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Trump Pushes Law and Order Message in Kenosha; Blake's Uncle: Trump has Empowered Police to Rain Down Hate; Trump Struggle to Address COVID-19; Trump Talks Conspiracy Theories, Won't Condemn Supporters; Facebook: Russia is Targeting American Voter Again; U.S. Experts Warn Against Approving Vaccine Too Soon; U.S. Government Agency Pushes Back on Plasma Treatment. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired September 02, 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 a few bad apples, no systemic racism. Donald Trump's pro- police assessment while on a controversial visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Russia at it again according to Facebook. How trolls are targeting the 2020 election and why they might not even need to be as sophisticated this time around.
And a contradiction on COVID-19 treatment just as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives emergency approval on convalescent plasma another government group says not so fast.
Thanks for being with us. Well, with just over two months to go before the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump paid a visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin. A city still reeling from the violence surrounding racial justice protests. The President did not mention the name Jacob Blake, the African-American man shot in the back seven times by Kenosha police. Instead he doubled down on his law and order message in a clear effort to win votes. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A thing like this should never happen.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, President Trump surveying Kenosha, Wisconsin, a week after police here shot a black man in the back seven times. But the President all but ignored that tragedy. Instead lamenting the property damage caused by riots that followed the shooting and delivering political remarks.
TRUMP: Reckless politicians continue to push the destructive message that our nation and law enforcement are oppressive or racist and throw out any word that comes to them.
DIAMOND: Also taking credit for a National Guard deployment he did not order.
TRUMP: This ended within an hour. As soon as we announced we were coming and then they saw we were here this ended immediately.
DIAMOND: Falsely claiming federal troops marched into Kenosha and end the unrest. The reality all National Guard troops in Wisconsin are under state control. As for Jacob Blake Trump addressing the situation only after questions from reporters.
TRUMP: I feel terribly for anybody that goes through that. As you know, it's under investigation. It's a big thing happening right now. I guess it's under local investigation.
DIAMOND: Blake's uncle staying above the fray.
JUSTIN BLAKE, JACOB BLAKE'S UNCLE: We're not going to get caught up with him. He wished we would and we're not. We're here to here Kenosha and push forward our agenda for getting little Jake justice.
DIAMOND: Today Trump denying the existence of systemic racism in policing.
TRUMP: I think the police do an incredible job and I think you do have some bad apples.
DIAMOND: A day after he compared the police officer who shot Blake to a golfer cracking under pressure.
TRUMP: You know a choke. They choke. Shooting the guy in the back many times, I mean, couldn't you have done something different? Couldn't you have wrestled him? You know, I mean, in the meantime he might have been going for a weapon and you know there's a whole big thing there. But they choke. Just like in a golf tournament they miss a three foot putt.
DIAMOND: Trump made an excuse for Kyle Rittenhouse. The 17-year-old charged with killing two people during Kenosha protests.
TRUMP: He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like. And he fell. And then they very violently attacked him.
DIAMOND: And while Joe Biden delivered blanket condemnation of any violence.
JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You have to stand against violence in every form it takes.
DIAMOND: Trump refusing to condemn violence by his supporters.
TRUMP: That was a peaceful protest and paint is a defensive mechanism. Pages not bullets.
DIAMOND: Trump is also spinning new conspiracy theories. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think is pulling Biden's strings?
TRUMP: People you've never heard of. People that are in the dark shadows.
DIAMOND: And then there was this.
TRUMP: We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend. And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear. A lot of people on the plane to do big damage.
DIAMOND: The President providing no evidence to back up his strange claim.
TRUMP: This was a firsthand attack of a plane going from Washington to wherever. And I'll see if I can get that information for you. Maybe they'll speak to and maybe they won't.
DIAMOND: Jeremy Diamond, CNN the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:05:00]
CHURCH: Meanwhile, Jacob Blake's uncle told CNN's John Berman, he's not satisfied at all with President Trump's message. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. BLAKE: He's been a lying President. He's been a racially discriminating president against minorities. And the racial things that he says just invoke and empower police officers all over the country to rein down hate on African-Americans like our little brother, my little nephew, I'm sorry. So, at this point we're taking the gloves off. We're still standing strong. We're still asking people to be peaceful. But let's put the facts on the table. Let's address them as they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So, let's talk now with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a CNN political commentator who endorsed Bernie Sanders for president this year and Scott Jennings a CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush. Welcome to you both.
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good evening.
So, Scott, let's start with you. President Trump's politically charged visit to Kenosha Tuesday was all about highlighting law and order issues and unrest in the city not about focusing on what triggered all this the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The President defended his teen supporter who's been charged with killing two protesters and you deny systemic racism in law enforcement. How is this all not racism and blatant political expediency in a key battleground state?
JENNINGS: Well, the President and publicans are staking their claim to the idea that they are the only party in the only group of people who can get control of the cities and the states that have suffered these massive riots which are largely controlled by Democratic governors and Democratic mayors. So that's why the President went to Wisconsin.
CHURCH: Doctor, during his visit, President Trump denies systemic racism exists in the U.S. He called police who shoot and kill people bad apples, who choke under pressure. Even comparing them to a golfer who misses a putt. What's your reaction to that in his effort to focus only on law and order when there is so much more to see here?
EL-SAYED: Well, it's clear that Donald Trump's tactic here is, he's like the arsonist who puts on a fire helmet to set a building on fire. His tactic has been to incite violence, to point to the violence that he incites and then to say that somehow Democrats should own that. The fact is this is Donald Trump's America. Whether it is the systemic racism and the consequences that we're seeing in communities, the peaceful protests that are coming out against that. These are circumstances that he's trying to use to incite violence and to paint a picture. But the big picture here is that we cannot divorce this from the context of 185,000 people dead to a pandemic.
CHURCH: Doctor, you mentioned the pandemic. The President is clearly trying to distract us from the COVID-19 pandemic. And we need to remember that the U.S. makes up 4 percent of the world's population, 22 percent of all global deaths from COVID-19. It can't be disputed. Do you think that this is an effort on the part of President Trump to distract us and have us talking about law and order because it's something he can control but not the pandemic which he sadly has failed miserably to contain.
EL-SAYED: I mean the truth is let's step back. He can't control law and order. This is Trump's America. He wants to tell us somehow this is what he'll protect us from and why Joe Biden shouldn't be President because this is what would happen in Joe Biden's America. The fact is for the past three and a half years he has been President of the United States. This is what's happening in Donald Trump's America.
And all of this is to distract, as you said, from the COVID-19 pandemic that he has fundamentally failed to lead on. I mean, I want to paint a picture, right? For the past several months, we've been losing 3,000 people every three and a half days. That's like two 9/11s every single week. And the President doesn't want to talk about. In fact, he just hosted an RNC convention where people were not following the basic protocols to prevent this thing from spreading among them.
CHURCH: Scott, your response there. Because clearly this is a huge failing on the part of President Trump when it comes to the pandemic. So of course, he doesn't want to speak about it. So, he's turning his attentions to law and order. Your response to that.
JENNINGS: Well, I think that a couple of things. Number one, there's a lot more going on in the United States as it relates to the pandemic than just Donald Trump. You have governors involved. You have local authorities involved. You have a lot of people involved in the decision-making and nobody is happy with the death count. I'm certainly not and I wish no one had died. I wish it were over.
But I think if you're Donald Trump and looking at this through a political lens what you have to try to focus on moving forward is, what is my administration doing now to get us close to a vaccine.
[04:10:00]
So, I think what you'll hear the President talk about in the fall is what they've done to try to speed up that process.
Number two, I don't view the riots and the protests and the race issues that we have going on in America is a distraction from anything. I think they're their own organic item. I mean, you know, the things that we've seen happening with police departments and some of the folks who have died that wasn't a response to pandemic those were events.
And by the way, they demand, and they deserve a response. And so, what the President is doing is responding to those at the same time. It's just that I think the President sees the circumstances around the protests different than my colleague and he some of the Democrats see it. I mean, these buildings are not burning themselves down. These looting isn't -- you know, stores aren't looting themselves. I mean, there are people doing this and there are Americans who are demanding answers.
CHURCH: Scott, I do want to ask you this. Because President Trump also repeated conspiracy theories about thugs in black uniforms, anarchists, looters and rioters boarding planes to attack Republicans at the RNC. Why would a U.S. President say such nonsense? How do you condone that as a Republican?
JENNINGS: Well, first of all, conspiracy theories pushed by anybody whether it's the President or anybody else involved in politics are a dead end. They are a dead end for your party and they're a dead end for you personally. So, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.
However, it's not a conspiracy theory that people who were walking out of the White House last Thursday night who had attended the President's speech were, in fact, accosted in the streets by radical protesters in Washington, D.C. There's lots of video of it. A U.S. Senator was accosted. Rand Paul, from where I am in Kentucky. He was accosted. He and his wife were accosted by these radicals. And so, that's not a conspiracy theory. That is actually happening on the streets of America. So, to call it a conspiracy theory would be incorrect.
I don't know about the airplane thing. I don't know if it's been corroborated and if it's not, he should be talking about that. But that doesn't change the fact that there are in fact people every day in the streets of America being accosted by radicals. Buildings are being burned. Small businesses are being ruined and looted. That's happening. And no matter how much you want to call it peaceful, some of this stuff is absolutely not peaceful. CHURCH: Doctor your reaction and you get the last word?
EL-SAYED: Yes, you know, there is a right response to this. Because you talk about businesses aren't looting themselves and buildings aren't burning themselves. Black men are not killing themselves in the streets either. That's call systemic racism. And the right reaction to massive peaceful protests is to respond by recognizing that in this country we have a real race problem and that we ought to deal with it. And we have to deal with it systematically rather than to pretend that somehow all these bad apples come from nowhere. Right? When you see a number of bad apples you got to ask about the tree.
CHURCH: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Scott Jennings, thank you both for joining us for this discussion. Appreciate it.
EL-SAYED: Thank you.
JENNINGS: Thank you.
CHURCH: In Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler is accusing the U.S. acting Secretary of Homeland Security of grandstanding. Chad Wolf called the city the epicenter of crime and chaos and threatened that the federal government would have no choice but to protect American citizens if the mayor could not. But local officials are pushing back. Portland's fire department told CNN we are not ablaze, and you can see from this video life is going on as usual in the city. There have been small pockets of protest in Portland since late May. This following George Floyd's death in the custody of Minneapolis police. But President Trump has falsely claimed the entire city is ablaze all the time.
Well, Russian internet trolls are at it again. Facebook has offered the first public evidence showing the same group which interfered with the 2016 U.S. election is trying to divide American voters in this year's race. Donie O'Sullivan has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN. CNN REPORTER: Facebook on Tuesday announcing that acting on a tip from the FBI it had removed a set of accounts that it said were linked to the internet research agency. That's the Russian troll group that sought to interfere using social media in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A lot of concerns here in the United States that the Russian troll group is back again to interfere in November's election.
Now Tuesday's take down all focused on an online magazine called "Peace Data" which posed as a left-wing news outlet, a left-wing independent news outlet. And it wrote articles about U.S. foreign policy, about the presidential election. And similar to what the internet research agency had done in 2016, it attacked Democratic candidates this year being Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris from the left. A tactic that analyst who've look at these accounts pointed out, which was something that was also done by Russia in 2016 as they tried to split the Democratic vote in support for Hillary Clinton. [04:15:00]
The good news here is that these pages had relatively low traction. Facebook, the FBI and others seemed to catch them early on in their sort of infancy. And they had posted about other issues not only just the election. The bad news here is of course this is happening at all and that Russia is active in this space so close to November's election.
And one particular new development which we hadn't seen with this sort of operation in 2016 was the use of artificially generated images. Take a look at this Twitter account, which was also removed. Belonging to a person purportedly called Alex Lacoste who identified himself as the editor of "Peace Data." Now while the profile picture on that account may look like a real person, analysts and experts who looked at these accounts said that that image is actually generated through using artificial intelligence technology. It is a deep fake image. Meaning the person in that picture does not actually exist.
Now prior to this an easy way to spot a fake account or one way to spot a fake account would be if it had used profile pictures and stolen them from a real person. Obviously with this new development in technology that is something that's no longer possible.
So, with just a few weeks to go to November's 2020 election, it's a good reminder to all of us to be careful with what we encounter online and that with new developments in technology come new risks. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thanks for that.
And CNN national security analyst Steve Hall weighs in on the fact that Russian Internet trolls are at it again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: If the Russians have learned since 2016 that they don't need to use these fake accounts even if they had, you know, paid journalists unwittingly to contribute to such a fake account. What they can do, is they can use the content that we in the United States and other Western democracies during elections are providing them.
It's those divisive issues that we all already know that Black Lives Matter, for example, racism, police brutality, even the COVID pandemic. And they'll take that, and they'll put it up on RT. they'll put it up on a Russian government owned site knowing that as human beings we just can't help yourselves. We'll copy that meme because we look at it, we have an immediate emotional response to it, and we'll get it out there. So, they don't really have to rely on these more sophisticated methods when we're helping them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN national security analyst Steve Hall there with a message be careful what you repost this election season.
And next on CNN NEWSROOM, Donald Trump touted it at a major therapeutic break through. But now health experts in his own government are pumping the brakes on the President's push for convalescent plasma. We'll take another look.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back. Well, health experts are concerned the upcoming Labor Day holiday here in the United States could be another super spreader event for the coronavirus. Right now, a number of states are seeing their infection rates decline including hot spots like California and Florida. And the experts are pleading with Americans not to let their guard down this weekend to avoid a resurgence of cases. Meanwhile, as the country races to develop a vaccine, officials are still trying to figure out how and when to release it. More now from CNN's Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three potential vaccines now in crucial phase three human trials here in the U.S. But the FDA's suggesting one could be approved before those trials are over now raising more than eyebrows.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You don't want a vaccine to be available widely to the American public unless it's been shown to be safe and effective.
WATT: The FDA commissioner now intimated he'd consider resigning rather than green light a vaccine under political pressure.
DR. STEPHEN HAHN, FDA COMMISSIONER: I think all options are on the table with respect. I hope we won't be in that position.
WATT: Such seismic statements now necessary because of previous misstatements and political pressure.
DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: that We've started eroding the trust we've always had in these otherwise incredibly professional institutions. You can't just have the vaccine, you got to get it in people for to it work. And so, trust is a critical element to make that happen.
WATT: If and when and if we get a vaccine, it will be initially in short supply. An independent committee now recommending it goes first to health workers and people with underlying issues. Phase two would be other high-risk and essential workers including teachers. All of the elderly and our prison population. While we wait, nationally new case counts are falling from a great height. Florida finally allowing some visitors into nursing homes again.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): They just would like to be able to say good- bye or hug to somebody. So it was, you know --
WATT: But there's a knot in the heartland where average new case counts are rising right now near double in South Dakota in just a week. The White House Coronavirus Task Force just warned Iowa it has the highest rate of cases in the nation. Advising mask mandates across the state. Bars must be closed. And a comprehensive plan for college towns. More than 20,000 confirmed cases and counting at colleges in at least 36 states as students return.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: The only way to find them in a university setting is doing the aggressive testing.
WATT: New York City just pushed back in person classes by ten days and announced it'll test some cases, staff and students monthly. Currently aggressive.
ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, NHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH: It's great to talk about this utopian kind of idea where everybody has a test every day and we can do that. I don't live in a utopian world.
[04:25:00]
WATT: But as witness CNN analyst twisted that's what White House staff and major league sports get now. Sure, let's call it utopia when it's for the less privileged. Meanwhile, remember that summer Sunbelt surge sparked by Memorial Day? There's another holiday weekend coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we approach Labor Day let me encourage people to be mindful the virus is still looking for you.
WATT (on camera): And Dr. Anthony Fauci warning Americans that how they behave this holiday weekend will pretty much set the stage for what the fall might look like with COVID-19 when, of course, we might also have flu mixed in with all this mess.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And National Institutes of Health panel says there is not enough data to know if convalescent plasma helps coronavirus patients. The panel says doctors should not treat it as a standard of care until more study has been done. This finding directly contradicts the Trump administration's characterization of the treatment as historic and a major advance. Listen as the President touted it late last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives. The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization and that's such a powerful term, Emergency Use Authorization for a treatment known as convalescent plasma. This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. Set an incredible rate of success. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Joining me now is Dr. Celine Gounder, a CNN medical analyst and host of the podcast "Epidemic." Thank you, doctor for joining us and everything you do.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: So, the potential coronavirus therapy convalescent plasma touted by President Trump and the FDA last month as a breakthrough has received a setback. A panel convened by the National Institutes of Health says there is no evidence to support the use of this therapy for COVID-19. What's your reaction to that?
GOUNDER: Rosemary, I wouldn't call this a setback. In fact, I would call this a win for science. I actually published an op-ed about this issue in the "Washington Post" just last week. The data on convalescent plasma is simply not strong enough to say that we should be scaling this up at broad scale. And what's problematic about the Emergency Use Authorization is also that it's going mean many, many fewer people enrolling in clinical trials that will actually help us figure out is it safe, is it effective in which patients an in what settings. And right now, we're really flying blind without any of that information.
So, on the one hand, the FDA still is the organization that decides if this has emergency authorization or not. But the NIH is our premier scientific institution in this country and they clearly have sided on the side of science.
CHURCH: Right. And doctor, President Trump's COVID testing czar, Admiral Brett Giroir, says it's utopian to think everyone should get tested every single day. But of course, no one's suggesting we do that even though major league sports in the White House get to do that. But why can't we at least have better and faster testing? Particularly given 40 percent of COVID infections are asymptomatic. Isn't that a powerful argument for extensive testing?
GOUNDER: It certainly is. And I think one major problem here is that the FDA currently looks at tests only in the context of clinical diagnosis. So, a patient comes to you, do they have coronavirus or not? Is that what's causing their symptoms? What we really want cheap, much greater scale. A test you can do at home. And they are really intended to tell you are you infectious to other people or not. And those tests do exist. They're simply not an approval pathway at the FDA to approve them as surveillance public health tests as opposed to diagnostic tests. So, that's a major bottleneck right now.
CHURCH: Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you for your expert analysis. We appreciate it always.
Well schools in Russia are getting back in session but a teachers' union is urging its members to reject the country's coronavirus vaccine. Their reasons why. That's ahead.
