Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump & Allies Try to Rewrite History on RNC's 1st Night; Dr. Jesse Goodman Discusses Fauci Warning Against Premature Authorization of Vaccine; WSJ: Falwell Resigns as President of Liberty University. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired August 25, 2020 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The official theme of day one of the Republican convention was "Land of Promise." "Axios," however, described the theme more appropriately as Trump's alternative narrative.
You could also consider it an alternative reality because Republicans promised an optimistic and uplifting four nights of speeches and delivered on night one largely darkness, doom and gloom.
But also because the depiction of America and this president was riddled with glaring falsehoods and, dare I say, alternative facts. An alternative reality on the pandemic. An alternative reality on Democrats. And an alternative reality on Trump's support among black Americans.
We'll break this down right now. Joining me now is CNN's Daniel Dale and Jeff Zeleny, and White House reporter for the "Washington Post," Toluse Olorunnipa.
Daniel, let's start with the attempt to rewrite history on President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
You fact checked this in real time but let me play for everyone some of what we heard last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: From the very beginning Democrats, the media and the world health organization got coronavirus wrong. One leader took decisive action to save lives. President Donald Trump. Banning travel from China and coronavirus epicenters. Biden charges xenophobia. But President Trump was right.
REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): President Trump saved lives by shutting down flights from China and Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And, Daniel, that's only a slice of what you heard last night. What is the reality there?
DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: There are a lot of issues here. I'll go through them quickly.
Number one, Trump did not shut down flights from China and Europe ever. There was no ban on travel from China.
He imposed a partial travel restriction that contained multiple exemptions. And tens of thousands of people continued to travel from both China and Europe after he posed that restriction.
The suggestion that President Trump, unlike Democrats, did not get the pandemic wrong, did not downplay it like some of the people in that video, is laughably misleading.
Trump is the one who said that we would go from 15 cases to about zero cases. He's the one who kept saying, into march, that it was under control. He's the one who kept saying, until this summer, until just recently, that it was going away, that it was disappearing.
The suggestion that he was a decisive leader, I think, is more subjective to us fact checkers. But it's contested by many public health experts who say he was critically slow to take crucial action on things like testing.
And number four, it's not entirely clear if Joe Biden did, indeed, call those China travel restrictions xenophobic. He did accuse Trump of xenophobic on the very same day those restrictions were announced by health secretary, Alex Azar.
But his campaign insists he didn't even know about the restrictions at the time and was just talking about Trump's general record of racism.
BOLDUAN: And we also know from actual facts and data that the virus was already here in the United States before the travel restrictions set in place from Europe. We know that clearly.
And also, as you mentioned, as recently as last month the president was saying the virus was just going to disappear. That's not leadership. That's diminishing the threat and not facing reality of the threat of this virus still.
So then, Jeff, let's move to the other alternative narrative and reality when it came to Democrats and their agenda. One speaker warned that they are brainwashing you. Literally said that. And that was just the tip of the iceberg last night.
Let me play some more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, NATIONAL CHAIR, TRUMP VICTORY FINANCE COMMITTEE: They want to control what you see and think and believe so that they can control how you live!
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): They'll disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite M.S.-13 to live next door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: It's clear what they're trying to do, Jeff, but can they make that stick to Joe Biden?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Unclear if they can make it stick to Joe Biden, Kate.
But what they are trying to is undo, perhaps, all of the work of the Democratic convention last week.
We saw a parade of Republican speakers, some former Republicans, some current Republicans, and several others who put their names behind endorsements to Joe Biden along the way, saying they believe it's time to put country over party.
So what this Republican convention, this series of speakers were intended to do was call these Republicans home, essentially shake these Trump supporters, his base by their lapels, if you will, and say, look, it's not just Joe Biden. You would be electing the entire Democratic Party.
It's very much more complicated to sort of tie Joe Biden to Bernie Sanders, to Elizabeth Warren. He defeated them during the primary. His view of the party certainly a one out.
It's not to say there's not a progressive push inside the party. But there's no question it's more difficult to rebrand Joe Biden after all this time.
The challenge here is trying to go after some of those Republicans who may be on the fence -- Kate?
BOLDUAN: One thing we know that is real is fear is a very real and effective motivator. Gets people out to vote. Gets people to give you money. You can see that in play for sure.
Toluse, we also heard a lot about President Trump's support for and from the African-American community. Let me play some of what we heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:35:06]
HERSCHEL WALKER, FORMER PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER & FRIEND OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: I take it as a personal insult that people would think I've had a 37-year friendship with a racist. People who think that don't know what they're talking about.
Growing up in the Deep South, I've seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn't Donald Trump.
STATE REP. VERNON JONES (D-GA): The Democratic Party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation. And I'm part of a large and growing segment of the black community who are independent thinkers. And we believe that Donald Trump is the president that America needs to lead us forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Toluse, is that right?
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, it's incredibly offensive to say that the majority of black voters, who tend to vote for Democrats, are not free and independent thinkers.
People make their own choices about who to vote for. And black voters, just like every other group of voters, are independent thinkers and just may choose Democrats of their free will.
So, first of all, that's incredibly offensive.
But the broader point is that the president and his campaign have a couple of different audiences.
Yes, they are trying to improve their anemic numbers with black voters, which are in the low digits in most polls, most single digits in most polls, maybe getting up to the low teens in some polls.
But pretty low support among black voters who have seen three and a half years of this presidency and, by and large, consider him a racist and want him to be removed from office.
There's also another audience. The president is trying to show suburban white voters that he is not the racist that the majority of voters see him as.
They're trying to show a large number of black supporters for the president saying, if I have all of these friends who support me, who are people of color, then I can't be a racist. We know that's not true. But that's the argument. That's the strategy they're trying to use.
By using some language about plantations and free and independent thinking, that probably is going to push a lot of voters away probably just as much as maybe appeal to some voters as well.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
Guys, we fit in a lot in a little bit of time. I really appreciate it.
That is all night one of the Republican convention. Stand by for day two.
Thanks very much, guys. I really appreciate it.
CNN's special coverage of the Republican National Convention continues tonight starting at 7:00 Eastern.
Coming up still for us, a new warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci on the idea of approving a vaccine before safety checks have been finished, just as CNN is reporting White House officials have suggested doing just that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:42:27]
BOLDUAN: Dr. Anthony Fauci has a clear message for the country and the White House when it comes to approving a COVID vaccine before it's fully vetted, do not do it.
It comes as President Trump has raised the possibility of pushing out a COVID vaccine early.
And sources tell CNN White House officials have raised the possibility of an emergency use authorization of the vaccine before phase three trials are complete.
Dr. Fauci telling Reuters this: "To me, it's absolutely paramount that you definitely show that a vaccine is safe and effective, both."
Joining us me now is a former chief scientist for the FDA, Dr. Jesse Goodman, now a professor at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Thank you for being here.
Why is this so concerning, Doctor?
DR. JESSE GOODMAN, ATTENDING INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHYSICIAN & PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER & FORMER FDA SCIENTIST: Well, I think a vaccine is very different than a treatment. A vaccine is given to a healthy individual. And so before we use a vaccine, we need extremely strong evidence that it's safe and that it's effective.
BOLDUAN: Dr. Fauci says his concern is not only that if you jump the gun, if you will, it not only hurts this vaccine with this virus effort with this virus but also then hurts vaccine efforts and enrollments in trials in the future. He says not possibly but almost -- makes it not difficult but almost impossible in the future.
Do you agree with that?
GOODMAN: Well, I think what he's talking about is if vaccines are out there prematurely, before the trials are completed, it could affect our ability to ever learn fully how well vaccines work.
And especially when you considering we have multiple vaccines being looked at. And some may be more effective than others or better for certain populations.
It's really important that these studies that are going on get completed.
BOLDUAN: This brings into the spotlight, one again, the fear and concern that the FDA is being influenced by political pressure from the president and the White House, that they are playing politics with science.
Do you think that is happening?
GOODMAN: Well, clearly, there has been a lot of pressure on the FDA. We saw that around the emergency use authorization of the unapproved Hydroxychloroquine.
And we saw pressure and statements from the president accusing the FDA of being the Deep state and trying to withhold approvals recently around this authorization of convalescent plasma.
[11:45:04]
I'm very concerned about the effects of that pressure on the FDA. But even more on the public's confidence in the FDA making independent science-based decisions.
That confidence is going to be critical, both for any safe, effective COVID vaccine, helping us get out of the pandemic, but it's critical for Americans and the world on an everyday basis.
The FDA is a trusted agency that makes sure our foods and medicines are safe. And we need to maintain that trust.
And these threats and blustering really threaten to create a perception that the FDA is acting under political pressure, rather than according to the science.
BOLDUAN: The FDA commissioner says that all of the decisions being made are based on science and data and he is defending the FDA.
But you have been there. You've been in the ranks. You've been in the trenches with these people.
Can you say with confidence that, unfortunately, politics is impacting decision making by the FDA?
GOODMAN: Well, I have to say I have tremendous confidence and respect for the scientists at the FDA. And I think they will only speak the truth.
However, relentless pressure affects people. And it also affects the public's trust in those decisions, even if they are made by FDA staff.
I think FDA leadership needs to stand up against this pressure and not participate in it or, what we saw in the last day was sort of overhyping and talking up of the results of this unproven convalescent plasma therapy.
We need FDA is to be respected and allowed to review the data and make its decisions.
BOLDUAN: Dr. Goodman, thank you for coming in.
GOODMAN: You're very welcome.
BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, he was one of President Trump's leading evangelical Christian supporters. Now what is going on with Jerry Falwell? Did he resign from Liberty University? Is he no longer resigned? What is happening after this alleged sex scandal? That's the -- the latest next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:51:13]
BOLDUAN: A sex scandal engulfing the most well-known evangelical school in the country. Jerry Falwell Jr's future as president of Liberty University is uncertain this morning after apparently resigning he position and then retracting that resignation overnight.
This started with a photo of Falwell on a yacht and now involves a former employee who claims having a year's long affair with both Falwell and his wife.
CNN's Athena Jones has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERRY FALWELL JR, FORMER PRESIDENT, LIBERTY UNIVERSITY: I'm going to vote for Donald Trump because I believe he's the best qualified to be president of the United States.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jerry Falwell Jr lending a helping hand to then-candidate Donald Trump in October 2016 after the "New York Times" reported allegations Trump touched women inappropriately without their consent, a claim Trump denied.
FALWELL: I'm one of the 85 percent or so of evangelicals that supported him.
JONES: One of Trump's most-prominent evangelical supporters standing by him again in 2018.
Today, the former president of Liberty University may be in need of his own defenders.
A man, Giancarlo Granda, confirming to CNN that he a year's-long extramarital affair with Falwell's wife and the couple met him on a trip to Miami eight years ago. And that Jerry Falwell enjoyed watching from the corner of the room while the pair had sex.
Jerry Falwell admitting his wife had an inappropriate personal relationship in a lengthy statement to CNN but denying being involved at all, let alone having watched.
"Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this person, something in which I was not involved.
A statement referring to a, quote, "fatal attraction-type situation" and included multiple references to scripture, Falwell said the affair led to stress, weight loss, and reflection.
He said he has forgiven his wife and is seeking professional help to address the emotional toll. Reuters first reported Granda's side of the story. Also publishing
texts supplied by Granda who told Reuters the liaisons happened multiple times per year at hotels in Miami and New York and at the Falwell's home in Virginia.
BECKI FALWELL, WIFE OF JERRY FALWELL JR: Anybody should get applauded and should get standing ovations for what he's accomplished.
JONES: In one from 2012, Becki Falwell, who serves on the board of Women for Trump, allegedly writes to Granda, "Right now, I'm just missing you like crazy. Have you had this effect on all of your lady friends?"
A June 2020 exchange published by Reuters shows how the relationship between the Falwells and Granda deteriorated. Sometime after the couple and Granda invested together in a local property.
Granda allegedly writing to Falwell, "It really is a shame because I wanted to reach a peaceful resolution and just move on with our lives. But if conflict is what you want, then so be it."
Jerry Falwell allegedly replying, "You should, by now, understand I will not be extorted. I have always treated you fairly and been restrained in response to your threats because I did not wish to ruin your life. Going forward, stop contacting me and my family."
Granda denied the blackmail accusation.
FALWELL: We must unite behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
JONES: Falwell, whose January 2016 endorsement of Trump helped him win the support of white evangelicals, a key voting bloc, had already been on an indefinite leave of absence from the staunchly conservative university after posting this photo on Instagram with a woman he says is his wife's assistant, which he later said was meant in good fun.
A troubled moment for an influential conservative voice who nabbed a coveted speaking spot on the final night of the Republican convention in 2016.
(CHEERING)
FALWELL: Thank you.
JONES: And he told our "OutFront" in 2018 --
FALWELL: We are all sinners. Nobody understands that better than evangelicals. That's why, with Christians --
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, 'OUTFRONT": So --
FALWELL: -- because we believe we all need forgiveness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: And now the very latest update is that Jerry Falwell Jr has resigned from Liberty University. That's what he told the "Wall Street Journal" last night after a series of late-night phone calls back and forth.
[11:55:10]
But now we can tell you that the executive committee and the full board at the university are meeting to make it finally officially official that Falwell will be stepping down.
And it's important to note that this is not a criminal matter. But it's still noteworthy to see yet another important ally of the president dealing with unflattering allegations like this -- Kate?
BOLDUAN: Athena, thank you very much.
Coming up, what is in store for today's Republican convention after day one promised optimism but was morphed by apocalyptic terms of doom-and-gloom America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
