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President Trump Likely To Nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett To Supreme Court; President Trump States He Will Only Lose Presidential Election Due To Voter Fraud; Attorney For Breonna Taylor's Family Demands Grand Jury Transcripts In Case Related To Her Death Be Released; President Trump And Joe Biden Prepare For First Presidential Debate; Multiple Companies Running Trials On Coronavirus Vaccine. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 26, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:17]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We are just now three hours away from President Trump's scheduled announcement of his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, and sources tell CNN he intends to choose Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And just in the past hour, CNN cameras captured Barrett and her family leaving their South Bend, Indiana, home. She did not answer questions. You hear they are being shouted to her about her possible nomination.

So with just 38 days now until voters head to the polls, the president claims a new justice should be seated before the election to help decide any potential disputes over the final vote. Today's nomination comes as the president continues to baselessly cast doubt and uncertainty about the legitimacy of the upcoming election and whether or not he'll actually accept the results.

At a rally last night in Virginia, Trump repeated his claims that the only way he will lose is if the vote is rigged. President Trump will hold another campaign rally tonight in battleground state of Pennsylvania.

We have a team of correspondents covering these developments for us. Ariane de Vogue is at the U.S. Supreme Court, Jeremy Diamond is at the White House. Let's begin with you, Ariane. What are you learning?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: If you hear a little bit of opera music playing in the background, that's because people are still here coming to pay their respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But it was just a week ago that she died. The president has moved forward with this -- with his staff, trying to vet new nominees during the week, but only one got a hearing, and that's Amy Coney Barrett.

Keep in mind, she is 48-years-old. That's young. She's a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She would be the youngest member of this court. And she would be the fifth woman.

She is a dream candidate of the religious right. They like some of her writings that she did before she took the bench, and also some of her opinions on abortion. Conservatives also like other opinions on immigration and the Second Amendment. But now, of course, Fred, the fight is going to move after tonight to Capitol Hill.

WHITFIELD: All right, and then, Jeremy, the White House on messaging here, not just about why he thinks now is the time for a nominee, but the White House has a message that's very different from the president's message, that he seems to be doubling down on sowing doubts about election.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, there's no question that that is playing into part of this calculus. We know that the president has made clear that he believes a nineth Supreme Court justice should be on the court in time for the election in the event that there is some kind of contested situation or legal challenges that, of course, the president's campaign has been ramping up to file.

But separate and apart from this Supreme Court situation, what we also have is the president continuing his ongoing efforts that have been going on, frankly, for weeks and months now to cast doubt on the legitimacy of this 2020 presidential election. The president has repeatedly claimed without any evidence that the increased use of mail-in voting would lead to widespread voter fraud.

Of course, there is no evidence to back that up. But the president continuing to not only claim that, but also to suggest essentially the only outcome that will be legitimate is one in which he is the victor. Listen to the president last night in Newport News, Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's the only way we're going to lose is if there's mischief, mischief. And it will have to be on a big scale. So be careful. And we do want a very friendly transition, but we don't want to be cheated and be stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And in case you have any question about what the president meant there, he also at one point during the rally last night said, quote, "We're not going to lose this except if they cheat." That is not only a false suggestion but a potentially dangerous one, sending the message to his supporters that essentially the only way that he could possibly lose and that Joe Biden could become president is if there is widespread voter fraud in this country.

And in his attempts to do so, the president has been seizing on a series of incidents, including some that appear to be hyped up by his own Justice Department and his own attorney general. Attorney General Bill Barr briefing the president earlier this week on a pretty minor incident, when that involved nine ballots that were thrown into a trashcan in a Pennsylvania county, a Pennsylvania county that the president won by 20 points last time around. We should note, county officials have said that there is no indication

that there was any wrongdoing at play here, calling it an error, instead, made by a contractor, a short-term contractor who was working there.

[14:05:08]

And the Justice Department, for its part, making this rare decision to issue a press release, saying that they were opening this investigation. But, of course, they as well have also not offered any evidence so far that there was any kind of wrongdoing or voter fraud at play here, even though the president and his campaign have been suggesting just that over the last couple of days. Fred?

WHITFIELD: OK. And Jeremy and Ariane, we're also just now learning, CNN is just now learning that the likely confirmation hearing schedule in the Senate Judiciary Committee for, if it is indeed Judge Amy Coney Barrett who will be announced by the president later on today, President Donald Trump's expected pick just could be on the Hill in October, October 12th, for the opening statements to begin, and then very shortly thereafter the first round of questioning, second round of questioning, et cetera. This according to three people familiar with the process. Ariane, are you still with me?

DE VOGUE: Yes, I am.

WHITFIELD: OK, does that sound realistic?

DE VOGUE: That is a tight schedule. But like you said, October 12th, 11th, 12th, 13th, around there. I had heard that they wanted to get the vote done by October 29th. Keep in mind that the term itself starts October 5th, and then one week after the Election Day, Fred, this court is going to hear one of the biggest challenges of the term, and that's, of course, the future of Obamacare.

And between now and then, we're expecting a lot of emergency petitions having to do with the election to also come to the Supreme Court. So this is a fraught timeline, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

WHITFIELD: Yes, seemingly very intentional, too, if October 12th, that means that wall to wall coverage of the confirmation hearings for a good two to three weeks if it's all before November 3rd Election Day, and it would seem like that's just what the president wants. There's time for nothing else to make airtime except for that confirmation hearing. And of course, he's hoping that it serves well for him, that his nominee will be confirmed.

Ariane de Vogue, thank you so much, Jeremy Diamond also from the White House. We'll check back with Jeremy a bit later.

Let's bring in Ben Ginsberg. He is a Republican election lawyer and former national counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2004. Good to see you, Ben. You have a whole lot of experience in dealing with contentious elections. You worked on the Bush v Gore case, and, boy, I spent a lot of time in Florida with that whole hanging chad, pregnant chad thing.

I lost count of how many days. You've also practiced election law for nearly four decades. You're very critical of President Trump's recent comments regarding the election. I just want to play some sound of the president recently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged, remember that.

Let them send it in, and let them go vote. And if their system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote.

Large percentages of these ballots are going to be missing. There's going to be fraud. It's a disaster. This is going to be the scam of all time.

Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. They'll be a continuation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Ben, what are your thoughts on all that coupled with the fact that the president really want as new Supreme Court justice on the bench, he says, just in case the Supreme Court has to weigh in on the outcome of this election?

BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: Talk of our system of elections being somehow fraudulent or rigged really needs to be backed up by evidence if a president of the United States for the first time ever is going to start saying there's fundamental rot in the way we choose our officials. So for nearly four decades I've been part of Election Day operations either on the precinct level or nationally.

Republicans have always suspected that there could be fraud. We have looked for it. You need make an honest assessment of what's been found, which is to say there is nothing resembling widespread fraud that would somehow rig an election or make the results fraudulent.

So that's pretty irresponsible for a president of the United States to be saying, because it undercuts one of the fundamental safeguards in our democracy. So if there is evidence -- I'm sorry --

WHITFIELD: No, you go ahead.

GINSBERG: Well, if there served of fraud, it should absolutely be investigated. That was done properly in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It turned out to be a mistake, and mistakes do happen. We have over 10,000 jurisdictions in United States with responsibility for casting and counting ballots.

[14:10:06]

It is a system largely run by volunteers. There will be mistakes. If there are mistakes made, that doesn't mean that the results are fraudulent or the election is rigged. It means that each state has a procedure, either a recount or a contest or both, to be able to look at the allegations. What's essential is if you're going to make those charges you have to have evidence and proof.

WHITFIELD: And then now what are your thoughts on this October 12th date for the confirmation process to begin, this according to three source telling CNN that it appears as though there may be an October 12th date, and again, only a couple of hours away from the president actually announcing his nominee. The president has said he wants to make sure he has nine justices in place just in case the Supreme Court needs to weigh in on the election. What are your thoughts, worries, concerns about all this?

GINSBERG: October 12th is an aggressive timeline, but it's within the prerogatives of the Senate to move at that speed. There will either be the votes for confirmation, which it appears there will be, or they won't. So that's all in good order.

I think that Republican senators have looked at the confirmation as a really once in a lifetime opportunity to put a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, a solid conservative majority for the next three or four generations. That is a vote worth taking on an aggressive timeline, which, unfortunately, is that the president's linking that great historical achievement to the more parochial concerns of wanting a justice that presumably would vote his way in an election contest that came to the Supreme Court makes it a difficult vote for the incumbent senators who face reelection this year.

WHITFIELD: No one could have anticipated Bush v Gore, and the Supreme Court weighing in the way it had to. But you have written and you have said extensively that any kind of legal issue that were to arise from this election would be very different from Bush v Gore. So what might you brace people to anticipate?

GINSBERG: Bush versus Gore was a very tight election determined by one state, and then that state's recount procedures kicked in. What appears to be happening in this election is the incredible increase in absentee ballots will mean that results are not coming in, will not be known in a number of states on election night.

So if it is a tight election, and the outcome hinges on the states with a lot of absentee ballots, all the timelines that work just in nick of time in Bush versus Gore it will be pushed out. And so it will be multiple states, presumably, with much tighter timeframes.

WHITFIELD: Ben Ginsberg, we will leave it there for now.

(LAUGHTER)

GINSBERG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. Be well.

Breonna Taylor's family still fighting for justice six months after her death. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't just rob me and my family, you robbed the world of a queen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, the Taylor family attorney joining me live to discuss what's next after this week's grand jury decision.

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[14:17:51]

WHITFIELD: More than six months after Louisville police fatally shot Breonna Taylor during a botched raid, protesters are now turning out across the country in response to Wednesday's grand jury decision to not charge any officers in Taylor's death. While the protests have been largely peaceful in Louisville, Kentucky, where Taylor was killed, police did throw out some flashbang devices when a group refused to move onto the sidewalk. At least 22 people were arrested.

And now lawyers representing Taylor's family are demanding the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings be made public. I want to discuss this with one of the lawyers for the Taylor family, Benjamin Crump, and Bridgett Floyd, her brother George Floyd was killed after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for at least eight minutes. Good to see Boston you, sadly to see both of you.

Ben, let's talk first about the Breonna Taylor outcome this week. If the Louisville district attorney doesn't release the grand jury transcripts, what would be your next move?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR BREONNA TAYLOR'S FAMILY: Well, first of all, Fredricka, I'm honored to be here with Bridgett Floyd, who is George Floyd's sister, and has a foundation to speak directly to these injustices.

We are demanding that the transcripts are released so we can see if anybody in that grand jury proceeding from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office presented evidence on behalf of Breonna Taylor, because if they didn't, then they unilaterally made a decision to exonerate these police officers for killing her and to make sure that she wouldn't have her day in court, that she wouldn't get justice.

However, we still have the FBI who is investigating the civil rights violations into the killing of Breonna Taylor, and because Daniel Cameron did not present the basis for why they were at Breonna Taylor's house in the first place and busting open the door, which was a probable cause affidavit that had a lot on it.

[14:20:00]

They said that she had suspicious packages being delivered to her apartment, and they said that the United States postal inspector said this. Well, the United States postal inspector then came out and said they said no such thing, and they have no record of suspicious packages being delivered to Breonna Taylor's apartment.

So did Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron present that evidence to the grand jury? Because if he didn't, then how can he say that they were looking out for Breonna Taylor? It was as if this black woman's life didn't matter, and Breonna Taylor's life matters.

WHITFIELD: You are inferring and saying this really is a cover up. You describe your colleague yesterday as your co-warrior, Lonita Baker, and she is a former prosecutor, and she underscored yesterday that it is customary for a full transcript to be provided, to be shared so that there is no doubt that the prosecutor was working in the best interests of the community and providing everything.

What is going on -- what's at the root of what's going on here as to why you think the attorney general, Cameron, would not voluntarily release this information?

CRUMP: Because they know if they release the transcripts, Fredricka, we will see that they did not present any evidence on Breonna Taylor's behalf. It was revealed that they were working to make sure that these police officers got away with murder is what we suspect. And that's why we are demanding everybody to configure, to contact this office, to demand transparency since everybody says that's the most important thing.

And also, in Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenny Walker, you know the one who tried to defend Breonna Taylor because black people have a right to the Second Amendment, they released his transcripts.

WHITFIELD: That is the case. And that seemed to surprise a lot of people too who didn't know that there was his fire. It was return fire from fire already being sent into that apartment, and his reaction was what's going on. Bridgett --

CRUMP: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

CRUMP: There's a lot people don't know, and if this grand jury transcript is released, then people can be educated. There were so many attempts, we believe, to cover up this killing of this innocent black woman in her apartment.

WHITFIELD: Bridgett Floyd, brother George Floyd, our condolences because this, all of this, the grand jury decision, the passion that you're seeing in the streets across the country, this must make you relive so much pain, pain that has yet to be healed for you. What has this week been like for you and your family which continues to grieve the loss of George Floyd?

BRIDGETT FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S SISTER: This week has really been kind of tough. I've tried to stay off the Internet a little bit, but it's very hard to do so when you're curious about what these people have to say. My heart goes out to Breonna's family. The settlement acknowledged that something wrong happened on the officers' behalf. But the neighbors received justice to me. Breonna Taylor did not receive justice.

It also makes me think back of Michael Vick, when he was charged, and the dogs received justice. My heart just really, really hurts for her family. It did spike -- it did spike something to where I thought about my brother again. And it's just really sad. It's just really, really sad. There's no other way to relive that.

[14:25:00]

WHITFIELD: And heartbreaking too, listening to Bianca Austin, Breonna's aunt yesterday, who read the letter that her mother penned. That just was very, very painful. Your family is now trying to turn its pain into something positive with this George Floyd foundation. Tell me about that.

FLOYD: My brother, George Perry Floyd Jr., he was really known as a big boy and the gentle giant. He cared deeply for his family. He was a family man. He loved his friends. His passion for sports and music motivated him to overcome many obstacles that he was going through.

He used his life lessons to help empower everyone around him. He was the voice and the change in his community. That's a well-known fact. His goal was to touch the world. That's something that he stated a couple of weeks before his death in a video, that he really, really wanted to touch the world.

We had no idea that by him saying that, what happened was going to happen. And despite his premature death, my brother left a legacy that will continue to empower many generations to come. His legacy will live on through the foundation, which will continue to promote global awareness about racial injustices, and provide opportunities for others to contribute to communities.

Through the foundation we will be his voice. And when I say that, we will be the voice, we will be the change, and we will continue to be his legacy.

WHITFIELD: Bridgett Floyd, sister of George Floyd, Benjamin Crump, representing Breonna Taylor's family, thanks to both of you. This legal fight, emotional fight, all intertwined in this ongoing fight for justice. Thanks to both of you, appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

FLOYD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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[14:32:32]

WHITFIELD: We are now only 38 days away from the presidential election, and in the final countdown to the first debate in just three days President Trump and Joe Biden will meet on stage in Cleveland, Ohio. The face-off happening amid surging coronavirus cases, racial tension across the country, and the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As both campaigns spend the weekend preparing, Joe Biden is talking about what he expects from Trump at the debate. CNN's Arlette Saenz joining me right now. Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Fred, Joe Biden and President Trump are set to face off one-on-one for the first time in just three days, and each of the candidates is preparing for this debate in their own ways. Biden has been preparing for a few weeks, his early preparations have focused on reading briefing books and holding smaller prep sessions with aides.

But Biden is now turning to a more intense debate preparation. He told reporters that on Thursday he was going to start diving a bit more intensely into that prep. And in a recent interview with MSNBC, Biden also talked about what he's expecting to come from President Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP).

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: My guess is it's going to be just straight attack. They're going to be mostly personal. That's the only thing he knows how to do. He doesn't know how to debate the facts because he's not that smart. He doesn't know that many facts. He doesn't know much about foreign policy. He doesn't know much about domestic policy. He doesn't know much about the detail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, one thing the Biden campaign has said is that Joe Biden won't have any fact checker during this debate. They believe that will be left up to the moderator to fact check some of the president's claim. On President Trump's part, he has been studying up on possible lines of attack from Joe Biden, and he has also one person helping him with this debate preparations is former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who helped him back in 2016 ahead of those debates with Hillary Clinton.

Biden is also getting some help from a debate -- someone who helped prepare Hillary Clinton in those debates back in 2016. One of his top advisors, Ron Klain, worked with Hillary Clinton closely as she prepared to debate president, or then Donald Trump. But now these two candidates are both really honing in this weekend with that first debate three days away in Cleveland as they try to make their case to the country.

WHITFIELD: Highly-anticipated. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

[14:35:01]

Coming up next, when will coronavirus vaccinations begin in the United States? Dr. Anthony Fauci offers an optimistic estimate, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Johnson & Johnson says initial findings from its early stage coronavirus vaccine trial shows that a single dose of the vaccine appears to be producing a strong immune response. The early results suggest that the vaccine is safe enough to move into larger scale trials.

Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Carlos del Rio. He is an executive associate dean at Emory University School of Medicine. Good to see you, Doctor. So how significant is this? Help us understand it.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, Fred, I think it's very significant in the sense that we have now another vaccine entering phase three studies. We now have vaccines from Moderna, from AstraZeneca, from Pfizer, from J&J entering phase three trials. We have very soon one from Novavax will do the same, as well as one from Pfizer. So a lot of vaccines.

[14:40:09]

So the vaccine field is getting crowded, the competition is getting quick. And I think we're going to have a vaccine, would be one of them or could be all of them. I think, as Dr. Fauci says, we need a lot of shots on goal, but we also need a lot of those shots to be goals.

WHITFIELD: So Dr. Fauci had said maybe a vaccine by November, but for the masses later on in 2021. But even with a vaccine, how concerned are you about conveying the message to Americans to still continue to follow health guidelines?

DEL RIO: Well, I'm going to say a couple of things here. Number one, when we think of a vaccine and having a vaccine is going to be useful, this vaccine is not going to be a vaccine like the one we have for measles or the one we have for other diseases that has an efficacy of close to 100 percent. This vaccine will probably have an efficacy of around 50 percent, and it may have better efficacy to prevent disease progression than infection.

So even if we got everybody vaccinated, for a while we're still going to have to do social distancing and wearing a mask. It's not like the vaccine is going to be like turn a switch, we've got a vaccine, we're done, we can do away with masks. It really is going to be more like opening a faucet.

You're going to do it slowly. You're going to slowly be able to cover. And that's why how you distribute the vaccines and who you give the vaccine first and how do you prioritize vaccine distribution is going to be critical.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk sports now. The SEC college football season beginning today with fans in stands at games. And you were one of the medical advisors urging against fall sports on the college level. So, what are your thoughts about this SEC move today?

DEL RIO: Well, it depends where you are, right? Again, the ability to have sports depends on us controlling the epidemic. If you're in a place that has very little transmission that you have under 10 cases per 100,000 population, it's OK to proceed.

But if you're in a place that has, let's say, over 30 cases per 100,000 population that have a raging epidemic, it's not OK to do this because you'll have even more transmission. Bringing a lot of people together, crowded conditions, a lot of people close not wearing a mask is ideally the recipe to getting more transmission. So it really depends on the local epidemic and what are you going to do then.

WHITFIELD: And then there is this news coming out of Florida today, Governor Ron DeSantis signing an order allowing bars and restaurants to begin operating at 100 percent capacity while suspending all fines and penalties for violating pandemic related mandates in a variation of cities like facemasks requirements. How does all that sit with you?

DEL RIO: Well, it doesn't sit well because Florida has still a problem. They still have an epidemic. And I think just ignoring the reality is like being the ostrich. You're putting your head in the sand and you're not realizing that there are going to be more transmission, there's going to be more infections. There are going to be more people going to the hospital. You're going to overwhelm the hospitals, and there's going to be more mortality.

So it's OK to say let's have some opening, but let's do it rational. New York is doing rational. New York is opening restaurants at 25 percent of capacity this Wednesday. So I think there's ways to do it. But you have to do it rationally. Doing it irrationally is going to lead to bad results.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Carlos del Rio, always good to see you. Thanks so much. Be Well.

DEL RIO: Delighted to be with you.

WHITFIELD: More Americans are growing their own food since the pandemic. In this week's Impact your World a nonprofit shares seeds, compost, and knowledge to people in Milwaukee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVONDA WILDER, NEW GARDENER: We were all under quarantine, so it was hard for us to get to the store. We didn't really feel safe going out. That really helped the decision-making of grow it in your backyard. When I first heard about Victory Garden, they had a seed giveaway at the beginning of the season. They gave away these big bags that you could go and sift your own compost. Picking the greens and seeing a tomato sprout and just knowing they started literally from nothing, started from my son sifting compost, and now we're growing okra and kale and lettuce. We did that.

CHRISTINE KUHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VICTORY GARDEN INITIATIVE: Victory Garden Initiative is a nonprofit based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anywhere you can put a garden we will build one and provide education, seeds, compost, all the resource that we can as well as mentorship. We've had many more families reach out to us this year than in previous years. We've now built over 5,000 garden beds across Milwaukee. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm already contemplating on next year. I feel like it has brought our family closer together. It's empowered us. Financially we're not going back and forth to the stores any more. And it's therapeutic for me, like you're watching life happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:49:43]

WHITFIELD: With all the anger and frustration out there, it's comforting to reflect on the good things going out in the world. So today in our special Champions for Change series, we travel to a small town in Kentucky where opioid addiction is rampant, but two men are using the power of music and instrument making -- instrument-making, rather, to help turn people around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[14:50:10]

DOUG NASELROAD, DIRECTOR, APPALACHIAN SCHOOL OF LUTHIERY: There's a lot of beauty in southeastern Kentucky. We have a saying around here that every holler is a home to someone's weary soul. Troublesome Creek got its name for the most obvious of reasons. In rainy times it tears out bridges and roads when it gets really, really angry. Well, it's a pretty good metaphor the downturn of the coal industry taking away all the good jobs, and, of course, the opioid epidemic.

I am a Master Luthier. Luthiery is the art of stringed instrument making. Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky, is considered to be the birthplace of the Mountain Dulcimer. When I first came down to establish the Appalachian school of Luthiery in 2012, and then came Earl.

EARL MOORE, INSPIRED CULTURE OF RECOVERY PROGRAM: When I did my first oxycontin, I felt like it would ease the pain and make it easier for me. The pain from failure, the not believing in myself, I was in jail for nine months. I've been through five different drug treatment facilities. I had a love for woodwork. I knew I had a love for guitars.

NASELROAD: He said I need you to teach me how to make guitars. I said, well, that's no problem. That's what we do. He said, no, you don't understand. I need to come and do this.

MOORE: I was probably headed for death that time. How many more chances do you get in life?

NASELROAD: There was some discussion about the wisdom of bringing people of addiction into our studios.

MOORE: He's like, we're going to give you a chance. Don't let us down. What was supposed to be a one-year artisan residence turned into a six-year relationship. I built over 70 instruments at this point. Art releases something deep inside of you you don't know you have. In woodworking I was able to see the flaws but turn them into features. I grew in self-confidence. I'm still sober eight years later.

NASELROAD: We actually took our experience with Earl, and using that as a spring line, the staff of the Appalachian Artisan Center created the Culture of Recovery program, which was designed to host people in recovery in our studios, our blacksmith, pottery, and luthiery studios. We don't do the difficult work that the recovery centers do. We don't take people in who need to go through detox. They do that, and heroically. What we do is we accept people into our studios when they've phased into a place where that's useful to them.

ANTHONY CARTER, STUDENT, CULTURE OF RECOVERY PROGRAM: I've never really completed anything before in my life. And it's actually turned out to be a pretty nice piece of artwork.

JUDGE KIMBERLEY CHILDERS, KENTUCKY CIRCUIT COURT: With my drug court clients that participate in the program, the recidivism rate is very low. I would consider it to be 10 percent or less. They're learning skills. They're learning patience. They're building relationships. And they're going to have a finished product in their hand.

NASELROAD: Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company is an extension of our school that allows us to bring people from the recovery community into full-time employment.

MOORE: My life today is bigger than I ever dreamed imaginable. I went back and got a master's degree in network security. From an addict to director of information technology. So today I get to work with addicts. It's amazing to see people's lives change.

Doug believed in me. He was able to show me a lot of things that I couldn't see in myself. I feel like God put Doug in this town.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow that's powerful. Be sure to watch more of these inspirational stories in the "Champions for Change" one-hour special tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

And a new public service announcement features Americans who have volunteered for COVID-19 vaccine trials, and the PSAs hope to critic many more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a flight attendant with American airlines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work at a grocery store, and I want people to safely get their food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to see again --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost half a million Americans have volunteered so far and stepped up to help fight COVID-19 by being a part of the vaccine clinical trials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a doctor, but I am a citizen --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:55:02]

WHITFIELD: Maybe that other voice sounded a little familiar to you. It was Harrison Ford. The actor partnered with National Institutes of Health to narrate the new PSA.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ana Cabrera in a moment.

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