Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Touts Convalescent Plasma as 'Powerful Therapy'; U.S. Gulf Coast Bracing for Two Major Storms; Firefighters Battling Hundreds of California Wildfires; Some Republicans Actively Fighting Reelection Bid; Christchurch Gunman Sentencing Hearing Begins; Mexico Navigates Distance Learning during Outbreak. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 24, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes.

[00:01:28]

And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Donald Trump's emergency announcement on a coronavirus treatment. Hear why some experts are seeing it's too much too fast.

We're just hours away from the kickoff of the Republican National Convention. Who to watch for? What to expect? We will discuss.

And two dangerous storms threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast. At the same time, meteorologists say they've never seen anything like it. We'll have the latest on their track.

Welcome, everyone. With the start of the Republican National Convention just hours away, the U.S. president, Donald Trump, touting a possible treatment in the fight against COVID-19. But already, there is debate over whether enough data is out there to prove it will work. And his credibility, of course, in this area is suspect already.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency youth use authorization for convalescent plasma for treating patients hospitalized with coronavirus. Now, the plasma would come from those who have already recovered from the virus and have antibodies which might help fight the infection.

President Trump made the announcement on Sunday, lauding how significant the treatment would be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I'm pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives. This is a powerful therapy that transfuse very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. It's had an incredible rate of success. Today's action will dramatically expand access to this treatment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is not entirely true. An emergency use authorization is not a full approval from the FDA, and while plasma treatment has seen some success, multiple experts say much more is needed to determine any clear benefit against COVID-19.

Also, to get enough plasma, you need donors plus the ability to track which ones have the most effective plasma. There's a lot to it.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more on the announcement from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump on Sunday announcing that the FDA has approved an emergency use authorization for a potential coronavirus treatment. And that is convalescent plasma.

Now convalescent plasma certainly has been used already in about 70,000 patients here in the United States alone. And there is some promising data behind it, but certainly, randomized, controlled clinical trials have not yet reached a conclusion about this convalescent plasma's efficacy.

But nonetheless, the president insisting that this is a historic breakthrough. Now while this may be, certainly, an incremental improvement, something that will widen the availability of plasma, to call this a breakthrough simply is not the case.

But the president insisting that he was able to overcome what he called a logjam at the FDA.

TRUMP: Well, I think that there might have been a hold-up, but we broke the logjam over the last week, to be honest. I think that there are people in the FDA and, actually, in the neurological department that can see things being held up and wouldn't mind so much. That's my opinion, a very strong opinion. And that's for political reasons. This has nothing to do with politics. This has to do with life and death.

DIAMOND: Those comments followed a tweet that the president issued, which made similar accusations about the FDA, accusing members of the, quote unquote, "deep state" of trying to undermine him by slow-walking the approval of vaccines and coronavirus treatments.

We should note there is absolutely no evidence to back that up. And what is interesting here, of course, is that the president appears to have put some significant pressure, political pressure on the FDA to grant this emergency use authorization.

And the timing, of course, is very notable. The president is set to begin the Republican National Committee over this coming week, and the president is certainly looking for a win. So this appears to be the one that the president was able to find for himself.

But again, the way that the president described this as a breakthrough, as something historic, not the case. Jury is still out on convalescent plasma, but there is still some promising data behind it.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now one vaccine expert says authorizing the plasma for emergency use isn't a case of presidential heroism against a slow bureaucracy. He says there is a reason why the treatment hasn't been approved before now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL OFFITT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: You have to prove that the plasma made a difference, and all the data so far really haven't done that. And that's why it is that the FDA was slow to approve the drug through EUA.

Now we get an approval, and the question is, are there more data that we haven't seen? And if there were more data, you would think that they would have presented those data, because it only makes the case better. By not presenting those new data, you wonder whether there really are any new data.

And if there aren't, then what just happened? Is it the administration just bullied the FDA into approving something that they were uncomfortable about approving?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And James Clyburn, the House of the coronavirus committee chairman agrees, saying, quote, "I am troubled by the president's desperate and dangerous pattern of pushing unproven treatments, as he did with hydroxychloroquine, and refusing to allow scientists to determine the appropriate authorizations and recommendations with respect to particular therapies."

Now for more on this, I'm joined by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, an internal medicine and viral specialist in Los Angeles.

Good to see you again, Doctor. Let's talk about this announcement. It is a known potential therapy. It's been given to, I think, 80 or 90,000 patients already. Not historic nor a breakthrough, as the president says. But talk about the fact that, in a medical sense, shouldn't it be trialed to actually confirm its efficacy?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: Absolutely. I think what is alarming most people in the medical field is the fact that it does appear that politics is pushing science.

So let's start off with this is not a China versus. This is the SARS- CoV-2 virus. And we'll start from there. And people that have had it, most of them have had antibodies that, with other infections, other viruses, have been able to give that plasma to people, and those antibodies can help lessen, if not cure the disease.

Well, right now, because we're in such a state of alert with this pandemic, it's been tried sort of as a compassionate use for tens of thousands of people.

The Mayo Clinic just did a retrospective analysis. They looked at over 30,000 cases. And what they found was that, if you gave it within three days, 8.5 percent of the people died that were very sick. And if you gave it within four days after people got in sick, it was almost 12 percent.

But it doesn't prove that this really does save lives. You need to have a placebo arm.

So the big danger that we're seeing is that, in an act of desperation, we may be providing someone or people plasma that, in the long run, A, has not been proven to help, and B, we don't know the long-term side effects.

HOLMES: Right.

RODRIGUEZ: This is not the way the things are done.

HOLMES: And, you know, the other thing, too, that's really critical is the FDA actually pumped the brakes on this only a few days ago, said, Let's just wait on this.

Then, you know, you've got the president on Saturday accusing the FDA, run by somebody he appointed, of holding back on vaccine trial approvals, therapeutics and then, within a day of the tweet, approval.

I mean, do you think, given what you've seen, there's at least the impression the FDA might have been pressured to do this? And if so, wow.

RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely, and that's the big danger. Listen, the politics could be that Anthony Fauci, Dr. Collins and Cliff Lane, Dr. Cliff Lane, who's also the NIH, that I've known for years and worked and had research with, as far as HIV, these are respected scientists. And they did not think that the Mayo Clinic study proved anything.

As a matter of fact, the Mayo Clinic conclusion was that more cities needed to be done. So it does appear that, on day one, the FDA did not approve this. And lo and behold, two days later after the president applies pressure, it's approved.

[00:10:08]

The danger is what will be next? What unproven regimen or medicine will be approved next?

HOLMES: And I think the closer we get to November 3, the chances of something popping up grow. I mean, I wanted to ask you, too. With India saying last night it could have a vaccine by the end of the year. You've got Russia's vaccine. Whatever else Donald Trump promises before the election. I'm wondering, do you think there are too many countries going it

alone here? I mean, is there a risk of vaccine nationalism? Shouldn't everybody working together, a global effort here?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, absolutely. And that is what's happening, and the more you think about that, you know, it's almost like, it's almost a race when you're thinking about human lives. It shouldn't be a race. And everybody wants to be first to try to see how many people they can save.

Russia is trying a vaccine that hasn't even been tested.

And this was my biggest concern when Trump said that he was going to leave the World Health Organization that either we were not going to have access to a vaccine created in another country, or that we were not going to share our science.

This is a pandemic. This needs to have worldwide corporation from all countries. Otherwise, it's -- it's not going to be pretty.

HOLMES: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez in Los Angeles. Always a pleasure. Thanks so much for coming on.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, sir.

HOLMES: Now on the eve of the Republican National Convention, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has announced that she's leaving that post at the end of this month.

Her husband, George Conway, a vocal critic of the president, also announced that he's withdrawing from the Lincoln Project, an anti- Trump political action committee, and also taking a break from Twitter.

Both said they need to focus on family, with Kellyanne Conway writing, in part, quote, "This is completely my choice and my voice. In time, I will announce future plans. For now and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama."

Conway is scheduled to speak, by the way, at the Republican convention. Unclear if she still will do so.

President Trump, though, plans to be in the spotlight every day, a Republican source saying he will make an appearance every single night and will deliver an optimistic and upbeat message. That could be challenging, given the more than 176,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. and an economy in tatters.

Hours ahead of the convention, the Trump campaign released its second- term agenda -- it's not a platform -- which includes the creation, it says, of 10 million new jobs in 10 months and the promise of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. Again, crucially, not a platform, which is what you normally get for a convention. It is just an agenda and a pledge of support for Donald Trump.

Now in another departure from tradition, Republican delegates won't be releasing any platform, as we say, before the convention. The party says it is going to instead, quote, "enthusiastically support" the president's 'America first' agenda instead.

CNN's Ryan Nobles in Charlotte in North Carolina with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The city of Charlotte, North Carolina, will play an important role in the Republican National Convention this year. Perhaps not the big role they expected to play when they won the bid for the convention more than a year ago, but a lot of the activity taking place here on Monday will be very important for President Trump's campaign.

That's where the delegates will come from around the country, more than 300 of them, and cast their ballots for President Trump and Mike Pence to be the ticket for this year's presidential election.

And President Trump will actually be here. He and the vice president will thank the delegates for their participation. He'll deliver brief remarks.

Now this is not his formal acceptance. That's not going to happen until later in the week on Thursday, when President Trump officially accepts his nomination, and that will happen at the White House.

In fact, most of the activity will shift from Charlotte to Washington almost immediately. Many of the speeches that will take place that happen live will originate out of Washington, and that includes speeches from second lady Karen Pence and Melania Trump, who will also deliver her remarks from Washington, as well.

The vice president, Mike Pence, will travel to Baltimore and deliver his remarks from Fort McHenry.

Now, this is something that President Trump has a lot riding on. He, of course, a former reality television star himself. He's told his team that he wants this convention to be bigger and better than what we saw from the Democrats last week.

He's even brought in some of his former colleagues from "The Apprentice" to help produce all of the events that took place this week. A lot riding for President Trump.

And we shouldn't forget that there are two hurricanes that could make their way onto the Gulf Coast sometime during the week of this convention, which could add a further complication to this entire process.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:15:02]

HOLMES: And I just want to mention, later this hour we're going to be hearing from a Republican strategist and former convention communications director on what we might expect from this year's convention.

A history-making event as two dangerous storms make their way towards the Gulf Coast of the United States. We are tracking the destructive path of Marco and Laura. We'll get the latest for you from the weather center after the break.

And also, hundreds of wildfires are burning throughout California. Extreme weather working against the firefighters. The situation report for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. The U.S. Gulf Coast is bracing for not one but two dangerous storms. Marco was just downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm as it inches towards the Gulf Coast.

Laura expected to reach hurricane strength as it makes landfall later this week.

I want to show you the scene inside the eye of Laura as it ripped through the Caribbean, killing nine people and leaving nearly half a million people in the Dominican Republic without power.

[00:20:01]

Storm watches and warnings stretch from Florida to Texas at the moment, and the state of Louisiana has begun mandatory evacuations in some areas, the governor telling people to be prepared for the long haul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here to tell us more. What are you seeing here in the next few days?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Michael. It's going to be a tough go across the Gulf of Mexico. As you noted here, really incredible set-up when it comes to not one but two tropical systems.

In fact, going back to 1851, when records began, only one storm, the most recent storm making two appearances, two storms at the same time in the Gulf of Mexico, would be back in June of 1959.

And again, no hurricanes have simultaneously been in the Gulf of Mexico. So again, this is something we're watching very carefully. As you noted, Marco, now a tropical storm. Laura, on the heels of

this, coming in also as a tropical storm. We do expect some changes, though, within this forecast.

And show you what's happening with Marco. You'll notice some of the cloud field kind of pushing off towards the north and east of the center of the storm. That's wind shear, or winds above it, trying to shred it apart. And that is certainly causing it to weaken within the next couple of days. We think by Monday night. This skirts off the southern coast there of Louisiana. By Tuesday, possibly, kind of paralleling the coast of western Louisiana into Eastern Texas and weakens across that region, maybe even just raining itself out before you've ever -- ever makes landfall in the region.

But what the water already in motion across this area, the storm surge threat of as much as six feet is certainly a possibility. Plaquemines Parish, Grand Isle, some of these areas, mandatory evacuations in place across this region.

Again notice the contours of reds and oranges, yellows. These are indicative of wind shear, as the system approaches. But notice, not much of it left once the system pushes ashore in the next couple of days.

That's what sets the stage here for Laura, which has the potential to be a far more significant player here. You'll notice, it will skirt just south of Cuba within the next 24 hours, possibly into the Gulf of Mexico. At that point, this could be a much stronger feature, a Category 1, possibly up to a strong Category 2.

And the National Hurricane Center tells us this is one of those storms that you cannot let your guard off of, because the ingredients are in place for rapid intensification. Could even be a major hurricane.

Notice this. Offshore, upwards of 600 oil platforms off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, about 100 of which have been already evacuated. But this is an area of concern, with the system moving directly over this region and kind of overlaying one another here with Marco and also Laura.

Marco on the eastern side, just south of New Orleans. That's where the wettest weather is, back on the western side around Lake Charles on into Houston. That is where the forecast track right now takes Laura as potentially a strong Category 2, maybe even a Category 3, by Wednesday afternoon.

So again, just a couple of days removed from one another. We've not seen this since 1959. I've seen two storms in the Gulf at the same time, Michael.

HOLMES: Crazy few days ahead. Pedram Javaheri, thanks so much. We'll check in with you next hour.

Now, thousands of firefighters, meanwhile, some working around the clock, are battling hundreds of wildfires across the state of California with no end in sight. Many of these fires started by lightning. The fires, scorching more than a million acres of land, and still, they've had to call in reinforcements, just to keep up.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is in Calistoga, California, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, there's smoke in the air, and tension in the air. That's because they know that there's a strong possibility of these lightning strikes. A red flag warning all over northern California, central California.

Here's the command post where they are helping to dispatch the 14,000 firefighters, down on the lines in California. And speaking of those lines, this gives you what they're up against. This is the LNU Complex. The black line means they've got containment, either by digging it with bulldozers, or shovels, or backfiring.

The red, that's where there's no containment whatsoever on these are monster fires.

Firefighters have been pouring in from other states, including Oregon, and we spoke with one of those firefighters, who's out on the line.

RICHARD CORDOVA, CAL FIRE CAPTAIN: This is historic. I mean, something that we've seen in the fast but not to this magnitude. Our resources are stretched thin. And what we're worried about is the system coming in, causing the same havoc, throughout the state and trying to get resources to protect the citizens of California.

VERCAMMEN: This is Calistoga, California. They've had their share of trouble with fire over the past half-decade. You can look over here, and one of the firefighters advising a resident as to what's going on here with evacuations. The potential for more blazes.

And people here, showing appreciation. A woman drove up and heard that firefighters needed pillows, or at least were trying to buy some pillows, and so she handed them 12 to 14 pillows.

[00:25:10]

POLLY OGDEN, GAVE PILLOWS TO FIREFIGHTERS: God bless them. We're nothing without them. And thank God they're here. And they just put out so much. Look how hot it is. The air is horrible. They're out there, fighting these things for us. And the least thing I can do is bring some pillows. I wish I could do more.

VERCAMMEN: So, back here on the ground, this sense of anticipation. What will this weather bring them? Will it be more of these lightning strikes that caused so much trouble before? They're just crossing their fingers and hoping they get through the next 24 to 48 hours.

Back to you now, Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOMES: Paul Vercammen, I thank you for that. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back here on CNN

NEWSROOM, after two weeks of outrage and calls for change, demonstrators in Belarus find they have sympathetic neighbors in Lithuania.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, deep down, in your Sunday school hearts, what kind of man Donald Trump is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Why some Republicans don't want President Trump to win reelection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Now in a few hours, the Republican National Convention will begin, with a roll call in Charlotte, North Carolina. After that, many of the events will originate in Washington, with promises of an upbeat celebration.

[00:30:08]

But for some Republicans, a second term for President Trump is nothing to celebrate. Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC: "God bless the USA")

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination this week, some Republicans are already speaking out --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really ashamed to say it, but I'm one of many who voted for the current president, Donald Trump.

ZELENY: -- voicing their regrets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's been worse than what we ever imagined. We're farmers, and like I said, conservative Republicans.

ZELENY: And warning fellow conservatives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know deep down in your Sunday school hearts what kind of man Donald Trump is. What kind of Christian he is. You know, don't you?

ZELENY: These are some of the faces of the "never Trump" movement, a small slice of disaffected Republicans, rank and file, and former elected officials swimming upstream in Trump's party, hoping to make him a one-term president.

After failing four years ago, the movement is multiplying, with the Lincoln Project, Republican Voters Against Trump, and Bush Alumni for Biden, whose slogan is, "We Worked for W. We Support Joe."

This time they're using the president's words against him.

TRUMP: I'm dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily-armed soldiers. We dominate the streets.

ZELENY: And hoping to get into his head. At least that's the goal of the Lincoln Project, whose videos, made by former aides to George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney, are designed to mock and needle the president. George Conway, the husband of top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, is a cofounder.

The present has long belittled "never Trumpers," as his grip has steadily tightened on the Republican Party.

TRUMP: Some of these people don't get it. "Never Trump." By the way, "never Trump" is disappearing rapidly.

ZELENY: The second act of the movement may be an uphill battle, considering 95 percent of Republicans in the latest CNN poll said they would vote for Trump again.

His reelection campaign has already spent $1 billion, while these groups have raised only a tiny fraction of that.

Yet, two key points are different this time. Trump's record and Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton.

SARAH LONGWELL, POLITICAL STRATEGIST, REPUBLICAN VOTERS AGAINST TRUMP: Joe Biden just simply isn't as scary to them. I think women are going to lose this election for President Trump. I think that is going to be the decisive and defining group of people.

ZELENY: Sarah Longwell is a lifelong Republican and political strategist at Republican Voters Against Trump. She's spent the last four years studying his supporters from 2016 and senses a different moment now, amid the coronavirus crisis and deep economic pain.

(on camera): But at the same time, so many Republicans are still with him. Why is that?

LONGWELL: There's always going to be a core support that's never going to walk away from Donald Trump. You know, you see it all the time. These college-educated Republicans in the suburbs. Women. Women are walking away from this guy in troves.

Yes, does he have a base? Of course. But you need bigger political coalitions to win elections, and his political coalition is shrinking by the day.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Doug Heye is a CNN political commentator, also the former director of communications for the RNC.

A pleasure to see you again, Doug. I wanted to start off, actually, with one of your tweets, and we can put it up for people to look at. It says, "GOP enthusiasm is unlikely to match the intensity of the last election, given Trump's first-term success in filling existing court vacancies. So often," you said, "you see a team win a championship. Then they lose the urgency for the repeat."

What do you expect from this RNC convention? And what will be different than how the Democrats handled theirs?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think we know precisely how it will be different yet. You know, the Democrats were preparing for this inevitable virtual convention, while the Republicans, I think, honestly were kidding themselves for a while that they might be able to move locations and so forth. They may be less prepared than Democrats were.

But what we've seen, I think, surprises a lot of people is you're not seeing a lot of senators or members of Congress who otherwise would clamor to be on -- on a stage for a convention and certainly were four years ago, Ted Cruz being a very prominent example.

I looked at the list today, and to some extent, it resembled either the Addams family or a really bad Glastonbury, where you look at the lineup for the bands, and it's none of them that you want to see.

Democrats were really trying to expand their base, expand their appeal to people. It's why you had very popular folks in the country like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, to name the two most prominent examples.

Republicans really seem to be doubling down on their base. We'll see if that's a successful strategy for them.

HOLMES: Yes. I think half the keynote speakers are either married to or related to the president, which sort of says something in itself.

[00:35:01]

I mean, it's going to be hard for the president to do what the Biden -- what the Bidens did, pretty much, in centering their narrative about their family around their message, especially given the book by Trump's niece, and now his sister's rather withering comments about the president's character.

The thing is -- and tell me if I'm wrong -- it's not like his base doesn't already know the character of the man. And this seems like a president, though, who doesn't really want to grow the tent.

HEYE: Yes, look, voters made up their minds one way or another, by and large, on Donald Trump not just a long time ago, but well over four years ago. You were either very much for Trump, or you decided you were not going to vote for Donald Trump.

There's a very small sliver of voters who are trying to be in an area where they could be persuaded one way or another. And that's where I think the Trump campaign is really behind on things right now. Not just with the gender gap.

But if you were talking to Democrats in January and February, obviously everywhere in the world, it's a very different conversation between now and then.

But Democrats were really scared about Donald Trump being able to campaign on a positive economy, and that that would risk him for another four years in the White House, because incumbents don't lose in positive economies.

But we know right now, we have a death toll that's above 170,000 people, 170,000 Americans, and we have an economy with more than 10 percent unemployment and so much insecurity and pain in the country. It's really hard to see how they're going to be able to persuade people. This may be an election more on motivation than it is persuasion.

HOLMES: Good point. The campaign adviser, Jason Miller, he was saying that Republicans are going to present, he called it an optimistic and upbeat convention this week, in contrast with what he described as a massive grievance fest by the Democrats.

But, you know, we've seen the president constantly harp on negatives if Democrats win. And you've got speakers like Nick Sandmann. You've got the gun-toting Missouri couple. I mean, that doesn't exactly suggest the convention is going to be all positive and uplifting.

Do you think there's danger in leaning into culture war stuff like that?

HEYE: Not just leaning in but leading with it. You know, Jason Miller has been a friend of mine for more than 20 years, and a sincere friend, not just a Washington, D.C., friend when you say that and don't mean it.

But it's really hard to see the optimism coming from him and other folks with the Trump campaign, except that they're paid to be, because of the bad news that you have throughout the country.

You know, one of the things that the Trump campaign is talking about right now is violence on the streets, and how that may be Joe Biden's America. But we're really in Donald Trump's America right now. So how you sell that vision of what may happen under somebody else's leadership when it's happening under your leadership is a really tough sell, I think, even if you are purported to be the great salesman.

HOLMES: It is a good point. He said, "Think of the smoldering ruins of Minneapolis, the anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago," which is all happening on his watch. So it's an interesting thing to try to push out as a negative.

I wanted to ask you this, too. With all his talk of what he calls the dangers of mail-in voting, and literally, saying -- he said, quote, "The only way they're going to win," the Democrats, "is by a rigged election."

Is he setting the scene for a loss? And also, are comments like that just dangerous for the public's faith in democracy? The only way I can lose is if it's rigged.

HEYE: You know it hurts me as somebody you mentioned I used to run communications for the Republican National Committee, to say that the president from my party is saying dangerous things.

But they're also hypocritical things. And I wish I had it sitting right next to me instead of about 10 feet behind me. I received a mail piece from the North Carolina Republican Party just yesterday, urging me to send in an absentee ballot for Donald Trump.

Now I haven't lived in North Carolina since 2004. It might have been a piece directed towards my father, who died in 2016, in which case that's either bad list mismanagement, or they're trying to get somebody to vote fraudulently.

And I would point out the last time I had dinner with my father before he passed away, he said to me he's reluctantly voting for Trump. This is in 2016. But man, if Joe Biden's running, he'd vote for Joe in a second. So probably not the target audience, one way or another.

HOLMES: Wow, interesting, Doug Heye, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

HEYE: Thank you.

HOLMES: Now, just before the convention kicks off, a new CBS News/YouGov poll putting Democratic nominee Joe Biden ahead of President Trump by a ten-point margin among likely voters.

That's exactly what the polling looked like before the Democrats launched their convention a week ago, so not so much of a bump. On Sunday, Biden responded in a TV interview to one of Mr. Trump's many personal attack lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; I want to turn to the blistering attacks we've seen from President Trump just this week alone on your mental fitness, whether you're up for the job.

His campaign has called you diminished, and I'm curious how you would respond to that.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Watch me. Mr. President, watch me. Look at us both, what we say and what we do; what we control; what we know; what kind of shape we're in. Come on.

[00:40:10]

Just look, I think it's a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether they're ready. But I just -- Only thing I can say to the American people, it's a legitimate question to ask anybody. Watch me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And do tune into CNN for coverage of the Republican National Convention, starting on Monday, 7 p.m. Eastern here in the U.S. For our international viewers, that's 12 a.m. Tuesday in London, 7 a.m. Tuesday in Hong Kong.

What you're looking at there is a nearly 19-mile-long human chain of protesters in Lithuania. They are lined up from the capital city, Vilnius, to the border with Belarus, in solidarity with opposition protesters in Belarus.

Large crowds of demonstrators turned out in the capital, Minsk, again on Sunday. It's been two weeks since that country's highly-contested election, which cemented President Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year grip on power.

The country's defense ministry warning that soon, protesters will have to face not only police but the army, as well.

Lukashenko arrived at the presidential palace on Sunday, wearing body armor and holding an assault rifle.

Getting justice for the victims of New Zealand's worst mass shooting. Just ahead, the man who killed 51 people in terror attacks on two mosques will be sentenced in the coming days. We'll have a live report on the first day of the hearing when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The man responsible for New Zealand's worst ever mass shooting will learn his fate in the coming days. The first day in the sentencing hearing of Brenton Tarrant just wrapped up.

Over the next four days, the courtroom will be filled with family members of the victims, as well as survivors of the attack. Tarrant pled guilty to murdering 51 people and the attempted murder of 40 others after he opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch in March of last year.

For more on this, let's turn to CNN's senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, joining us from Hong Kong. Emotional, as one might imagine.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. "I forgive you" were the words of the mother of one of the 51 victims of Brenton Tarrant's rampage to the self-confessed terrorist's face in the courtroom today, and eyewitnesses say that was one of the only moments where he visibly responded to victims' impact statements, putting his hand to his mouth and rubbing his eye at one point. So this just one point of what is expected to be a very intense

emotional experience as New Zealand authorities say some 66 relatives and actual survivors of the rampage will be speaking over the course of at least four days here in this court in Christchurch, in part to court officials and to the judge who will be doing the sentencing but also to the self-confessed killer himself, who is under high security.

There are snipers on the roofs of the courthouse, unprecedented security, really, for a court case in New Zealand at this time and understandable, given that this was the deadliest attack in New Zealand's history, with Brenton Tarrant, who has been convicted of 51 charges of murder and of engaging in a terrorist attack.

Now, the crown prosecutor laid out a lot of details here that people have never really heard before, describing in detail how Brenton Tarrant began plotting this attack as early as September of 2017, a year and a half before that terrible day in March when he attacked these two mosques, when he planned to attack a third mosque but was intercepted by New Zealand police. They say that he had incendiary devices and told police after he was apprehended that he planned to burn the two mosques down.

He has espoused a white supremacist ideology, saying that he was trying to stop what he described as invaders, Muslim immigrants from coming at the countries like New Zealand, and that he wanted to kill more people than he actually had.

And the prosecutor describing in detail how Tarrant went murdering people at point-blank range, going back to kill people who had already been wounded.

Let's take a listen to another relative of a victim and what she said in the court earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYSOON SALAMA, MOTHER OF VICTIM: May you get the severest punishment for your evil act in this life, and in the hereafter, we know that Allah is the most just. You transgressed, and you thought you can break us. You failed miserably. We became more determined to hold tight to Islam and our beloved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, Tarrant could face, will have to face life imprisonment. There is no death penalty in New Zealand. But the judge has the option to take away the possibility of parole for this man -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Ivan. Thank you very much. We'll check in with you a bit later.

Now we'll take a quick break. Educating millions of children is a tough job even in the best of times. When we come back, how Mexico is taking on the challenge of distanced learning in the coronavirus pandemic. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:53:01]

HOLMES: Schools around the world coping, of course, with the challenge of educating young minds in the middle of a pandemic, and Mexico like so many other countries, is moving much of its learning online, but not everyone has Internet access.

CNN's Matt Rivers has a look at how they're overcoming that problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Jimenez (ph) family has got the morning routine down. Get up, get dressed, a little desayuno, breakfast, and off to school, which this year will be 10 feet away in the living room.

"It stresses me out a little," says mom Maria, "not knowing how to do this exactly."

Mexico's 30 million students start class this week but not in the classroom. This year, it's all remote learning.

"It's good we're still having class," says 12-year-old Giselle, "but I'm sad, because I was going to start a new school."

But taking math class online isn't so easy in a country where many don't have Internet. To see how that's being addressed, we went over to Canal Once, a TV station where class was already in session, sort of.

We watched as Professor Morales was on camera in a studio, teaching about the properties of sound. He says it's not 40 kids I know in a class I know anymore, but behind the camera, there's millions of kids who still need that knowledge.

He's part of Mexico's ambitious plan to record and broadcast classes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for preschoolers on to high schoolers. The hope is to reach nearly all kids this way. About 93 percent of Mexican households have a TV. Only 56 percent have Internet.

For kids who don't have TV, there will be radio programs, as well, including in indigenous languages.

"It was a tough decision not to reopen up schools," says Maria Melendez, "but by doing the TV and radio classes, that means not letting the education gap get wider."

(on camera): The education gap. In a country with vast economic inequality, closed schools like this one can make a big difference. If you're well-off, your Internet connection gives you access to online classes.

If you're not well-of, you're getting classes the same way you watch cartoons. In other words, the rich get smarter, and the poor might not. [00:55:10]

"Their only learning this year will be what they get from a TV," says Arandi Hacobo Martinez (ph), a public school teacher. "And if they have any questions, our ability to help will be really limited.

Simply put, the Ministry of Education doesn't have enough students with Internet, but it does have a lot of teachers who use words like mission or calling when they talk about their work.

"It's so important to be here," he says. "I'm representing other teachers, and it's our job to make sure every kid gets educated."

The Jimenez (ph) family has Internet, but their public school isn't offering online classes so they'll be watching them on TV instead. That hasn't stopped single mom Mariana (ph), who also works at home from coming up with daily schedules for her kids.

"It has to work," she says. "We need to give it our all."

She's even helping her neighbors, two young kids. The girls say they're on board with this new school year, mostly. We asked if they missed their friends.

"Yes," she says, "and my teacher, as well."

For kids there are some things even a little extra TV time can't fix.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now over the weekend, NASA announced that, yes, an asteroid is heading towards earth, because 2020.

NASA says the asteroid will make a close pass just one day before the November 3 election, but thankfully, it is unlikely to hit us. The asteroid is named 2018 VP1 and is about two meters wide. You can see it there in its orbit as the white circle, while the Earth is the blue circle.

Now let's isolate that orbit from today until November 2. NASA says the chance of it actually entering Earth's atmosphere is just 0.4 percent. But NASA says don't worry. If it happens, it will disintegrate before hitting the earth. Sure, NASA.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. I will be back with more news in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END