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Confirmation Hearing For Judge Barrett October 12; Portland Arrests; Louisville Protests For Breonna Taylor; Maine Wedding Super Spreader Event; Biden And Trump Debate Tuesday. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired September 27, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Inching forward towards a confirmation, Donald Trump chooses a Supreme Court nominee that will affect generations of Americans.
Already igniting a bitter partisan battle. Bracing for violence dueling protests in Portland, the epicenter of demonstrations against police brutality and racism.
Also:
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a senseless and a selfish act that probably could've been prevented, with a little bit more humanity and more empathy and compassion for others.
HOLMES (voice-over): How one wedding became a coronavirus superspreader events infecting nearly 200 people, hundreds of kilometers away.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Hello, everyone, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.
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HOLMES: Republicans are moving full steam ahead to get a new Supreme Court justice in place and further cement their majority on the bench by Election Day. Now the confirmation hearing we're being told will begin October the 12th for Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's pick to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She's a federal appeals court judge and a favorite among conservatives. Mr. Trump indicating he think she will be fair.
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TRUMP: Amy Coney Barrett will decide cases based on the text of the Constitution as written. As Amy has said, being a judge takes courage. You are not there to decide cases as you may prefer; you are there to do your duty and to follow the law, whatever it may take you.
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JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CANDIDATE: I have no illusions that the road ahead of me will be easy, either for the short term or the long haul. I never imagined that I would find myself in this position. But now that I am, I assure you that I will meet the challenge with both humility and courage.
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HOLMES: A solid conservative majority on the court could affect generations of Americans. A woman's right to an abortion, LGBTQ rights and environmental regulations could all be impacted in the years ahead, immigration policy as well.
And on this November 10th, the court will be hearing a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, often called ObamaCare. Now a CNN poll this week shows nearly 6 out of 10 American say the justice should be picked by whoever is elected in November. That clearly is not happening.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on this very high stakes pick.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump on Saturday officially nominating judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is his third nomination. And the first woman that the president has nominated to put on the bench.
The president certainly relishing this moment. After, all the president has talked about how appointing justices to the Supreme Court is one of the most important things that he does as president. He certainly views this as a critical part of his legacy.
It is one of the reasons why so many conservatives, including those who are perhaps turned off by his brash political style, ultimately flock to his campaign and have supported him through his four years in the White House.
The president is really remaking the balance of the Supreme Court, there already was a conservative majority on the Supreme Court and now if she becomes the next Supreme Court justice, you will have a 6-3 conservative majority on that court and that could have an impact for decades, particularly given the fact that judge Amy Coney Barrett is 48 years old.
She can serve on this bench for a long time to come. Of course there are political implications in the short term as well. The president and his campaign certainly hoping that this will rev up his conservative base and encourage them to turn out to the polls on November 3rd in droves. But there's also the question about the impact that this will have on the Left. Certainly Democrats, criticizing President Trump for moving ahead with this nomination and before Election Day, they are driving home the point that this could really, not only fundamentally alter the balance of power on the Supreme Court but put into question things like ObamaCare and those pre-existing conditions, protections for those pre-existing conditions.
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DIAMOND: The case on ObamaCare is coming before the court in a matter of weeks and the White House certainly hopes that judge Amy Coney Barrett will be on the court by that point.
We should note, of course, that a majority of Americans, nearly six in 10 Americans believe that it is the president who is elected in the November 3rd, 2020, election, who should pick the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The president not at all abiding by that timeline; RAY: pushing for judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before the November 3rd election. On Saturday, the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying he believes if everything goes smoothly, they could have Barrett confirmed by November 1st -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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HOLMES: Top Democrats meanwhile are unified in their opposition to Barrett. They see her nomination as another Republican attack on President Obama's signature health care legislation.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says Barrett has a written track record of disagreeing with the court's earlier decision to uphold ObamaCare. And he tweeted this statement.
"Supreme Court decisions affect our everyday lives and the Constitution was designed to give voters a voice on who makes those decisions. The Senate shouldn't act until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress. Americans deserve to be heard,"
The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer also weighing in.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: The American people should make no mistake about it. A vote for judge Barrett is a vote to take away health care and its protections for over 130 million Americans.
A vote for Amy Coney Barrett is a dagger aimed at the heart of the health care protections Americans so desperately need and want.
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HOLMES: Joining me now is Laura Coates, she's a CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, also the host of "The Laura Coates Show" on Sirius XM.
Great to see you, Laura. What a day. Some of the major court decisions in play now that the new justice is heading to the court, they could be pivotal and they're real hot button issues -- Roe v. Wade abortion rights, so-called religious liberty, immigration, health care.
Basic question: what sort of justice will she be when these things are up for decision time?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's the million dollar question and what people presume she will be is somebody who has affected her own writing. She has been already in her decisions that she has issued at her short time on the bench.
She has been far more expansive of gun rights in this country than her predecessor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She seeks to, in many ways, restrict access to abortion in ways contrary to what Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg did, although she has not fully fleshed out her position while on the bench about those things.
She's also somebody that we have seen with the Affordable Care Act potentially tipping her hat and her card in hand in a way of suggesting that perhaps she is more inclined to gut it in a way that the other conservative members of the Supreme Court have done.
So we're waiting to see exactly how she will rule. She'll naturally say that she will defer to precedent, that she is somebody who will be objective and impartial.
But we've seen a trend in the past couple of years, in past presidential nominations, where one's statements of impartiality may or may not indicate what they ultimately will do.
HOLMES: Yes, the nomination is a performance in many ways. She described herself as a textualist and an originalist, meaning she interprets the Constitution according to her belief in what the words mean when the document was ratified, not intentional or what the words might mean now.
For our international audience, is it fair to ask why something written in 1787 should not be reinterpreted for life 233 years later?
COATES: Well,, of course, we should be looking at the Constitution as a living document. We don't want to rely exclusively on a document that did not envision women, envision slaved persons, envision equality, it did not envision a whole lot of things that now we look at right now as reflective of a contemporary society.
What the originalists really look to is thinking about let's not impose our contemporary standards in a way that we become weathervanes as opposed to those who are trying to uphold the American ideals.
But I think it is very fair to say that it is important to look at the Constitution as you have legislation that is going to be far more contemporary in the Constitution. You have political will and you have the will of the people, who will also be able to influence these choices. So I think to think about the originalists as thinking about it being a dead document rubs people a lot the wrong way.
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COATES: However, to be fair to judge Coney Barrett, she has said that she's only willing to look at the originalist notions if it's a way that runs counter or there is not an already clear precedent that actually is in line with what she thinks is appropriate to do. So she has some tempered opinions about this very issue.
HOLMES: Again, for the international audience, despite its professed independence, there is at least the perception that whichever party is lucky enough to get the opportunity to appointment judges, gets decisions that fit that party's ideology, do you think that's true?
And would that hurt the credibility of the court when it comes to decisions that it hands down, especially on social issues like abortion?
COATES: Well, actually that is true. The president who happens to be in office at the time, that either unfortunately you have the death or retirement of a Supreme Court justice, naturally is invested in trying to make sure that the will of his own political party is getting what they need to have happen.
However, that inclination absolutely undermines the credibility of the objectivity of the court. We don't want to really have a Supreme Court where Americans can already tell you what the decisions will be, based on the ideology of each of the justices.
They wear this robe over their bodies, essentially to cloak the personal, to cloak whatever the things are that is outside of the law, outside of the reading of the facts and the legislation and the Constitution.
HOLMES: Is that what happens?
COATES: Well, and sometimes it can actually happen that they are removing, you know, figuratively speaking, that robe and if they are inviting that personal aspect in, they do a great disservice to the impartiality required by Supreme Court justices.
Now Donald Trump as a president of the United States he is, not the first president to try to use his political will and platform to pack the courts. But he is certainly one of the first to have spoken the quiet part out loud about specifically trying to overturn particular precedent, particularly hot-button issues like around the Affordable Care Act, like Roe v. Wade, like immigration related cases, like the Second Amendment.
So if justices are chosen with the express intent of having them overturn a particular course of action, then the American people are left to wonder, is Lady Justice really blind?
Or is she a marionette?
HOLMES: Yes, yes, when they become "my picks" or as they are. Laura, love having you on. Thank you so much for that.
COATES: Thank you.
HOLMES: Laura Coates there.
After President Trump made the Barrett announcement, he was off to yet another campaign rally, this time in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. The president talking about his latest nominee and tearing down his opponent.
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TRUMP: Judge Barrett is a brilliant legal mind and extraordinary scholar, you know that, number one in her class. You know the professor, one of the most respected people, he said the greatest student he's ever had, that's pretty good. That's a little better than Biden, wouldn't you say? She should be running for president herself.
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HOLMES: Mr. Trump also repeated his baseless claims about mail-in voting. Critics think he's laying the groundwork to challenge the outcome if he loses.
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TRUMP: They're going to try to steal the election. Look at this crowd. The only way they can win Pennsylvania frankly is to cheat on the ballot.
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HOLMES: We'll take a quick break. When we come back, in, Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, far-right and far-left groups rally in close proximity, as nighttime there brings protesters and police to Portland's justice center. We'll have a live update on the situation for. You
And in Louisville, Kentucky, the fourth straight day of protests calling for justice in the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: All right, you're looking at video shot not long ago near the justice center. This is in Portland, Oregon, large crowds and a heavy police presence. The city of Portland, of course, has been an epicenter of protest for months now, as protesters rally against systemic racism and police brutality. But other groups with opposing views are still demonstrating as well.
More than a dozen people have been arrested in the last few hours. CNN's Dan Simon is there in Portland.
Some arrests but nothing too serious in the rallies earlier, including that far-right pro-Trump group, right?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely a sigh of relief, Michael. First let me explain what's happening behind me. This is what we've been seeing play out for the last several months in Portland.
We have a group of protesters here downtown in front of the local justice center. Not seeing a police presence here at the moment. Right now things do appear to be peaceful.
There really was a big concern of over what may have happened today in Portland when you had members of the Proud Boys group. It's an extremist group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group.
These are pro Trump folks, they showed up with their weapons and they went to protest what they say is domestic terrorism that's happening in the United States, whether that's in Kenosha, Wisconsin; in Minneapolis or certainly here in Portland.
Because they were rallying, we had another protest happening with counterprotesters, people on the Left side. What people were trying to do was keep these 2 groups separate so that there wouldn't be a clash, wouldn't see any bloodshed or violence.
And the police were successful in doing. So -- we didn't see any clashes between those 2 groups. When those rallies ended, we did see some folks come downtown tonight. You did have more unruliness, where you had some folks throwing things at police officers.
And more than a dozen people were arrested as you said but right now, at this hour just after 11 o'clock local time, things appear to be peaceful.
HOLMES: Good to have you on the spot, for an international audience seeing crowds of heavily armed protesters on the streets, what could possibly go wrong?
Dan Simon on the spot for us, thanks for the reporting. appreciate it.
About 300 kilometers to the north of Portland, I want to show you the aftermath of protests in Seattle. Police say 7 people were arrested for assault, also property damage, which you can see there.
In a tweet they say a group of protesters, quote, "wound their way through the city, causing damage along the way," unquote. Police ordered the crowd to disperse after some protesters started setting fires and throwing rocks and bottles at police.
And a curfew is in effect for Louisville, Kentucky. But before the fourth night in a row, crowds gathered in the streets on Saturday to protest the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old aspiring nurse.
This all follows Wednesday's announcement that none of the officers in the shooting are being charged directly in Taylor's death. Shimon Prokupecz has an update from Louisville.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: After spending hours in Jefferson Square Park and vowing not to leave as curfew approached at 9 pm, the protesters all left after police made several announcements, saying that they would be arrested if they did not leave.
As the 9 o'clock hour came, the police started to move in; they brought in some of the tactical vehicles, National Guard came in and all the protesters by that time had left. And they came to this church behind me, which they've been coming to every night, which has been serving as a sanctuary so that they can stay on the property.
The church has allowed them to stay on the property so that they could avoid arrest.
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PROKUPECZ: Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.
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HOLMES: Quick break now for us. When we come back, people are angry over social distancing restrictions in London. But it is the wrong time to be out in a crowd like that. We'll explain.
Also still to come, in this deadly age of coronavirus, a romantic wedding in Maine leads to consequences hundreds of miles away. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Anger on the streets of Jerusalem as you can see, people fed up with the Israeli government's handling of the coronavirus. And in particular prime minister Netanyahu.
Thousands gathered outside his residence on Saturday, demanding his resignation. Outraged over new lockdown measures meant to restrict protests. They say the corruption charges against him show he is not fit to lead.
All this coming as Israel shattered its record for daily coronavirus cases again on Friday, counting more than 8,300 new infections. The number of patients in serious condition and on ventilators also climbing.
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HOLMES: Police in London had to break up an anti-lockdown protest on Saturday for failing to follow social distancing guidelines. You'll see why.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Crowds of people gathering in Trafalgar Square, tightly packed together and not a lot of face coverings. The U.K. has more than 431,000 cases, 42,000 deaths escorting to Johns Hopkins University. Research show less than one in 5 self-isolated after having coronavirus symptoms. An extraordinary number. That study yet to be published or peer reviewed.
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HOLMES: And Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. is still in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. He points to concern about rising rates throughout the fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
So far, the U.S. has more than 7 million cases. Many states have case numbers that are trending up, as you can see there on the map. New York is one of them. This was an early epicenter in the U.S., topping 1,000 new infections for the first time since June.
And let's look south to Florida, just shy of 700,000 cases but here's the thing. That state's governor is moving full steam ahead into phase 3 reopening. Well, bars and restaurants can open to full capacity.
A summer wedding in a tiny town in Maine became a super-spreader event seeding outbreaks hundreds of miles away. At least seven deaths have now been traced back to that wedding, a celebration they didn't even attend. CNN's Randi Kaye has the story.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It all began with an August 7th wedding in picturesque Millinocket, Maine, which hadn't seen a case of coronavirus until now. As the couple celebrated I do, the virus was on the move.
DR. NIRAV SHAH, MAINE CDC DIRECTOR: The virus favors gatherings. It does not distinguish between happy events like a wedding celebration or sad farewells like funerals.
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SHAH: It is everywhere.
KAYE: Everywhere indeed. Maine CDC says 32 guests and staff were infected from the wedding service at the Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket, Maine and the dinner reception at Big Moose Inn in nearby Millinocket. From there, contact tracers tracked the community spread to other locations hundreds of miles away, including the Maple Crest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine, the York County jail in Alfred and the Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford. Even though 62 people attended the wedding, there are now at least 177 people infected with coronavirus and at least seven dead.
SHAH: None of those seven individuals attended the wedding or the reception itself.
KAYE: There are now at least 39 cases of coronavirus at the rehab center in Madison, including 24 residents and 15 employees. Six residents have died. Maine CDC determined that an employee from the center lives with someone who attended the wedding. So the virus likely travelled from guest to household member to the Maple Crest rehab facility.
Keep in mind this facility is more than 100 miles away from the reception venue. 61-year-old Ana Littlejohn who lives at the rehab center, did not attend the wedding celebrations but has tested positive. Her daughter is worried and angry.
AMANDA ROY, MOM TESTED POSITIVE: It was a senseless act and a selfish act that probably could have been prevented with a little bit more humanity and a little bit more empathy and compassion for others.
KAYE (voice-over): Our numerous calls to the rehab center were not returned. Meanwhile, at the York County jail in Alfred, Maine, about 220 miles away from the wedding site, the CDC reports at least 83 cases, including 48 inmates, 19 people who work in the building that houses the jail and some of their family members.
Maine CDC traced the outbreak to a jail employee who attended the wedding then brought the virus to work.
KAYE: And all of this may have started with someone who was asymptomatic. A spokesman from Maine CDC tells me that prior to the August 7th wedding and reception, there had been no reports of positive cases among those in attendance. And the venue spokesman says all guests had their temperatures screened.
KAYE (voice-over): The virus also spread from the festivities to Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, Maine, about 240 miles away. The CDC confirms 10 cases there and says church members attended the wedding. That church's pastor Todd Bell officiated at the service. He did not return our calls or e-mails. Before this, Pastor Bell had preached against wearing masks.
SHAH: Everyone else ought to be concerned right now about where things stand with COVID-19 in Maine.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Miami, Florida.
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HOLMES: A real lesson that. Story OK, we will be taking a break. In the home stretch before a divisive
election, the U.S. now gearing up for a battle over Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
Which party could it help and who could it hurt?
You can guess. We'll explain when we come back.
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HOLMES: The showdown shaping up over the Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Republicans say the federal appeals court judge is impressive and well qualified. Democrats say she would hurt almost every American.
Hearings begin October 12 and with the Republican majority in the Senate, Barrett's confirmation is all but assured. She would give conservatives a 2-1 majority on the court as it prepares to deal with critical issues like health care and abortion rights.
Well, just who is Amy Coney Barrett?
CNN's Jessica Schneider takes a closer look at the nominee.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People who know 48-year-old Amy Coney Barrett say her family is her number one priority and she made sure they were front and center at her 2017 confirmation hearing for the 7th Circuit.
AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CANDIDATE: We have our oldest three daughters with us today --
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Barrett proudly showcased all seven of her children, including Vivian and John, whom she and her husband adopted from Haiti.
BARRETT: Vivian is our miracle. She was born in Haiti and came home, she was 14 months old, weighed 11 pounds. She was so weak, we were told she might never walk normally or speak. Today Vivian is a track star and has no trouble talking.
Benjamin has special needs. That presents unique challenges for all of us. I think all you need to know about Benjamin's place in the family is summed up by the fact that the other children unreservedly identify him as their favorite sibling.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Barrett's large family is just two children shy of matching the latest justice Antonin Scalia's. Barrett clerked for the staunchly conservative justice right out of law school and has marveled at his intensity.
BARRETT: It was intimidating working for him. When he called you to the office, you had to be prepared to talk about whatever it was. He was always five steps ahead of you.
CARTER SNEAD, NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: One of my friends said Judge Barrett is the kind of person and judge that you would want to be the judge in a case if you didn't know which side you were going to be on.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Carter Snead is part of Barrett's close-knit group of friends in South Bend, Indiana. He also has an adopted child and bonded with the Barrett family when it came to kids and cooking.
SNEAD: She and her family host extraordinary parties for Mardi Gras. She's from New Orleans. She cooks Creole cuisine and makes jambalaya and red beans and rice and crawfish etouffee.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): One issue that has come up before for Judge Barrett, how she balances her faith and the law.
BARRETT: If you're asking whether I take my faith seriously and I'm a faithful Catholic, I am although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear on the discharge of my duties as a judge.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Senator Dianne Feinstein drew criticism from conservatives with her sharp questions about Barrett's religion in 2017.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): You have a long history of believing that your religious beliefs should prevail. The dogma lives loudly within you.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): As Barrett emerged as the front-runner this week, her association with a multidenominational Christian group called People of Praise, began drawing attention.
The group's board of governors is all male and has referred to women as "handmaids" in the past, a term that has since been dropped by the group. A spokesman for People of Praise tells CNN, Christian leadership in no way involves superiority or domination among spouses.
But, "We have chosen to rely on male leadership at the highest level of our community, based on our desire to be a family of families. We follow the New Testament teaching that the husband is the head of the family and we have patterned our community on this New Testament approach to family life."
Putting aside Barrett's potential past or present membership, Judge Barrett has made clear she leaves her religion out of her judicial opinions.
BARRETT: It's never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge's personal convictions, whether they derive from faith or anywhere else on the law.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: More insight now. Let's bring CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.
Great to see you.
How does Republicans' Supreme Court strategy play into the timetable of Mitch McConnell wanting to protect those purple state senators that are up for reelection?
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HOLMES: Does a preelection vote help or hurt?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Historically they've believed, Republicans, that Supreme Court nominations motivate their voters more than Democratic voters.
But the evidence, that's no longer true. The amount of money that Democratic candidates have raised since the death of Ruth Ginsburg has been astronomical, really unprecedented.
The fact that Democrats are steering this so clearly away from abortion, although there is a national majority in favor of legalized abortion, toward preexisting conditions and the threat that judge Barrett poses to the Affordable Care Act, I think is very revealing.
While there is a national majority on behalf of legalized abortion, the politics vary state-by-state. On the other hand, there is clear evidence in polling of voters pretty much everywhere strongly prefer Democrats to protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
And that issue was the single most effective weapon that the Democrats wielded in the 2018 sweep.
HOLMES: She's on the record not looking good in terms of supporting the ACA.
BROWNSTEIN: Don't you think the paper trail on her and the Affordable Care Act is so much more explicit than we have seen on any recent nominee on a hot button issue?
It is just extraordinary. She is extremely critical of the Supreme Court decisions upholding the ACA. The ACA will be in the court a week after the election. Democrats already want to emphasize this issue.
And while it hasn't been discussed as much at the presidential level, it remains front and center of House and Senate campaigns. And now Mitch McConnell has created a situation where, for the next month, Republicans will be talking, defending against Democratic charges which have a lot of validity to them, that this nominee could imperil and doom the protections for roughly 100 million Americans.
HOLMES: As you point, out she is on the record, she criticized the chief justice on it. The other thing that's an interesting angle to this, I want to get your thoughts on, at her other confirmation hearing for her judgeship, her Catholic faith controversially came up.
But the fact is, if she's nominated, there will then be 6 reportedly devout Catholics on the bench.
Why is that?
BROWNSTEIN: Seven born, who were raised as Catholics.
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BROWNSTEIN: Every Republican nominee, I have a long story coming out in the morning if viewers want to check it, every Republican appointee on the court was raised as a Catholic.
Although Neil Gorsuch now worships at a Protestant church. This is a testament to the long-standing alliance, midwifed in the '70 by some activists, including the late Paul Wyrick, between conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants in the Republican coalition.
Those are the dominant groups in the Republican coalition at this point. But there simply is not a pipeline of qualified evangelical jurists and lawyers that have been developed comparable to what the Catholic -- conservative Catholic community has built. Notre Dame prides itself on being a farm team for the Right in legal circles.
That's, of course, where judge Barrett not only studied but taught. This is really a testament to the success of that. But it is striking that evangelical Protestants are the largest group in the Republican party. They provide most of the Republican votes, yet all the appointees and nominees were raised as Catholics.
HOLMES: Heaven forbid there's an agnostic or atheist.
The debates are going to begin in a few days. I wanted your thoughts real quick.
What do you see as the key variables in that?
It is important to remember that Hillary Clinton was widely considered the winner of all three of her. Debates with trump and we know what happened. There
BROWNSTEIN: This seems to be different than 2016. It seems to be more like 1980. Really, throughout Trump's presidency, there's never been a majority in the country that wants him to be president. We saw in 2018, some around 54 percent of the country very clearly rejected the direction that he has established.
In polling now, he's still stuck somewhere between 43-44 percent. In fact, a new ABC "Washington Post" poll out, 54-44. This seems to me more like 1980, where there was a majority in the country that have made up its mind it did not want Jimmy Carter for a second term.
And Reagan's job was not so much to defeat him in the debate as to just pass the credibility threshold as an alternative for a country that had pretty much already made up its mind.
It wasn't quite as solid as that but it seems to me Joe Biden's task is simply to convince voters that, yes, he is up to the job, that he is still a -- sharp and tough and smart enough, that he can handle the pressures of the presidency. I don't know if he has to make that strong a case against Donald Trump, he has to make more of a case for himself.
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BROWNSTEIN: And like Reagan, the door's already open, he's just pushing at an open door.
HOLMES: Do no harm and don't bite if the family comes up. That's one aspect on. That Ron, we're going to leave it there. I sadly I could chat all night. Good to see you.
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HOLMES: Appreciate it.
Now in Belarus, thousands of women marched in the capital of Minsk on Saturday. For weeks now, Belarusians have protested the contested election that ushered in long time leader Alexander Lukashenko into a new presidential term.
Organizers called Saturday's march a "rehearsal inauguration" for the main opposition candidate. Police arrested at least 79 people, at least including at least six journalist. According to a human rights group. Belarus' foreign ministry has accused western countries of trying to sow chaos and anarchy in the country.
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VLADIMIR MAKEI, BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We are seeing attempts to destabilize the situation in the country. Following unsuccessful attempts to impose color (ph) revolutions on us, we are now experiencing external interference aiming to undermine the very construction of our state.
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HOLMES: Here is a remarkable image. One protester handing out flowers to police officers as they arrest her and take her away in a van.
Now since justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last week, people have been coming to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to pay their respects. Now on Saturday, a Washington D.C., opera company used song to honor the iconic justice who was an opera. Fan.
Photojournalist Andrew Crissman (ph) takes us there.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in serious (ph) where D.C. Opera company. We mix opera theater and social justice. And we know that music was Justice Ginsburg's release, her escape. So we thought it was the one gift we could offer her now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: RBG meant so much as a woman growing up in the 20th and 21st century. Her persistent fight for women to have an equal say in important decisions.
She was an avid opera fan. For me, opera and music, it brings hope to people's hearts, it inspires people and that is exactly what we are trying to do here today.
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HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for your company. I appreciate it. Natalie Allen will be along in a little bit. Stay tuned now for "MARKETPLACE AFRICA."
