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As Trump Administration Limits Chinese Journalists' Visas, China Responds in Kind; CNN Airs Joe Biden Documentary Tonight; Interview with Restaurant Owner Jason Birchard. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 07, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. It is strange to think that what was supposed to be a routine renewal of my press card -- which would then allow me another 12 months of visa to continue to report here for CNN -- turned into a story, one that now has foreign ministry Chinese officials speaking publicly about CNN and several other media outlets involved in what has been deemed, as you put it, reciprocal measures taken against the U.S.

And what they've done to us, they've essentially said, we're not going to renew your press card and your visa, we're going to just extend it another two months. And we're going to wait and see what happens in the U.S.

So what's happening in the U.S. right now? Well, the Trump administration, starting back in May, decided to limit the amount of time that Chinese employees for state media living in the U.S. get to be working in the U.S., just (ph) 90 days.

Well, that was up in August. They then had an extension that would take them into November, November 6th. And they've yet to decide whether or not, during this period, they're going to renew the visas for those Chinese nationals working for state media in the U.S.

So the Chinese said, we're going to do the same to you. We're going to leave you in this uncertain mode right now. It's us along with "The Wall Street Journal," along with "Bloomberg," and more expected to be added to the list.

Now, here's what else the Chinese foreign ministry said. They said this just a few hours ago. They said, "The U.S., on the one hand, claims to be a champion of the freedom of the press. On the other hand, it is practicing discriminatory actions against Chinese media and even takes Chinese journalists in the U.S. as hostages to pressure China."

The U.S. for its side, Poppy, they say, wait a minute, we're not equating the two things here. These are very different things we're talking about: U.S. journalists working in China, and -- they say -- Chinese diplomats working for propaganda outlets in the U.S. They don't consider those to be journalistic outlets, they consider them to be state media and they have even, Poppy, made them register as foreign missions (ph). POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: David, I know things could change

by the hour, by the day for you. Please keep us posted. Thank you.

Ahead for us, "The Atlantic"'s editor in chief says his magazine's story about the president calling veterans "losers" is just the tip of the iceberg. What could this mean for the president's re-election bid? We'll discuss, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:36:35]

HARLOW: The White House is on defense this morning after "The Atlantic" reported in detail, the president denigrating U.S. service members, calling them, quote, "losers" and, quote, "suckers" according to the author and the editor of that magazine. That may not be all. Jeffrey Goldberg tells CNN that he fully expects new reports about the president on this topic in the coming days.

Our White House correspondent John Harwood is with me again this morning. Good morning to you, John. What is the response from the White House?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's a fierce pushback with various officials, former officials from Robert Wilkie, the V.A. secretary, the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders all says that this story is not true, that they've never heard the president make these remarks.

Of course, the fact that any individual hasn't heard the president make those remarks doesn't mean he didn't say them to somebody else. But until Jeffrey Goldberg's sources are willing to go on the record, if they do, we're going to be left in this situation where it's a credibility battle.

Jeffrey Goldberg is a journalist with very high credibility. The president and the administration do not have high credibility, but everybody's going to make their own judgments on that score. And Jeffrey does say more reporting is going to come out. It sounds as if he's working on more stories, and perhaps in those stories somebody goes on the record, which would make this disagreement a little easier to focus on.

HARLOW: Before you go, John, there's that, and the reporting that it sounds like, you're right, is coming out and it does sound like Goldberg may have some.

Three books about the president and his presidency are being released in the next week and a half, one by the president's former lawyer and self-proclaimed fixer Michael Cohen. And I should just note here -- right? -- because he says all these things about the president being a liar and a cheat and all this.

But, you know, according to federal prosecutors and Cohen's own guilty pleas -- nine of them on counts like tax evasion, lying to Congress, campaign finance violations -- I guess the question is, what are voters going to take away from Michael Cohen's claims?

HARWOOD: Well, given that history as you suggested, I think Michael Cohen, of these three books, is going to be -- have the toughest hurdle to make in terms of establishing his own credibility because he's acknowledged that he was doing some of the lying on behalf of the president in the past, and of course the president's pushing back on that.

Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who was fired as a result of texts showing bias in the case, nevertheless his work in the FBI -- significant amounts of it -- were corroborated by the Mueller report, which said that the Trump campaign knew that Russia was trying to help and welcomed that help.

I think the toughest book for the administration to dismiss will be Bob Woodward's, because Bob Woodward, of course, is a legendary journalist in Washington with a lot of credibility who has gotten access to the president himself. So we'll see whether his book is as dishy as his last one was, two years ago.

HARLOW: It certainly was. John Harwood, thank you for the reporting this morning.

Well, as the 2020 race heats up, tonight, CNN takes a look at both President Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, in a pair of special CNN documentaries. First up, a look at "Joe Biden's Long Journey" to presidential nominee, and that includes the tragic loss of his son Beau. Here's a preview.

[10:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): While the vice president tried to help his son, the son tried to help his father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I absolutely believe -- and I'll believe it until the day I die -- that the thing that Beau was most afraid of was not dying. What he was most afraid of is the impact it would have on his dad. That it would really take his dad out.

BORGER: Did he tell you that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. All the time.

BORGER (voice-over): It's something the vice president wrote about in 2017 in his book, "Promise Me, Dad."

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Beau just made me promise -- this was just before he died -- he said, Dad, you've got to promise me you're going to be OK.

I said, Beau, I'll be -- he said, Dad, look at me. Look me in the eye, Dad. Give me your word as a Biden, Dad, you're going to -- you're going to be OK. BORGER: Are you OK?

BIDEN: I am. Because it is still emotional, but I knew what he meant. He was worried I'd walk away from everything I worked in my whole life, the things I cared about. He knew I'd take care of the family, he never wondered about that. But he didn't want me walking away.

BORGER (voice-over): Beau Biden died on May 30th, 2015. He was 46 years old.

BORGER: Is it true you keep Beau's rosary with you?

BIDEN: Got it in my pocket.

BORGER: All the time?

BIDEN: I keep it all the time. He had it when he passed away. It was more gold. You can see it's worn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Wow. I can't wait to watch. Tonight, Gloria Borger --

BORGER: Thank you.

HARLOW: -- chief political analyst is with us.

Thank you for that. And I think one of the important things that CNN does these every election, and it's a real look at the candidate, right? And their lives, and things that people might not know way beyond what they say on the campaign trail.

Looking at the grief there and also empathy, Biden has talked about empathy as sort of his number one, you know, way to really connect with the average American.

BORGER: Yes. He does, and I talked with somebody who has worked with him who said it's his superpower. But when you go through his life, you know, he started out as this sort of arrogant, 29-year-old who won a seat for the Senate before he could actually even sit in the Senate.

And then just weeks after, his wife and young daughter are killed in a car crash. And that was sort of stunning tragedy. And then years later, of course, in 2015 as you just saw, the death of his son Beau Biden. These are kind of bookends for him in many ways.

And I think the way Biden gets through it is that he reaches out to people in kind of a pastoral way because he said to me, look, I can understand their grief. And I think it helps him, in a way, to share his own. And so I think that's kind of the underpinning for the way he approaches things.

And the way he's always approached politics is on a very personal level. As you look at his career, the ups and the downs -- and there are both, you know? He ran for the presidency a couple of times before this and didn't do so well early on. And -- but the way he approaches it is on a very personal level.

HARLOW: Yes, yes. And when you mentioned the date that Beau Biden died, 2015, obviously has a lot to do -- and his being ill, right? In the run-up to it -- why Joe Biden didn't run in 2016.

BORGER: Right.

HARLOW: What more did you learn about that?

BORGER: Well, he didn't run in 2016 because I think the overriding factor is of course that he wasn't ready to. He didn't think he had overcome his grief enough, and that he wouldn't have been able to put enough into the campaign. But don't forget, when he started thinking about it, Hillary Clinton was already the frontrunner and Barack Obama -- his friend, who was president of the United States -- was not encouraging to him about running.

And he writes about that in his book, and it's very clear that Hillary Clinton had kind of taken off, was out of the gate, had a lot of the money, had a lot of the backing, had a lot of the staff. And while some people really thought Biden could have made a go of it, I think there were all these hurdles including his own sort of sense of self and what he would be able to contribute to a campaign at that particular point in his life.

HARLOW: To do a two-hour documentary like this, you spend a ton of time reading and --

BORGER: Yes.

HARLOW: -- researching, and with the candidate themselves and the people who know them best. What surprised you the most?

BORGER: I think what really struck me -- I don't know whether it surprised me --

HARLOW: Right.

BORGER: -- was the number of people you would sort of talk to about Joe Biden, and they would tell a story about, he was the first guy to reach out to me after my father died, like Rahm Emanuel, who cried. And you know, gruff Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago --

[10:45:07]

HARLOW: Right.

BORGER: -- he was the first guy to reach out to me and he did this for me, he called me, he comforted my son when this happened or that happened, with a stutter. So there are so many stories like that.

And the eulogizer, he became the sort of eulogizer of the Senate for someone like Strom Thurmond, who actually requested Joe Biden to eulogize him in his will --

HARLOW: Wow. BORGER: -- which was sort of surprising to me.

So I think that it's these stories that you have to day, OK, when you hear enough of them, you have to say, well, this is real. It's not something that people are making up just to get the guy elected, that these are things they feel very personally about Biden. So the number of those kind of surprised me.

HARLOW: Looking forward to it tonight, Gloria. To you and your --

BORGER: Thanks.

HARLOW: -- whole team, it is a huge amount of work.

BORGER: Thanks, yes.

HARLOW: Thanks so much.

BORGER: Thank you, thanks to my whole team. You're right, thank you.

HARLOW: Yes, it's a huge amount of work. All right --

BORGER: It is.

HARLOW: -- well don't miss it tonight, back-to-back documentary event, "Fight for the White House." It airs tonight, 8:00 Eastern on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:40]

HARLOW: Well, a stunning new study by the New York State Restaurant Association finds nearly two thirds of New York restaurants could be out of business as soon as January if they do not get some additional government aid.

Joining me now is a restaurant owner facing that devastating reality. Jason Birchard, he is the co-owner of Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant in Manhattan, as my 4-year-old daughter calls it, in the Big City.

And we are all rooting for you. I mean, Jason, the fact that you guys have been around for generations. Your grandfather owned it, then your father and now you. Is that what you're up against, that you could have to close forever?

JASON BIRCHARD, RESTAURANT OWNER: It's a disconcerting proposition. I mean, I've been very grateful to have outdoor dining and an existing sidewalk cafe, and took (ph) advantage of Mayor de Blasio's Open Streets initiative that put some extra tables in the streets.

But with no concrete plan or proposal or protocols about what's going to happen with indoor dining, (INAUDIBLE) we don't open up indoor dining before January, we will face some difficult decisions.

HARLOW: OK, so there is -- as you know -- on Thursday, more than 350 New York City restaurants filed this class action lawsuit against city and state officials, it's a $2 billion class action, saying that banning indoor dining right now is causing irreparable harm.

The -- you know, the public health response to that is, we don't want to spread COVID, and it's more likely to spread inside, et cetera. Where do you fall on this? I mean, are you supportive of that lawsuit? New Jersey for example, 25 percent capacity, they're now allowing indoor dining. What do you need?

BIRCHARD: I need a minimum of 50 percent. We need some form of indoor dining. I mean, I'm a proponent of what Cuomo and de Blasio have done to get us over the curve, but at this point I think we need to open indoor dining. I mean, the metrics are there. I mean, they're -- whether or not I want to make a lawsuit against the government, that's another case.

HARLOW: Right. I hear you, and I know you were supportive of Governor Cuomo really -- you know, and the mayor really shutting down New York in many ways when they did that. I guess, are you saying now because the infection rate is so low here in New York City, you feel like you can safely reopen at half capacity?

I wonder what you think in the winter, if the infection rate goes way up? Would you still feel that way?

BIRCHARD: I mean, we'd have to play it by ear. I mean, I'm all for keeping people -- you know, the public safe, including my staff. I mean, they have to travel as well. But yes, I would take that into consideration. But at this stage (ph), you know, today, I think we can do it.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Yes. You -- so people know you -- sorry to interrupt you. Technology, stepping on you a little bit, I apologize. You and your wife both had COVID, and I'm glad that you're better now, but I mean you know what it's like to experience this. And you talk about keeping your staff safe as well as your customers.

Can you speak to exactly what you need from the government? Because it's like this impasse in Congress still, that another stimulus bill has not been agreed upon. It's amazing to me that they have still not come to the table here to really get something done. What specifically do you need from them for your restaurant?

BIRCHARD: They need to come -- first and foremost, they have to make a decision about some form of indoor dining, whether it's 25, 50 percent. I mean, I was fortunate to receive, on the first pass, some PPP monies. But that comes with reservations, meaning that I can only use that money if I hire all my staff back.

So at the operational level that I'm at now, it's kind of a double- edged sword. I can't use the money that's appropriated to me. But if I'm able to open more, then I can use that money. I would think that if there -- this were to continue, then I would need more help from the government in terms of some funding to keep my business alive. HARLOW: OK. Jason, I'm so glad you could be here. Thank you for

letting us know. And I said I'm going to try to come and bring the family this weekend, sit outside --

BIRCHARD: Please, come down (ph).

HARLOW: -- to support you guys. Obviously, you guys are so much of what makes this city great. Good luck, Jason.

[10:55:05]

BIRCHARD: Happy Labor Day.

HARLOW: You, too.

And thanks to all of you for joining me on this Labor Day. I'm Poppy Harlow. Jim will be back with us tomorrow, so we'll see you back here tomorrow morning. NEWSROOM with John King is after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:03]

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Welcome to a special Labor Day edition of the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for spending this holiday with us.