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Trump Set To Name Supreme Court Pick As He Sows Election Fears; Battles Over Voting Rules Raise Stakes Ahead Of Election; CNN On The Ground with Portland Protesters; New York Sees 1,000 New Cases For First Time Since June; New York Governor To Form Safety Panel To Review Federal Vaccine. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired September 26, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello on this Saturday. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.
And in just a short time from now, President Trump will announce his next pick for the Supreme Court. A nominee that, if confirmed, will shift the balance of the court further to the right.
And this nomination comes just 38 days before Election Day. The president is once again signaling he may or may not accept the results of that vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's the only way we'll 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)
CABRERA: Sources tells CNN the president has chosen Judge Amy Coney Barrett. There you see her leaving her home in South Bend, Indiana, this morning with her family. She is the favorite candidate of conservatives to replace liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
And according to The New York Times, Trump came away from two days of meetings with Judge Barrett this week, impressed with the jurist he was told would be a female Antonin Scalia, referring to the justice she once clerked for.
The president has made clear he wants to fill this seat quickly as in before November 3rd, Election Day, because he sees the court as potentially having to resolve any election disputes.
Between unfounded claims of voter fraud and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, critics are sounding the alarm. The president's comments are dangerous. But instead of reassuring Americans, he is mocking the concerns his comments have sparked. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Because, let's say, will I be president in ten years? Only if we had a couple of terms, I know this -- now we have a stir (ph). There's your breaking news. I told you, he's a dictator. He will not give up power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Let's get straight to the White House now on this pivotal and historic day and CNN's Jeremy Diamond is there for us.
Jeremy, I understand you have some new reporting concerning comments President Trump made at a fundraiser last night.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Ana. Listen, there's no question that Amy Coney Barrett has been viewed as the frontrunner by a mile, by the president and his team, really, since the moment that they learned of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's passing last week. And the president has really stuck with that.
But even last night, I'm told at this fundraiser that the president had at his Washington, D.C. hotel, the president was still polling donors who to pick for the Supreme Court to get their views.
And in an interesting comment, I'm told that Florida lobbyist and fundraiser Brian Ballard, once again, suggested the name of Barbara Lagoa to the president. She has been really the runner-up in this process, a Miami native, who the president, at one point, considered in part because he believed it might help him with voters in that critical battleground state of Florida.
And while the president made clear that he intended to nominate Amy Coney Barrett, I'm told that he also told Ballard and these donors, quote, let her know she's going to have her chance, essentially suggesting that this judge, Barbara Lagoa, may still be in the running for the next Supreme Court vacancy should President Trump win a second term.
Obviously, we know that this president has been trying to draw out this process, draw out some of the drama of this in reality show form, as the president has done with past Supreme Court picks, of course, really leaving people waiting and guessing until the very last moment.
But it has been quite clear that Judge Amy Coney Barrett was likely to be the pick throughout this week. We know that Judge Barrett has left her house already in Indiana. We saw her leaving with several of her children and we expect her to be the pick today.
And there's no question that this will be a momentous decision for the president to make and one that certainly he is going to be savoring today. He has often talked about with privately and publicly that nominating justices to the Supreme Court is one of the most important things that he can do as president, aside from matters of war and peace. And there's no he question that he views this as a fundamental part of his legacy and certainly it will be, Ana, as we expect that if this nominee goes through, this will solidify a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Ana?
CABRERA: She's just 48 years old, mom of seven children, ages 5 to 16. Jeremy Diamond, we'll let you move on to get set up at the rose garden where this big announcement is expected to happen in just a couple of hours, as preparations are underway there.
Let's get a closer look at what's happening and what's to come at the Supreme Court. This expected nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court would mark a sharp turn from the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg potentially ushering in a wave of changes on social issues, like abortion and health care and cementing a long-term conservative legacy for President Trump at the highest court of the country.
[15:05:09]
CNN Supreme Court Reporter Ariane de Vogue joins us now. Ariane, Judge Barrett is known to have a conservative bent. But walk us through how her presence on the Supreme Court could reshape it.
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, Ana. Well, first of all, let's start with her age, 48 years old. She would be the youngest member of the court. She would be the fifth woman to serve. Keep in mind, this is a lifetime tenure here. She would serve for decades.
Keep in mind, as you said, she's also a former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia. And you see in some her opinions a lot of the same strains in his jurisprudence. We know how much President Trump respected and admired Justice Scalia. So that's an important addition.
And she's also the dream pick of the religious right even before she got on the bench. They liked some of her writings. She was a longtime professor at Notre Dame. They like her writings on her faith. And keep in mind, the last time that she was in front of Congress for her confirmation hearing, she got into a bit of back and forth with Democrats, Democrats who were asking her a lot of questions about her faith, particularly Senator Dianne Feinstein, it was heated at times. And afterwards, that galvanized the conservatives, saying that Feinstein was showing anti-catholic bias. So we're going to see more of that, Ana.
CABRERA: Yes, we can hear a lot of energy there at the Supreme Court on a Saturday. What do we know about her judicial record? What can you tell us?
DE VOGUE: Start with the Affordable Care Act, for instance. Keep in mind, the Affordable Care Act is going to be heard here, the future of that law, a week after the election. Well, before she took the bench, she did write an essay, a legal essay, and she thought that Chief Justice John Roberts' rationale way back when, when he cast the vote that decided and saved that law, she was skeptical there. So that's something to watch.
In abortion, she also dissented one opinion. She seemed skeptical of a lower court that struck down an Indiana law. So that will be also something to watch.
And then there's a dissent in the Second Amendment. There you see the tie with Scalia, with Justice Clarence Thomas. She mentioned there that she thought that the lower courts were treating the Second Amendment as sort of a disfavored right. So those are some of the things to look at and that's what worries her critics, Ana.
CABRERA: Okay. Ariane de Vogue, we will check back. Thank you for your reporting.
Let me bring in now Republican Strategist Alice Stewart and Democratic Strategist and former Clinton White House Adviser Paul Begala, he is also the author of the book, You're Fired, The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump.
Alice, I want to start with you. The president has openly advertised why he's trying to rush this nominee through. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it's very important that we have nine justices.
I think it's better if you go before the election because I think this scam that the Democrats are pulling, it's a scam, this scam will be before the United States Supreme Court. And I think having a four-four situation is not a good situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Alice, we're now hearing that some of the Senate Democrats plan to ask the president's nominee promise to recuse herself if the Supreme Court hears the case that could impact the results of the election. Is that a fair request?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, it's not a fair request and it wouldn't happen if they did ask. Look, it is clear here that the president is engaging in what he should do as president of the United States. And I was shocked when I saw The New York Times article that just came out that acknowledged the fact that, with this, the president unleashed a partisan battle.
But they were clear to say, even in New York Times, that President Trump has the upper hand. He does for a lot of reason. They talk about the political fallout. But he has the upper hand with pushing this through because he has the constitutional obligation to do so.
Secondly, with the Republicans leading in the Senate, both of them have the authority to do so and Republicans were nominated under the Obama administration and still retain power under the Trump administration and they can move forward. And also the fact that Democrats hurt themselves when they did away with the filibuster back in 2013, so it is imperative for them to do so. And there is historical precedent. Many other justices have been moved through, nominated and confirmed in a shorter timeframe than this.
CABRERA: But what you've obviously witnessed with this Republican Party is complete hypocrisy from where they were in 2016 in the nomination battle over who was going to fill the seat of Justice Scalia.
Just going back though to this idea of her recusing herself because of the election being one of the reasons the president is vocalizing he wants to have another justice on the Supreme Court prior to this election, I mean, it's the idea of conflict of interest, Alice. It's the idea that there could be a perception of bias if she, you know, is to weigh in on the fate of the person who put her in this lifetime appointment.
[15:10:06]
STEWART: It's important to go back to when she was -- went through the confirmation before, Ana. And she was quite clear to say that she leaves a lot of things outside the courtroom that should be on the outside of the courtroom. That includes her faith.
She checks all of that at the courtroom door and when she looks -- when she is a judge, she looks at the Constitution, she looks at what is the original version and interpretation of the Constitution. That is how her judicial record reflects and that is exactly what she would do if she were to be confirmed on the Supreme Court.
CABRERA: But my point being, as I mentioned, I'm not going draw it out further, is that there could be a perception of her having political influence in whatever decision and how she comes down should there be a contested election.
Paul, conventional wisdom would say that fights over the Supreme Court energize Republican voters perhaps more than Democrats. But I just wonder, you know, does it feel different this time, not just because she would be replacing a liberal icon in RBG but also because it comes the very same week where this president is refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Usually -- you're right. My career, Republicans have cared more about the court than Democrats. And good for them, that's democracy the way it should be practiced. Not this time. Before the tragic loss of Justice Ginsburg last week, before I saw polls from the Pew Research, for example, it said, Democrats were more interested in voting based on court nominees than Republicans. That's a complete switch.
And here is why, and here is why, politically, this is problematic for the president. We're in the middle of a pandemic. This is a health care election. This will be a health care nomination. I saw in the earlier report the reference to Judge Barrett's criticism of the Supreme Court when they sustained the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. She said that about Chief Justice Roberts, no liberal (INAUDIBLE).
Chief Justice Roberts, she said, pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute. So she even attacked a right-wing chief justice because he dared protect pre-existing conditions.
They are rushing this. Yes, Trump wants to rig the court in case Putin can't rig the election. But I think even more important to Trump's real base, which is the corporate power structure, is November 10th. That's when the Affordable Care Act will be argued. And that's what I hope these hearings will be about.
I hope that we tease out this judge's view about why she, who has a lifetime job and who has lifetime health care, thanks to the taxpayers, she doesn't get hurt if we do away with pre-existing condition protection. But I do, and you do, and my mama does. And that's a hypocrisy, I think, that's much worse even than how this nomination came to be.
CABRERA: Paul, let me ask you about the election specifically, because we heard the term of blue shift but now red mirage, where President Trump could try to claim victory after the early results show him leading, if that's the case, and before all the mail-in votes are counted. How real is that fear for Democrats?
BEGAL: It's very real. It should be real for Americans. This president has undermined our democracy at every turn. He's trying to make it harder for citizens to vote, especially citizens of color, especially citizens who are older, who use vote-by-mail.
And what he's trying to do is set himself up for a coup. I hate it, it sounds like dramatic, but it's true. That's what he's doing. This is why he wants someone who can, you know, rig the court for him. This is, I think, an existential crisis for democracy.
So what are Democrats doing? They are voting. They are voting out of Virginia. Virginia already has opened up early voting. I voted already. I already voted on, I think, Monday or Tuesday. And the line was an hour and 45 minutes long in Fairfax County, the bluest county in Virginia, the biggest county in Virginia.
So Democrats have to win and they have to win big and they know that. So this is, in a way, really motivating my party. They're going to turn out to vote. They're going to vote by mail. They're going to vote early. And some will vote -- a lot will vote in person as well.
But I think this will be the highest turnout election in a century. And I suppose for that, we can thank Donald Trump's attacks on our democracy because he's made it seem much more precious.
CABRERA: Alice, this idea of the president refusing to say, yes, I am going to take part in a peaceful transfer of power, I mean, we've gotten to the point where the Pentagon, yes, the Pentagon had to stress that they wouldn't play a role in this election in response to these worries that the president would use the Armed Forces to prolong his time in office. How concerned are you about where this is all headed?
STEWART: I am concerned about this because I do think that everyone, whether you're in politics or out, we need to instill confidence and faith and trust in the electoral process. It is critical and vital and especially in this important election. And any talk that undermines the integrity of our election, it's really ill-advised and should not happen.
So I think, more than anything, let's put this nonsense behind us about doing away with the peaceful transfer of power and let's embrace the election results.
[15:15:05]
They will be free and fair in our election process. And let's look forward to a peaceful transfer of power.
I'm going to hold on to the Senate said the president did say last night where he did say he would have a beautiful transition of power if he were to be voted out of office. But I think it's important, let's make sure and look to that and let's look to free and fair elections and let's make sure that we encourage people to get out and vote.
Because like Paul, I know the voting here, I'm in Fairfax County as well. There are going to be long lines but people need to know that their votes count and their votes are important and their votes are necessary to make sure that we have this great democracy that we have.
CABRERA: Alice Stewart and Paul Begala, thank you so much both. I appreciate your thoughts.
STEWART: Thanks, Ana.
CABRERA: The most anticipated moment of the election is here, Donald Trump and Joe Biden faceoff in their first presidential event. I'll be on the ground in Ohio where this first debate is taking place, getting reaction from voters. Watch it all play out live on CNN with special coverage Tuesday night starting at 7:00 Eastern.
A president willing to do whatever it takes to maintain power, including finding an attorney general to do his bidding. But are we living in a time more frightening than Nixon and Watergate? I'll ask the man that would know because he lived it from the inside. John Dean joins us live in the CNN Newsroom, next.
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[15:20:00]
CABRERA: Across the country right now, we are tracking several legislative fights that are making voting more difficult in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, for instance. The state's Supreme Court has ruled that ballots that arrive without their inner envelopes, so-called naked ballots, should be thrown out.
In North Carolina, voters are required to have a witness sign their ballot envelope even though we're in the middle of a pandemic.
In Ohio, the Republican secretary of state pushed to limit the number of ballot drop boxes to just one per county, even in counties where millions of people live.
And in Michigan, the RNC and the state Republican Party have filed a lawsuit challenging a ruling that would allow absentee ballots to be accepted as long as they arrive before Michigan results of the election are certified and were postmarked by November 2nd.
Now, I want to get someone in here who has seen all these political and election strategies from the inside, White House Counsel for President Richard Nixon, John Dean. John is also co-author of this new book, Authoritarian Nightmare, Trump and His Followers.
John, I just mentioned four states there, but there are many, many examples. But, legally, what could all these smaller fights mean for the election as a whole?
JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There are almost 200-plus lawsuits already going on throughout the 10,500 jurisdictions that we vote in, and so it's hard to tell what's going to percolate up where. But there's a concerted effort by both Republicans and Democrats to make sure that they are on the ground with lawyers this time. This is going to be a highly litigated election, no question.
I think that it's just listening to you describe the different qualifications in each state, it shows how absurd it is for the same election that we have all these different variables in these different jurisdictions. It really makes no sense at all in an advanced democracy.
CABRERA: And yet, it's been that way for a longtime where each state has their own system and rules that the voters have to follow.
On this issue of mail-in voting, I want to read you a chunk from an extensive article in The Atlantic that ran a few days ago. Mail-in ballots will have plenty of flaws for the Trump lawyers to seize upon. Voting by mail is more complicated than voting in person and technical errors are commonplace at each step if voters supply a new address or if they write a different version of their name, for example, by shortening Benjamin to Ben, or if they print their name on a signature line or if they fail to seal the ballot inside an inner security envelope, their votes may not count.
John, is all of this basically the new hanging chad?
DEAN: It is. You know, I must say that when I was in the White House, and Richard Nixon was getting re-elected, the concern really was to get him on the ballot and make sure everything was -- all the Is were dotted and Ts crossed. This voter suppression that has emerged in the years since then is because of the changing dynamics of the Republican Party. So they have become very interested in preventing people from voting because they feel the less votes that are cast numerically, they don't likely to do better. So we're coming up with all these various tests and schemes and imperfections. In fact, you mentioned in Pennsylvania. During in 2018 midterm, the Republicans sent teams into observe the election, to see what was going wrong. While they didn't challenge anything, they made lots of notes as that article you referred to mentions, that's where they were studying what's likely to go wrong so they can cause problems in this election. So -- and there were plenty, apparently plenty of anomalies that they thought they could litigate.
So we are going to see a lot of litigation and it's questionable how well our judicial system can handle all this. It will start at the state level. Some of it will get into federal court. But it's clear why Trump wants a nominee on there. He wants as many people on his side as he could possibly get, which is understandable in his position.
CABRERA: Well, he has the top lawyer in the land on his side, the attorney general, William Barr. He has been on the same page as this president all along, especially when it comes to being against mail-in voting. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You could be talking about large percentages of these ballots are going to be missing. There's going be fraud. It's a disaster.
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: And that is just not true what we just heard from William Barr. Even if you just look at Oregon, which has had elections by mail for many election cycles, more than 100 million ballots have been sent out, they only have about a dozen documented cases of voter fraud. So that's just one example. There's none of widespread fraud.
And as you know, John, Nixon ordered his attorney general to fire the special prosecutor. That A.G. refused and resigned as part of the Saturday night massacre because he wouldn't do Nixon's bidding. But now, all these years later, hearing Barr parrot the president with these false claims, what do you make of it?
DEAN: Well, I make of it that we no longer have the post-Watergate distance between the Department of Justice and the White House that was wisely put in place. That was one of the reasons that one of the norms was that the attorney general was not in the pocket of the White House, rather he represented the American people.
Barr has demolished that standard and that norm and it's going to be -- when Trump is gone, and hopefully that happens January of next year, otherwise, we're in a whole heap of other troubles, but assuming he's gone, there's going to be a serious amount of reform legislation and it's going to be codified that the attorney general and the White House are going to have a very different relationship because Barr has so abuse this. And where he's -- why he is doing this when he's making himself into a fool is really a head-scratcher.
CABRERA: Quickly, if you will, would Barr play any role in any contested election scenario?
DEAN: Oh, yes. He can control the U.S. attorneys, what they are doing. He can control the U.S., the solicitor general, what he will say in front of the Supreme Court. He will have either behind-the-scenes or right on the scenes big role in this litigated election.
CABRERA: Okay. John Dean, as always, thanks for the information and your insights. Glad to have you here.
DEAN: Thanks, Ana.
CABRERA: Again, his new book, Authoritarian Nightmare, Trump and His Followers, is out now. We'll be right back.
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[15:32:09]
CABRERA: The city of Portland has had nearly nonstop protests ever since the killing of George Floyd. People are gathering yet again today.
CNN's Elle Reeve has been on the ground in this city recently speaking with people who continue to show up night after night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Do not return to this area.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: When they start moving, we start moving as well.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We have a problem in our police department that is systemic.
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one week in Portland, Oregon, where anti-police protests have been going on for more than 100 days and tensions between protesters and police have only escalated.
As we got there, a member of the right-wing group, Patriot Prayer, named Aaron Jay Danielson, was killed by an antifascist protester.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jay loved this country.
REEVE: Everyone we spoke to said they feared violence would escalate.
(WHISTLES)
SISU, ANTIFASCIST PROTEST MEDIC: The reason that we're out here is because (INAUDIBLE.)
(WHISTLES)
SISU: Voting for the lesser of two evils leaves us worse off every time.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We come out, we fight.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We're not doing this because we hate America. We all have one goal in mind and that is ending police brutality.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Black lives matter!
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: People are dying, and if water bottles being thrown at the police stops that, I'll do it every day.
(SHOUTING)
REEVE (on camera): How long have you been coming to the protests?
CHRIS WISE, ANTIFASCIST PROTEST MEDICAL: The whole time. Since May 29th for me.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Our role is basically frontline med support. No matter where it comes from. It could be tripping in the street, could be getting pushed into a building, could be gun shots. We cover it all.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER I've probably deescalated about three outside agitators who come in with guns. They're always saying -- like some guys who was like, Antifa is terrorism. We're like, we're not terrorists, man. It's just protests.
REEVE: Do a lot of people have weapons?
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We don't have weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We don't have weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: The most weaponized we get is like shields.
(CHANTING)
REEVE: What do you say to people who say, I like peaceful protests. But when they burn stuff and break windows, that's different?
LEO, POLICE VIOLENCE PROTESTER: I say property doesn't bleed but I do. If ending systematic oppression means a store gets burnt or looted and nobody's hurt, how is that any worse than living in a situation where I have to fear for my life every day?
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We are on top of the doughnut shop, which is ironically located across from the Portland Police Union.
(SIRENS)
[15:35:01]
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Often, the protests will continue for a couple of hours and then, all of a sudden --
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: -- there will be a huge rush of riot cops.
(SHOUTING)
REEVE: Back in May, when the protests started, did you have a gas mask or anything?
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: No, of course I didn't have a gas mask. I had a face mask for COVID but none of us had gas masks.
I think we've raised about $30,000 this week to buy bulletproof vests because it turns out that we might need them. And that's really terrifying.
WISE: So I've got a body cam to record things that need evidence in court.
I currently have a head injury. Like, I'm still recovering from a TBA. It was back when we were still under federal occupation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was July, right?
WISE: Yes. No, they shot me directly in the head with a tear gas canister and I got post-concussion syndrome 22 hours later, so.
REEVE: Something I've kind of notice in a few protests, there's a moment of party feeling in front of the police.
But then there's a moment where it gets quiet and it's like there's a tension. It seems to almost be inviting the confrontation, like the protest can't end without that clash.
SISU: Yes. A big part of what's happening here is that it has to be uncomfortable.
SCOTTY HARRINGTON, ANTIFASCIST PROTEST MEDIC: Well, three came out of the park, the MRAPs were there. Started to announce it was an unpermitted march. People were not happy so people started marching.
Someone threw some incendiary devices and then all hell broke loose. And there was tear gas flying in, fireworks. It was really rough. And they're making a push.
(SHOUTING)
REEVE: How do you see it ending?
SISU: I'm not sure. We haven't seen much of any change. The people out here are active and maybe they didn't start that and that carries on for the rest of your life.
(CHEERING)
REEVE (voice-over): President Trump has warned Antifa will ruin the suburbs.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does anyone want to have someone from Antifa as a resident of your suburb? I don't think so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Antifa. We don't want your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kind in Salem, Oregon.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a hike!
REEVE: Both sides said they act only in self-defense. But in person, things get out of hand quickly.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED PATRIOT PRAYER MEMBER: As far as Patriot Prayer, we do not condone violence. That's not what we're about. I can't speak for some of these other guys. But in the end, we love our country and support our president.
(SHOUTING)
(CHEERING)
REEVE (on camera): Do you think this is some kind of weird civil war?
UNIDENTIFIED PATRIOT PRAYER MEMBER: I don't see it as that yet. But it actually could lead to that because the whole BLM, Antifa movement has just gotten more and more and more violent as time progresses.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Enough! Enough!
UNIDENTIFIED PATRIOT PRAYER MEMBER It's literally across the nation. And we're tired of it.
It's time for us, as patriotic citizens, to take back our cities. And if that means by violent means, we'll have to do it.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Portland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:42:43]
CABRERA: Some breaking news. New York State has just reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day. This is the first time since June that's happened.
I want to bring in our medical analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder, who is also an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist.
Dr. Gounder, New York has been heralded as a state that's done everything right, re-opened slowly and according to CDC guidelines.
Is this increase in cases a reflection of New York actually doing something wrong along the way or is it just inevitable?
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Ana, I think there's going to be an inevitable increase in the number of coronavirus cases that we see this fall.
What New York has done well is taken it very step-by-step, slow approach to re-evaluate the impact of every stage of re-opening and be prepared to react if there's an increase.
So up until now, we've been in the clear. We haven't seen an increase in transmission. But now we are.
So that is going mean re-evaluating some of what we've re-opened, for example, indoor dining or schools, to make sure that we're continuing to keep the transmission suppressed.
CABRERA: New Jersey, I'm just being told reporting its highest case count in a single day in quite some time as well. So here we go again.
Doctor Gounder, I know you used to be an assistant commissioner of health here in New York.
I also want to ask you about this idea that the governor here, Andrew Cuomo, has said about not trusting the Trump administration to produce and distribute a COVID vaccine.
In fact, he's going to form his own group to review any federal vaccine and determine if it's safe.
Do you agree with this move? And is that extra review really necessary?
GOUNDER: Look, I do agree with Governor Cuomo's concerns.
I'm actually one of more than 50 experts who signed on to a letter to the Pfizer CEO yesterday asking Pfizer, one of the vaccine manufacturers, to hold off on submitting data to the FDA until at least two months have passed since all the vaccine trial participants have been followed for at least two months.
Why two months? Because that's how long it takes to see some of the rare and severe side effects, like blood clotting problems and spinal cord inflammation. And it's really important we have that data before it's submitted to the FDA.
[15:45:04]
I don't think that Cuomo's response here is the right one. I don't think it should be politicalized further. I just think we need to let the FDA do its job and do so transparently.
CABRERA: You don't think that this is the right response? Because my initial reaction was, on one hand, that's an extra layer of safety for me if I were to get a vaccine or my family.
On the other hand, I wonder, does a move like this to create a separate review board, send a message to people that they shouldn't trust the federal government's approval process?
GOUNDER: Traditionally, Ana, that's been done by having an independent committee of scientists supplement the FDA review as opposed to a state-by-state assessment of the vaccine. I think that would set a really bad precedent.
One of the major problems in the United States has been the fact that we've had such a patchwork approach to the pandemic, each state doing its own thing. I think this would further complicate and create more problems.
CABRERA: All right, Dr. Celine Gounder, as always, thank you very much for your insights and expertise.
Coming up, as the president prepares to announce his Supreme Court pick in little over an hour from now, there are fears of a contested election. And those fears have Democrats demanding his nominee sit out for anything related to the election's outcome. We'll explain when we come back.
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[15:50:49]
CABRERA: Thousands of protests, 45 arrests and 33 years in Congress. The new CNN film, "JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE," tells the story of the civil rights giant who made good trouble to bring great change.
CNN's Abby Phillip has a closer look at how Lewis' influence looms large over this 2020 race, especially when it comes to getting out the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE-BOTTOMS (D-ATLANTA): Our teacher, our friend, our conscious, our congressman, John Lewis.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a pivotal election year and amid nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, the rallying cry for the Democratic Party has come from its most beloved members, the late civil rights icon and congressman, John Lewis. BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Like john, we
have to keep getting into that good troubling.
PHILLIP: The most prominent voices of the Democratic Party are tapping into Lewis' legacy and invoking his signature call to get into "good trouble" as they urge Americans to protest peacefully and vote.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): John saw good trouble as a way to break silence when you see something. And he would often say, if you see something wrong, do something.
PHILLIP: As a young man growing up in the small town of Troy, Alabama, John Lewis was drawn to the fight for civil rights and voting rights for black Americans.
JOHN LEWIS, FORMER CONGRESS & CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: There was something deep down within me moving me that I could no longer be satisfied of going along with an evil system.
PHILLIP: And it brought him to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on a fateful day in 1965 where he was beaten nearly to death by state troopers while marching for voting rights.
A defining moment, a Bloody Sunday, that made John Lewis a hero to generations.
LEWIS: I remember so well the moment John was beaten and left at the foot of the bridge. I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death. I thought it was the last march.
PHILLIP: He would go on to march again many times, year after year, bringing bipartisan groups of lawmakers to that very spot.
In recent years, Lewis feared the right to vote was at risk again after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that he helped secure, was partially invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2013.
LEWIS: They are saying, in effect, that history cannot repeat itself, but I say come and walk in my shoes.
CLYBURN: And that is really the unfinished business that we have to be about because, as he always said, the vote is sacred. What he would say, almost sacred.
PHILLIP: In his final public appearance just weeks before his death from pancreatic cancer, Lewis appeared here, at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., the gathering place for today's protest movement.
Abby Phillip, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Be sure to tune in. The all new film, "JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE," premieres tomorrow night at 9:00, right here on CNN. Now the last six months have posed tremendous challenges. But it has
also been inspiring to see the different ways people are helping each other.
And this week, "CNN Heroes" salutes New Jersey native, Gregg Dailey. He has had a newspaper route in his hometown for 25 years. In March, when he realized many senior citizens on his route were afraid to leave their home due to COVID-19, he began delivering much more than the daily paper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGG DAILEY, CNN HERO: I deliver to three adult communities. A lot of people in there that are compromised.
So I put out a note to all 800 of my customers, if there's anything that you need, you name it, I'm happy to shop for it and deliver it to your home for free.
This is the almond milk.
I've met an unbelievable amount of beautiful, wonderful people. It's amazing how grateful they are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, thank you so much.
DAILEY: My pleasure. If you need anything else moving forward, please give me a call, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will.
DAILEY: OK, take care of yourself. Good night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:54:59]
CABRERA: To see the full story, go to CNNheroes.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The breaking news. Just an hour away from the president announcing his Supreme Court nominee.
