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Trump to Hold Coronavirus Briefing Over Possible New Treatment; Trump Claims Ballot Drop Boxes are Unsafe; Trump's Sister Bitterly Criticizes Him in Secret Recordings; Republican National Convention Rolls Out Tomorrow. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 23, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:04]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello on this Sunday. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being here.

Tomorrow the realty TV president puts on the production of his political career. The Republican National Convention kicking off, giving President Trump a big stage to make his case for four more years. But today some convention reminders that the disruptive outsider of 2016 is now the beleaguered incumbent of this year's race.

A short time from now the president will hold a press conference with the head of the FDA. The topic, a, quote, "major therapeutic breakthrough" for the coronavirus which sources tell CNN has to do with convalescent plasma. But the timing unusual. Just yesterday the president accused members of the FDA of being part of the deep state, and without evidence suggested they're going slow on testing vaccines and therapeutics so they can delay them until after the election.

The president also reupping his attacks on mail-in voting, suggesting, again without evidence, not only fraud but also that ballot drop boxes are a health risk, saying, in part, "They are not COVID sanitized." Twitter actually slapped a label on this tweet for being misleading.

But to be clear, the president wants you to think ballot drop boxes will get you sick, yet when it comes to having his supporters pile into a room and sit close together to hear him speak, there's no problem?

Over the next four days, President Trump and the Republican Party will have to counter what we heard repeatedly from the Democratic convention, that he's selfish, divisive and unfit for office. But even before the convention kicks off we already have our first Trump family speaker of the week. The president's sister, a respected former federal judge, slamming him in a secret recording.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYANNE TRUMP BARRY, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SISTER: This goddam tweet and the lying, oh, my God, I'm talking too freely but, you know. The change of stories, the lack of preparation, the lying, the -- holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: More on this recording in just a moment, but let's begin with CNN's Jeremy Diamond at the White House.

And Jeremy, first, we're getting some new details about what this announcement from the president will be tonight. Fill us in.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Two sources familiar with the matter are telling CNN that the president is expected to announce that the FDA has approved an emergency use authorization for a coronavirus treatment or a potential coronavirus treatment, and that is convalescent plasma.

Now convalescent plasma has already been used in about 70,000 coronavirus patients. There is still some dispute about the efficacy of this treatment, but doctors generally believe that it could work and could help coronavirus patients. It has helped with other types of coronavirus such as SARS and MERS.

But of course it comes -- the timing of this is very interesting because just yesterday we were hearing the president going after the FDA with a pretty heavy hand, accusing the FDA of political machinations here, accusing them of trying to delay the development of treatments and vaccines so that they aren't ready in time for the November 3rd election. No basis, no evidence for those statements whatsoever.

The White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was asked about that earlier today. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: What happens is, is that we continue to look at some of the trials and what's happening, and we want to wear a belt and suspenders the way that some of these bureaucrats want to look at it. They want to do things the way they've always done it. This president is about cutting red tape. That's what the tweet was all about. And I think you're going to hear an announcement later today which really he had to make sure that they he felt the heat. If they don't see the light, they need to feel the heat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Of course the president's tweet wasn't just about ensuring the FDA cuts red tape. It was accusing them of being part of the deep state and accusing them of political motivation. So very different there. Of course the question will be whether the FDA authorizes emergency use authorization on its own based on the scientific merits or if this was political pressure by the president. I'm sure that's something the president will be asked about later today.

CABRERA: And about that other tweet we mentioned, Jeremy, can you fact check some of the president's claims regarding ballot drop boxes as well as him, you know, floating this idea that he may send law enforcement to the polls? DIAMOND: That's right. The president suggesting not only that these

ballot drop boxes are unsafe from an electoral standpoint, but also suggesting that you could contract the coronavirus by using one of these. Both of those claims just completely baseless. There is no merit to them. Not only are ballot drop boxes considered safe and efficacious, there is no evidence of widespread fraud associated with them, and certainly from a health standpoint it is safer to drop something off in the mail than to stand in line with other people around you, which is the primary method that coronavirus can be spread.

The president earlier this week, though, has been making a series of claims about the November election, about widespread fraud. And he even suggested that he might send law enforcement officers to polling locations on November 3rd.

[16:05:09]

Listen to the response from the Homeland Security secretary when he was asked if any of his law enforcement officers would participate in such a mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Has the president discussed with you deploying any of your law enforcement agents to serve as poll watchers?

CHAD WOLF, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: No, absolutely he has not. Again, that's not what we do at the Department of Homeland Security. We have law enforcement authorities and law enforcement officers at the department. We have expressed authorities given to us by Congress, and this is not one of them.

TAPPER: So if the president told you to send armed agent from DHS to polling stations on election day, you would say no, sir, that's not in our bailiwick?

WOLF: Jake, we don't have any authority to do that at the department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also suggested that there won't be a situation where the administration sends hundreds of law enforcement officers to polling locations.

As for that tweet, Ana, Twitter has actually posted a notice saying that the tweet violated Twitter's rules about election content and that tweet is still up, but it does now have that warning appended to it -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK. Jeremy Diamond, at the White House for you, thank you.

And now to those secret recordings of President Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry. The transcripts and audio were first obtained by the "Washington Post" and in them, Barry, who is a retired federal judge, trashes her brother as cruel and as someone who's accomplished very little and is only out for himself. Here's just one portion obtained by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY: This goddam tweet and the lying oh, my god, I'm talking too freely, but you know. The change of the story, the lack of preparation, the lying, the -- holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Various comments were secretly recorded by President Trump's niece Mary Trump, and without Barry's knowledge. Mary Trump has made clear in both her book and the release of this audio that she has major differences with her uncle.

The president's response? Quote, "Every day it's something else. Who cares? I miss my brother. 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." President Trump referencing there his late brother who died earlier this month.

Joining us now, the journalist behind this explosive reporting. "Washington Post" investigative reporter Michael Kranish. He is also the co-author of "Trump Revealed."

Michael, I just want to make sure our viewers understand how you discovered these recordings. Essentially you asked Mary Trump how she could possibly make one of the claims in her book that President Trump had paid someone to take his SAT and that's when she revealed that she had secretly recorded 15 hours' worth of face-to-face conversations with her Aunt Maryanne.

Did you receive all of those 15 hours of recordings?

MICHAEL KRANISH, INVESTIGATIVE POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: No. I asked her the question you mentioned about how that she knew, in her book she states flatly that her uncle, President Trump, had paid someone to take his SAT tests. So I wrote a lot about Mary Trump. I've written profiles about her, wrote about the book, so forth. So I asked her, you know, basically, you know, what's the basis for this. And she in response decided to reveal that she had secretly recorded her aunt saying this.

And now I know the source of the information does not confirm that this individual that changed in the book did take a test for Donald Trump, but does confirm that she was told this by her aunt. And then I asked her, would she then provide other examples from the tapes of what her aunt had said to her, so she provided me with a number of excerpts and audio tapes and so forth, some of which she put on online, some of which have not been put online at this point.

And as you reported, you know, they are quite candid. This is the president's older sister. She might be the person who has known President Trump longer than anyone else on this earth. She's known him obviously since he was born. They were at times very close. There is a rift that occurred a couple of times as I described in the story, but she should know him as well as anybody that there is.

CABRERA: Right.

KRANISH: And she made some very striking comments, including that he has, quote, "no principles," quote-unquote, and also that, "you can't trust him," quotes-unquote. So there's a number of very striking things from his sister.

In the president's statement which he released after our story posted online, I'd asked the White House before the story was published for comment, they didn't respond. After the story was put online, the president himself responded with the quote you mentioned.

CABRERA: Right.

KRANISH: That quote does not directly address the story at all. He says I love my brother. The story is about his sister.

CABRERA: Right.

KRANISH: He doesn't say which brother he's referring to. One of his brothers of course was Mary's father, Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981 of an alcohol related illness. And the president told me in an interview last year that he regrets the way he treated Mary's father. So in a statement, he refers to his brother, yes, Robert, died a week ago Saturday, and his other brother, Fred Junior died in 1981. He does not mention the sister or the story. And the story is about his sister.

[16:10:06]

CABRERA: And I want to ask you about the relationship between the president and his sister, but because you spoke about the SAT allegations let's just play this portion of these tapes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

MARY TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NIECE: No way.

BARRY: And he --

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

BARRY: SATs or whatever.

M. TRUMP: Yes. Oh, Jesus.

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

M. TRUMP: Oh, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: President Trump, as we mentioned, has denied that he paid someone to take his SAT but this is just incredible when you consider the emphasis President Trump has put on his education, and the doubts that he's tried to sow about others, demanding to see President Obama's grades, for example, accusing various officials as having low IQs. What do you see as the significance or how significant are these revelations, and just hearing it from his sister?

KRANISH: Right. Well, President Trump has made a fundamental claim that he is a, quote, "super-genius." He said that he got into the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School -- it's called the Wharton School of Finance at the time. The undergraduate school, not the graduate school. And he said it was one of the hardest schools to get into.

I wrote a story last year in which I quoted the admissions officer who interviewed Donald Trump to get it, and he said it wasn't that hard, that no evidence of super genius, and that half the people applying at that time did get into that undergraduate school.

President Trump was at Fordham for two years, not one year as it says in the tape. And then he got into the University of Pennsylvania, and as I say, it wasn't as difficult. So by saying that he's a super genius getting into the hardest school to get into, demanding, as you said, President Obama's grades, if he wants to, you know, address this himself, I guess he could release his SAT scores or his college grades and so forth as he's requested of others.

So since it's something that he has made an issue of, that's one of the reasons it's relevant. I mean, obviously he was elected president. So that --

CABRERA: Yes.

KRANISH: You know, took a certain element of genius, I think even people who don't like him might say. And if he's elected again, you know, that also. But he has referenced this in terms of getting into that college, so that's why this has become so interesting. We know I think from my reporting, frankly, that it wasn't that hard to get into Wharton. In fact the admissions officer was a friend of Mary Trump's father. The admissions officer was a friend of Fred Trump Jr., the brother who I referenced who died in 1981 so it was a family connection that --

CABRERA: What more can you -- what more can you tell us about the relationship the president has with his sister Maryanne, and do you know whether Mary Trump, the niece, recorded any other conversations with other potential family members?

KRANISH: I don't know if she recorded conversations with other family members. She has not said that she has. In the book there are no quotes that are -- seemed to come from Judge Barry, the former judge who is the president's sister.

The relationship is really interesting. Maryanne Trump Barry, in her own right, this is quite interesting, she was nominated by President Trump -- excuse me, President Reagan in 1983 to be a federal judge at a time there weren't many women on the federal bench. She was one of just a couple of attorneys in the U.S. Federal Attorney's Office at the time. So, you know, she had quite a remarkable accomplishment.

In the tapes she is quoted as saying or she says actually herself that she asked her brother Donald Trump to ask Donald Trump's lawyer, the infamous Roy Cohn to call President Reagan, Roy Cohn was a good friend of President Reagan, to try to smooth the way for Barry to be nominated for the federal bench. And then the next day, in fact, according to the president's sister, she was in fact nominated.

In the tape she says, I would have done this on my own merits and that Donald Trump has never let her forget, and always says, you know, I made you who you are basically. The exact quotes are in the story and on the tapes, and she was very upset with Donald Trump over the way he constantly would try to take credit for her accomplishments.

She was later promoted by other individuals to higher positions on the federal bench. She began her service in '83 and then retired about a year ago. So it was a very long service on the bench in which she, you know, reached quite a high position.

CABRERA: OK. Michael Kranish, great, great reporting. And I encourage our viewers to read your entire article along with the clips that are embedded in it on the "Washington Post" Web site. Thank you very much for joining us.

KRANISH: Thank you.

CABRERA: What do you get when you combine a president with reality TV roots and a former producer from the "Apprentice"? The makings of this year's Republican National Convention.

[16:15:00]

So what can we expect? We'll go live to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a preview next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The stage is set. And now Republicans will have their chance to make their pitch to Americans when tomorrow's Republican National Convention kicks off, and we've learned President Trump is expected to make an appearance every night this week, including at tomorrow's roll call vote in Charlotte, North Carolina.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is joining us know. Ryan, what else can we expect?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, you can expect a lot of President Trump as you mentioned. And also a lot of people who have the same last name as him. There is someone with the last name of Trump speaking on every single night of this Republican National Convention that kicks off tomorrow, including the president himself who you mentioned will appear in some form or fashion in the 10:00 p.m. hour every single night of the convention.

Now things will kick off here in earnest in Charlotte, North Carolina, tomorrow. And of course Charlotte was originally the site that they had planned to have this big huge party the entire week of the Republican convention, culminating with the president accepting the nomination on Thursday.

[16:20:10]

But of course that was all turned back because of the coronavirus pandemic. Then they wanted to have things in Jacksonville, Florida, that didn't work out, so now the bulk of the convention will take place in Washington, D.C. next week, including the president accepting the nomination on Thursday from the White House South Lawn.

Now there is still some business taking place here in Charlotte tomorrow. That's where they're going to have the roll call vote from the delegates from all 50 states across the country, and President Trump is expected to come here with Vice President Pence tomorrow to thank the delegates for their participation and to be a part of that nominating process.

Now, you know, this is something where Republican leaders have been forced to kind of, you know, reevaluate how they were going to put this convention on because they had so many different stops and starts in the planning process. Of course, the president, though, a former reality TV show star himself, has employed some of his former reality TV show producers to help in the production of this.

The president is hoping for an event that really overshadows what happened with the Democrats last week which was largely applauded how they were able to pull off that mainly virtual convention in the era of the coronavirus pandemic.

But obviously, Ana, so many things different things different for this convention than we've seen in past years. And we've talked about all the complications related to coronavirus, the multiple sites where all of this is taking place. We also can't forget that there are two hurricanes bearing down on the Gulf Coast, which could also impact these festivities this week. A lot of uncertainty as we head into the Republican National Convention tomorrow night.

CABRERA: But the expectations they are setting are very high. Ryan Nobles, thank you for your reporting.

Joining us now is Ana Navarro, and a CNN political commentator and a Republican strategist, who is supporting Joe Biden. Also with us, Scott Jennings, a CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Scott, before we dig into the RNC, I have to ask you about this remarkable audio from the president's sister Maryanne. She calls him cruel, someone with no principles, she says, Donald is out for Donald, period. And this was secretly recorded, as we mentioned, by President Trump's niece Mary, who has made her opinion of her uncle very clear. But what's your reaction to hearing this kind of language coming from the president's own sister?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think the president is going to be elected, or not, based on his own record and how he contrasts himself with Biden. But this sordid family -- I got to be honest, what kind of an empty hateful person surreptitiously records one relative because they're mad about an inheritance and then later releases the audio tape to hurt another relative which apparently she hates president -- I mean, to get inside the mind of someone who would do that, I -- frankly, I just -- I find this whole thing -- I don't want to get in the middle of a family whatever, but I just find that behavior to be reprehensible candidly.

CABRERA: But what about what she says about the president? You know, he likes to criticize people who criticize him for not really knowing him. This is his own sister who knows him better.

JENNINGS: Yes, look, I think Donald Trump is going to be reelected or not based on his record and based on how he's able to communicate his contrast with Joe Biden. It's not going to have anything to do with this audio tape. By the way, Donald Trump has never tried to run on being, you know, a nice person. Joe Biden is trying to run that contrast, which plays into the Democratic frame. And what you're going to get out of the Republicans this week is a policy frame, I think. And so I'm not certain this is going to have a huge impact on the outcome of the election.

CABRERA: To that point, Ana, you're certainly no fan of this president but, you know, if the "Access Hollywood" recording didn't matter in 2016, should this?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I don't think it's going to change one vote when it comes to his base. But I do think it could be something that influences and that affects the way that independents and disenfranchised Republicans like myself, who may be having a hard time. You know, it's one thing to where write in somebody, it's one thing not to vote, and it's another thing when you are a lifelong Republican to get yourself to vote for the other candidate, in this case, for Joe Biden.

But I think all of this type of things chip away at that resistance of not voting for Joe Biden. I think it paints a picture. She is supposedly a sister that he gets along with, that he has spoken about in the past in public. She's known him from the moment he was born. He's speaking -- you know, the differences she's bringing up are not so much about policy, they are character flaws.

CABRERA: Right.

NAVARRO: Calling him phony, calling him cruel. That's so poignant, to call your brother cruel, calling him somebody who doesn't read, you know, talking about his base the way she does. You know, the things are very, very powerful that she says.

[16:25:02]

And you can pretend that it's not his sister. You can't pretend that it's not her voice. You can deflect. You can talk about his brother who unfortunately passed away. You can talk about how dysfunctional the family is. You can talk about -- answer the question any other way, but at the end of the day, it is his sister who has known him for all 74 years of life that he's had on this earth, saying that he's a cruel, ignorant man who doesn't ready, and who is a phony. Take it for what it's worth.

CABRERA: We know she won't be speaking at the RNC, obviously, even though many other Trump family members will be. We've seen --

NAVARRO: I'm not sure she'll be at Thanksgiving either.

CABRERA: Yes. Well, that could be an interesting one to be a fly on the wall, right? Also --

NAVARRO: Remove all the sharp objects from the table.

(LAUGHTER)

CABRERA: Let's talk about the RNC, though, for a minute and who is speaking or isn't. Also missing, notably, Scott, and this to you, because you served alongside the administration of George W. Bush, and he is not on the list, Dick Cheney is not on the list. You know, Democrats had Obama, Clinton, Carter. Do you think Bush and Cheney will make an appearance, if you had to guess?

JENNINGS: No, I don't think so, but I don't know that those kinds of political endorsements matter these days. I think the RNC is going to choose to use some politicians but also choose to highlight some real people. Frankly I thought the DNC did a good job of this as well, although as you mentioned they had their political luminaries. They chose to highlight some, you know, everyday people that Joe Biden had touched.

I think the Republicans will do the same. And I think it's smart to do that, to have a people-centered politics and a people-centered convention. And I think those people that they use, Ana, are going to frankly highlight what they will argue are some of the president's better accomplishments in office. And so what I'm hoping they do is turn away from politics, look at the accomplishments, the impact on real people, and have really a note of optimism about what could be accomplished over the next four years if Donald Trump is reelected.

CABRERA: Ana, the president's campaign communications director teased that there will be some prominent Democrats to appear at the convention in support of Trump. Any guess who that would be?

NAVARRO: No, I have no idea, but I -- you know, I suspect that it's some counterprogramming for what we saw in the Democratic convention. What we saw a lot, frankly a lot. It was even surprising to me of Republicans come out and say, we are voting for and we are endorsing Joe Biden because we just cannot bring ourselves to vote for a Republican who's not qualified.

And look, I suspect George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, you know, they'd rather be waterboarding than appear at Trump's convention. Ironically enough, the only Republican candidates and the Republican nominee who have spoken at a convention is John McCain. We heard him in his own words, and we heard him through Cindy McCain, his widow, basically, you know, talking in favor of Joe Biden.

So you're going to hear more Republican candidates and nominees in the Democratic convention than you were in the Republican conversation. Look, I think, you know, that's what the Democratic convention was about, making it a very big tent, where everybody from the Democratic progressives to Republicans to moderates to independents could be included. They realized that the more the better.

And they also have great energizing speakers, in their former presidents, right? People like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, who are energizing for a Democratic base.

CABRERA: All right, Ana Navarro, Scott Jennings, thank you both for your thoughts and perspective. And thanks for being here. Ana, please give your dog a little, you know, belly rub for me. What a cutie pie back there.

NAVARRO: Is she not -- is Cha-Cha the best dog? Ana, you know --

CABRERA: Quiet.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: If I leave her outside the room, she'll have a fit at the door, but if I got her here, I think she is the most informed dog in the United States of America.

CABRERA: She is listening intently, no doubt, not making a peep.

Thanks, guys, good to see you.

A couple of hurricanes that we need to tell you about could happen in one week. That is the nightmare the Gulf Coast is facing as Hurricane Marco is barreling toward the Texas and Louisiana Coast, followed by tropical storm Laura. Louisiana's governor saying we don't know exactly what to expect.

We'll take you live to New Orleans, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Some breaking news right now on CNN. National weather experts today says there has never been anything like what is happening right now in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm, called Marco, gaining strength just a short time ago, is now a category one hurricane. It's the closest of the two powerful storms both barreling toward the U.S. Gulf Coast right now.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in New Orleans for us. Martin, what are you being told, as far as timeline, and are people there ready?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question, Ana. And it's not just the people, it's are public officials ready as well? Because never have either one of those two groups seen anything like what is shaping up to strike Louisiana or very close to Louisiana in the next 36, 72 hours.

It begins, of course, tomorrow afternoon with Hurricane Marco that is expected to come ashore. That'll be just some short distance away from New Orleans. And then, after that, later in the week, you've got the potential for Tropical Storm, eventually hurricane, Laura striking, perhaps, on the border in the area of Louisiana and Texas.

[16:35:00]

SAVIDGE: You can tell that people here really are concerned. These two storms individually are not something that emergency officials say that they would be capable of handling. But two combine their impacts within 48 hours, they're not really sure what to expect. There are long lines of people shopping already, buying up groceries and other emergency supplies that may be needed. They're being encouraged by the governor of Louisiana, who has basically said, hey, for the first 36 hours, you could be on your own. And where you are tonight is where you better plan to be. Here is what the governor said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D), LOUISIANA: You need to be prepared to ride out the storms, you and your family, wherever you are at dark tonight. And that is because tropical storm force winds will be impacted coastal Louisiana before daylight tomorrow. I know that you've heard that frequently. But with this one-two punch, that -- what we're expecting, this is the situation where you really need to be prepared, as we've always told you, to ride out these storms. And the first 72 hours is on you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Flooding is the big concern. The Worry is that there may not be drainage taking place between the first storm and the second so water could build on water. If rescues are needed, there may not be enough time in between Marco before Laura comes in for the rescue crews to get out there and rescue large numbers of people. It's a serious problem they're dealing with here. Back to you.

CABRERA: OK. Wishing safety for everybody there. Thank you, Martin Savidge.

In a short time, the president is expected to announce an emergency youth authorization for convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19. So, what exactly does that mean for the battle against the Coronavirus pandemic? We'll discuss next. Stay right there. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The White House is promising a major breakthrough in the Coronavirus fight. Sources telling CNN that at a press conference tonight, the president will announce emergency-use authorization for convalescent plasma that created from the blood of people who have already recovered from COVID-19.

Joining us now, Dr. William Schaffner, the Professor of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Schaffner, first, your reaction to our CNN reporting that this big announcement has to do with convalescent plasma. If that is what it is, is it a major breakthrough?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, it's a marginal breakthrough, let's call it that way. You know, some 60,000 to 70,000 patients already have received treatment with convalescent plasma. This will make the paperwork a little bit easier and extend the use of this convalescent plasma to smaller hospitals that haven't been able to access it yet.

I think we ought to hold off a little bit, though. You know, the exact effectiveness of convalescent plasma in treatment has not yet been determined. Which patients benefit, if any, and how much should be given? We need to know that. Fortunately, a new study has just been started on convalescent plasma. The lead investigators are here at Vanderbilt, and we look forward to those results.

I do wish this sort of -- this sort of announcement would come from the Food and Drug Administration. You know, when it comes from the White House, it begins to have political overtones.

CABRERA: Sure.

SCHAFFNER: And the whole response to COVID has been politicized much too much. I wish this were in the hands of the professionals.

CABRERA: I mean, we mentioned the tweet from the president in which he was applying pressure on the FDA, and saying they were delaying, you know, the development of vaccines and therapeutics and the testing behind them. I mean, that tweet came out yesterday. It was just a week ago that the FDA had hit pause on convalescent plasma and not giving this emergency-use authorization, because it hadn't been tested and proven enough.

So, what do you make of this sort of about-face by the FDA right now?

SCHAFFNER: Well, there you go, Ana. It does look political, doesn't it? It does look as though there's been pressure to advance the emergency-use authorization before the professionals would ideally have liked to do that. This is really a medical professional decision that would be made by the pros in order to sure the safety and the effectiveness of all drugs, all treatments and all vaccines.

I would wish that that's where the decision-making would reside.

CABRERA: The U.S. has been averaging about 1,000 COVID-related deaths per day for almost a month now. We're already at 176,000 deaths reported. But the CDC director says he expects this number could drop as soon as this week. What do you -- what do you think? Do you share his optimism?

SCHAFFNER: I'm not quite so optimistic. I surely wish that that would be the case. I know that, in different parts of the country, people are masking up more, observing social distancing. But, at the same time, we're opening up schools and universities. And there are reports that, in university settings, there's a group of students who are not getting with the program and starting out the school year with parties, very foolishly. Unmasked parties. Large parties. So, I'm not so sure that I can predict a downslope of cases just yet.

CABRERA: That's such a good point. We just saw today an update from Notre Dame. And it went from more than 300 to now more than 400 infected people, students, staff and others, that are part of that university.

Dr. William Schaffner, thank you very much for sharing your expertise with us.

SCHAFFNER: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: As the Republicans prepare for their convention, where does President Trump sit in the polls? And did Joe Biden get the coveted post-convention polling bump?

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CABRERA: CNN's Harry Enten is here to break it down next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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CABRERA: President Trump is heading into convention week as an underdog in the polls. That's right, right now the incumbent is trailing, and not just by a little. He's going to need to break records in order to make a comeback. But if President Trump has taught us anything, over the last four years, it's to never count him out.

Let's bring in our polling guru and CNN's Senior Political Writer and Analyst Harry Enten. Harry, you say Trump is in unprecedented territory. Explain.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. So, I mean, take a look at the recent average of polls. He's down nine points. Not only that, Joe Biden is above 50 percent. And if you go back, since 1940, there have only been three other incumbents who truthfully were trailing by anything close to what Trump is trailing by right now. Harry Truman back in 1948. Gerald Ford in 1976. Carter in 1980. And two of those three lost.

And the fact is, if you just look at the polls, it's just a very difficult position and a very unusual position for an incumbent to be in, at this point.

CABRERA: So, what are some of the groups Trump needs to improve among?

ENTEN: Yes. So, I think there are basically two core groups that, you know, if you look at the polls right now, which he won back in 2016, one of which is white voters without a college degree, right. So, that's his core base. He won that overwhelmingly. He's still leading with them by 22 points, but that's seven points less than he won them by four years ago. And voters over the age of 65, or 65 and over senior citizens, he won that group by five back in 2016. Joe Biden, right now, is ahead by nine points with them. So, that's a group he should really be focusing in on.

CABRERA: What about Biden? Where is his support lagging?

ENTEN: Yes. This, to me, is so interesting, right, because Joe Biden is doing better with white voters than Hillary Clinton did four years ago. But he's actually doing -- actually significantly worse with both Latinos and African-American voters. He's still winning above them by large margins, right, 71 points with blacks, 32 points with Hispanics. But, remember, it's a game of margins. And you want to at least by matching Clinton's margins of groups. And, right now, Biden is actually doing worse than she did among non-white voters, blacks and Hispanics, particularly.

CABRERA: Did Biden get any kind of post-convention bump or is it too soon to tell?

ENTEN: Yes. I mean, it's a little too soon to tell. But we are getting the first bits of data, and it's kind of interesting what we're seeing, right? In the horse race in the CBS News-YouGov poll, Biden was up by 10 points last week. He's up by 10 points this week. He's above 50 percent last week. He's above 50 percent this week. No real bounce there.

But the key thing is he really just wants to make sure that those voters he had previously, he's strengthening his appeal with them. And this is what an ABC-IPSOS poll really does show us. His net favorability rating, at this point, it is up. It is up eight points from two week -- from one week ago. And it's now positive. It's now positive at plus five percentage points, so it's very important he's locking down those voters. Because the fact is, if you're above 50 percent, it's very difficult to lose. In fact, you can't lose unless you lose some supporters.

CABRERA: OK. It's going to be so interesting to see, you know, if there are any changes in these dynamics given the Republican National Convention kicks off this week. And much more to come, obviously.

Harry Enten, good to see you, as always. Thanks so much.

ENTEN: Always a pleasure joining you, Ana.

CABRERA: Thanks, Harry.

This week CNN heroes salute Hector Guadalupe for his work helping former incarcerated individuals emerge from confinement fitter in body and mind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HECTOR GUADALUPE, PERSONAL TRAINER: I spent close to 31 months in solitary confinement. I would spend half a day doing certain exercises to keep my blood moving through my body and keep my body strong you know.

We've got the moms on deck. The moms are getting it in (INAUDIBLE.)

I started my second youth (ph) foundation. We have formerly incarcerated men and women. They get certified. And they can get provided a job placement. Not one has reoffended. And people won't reoffend as long as they are provided livable wages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the squat, go all the way down.

GUADALUPE: If I can help other people become successful, that means a lot of families were fed. That means success to me. We all deserve a second chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Anderson Cooper shares the full story about Hector's work at CNNheroes.com. We'll be right back.

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CABRERA: On tonight's "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," W. Kamau Bell is in South Florida, talking to Venezuelan Americans about their struggle to leave home and a fight for asylum here in the U.S. Here's a preview.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long have you been driving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For over about four years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what did you do for work in Venezuela?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were in detention?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. For a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was -- it was bad. I mean, it was really a kind of an 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, on New Year. I mean, that was -- it was really, really bad. And, you know, mentally, they destroy you there. I never want to go there again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Don't miss a brand-new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" tonight at 10:00 here on CNN. Thanks so much for staying with me. You are in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. And in just a short time from now, President Trump will told a press conference to announce what the White House has teased as a major therapeutic breakthrough for Coronavirus.

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