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Trumps' Dark Speech; Games Postponed as Players Protest Racism; Hurricane Laura Pummels Louisiana. Aired 9:30-10a
Aired August 28, 2020 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:33:02]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump painted a very dark picture of what America would look like if he is not re-elected. Last night more than a thousand of the president's supporters packed on to the White House lawn to see President Trump accept the Republican nomination. In that speech, he resorted to his playbook, we must note, of mistruths and scare tactics.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This election will decide whether we save the American dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.
Joe Biden is not a savior of America's soul. He is the destroyer of America's jobs. And if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now, David Gergen, the former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Ford and Clinton, and CNN political correspondent MJ Lee.
MJ, if I could begin with you.
The destroyer of American greatness. You know, echoes, if you remember, all the way back to his inauguration speech, American carnage, right? I mean that's basically the picture he's painting if he loses here.
Who, in particular, is he aiming that message at?
MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is the picture that not only Donald Trump tried to paint last night --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
LEE: But that we saw from all of the speakers, really many of the speakers throughout the week at the Republican National Convention. This is a Republican Party, Donald Trump's Republican Party, that has been trying to paint a certain image of what the country would look like under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They are using the words like "lawlessness" and saying that you simply will not be safe under Joe Biden's America.
Of course, I think it is really important to point out the fact that these images that they are describing, these are things that are literally happening and have been happening under Donald Trump's America. So there's a certain amount of not taking responsibility for the very things that have happened under President Trump's watch.
[09:35:03]
I think it was very notable that Joe Biden actually took the time in the middle of the Republican Convention yesterday to do multiple TV interviews, to push back on this idea, to say exactly what I just said, that these images that President Trump and his allies are describing are things that are happening under Donald Trump's America.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
LEE: So let's be very clear about that. And I think it's something that Democrats are going to have to continue to push back on because clearly this is a message that Republicans have decided is a winning message.
SCIUTTO: Right.
David Gergen, you've got some experience from a few elections here and there. Polling in Wisconsin, of course a key swing state, has shown really a precipitous drop in public support there for Black Lives Matter protesters. And there's some reporting that Democrats are worried about that state now.
I wonder, in your read of how this message is resonating, this law and order message in the midst of protests that sometimes do get quite violent, is it working, in your view?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, listen, I think, Jim, that the Republicans are have -- obviously trying to bring back voters, especially women in the suburbs. And they have two conflicts messages they've been sending out.
One message is, you don't know the Donald Trump we know. He's much more compassionate, empathic, more (INAUDIBLE). And then, on the other hand, they try to scare the hell out of you about what's going on in the cities and, you know, the end of the world is nigh.
And I think last night they resolved that conflict by going much more heavily for the law and order with a very personal ad hominem set of attacks on Joe Biden. And, you know, basically saying, if you elect this man, we're going to have the end of civilization. So that's where they tried to go.
I think -- I think they are paying a price if we're seeing it in Wisconsin initially. The -- the Democrats are paying a price. Their numbers are going down. There's some shrinkage. But I thought that Trump was so far over the top last night, and especially inappropriate in that setting, that he hurt himself. And the swing toward him I think is going to be smaller than it would have been otherwise. I think they would have been far better off to try to show with more compassion.
SCIUTTO: MJ, his campaign communications director told me yesterday on this broadcast that the president was going to address Blake in his address last night. He did not. Do we know why he didn't go there?
LEE: We don't know why. And, obviously, this is such a contrast from what we heard --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
LEE: You know, I was -- I'm just getting back from Washington to cover Kamala Harris and her speech yesterday there. And a big part of her remarks were about Jacob Blake and the situation that she said she simply found sickening. I mean this is the kind of topic, especially topics that relate to racial divisions, police shootings of black men, where the administration and, frankly, the president himself, they have been very selective in trying to decide what are the news events that they will engage in and what are the events they will not engage in.
And I think, frankly, it would have meant a lot to a lot of people if they had actually heard the president himself address this issue because it has caused so much pain to so many people, but he obviously did not do that.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and may judge that it doesn't help him, right?
David Gergen, I would love to draw on your experience over decades in multiple administrations of both parties. Tell us about this moment because the division apparent in this country is real. It's being expressed in very real ways and in ways we haven't seen before. I mean just across pro sports, but, you know, the level of protests and so on and the response to those protests.
How severe is it from an historical standpoint in your view? Are we looking at something similar to the late 1900s?
GERGEN: I think we're looking at something similar to the 1850s when the country was torn apart and we (INAUDIBLE). We were not able to close those gaps. We weren't able to come together and heal. And I think we're very, very close now to being to a point where it's almost irreversible, or very, very hard to reverse.
SCIUTTO: Wow.
GERGEN: And that's why there's so much -- it's so important now that both candidates be more respectful to the traditions and the norms.
SCIUTTO: Yes. GERGEN: Both candidates understand we could be at a precipice here. We're -- when you whip people up the way the Republicans did last night, the way Trump did last night, you can have severe consequences.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
GERGEN: A kid shows up with a long rifle at 17-year-old and shoots people.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.
And, listen, it doesn't -- in some quarters does not appear to be any interest, right, in healing the divisions.
GERGEN: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: But -- but --
GERGEN: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: But fueling them the perceived political advantage.
Folks, we all got to do our part. It's real.
David Gergen, MJ Lee, thanks to both of you.
GERGEN: Thank you.
[09:40:00]
SCIUTTO: NBA games are expected to resume this weekend after players refused to play in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Of course, many other sports joining them as well. The changes this could set in motion. We're going to see, we're going to test it out.
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SCIUTTO: Well, the NBA playoffs could resume in Orlando as soon as today. Players reportedly deciding to finish the season after opting not to play for the previous two days, this in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. That sparked demonstrations across all professional sports.
President Trump himself slammed the NBA, saying the players' protests are not good for the country.
[09:45:02]
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I don't know too much about the protests, but I know their ratings have been very bad. And that's too -- that's unfortunate. They've become like a political organization and that's not a good thing. I don't think that's a good thing for sports or for the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now to discuss is Jemele Hill, she's a contributing writer at "The Atlantic," as well as co-host of the new show "Cari and Jemele Stick to Sports."
Jemele, good to have you.
In your latest piece for "The Atlantic," you say NBA players put America on notice. You know, it's notable, I think, we're four years after Colin Kaepernick started this movement by taking a knee and now, at the time, that was something of a fringe movement. It's gone broad across sports. We saw multiple professional sports stop play in the last several days.
From your view, among pro athletes, is this a short term commitment or a lasting commitment now to fighting for racial justice?
JEMELE HILL, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": I think this is a lasting commitment. You know, Colin Kaepernick started something, or I should -- rather to be, you know, more concise, he continued a tradition of how black athletes have always had -- been in this space.
I mean if you want to go back as far as Jackie Robinson, through Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommy Smith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, there's a pretty significant list of athletes who have always fought for racial injustice in this country, or fought against it, rather.
And so now we've reached a crucial breaking point in our country. And a lot of athletes, many of whom are black, they're tired. They're exhausted. They're frustrated. They're angry. They want America to listen to what it's like to really be black in America in this country and to understand the racism that they still even faced despite being pro athletes, despite having these platforms and making millions of dollars.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: Any money -- or often in many moments they're reminded that they're black.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: And so this is just their frustration kind of come to life.
SCIUTTO: You see some players -- Chris Paul, for instance, the president of the NBA Players' Association, he's been critical of some fellow players for not doing more, noting many aren't registered to vote. I wonder, how do you find the leadership of these players plan to turn this call for change into real action?
HILL: Well, I think why this is a really dynamic is because you have somebody like LeBron James, who is arguably, or at least on the short list of most popular athletes in the world, the best player in the NBA, and he is leading this moment.
And often times players in his position they choose to have a more apolitical approach, but he has been very clear about where he stands. He is on the front lines fighting against voter suppression and has a wonderful initiative called More Than a Vote.
Chris Paul is also another player whose been very vocal. The top brass and the best players in the NBA are leading the moment and that's why it feels so much differently because if LeBron is willing to put himself out there, if Chris Paul is willing to do the same, if you're another player, what's your excuse?
And so I think they're trying to get the players to understand what's at stake, that they know that they have a captive audience that is different from other, you know, other players in that position. And so they're saying, hey, take advantage of the platform you have. You know, you know, that there's a lot of people in our community who look up to you. So you can't talk to them about change and about justice if you yourself are not involved and politically engaged.
SCIUTTO: Right.
Michael Jordan, now, of course, a legend in his own right, he's said to be working as something of a mediator between players and the owners. Is he someone who can bridge that gap? I mean there is a gap there, no question.
HILL: Yes, there's a gap. It may not be as significant as you see in other sports leagues like, say, for example, the NFL. But Michael Jordan is a trusted voice among the players and he himself has really evolved in terms of speaking out.
I mean I think he's always privately kind of given money, but now he's being more vocal and being more of a face on this issue. So he's a perfect person in many ways to bridge whatever gaps that there may be in the -- in terms of the owners understanding why the players feel so frustrated.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I get it.
Well, Jemele Hill, host of your podcast, "Stick to Sports," always good to hear you view on this. Let's keep up the conversation.
HILL: All right, thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Residents of Louisiana are picking up the pieces from the deadly Hurricane Laura. Wait to see the pictures we show you from some of the areas hit hard by this. We're going to be live with the latest.
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[09:54:13]
SCIUTTO: Six people are dead in Louisiana. This as that state now deals with just dire conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
CNN's Martin Savidge is there.
Martin, the mayor says people coming back to the area should just look and leave. In other words, see the state of their house and then head out, not safe to stay.
Tell us what you're seeing there on the ground.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the reason for that is that this city just cannot sustain the population it once had. The devastation here is widespread, and, as you can tell, it's severe.
Behind me, well, right there, that actually is a restaurant, or was a restaurant. It's been absolutely crushed. And then if you walk over in this direction, the next-door neighbor here to them was another business. It's an insurance company, ironically enough, and it suffered a devastating blow.
[09:55:03]
And then, if I bring you over here, you can sort of see what happened. There is that large looks like a broadcast tower just came tumbling down at the height of the storm. So it took both the buildings out. And that's just, you know, one example of the devastation you see.
We have some drone footage that shows you something else that I consider a really remarkable scene, and that is this high rise building. And it's located in downtown Lake Charles. And if you look at it, you see that just about every window in it has been taken out, or every other window. And this is a perfect example of why you don't do what they call vertical evacuation. In other words, going up high in a hurricane, because it just took a pummeling at the higher altitudes there and it looks like something out of a, you know, an apocalyptic film.
You mentioned the low death toll. Tragic, but still remarkably low considering the conditions.
No electricity and no running water. This town could not support people coming back, which is why the mayor said what he said.
Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and rebuilding takes time. Sometimes we forgot that.
Martin Savidge, thanks very much.
SAVIDGE: You're welcome.
SCIUTTO: And we'll be right back.
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