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Trump Cranks Up Pressure for Vaccine By Election Day; CDC Tells States to Prepare for Vaccine As Soon As October; Economic Downturn Puts Millions at Risk of Eviction; Biden Contrasts With Trump in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Trump Denies Report He Disparaged Service Members; Seven Officers Suspended in Death of Black Man. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired September 04, 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]
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Of Houston, but similar situations have happened all across the country. And again, grateful for you for bring light to this. And let's hope more people get behind this and help folks out. So, Kyung, thank you, we'll continue to follow up. You be safe and we'll see you soon. Thank you.
And thank you for watching, everyone. Please, let's stop fighting and help people who need help. That's what's important. I'll see you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:05:00]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to welcome viewers watching us in the United States.
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration tell CNN that President Trump has pushed for more good news on the pandemic and part of that includes pressuring government agencies to speed up development and approval so a vaccine will be ready by election day. CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What we're learning is that the President has really cranked up the pressured on officials to produce not only a treatment but hopefully a vaccine by election day. Because he wants to give voters a light at the end of tunnel look before they cast their ballots. Because he genuinely thinks it will make a difference on who voters ultimately decide to be the president for the next four years.
And obviously, the concern that is coming out of this is whether or not he is putting political pressure on these officials and they are going to cut corners in order to give the President what he wants by November 3rd. Now right now, there has been so much pressure on a lot of officials in this administration throughout this pandemic.
But now the focus is turning to the FDA. And the commissioner, Dr. Steven Hahn, who initially wasn't even on the coronavirus task force until a month later. What we've heard from officials inside the White House is that Hahn, the concern is he is so eager to please that he would bend to the political will of the White House in helping them get what they want by speeding this up. Potentially granting an Emergency Use Authorization of a vaccine like we've seen with hydroxychloroquine -- one that was rescinded, we should know, later on -- and convalescent plasma.
Hahn has said repeatedly he will not be politically pressured to approve a vaccine. He is only considering that. He says he's only considering the data when he looks at this. But some officials are concerned about what his track record is going to be and how ultimately, he will make this decision.
Now of course, a vaccine, there is a reason you don't speed it up, there is a reason they take so long to determine whether or not it is going to work. The question is do they grant that Emergency Use Authorization and what do they base the data on? Because we've seen in the past, they granted EU ways for other things like convalescent plasma. When some officials in the White House, in the administration, were not quite on board. The question ultimately, it's going to be whether or not he does it when it comes to a vaccine.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And updated forecast from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is projecting up to 211,000 deaths by the end of the month. Which makes the need for a safe vaccine even more dire. Now one manufacturer is raising hopes for its vaccine candidate, but as Nick Watt reports, health experts are weary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pfizer now teasing it might know if its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective as early as the end of next month, with a promise, no corners will be cut.
DR. ANTHONY FELTY, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That's unlikely, not impossible. I think most of the people feel it's going to be November, December.
WATT: The CDC now telling state officials to prep to distribute a vaccine also as soon as the end of next month.
DR. ALI KHAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CDC OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE: Just picking these dates before the election sort of stokes those fears that the government isn't being duly diligent.
WATT: A charge the White House denies.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISOR: The goal of the administration is to get a vaccine out as quickly as it is safe and efficacious to do. WATT: And on treating COVID-19, Dr. Fauci says more data is needed on that plasma treatment hyped by the president, and this --
THOMAS CUENI, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS AND ASSOCIATIONS: There will not be the magic bullet to tackle and contain COVID-19. The industry is still all in. And we have come a long ways.
WATT: Here in the U.S., we have come a little way in controlling the virus. But, again, we're over 1,000 deaths a day the last couple of days. New case counts have fallen since mid-July, but now seem stuck at around 40,000 a day these past two weeks.
FAUCI: That's an unacceptably high baseline. We have got to get it down.
WATT: But there some resurgence in the Northeast right now.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): You people of wester New York have to realize that if they don't follow social distancing, the precautions, the virus will increase.
WATT: But it's going up in the Midwest. The White House Task Force now recommending Missouri close bars and mandate masks.
FAUCI: We have proven that you can actually control the outbreak. To me, that's good news.
WATT: Proven in California, bars were closed, masks mandated, case counts now falling.
In L.A. this morning, hairdressers allowed to welcome customers indoors once more.
KRISTIN BEST, OWNER, DYLAN KEITH SALON: We are going to work our tails off and we are going to make it.
WATT: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson now on the public awareness train after he, his wife and two kids caught COVID from friends.
[04:10:00]
DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: If you guys are having family and friends over to your house, you know, them, you trust them, they have been quarantining just like you guys, you still never know.
WATT (on camera): And ahead of the holiday weekend here in the United States, the governor of Ohio is saying what a lot of people are thinking. He said, to our friends in college, we ask you to be careful.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The pandemic is having devastating effects on the U.S. and global economies. And after months of defying it, the stock markets are getting a reality check. Major drops on Wall Street Thursday dragged Asian markets lower, but European markets are opening slightly higher. U.S. tech stocks that had kept going up and up were hit particularly hard. So, we'll get the latest check on the health of the U.S. economy in a few hours with the latest job numbers and we'll have a live report on that later in the show.
Now the recent rallies were a reminder that the stock market isn't the economy. There are 348smillions of people the U.S. who don't care if stocks are going up and down because they couldn't pay their rent and could become homeless. Our Kyung Lah spoke to some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISRAEL RODRIGUEZ, FAMILY EVICTED FROM APARTMENT: We got nowhere to go.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rodriguez admits he hasn't been paying rent. Behind thousands of dollars.
RODRIGUEZ: It's my fault an eviction. It was like going out there in the car. When it hit, I lost my job. So, it took me like a month to get another job.
LAH: Their stroller now carries their possessions.
RODRIGUEZ: It's mainly the kids' clothes. Because me and her we wear the same clothes almost every day. We have nobody who can come help us out right now, nobody. We got ourselves, me, the kids, her. That's it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: California is trying to help those who can't afford to pay full rent under new legislation which goes into effect immediately. Tenants who pay at least 25 percent of their rent from September through January will be protected from eviction. But those who fail to meet the minimum rent payment could be removed beginning in February.
Well, Tara Lynn Gray is the CEO of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, and she joins us from Fresno, California. Thanks so much for coming on to talk about these issues. We saw that heartbreaking case of the guy who was kicked out of his house. There are so many people losing their homes. Many small businesses are struggling to pay their rents, too. And we heard of small business owners down to their last dimes. What effect has this COVID economic crisis had on the folks who run these businesses that you deal with?
TARA LYNN GRAY, CEO, FRESNO METRO BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, it in short has been devastating. We have -- we're seeing up to 50 percent of black businesses closing. While 30 percent of all small businesses are facing closure. So, we have a disproportionate impact in the black business community, and many are struggling.
BRUNHUBER: Do you know why that's effecting black businesses disproportionately?
GRAY: Well, absolutely. We have issues in the black business community prior to COVID-19. We have had significant challenges while business revenue has grown in groups outside of our groups. We have not seen black business revenue increase at the same rate. Black women are starting businesses at a rate faster than our white counterparts in other ethnic groups, yet we lag behind in earnings.
While the number of women-owned businesses grew 21 percent from 2014 to 2019, firms owned by women of color grew at double that rate, 43 percent. For black women grew even faster, 50 percent. Yet the income disparity between of women of color and non-minority women is ever increasing.
We are talking non-minority women are earning four times what black women earned in their business and that kind of resembles what we have fought so hard for in terms of wage discrimination. Black women are earning less for doing the same work as their white counterparts.
Those statistics are certainly dispiriting. It also must be hard to hear the stories of those business owners who are trying to hold on but simply can't.
GRAY: Absolutely. You know, I have some incredible businesses as members of our chamber and some very talented, bright, very capable women-owned businesses and male-owned businesses.
[04:15:00]
But I can think of two women who come to mind right now. They both have PhDs, clearly bright and capable in their areas. They are unable to get the access to capital that both of them need to expand. One operates in a clinical setting and needs to hire more staff. Cannot get access to capital to do so. The other is a manufacturer and despite being on home shopping network and having contracts with major retailers, she's still unable to get the access to capital to grow. So, it's very disheartening when you see capabilities across the board and don't have access. I have another member that has a restaurant. They can't afford to do the remodel necessary to provide outdoor dining and, therefore, they remain closed.
BRUNHUBER: But I want to quickly ask you, we don't have much time left, but there are federal programs that were supposed to help. Are they not helping?
GRAY: Well, the first stimulus package we saw about 5 percent of our businesses get access to financial assistance. After the second round and the increased deadline we saw that number go up to 18 percent. But it's still not enough to quell the closures that we are seeing in our community. And we just are suffering from years, decades of disinvestment in our communities and that leads to lots of problems, most especially what we're seeing with our black businesses.
BRUNHUBER: So many problems and so few solutions right now. But thank you very much for speaking with us. Tara Lynn Gray, we appreciate it.
GRAY: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: The race for the White House has taken both President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden to Kenosha, Wisconsin, but the responses to the city's racial unrest couldn't have been more different. Those details are just ahead. Stay with us.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Presidential election is now less than two months away and the distinctions between incumbent Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden are coming into sharper focus. Both men have now visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, two days apart and presented very different responses to the racial unrest there. Here's CNN's Arlette Saenz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, Joe Biden back on the campaign trail in Kenosha, Wisconsin, bringing a message of healing.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I am not pessimistic. I am optimistic about the opportunity if we seize it.
SAENZ: The trip marks Biden's first visit to Wisconsin of the 2020 race, and his first major campaign travel outside of Delaware and Pennsylvania since the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Large rallies now replaced with smaller, socially-distanced events like this community meeting in Kenosha, as the city grapples with the police shooting of Jacob Blake and some violent protests that followed.
BIDEN: I think we've reached an inflection point in American history. I honest to God believe we have an enormous opportunity, now that the -- the screen, the curtain has been pulled back on just what's going on in the country to do a lot of really positive things.
SAENZ: Biden and his wife Jill also meeting privately with Blake's family for an hour. Jacob Blake himself joining over the phone from his hospital bed.
BIDEN: He talked about how nothing was going to defeat him. How, whether he walked again or not, he was not going to give up.
SAENZ: When President Trump traveled to Kenosha Tuesday, he did not meet with the Blake family, or mention Jacob Blake's name.
It's the latest contrast in a heated race for the White House, as Biden maintains a lead over Trump one week after their parties' conventions wrapped up. And as the president has pushed his law-and- order message.
BIDEN: There's a lot of folks who thought that, Well, the president has made great strides with this -- this -- his, you know, law-and- order strides here, that boy, after his convention, he really made -- he really made inroads. He hasn't. Not at all.
SAENZ: A new CNN poll found 51 percent of registered voters nationwide back Biden, while 43 percent prefer Trump. Biden's current lead fueled by support from women, people of color, and older voters, while the former vice president and Trump are nearly even among men and white voters.
[00:05:06]
The Democratic nominee also seeing some signs of hope in some of the battleground states that will decide this election, including Wisconsin. Biden ahead of the president among likely voters in the state by 8 points.
Democrats hoping not to repeat 2016, when Hillary Clinton never visited the state in the general election and lost to Trump by fewer than 23,000 votes.
(on camera): While Biden has spent part of the week talking about racial injustice and police brutality, he is also trying to keep the focus on the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's response.
On Friday, he will deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, talking about the economy and what he believes is the president's failure to get the coronavirus pandemic under control.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And Biden's trip prompted the blunt reaction from President Trump. On Thursday he held a campaign rally outside of Pittsburgh in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Hundreds of his supporters gathered, and as you'll be able to see, many without masks. And the President was quick to take aim at Biden's visit to Wisconsin as he pushed his law and order campaign strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Biden went there today. There was nobody there. There was nobody there. He was a little late. I was going to say, hey, listen, we ended that problem. We end them very quickly. Now what we're doing is we're holding back funds for cities that don't know what they're doing, where they allow crime to run rampant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:25:00]
BRUNHUBER: The President also doubled down on his suggestion for people to vote twice to ensure mail-in ballots are actually counted. In fact, of course, voting twice is illegal.
President Trump is denying a scathing report in "The Atlantic" that claims he disparaged dead American service members. The story cites unnamed sources who allege the President called Americans who died in war losers and suckers. Mr. Trump angrily called that a total lie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Everyone knows it's totally false. General Keith Kellogg was a highly respected man, couldn't believe when he heard it, and he knows everything about all of it. And to think that I would make statements negative to our military and our fallen heroes when nobody's done what I've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now CNN initially refused to report on "The Atlantic" story because we couldn't match their reporting but we're going to do it now because the President has responded.
And Joe Biden reacted to the article in a statement saying, quote, if the revelations in today's "Atlantic" article are true, then they are yet another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the President of the United States.
We're learning of another troubling incident involving police and African-Americans. This one in Rochester, New York. Seven police officers there now have been suspended in connection with the death of a black man, Daniel Prude. Who died after he was handcuffed and forcibly restrained last March. CNN's Brian Todd has the details. And we should warn you some of the video is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The police body cam video shows that when police fined him at about 3:15 a.m., Daniel Prude is naked on the street as a light snowfall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground. Put your hands behind your back. Behind your back. Don't move. Don't move.
TODD: This incident occurred in Rochester, New York on March 23rd, two months before the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Attorneys for Prudes family provided CNN with body cam footage showing several angles and the confrontation is getting new scrutiny tonight.
LOVELY WARREN, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK MAYOR: Experiencing and ultimately dying from a drug overdose in police custody, as I was told by the chief is entirely different than what are ultimately witness on the video.
TODD: The New York Attorney General is investigating. Prudes family is demanding justice.
JOE PRUDE, DANIEL PRUDE'S BROTHER: They treated my brother like a piece of garbage. And what do you do the garbage you throw it out? So that's basically what they done to my brother.
TODD: Daniel Prude's brother called police that morning saying Prude was experiencing a mental health episode and may have been on drugs. When on officers arrived, Prude complies with them and is handcuffed. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you Daniel?
DANIEL PRUDE, VICTIM: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daniel Prude,
D. PRUDE: Please let me give (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daniel Prude.
TODD: Moments later. The footage shows Prude visibly agitated for several minutes yelling at officers squirming on the pavement.
D. PRUDE: (INAUDIBLE), let me go.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD (voice-over); Three minutes after first confronting him, police put what's called a spit sock over Prudes head to minimize exposure after they say he was spitting. But Prude becomes more agitated. The officers demand that he lie still.
D. PRUDE: Give me the gun, give me the gun, give me the handgun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay down, stay down.
D. PRUDE: Give me the handgun.
TODD: When Prude doesn't comply and appears to try to stand, three officers physically restrain him and hold him to the ground.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: One officer has his knee on Prude's back and the other is holding his head to the pavement while the spit sock remains on his head. Another officer can be seen putting his weight on Prude's head. Prude seems to be struggling to breathe. At one point the officers realize Prude is spitting and appears to have vomited. Paramedics arrive and begin assisting instructing the officers to roll him over.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: CPR is performed for about two minutes. Prude is then placed on a gurney and put into an ambulance. He was pronounced brain dead when he arrived at the hospital and died a week later. Prude's family is demanding the officers involved be fired and charged with murder.
Rochester police chief said this week he didn't have evidence to indicate that anything criminal might have occurred but said if there was something more obvious immediate action would have been taken. The mayor has announced that all seven officers involved have been suspended. The investigations are continuing.
J. PRUDE: The man is defenseless, butt naked on the ground. He's cuffed up already. I mean, come on. How many more brothers got to die for society to understand that this needs to stop. TODD (on-camera): The Police Union in Rochester said it had concerns about the incident involving its members. CNN was not able to reach the union or the suspended officers for further comment on the case.
The autopsy report rules Daniel Prude's death a homicide caused by quote, complications of asphyxia in the setting of a physical restraint. The medical examiner's office also cites quote, excited delirium and acute intoxication from the drug PCP as the cause of death.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back.
