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Spokeswoman on Biden's 2020 Campaign; NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea is Interviewed on Violence in New York City; Wuhan and other Cities Reopen Schools; Dems Subpoena Postmaster General. Aired 9:30- 10a

Aired September 01, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SYMONE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER, JOE BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Not just law enforcement as it relates to chiefs --

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: OK.

SANDERS: But active rank and file folk. And I think that's going to be -- make a huge difference in this.

SCIUTTO: OK. That's looking ahead.

Today, as you know, there is real division, and sometimes violent division, on the streets of more than one American city. There's some polling that indicates that Biden's support, in a state such as Wisconsin, has waned in recent weeks and support for Black Lives Matter as well as those protests have grown violent at times.

What is your answer, you know, to concerns today about this, because there are voters who are asking the question, how do I keep myself and my neighborhood safe and what is Joe Biden going to do and how can I be convinced Joe Biden will do it when I hear from others, well, he wants to defund the police, et cetera?

SANDERS: Right.

SCIUTTO: I mean what's a specific answer to -- and I know that -- we heard his comments yesterday. I know that that is not necessarily based on fact. But -- but, you know, the real question for folks --

SANDERS: Not at all.

SCIUTTO: The real question for folks is, how is he going to keep me safe?

SANDERS: I -- I have to harken back to what Vice President Biden said yesterday, because he talked about what -- what safe is, what communities want. Communities want to be safe from Covid. They want to be safe from violence. That is -- that is violence that is the -- of the vigilantes. But that's also violence as it related to police brutality in this country. They -- they want to be able to send their kids to school and know that their kids are safe in the classroom.

But, currently, that's not the reality for so many people across this country. And so Joe Biden has told you what his plan is. He has a plan to get this economy back on track, his Build Back Better plan that is a plan that will benefit all Americans, working families across this country, regardless of their zip code, their socioeconomic status or the color of their skin. He has told you what his plan is for police reform and criminal justice reform in this country. He has also told you what his plan is to reopen schools.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SANDERS: The contrast, though, here is, Jim, that the president doesn't have a plan. So, ask yourself, are you safe in Donald Trump's America? Because everything that is happening right now is happening in Donald Trump's America. And the answer unequivocally is no.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Symone Sanders, good to have you on. We look forward to speaking more as we get closer to election day.

SANDERS: Absolutely, Jim, see you soon.

SCIUTTO: Well, local officials are expressing outrage over what the mayor calls a perceived slowdown by the NYPD. This as the city surpasses a grim milestone for gun violence. We're going to have the commissioner of the New York Police Department, Dermot Shea, coming up next.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:54]

SCIUTTO: As the crime rate has increased in New York City, two local lawmakers have accused the NYPD of deliberately scaling back. They say there is a, quote, growing perception that the city's rise in violence can be attributed to a work slowdown by officers in the department, part of an alleged attempt to protest police reforms, other changes in that city. Mayor Bill de Blasio insists there is no slowdown. This comes as the NYPD announced this week the city surpassed 1,000 shooting incidents this year. That's more than all of last year.

Joining me now, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, Dermot Shea -- Dermot Shea.

Commissioner, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

DERMOT SHEA, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Hey, Jim. My pleasure to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So let's begin there.

You've acknowledged that arrest levels are down, as well as response times. SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: You've heard what city leaders are saying, that this is deliberate.

What's your answer to that?

SHEA: Yes, I mean, there's a lot of reasons behind it, Jim. I mean response times are down. Obviously, when you look at May and June, significant resources pulled away to deal with protests. You had the whole defunding movement, which literally, Jim, thousands of cops off the street.

So when you start looking at these factors, you know, if you're going to look at arrests and response times and not look at the other side of the equation, you know, it just boggles my mind.

I think it's -- I think it's cheap theater. I think it's politics. And I think that, listen, you need -- what we need is people to stand up and say, hey, good job. Thank you. Instead, coming out of the surface, popping your head up and taking a cheap shot, the hypocrisy boggles my mind.

And I'll tell you something else, Jim, we've been at work since March. When a lot of people are Zooming, cops haven't been Zooming.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SHEA: They've been out there getting hurt. Two -- a cop last night, taking a gun off the street in The Bronx, breaking his hand in the process with a struggling perpetrator. No shot fired. That's what happens every day.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SHEA: And we had three detectives yesterday test positive for Covid, still coming to work, still helping the people of this city.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SHEA: So, you know, that's -- that's what I referenced last week when I said it makes my blood boil because the cops are out there. They were on the upper west side of Manhattan last night taking drug dealers off the street. They're out there every single night.

SCIUTTO: I know you're not a politician, but invariably folks inject politics into this. The president and other Republicans will say Democratic mayors are responsible for the rise in crime. You've heard people say about New York specifically, New York is over.

You're a New Yorker. I'm a New Yorker.

SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Is that true?

SHEA: No, that's absolutely not true. This city is incredibly resilient. We can come back from anything.

This is a tough time right now for -- on a lot of different levels. You know, when you look at the year that we've had, no doubt about it.

But here's what I'm very confident of. We're going to get out of this and it's going to be the men and women of this police department that have a significant role to play in that effort. And the details are going to be worked out, Jim. A lot of work to do. You know, we -- we need people to step up across -- you know, you mentioned politics.

[09:40:05]

Cops don't get to be politicians. We don't get to call and say who's calling. We just -- we have a job do and we do it. And we try to leave all that noise up in -- up in the stratosphere, if you will, you know?

SCIUTTO: OK.

SHEA: And you can't ignore it, obviously.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SHEA: This -- this -- this time in the country is incredibly political. But, you know, we -- we try to stay above that and we have to. And that's something that all law enforcement does.

SCIUTTO: OK.

You have seen a phenomenon that's -- it's not isolated. We saw armed vigilante groups come to the street of Kenosha from out of state.

SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Big weapons. And we see now a 17-year-old charged with homicide. We've seen other groups driving into Portland. Not necessarily armed with guns, but, you know, local officials say it's certainly not calming the situation there.

I want to ask you. You're a cop. You're tough.

SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Do you have any desire to see private citizens appointing themselves in effect as deputies to law enforcement and come to respond to crime or to protests?

SHEA: Yes, it's probably the last thing we would want to see here, to be honest. And, you know, it's a big country and it's a great country and I love it. And I love this city There's different attitudes across this country in terms of gun control and things that are allowed. That certainly would not be permissible here in New York City, and I'm thankful for that.

I think that, you know, when you look at the NYPD, when you look at all our partners here in New York City, I think that we have, you know, a situation that we have work to do for sure, but when you talk about long guns and people walking around the streets, I just -- I feel for my law enforcement brothers and sisters across the country dealing with that and I -- and I would lichen it to almost, Jim, it's a powder keg and throwing a match on it.

SCIUTTO: Sure.

SHEA: It's just so incredibly volatile already. And I think we need calmer heads and leaders to call out and say, that's not what we need.

SCIUTTO: Right.

SHEA: Let's step back and let's have more talking and listening.

SCIUTTO: You heard the president, though, defending this guy, Kyle Rittenhouse, right? And that gives air to this. Folks listen to those statements. Do you need to hear from the highest levels, from the president, this is not a nation for vigilantism?

SHEA: I think you need to hear from him. And I think, listen, we have been in a hyper state, unfortunately. And I know -- I think I'm with the majority on this, that are tired of the rhetoric on both sides -- not both sides, it feels like you're in a vacuum for the last period of years here and certainly ratcheting up now. But, again, I'll go back to what I said before, you know, in law enforcement we don't have the luxury of going and making calls and saying, you know, what's the political nature of this. We just have to keep people safe.

SCIUTTO: Right.

SHEA: And that's where our focus is. I think that all sides, all sides, from -- from the person on the street, to clergy, to elected officials, to myself have a role to play in this. And it's about calming and diffusion situations and coming together, finding solutions, hearing people. You know, there's so much good going on right now, Jim, in New York City.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SHEA: Working with kids. Work that's being done on a day to day basis across this city by the men and women of this police department. And -- and you hear none of it because you -- all you hear is the never- ending news cycle of negativity. And I think that plays a role too. We need everyone to acknowledge the negative stuff, certainly work to correct it, but let's start talking about some of the great work.

SCIUTTO: Tell the --

SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Tell the bigger story. I hear you. I've been to New York myself in recent weeks and I see the city waking up again post- pandemic.

SHEA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Commissioner Dermot Shea, always welcome on this broadcast. SHEA: Oh, thank you for having me, Jim.

Let's go Mets.

SCIUTTO: That -- that I'm less confident in, but I appreciate the thought. Good luck to you and the officers who work with you.

SHEA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:48:35]

SCIUTTO: As schools across the United States open in different forms, some in class, some combination and deal with some outbreaks, schools in China, including in cities such as Wuhan, the birthplace of the virus, they're starting to reopen today.

David Culver joins us now from Beijing.

So, David, you've been giving us reports throughout as this broke out as places like Wuhan shut down, got this under control. They've had some other outbreaks.

How are they doing schooling in light of how extensive the outbreak there was early on?

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, the idea across China, and really seeing all the major cities go forward with today being their first official day of school, is to bring students and staff back into the classroom.

And so what we're seeing in some of these major cities, including here in Beijing, is that they're going to have, of course, the social distance, they're going to have the mask policy. What is fascinating to us is when you go to Wuhan, as you point out, the original epicenter of this outbreak, a place we have visited twice over the past few months, is that they do not have that strict of a policy for their students and masks (ph). They are suggesting their students bring masks, but they say you don't have to wear it.

Now, part of that is part of this public relations flex, if you will, to show that they have it under control. That's the portrayal they're trying to put out there, and we saw that just a few weeks ago with the massive pool parties that were crowded that were happening in Wuhan as well. But even the foreign ministry tweeted out they're proud of it. It's something that they're wanting to show as a rebound city.

However, what was interesting to us, Jim, is when you look at Chinese social media, we saw some parents getting really uneasy, in Wuhan in particular, because of rumors that one elementary student, just one, might have had the virus.

[09:50:12] It turned out to be a negative result, but that shows you how uneasy and perhaps how they don't trust fully what's being said.

SCIUTTO: Well, lots to watch as we see this go forward. So many places experimenting with this in effect.

David Culver in Beijing, thanks very much.

Well, the U.S. postmaster general is facing a possible subpoena over claims he is withholding documents about delays in the Postal Service. Maybe you've experienced some of those delays. We're going to discuss all this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

House Democrats plan to subpoena the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, for missing a deadline to turn over documents they say he is withholding from Congress.

[09:55:01]

Those documents related to changes that allegedly have caused widespread delays at the Post Office. Delays, and this is why, there's a lot of focus on this, could affect mail-in ballots this November.

This as a record number of voters, many of them casting votes by mail, are expected to turn out for primaries in Massachusetts today and, of course, on November 3rd.

Joining me now, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. He previously served as Homeland Security secretary under George W. Bush.

Governor, good to have you on today.

TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY AND PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: Jim, good morning.

SCIUTTO: You've been watching the Postal Service question closely.

RIDGE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: What should Americans take from this? Do you trust that Louis DeJoy is doing this fairly and is not trying to deliberately hinder the post office's ability to handle an increased volume of mail-in votes?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think it's a legitimate exercise in congressional oversight. The committee has made a request for that information. And I'm somewhat surprised, actually very disappointed, that the White House hasn't been as responsive, but maybe I guess I shouldn't be surprise.

Secondly, I think it's important, though, I do think that notwithstanding whether or not they don't quite have the machines that everyone thinks they should have, I think there's an issue that we ought to put out in the public right now, and that is regardless of whether they get more machines or not, we probably will not know, unless one (INAUDIBLE) --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

RIDGE: We probably won't know the election returns that night. And the president has consistently suggested that delay means fraud. No, it has nothing to do with fraud. We're going to need days if not weeks to count an unprecedented number of absentee ballots. And certainly the post office has the capacity to do that if we give them the time and quit misconstruing delay as fraud because we'll get it done. It's better that we do it right than we do it quick.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Well, the president, as you know, is attacking mail-in voting more, not less. Given exactly what you're describing there, and the unlikelihood that you have a final result on election night, are we headed towards a contested election, and what does that look like?

RIDGE: Well, I suspect that both parties have their lawyers at the ready.

But let me just say something about the president's attack on mail-in balloting. Say, Mr. President, mail-in balloting is -- you've pushed back against that because people don't have to provide an explanation as justification for the absentee ballot.

Mr. President, if you haven't noticed, there's a pandemic. It has taken 185,000 lives. There's 6 million people infected with it. People out of work. There's a lot of anxiety. I can't think of a more legitimate reason for an absentee ballot than the pandemic, Mr. President.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

RIDGE: So I think it would be helpful if you understood the anxiety that most Americans are experiencing now and not put them in a position where they have to choose between going to the polls and vote in person or the absentee. Mr. President, the pandemic, without signing -- without suggesting there's another reason for an absentee ballot, prima facie, that's reason enough, period.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes. Tough for when the president questions even the essential data of the pandemic.

I want to ask you about foreign threats to this election, because you have domestic disinformation here from the president. But we know, and the intelligence community has accessed, that Russia is interfering again, once again, to denigrate the president's Democratic opponent here.

What is the significance of the office of the director of national intelligence not giving oral briefings to lawmakers two months to Election Day? What damage does that do in your view? RIDGE: Well, I think as someone that participated almost daily in

briefings in the intelligence community with President Bush, I think it's a failure of the White House and the executive branch to recognize their constitutional responsibility I believe to share that information, as confidential as it may be, with your appropriate Republicans and Democrats on the Intelligence Committee, again, it comes as absolutely no surprise.

SCIUTTO: Right.

RIDGE: But I do think that the members of Congress are entitled to that information. Make no mistake about it.

The Russians are not going to mess around with in-person balloting. And they're not certainly going to mess around with absentee ballots. But their use of the social media to influence voter's mindset, to influence the outcome, it has been established, Mr. President, by Republicans and Democrats on the intel community. That's what they did in 2016. That's what they're going to do in 2020. And the American public, through their elected representatives, are entitled to know the extent that have, period.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And still to this day the president has not publicly warned Russia away from doing that.

Final question, there are armed vigilantes on the streets of American cities and the president remarkably defending one whose now facing charges for homicide in Kenosha. You were secretary of Homeland Secretary under a Republican president.

[10:00:00]

Is there any place in America today for self-appointed members of law enforcement?