Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Portland Police Declare Unlawful Assembly at Protest site; Portland Mayor Accuses Trump of Inciting Division; Trump Posts Dozens of Tweets After Portland Clashes; Trump to Visit Wisconsin Amid Unrest After Police Shooting; Republican Senator: Surge Manpower to Stop Riots; Critics Say Trump is Inciting Violence and Divisiveness; Birx: Do the Right Thing, So We Go Into Fall with Fewer Cases; Virus Deniers Protest Restrictions in London, Berlin. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 31, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, after dueling protests in Portland and deadly unrest, the city's mayor blames President Trump for sowing hate and division.

Across the country, Wisconsin's governor urges Mr. Trump to cancel his trip to Kenosha, that city seething with fresh anger against police brutality.

All this while a pandemic threatens lives and livelihoods. A top U.S. expert is optimistic about a vaccine but says we can and should stop community spread right now.

It has been a mostly peaceful night in Portland, Oregon, after a weekend that brought violent confrontations and growing public feud between the city's mayor and President Donald Trump. In just the last few hours Portland police took some protesters into custody after declaring an unlawful assembly at an office building.

But it was a different scene earlier in the weekend when tensions flared on the streets. One person was shot and killed as those protesting police brutality clashed with supporters of Mr. Trump. Protesters against racial and social injustice have been going on all summer in Portland, and after Saturday's shooting, the city is even more on edge. CNN's Josh Campbell is there with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This past weekend here in the city of Portland began with a very violent start involving clashes between protesters and several hundred supporters of President Donald Trump who came into the city by caravan. Police telling us that there were a number of encounters that turned violent, that leading to arrests. We're also told that one person was shot dead. Police say that remains under investigation. "The New York Times" reporting that that deceased victim had a cap on that had an insignia of a far right group.

Police tell us they are concerned that might lead to additional violence and perhaps backlash by supporters of the President, supporters of the far right group. They're concerned there could be an influx of people into the city trying to seek retribution.

Now we're also learning from the "New York Times" that some of the clashes involved protesters throwing projectiles at vehicles with these pro-Trump supporters. At least in one incident, Mike Baker from the "New York Times" caught on video, people inside the back of one of these pickup trucks firing paint balls into the crowd. That reporter was also injured. That was a glimpse of some of the violence that occurred over the weekend.

Police tell us that again, they're concerned there could be additional violence. Now as that was taking place, a war of words was erupting between President Donald Trump and the city's mayor here in Portland. The President has been blasting Portland's Democratic city leadership for several weeks here as these protests have continued. Saying that they're not doing enough to stop the violence in the city. The mayor shooting back over the weekend with some pretty direct words for President Trump.

TED WHEELER, PORTLAND, OREGON MAYOR: It's classic Trump. Mr. President how can you think a comment like that if you're watching that is in any way helpful. It's an aggressive stance. It is not collaborative. I certainly reached out I believe in a collaborative manner by saying earlier that you need to do your part and I need to do my part, and then we both need to be held accountable. Let's work together, wouldn't that be a message. Donald Trump and Ted Wheeler working together to help move this country forward.

Now again, the mayor there saying that much of the violence here in the city has been fueled by harsh rhetoric from the President. We did note that with the violence over the weekend, President Trump didn't come out to condemn the violence, he came out again to criticize local city leaders. So, with that war of words continuing, the protests continuing on the ground, there appears to be no end in sight to some of the violence and some of the harsh rhetoric that has continued here in the city of Portland for over 90 days.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Portland, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And more from CNN's Jeremy Diamond on the war of words between Portland's mayor and the U.S. President.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well amid this volatile situation in Portland, Oregon, President Trump is not trying to calm tensions in the city, not trying to deescalate the situation.

[04:05:00] Instead we saw the President in early morning tweets on Sunday, nearly 90 tweets from the President mostly focused on amplifying the divisions that we are seeing in the city. Specifically, some of the clashes between the President's own supporters and the Black Lives Matter protesters in that city. The President even retweeting a video in which you can see some Trump supporters on the flatbed of a truck firing pepper spray and paint balls at protesters and also, in fact, hitting a journalist.

Now the president was also directly responding to the mayor of Portland, Oregon, as he was delivering a news conference on Sunday. The mayor of Portland drawing a direct line between the president's divisive rhetoric and the violence that he has seen in that city.

The president responding in real time with this tweet, where he calls the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, a radical left, do nothing, democrat mayor, and he also says this, which is very important. He says, he would like to blame me and the federal government for going in, but he hasn't seen anything yet. We have only been there with a small group to defend our U.S. Courthouse, because he couldn't do it.

This seems to raise the issue that the President has returned to time again, which is this notion of sending federal forces into these cities to quell some of the violence that has been happening there.

Of course, the President normally isn't allowed to do that without the consent of the mayor or the governor of where this is happening, and in this case, the mayor of Portland has already rejected that suggestion. But nonetheless, the President has continued to raise the specter of doing something unilaterally.

But ultimately, this is playing into a much broader strategy. We have seen the President time and again focus on the protests and on some of the violence that we have seen in American cities, as he is trying to campaign on this message of law and order. The irony, of course, being that all of this is happening on his watch as president, even as he tries to tie former Vice President Joe Biden to the violence in some of these cities.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Wisconsin is another state grappling with the unrest. The state has seen daily protests after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man, seven times in the back just over a week ago in the city of Kenosha. President Trump is planning to visit Kenosha on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey damage from the protests. But Wisconsin's governor is urging the President to reconsider his visit, writing in a letter, quote, I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.

Despite the governor's pleas, the White House says President Trump's visit is moving forward as planned. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME INJUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Officials here in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are extending the curfew which was set to expire Monday morning to now last through Tuesday evening in anticipation of President Donald Trump's visit. The mayor today speaking out, concerned that the President's visit could spark unrest. The lieutenant governor also saying that this is not the right time for the President to visit. And also, people who live here, they were hoping that they can continue, go on with their lives, and keep things peaceful are concerned that the President's visit here could cause some unrest.

The President is scheduled to be here Tuesday. He says he's coming here to thank law enforcement and to visit some of the damage that was caused during some of the violent protests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin spoke to CNN about the unrest in his state. He says the National Guard can stop the violence and supports President Trump's efforts to bolster local law enforcement. Here's part of his conversation with Dana Bash on "STATE OF THE UNION".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): The way you stop the violence, the way you stop the rioting is, you surge manpower and resources, citizen soldiers, National Guard, and you overwhelm the numbers of rioters, so that they can't riot, so that you can protect people's First Amendment constitutional right to peacefully protest and that they don't turn to riots.

But I also have to point out, at some point in time, peaceful protests that don't even result in rioting, at some point in time, become a siege. I was in Kenosha yesterday. The downtown is boarded up. Those businesses are shuttered. They can't operate.

Other citizens now can't earn a living because their businesses are shut down.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: OK, Well, part of the problem -- part of the problem there is, it has erupted ...

JOHNSON: So, we also have to stop that siege on our cities.

BASH: OK. That's fair.

JOHNSON: Pardon?

BASH: That's fair. In Wisconsin...

JOHNSON: It is very fair and needs to be said more often.

(CROSSTALK) BASH: Let me ask you the question I was going to ask you, sir.

We saw two people killed by a Trump supporter in your home state of Wisconsin, in Kenosha last week. And these deaths do appear to be the result of clashes between the right and the left.

[04:10:00]

So, doesn't the President have a responsibility to call out violence, regardless of who is committing it?

JOHNSON: Yes, and the governor has responsibility to accept the surge in manpower, so that people ...

BASH: I'm asking about the President.

JOHNSON: ... so that citizens -- so that citizens don't believe they got to protect their own property and take matters into their own hands.

BASH: I'm asking about the president. We can talk about the governor next. The president, yes or no?

JOHNSON: Because that's really what happened.

No, what the President did was he offered to surge manpower resources, so the violence could end. The governor did not accept that that day. That night, tragically, two people lost their lives because citizens took matters into their own hands.

I'm not for vigilantism. I'm not sure that's what was happening. People felt because the governor and local -- local officials were looking for help. The governor did not accept the help.

And so, there was not the resolve to end the rioting. And so, people took matters into their own hands. And that's what ended up happening. People die.

BASH: Which, do you -- do you think ...

JOHNSON: You have to get control of the situation. And the way you do it is what happened in Milwaukee -- in Kenosha, where local officials said, please, we want help, we want manpower. The President offered. The governor finally accepted it. And now at least the streets are not violent. We still have the protests. The businesses are still shuttered. Those individuals' constitutional rights are being violated because they can't operate their business and enjoy a living.

BASH: Senator -- Senator, that 17-year-old ...

JOHNSON: So, again, you have to look at the entire situation.

BASH: The 17-year-old accused of committing those two murders was a Trump supporter.

JOHNSON: It's a tragedy. BASH: Do you -- do you condemn that?

JOHNSON: It is a tragedy.

BASH: Do you condemn it?

JOHNSON: It's a tragedy. It is -- it's a tragedy.

BASH: It's a tragedy, but do you condemn it?

JOHNSON: The entire situation is a tragedy.

Listen, I don't want to see any loss of life. It's a tragedy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I want to talk now about some of these far right groups with Randy Blazak, head of the Oregon Coalition Against Hate Crime. He joins us now via Skype. Thank you so much for being with us.

RANDY BLAZAK, CHAIRMAN, OREGON COALITION AGAINST HATE CRIME: Glad to be here.

CHURCH: Now you are based in Portland where you have watched this play out, of course. The deadly violence on the weekend, then the mayor accusing the U.S. President of fanning hate and violence, and the President striking back. What impact is all of this having on the city and the way people feel about the future?

BLAZAK: Yes, I mean, it's quite strange to be in the center of this conversation but in a way it's a great opportunity for Portland to make its case. But the city of Portland has a long history of violence between racist and anti-racist, including a racist skin head that was murdered by an antiracist skinhead in 1993. And so, these clashes are nothing new to the city.

What is new is how this is playing out as part of this national dialogue we're having about race and policing and the fact that the President has engaged in this debate in the city. This just kind of brings up the tension level that we're experiencing. It always seems like it's about to sort of fade off, and then something happens to reignite the protests and we're back at square one all over again.

CHURCH: Right, and how is political extremism and racism changing the tenor of protests in Portland, and Kenosha.

BLAZAK: Yes, the Northwest has had a history of its own of white supremacists, sort of claiming the northwest as their homeland. In fact, there's been a movement to secede from the rest of the country and create a white homeland in America. And some of these groups have been showing up at these protests, of militia groups and Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys. These white supremacist groups have often started to agitate. Many of them want more chaos. They want things to sort of collapse so they can have their civil war. The Boogaloo as they call it now. So, it's made things a lot more confusing. I think to the average person watching the chaos it seems like a sort of protesters versus the police. But there is a whole bunch of actors involved in this. Including some of those who are coming from the right to attack the left because it adds to the chaos which helps feed their narrative.

And I think that's what the President is sort of feeding off over this chaos. He feels like the pro-Trump anti-black lives folks are somehow going to bring a law and order back to the city, but in fact it's just adding to the mayhem.

CHURCH: Right, and Randy, let's talk about what's behind the actions of Trump supporters like Kyle Rittenhouse who was charged with shooting and killing two protesters in Kenosha and other pro-Trump demonstrators who were showing up in Portland to cause trouble. And what can you tell us about Patriot Prayer? The group, the Portland shooting victim was said to have been a member of.

BLAZAK: Yes, this is a strange group that's been around for a while. And in fact, led by a biracial individual who would not seem to be a white supremacist, but they have attracted a lot of white supremacists, mainly through their anti-immigrant rhetoric.

I mean, that's sort of the calling card of Patriot Prayers. They are very strongly anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim, which it has served to bring in old-fashioned white supremacist to their cause.

[04:15:00]

And so, while on the forefront they seem to be a sort of First Amendment, free speech, conservative movement, they have actually sort of created a cover for a lot of more traditional white supremacists movements to march through the streets of Portland and then the counter protest have often been violent when they do march through the streets of Portland.

So, what we saw yesterday in the city was kind of, you know, the culmination of all that tension that's been building up in the city for years.

CHURCH: So how worried or how worried should some protest leaders be, that they are actually giving the President exactly what he wants as he tries to pivot away from COVID-19 and racism to the issue of law and order, which some voters are so scared when they see cities ablaze and being looted, that this actually becomes their top issue and they'll vote on law and order?

BLAZAK: Well, this was Richard Nixon's play in 1968. To be the law and order president who is going to clamp down on the urban jungle as he called it, the riots of the 1960s. America has changed a lot since 1968. We have a lot of people who are of different backgrounds. The suburbs are no longer white only and there are a lot of sympathy for the cause of Black Lives Matters movements. So, I don't know if they'll have the same traction that Nixon had in 1968, but certainly, it's something to rally the folks to see America changing too quickly and are afraid that, you know, their country is burning to the ground. In Portland, it's pretty -- it's pretty, I don't want to say comical, but it's a little strange because it is sort of a normal city. There are these little pockets where things happen, but Portland is far from burning to the ground. I still think it's one of the most livable cities in the country. But if you turn on the evening news you get these very dire picture of what's happening in Portland. You know, we're basically just going out for a sushi. Wondering what everybody is screaming about.

CHURCH: Yes, of course. Randy Blazak, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

BLAZAK: Sure, thanks.

CHURCH: And still to come, the White House coronavirus response coordinator's advice to Americans as the U.S. closes in on 6 million cases. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

CHURCH: A day after the world topped 25 million COVID-19 cases, the worst hit country is fast approaching another milestone of its own. The U.S. is closing in on the 6 million case mark. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. This as several prominent U.S. physicians are calling for an independent commission to review potential COVID-19 vaccines. They fear the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could give the OK for one before it's safe to do so.

But while the White House coronavirus response coordinator is hopeful for a vaccine, Dr. Deborah Birx says she's convinced community spread can be stopped right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Don't wait for the vaccine to do the right thing. Do the right thing today because if we do the right thing today, we go into the fall with much fewer cases. Right now, we gained freedom through wearing our masks and socially distancing.

With a vaccine, it's a very different potential interaction for all of us. And so, yes, I'm hopeful for a vaccine, but I'm also very convinced right now that we can stop community spread by wearing masks, socially distancing and avoiding crowds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, colleges are struggling to contain outbreaks of COVID-19 as some return to in-person classes. The University of Alabama alone is reporting 1,200 cases since classes started a little over two weeks ago. CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: It's now been more than seven months since the first coronavirus case was reported in the United States, and since then, more than 180,000 people in this country have died of COVID-19. If you look at the newly reported cases in the last seven days compared to the previous week, 18 states in the United States are seeing an increase. 23 states are holding steady, and nine states are seeing a decrease.

One of those nine states is Florida. Their seven-day average of new cases has come down significantly since mid-July. And on Sunday, the state reported its lowest daily death record since late June.

And Georgia was blasted by the White House Coronavirus Task Force report earlier this month for not doing enough to curb the spread of the virus. But Georgia now has also seen a significant decrease in its seven day average of new cases since early August. And on Sunday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported under 1,300 new coronavirus cases, the lowest since late June.

Last week, the CDC revised its guidance, raising the bar on who should get tested for COVID-19, saying that some people with no symptoms, they may not need a test. Still, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control released a statement on Sunday emphasizing the importance of testing. Saying that people with mild or no symptoms should still get tested as they could easily transmit the virus to other people.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And over the weekend, coronavirus deniers in Berlin and London protested how their countries were handling the pandemic. Thousands crowded in the streets in both cities, very few wearing masks, all staying apart. In London, the protesters called it a COVID hoax, saying that mandatory measures like lock downs, mask wearing, and social distancing are a violation of their freedoms.

Dr. Keith Neal is professor emeritus of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham and he joins me from Derby in England. Thank you, sir, for talking with us.

DR. KEITH NEAL, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: Good morning.

CHURCH: So we're seeing this growing frustration with coronavirus measures like social distancing and the wearing of masks with more protests being held in Europe, despite the scientific data showing both measures help bring down infection rates and are all we have in the absence of a vaccine.

[04:25:00]

Why don't people understand that? Where is the disconnect? Some even suggesting it's a hoax when they have seen across Europe all of the deaths and all of what has been brought, all the unhappiness and sadness, the lack of hope that a lot of people feel as a result of this. How can anyone declare this a hoax?

NEAL: I don't really understand it completely, but then I'm scientifically trained. I think social media and the fake messages, some of which are being put out maliciously are causing people to disbelieve things. I think generally various main line media are not always trusted, nor are scientists and particularly politicians. But quite clearly why you would believe somebody you have never heard of on social media baffles me.

Interestingly, South Korea, one of the reasons it was felt to have been successful particularly among younger people was a very high level of scientific education they've had in the last 20, 30 years. It was in fact the elderly people who were less compliant.

CHURCH: Interesting. And so of course, with so many people apparently pinning their hopes on a vaccine, not those gathered at these protests I might add, but the FDA in the U.S. is now considering fast tracking approval for a COVID-19 vaccine before phase 3 human trials are completed. What could be the potential impact of such a move, do you think?

NEAL: It depends if the vaccine works because we've had this problem before. Because technically a phase 3 trial actually shows that the vaccine will prevent disease. And there are some very rare diseases, such as meningitis where it's impossible to do a proper phase 3 trial because the disease is fortunately so rare.

We therefore need to exactly have very high quality standard safety. And in fact, the meningitis vaccines have used previous technologies and built on them. The coronavirus vaccines are slightly different. In that some are using new technologies, but I think it's perfectly ethical if a disease gets seriously out of control to essentially ask for mass volunteers to be part of the phase 3 study and give them the vaccine if that's what they want, as long as they have been fully informed.

CHURCH: Dr. Keith Neal, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

NEAL: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, several hundred Trump supporters rallied over the weekend in California, and the large and enthusiastic turnout is surprising some of the people who live there. Why some residents say they are concerned. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)