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Trump's Convention Events Raise Ethics Questions; Trump Family Center State at RNC; Trump Hosts Naturalization Ceremony at White House; Trump Tries to Appeal to Black Voters During RNC; Police Shooting of Jacob Blake Sparks Protests, Unrest; Pompeo Breaks Precedent in Address to RNC. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 26, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, President Donald Trump is nothing if not unconventional and that holds true during this Republican National Convention. In an unprecedented move Mr. Trump broke from tradition by hosting two events to showcase his power as the incumbent in this race.

In one taped appearance President Trump pardoned a former bank robber who now runs a charity helping inmates. In a second Mr. Trump took part in a naturalization ceremony for five new U.S. citizens at the White House. Both events have raised questions about whether and how the President can use his office for political gain.

This convention has also become a family affair like no other. At least one member of the Trump family is scheduled to speak every night and Tuesday night was no exception. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: My father does not run away from challenges even in the face of outright hatred. Because fighting for America is something he will sacrifice anything for. He dreams big dreams for our country and he's relentless at achieving them.

ERIC TRUMP, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S SON: To the voiceless, shamed, censored and cancelled, my father will fight for you. To our farmers who work dawn to dusk to keep our plates full my father will fight for you. To every single mother and father, to our veterans, our coal miners and to the American worker, my father will fight for you.

MELANIA TRUMP, U.S. FIRST LADY: He is what's best for our country. We all know Donald Trump makes no secret about how he feels about things. Total honesty is what we our citizens deserve from our President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Maria Cardona is a CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist. And Alice Stewart is a CNN political commentator, and a Republican strategist. They co-host a podcast called "Hot Mics from Left to Right" and join me now with more. Welcome to you both.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you for having me.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you. Great to be here.

CHURCH: Wonderful. So, two nights into the RNC, and we have seen a blatant attempt to rewrite history, calling President Trump's handling of the pandemic decisive, even as the U.S. makes up 4 percent of the world's population, but 20 percent of all virus deaths.

We heard speeches about the greatest economy in history, but no mention of the 28 million unemployed, or the endless cues at food banks. So, Alice, will voters by this effort to rewrite the president's record?

STEWART: I think this was -- has been a good two nights for a couple of reasons, Rosemary. Let me just say, first of all, what the President aims to do here is really to energize his base and rally his base, but also to reach out to swing voters and those who are undecided.

And what we saw in day two of this convention was, I saw very inspirational, talking about the United States being the land of opportunity and how we work hard, and you can achieve great success. And we saw that through example after example of the farmers, the people that work and live in middle America and the benefits that this President has made, which strengthens their lives.

And look, there are certain things, as you, say that might not pass the fact check, but at the end of the day, the inspirational message that people can take away from this convention will go a long way to swing voters.

CHURCH: Maria, how successful was this whitewashing of the President's history be with voters?

CARDONA: I don't think it will be very successful. It is very hard to feel inspired by a president and by an administration that has stood by, idly by, when 180,000 Americans have died of the COVID pandemic, and we still have yet to see a national strategy, a national solution to deal with it.

There is a ton of rewriting of history, but that isn't the least of it, Rosemary.

[04:35:00]

Tonight, I was deeply offended as a naturalized citizen myself to watch the President of the United States sit there and politicize a ceremony that is sacred to so many people who are looking to become Americans.

I went through the ceremony. My parents went through the ceremony. There is nothing more important in our civic life that as we became Americans, and to see a president politicize it, almost weaponize it, using it during the Republican National Convention, I'm sorry, it was nothing less than disgusting.

And I think it turned off a lot of people around the country, and a lot of folks really sought through what it was, a desperate attempt to try to fix the president's numbers in the polls, but I don't think it's going to work.

CHURCH: Alice, the Trump administration is also pushing back on accusations he's a racist. President Trump even going so far Tuesday night to pardon a black man who's a convicted bank robber turned prisoner advocate. Was this a political stunt, or a genuine effort to reform the criminal justice system?

STEWART: A specific act there, Rosemary, was a continuation of what the President has done with regard to his First Step Act. And giving people a second chance at life and showing redemption for people. And that person you are specifically talking about had served his time and came out, and he really wanted to make a change. And to see the President get so vested and involved and supporting not just this person, but the program that he outlined was truly inspirational.

And to that -- to this issue, the first night, we heard from Senator Tim Scott who talked about his relationship with the President, and how close they were, and how much he knew that the President supported him, not just because he was a Senator from the great state of South Carolina, but as an African-American Senator.

We also heard from Herschel Walker, a football player from the University of Georgia, and on to play pro football. So, there are countless people we've heard from and we'll continue to hear from who can give firsthand accounts of how the President has supported them because there are first Americans, and second African-Americans that he wants to see not just thrive, but really succeed in this country.

CHURCH: Maria, how likely is it that RNC speakers can convince voters that Trump is not a racist and has done a lot for black and Latino voters as he keeps suggesting.

CARDONA: Not very likely at all, Rosemary. What we have seen in the past two days is complete and total desperate pandering. Pandering to a country that this President knows sees him as a racist. Pandering to a country whose diversity is exploding and the only thing he has done in the last four years is use rhetoric that is denigrating, dehumanizing and divisive.

Here is a president who called Mexicans rapists and criminals, who put immigrant children in cages, ripped babies from the arms of their mothers for simply trying to come here to seek a better life.

No one is buying it. They are trotting out their token people of color to speak to the camera, to try to convince America that what they have seen and heard in the last three years they haven't seen and heard in the last three years. We are smarter than that.

CHURCH: We will have to leave it there. Maria Cardona and Alice Stewart, many thanks to you both.

CARDONA: Thank you, Rosemary.

STEWART: Thank you.

CHURCH: And coming up next anger and unrest after another police shooting of a black man caught on camera. How the violence could impact the political landscape of the U.S. that's next.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA JACKSON, JACOB BLAKE'S MOTHER: Please don't burn up property and cause havoc and tear your own homes down in my son's name. You shouldn't do it. People shouldn't do it anyway. But to use my child or any other mother or father's child, our tragedy, to react in that manner is just not acceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was the mother of Jacob Blake, Julia Jackson. And he remains in the hospital after being repeatedly shot by police. Despite his mother's pleas for peace not violence these were the sense in Kenosha, Wisconsin late Tuesday. Demonstrators clashed with police calling for justice in Blake's case.

Meanwhile dozens were arrested in Louisville, Kentucky Tuesday. The city saw large protests over the death of Breonna Taylor. She was shot by police in her own home back in March.

And Portland, Oregon has seen months of nightly demonstrations since the police killing of George Floyd earlier this year.

Mr. Trump has reacted to the unrest in Wisconsin and all across the country by promoting law and order. He tweeted to urge Wisconsin's governor to call in the National Guard to, quote, end the problem fast.

For more I'm joined now from Los Angeles by journalist Jarrett Hill. Thank you so much for being with us.

JARRETT HILL, JOURNALIST: Absolutely.

CHURCH: So, in the past two days the RNC has tried to appeal to black voters claiming Trump has done more for them than any other President. He even pardon ad black man who was convicted of robbing a bank. So how likely is it that this will draw new black support for him in the midst of this country's struggle with brutal police shootings and a reckoning on racial injustice?

HILL: I think it's ironic that Trump is spending so much time telling people what he's done for black people. But black people are not spending that much time telling Trump what he's done for them. It is really kind of frustrating to continually see where they trot out black folks. I was talking about this earlier saying like, it's interesting to me

how much focus there has been on diversity when you look at that White House, you look at that cabinet, you look at that White House intern photo, you look at those policies, you look at those rally, you see so many different examples of how that's not exactly who Donald Trump is and how this administration has worked. But we continually see these images of black folks that love Donald Trump. And I was really, I was really uncomfortable, to be quite honest, watching it happen. I was like, you're offering a pardon to a person in the White House for fully political reasons. I think that is disgraceful.

CHURCH: And, Jarrett, yet another police shooting of a black man. This one involved seven shots fired at point blank range into the back of Jacob Blake as he's opening up his car door.

[04:45:00]

It's only through video evidence recorded by a bystander that we learned of these details in the absence of police body cams. How critical is evidence like this in revealing what really goes on and perhaps creating change as a result of it?

HILL: To be honest with you, I mean, I'm fully in support of body cams. I think there's plenty of people that are. But I don't know what difference it's making. I mean, we've seen these videos countless times. We've seen body cam videos. We've seen bystander videos. We've seen security cam videos. And we've seen these videos repeatedly.

We have police officers that know they are being watched. That know they are being filmed. That there are this crowd of people standing around shouting out and we still police officers continue to behave this way. And I have to be honest with you, if I am supposed to believe that things are getting better, if I'm at the RNC or the way police advocates think about things. I have to tell you, I can't figure out where am I supposed to see that that's better. Because police officers will still attempt to murder in this case. Or murder black people when they know there are still people that are watching. What is supposed to give us confidence?

CHURCH: And, Jarrett, as a result of the shooting that has paralyzed Jacob Blake, we are seeing protests on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin. But Blake's mother has asked for the violence to stop and for peaceful protests to continue. His sister has called for change. The family's attorney wants the police accountability bill to be passed. How likely is it that this will happen and the change in police reform will result?

HILL: I kind of think about this the same way I like about body cams. Like, why would it be different this time? Like -- and I think the interesting thing about this scenario is that, he's not dead, right? He's in surgery. I understand that he's in lengthy surgeries right now and we obviously hope that he is able to recover. But he is seemingly paralyzed right now, and probably will be for the duration of his life. And I think like, how does that change the dynamic this time that the person is still alive, right. When we have police officers murdering black men in the street and black women as well. How does it change this time when the person is still alive? Will the

people care more because they're able to hear this person speak or will they care less because he's not dead, right? And I have to tell you as a black person, I watched the video and my whole body tensed up. And I have to tell you that I understand the narrative from the family about wanting peace and not wanting damage to property, but I also have to tell you I'm enraged. I'm tired of seeing these things continually happening.

And I know that that sentiment is right across this country when we see these videos continually happen. We see this kinds of injustices continually happen. But then we never see real justice happening. To be clear, I mean accountability. Justice would be and never having been shot and to be with his family tonight. Accountability is going to the justice system.

CHURCH: Right, and we don't know all of the details of course, leading up to this shooting and an investigation is currently under way to determine that. How much faith do you have in that probe and in the meantime does more training need to be done to teach officers how to de-escalate situations like this instead of shooting first.

HILL: See I don't think this is a situation about de-escalation to be quite honest with you. We had this conversation about defund the police and I guess what really frustrates me about it is police are trained in de-escalation. Right? This is not a problem about having the wherewithal because they know how to de-escalate situations when the suspect is white. They know how to handle these situations if it's a white woman or it's someone else.

But when it's a black person it's when they don't know how to de- escalate it. Which tells me that this is not about de-escalation. But it's actually about anti-black racism. Right? Because we've seen how they handle serial killers. We've seen how they handle mass shooters. We've seen how they handle all these other type of situations.

So, this is isn't actually about de-escalation. As much as the conversation is about how they need to learn how to de-escalate there needs to be more training. The training that they need are on antiblackness. The training that they need are about racism. Right? Because really that is really the at the root of this situation and like the conversation will continually be about de-escalation but that's not the issue.

CHURCH: Jarrett Hill, many thanks for talking with us. Appreciate it.

HILL: Thank you.

CHURCH: And coming up an unprecedented move by the U.S. Secretary of State, now a House Democrat is investigating to see if there should be legal repercussions. We'll take a look at that.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Well, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the Republican convention Tuesday in a pre-recorded statement from Jerusalem. Pompeo breaks with years of tradition doing this, sitting secretaries of state typically avoid partisan politics especially while abroad and the move hasn't gone unnoticed. A House Democrat has opened an investigation into Pompeo's controversial movie.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins me now live from Jerusalem. Good to see you. So, Oren, Pompeo had to know his pre-taped address to RNC was going to set off alarm bells. Why did he do it from Jerusalem and what are the likely ramifications of all of this.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's difficult to see any major ramifications from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decision to give a speech not only at the RNC but while on an official visit to Jerusalem. Simply because there are so many bigger issues on the plate here. Yes, a House Democrat said he would investigate. Yes, this has been criticized and scrutinized by former State Department officials and former government officials.

But one gets the sense that the Trump administration and Pompeo revel in that scrutiny. It sets them apart from former administrations, Republican and Democrat. And to an extent that's one of the things they are trying to do here.

In terms of what Pompeo talked about very much what we expected the nation's top people have to talk about. Essentially a series of highlights of the Trump administration's foreign policy. Here's a part of that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The President exited the U.S. from the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran and squeezed the Ayatollah, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

[04:55:00]

The President too moved the U.S. embassy to this very city of God, Jerusalem, the rightful capital of the Jewish homeland. And just two weeks ago, the President brokered a historic peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This is a deal that our grandchildren will read about in their history books.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: In terms of Pompeo's current itinerary that Israel/UAE normalization agreement figures and quite heavily here. As the secretary traveled to Sudan and he's now in Bahrain where he's also trying to convince that country to normalize relations with Israel. And then he'll make a quick trip to the UAE, which already has that agreement is in place or rather is working on the details of that agreement and moving forward.

That will be followed up by a visit from Jared Kushner, the senior advisor to the President and his son-in-law, as he tries to build on the momentum of that Israel/UAE agreement. That agreement looks to figure in heavily as Trump tries to pitch voters especially when it comes to his foreign policy as it relates to Jerusalem -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right Oren Liebermann joining us live from Jerusalem. Many thanks.

Do stay with CNN for special live coverage of the Republican National Convention with Vice President Mike Pence headlining the event Wednesday. Our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern here in the U.S. and for our international viewers that's midnight Thursday in the London, 3:00 a.m. in Abu Dhabi and 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END