maybe a Mitch McConnell will cuts him loose pretty quickly.

I don't think they're going to flirt with any of this nonsense about the election being stolen. So he's obviously setting us up for that and I think it's an important thing for people to look at.

GOLODRYGA: Well, in the meantime, he's got at least four days for a massive megaphone during the convention to continue to spread these falsehoods in the days ahead.

Brendan Buck and Tara Setmayer, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much.

Well, before President Trump and Vice President Pence make their bid for four more years, join Anderson Cooper with your guide to four unconventional days. The "ANDERSON COOPER 360" RNC preview is live tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

And coming up, state of emergency. Out of control wildfires destroying more than one million acres of land in California. Is there relief in sight? And is the federal government doing enough to help?

Plus coronavirus is rapidly spreading at colleges across the country. I'll talk live with the former president of the University of South Carolina for his views.

Then later, Joe Biden reveals why he chose Kamala Harris as his running mate.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[14:16:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: In just a few hours, President Trump is set to announce what the White House describes as a major therapeutic breakthrough for the battle against coronavirus.

CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me on the phone with his new reporting.

Doctor, thank you so much for calling in, Sanjay. You have been talking to sources all day. What more have you learned about this announcement? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone):

Right, Bianna. So all we have heard initially was that there was going to be this press conference that was going to involve this therapeutic. But we now know that the therapeutic that they're talking about is something known as convalescence serum. And what we're hearing is that this will be an announcement of an emergency use authorization for the use of this convalescent serum.

Now, you may know, Bianna, that this type of serum basically is taking plasma from people who have recovered from coronavirus. The idea is that their blood and plasma will have antibodies in it. Those antibodies can then be used to treat people who are currently dealing with the disease.

This has been researched for some time. It's a well-known type of therapy for other types of infections. But now we are hearing that the EUA, this emergency use authorization will be for this particular type of treatment.

GOLODRYGA: So let me ask you, because we do know that convalescent plasma has been given to over 70,000 patients. So how does this serum differ from what we already know has transpired?

DR. GUPTA: Yes. This is really interesting, Bianna. So you're absolutely right. Under compassionate use, you know, guidelines and expanded use guidelines tens of thousands of people have already received this type of treatment.

What the issue really is, is trying to understand the data. You're giving this because there's some idea that it should work. It's worked for other infections. That it sort of makes sense that it should work but hesitation has been, and this is a bit of a divisive issue right now in the scientific community, the hesitation has been you still have to trial this in a randomized way, meaning some people with similar sort of illness get the therapy, other people do not get the therapy and you basically see is this therapy working.

Those are the randomized controlled trials which, you know, everyone knows this term now because that's the level of evidence that typically the FDA wants before approving things.

Now, to be clear this is not an approval. This is an emergency use authorization but because of the enthusiasm I think around this convalescent serum, tens of thousands of people have been receiving it. But these trials have not been done in a way that gives us that data yet. And that is going to be really, really critical going forward.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, Sanjay Gupta, there is literally not a day that goes by that you are not on call for us and for America. Thank you so much. We appreciate you breaking that down for us.

GUPTA: You got it, Bianna. Any time, thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Bye, bye. Well, East Carolina University is now one of the latest schools to move to online classes after discovering cases on campus. Schools in at least 15 states are now reporting positive cases on campus putting mitigation plans really to the test.

Joining me to discuss is Harris Pastides, an epidemiologist and former president of the University of South Carolina. Harris, thanks so much for joining us.

I read your essay that you wrote about how colleges and students should be handling coronavirus right now. Talk about your views on clusters that we're now seeing pop up on campus and how alarmed you are, if at all.

HARRIS PASTIDES, EPIDEMIOLOGIST: Yes. Of course. Well, good to be with you, Bianna. You know, student behavior and freshmen in particular, they wait their whole lives as you would imagine to get to college.

[14:24:47]

PASTIDES: And even though many will take pledges and commit to mask wearing and social isolation, it's very, very difficult given that their social lives and even much of their academic life thrive on being close with people.

Now, I'm not suggesting that they won't follow the rules but there certainly will be a minority of students that do not.

And what you then worry about is, as you mentioned a cluster, whether it starts in a classroom, in a residence hall, in a fraternity or sorority house and that can quickly spread. So we are in a -- we're right in the period now where we're going to know within a week or two weeks whether many more campuses will be shutting down or whether we're going to get over the hump.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And the essay that you wrote was for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" and you note that college students often act impulsively and exhibit risky behaviors. We were once college students; we can understand some of this behavior. That having been said, it hasn't transpired during a pandemic.

Do you trust that college students around the country can avoid parties and other risky social gatherings? And do you think being called out as some university heads are doing publicly and suspending some of them is the right step?

PASTIDES: I do. I think when you see evidence of it, you know, there are these videos you wake up on a weekend morning, or on a Sunday morning, Monday and you find out that people have been congregating, I think university leaders have no recourse but to clamp down on them with a variety of penalties, of course.

If the appeal is not going to work up front then you've got to come down on them when they're caught doing that.

Look, there is no doubt that many, many students will comply and are complying. The problem with this COVID pandemic is that it doesn't take too many people to create what's called a super cluster, if you will, or a super spreading event so you know, my fingers are crossed.

I also think, Bianna, you know, a big part of the control measures to involve students, student government leaders in concocting the educational and behavioral modification programs because as we know college students feel fairly not vulnerable to many things that you and I --

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Having these college monitors or jobs in positions that many college students didn't think that they would have to be enforcing, but here we are.

Let me ask you, you have also chaired the southeastern conference, one of the premier athletic conferences in college sports.

The SEC is one of a handful of conferences planning to play football in just a few weeks, while other major conferences have postponed all fall sports. Is this the right move?

PASTIDES: Well, you know, three of the power five conferences are planning to play. They're going to have an abbreviated schedule. They're going to play conference games only and the reason, you might ask, well, what difference does that make is that it would be a lot easier to change plans if you're only dealing with teams in your own conference.

I do think it's the right thing to do right now as long as there's a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan D and our university at South Carolina, the stadium will be -- will not be full, of course. I believe they're planning to invite up to about 20,000 people. The stadium holds 80,000 people, so you'll get the noise, you'll get the fans. But there will be separation there.

By the way, it's the players, Bianna, who are petitioning to play, the players and their families. They have worked so hard for this moment but -- but you know, two major conferences have pulled the plug on the season and just like when Bobby Thompson was a hero and Bill Buckner was a goat you never really know if you're a hero or a goat until after the game is played and it's all said and done.

GOLODRYGA: That's true. Look, I went to the University of Texas. I'm an alum there. They find themselves in a similar position. Let's just hope that these schools don't have to go to Plan D or even further down the alphabet list and can have this under control and these players can play if they want to in a healthy environment.

Harris Pastides, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

PASTIDES: Thank you, Bianna. Take care.

GOLODRYGA: You too.

Well, up next, a race against time in California. More than 600 wildfires burning out of control and the weather is only making matters worse.

[14:29:11]

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[14:30:00]

GOLODRYGA: Right now, firefighters in California are struggling to contain more than 600 wildfires stretching across the state, including one of the largest in state history. At least four people are dead and more than a million acres burned.

And now, with more than 13,000 firefighters working around the clock, officials are worried are there's no end in sight for the already exhausted crews, this as the forecast shows another round of thunderstorms and lightning for the state, which could spark more fires.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is in Calistoga, California. And, Paul, how are the conditions there?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have improved a little bit but, Bianna, as you pointed out, they're worried about these lightning strikes, and for that reason, there is a massive red flag warning throughout much of Northern California and Central California. You can see just on my right here, I'm at the command post in Calistoga, nervous residents here in Calistoga, talking with firefighters, trying to understand what roads are open, what the next moves might be.

The townspeople very appreciative for all the work the firefighters are doing but they did say on this fire, the LNU Complex, they have lost now 845 structures completely, 231 damaged. A little show of appreciation over here, townspeople, chalk art on a wooden fence thanking the firefighters.

Let me bring in Rich Cordova of Cal Fire, because right now, in a way, you're on pins and needles knowing you're going to get these lightning strikes and the winds that they to whip up.

[14:35:07]

CAPT. RICH CORDOVA, CAL FIRE: Correct. 12,000 lightning strikes last time, we're anticipating the same conditions coming in. 40 to 50 miles per hour winds, so we're extremely worried about this condition coming in.

VERCAMMEN: And I know you're getting help from out of state. I now hear 14,000 firefighters. But your crews have got to be just exhausted.

CORDOVA: They're working long hours. We are here to mitigate this problem. We are bringing, like you said, other crews from out of state, but also federal resources also with the military.

VERCAMMEN: And, interesting, this would normally be a larger fire camp, but in the COVID-19 era, you do not want a bunch of guys and girls together. We've seen 200 people go to a chow line in 10 minutes all holding the same (INAUDIBLE). You're taking the precautions.

CORDOVA: Correct, yes. Everything has kind of changed in this atmosphere. Firefighters have been creative on putting camps together, but we're spread out so it makes things a little bit more difficult but we're trying to be safe with our firefighters.

VERCAMMEN: Thank you so much, Rich. Well, as you heard, they're spreading out these camps now so they don't have these firefighters right on top of each other. But there's a sense here as -- it's almost as if this is going to be a military action, they're just ready to deploy in case the lightning strikes spark even more fires, or the winds whip up the current ones that are burning, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Paul, thank you so much for bringing in this reporting. Those firefighters deserve a lot of praise and some cooperative weather at this point as well. I know they are exhausted. Thank you.

Well, here with me now is California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Secretary, thank you for joining us. I know it's a very busy day for you there.

The president has finally approved disaster relief for the state after Democrats pleaded with him to do so. As you're watching this major crisis unfold in California, what is your reaction and are you satisfied with the federal response so far?

ALEX PADILLA, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We're, certainly, thankful for the approval of the federal emergency recognition and lets our state government headed by Governor Newsom to work even more closely with FEMA to secure resources that, frankly, California taxpayers have been paying into for many years.

These firefighters have been devastated. Thank you for acknowledging the tremendous bravery and hard work of all of the firefighters, more than 14,000 on the frontlines and that includes in from out of state under a mutual aid agreement. So they're doing their best. We want Californians to prepare and we'll get through this.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, they really are heroes. And these wildfires are greatly impacting farmers in the state, as well. They're already struggling, as you know, due to the pandemic financially. Look at these images as we're showing, I don't know if you can see but our viewers can now see it. And I'm sure you've seen over the past couple of days. What's being done to help them specifically right now?

PADILLA: Well, the good news is this state, this year's state budget includes augmentation in staffing levels for our Cal Fire plus equipment that is critically needed. This isn't the first year we had of significant wildfires. We have now the second and third largest wildfire in California history but only because previous records have been set two years ago and just last year.

So it's become a little bit of a routine. Let's underscore, firefighters will agree, climate change is real and we're seeing the impact of it in a wildfire season in California. But, again, Californians are increasingly prepared. It is impacting every sector of the economy, including agriculture, as you pointed out, it is on top of what we've been feeling given the COVID impact both on health as well as the economy. So it's reality testing our resilience but that's what government is here to do, to help.

GOLODRYGA: You are a resilient state. I'm glad you brought up climate change. And this is not something you're state wants to set records for time and time again.

Let me move on to the bigger discussion now in the country about the Postal Service. The president went after Democrats for using mail drop boxes today in a tweet. He called it a voter security disaster that makes it impossible for a person to vote multiple times. It's not, we should note, been flagged by Twitter as a misleading tweet. This is about the fifth or sixth now that he's had from Twitter. He also questioned whether it was sanitary in light of COVID.

Let me ask you, California is expected to send ballots to more than 20 million registered voters. How can you guarantee to those voters right now that the president won't somehow get ahead of you, let's say, in the hours and days following November 3rd? You are three hours behind Washington, D.C. What happens if he sends a misleading tweet earlier in that day when voting hasn't concluded in-person voting there in the state?

PADILLA: Yes. Well, clearly Trump continues to demonstrate that he does not know how elections are administered. Vote by mail itself is nothing new in California or for states across the country. It's been around for decades. No excuse, vote by mail, specifically, has allowed millions of voters every election to cast their ballots in the convenience and now from the safety of their own home.

[14:40:08]

During this global health pandemic, we should be looking for more options for voters to cast their ballots and protect their health. Vote by mail is a central pillar of that. And with a little bit of compromised confidence in the Postal Service and delivery times, secure ballot drop boxes are a valuable option for voters. We're going to maintain vigilance and accountability of the Postal Service to ensure the timely delivery of ballots both to voters and back to elections offices.

But for voters who may prefer a ballot drop box, they should have confidence that, yes, those boxes are secure and their ballots will be retrieved timely and responsibly. Trump's attacks on drop boxes, vote by mail and our elections, more broadly, are baseless, hypocritical and are doing nothing other than undermining confidence in our elections and results in November that he may not like.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Secretary Alex Padilla, we'll have to leave it there. Again, our thoughts are with you and your state as you battle these horrendous fires. Thank you so much and thanks to all the firefighters who are working hard. PADILLA: Thank you, Bianna. Yes, God bless them.

GOLODRYGA: From the deep state to the Russia hoax, CNN explores the conspiracy theories that defined President Trump's time in office. CNN special report Donald Trump's Conspiracy Theories airs tonight at 11:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

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GOLODRYGA: Another day of outrage and protest in Eastern Europe. Demonstrators in Belarus say they won't give up until there is a new election. They say the recent vote that re-elected Alexander Lukashenko was rigged. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more from Minsk.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Despite threats and intimidation, the opposition has once again managed to bring scores of people out here to the streets of Minsk, the capital of Belarus. And many people that we've been say, of course, they're afraid to come out here, of course, they're afraid that maybe once again the security forces could turn violent but they believe they need to come out now or maybe change won't happen at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's actually our last chance, really. Because if it's -- if we were not free tomorrow, we will never be free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This nation has never been as united as it is today. I'm proud, for the first time of my life, I'm so proud of my country, of my people.

PLEITGEIN: Now all this comes after an up and down week for the opposition. It started off very strong. But then towards the end of last week, you could feel that long time dictator Alexander Lukashenko was trying to strengthen his grip on power once again. He claimed that NATO was threatening to invade the west of Belarus, which NATO has said it's absolutely not true. And he also said that he would bring protests like these to an end very soon.

People are tired. People want peace and calm, Lukashenko said. We need to give them that. We need to put an end to all this.

But as you can see, the people here are not allowing threats from their own president to hold them back. Many of them telling us they'll continue to come out here every weekend until Alexander Lukashenko finally allows for new elections and steps down.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Minsk, Belarus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Resilient protesters saying enough is enough. Fred Pleitgen in Belarus, thank you so much.

And just ahead, Joe Biden fires back at President Trump for questioning his mental health.

You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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GOLODRYGA: Joe Biden is revealing his motive behind choosing his running mate. In their first joint T.V. interview, Biden tells ABC News that he did not feel pressure to select Kamala Harris just because she was a black woman. Listen.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, I didn't feel pressure to select a black woman.

I cannot understand and fully appreciate what it means to walk in her shoes, to be an African-American woman with an Indian-American background, a child of immigrants. She can't assume exactly what it's like to walk in my shoes.

What we do know is we have the same value set and I really mean that. And so it was easy for me. It was an easy decision to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Biden is also firing back at President Trump for questioning his mental health, saying Biden is too diminished for the job.

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BIDEN: Watch me. Mr. President, watch me. Look at us both, what we say, what we do, what we control, what we know, what kind of shape we are in. Come on, just look. I think it's a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether ready. But I just -- only thing I can say to the American people is it's a legitimate question to ask anybody. Watch me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Despite his age Biden also says he is open to serving not one but two terms if elected. He would be 78 years old if sworn in.

Meanwhile, one of Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics is lying in a hospital in Germany in a coma. His supporters say that he was poisoned. Alexei Navalny was transferred to Germany yesterday after falling ill while on a flight.

The Trump administration has had very little to say on Navalny so far.

CNN's Matthew Chance has been following the developments from Moscow. Matthew, what is the latest on Navalny's situation?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we haven't had an update over the course of the past 24 hours on Alexei Navalny. As far as we understand and the latest information we have is that he is still unconscious, he's on a ventilator to help him breathe in that clinic in the German capital of Berlin. Doctors there say that he's in a serious condition but that he is stable.

His supporters though have expressed optimism at least that he's been evacuated from Russia. They had a hard time getting him out of this country. He was taken ill on an aircraft, of course, as he was coming back to Moscow from a trip to the Far East, terrible images, very disturbing of him screaming in agony when the plane touched down to the Siberian city of Omsk to have him evacuated to a hospital there.

The Russian doctors who examined him said they found absolutely no trace at this stage of poison. That was something that the supporters, the family members of Alexei Navalny said it was part of a cover-up. That's why they wanted him evacuated out of the country to Germany.

Now, doctors there are working hard, we're told, firstly to save his life, but also to try and work out why one of Russia's most prominent opposition figures felt so sick so suddenly.

[14:55:07]

Obviously, the allegation is poisoning. That, though, is yet to be determined by the medics.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Matthew Chance, well, we do wish Navalny a speedy and full recovery. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And still ahead, double dose, a pair of dangerous storms set their sights on the same area of the Gulf Coast. And one of them is now officially a hurricane. We'll tell you where watches and warnings are already in place.

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