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Protesters In Kentucky: "No Justice, No Derby"; Former Senior Admin Officer To CNN: Trump Referred To Marines Buried At Cemetery In France In Crude And Derogatory Terms; Kamala Harris: Trump's Word Alone Not Enough On Vaccine Safety; Joe Biden Holds Lead Over Trump In National Polls; How The Election Could Come Down To One Electoral Vote. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 05, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Welcome to a special edition of CNN Newsroom. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. 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 light on the police involved killing of an unarmed black woman nearly six months ago, Breonna Taylor.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Louisville right now. And Jason, the Kentucky Derby is just getting underway. You were in a crowd that marched to Churchill Downs where it's taking place. What did people in that crowd tell you?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're still here. And first of all, I just want to show you what we're seeing here. It's really an incredible site an historic site. If you look here, Churchill Downs, the site of celebration for decades Dana as you know, now the site of civil unrest as you've got hundreds of demonstrators who have now converged on the outside of Churchill Downs.

Right at the entrance they're met there by dozens and dozens of Louisville metro police in riot gear. It's an incredible site. Those who are out here Dana say it's a necessary site, necessary for justice for Breonna Taylor.

We started at the park nearby and marched nearly a mile to this location. Certainly the outside perimeter of Churchill Downs until we came to this point and what we've been seeing as you've seen people like --

BASH: Okay, we just lost Jason Carroll's microphone. That happens when you are running and gunning out live reporting, especially with technology. So if we get his microphone back, we will go back. But you do see those protests, live pictures of the protests surrounding Churchill Downs, mostly -- as far as we know entirely peaceful. And again it bears repeating, most of the protesters we see are wearing a mask. We'll see if this has any effect on the desire to bring those who killed Breonna Taylor to justice.

I want to turn now to breaking news on the latest controversy to engulf the White House. While President Trump and his loyalists are strongly pushing back on "The Atlantics" reporting that he insulted America's war dead calling them losers and suckers.

This is a story that "The Associated Press" and Fox News matched as well that originated from "The Atlantic" magazine. CNN is getting new information also. I want to go straight to Jeremy Diamond who is at the White House. Jeremy, what are you hearing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right Dana. Well, there's no question that the White House is still reeling from this report, the president vociferously denying it repeatedly over several days. Now a former senior administration official is confirming this story to our colleague Jim Acosta, confirming that the president did indeed refer to these American soldiers who died in this critical battle in World War I in France that he referred to them in crude and derogatory terms.

This confirms the reporting from "The Atlantic" that the president referred to those individuals as suckers and losers as he was deciding whether or not to attend a ceremony at this cemetery in France. I want to read you a section of this Atlantic story that describes that decision in detail and this is what it says.

It says in a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled meeting, 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 more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Bella Wood as suckers for getting killed.

Now as I said Dana, the president has repeatedly and vociferously denied this story and a parade of current and former administration officials have also come out to deny it as well. It is perhaps the strongest push back that we have ever seen from the White House on a story like this.

And there's no question that the president politically needs the support of the military and also needs this vision that he is a great supporter of the military and of veterans in order to win in the 2020 election.

Now, besides that though, Dana there is another piece of reporting that we also have and that is from a person who is familiar with some of the perditions, comments on this and that is that the president has repeatedly questioned why Vietnam War veterans ended up serving and going to war, that the president in those conversations has suggested that those veterans didn't know how to gain the system? How to get out of the military draft at the time?

That seems to be a reference of course to the fact that the president himself has never reserved in the military. And in fact he received several educational deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam and ultimately also he also received a medical deferment to avoid the draft after he received a doctor's note claiming that he had bone spurs.

[19:05:00]

DIAMOND: So, there's no question this is putting the president's relationship with the military and with veterans in the spotlight. And of course while the president portrays himself as the great defender of the military and of veterans, this is shining new light on that.

But also there are past comments by the president including his attacks on the Gold Star family of Captain Humayun Khan as well as other incidents like the president's questioning of John McCain and attacks on John McCain saying that he was not a hero because he was captured. All of that now is forming a much more complete picture and certainly a complicated one that the White House is not looking to engage in with less than two months until the election, Dana.

BASH: Complicated is a diplomatic way of putting it Jeremy, thank you so much for all that reporting at the White House. And with me to discuss this is California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining me.

I asked you to come on not necessarily as a member of Congress or as -- I think you would call yourself a partisan Democrat, but as somebody who was an active duty officer in the United States Air Force.

So, with that hat on, talk about what you hear when you hear these comments that the president reportedly has made?

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you, Dana for your question. As a veteran, I find it outrageous that anyone would say that Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice were somehow losers or suckers. It is completely unacceptable when those words come from our Commander in Chief. Donald Trump must apologize for his dishonorable remarks.

BASH: Okay. Well, I think you and I both know that's not likely to happen considering the fact that he is vehemently denying it, A, and B, I don't think we've heard him apologize much for anything since he's been in political life. But talk about the effect that this may have -- not on politics, but on the men and women serving right now.

LIEU: We know from a recent poll a few weeks ago that active duty troops prefer Joe Biden over Donald Trump. We know that Donald Trump has disparaged Gold Star families in the past. He called John McCain, one of our war heroes, a loser. By the way, Donald Trump can start for apologizing for calling John McCain a loser. He's on a video tape saying that.

Imagine if you're a deployed person in Afghanistan, if you're one of our military members on the front lines and you hear about these remarks by the President of the United States. How demoralizing that must be. So I hope Donald Trump sees it within himself to apologize for these comments because it is hurting military families and the morale of military troops.

BASH: I want to ask you about this in terms of raw politics, because that is obviously what the president is most concerned about, as any president would be 60 days before he's up for re-election.

And my question is knowing what you know about the way the public perceives this president, is this going to, in all candor sway any votes given the fact that you just described comments that the president has made in public about people who have served like John McCain and others. Is this baked in when it comes to the perception and a driver of what could happen in November?

LIEU: That's a great question. I think the polling shows that Biden's lead has been relatively stable, and that's because most people have made up their minds about Donald Trump. There's not that many people across America when you ask them about the president they're like well, I don't know what to think about him.

So most people already have a view but there are some who are still deciding who they want to vote for. So, this certainly will affect a small population of people. But also will affect turn out. And it's just going to; I think, depress turn out amongst some of his supporters and really enrage veterans and other people who were deeply offended by Donald Trump's remarks.

BASH: So speaking about being offended, one person who should in theory be offended is his Former Chief of Staff General Kelly who lost his son in battle. We have not heard from him or the Former Defense Secretary Mattis on these claims. I want to play for you what a former senior Trump official Miles Taylor told my colleague Ana Cabrera this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILES TAYLOR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO HOMELAND DECURITY SECRETARY KIRSTJEN NIELSEN: I hate to tease this, but as you would expect Ana have been pretty actively involved in trying to give people the confidence to come out and to say what they need to say and to not fear this president. I do think in the coming days here I'm going to have some news for you in that regard. And I think we will have more folks attaching their names to direct criticism of the president, stepping out of the shadows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: What do you think when you hear that?

[19:10:00]

BASH: And more broadly -- and actually not more broadly, more specifically, should John Kelly come out and talk publicly on the record about this since he was there and he, you know, has a lot at stake here?

LIEU: Both John Kelly and General Mattis have spoken up in the past. I do urge them to do so again. The fact that they have not denied these reports I think already speaks volumes. And we have John Bolton essentially saying that Donald Trump very well could have made these remarks.

But it's also consistent with Donald Trump's behavior. In addition to attacking Gold Star families and calling John McCain a loser, Donald Trump has yet to condemn Vladimir Putin for paying money to Taliban to kill U.S. troops. So this is completely consistent with Donald Trump's past behavior and current behavior. And I don't think anyone in America really believes that Donald Trump didn't say this.

BASH: Okay. Well, thank you so much for joining me. You're right that General Kelly and Mattis both came out but not very actively. It was just mostly about the president going over to the Church and bringing the military with him for what was widely perceived as a political stunt.

But for the most part they've kind of kept quiet. So we'll see if that continues with this current situation, this current controversy. Thank you so much Congressman Ted Lieu I appreciate it. Thanks for joining.

LIEU: Thanks Dana.

BASH: And let's go back to Louisville, Kentucky our Jason Carroll is there. We've established coms with you. You are outside Churchill Downs. What's the scene like right now?

CARROLLS: And Dana, just a short while ago we heard from Tim Finley, Jr., Pastor Finley. He talked about the need, the significance to be out here today. Inside there as you see the marchers now trying to go past the front entrance to Churchill Downs, you're not going to see the fans inside there and everyone out here knows that.

But they talked about the significance of being here because all ears and eyes are on Louisville. They wanted to make sure that on this day that those who are watching know that there are thousands upon thousands of people here who are still marching and trying to get justice for Breonna Taylor.

And so what you're seeing right here are those protesters who were out here in front of the front entrance of Churchill Downs with all of these Louisville police officers in riot gear. They made some statements and now what they're doing is if you look down here on this end of Churchill Downs, they're starting their march.

They're starting their march again, and police are starting to follow them. We've been out here now for more than an hour. We started at a park nearby. Marched to about a mile to where we are now. We circled down the perimeter of the Churchill Downs.

And then I said to one of the organizers, I said what's next? They said we're just going to keep marching, not only tonight, but night after night until there is eventually justice for Breonna Taylor. So, Dana, at this point the march continues.

BASH: And Jason, before I let you go, it looks as though -- we've talked about the fact that it looks like the majority of the protesters are wearing, but I think the thing that the thing that is also striking me as I'm looking at the video that you're sending in as you talk, it's a very diverse crowd.

CARROLLS: Oh yeah, yeah without question. There are black people out here. There are white people out here, Latinos, men, women. This crowd is diverse. I mean -- and that's one of the other points that they're trying to get out here. Those who support Breonna Taylor you know they're saying -- these organizers are saying that people of all different colors, all different dominations.

Now look, that's in some stark contrast to what we saw earlier today across town, if you will, when we saw members of a white militia group sort of like coming clash, come to odds with members of Black Lives Matter. That was a different situation, different scenario.

Police eventually got in the mid of that, broke that up, both sides went home. And in fact we've seen members of the black militia armed members of the black militia out here as well. White militia armed black militia, look, it's illegal here in the State of Kentucky to open carry, so that's really not the point.

But the point to what you're getting at is here the demonstrators who showed up want to make sure that this is not a black issue, it is not a white issue it's an issue of justice, justice for a woman who happens to be black it feels though still not enough justice for women and men who are black here in the country. They say they're going to keep marching.

BASH: Thank you so much for that. I'm glad that you explained what those pictures that we've been seeing for the last few hours armed militia because it is legal to walk and to protest with those weapons. We really appreciate you being there. Keep us posted as you continue to watch that protest again, protesting for justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her apartment in a police-involved shooting six months ago.

And coming up, we'll take you live to Rochester, New York, where the New York Attorney General has just impaneled the grand jury in the Daniel Prude shooting investigation there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:00]

BASH: The CDC tells communities to get ready to distribute a Coronavirus vaccine by the end of October. President Trump saying we could probably have it by then. But medical experts are skeptical, and so as Vice Presidential Nominee Senator Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: 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 a vaccine?

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 for whatever he can get to pretend that he has been a leader on this issue when he has not.

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

[19:20:00]

HARRIS: Well, I think that's going to be an issue for all of us. Well, I would say that I will 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)

BASH: Dr. Patrice Harris, Former President of the American Medical Association, is with me now. Doctor, you were head of the AMA until recently. What would you tell your patients the lines are that the FDA and the administration have to get to in order for you to feel comfortable that the vaccine is safe?

DR. PATRICE HARRIS, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Well, Dana, first of all, thank you for having me. And this is a very important conversation because we have to make sure that we have the data that we need physicians across this country, in order to recommend this vaccine to our patients.

We know vaccines historically do so much and help us prevent infectious disease. But we will have to see the data and the data and the science has to be unfettered by politics. It's not about press releases. It's not about public relations.

So, we, as the AMA and the physician community, have asked that the FDA and the researchers coordinate with us. And we want to make sure that this process is transparent and that we have access to all of the data.

And I have to tell you, Dana, as an African-American physician we know there's so much misinformation and disinformation overall out there and vaccine hesitancy. I feel an even greater responsibility to make sure that we have the data that we need unfettered by politics.

BASH: And this is for another conversation, but it's understandable that people in the black community are skeptical of vaccines, given what has happened historically in that community with science. Again, that's another conversation.

In the here and the now, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the Coronavirus vaccine makers are planning a really unusual pledge against seeking premature FDA approval. You kind of think, well, it makes sense because this is also a business for them, or primarily a business for them.

And the last thing they want is to take something to market to the public that either doesn't work or, you know, could actually hurt people. But does that give you some sigh of relief to see that at least the business side of this is saying we're not going to get politics involved either?

DR. HARRIS: Well, certainly any stakeholder involved that makes a commitment to the science and the data and not politics is a positive move. But, Dana, when I first heard that, I was very sad because here we are in this situation. It's absolutely unfortunate that we should even have to be concerned about this.

This should be a given that, you know, no one would think about a vaccine and recommending a vaccine without the data. But here we are in this period where there's been mixed messages, where there's a lot of science denial.

So, certainly that is a positive move, but certainly we will have to see the data. And you know, it's September, and a lot of these clinical trials are still enrolling. So, at the end of the day, it will be about the science and a transparent look at the data unfettered by politics.

BASH: Dr. Patrice Harris, thank you so much it is always good to talk to you.

DR. HARRIS: Thank you for having me.

BASH: Thank you. And on "State of the Union" tomorrow morning, my exclusive interview with Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Senator Kamala Harris. We talked not just about COVID and as you heard about a vaccine, but the criminal justice system, the nation's reckoning on race, Russian interference, and more. Join me on "State of the Union" tomorrow morning at 9:00 am eastern.

Plus less than two months from Election Day polls show Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of President Trump, but could the race for the White House come down to one electoral vote? You're going to want to see this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:00]

BASH: Less than two months out from the November election and Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden is holding his lead over President Trump in the national polls. But could all of these results, everything that we're seeing, come down to one electoral vote?

Let's discuss this with CNN Senior Political Writer and Analyst Harry Enten. So Harry, let's start with that teaser. How Joe Biden is doing nationally and what are you referring to when you tell us that it could be one electoral vote?

[19:30:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. So let's just start nationally. Right? I think it's important to point out that Joe Biden continues to hold that national lead, and not just that he holds that national lead, but he's doing better than Hillary Clinton was at this particular point and he is over 50 percent.

He's up by eight, she was only up by three and this lead has been holding through the conventions. So it's a very solid lead. It's honestly, Dana, the most solid lead, the most stable lead I've seen on record dating back to 1940.

BASH: Wow. Okay. Well, as we've said many times and it bears repeating, the national outlook is important, but it is not determinative.

I mean, if you look back, the national polls weren't wrong about Hillary Clinton. It's just she did win the Popular Vote, but it comes down to the swing states, and it comes down to the Electoral College. So what are you seeing there?

ENTEN: Yes, so the swing states are the most important as you point out, and what we see there is that in the six closest contests in 2016 that Trump won, in all of them, at this point Biden is doing worse than he is doing nationally.

He is still ahead in all of those in which we have polls, but he is doing worse than he is nationally, and that's very important because if you were essentially to compare with the national voters, and what I would call the tipping point state, that is the state that puts you over the top in the Electoral College. What do you see?

You see that while Biden is up by eight nationally, he is only up by five in that tipping point state that is Arizona at this particular point. And that would essentially mean you have this three point difference between the national vote and the state that's going to put someone over the top of the Electoral College.

So I say that Biden's true margin at this point is actually closer to five points than the eight points that the national polls indicate right now.

BASH: And so I mentioned that one electoral vote, this is in your story on cnn.com. It's in Nebraska, the second Congressional district. That could be a decider.

ENTEN: Yes, this -- I just love our politics sometimes. This is just so fascinating to me.

So Nebraska, like Maine allocates its electoral votes. It gives two to the statewide winner, and then gives one to the winner in each Congressional district. And if you were to take those state polling averages that I showed you earlier, and let's just say that Trump does five points better across the board than the current averages, then Joe Biden would win with 270 electoral votes.

The bare minimum necessary if he wins that one electoral vote in the second Congressional district in Nebraska, and at this point, I do believe he would, but that's one electoral vote and if you go on to cnn.com, you can see I have a slew of these different scenarios that I think are quite realistic where one electoral vote can make all the difference.

BASH: Which is why Donald Trump is also hoping to get that one electoral vote in Maine, as you mentioned.

Harry, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Always good to talk to you.

And coming up, how an aspiring American writer was unwittingly lured into a Russian plot. This is not fiction. This actually happened.

A plot to meddle in the 2020 election. You're going to hear about this after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:01]

BASH: Now a CNN exclusive, a 26-year-old American who lost his job due to COVID-19 got roped into an apparent Russian plot to meddle in the 2020 election.

Jack Delaney is his name, an aspiring writer living in Brooklyn, New York. He thought he got a lucky break when an online magazine offered him a paid columnist role, but little did he know he'd been recruited by a Russian troll farm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACK DELANEY, FREELANCE WRITER: I mean, this isn't the way I want to be getting media attention or getting notoriety. This -- I mean, it is embarrassing, right? Like I wrote for a foreign government and I had no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER (voice over): Jack Delany is a 26-year-old aspiring writer who lost his day job at a restaurant because of COVID-19, so he was delighted when somebody calling themselves Alex Lacusta messaged him on Twitter, offered him a job writing for Peace Data, a left-wing news website.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELANEY: The message was, you know, saying, hey, we like your work, would you like to write for us? Would you like to be a part of our publication? We can offer you about $200.00 to $250.00 per article.

And at that time, I was like -- I mean, this sounds like a good opportunity for me. I can make money, and get my work published.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Everything seemed to look normal to Delany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELANEY: I had looked at all the editors, or a few of the editors. I saw that there were LinkedIn accounts watched to their names. Their pictures were popping up on Google image searches. So you know, at a glance, it looked legitimate

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): But Lacusta wasn't who he said he was. In fact, he didn't exist at all and Peace Data wasn't an independent left-wing site. It is, according to Facebook, acting on a tip from the F.B.I., a Russian influenced operation.

Peace Data says the accusations are baseless. The Russian government has not commented.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELANEY: I am obviously no fan of Putin or the Russian government. So, it was concerning. Obviously, I don't want to have any association with an authoritarian regime. So it was -- it was -- I mean, I can't put it in any other words that it was like one of the strangest experiences of my life.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): But it must be quite surreal to hear about this and say oh, my God, I'm -- am I part of a Russian disinformation campaign?

DELANEY: Totally surreal. I was completely unwittingly doing it. I had no idea that they were linked to the Kremlin or anything. You know, obviously, if I had known, I wouldn't have done that.

It seemed like -- it seemed legitimate from what I saw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): The whole thing apparently a Russian con. Each the profile picture of Delaney's editor, not a picture of a real person, but an image of a face generated by a computer through artificial intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): You know, I was looking at that picture and there is no way I could have told that there was anything off about it. That it was a fake image.

It looked so real.

DELANEY: It looked like a headshot. It's just looked like a standard head shot of an editor that I have seen in other places. You know, it didn't tip me off as being a fake image, obviously. I had no way to tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:40:05]

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): And Jack wasn't alone. CNN spoke to three other Americans who were also coopted, all paid online and it was all done by people linked to the Internet Research Agency according to Facebook.

That's the same Russian troll group that interfered in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELANEY: I am more mad at myself for letting this happen than at like Vladimir Putin or Russia or anything. Like I should have -- I should have my guard up a little bit more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins me now. What a story, Donie. What was the point of the scheme? How did he actually find out about it?

O'SULLIVAN: Hi, Dana. Yes, I mean, this is -- this is all about adding fuel to the fire of what is happening here in the U.S., trying to inflame existing divisions along racial lines and along political lines.

And as you saw this campaign was using real Americans to make these sites and social media pages seem more credible. Now, this site posed as a left-wing website and what we saw on it were attacks on Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris, but from the left.

So you'll remember Russia used social media in the same way in 2016, to try and split the Democratic vote trying to turn people against Hillary Clinton.

And of course, Dana, we know from U.S. Intelligence that Russia right now is trying to meddle in November's election. And this is just one of the examples of I'm sure the many techniques they're using.

BASH: Well, Donie, it's one thing to kind of read and learn about bulletins from the Department of Homeland Security or Intelligence about this. It's a whole different thing that you were able to show us how they are actually trying to work to get Americans to do their dirty work for them inside Russia.

Amazing reporting. Thank you so much, Donie.

And we're following live protests in Louisville, Kentucky and Rochester, New York. This hour, we're going to take you to both places, live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:29]

BASH: Protests are underway in Louisville, Kentucky right now demanding justice for 26-year-old, Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in her apartment back in March.

I want to go right to CNN's Jason Carroll who is still outside Churchill Downs. Jason, protestors, you said are hoping to shift attention from today's running of the Kentucky Derby where you are to Breonna Taylor and to their demand for justice. What's happening right now?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you hit the nail right on the head with that one, Dana, and in speaking to the organizers out here, they feel as though they've accomplished their goal.

Look, we're right back where it all started. We're back at the park. This is the park where all the organizers initially had gathered you'll remember earlier today.

We've now marched away from Churchill Downs, back to the park where it all started. So I thought it'd be appropriate that we bring in Pastor Tim Finley. We spoke to you earlier today, Pastor, as things were just getting underway. I think it's appropriate to come back to you now at the end of the day to ask you this. Do you think you accomplished what you set out to do?

PASTOR TIMOTHY FINLEY, JR. PROTEST ORGANIZER: Absolutely. Me, talking to you right now was a part of our plan. We wanted the world to see. We wanted everyone to see and understand that we're not happy, we're not satisfied with what the Attorney General is doing, what the Mayor is doing. We want justice for Breonna Taylor.

While that race was going on, people were forced to pay attention to what was going on outside of Churchill Downs, and we did so nonviolently, but we're going to continue to do this.

CARROLL: The Attorney General says that -- he put out a statement on Twitter today basically saying that he is still following all of the facts, still trying to complete this investigation.

FINLEY: Breonna Taylor was murdered five and a half months ago. She was murdered five and a half months ago. He has enough right now, the Mayor has had enough to fire them at the very least. We do not believe that it should take this long. It has taken too long and too many times we see this happen with black and brown bodies.

CARROLL: You said in the beginning of the day earlier today that you wanted this to be a nonviolent protest. It was from what we have seen.

FINLEY: Yes.

CARROLL: But some tense moments out there at Churchill Downs a little earlier today, when you saw hundreds of those protesters. And then on the other side of the fence, you saw all of those police officers lined up. So some tense moments there.

FINLEY: Well, that's symbolic of black life in America that we live in tense moments. We live in those kinds of moments where there are standoffs, there are rising frustrations. That's something that we're used to.

So seeing tense and seeing emotion, that's a part of what it means to be black in America and that's why we're pushing for this kind of change.

CARROLL: All right, Pastor Tim Finley. I want to thank you very much for joining us both parts of the day.

So Dana, this demonstration over for now, but those who are out here say they are going to continue to demonstrate until there's justice for Breonna Taylor -- Dana.

BASH: Jason, thank you so much. It was really important to hear from the pastor at the end of the day there. Thank you for that.

And from Louisville, Kentucky. We go now to Rochester, New York. The death of Daniel Prude in police custody. Officers who approach Prude that snowy night have now been suspended.

Police used a spit sock over his head after Prude who was having a mental health episode claimed to have coronavirus and threatened to spit on them.

Polo Sandoval is in Rochester where protests turned violent last night. Polo, there are new developments in the case. What can you tell us about the investigation and what's the status of protests at this hour?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Dana, this group of peaceful protests returning to the very site of that incident where it took place about five months ago today.

So what we're seeing now is really that word, "accountability." Something that's extremely important for this group of peaceful protesters among the long list of demands.

[19:50:08]

SANDOVAL: And today, receiving that announcement, that news coming from the New York State Attorney General that she is ordering the empowering of a grand jury that will take a closer look at this case.

Obviously, their main goal here, or at least what this community has been asking for, for already three, and tonight would be night four of this protest is charges to be filed against those officers involved.

But really, that's just the start. Of course, they're looking -- they're demanding the resignation of the Police Chief, demanding the resignation of the Mayor as well.

But in the meantime, the reaction that we're also getting is not just from people here in the community, but officials as well who say that we are hopeful that this will at least be a step in the right direction here as they try to fully investigate this case.

A reminder that the Attorney General has been investigating this case since earlier this summer. There was initial internal investigation that was launched by Rochester City officials and as we heard from the Rochester Police, who yesterday saying that they were told that the investigation there found that these police officers acted within the boundaries of their training.

And so that leads to the other big conversation that's been happening in this community was, if that's the case, then perhaps the training certainly has to be checked and perhaps even revised here because the other concern that people have had is the question of whether or not police officers have the right training, the right experience and most importantly, the know-how in dealing with individuals who might be dealing with a mental episode, which appears to have been the case here.

So as we get ready for night four of protest here, of course, a lot of people here hoping that things will remain as peaceful as they are right now.

BASH: Absolutely, let's hope so. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much for that report. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:26]

BASH: A new CNN film, "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries" is giving us a fascinating look at the world of presidential primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN POLITICAL EMBED PRODUCER: This is what we call hell week.

Oh my God, this feels so nice.

On a normal day, I do three events a day.

On a normal day, I do three events a day.

I am a campaign embed. I stalk presidential candidates for a living. I run around with a 20-pound camera seven days a week, 24 hours a day documenting everything that a presidential candidate is doing.

Right now, I am covering Senator Elizabeth Warren. I have been traveling the country with her for eight months, full time, nonstop providing the base for coverage to our company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Joining me now two of my colleagues, women you saw in the film one of them you just saw in that clip, CNN political embeds Daniella Diaz and Jasmine Wright. Hey, guys, thank you so much for doing this.

This is just a fantastic documentary. Again, done by CNN Films, our colleague, Katie Hinman. This is her brainchild showing what it's like to be reporters on the ground. I have to say it is still very jarring, Daniella, to watch you run through a crowd of people without a mask on, given where we are right now. I'm sure it is for you too, because we were all there. I was there at that event with you, Elizabeth Warren's back in Iowa. But Danielle, let me start with you. We're now showing America and the

world that it is such a fun job and it's such a rush, but it's not a lot of glamour.

DIAZ: Yes. Exactly, Dana. I have felt that this job really shows all the work that -- this documentary really shows all the work that goes into everything we do to bring the news to everyone.

I mean, we don't sleep. We hardly eat. We run around living out of a suitcase. It's not very glamorous, but it's an incredible job that I'm so glad that people get to see what we do in this documentary.

BASH: And Jaz, you are one of the stars of this show as well. I love watching you in action there. I mean, I love watching you in action in real life because I get to work with you. But I love the fact that it's captured on this film.

So what is the most important thing you want people to know about why you do what you do and why they should tune in to watch you do what you do in this documentary coming up soon?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN POLITICAL EMBED PRODUCER: So I think one of the most important things I want people to know is that so much goes into telling the story that we do day in and day out. And so much of that is about not only telling the country's story, but showing what it looks like on the ground, showing why people do this thing called democracy.

Why they exercise their constitutional duties and come to rallies and be a part of that process in picking their next President.

So when people watch, you know, I hope that that's one of the things that they take away.

BASH: Well, they sure will. Jasmine and Daniela, good to see you guys. See you, you know, out on the trail, whatever that looks like these days. "On The Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries" premieres next on CNN.

I'm Dana Bash in Washington. Thank you so much for watching. Don't miss my interview with Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris. That is tomorrow on "State of the Union" 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern and I'll be back tomorrow right here in this chair at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN NEWSROOM.

Have a good night.

[20:00:16]