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Interview with White House Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern; Without Aid 74 Percent of Hotels Expect New Layoffs; New Fires as California Evacuates. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 28, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: But they're reporting based on --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: -- his federal records.

MORGENSTERN: -- what they have, and they wouldn't share it. So how can you just spew (ph) something they wouldn't share --

HARLOW: Here's why --

MORGENSTERN: -- it's the president's private documents.

HARLOW: -- it matters. Here's why it matters. Because federal income taxes pay for things like the military, that the president has said he so strongly supports. It pays the salary of Secret Service members that secure him every single day. It pays for roads, bridges, I could go on.

And the average American --

MORGENSTERN: Right.

HARLOW: -- in 2017, Brian, paid $12,199 in federal income taxes. Why does the president --

MORGENSTERN: And the president --

HARLOW: -- believe that he owes 16 times less?

MORGENSTERN: The president and his attorney have stated he paid millions of dollars in taxes --

HARLOW: They have not stated --

MORGENSTERN: -- and --

HARLOW: -- I'm talking about federal income taxes --

MORGENSTERN: -- as I said, '05 to '07, $70 million in taxes --

HARLOW: -- you are very -- right, you worked with folks from the Treasury, you know there's a difference.

MORGENSTERN: So are you, Poppy. And that's why you should be asking where is the -- where are the taxes on Hunter's $3.5 million from Russia? Where are the taxes --

HARLOW: I -- absolutely --

MORGENSTERN: -- on his billion dollars from China?

HARLOW: -- should not be asking --

MORGENSTERN: The president's paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes --

HARLOW: The president's spokesman, about someone who is not germane to this conversation, who is not running for president. Brian, please do our viewers --

MORGENSTERN: Have you ever asked them? Have you ever done a segment on them?

HARLOW: -- the service -- Brian, please do our viewers the service of answering my questions about the man you are --

MORGENSTERN: You're not going to answer that question?

HARLOW: -- because I ask the questions. And I'm glad you're here, and I'm going to keep asking them.

MORGENSTERN: OK.

HARLOW: In 2017 -- Brian -- in 2017, according to all of these documents, it appears the president paid more in taxes to Panama, India, and the Philippines than he did to Uncle Sam. How is that America First?

MORGENSTERN: Poppy, the documents "The New York Times" used, they wouldn't even show them to anybody so that they could be verified or disputed. The president's attorney stated, he's paid tens of millions of --

HARLOW: It --

MORGENSTERN: -- dollars in taxes, we know this. We know that he donates his salary to the government even when he doesn't have to, that's a million and a half dollars in taxes he didn't even have to pay.

But this is a story that was -- it's another version of it from four years ago, on the eve --

HARLOW: It's not.

MORGENSTERN: -- of a debate, coordinated with the Democrats as a political hit -- HARLOW: Let's -- OK, that's -- Brian, I'm just going to stop you there. These are remarkable reporters from "The New York Times" who went through 20 years of documents. It is not OK for you to accuse them -- with no facts -- of coordinating with the Democratic Party. Please --

MORGENSTERN: Poppy, they had ads up and running --

HARLOW: -- stop doing that or this interview will end.

MORGENSTERN: They had ads up and running.

HARLOW: Brian, stop attacking the press. I have not seen you do that largely before, stop doing that. I'm asking you direct questions. You can put the entire thing to bed if the president would release the records and show the American people what he says is true. Why will he not do that?

MORGENSTERN: Poppy, so the press can attack him but he can't defend himself? That is just not a fair position to take.

HARLOW: The president is welcome to come on this show and defend himself, I hope he joins us. The easiest defense would be for him to lay out his records as every modern president has done since the 1970s.

MORGENSTERN: He has stated his position on this, he has put out financial disclosures that are very extensive --

HARLOW: They're not everything.

MORGENSTERN: -- and the American people can see. And by the way, a sort of a buried lede here was there was supposed to be Russia ties. There were no Russia ties.

HARLOW: Yes, well that's not a buried lede. I thought it was important that "The New York Times" pointed out that there was nothing new in terms of financial deals with Russia. They did explain more about the Miss Universe and Moscow pageant, but they laid out all of that in the reporting, Brian, so I'm not sure why you're bringing it up.

Let me ask you another reason why I think this matters. "The New York Times" reported --

MORGENSTERN: Because they won a Pulitzer prize for saying that he had Russia ties, that's why.

HARLOW: -- that in the first two years -- Brian, the "Times" reports in the president's first two years in the White House, his revenue from abroad -- right? -- businesses abroad totaled $73 million. Do you think the American people have the right to know if there are any direct conflicts of interest for the president?

MORGENSTERN: The president is acting on behalf of the American people, he was an international businessman before he became president, everyone knew that. He's never shied away from --

HARLOW: I'm talking about his first two years while he was president, he made $73 million from abroad. He also ran on his record, Brian, he ran on his record as a successful businessman. And if you look at what this shows here, it shows massive losses year over year over year as a businessman, to offset -- to offset so that he wouldn't have to pay more in taxes. Do you think the American people have the right to know whether or not he was a successful businessman?

MORGENSTERN: Well, he was. But I'm confused, is the attack that he was not a successful businessman, or that he's profiting from the presidency, which is not true? I'm --

HARLOW: So both --

MORGENSTERN: -- the ever-evolving stream of attacks --

HARLOW: -- can be -- both can be true --

MORGENSTERN: -- are confusing.

HARLOW: Both can be true or false at the same time. But the only thing that can really make it very clear for the American people is for them to see for themselves.

[10:35:00]

MORGENSTERN: And he has disclosed a tremendous amount of information about his finances. The American people know well the Trump brand and his properties all around the world.

HARLOW: Yes -- he --

MORGENSTERN: He has stated his position about the tax returns, you know, being under audit. His attorney's already stated he's paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes, which really rips the rug out from the --

HARLOW: Brian.

MORGENSTERN: -- bottom of this.

HARLOW: OK, Brian, you know -- you --

MORGENSTERN: And it's a repeated attack from four years ago.

HARLOW: -- especially who's worked with Treasury, know that there is nothing about an audit that precludes someone from releasing their tax returns. The head of the IRS testified as much under oath last year.

Final question on this, and I do want to move on to coronavirus. This has all reminded me of the president's repeated attacks on Amazon and their federal tax bill. Listen to this in 2018.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So that instead of Amazon and these other companies making a fortune -- including the fact that they pay virtually no tax, which is ridiculous and very unfair to regular stores --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Very unfair. What's up with all the Amazon attacks, then?

MORGENSTERN: There is an issue there obviously with the post office. We want the post office to be solvent and there is a margin issue on how much they're charging for packages, of course, the president wants to point out there.

But I think they're two different issues --

HARLOW: No.

MORGENSTERN: -- but again, the president's paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes, that's what his attorney stated and --

HARLOW: OK, I just --

MORGENSTERN: -- I --

HARLOW: I'm not sure we're going to get anywhere here on this, but I know you know what I'm talking about, about federal income taxes. I look forward to hopefully some more transparency from the president on this front.

Let's talk about coronavirus, given how many American lives it has claimed. It is tragic. And let's talk about this weekend. This weekend, Brian, we saw Wisconsin and Utah post daily records for COVID cases. Half of the U.S. is now reporting an increase in COVID cases, and yet this weekend the president chose to hold a Rose Garden ceremony with almost no masks. Why did he do that?

MORGENSTERN: Well Poppy, the -- first of all, as -- cases may be going up in certain places of course, but we're in a very different place today than we were a few months ago, and it's because of the president's leadership of Operation Warp Speed in developing treatments -- soon, a vaccine -- in using the Defense Production Act to send PPE where it is needed.

And that means that mortality rates have come way down, it means hospitalization rates have come way down. Because if people contract this virus and get sick, we're in a much better position today to treat them so that it's no longer -- the risks are just not what they were.

In terms of --

HARLOW: So he's willing to gamble with people at the Rose Garden ceremony getting COVID because we're better prepared as a country --

MORGENSTERN: Well, Poppy -- HARLOW: -- to take care of them?

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: And it's not just the Rose Garden, Brian. Seriously, he's held three --

MORGENSTERN: Poppy, it was an outdoor event.

HARLOW: I get that, but people were close and there were not masks, and you can still get COVID outdoors and you know that. And he's held three completely indoor rallies during this pandemic. Does he think that holding these events is in the public health interest of the American people?

MORGENSTERN: Poppy, the president always says that wear a mask if you can't distance, wash your hands, socially distance. But he also believes in --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: But they weren't doing that.

MORGENSTERN: -- the American people being able to make decisions for themselves, protecting vulnerable populations.

If it's an outdoor event and people feel safe, they can you know, behave the way they want to. But we want people to --

HARLOW: Yes, except I think you lead by example.

MORGENSTERN: -- take precautions, we make recommendations. And look, it was a great event. The event you're referring to is nominating who will be a tremendous --

HARLOW: Hey.

MORGENSTERN: -- justice on the Supreme Court, it was a wonderful event, it was outdoors --

HARLOW: It was a hugely consequential event that could have been more safe.

I have one minute with you, Brian. I want to ask about the FDA because the president now says it's the White House -- basically him -- that gets to approve a COVID vaccine over the FDA. And he's accused the FDA of playing politics with a vaccine. Does the president -- with his important economics degree from Wharton -- doe she believe that he knows more about approving a vaccine than the scientists at the FDA?

MORGENSTERN: No, Poppy. I think that what he was referring to, there's a routine review process, an interagency review process that's run by OMB when regulations are coming out.

But I think he asked a valid question, and he's entitled to ask questions of people in his administration, of why would the vaccine guidance for this one be different than a previous one? Maybe there's a strong reason there, maybe it's not.

But we want a safe and effective vaccine. The FDA is entrusted to certify that. And what will be distributed to the American people will certainly be safe and effective. And we've been --

HARLOW: OK.

MORGENSTERN: -- had our government and the best scientists approving vaccines for decades. We just want to make sure that if there's some kind of change, that you know, we're still ensuring that the gold standard is met.

And I think that, you know, we're in a good place there, the president's relationship with the FDA commissioner is very strong and I - it was just a routine review process. And I think we'll get something for the American people that's safe and effective very soon.

[10:40:02]

HARLOW: OK. I really hope so, and I really hope the attacks on the FDA about playing politics with that evidence stop. Because so many American lives hang in the balance. Brian Morgenstern, you're welcome back any time -- as is the president. Thank you.

MORGENSTERN: Thanks, Poppy, have a good day.

HARLOW: You too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, as so many businesses across the country continue to struggle in this crisis, the hotel industry? They are bracing for the worst. After a summer season with very few tourists, hotels and their employees are facing a bleak winter ahead.

[10:45:09]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you just hear stories of the impossibility of survival. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAT PAYNE, FURLOUGHED HOTEL WORKER: I'm at the top of the rollercoaster with no harness. And they're telling me I'll keep the ride going.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): There's no hiding Kat Payne's reality. Mornings are very different with her daughter Kapati (ph) and son Atreyu (ph).

PAYNE: So you know we always go over our finances and stuff in the mornings. We're going into our fourth month of not paying our mortgage.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Payne, a veteran housekeeper at the Marriott Downtown Philadelphia, has been furloughed since March.

PAYNE: We are extending your layoff --

YURKEVICH (voice-over): She's out of work at not one, but two jobs. Her part-time job as a bartender is also on hold. As a single parent, unemployment is not enough to cover her bills. She's nearly drained her retirement account.

PAYNE: This isn't just a death sentence economically, this is a death sentence physically because if one of us gets the coronavirus, either one of us can die. And as the breadwinner, I'm nervous.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Hotel occupancy is nearly 50 percent nationwide. In Philadelphia, it's only 27 percent. Last April, Philadelphia County had 77,000 hospitality jobs. More than half were lost during the pandemic, and recovery is slow.

MICHAEL ROBERTS, GENERAL MANAGER, POD HOTEL AND WINDSOR SUITS: It's just a bleak scenario.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Michael Roberts is the general manager at Pod Hotel, temporarily closed, and Windsor Suites, which furloughed half its staff.

ROBERTS: I have had to have those conversations, and those are the things that stick with you.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): In Philadelphia, the slow winter months at hotels are kept afloat by conventions. This year, all are cancelled. Seventy-four percent of U.S. hotels say more layoffs are coming if they don't get additional federal aid.

YURKEVICH: Is there an opportunity for you to return to work?

LISA PALMER, FURLOUGHED HOTEL WORKER: I absolutely have no idea. And I wish that I did.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Lisa Palmer's hotel is shuttered indefinitely. She fed hotel guests as a cook for five years as a single mom, working long hours to provide for her five-year-old daughter. She was just months away from getting her pension when she got furloughed.

PALMER: That got ripped from me. And I have no idea of -- if I'll be able to get that time back to be able to secure my pension.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): More than 70 percent of hotel workers in Philadelphia are people of color. Nationally, black unemployment is nearly twice as high as white workers.

PALMER: The government throwing in there that unemployment or assistance is keeping people from going out and going back to work or getting jobs? How about there are no jobs? How about every job in my field is shut down or restricted?

PAYNE: Just going to have to rough it. That's where we at right now. YURKEVICH (voice-over): The Paynes have roughed it once before, when

the family was homeless for two years. A roof over their heads means everything.

PAYNE: My biggest worry right now is securing home, securing shelter. And if we have to be cold or no water, I can deal with that, I've been through that. But we need a house.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Now, the story of these hotel workers really paint the picture for the critical need for federal aid. Both hotels need it, and the workers themselves. Hotels are looking for federal assistance, possibly Paycheck Protection loans to bring back more workers. But those women that we just heard from that are furloughed also need assistance. They're looking for enhanced unemployment benefits, more stimulus checks.

And Jim and Poppy, as we know, both sides -- Democrats and Republicans -- have not been able to come to any sort of a deal on this as these women and many hotel workers around the country are still feeling that economic pain -- Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes. And I think that's just a total abdication of duty, responsibility, period, to not do a deal. But Vanessa, we're so grateful for your reporting and bringing us these stories. Keep them coming, thank you.

[10:49:11]

Let's talk about California because new wildfires have emerged -- look at these -- out of St. Helena, California, overnight. We'll get a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: We hoped this was getting better, but evacuations are under way again in California's Wine County as two new and fast-moving wildfires burn uncontained.

HARLOW: Our correspondent Dan Simon is on the ground in St. Helena, California. Good morning to you, Dan, I was just thinking about these fires over the weekend, and now this.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really unbelievable, to think that here we are, you know, into this fire season, about a month or so into the season, and we're dealing with what could be another major catastrophe.

I can tell you, just with my own eyes as we drove through the town of St. Helena, many homes have been destroyed. It looked like at least one church had been destroyed as well, along with a winery.

And St. Helena is known for its lush vineyards -- you can see one behind me -- and its historic wineries. And you can see the smoke there in the hillside, and it's just a smoky mess. Fire was really all around us this morning, here in Napa Valley. And this fire of course is being driven by the wind, very strong winds.

And we're under a red flag warning until later tonight, so there's the potential for this fire to spread even further. We actually understand it has gotten closer.

[10:55:01]

It is actually in the town of Santa Rosa, which, as you may recall, was devastated a couple of years ago with thousands of homes destroyed, many people lost their lives. And yet here we are again with these major fires taking over California's Wine Country -- Poppy, Jim, I'll send it back to you.

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: And each of those homes, those are people's lives and memories. Dan Simon, thanks so much. We hope the people three stay safe.

HARLOW: Thank you all for joining us today. It's been a busy one already. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. NEWSROOM with John King will start after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]