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Trump Denies Calling U.S. War Heroes Losers And Suckers; Protests Group Clash In Louisville On Derby Day; Ignoring Warnings from Election Officials, Trump Again Suggests Supporters Should Try to Vote Twice; Harris: Trump's Word Alone Not Enough on Vaccine Safety. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 05, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:26]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Dana Bash in Washington.

With the election now fewer than 60 days out, President Trump is again denying making insulting and outrageous comments about America's war dead as reported in "The Atlantic" magazine.

And also tonight, CNN is confirming some controversial remarks in that article made by the President about American men and women who served in Vietnam.

Jeremy Diamond is at the White House. I want to go straight to him. Jeremy, what are we now learning from our sources?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, our colleague, Jim Acosta, Dana, is now confirming via a former senior administration official that the President did indeed make disparaging comments about American soldiers who died in World War I during this visit to France when he was scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne Cemetery where Marines lost their lives in a critical World War I battle.

This is confirming some reporting from "The Atlantic" that has caused quite a stir here at the White House and in Washington more generally.

I want to read you a section of that "Atlantic" story that describes the President's comments on this. According to "The Atlantic," it says, "In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers.' In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood would as 'suckers' for getting killed."

And as I said, Dana, a senior -- a former senior administration official is now confirming those comments to our colleague, Jim Acosta, and we also have other reporting, Dana, that kind of adds to this picture of the President and his comments about service members, and about this self-sacrifice that they make in deciding to serve in uniform for this country. And another source who is familiar with some of these remarks by the President has also told us, Dana, that the President has questioned why Americans who served in the Vietnam War did so and questioned whether they perhaps were not able to take advantage of the system or that they weren't able to take advantage of that system to avoid draft deferments, to avoid the draft rather, as the President did.

The President himself, we know Dana, he received multiple educational deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam and he also ultimately received a medical deferment after he got a doctor's note claiming that the President had bone spurs, making him ineligible to serve in Vietnam.

Of course, amid all of this, Dana, and amid this reporting, specifically about the President's comments in France about these World War I veterans, there is a big question and that is, where is John Kelly? The former White House Chief of Staff who is at the center of this. He actually attended that ceremony at that Cemetery in France in lieu of the President attending.

And the President was asked yesterday, why we haven't heard from Kelly and what his reaction is. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know John Kelly. He was with me. He didn't do a good job, had no temperament, and ultimately he was petered out. He got -- he was exhausted.

This man was totally exhausted. He wasn't even able to function in the last number of months. He was not able to function.

He was sort of a tough guy. By the time he got eaten up in this world, it's a different world than he was used to, he was unable to function.

And I told him, John, you're going to have to go. Please, give me a letter of resignation, and we did that. And now he goes out badmouths.

No. There are people that are jealous. There are people that are upset that they're not here anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And now there's no question that the President and General Kelly have their differences and their relationship is not what it was when General Kelly first joined as White House Chief of Staff.

That being said, General Kelly has actually been really restrained in his comments publicly about the President. He has avoided wading into this general question of whether the President is fit for office, though he has criticized some of the President's policies and some of the President's actions. But on this story specifically, it is so notable the fact that John Kelly has not spoken out yet. His silence is really deafening -- Dana.

BASH: Well put, Jeremy Diamond. Thank you so much for that reporting. And I want to bring in former Director of National Intelligence under President Obama, CNN national security analyst, James Clapper, who also happens to be retired U.S. Air Force three-star General.

General Clapper, let's get right to this. Multiple outlets have confirmed this story. Despite the President's denials, he has already made numerous public statements before all of this, disparaging members of the military.

So I want to get your reaction as somebody who served at the highest ranks of the military with honor and distinction for decades.

[18:05:08]

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Dana, thank you. As a career military person, I spent 34 years of military in the Marine Corps briefly, and then the Air Force. My father served for 28 years in the Army, and I did two tours in Southeast Asia.

So if this is a true, you know, it's really reprehensible, and the problem is, you know, it is believable, given the President's past behavior and statements made, most notably about Senator McCain.

And the other instances that come to mind are his insults of the Gold Star family lost an Army Lieutenant in Iraq and there have been similar instances like that or you know, you get the impression he doesn't really respect or appreciate the military.

So for me, both personally and institutionally, it's so deeply, deeply troublesome.

BASH: And so much of this goes back to Vietnam. You served in Vietnam. You were a young Air Force lieutenant. And you know, the President, reportedly as part of this larger original article made comments suggesting that troops like you, who went to Vietnam, didn't know how to avoid going.

Does any of this ring personal to you? I guess, that's probably a stupid question, of course, it's got to be personal to you.

CLAPPER: Well, sure it is.

BASH: And how does he -- of course -- so when you hear that, as somebody who went to Vietnam from somebody who got himself out of Vietnam, what goes through your mind?

CLAPPER: Well, it's insulting. It really is. It never occurred to me to, you know, to try to avoid it. In fact, I sought duty in Vietnam because I thought it was the right thing to do as a professional Air Force officer. So I went and served and went back for another tour.

And I'm certainly no exception, and I had the good fortune that I wasn't -- obviously, I wasn't killed, and/or wounded, unlike so many others, and you know, I just can't help but think of the families of those who lost their lives, paid the ultimate price for their service in Vietnam and to hear that from a Commander-in-Chief is, is very, very troubling.

BASH: Director Clapper, I want you to now put on your former Director of National Intelligence hat and talk about this election. We learned this week of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin to the Intelligence Community asserting that Russia is amplifying disinformation about mail and voting, which of course, is something the President of the United States is also talking about.

He is denigrating the idea of mail-in voting saying that it's full of fraud. If you were still the D.N.I., how would you deal with this?

CLAPPER: Well, if I were still D.N.I. in a different administration, I'd be doing all I could to advise the policymaker starting with policy maker number one, and my colleagues in the Cabinet and doing all we could to advise officials, election officials, as well as the public.

And looking back, you know, we probably didn't do as well as we should have in alerting the public. What strikes me about this --

BASH: In 2016 when you had the job -- forgive me.

CLAPPER: Exactly.

BASH: But you're talking about -- yes.

CLAPPER: Yes, exactly. What strikes me about this is the similarity in themes between things the Russians are pushing, notably questioning Vice President Biden's health, his mental acuity and then pushing suspicions about or planting doubt about mail-in balloting and this is very similar to what happened in 2016 where there were certain themes that the Russians pushed that were also pushed by the campaign not suggesting the C word or collusion, but it's just a striking parallel, at least in my mind.

BASH: Yes, it is a striking parallel and then the obvious question, I'm guessing you would ask as a longtime Intelligence officer is, which is coming first, the chicken or the egg?

I mean, are the Russians just listening to the President say what he says publicly? Because it's not like he is doing anything behind the scenes. I mean, he is very open about his misinformation, frankly, on mail-in voting, for example, the whole notion of Joe Biden being too old. That's a political tactic.

But on mail-in voting, it's a different thing. So do you think that knowing what you know about how the Russians operate, are they just listening to the President and saying, aha, that sounds good. Let's amplify that with our own misinformation.

CLAPPER: Oh, exactly. I think, now that he is President and of course, the Russians certainly appreciate what his voice means and how the impact of what he says has, so more so now than in 2016 when he was, you know, candidate and that when they picked up on parallel themes and emphases in what they were saying and doing.

[18:10:30]

CLAPPER: Now, I think they are very alert to whatever he says. I mean, they watch the tweets, too. And they are very -- they're very quick to adjust to that and make sure they are reinforcing and echoing those same themes.

BASH: Before I let you go, we're pretty much out of time. But I just -- I have to ask you about the notion of China being more aggressive in meddling in this election we are currently in than Russia. We've now heard that from the Attorney General William Barr and yesterday, from the President's National Security Adviser O'Brien.

Knowing again what you know about the way those two countries operate, do you buy that?

CLAPPER: Oh, no, I don't. I'd say there's some wordsmithing that's going on here, which is regrettable. The Russians are clearly focused on undermining our system, our political system, interfering in the election, and sowing doubt, discord, discontent, and distrust in this country.

The Chinese are more into espionage, particularly economic espionage, stealing economic property, gaining access to research and development data, and they have a lot of people here that they can attempt to recruit.

So the approaches are different and the agendas are different between the Russians and the Chinese; and the Russians, in my mind are much more of a threat to us with respect to our political system.

BASH: Former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, thank you so much for joining me on this Sunday of a Holiday Weekend. Appreciate it -- Saturday.

CLAPPER: Well, thanks so much for having me.

BASH: Saturday, not Sunday yet. Coming up. It is Derby Day in Louisville, Kentucky but the city is seeing protest over the death of Breonna Taylor. We are live on the ground right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:15]

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

BASH: This is Louisville, Kentucky earlier today. Large protest groups facing off with Louisville police stepping in to keep them apart.

One of those protest groups hoping to shift attention from today's running of the Kentucky Derby and put the light on police involved -- in the police involvement of killing an unarmed black woman Breonna Taylor nearly six months ago.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Louisville right now. Jason, the group intends to march to where the Kentucky Derby actually is going to be running later this evening. Where are you now? And what are you seeing? JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are actually here, Dana, as we speak. We are outside the perimeter of Churchill Downs. We actually arrived here with a group of about now more than a thousand demonstrators here at Churchill Downs about 30 minutes ago.

Initially, we started on one side, the front end of Churchill Downs. And this crowd of demonstrators has slowly wrapped itself around the entire perimeter of Churchill Downs, passing the front to the midsection to the back where the stables are located.

Meanwhile, on the inside of the perimeter, we've seen any number of Louisville Metro Police, as well as members of the National Guard sort of like coming to each area of the fence where some of the protesters have been gathering to make sure that no one jumps over the fence.

So far, this has been a peaceful nonviolent demonstration, which was the goal of the organizers here.

I want to bring in Leandra. She is from Louisville, Kentucky. I wanted to talk to you about your goals here today. Why is it important to do this type of demonstration on Derby Day?

LEANDRA MCCAMBELL, LOUISVILLE RESIDENT: Because I mean, it's Derby Day and we haven't got justice for Breonna Taylor. I mean, this woman was killed March 13th when the police raided her house with a no-knock warrant.

So why -- if we're trying to stop racial and social injustice, why continue to have the Derby? I mean, stand with us. We're trying to make a change here, and not only are we out here for Breonna Taylor, but a man by the name of David McAtee who was murdered by the National Guards on June 1st and nobody is talking about his murder either.

And then one of our own was murdered on June 28th. His name is Tyler Gerth. We're not just out her just for Breonna Taylor. We're here for everyone who has been murdered here in Louisville, Kentucky and majority of the murders are being swept under the rug.

CARROLL: Do you have any faith at all in the justice system in terms of -- I know that a lot of folks out here say they want to see the three police officers involved in Breonna Taylor's shooting to be brought to justice. Do you have any -- any sort of sense as to whether or not that will happen?

MCCAMBELL: I'm praying that it happens. I most definitely pray that it happens. A lot more evidence is starting to come out, you know, a lot more evidence that are starting to become public record. So I'm praying that it happens because we need justice, and then once it happens, I'm going to speak it into existence. That's the beginning.

Once they arrest the cops and they charge them, our protest doesn't start. It's just beginning because we have to continue to use our voices. Okay, once they charge them, we have to continue marching.

We have to continue to say David McAtee's name. We have to continue to say Breonna Taylor's name. We even have to continue to say Tyler Gerth's name because they were one of us. They were one of us, and we have to continue to fight for the justice that we are not getting.

CARROLL: Leandra Thank you very much.

MCCAMBELL: Thank you.

CARROLL: And Dana, just to let you know, Leandra and her friends tell me they've been out here marching since May, dozens and dozens and dozens of times.

As for this demonstration right now, I don't know if you can make it out, but we're actually marching now away from Churchill Downs, sort of wrapping around with this large group of demonstrators.

You know, I asked one of the organizers, what happens when you reach Churchill Downs, what will you do? And he said, we're going to play it by ear. We might have a rally. We might keep marching.

And at this point it looks like, Dana, at least for now, the march continues -- Dana.

[18:20:08]

BASH: Fascinating interview. Thank you so much for being right there in the thick of it all, Jason Carroll, as always.

And let's discuss this more with Ben Jealous. He is the former President of the NAACP, and President for the People for the American Way.

Ben, look, it's been almost six months since Breonna Taylor was killed. Are you hopeful that what we're seeing now on the streets and what we're seeing across the country, frankly, even across the world, with spotlights on Breonna Taylor's murder will kind of push the Attorney General down there and other leaders in Kentucky to file charges if that is what it takes to find justice?

BEN JEALOUS, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE NAACP AND PRESIDENT FOR THE PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: I certainly hope that they do. As you heard from that protester, there is a deeper concern which is about the quality of justice in that city and the frequency with which appears that people involved in law enforcement are able to get away with killing people. And that concern, of course, permeates our country.

And our greatest concern right now should be that the President of the United States is doing nothing to bring calm to our nation, but instead encouraging those who would be violent towards protesters to be violent towards protesters, and to really give a license to a type of vigilante justice in our streets, whether it's by officers or whether it's by protesters.

We've never seen anything like this. We're used to Presidents evolving in their role and helping to bring calm and pull our nation together. Donald Trump is doing exactly the opposite.

BASH: I want to ask about the Attorney General in Kentucky. He is an African-American man, Daniel Cameron. He actually spoke at the Republican Convention a couple of weeks ago, and he is considered by every Republican I talk to as a rising star in the party and just as a public servant.

Given that and given the specifics and the details of this case, are you surprised that it's been -- it's taken so long for what he calls the investigation in a new tweet today -- the investigation to wrap up, since it's been, what, like six months?

JEALOUS: Everything that we saw at the R.N.C. from him suggests that like Clarence Thomas, he has been lifted up by the Republican Party because he subscribes to their ideologies. And of course, that doesn't -- you know, the fact that he is black has -- you know, does not preclude him from thinking like Mitch McConnell, if he so chooses.

It should not take six months for this in the investigation and you've got to wonder if protesters on the ground don't feel like the Attorney General might just be trying to wait them out.

And so that, you know, very much seems to be a dynamic here. But again, you know, in past administrations you would have expected to see some pressure from the U.S. D.O.J. on a killing like this. It is very common for their special prosecutors to get involved in situations like this, and we don't see that.

BASH: The F.B.I. is involved, correct? Aren't there Federal -- isn't the Federal justice system involved a bit?

JEALOUS: They could have been much more active by now, and they would have been in past administrations. It's not just whether -- it's not just whether the wheels of justice turn, it's the speed at which they turn.

And what we've seen in this case, it has been interminably slow and you see protesters who are vigilant, you see a movement, as you said, around the globe, certainly across the country, certainly across that city and that state that's going nowhere.

And people are, you know, are very clear that they want justice for Breonna Taylor. They're also very clear that the justice system in Kentucky leaves a lot to be desired.

And, again, what you would expect in times past would be that the President of the United States himself will be calling for calm, he will be calling for justice.

What we know is that in these types of cases, the protests really don't end. The tensions don't subside until there is justice, and justice in this case has been very, very slow.

BASH: Well, this is one of the reasons why the Constitution gives the right to protest, is to hold public officials accountable from the top to the bottom of the elected official food chain as it were, and so, you know, we'll see if this kind of pressure from the people on the ground -- by the way, you're seeing live pictures of protesters. They are armed, but peaceful. They're armed because that is allowed in Kentucky and we're going to continue to watch that and watch how the pressure comes to bear because of these protests, but also really big names like Oprah Winfrey who put Breonna Taylor on the cover of her magazine and other celebrities who are trying to use their celebrity, for justice for Breonna Taylor and others who have not gotten it.

Thank you so much, Ben Jealous. Appreciate your time in going through this case with us.

[18:30:33]

BASH: And coming up, despite warnings from election officials, President Trump is again urging his protest -- excuse me, urging his supporters to commit a Federal crime by voting twice.

Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Last night, the President once again suggested his supporters tried to vote twice, once by mail and then at a polling place. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On election day or early voting, go to your polling place even though you've mailed it in, go to your polling place to see whether or not your mail-in vote has been tabulated or counted.

If it has, you will not be able to vote because it's going to be counted, you'll not be able to vote and the mail-in system worked properly as it should, but there's a big chance that it won't work properly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, election officials strongly discourage people from doing this for a simple reason. It's illegal. Today the Trump campaign defended the President's comments in a statement saying the following, "The President is now drawing attention to the reckless election law tampering Democrats are doing in states across the country, creating the very real opportunity for people to vote twice. President Trump encourages supporters to vote absentee-by-mail early, and then show up in person at the polls or local registrar to verify that their vote has already been counted."

For more on this, let's bring in Jessica Huseman who is a reporter who covers voting rights and elections. And Jessica as if it's not confusing enough for people and stressful enough for people to go out and vote in whichever way they feel is most safe and most effective, now we have this. So this is your area of expertise. this is your beat, so break it down for us. Is what the President is saying, let's just take the campaign's word for it, that the President is saying you just go to your polling place and check, see if your absentee ballot went through. Would they even know or does it depend state by state?

JESSICA HUSEMAN, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: No, most states would be able to tell you. I think that what the President doesn't realize is that this is a little bit more high tech than then he gives it credit for. Most states have tracking systems for their ballots. The states that have expanded vote by mail, significantly, generally have these.

You don't have to go to your polling location. You don't have to go to your county registrar's office. You don't have to present anywhere in person at all. You can log on and check where it is just like you track a package with the post office or FedEx. So the concept that you would need to show up to the polls in the first place is flawed and then I think what people are not really taking into consideration is this is a precedent that just a couple of days ago had hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder on the White House lawn without wearing masks.

And now, he is circumventing another pandemic protection that states have offered us as a lifeline, which is voting by mail. And instead of doing that and trusting that your ballot was counted and following up, he's wanting you to go in person to the polls, which is the whole reason that we're voting by mail in the first place so that we don't have to do that. So it's a concept to me that makes very little sense.

BASH: And real quick, I'm going to ask you this and we're gonna have to say this over and over again. If you have an option to vote by mail in your state, can you feel comfortable based on recent history that that will be safe and it won't be riddled with fraud as the President says?

HUSEMAN: Absolutely. There are no studies that suggest that mail-in voting fraud is a significant concern. It is certainly true that voter fraud across the board is rare. Voter fraud with mail-in ballots is slightly less rare, but we're talking about something that happens more often than an individual gets struck by lightning.

So the numbers are all very, very small. And I think Trump's campaign has misinterpreted the data to suggest that mail fraud is far more common than it actually is.

BASH: Yes. And I know you know this, it is the President who was talking about this. My sense is that his campaign would be very happy if he would stop doing that because he's doing it as they are trying to get people to go out an early vote and vote absentee ...

HUSEMAN: Exactly.

BASH: ... in order to get his numbers up, so he can actually win reelection. Jessica Huseman, thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.

And up next, Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris tells me in a new exclusive interview that she's doubtful of any vaccine that President Trump says is safe. I'll discuss what that means for the fight against the coronavirus next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:38:47]

BASH: We are all desperate for a vaccine to end this pandemic. But will Americans trust a vaccine that feels rushed to market before the vaccine is potentially ready? That is a question everybody is asking and when I asked the vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Do you trust that in the situation where we're in now that the public health experts and the scientists will get the last word on the efficacy of the vaccine?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: If past is prologue that they will not, they'll be muzzled, they'll be suppressed, they will be sidelined. Because he's looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days and he's grasping to get whatever he can to pretend he has been a leader on this issue when he is not.

BASH: So let's just say there's a vaccine that is approved and even distributed before the election, would you get it?

HARRIS: Well, I think that's going to be an issue for all of us. I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about. I will not take his word for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:40:05]

BASH: Dr. James Phillips is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital. So Dr. Phillips, Sen. Harris also told me that she trusts the word of public health experts and scientists, but as you just heard, not Donald Trump. Do you think her skepticism is well-founded?

DR. JAMES PHILLIPS, PROF. OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I do. We don't want to take away the hope from the American citizens that a vaccine would be ready soon. But I also think there's danger in sugarcoating things or in speaking in hyperbole about a vaccine being available soon.

I said earlier this year that I thought it was a pipe dream that we would have this before the beginning of next year and I still feel that way. The main concern is whether or not we're going to have enough time for this phase three trial to generate enough data about safety and efficacy to sort of pass the smell test.

Now, the good news is, is that the FDA is not just made up of appointed people. It's also made up of career professionals who dedicated their lives to this. And there's also an independent panel that would need to verify all of that data before it truly goes through and becomes approved.

BASH: Right. And then you also have all of those and then you have the FDA Commissioner vowing that he would resign before he would allow anything that wasn't completely safe and efficient and important for people to use before he allowed that to be approved. Not to mention Dr. Fauci saying that he trust the process. So as a fellow scientists and medical professional, does that give you hope?

PHILLIPS: It does. So that's the sort of the sort of political will that's necessary in this hyper political time. I've made it clear to everybody I know that I trust Dr. Fauci and what he stands for and to hear the FDA Commissioner say something so forceful is also critical, because when it comes to vaccines, it's all about trust.

There's enough vaccine hesitancy and you've already seen the surveys that have shown that a significant proportion of our population has already said they're not going to take a vaccine when it comes out. And it's two things that are coming up, it's not just this coronavirus vaccine or vaccines coming down the pike, but we're also right on the verge of influenza season.

And in a bad year when 61,000 people can die from influenza such as two years ago, it's important that people have vaccine trust, so they'll take even that annual vaccine to help prevent that. So it's a critical time around and as an emergency physician, we will be the first ones in line to get that vaccine.

So on a personal note, knowing that vaccine is safe is very important to me and my colleagues too.

BASH: That's such an important point. Well, thank you so much for your insight, Dr. James Phillips, always good to talk to you.

PHILLIPS: My pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

BASH: Thanks. And don't miss State of the Union tomorrow morning. My exclusive interview with Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris. We talked not just about COVID-19 and a vaccine but the criminal justice system, the nation's reckoning on race and Russian interference, much, much more as well. Join me on State of the Union tomorrow morning at 9 am Eastern.

Now, some hosts on Fox News have worked hard to discredit damning reports about President Trump and his administration. But last night, they were in overdrive, trying to discredit their own reporting. We're going to talk more about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:06]

BASH: It's all a hoax, questionable, coordinated. That's how Fox hosts describe a report in the Atlantic that says President Trump disparage military members who died in service for our country. But a Fox News Correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, says she confirmed key aspects of the article which she reported on the air on Fox News two hours before what you're about to hear on her own network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: Don't you find it the least bit questionable that the Biden campaign, perhaps the slowest, clumsiest entity since Joe Biden himself already had an ad made based on this hoax. So this is obviously coordinated, the timing is way too perfect. The questions were planned, the press are involved, it's pretty - I have to say, I got to give him credit for coming up with something this pretty disgusting, but that's the real story. Create a hoax, timed perfectly with an ad, planning the questions in advance. You boost it on social media. If you do not see this, you're blind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: But what we're seeing is that a reporter at that very network got similar information confirmed. So are they saying that she is coordinating? I don't think so. Because that reporter is Jennifer Griffin. Now, in full disclosure, rather, she's a friend of mine. But much more importantly she is a very well-respected reporter here in Washington. Her reputation is impeccable.

And I want to go now to CNN Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, who is also the author of best selling new book, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth. So Brian, people who kind of hear about Fox News and see the cover of your book and maybe even a lot of the content may not understand that there is sort of the opinion mostly at night, but that was earlier in the day.

[18:50:05]

But there are objective reporters who still work there including Jennifer Griffin who work hard to get the facts objectively. So given that, how are we seeing that reality of the reporting and then real journalism collide with a very real point of view that much of the network now takes?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is a huge tug-of-war inside Fox News. And right now, the news is usually losing and the pro Trump propaganda is usually winning. Jennifer Griffin is on the news side and she had a big victory here by reporting the facts, by getting her information out.

But then the network downplayed her reporting most of the day, barely put it on the homepage. It goes to show the tug-of-war is happening inside Fox and it's the big reason why I wrote hoax because so many journalists inside Fox confided in me and said it feels like management doesn't want us to report. They just want propaganda.

Look at what the President tweeted overnight about Jennifer Griffin, about Fox saying she should be fired for this kind of reporting. Of course, the reality is she should be promoted for this kind of reporting, not fired. There's the President, though on Twitter saying Fox News is gone. Of course, a few hours later, he started promoting the network once again and that's what the President does every day. He doesn't want news from Fox or anywhere else, he wants propaganda

from these outlets. But I think all of this chatter about the President's denials, his toothless denials, they distract from the real point here, Dana, which is that so many news outlets have now backed up Jeffrey Goldberg's reporting for The Atlantic. CNN has backed up parts of it, Fox, The Washington Post and other outlets.

So you have multiple reporters from multiple directions all substantiating this core reporting. Goldberg has so many examples of it in his story and they are so damning. So I think that really goes to show why this is a really important story and something that Trump White House is understandably concerned about. There were protesters today when the President went out to his golf club with signs that said things like Trump is a loser, not our troops. Soldiers are not suckers. Dead American soldiers are heroes, not losers.

I think those protesters, those signs, they speak to the potency of this particular story.

BASH: Yes, they sure do. And I just want to say as two reporters who understand what it takes to get something especially as delicate as that on the air, she didn't just go on the air with that, I'm sure.

STELTER: Right.

BASH: I haven't talked to her about it, but I'm sure she went through the proper channels to check sources as we all do when we are genuine reporters and it takes a lot of guts. She's a gutsy reporter.

STELTER: That's absolutely right. Let me just add to that.

BASH: Yes.

STELTER: Yes, she did. She went through the proper channels, but you played a soundbite from Greg Gutfeld, saying it's a hoax. So that kind of crazy propaganda, that conspiracy theorizing, that unfortunately is what gets lots of attention from Fox instead of real reporting. Thankfully though Jennifer Griffin's reporting has been able to get out and we're able to talk about it here as well.

BASH: Right. And I was referring to the President saying she should be fired, be fired for what? For doing her job, as you said, and we're glad that she is doing her job.

STELTER: Were doing her job, right.

BASH: Right. Thank you so much, Brian. Appreciate it.

And a quick programming note, tune in this Monday for a CNN special report, The Fight for The White House Donald Trump's Presidency. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton who had been criticized by Democrats for not testifying willingly in the House impeachment hearings spoke out months later. In a scathing tell all that confirmed the basics of the Democrat's impeachment case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Most of us understood for quite some time that there was a quid pro quo at work when Gordon Sondland testified.

GORDON SONDLAND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Everyone was in the loop.

BOLTON: I think that's right. Some of us were in the loop trying to stop it, however, and Mark Esper, the Defense Secretary, Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State and I were all trying to get Trump to release the security assistance to Ukraine. We probably tried eight or 10 different meetings with the President to do that.

And one such conversation I had with him and that was the point where he made the clearest statement that I heard that describes a quid pro quo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you've said if you were a Republican senator you would have voted to convict?

BOLTON: On that basis, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The CNN SPECIAL REPORT airs this Monday at 10 pm following a documentary on Joe Biden's political journey, that's at 8 pm Eastern.

Coming up, these are live pictures you're looking at of Louisville, Kentucky where protesters are marching towards the site of the Kentucky Derby demanding justice for Breonna Taylor.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TV weather consultants do not want us to talk science on it. They think that you don't understand those things. For South Florida, in particular, climate change is an immense threat, sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, freshwater flooding. Heat index values often exceeding 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Through his work, John (ph) makes it clear that this region could serve as a warning for what other parts of the world may face in the near future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broadcast meteorologists are entering these folks' households to provide a weather forecast on a daily basis and they've come to trust us. It is our responsibility to communicate on climate change and stand up in defense of science. That's what I want to continue doing heading forward.

Highs in the mid 70s, it should be quite a beautiful weekend in South Florida. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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