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New Article Reports Trump Lacks Respect for Military; North Carolina Prepares for Unprecedented Mail-in Ballot Numbers; People of Color Continue to be Hardest Hit by COVID-19. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 04, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as 'suckers' for getting killed... Trump, on that same trip, asked aides, 'Who were the good guys in this war?' He also said he didn't understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies."

Now, CNN has not independently confirmed this report. Let's get to the White House and CNN's White House correspondent John Harwood for more on this.

John, what are we hearing from the president?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ana, the president clearly knows this is a damaging story for him, and so he has fiercely denied it, although in somewhat of an odd way. On the one hand, he says the magazine made up the report. On the other, he says, well, maybe information came from people that I fired.

But what the president's trying to do is say these comments are so horrible that I wouldn't have said them. And he specifically denied calling -- having called John McCain a loser. The problem with that for the credibility of his denial is that we have John McCain -- excuse me -- President Trump on tape calling John McCain a loser. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I supported him, he lost. He let us down. But you know, he Lost. So I never liked him as much after that, because I don't like losers.

(LAUGHTER)

FRANK LUNTZ, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: He's a war hero --

TRUMP: But -- Frank, Frank, let me get to him.

LUNTZ: He's a war hero.

TRUMP: He hit me -- he's not a war hero. LUNTZ: He's a war hero.

TRUMP: He's a war hero --

LUNTZ: Five and a half years in a POW camp.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARWOOD: And here again, the comment that he made at the end there, I like -- "he was a war hero because he was captured, I like people that weren't captured"? That expresses precisely the same sentiment that the president is accused of having uttered in that "Atlantic" article, deriding someone because of what happened to them in a military conflict.

Less vulgar terms, less crude terms, but the same sentiment, which is what people are going to keep in mind as they evaluate the credibility of his denial.

CABRERA: And as people also evaluate, you know, the different issues and reasons for voting a certain way in the upcoming election. Already, mail-in ballots are on their way to homes in North Carolina, John, the president taking another opportunity, as that's going on, to attack the election system. What's he saying?

HARWOOD: He is saying, first of all, if I lose, it's because the election was rigged. He is trying to cast doubt on mail-in voting, which people are turning to in higher numbers than in past elections because of the pandemic, and people are afraid of getting sick and dying.

Keep in mind, mail-in voting has gained increasing acceptance across the country. One in five votes in 2016, for example, were cast by mail-in balloting. But the president's losing ,he's losing nationally, he's losing in battleground states including North Carolina, where that voting is starting today.

And so what he's trying to do is throw a cloud over the entire process. His attorney general, Bill Barr, was also throwing a cloud over the process when he delivered some false statements to Wolf Blitzer about mail-in voting a couple of days ago.

The one other thing to keep in mind here is that the attacks on mail- in voting, which the president, which the attorney general are making, echo and amplify Russian propaganda, which the Department of Homeland Security says Russia is pushing in its attempt to help President Trump get re-elected.

We saw this in 2016, Russia tried to help President Trump get re- elected. They're trying again, and the president's own messaging is going hand-in-glove with Russia's messaging. CABRERA: And the facts that we have based on data and studies over

the course of you know, several elections when it comes to mail-in voting and overall voter fraud, just don't back up any of these claims, do not have any evidence to suggest there's widespread voter fraud when it comes to mail-in voting. John Harwood, thank you as always for your reporting.

Let's talk more about the election and mail-in voting. This morning, hundreds of thousands of those ballots are being sent to voters in North Carolina, and that's where we find CNN's Dianne Gallagher with more from Charlotte. Dianne, are election officials ready for this?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So election officials in North Carolina say they are ready. But, Ana, they also acknowledge that this is going to be challenging, and that they're going to need more people, not just for the absentee mail-in ballots, but also when they do in-person voting, which starts early here in North Carolina in October.

They are dealing, though, with this unprecedented number of mail-in ballot requests, which seems appropriate for an election unlike any other.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Let the voting begin.

MICHAEL DICKERSON, ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, MECKLENBURG COUNTY: That's the excitement for us, that we're going to give you that opportunity to vote sooner than anybody else.

[10:35:03]

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But with that excitement comes a healthy dose of concern. With Election Day 60 days out, voters in North Carolina today can start casting their ballots in an election like no other, including a massive change in the way people will vote.

KAREN BRINSON BELL, DIRECTOR, NCSBE: This is unprecedented, the number of absentee by mail requests that we have received.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): More than 618,000 ballots, already requested, over 16 times the number at this point in 2016. Dur to the pandemic, many of them first-time absentee voters like Joe and Ann Maher.

ANN MAHER, CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: And I do like to do it in person, but I don't want to take a chance this year.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The spring and summer primary elections already gave us a glimpse of the potential problems: long lines, a shortage of poll workers and the president of the United States making shocking suggestions.

TRUMP: So let them send it in and let them go vote.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The president, suggesting to intentionally vote twice, something election officials say is a felony. The White House says he was not encouraging people to commit crimes.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Another concern? When the election will end. The sheer volume of mail-in ballots is going to dwarf years past. By law, some states like Michigan can't even process mail-in votes until November 3rd, meaning Election Night 2020 could be Election Week.

MICHAEL BITZER, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, CATAWBA COLLEGE: The likelihood is some candidates are going to declare when maybe they shouldn't. I think this year, the voters and the candidates need to realize this may be 24, 48, 72 hours in the making.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): And there is a very real chance that the candidate in the lead on Election Night might not be the nest president of the United States. One possible scenario? Trump begins on top, but his lead slips as more mail-in votes come in, giving Trump time to question the results. He's already questioned whether the Postal Service can deliver.

TRUMP: Mail-in voting, it's going to be the greatest fraud in the history of elections.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The Postal Service says it can handle the volume. But here in controversial Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's home state, the concerns about delivering ballots in time are real.

A. MAHER: I want to make sure it doesn't get lost. I've had so much concern over the postage system, so forth, I don't want to take any chances. This election to me is very important, and it's essential. I may have one vote, but I want that vote to count.

JOE MAHER, CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: What she said.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The solution from election officials? Get your ballots in early.

DICKERSON: Do it early. Don't wait until the last weekend to mail it back.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): With so many questions, worries of a return to the chaos of 20 years ago when hanging chads led to a presidential election decided by the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: And when talking about that scenario that we just issued there with potentially maybe President Trump being ahead on Election Night but eventually not winning re-election because of absentee ballots.

To give you an idea of why that is a potential? In North Carolina right now, of those more than 618,000 absentee ballot requests, more than half of them are from registered Democrats. In years past, Republicans have actually outpaced Democrats in absentee ballot requests, so we're definitely seeing a shift in this state. Ana, the good news in North Carolina is they can begin processing

absentee ballots as soon as they come in, but they can't tabulate them until Election Day.

CABRERA: OK. That's obviously how they do it in a lot of states too. As a Coloradan, we've done mail-in ballots for a long time when I lived there, and that's how they did it as well, which helps to get results that much faster, because they tabulate everything when the time strikes a certain, you know, note. Thank you very much, Dianna Gallagher, for that reporting.

[10:39:00]

We now know the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting people of color here in the U.S. And now, one man says his father encountered bias while trying to get treatment because he was black. And he believes that led to his father's death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Statistics show black Americans are far more likely to die from coronavirus compared to white people. One man says he believes inequality and racism were factors when his father tried to get treatment, and that cost him his life.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH GAMBRELL, SON OF COVID-19 VICTIM: This is the last picture my parents ever took together.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been five months since Keith Gambrell lost his father to coronavirus. And over time, his sadness has been replaced with anger.

GAMBRELL: I find myself more temperamental I would say, over my dad. I don't think it's fair how he was treated, so it makes me very, very, very upset.

CARROLL (voice-over): Gambrell says days before his death, his father had all the tell-tale signs of coronavirus; high fever, cough, so much trouble breathing he slept sitting up in a recliner. He says his father, Gary Fowler, went to the emergency rooms of three Detroit metro area hospitals, but was turned away.

All three of the hospitals saying they do not discriminate, two adding they were following CDC guidelines, only admitting the sickest patients.

GAMBRELL: He was like, just take me home, they're not going to help me, they keep turning me away, they keep telling me it's bronchitis. I keep telling them that it's not, they won't listen to me.

[10:45:06]

CARROLL (voice-over): Gary Fowler died at home on April 7th. He was 56.

That would not be the only life the virus took from the family. Gambrell's grandfather also died from COVID-19.

GAMBRELL: It's very frustrating, it's heartbreaking, it's bitter, it's America.

CARROLL (voice-over): In the United States, the numbers show communities of color have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. African-Americans are dying at a rate nearly 2.5 times higher than whites. Latinos and Native Americans are dying at a rate more than 1.5 times higher.

ESMAELI PORSA, CEO, HARRIS HEALTH SYSTEM: There is an inequality, a social injustice, if I may describe it as, that has existed in country -- in this country for several decades. All COVID-19 has done is really just brought it to light.

CARROLL (voice-over): Dr. Esmaeli Porsa is the CEO of Harris Health System, which serves a predominantly minority population in Houston. Health experts say a number of factors put communities of color at greater risk when it comes to COVID-19, including exposure at work, living conditions, and chronic health conditions.

PORSA: The solution is improvement in economic conditions of the populations. Because when you do that, it -- by doing that, you really are addressing everything else that befalls that population.

CARROLL (voice-over): How does this feel, walking like this now?

CHRISTELL CADET, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: A hundred and fifty percent improvement compared to before.

CARROLL (voice-over): Christell Cadet, a paramedic with the New York Fire Department, suffered from asthma. She contracted the virus in March, and ended up on life support.

CADET: Everybody pushed to make sure that I was given all the care possible.

CARROLL (voice-over): Cadet says were it not for her mother who is a nurse and the fire department, her outcome could have been drastically different.

CADET: I think without that support, there would have been a level of ignorance and blindness about what I needed.

CARROLL (voice-over): Gambrell says he knew what his parents needed. The day his father died, he says his mother, Cheryl Fowler, was turned away at one hospital.

GAMBRELL: The nurse looks at my mother and tells her, ma'am, there's nothing we can do for you here. Go home, drink tea, take Tylenol for your fever. Get to a hospital if you feel like you really need to go to the hospital. Like we're here for a reason, lady. CARROLL (voice-over): Gambrell drove to another hospital across town

where she was admitted, and soon needed a ventilator. She survived. He and his brothers also ended up testing positive for COVID-19.

GAMBRELL: One day, I had my taste buds, one day, I won't.

CARROLL (voice-over): Gambrell says he has come away from the experience with a belief that if his parents had been white, they would have received better treatment.

GAMBRELL: They wouldn't have been sent home to infect everyone in the household if they were of another race.

CARROLL (voice-over): Now, Gambrell says he is speaking up for his community and his family.

GAMBRELL: I took my sadness and kind of made it into anger, but pointing that anger in the right direction, trying to get this story out there as best as I can for my mom, my dad and my siblings. And just trying to make a change.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Poor family.

[10:48:15]

House Democrats, looking into White House Advisor Peter Navarro's handling of contracts. This, after their probe found he contributed to the U.S. vastly overpaying for ventilators during the pandemic. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: New this morning, House Democrats are targeting Trump advisor Peter Navarro after a probe found that he contributed to the U.S. vastly overpaying for ventilators during the pandemic. CNN's Manu Raju is following the developments. Manu, what are you learning?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Subcommittee Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois has sent a letter to the Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar, asking him for Peter Navarro to no longer play a role that he has been playing for several months now in overseeing negotiations between the federal government and private industry over equipment needed to deal with this pandemic response.

This, after an investigation by Krishnamoorthi's subcommittee found that roughly $500 million -- up to $500 million was overspent in the purchase of ventilators. And just this past week, the administration reportedly cancelled a contract with the manufacturer Phillips, roughly 43,000 ventilators in the aftermath of the findings of this investigation. now, Krishnamoorthi says in this letter, is that Navarro, in his

words, has "failed to demonstrate a grasp of negotiation fundamentals," and they say that he is no longer a trustworthy steward of taxpayer money.

Now amid all of this controversy, Navarro was on CNN yesterday answering questions about this, and he defended the administration's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: -- so I would say to you (ph) --

(CROSSTALK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know here. I mean, I don't want to get into the politics, I'm just asking you about the math.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Well, well, (INAUDIBLE) --

CAMEROTA: Did you overpay for it?

NAVARRO: It is by definition politics. But I --

CAMEROTA: OK, just answer this, yes or no, did you overpay or not?

NAVARRO: -- what I've said, Alisyn, is all I can say. And if I just repeat what I said, it's simply like that contract was executed by ASPR at the Health and Human Services --

CAMEROTA: OK.

NAVARRO: -- they are investigating Phillips. That investigation was announced before the House did.

And I would say to your viewers, it's just, look, this is a partisan world here in the swamp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So he's talking about an internal review happening at the Health and Human Services Department about how that contract went down. And Krishnamoorthi himself, launching his own investigation, wants all contracts turned over to him by next week that Navarro played a role in.

[10:55:07]

And of course, Ana, this administration, this president has used ventilators and the -- as a success story in the administration's response to the pandemic, saying everybody was -- needed a pandemic -- ventilator, could get one. This of course could undercut it if it does in fact show that the U.S. did overpay significantly for ventilators across the country.

NAVARRO: And CNN will stay on it. Manu Raju, thank you.

And thank you at home for joining us today. I'm Ana Cabrera. NEWSROOM with John King starts after a quick break. We'll see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]