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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Says States Aren't Opening Fast Enough As 15 States Still Seeing Increases In Death Toll; Trump: Shutdowns Are Causing More Problems "Than The Virus Itself"; Task Force Credits Shutdowns With Reducing Cases; Obama: Trump Has Shown "No Interest In Using The Awesome Power Of His Office To Help Anyone But Himself & His Friends;" Harris Set To Make History Tonight With Nomination For VP. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 19, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, President Trump says states aren't opening up fast enough, blaming Democrats as deaths are still up in 15 states and Trump's own top testings are warned things could get worse very quickly.
Plus, President Obama saying something we've never heard him say like this before. Coming out talking about Trump saying he treats the presidency like a reality show and is incapable of growing into the job and that's just the start of it.
And Kamala Harris about to accept the historic VP nomination as we're getting our first look at what she will be saying tonight. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Trump's coronavirus testing czar sounding the alarm tonight warning of coronavirus outbreaks and pleading with Americans to take warnings seriously.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, HHS: We need to be absolutely diligent about adherence to public health recommendations or else we could have flares and outbreaks. This thing could turn around very quickly if we're not careful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Giroir warning that the crisis could turn around really quickly and get a lot worse if we're all not careful. And yet here was the scene today at an event for the Vice President Mike Pence. In a crowded room, he was not wearing a mask, mingling with people who are not social distancing. There you see him, right, not a mask. Most people not wearing masks, not social distancing.
Look, that's the one thing we know will stop the virus, mask work as well as a vaccine, that's from Trump's own coronavirus task force. But you see this, this is today, in a room almost no masks, no social distancing, the Vice President not wearing one. And it's crowded scenes like this which we, of course, see at every
single Trump event, including yesterday in Yuma, Arizona, setting an example for other large gatherings. That is where the virus spreads and that is what causes death. This country is still reporting an average of 1,000 deaths a day, 15 states reporting an alarming increase in daily death toll.
And it is why at one point at least 30 states had to pause or rollback their reopenings. They went ahead and did it really quickly, including a lot of red states. But moments ago, the President going after cities and states he says specifically run by Democrats that shut down. He says their numbers 'aren't even good', which happens to not be true.
I mean, here in New York, we all know, right? Once the epicenter of virus and death, a state run by a Democrat, a state that has been incredibly slow to reopen, today announced one of the lowest positivity rates anywhere 0.78 percent. In the city, 0.24 percent and the President's own task force even acknowledging that the shutdowns were crucial in bringing down the case number of deaths, right?
Dr. Birx saying I wish we'd done more and longer shutdowns, it could all be over. Well, Nick Watt is OUTFRONT live in Los Angeles. And, Nick, the President's words are simply not reflecting the reality on the ground today.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, what really struck me is we just heard from Kansas about five more clusters connected to colleges and universities, then we heard the President playing down the risks to college students saying that the likelihood of them getting seriously sick from COVID is less than or equal to the seasonal flu. He was extolling the virtues of in-person learning over iPads and actually said that closing colleges might kill more people than it saves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOHN JENKINS, PRESIDENT, NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in our first weeks' back on campus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): One hundred fifty-five cases confirmed in just the past two days. Undergrad classes now online-only for the next two weeks, but students are staying on campus. COVID cases now confirmed that colleges across at least nine states, more than 350 people are now in isolation at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the college has hired contact tracers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONDE PLOWMAN, CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE: That's how we found out about this first cluster and they told us where it was. So we knew it was a party off campus. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): The WHO says now isn't the time for recriminations over parties like these. It's time for education.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WORLD HEALTH ORG. EPIDEMIOLOGIST: We just need to make sure that the messages that are getting out particularly to young people, particularly to children and young adults, that you are not invincible to this virus.
DESIREE CADY, SON HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19: He would shiver and it was warm. And then he would get hot when it was cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): Desiree Cady's athletic 19-year-old son at (inaudible) contracted COVID-19 reportedly suffered serious heart complications.
[19:05:07]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CADY: There was a point that I actually thought that I may lose him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): Across this country, COVID-19 infection rates are still very high but falling. Unclear if that trend will continue, plateau or rise again, like a roller coaster. Interesting to note that testing is down nationally and as the President has said ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you do testing to that extent, you're gonna find more people, you're gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): The bottom line many, many lives are still being lost. Texas accelerated past 10,000 COVID-19 deaths, Florida fast approaching that same sorrowful statistic.
Meanwhile, FDA emergency authorization for treatment using blood plasma from the recovered is now reportedly on hold after a number of federal officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci argued the data is still too weak. This according to The New York Times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LEANA WEN, FORMER BALTIMORE HEALTH COMMISSIONER: This really underscores one of the problems in the pandemic that, of course, everybody is desperate and we want a hopeful treatment. And when you're really ill, of course, you want to do everything possible. But at the same time, we cannot take shortcuts in the research.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: So colleges are clearly a focus right now, but Gov. Cuomo of New York today warning that opening K through 12 will be even more problematic. Why? Well, because more school kids go home in the evening to their families or their extended families and could potentially be spreading the virus to those older people, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Nick, thank you.
And OUTFRONT now Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Jonathan Reiner, of course, of the GW Cardiac Cath Lab and advised the White House medical team with George W. Bush.
Sanjay, so the President tonight says the shutdown is causing all of these problems where he specifically was calling out Democratic cities, but then he went on to say, the suicide and drug abuse, other issues that the shutdown has caused far more problems than the virus itself, that's the quote from the President. Is that true?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, it's not true. I mean, it is fair to say that if you earn a significant shutdown for a prolonged period, there have been some models that suggest that drug abuse and suicide rates would go up.
But there's two points to make, one is that we've never really been shut down in this country, not like other countries as Ambassador Birx was talking about Italy, for example. At any given time maybe half of the country was shut down.
The other thing is you got to keep in mind, Erin, in this country now as things stand. This disease which didn't even exist a year ago in the United States is now the third leading cause of deaths in the United States. It is far greater risk than any of those other things and the numbers, as you know, continue to go up, that's just over six or seven months.
BURNETT: Right. And as you point out right at the third leading cause of death, you can actually see those numbers.
Now, Dr. Reiner, this point about the this convalescent plasma. According to The New York Times, the FDA emergency use authorization for that plasma is on hold because Dr. Fauci and others thought that the evidence that was out was too weak. So the President was asked about it today and he said something pretty incredible, because I want to again just emphasize what I just said Dr. Fauci and others say that the evidence is too weak. Here's what the President said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It could be a political decision, because you have a lot of people over there that don't want to rush things because they want to do it after November 3rd and you've heard that one before. But I've heard fantastic things about convalescent plasma.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. So let me just make it loud and clear, a lot of people over there at the FDA, on the task force our political, don't want him to win so they're holding back something that's an amazing cure that could work, that's what he's saying. What do you say, Dr. Reiner?
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, this is very interesting story. And let me just start by saying no one wants this to work more than me, maybe Sanjay. But other than Sanjay, no one wants this to work more than me. We're desperate for an effective therapeutic.
And the President has been teasing this for the last few weeks at his presser saying big news on therapeutics coming soon. I think he's been anticipating that the FDA would grant an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma.
Look, the problem is that although it's been given to about 60,000 people in this country, we don't have randomized clinical trial data and the existing data is super weak. But I was encouraged, actually, by doctors Fauci and Collins, standing up to the FDA, standing up to what must be immense political pressure to approve this because we don't have the data.
And we need this kind of scientific leadership as we roll out vaccines to tell the public that this is safe and effective.
[19:10:00]
So the fact that Fauci and Collins have put the brakes on this, encourages me there are adults still at work in this administration.
I hope we do the clinical trials. There was an op-ed in The Washington Post a few weeks ago by four former FDA commissioners, desperately urging us to do the randomized clinical trials to understand whether it works or not and we need to get it done.
BURNETT: Sanjay, what do you say from all of the source you've talked to? I mean, the President just basically directly saying that people at the FDA and Dr. Fauci would rather not have a cure so that (inaudible) from winning.
GUPTA: It's totally ridiculous. I mean, you cannot disentangle anything from politics nowadays. As Dr. Reiner mentioned, there's all sorts of different reasons that they would want the additional data. And keep in mind, this is an FDA that did give emergency use authorization to hydroxychloroquine not that long ago despite having basically no evidence around that.
So the fact that they're clamping down on this, taking this seriously with guidance from Dr. Fauci and Collins, I mean, the FDA still is its own autonomous agency. They act on their own. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins don't control the FDA, but clearly there's a message being sent here that we're going to be very, very clear in terms of what we're going to even give emergency use authorization to. BURNETT: Yes. I mean, it's stunning. And by the way they had to then
rescind that emergency use, which they had done under political pressure at the first place.
GUPTA: That's right.
BURNETT: So Dr. Reiner, The Vice President today mingling with supporters, no mask, people in the crowd, tons of them no masks, no social distancing. Look, I still can't believe we're seeing these kinds of things. Yesterday, 18 percent positivity rate in Yuma, Arizona. The President of the United States is there, no mask, people in the crowd no masks, no social distancing.
Polls show 68 percent of Americans feel more embarrassed than proud by the U.S. response to COVID, 62 percent of Americans say the President should be doing - it should be doing more. Obviously, mask would be the most basic thing he could do. What do you make of the poll?
REINER: Well, numbers have bad in the United States, a lot of people have died, 170,000 people have died. A lot of people in this country have been directly affected by this virus in terms of someone dying. Everyone's been directly affected, but in terms of either knowing someone directly or knowing someone who knows someone who's died of this virus and it's just going to get worse and there's no way to hide those numbers.
Today, the President singled out New Zealand and say they're having a big outbreak there. New Zealand had has six new cases today. Six.
BURNETT: Yes.
REINER: So let's look at this in perspective. When I saw the Vice President in that crowd, I worried for his safety. Unless he's been vaccinated himself, wading into a crowd like that, it poses a substantial risk. He needs to be a little more careful.
BURNETT: Yes. It's amazing just what that shows. And by the way, I love how he brings up New Zealand. They have a surge. They have six cases. They shut most of the country down so that they won't have any more. I mean in the lockdown way more than our country has experienced.
Sanjay, meanwhile, we have the opposite. Schools are reopening, colleges like Notre Dame had more than 200 students with the virus. So you've had these clusters in-person classes there now on hold. But the University of Illinois now says it's got an emergency us from the FDA for a rapid saliva test, their own that they figured out. So does it work? I mean, could this be the game changer for schools?
GUPTA: Well, I think this is a bright spot. They got this emergency use authorization by basically saying that they - it was a bridge from the Yale saliva test that was recently was approved under emergency use. This is really interesting, Erin.
So this is a school, University of Illinois, they created their own test. It's a saliva based test. It does require a lab, but basically what I've read, we talked to them today. They can do 20,000 tests a day. Their plan is to test the entire student body every twice a week, so every few days. And basically that's in conjunction they're going to be doing tracing and isolation and quarantine as necessary.
It's a positive step, I think for sure. It's probably still incremental. Ultimately, I think the kind of test that is really accurate and acts more like a pregnancy test, so you get your results really quickly. There's no lab that it's got to be sent to. It's going to be the key.
But you're seeing these independent organizations now step up and I think it's gonna make a big difference. We don't know whether U of I can stay open still because college kids are going to be college kids but I think it can make a big difference.
BURNETT: Pretty incredible though when you just see that ingenuity that it was there and that it could happen and yet still as a country people are waiting 10 days or more to get test results back. It's appalling. An appalling indictment of our government on so many levels. Thank you both so much.
And next, former President Obama tonight coming out and speaking like we have never heard him before. Primetime across this country will say President Trump has no interest in putting in the work it takes, accusing him of treating the job like a reality show, a joke.
[19:15:03]
Plus, we're getting brand new excerpts from Sen. Kamala Harris' speech which she will be delivering tonight. And the video that we'll be introducing her this evening, we've got a preview of that for you. And a night of women who are, well, they have been hitting Trump for a while and we'll see it tonight, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Tonight we now know what they will say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:19:30]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Obama will be going after President Trump during the Democratic National Convention in his speech tonight in a way we have not seen before. Speaking from Philadelphia, the words coming from a former President about the sitting president are truly remarkable.
I want to read a bit of what we're going to hear. So this is what President Obama will say again from Philadelphia, the home of the American Revolution.
"I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies.
[19:20:01] I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show
some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did.
He's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.
Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe, 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.
Arlette Saenz is OUTFRONT in Wilmington. And Arlette, look, these are powerful words from a man known for his eloquence and speech making and the strongest criticism we have heard from President Obama about his sitting successor.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Erin, President Obama was very careful in those first few years when he was out of office to criticize President Trump. But tonight he is going to hammer away at his successor offering what looks like one of his sharpest rebukes yet of the President. This comes 16 years after Obama first spoke at a Democratic National Convention and it also comes as his own legacy is on the line as he is hoping that his former partner, his former Vice President, Joe Biden, will be elected in November.
And Obama is also expected to speak firsthand about what he witnessed with Joe Biden in those eight years they spent together in the White House giving personal testimony to his character and leadership. The former president is expected to say, "Over eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president. He's got the character and the experience to make us a better country."
Obama will add, "Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back better." Now, President Obama will deliver his speech from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia about 30 miles from here, the Chase Center.
We're told the reason that that location was chosen was that he could make the point that America's democracy is at stake in this election, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Picking, of course, the cradle of it, where that independence was signed. Thank you so much, Arlette.
OUTFRONT now our Political Director, David Chalian, Karen Finney, former Communications Director for the DNC, Bakari Sellers who is a Democratic Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and Jess McIntosh, who was Director of Communications Outreach for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
So David, look, it's a brutal takedown by Obama. This is a person we know is a beautiful writer in a beautiful deliver of speeches, but he has been extremely careful to not speak like this about Trump. Every single word here is perfectly and carefully chosen. He did not do it lightly.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Not at all lightly. Listen, this isn't the first time we're going to hear Barack Obama criticize Donald Trump. He actually throughout the course of the Trump presidency grew a little more comfortable doing so, but it's the first time we're ever seeing him do it like this. All pretense aside a just straight frontal attack picking up, quite frankly, where his wife, Michelle Obama, left off on Monday night to just simply get to the heart of the matter.
Their critique is and these are the people, obviously, who have seen it up close that he is not capable of doing the job, that he cannot meet the moment that he has proven over the course of the last three and a half years that fulfilling the responsibilities of this office is beyond him. That's the argument they're taking to the American people this week in terms of the anti-Trump side of the argument.
BURNETT: Right. And there have been some, Karen, who said, well, because Michelle Obama did, to use the words of David, she said Trump could not meet the moment, that she had gone so aggressively for the President that maybe Obama would not.
But I mean, he is, I mean, these words, "He's shown no interest in using the awesome power of his office, help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't."
When you saw this come out, these excerpts, and this is just an excerpt of what we're going to hear. Were you surprised at how strong and direct Barack Obama has chosen to be?
KAREN FINNEY, FORMER SENIOR SPOKESWOMAN, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: No, and I'll tell you what, two reasons. Number one, I think there is a very concerted effort. You heard it from Michelle. You've heard it from other speakers. I promise you, you will hear it again tonight, specifically, also from my other former boss, Hillary Clinton.
We cannot take anything for granted. We have to leave everything on the field, all hands on deck.
[19:24:56]
And so I think in this moment, President Obama who, as you pointed out, has not generally been one to speak this harshly about Donald Trump is in this moment of understanding, now is the time to make the case, to press the case and to press upon people. We don't have the luxury of thinking we can vote for a third party candidate and it won't matter. We don't have the luxury of thinking if we don't vote, it'll be OK.
And part of the way you do that is to forcefully prosecute the case against Donald Trump and what is at stake for the American people. I think that's why we're seeing Barack Obama prepared to just come out and forcefully make the case.
He knows as well as anyone else who we've heard from better so, A; why Joe Biden is the one who can meet this moment and why he's got the experience we need and B; what exactly is at stake and what is required of the presidency.
BURNETT: And Bakari, he picks a location that brings with it a lot of power in history by picking Philadelphia, by picking the Museum of Revolution, the location of the founding fathers gathering for that Declaration of Independence. He is picking a very specific location.
I'm sure in part to highlight his own - it's his own strength and power there as opposed to the man who has succeeded him.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's not just the cradle of our democracy, right?
BURNETT: Yes.
SELLERS: It's not just the fact that he is in Philadelphia today. There are a lot of us who believe that - you talk about Philadelphia, you talk about Milwaukee, you talk about Detroit, you talk about these cities where the election could have possibly been won in 2016. I think it's (inaudible) than that. It's more than just that location.
What Barack Obama is showing us tonight is that our democracy is fragile and our democracy can be trampled upon and our democracy can be destroyed right before our eyes. And I think that this moment is harkening back to this civil rights adage that freedom is not free.
And I think that the straw that broke the camel's back is when - that compelled the President of the United States, the 44th President to come out and do this full frontal attack was the Axios' interview where the President was so flipping and says it is what it is.
But it wasn't just that, but in the totality of it all, we just lost a legend like John Lewis, we lost C.T. Vivian, we lost Joseph Lowery all within a hundred day period. People who actually fought and bled and died for justice, freedom, peace, truth, democracy and giving those words meaning.
And so I think the President right now feels compelled with his platform to do more than he had done. And to stand up and say tonight enough is enough. Let me put all my cards on the table. So freedom is not free and democracy is fragile I think are the two things that Barack Obama will put forward tonight.
BURNETT: All right. So the point is you said about democracy, Jess, let me just read something else that President Obama is going to say as part of his speech. He will say, and I quote, "Democracy was never meant to be transactional - you give me your vote; I make everything better. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability - to embrace your own responsibility as citizens - to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that's what at stake right now. Our democracy."
Look, it's not leaving anything unsaid, Jess.
JESS MCINTOSH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's certainly not and it's following Michelle Obama's remarks perfectly as she said that she gave us our marching orders, how to vote, when to vote, how to track our ballots. These were the things that we need to do to ensure democracy. So she sort of spoke to our hearts.
I think Obama is going to speak to our principles tonight and he's going to carry the weight of the White House with him. It is remarkable that there is no living president who will stand up and back Donald Trump. We are going to hear from the men who have sat in that office and taken on that responsibility and they know that Donald Trump has not done what he ought to have done with it.
Honestly, even the presence of Obama strikes a really important contrast with the man who currently sits in the office. It's not even so much about the substance of what he says. It's the simple fact that he's able to center somebody other than himself in his own remarks. He's going to center the American people.
There were two major things that happened this year to get them in, one, it's an election year and two, like he says in those remarks, we're sitting in the middle of a pandemic and an uprising and we need leadership.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. You're gonna stay with me though, because you mentioned Hillary Clinton about to speak tonight or Karen did. What is her message for this party, which was, wow, so wounded by her loss just four years ago, right? I mean, Democrats, wow, the anger they felt.
And two other women who have never held back when it comes to Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi, they will also speak tonight and we have new details on what they will say. Coming up.
[19:30:06]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, we're getting our first look at the video that will introduce Senator Kamala Harris before her speech tonight. It makes the case that Harris is the right choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, I'm talking about someone who can fight for black people, brown people, undocumented people, LGBT people, disabled people, young people, old people, all of America.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): It's about all of us knowing our power teaches us to lift people up, right, and to remind them that we see them and that we hear them and that they matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: M.J. Lee is OUTFRONT. She's in Wilmington, Delaware, where Senator Harris is tonight for a speech.
And, M.J., that obviously seems to be the theme, that Kamala Harris is like many Americans and people can connect with her, and that is her big selling point.
M.J. LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. This will be a major theme tonight. Kamala Harris is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, and, of course, she will be making history tonight as the first of woman of color to be nominated by a major political party for the vice presidency.
[19:35:06]
And we know that she was going to lean in to that personal story. The goal of her speech we are told is she wants every American to feel like they are reflected in her remarks.
And we also know that she is going to address the racial divisions she feels have flared up under the Donald Trump administration. As she will say in part: We are at an inflection point, the constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone.
It's a lot, and here's the thing. We can do better and deserve so much more. We must elect a president who will bring something different, something better, and do the important work, a president who will bring all of us together, black, white, Latino, Asian, indigenous to achieve the future we collectively we want. We must elect Joe Biden.
Now, Erin, this is not going to be just a personal speech. It is also going to be highly political. You will recall as a 2020 candidate she often said a line she hoped to prosecute against Donald Trump. That, of course, is a reference to her prosecutorial background in California.
And tonight she is going to condemn Donald Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, and she will bluntly say that his actions have cost American lives -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. M.J., thank you very much.
With that preview of what Senator Harris will say, I want to bring in Dylan Loewe. He was a speechwriter for Joe Biden when Biden was vice president. He also worked with Senator Harris on her memoir.
And I know you spent 200 hours with her on that, so you're one of the very few people know, Dylan, both of them extremely. There is kind of a way that you know someone working on those deeply personal moments that, you know, very few people would.
So, with Senator Harris, 200 hours with her, very personal things you've talked about, the death of her mother, other deeply personal things. I know she started writing the speech the day she was picked for VP. Maybe she started thinking about it before in term of if possibly, but that's when she started -- that's not a lot of time, only about a week ago.
What do you expect to hear from her tonight?
DYLAN LOEWE, FORMER SPEECHWRITER FOR FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: You know, I'll expect that she will certainly hit on the history making nature of this night for her and for all of us in terms of electing for the first time, nominating rather for the first time a woman of color to a major political party ticket.
But I also think she'll also speak to the broader history we're living through right now, the dueling crisises, the COVID crisis and the economic calamity and the racial justice crisis and now, the Democratic legitimacy crisis we find ourselves in as Donald Trump and his allies try to sabotage the election.
So, I think she'll set the table for the stakes that are at stake this November. I also think it's a chance for her to introduce and reintroduce herself to the American people. I know she's been campaigning for a long time, but a lot of people haven't gotten to know her that well. I think it's an opportunity for that.
I think she'll go back and touch on her roots which will mean I would suspect she'll talk about her mom, Shyamala, who was an incredibly important character in her life, probably the person she looked up to most in the world, and, you know, her North Star.
And I think, you know, tonight as she's preparing for this speech, I would suspect that the only tough thought that's going through her head right now is the fact that her mom won't be able to see it.
BURNETT: Yeah, I can imagine that that would be so central no matter who you are.
I know that, Dylan, you've spent an extraordinary amount of time with Joe Biden because you were speechwriter when she was vice president. During that time, you spent more time with him than anyone including your own wife, that's what life was like being speech writer for the vice president.
So, how is he approaching what is now the most important speech of his life? And the most important speech of his life being given without a conventional room full of applause and feedback and all the things that make these speeches sync?
LOEWE: You know, Joe Biden is easily the most optimistic person I have ever met. So, I think we're going to see a lot of that optimism in the vision he puts forward. I think so many of us, and I count myself among them, are terrified when we think about November, the possibility that Trump could win re-election or install himself in power the idea that we're just halfway through this nightmare.
And so, that should be driving us and it is driving have many of us. But there is also the opportunity to talk about the possibility of what could happen if they win, the hope that comes with that. You know, if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are elected and they get a Democratic Senate, six months from now we're going to be dealing with a whole different world.
We're going to be in a position where one day we're saving the DACA kids, the next day, we're, you know, passing a new voting rights act, the next day, we're rejoining the Paris climate accords, the next day, we're passing immigration reform that is humane and inclusive and indicative coordinator of who we are as a people.
And so, I think there's an opportunity for him to really give people that picture to imagine, you know, what it actually might be like if we do the work we need to over the next 75 or so days.
[19:40:05]
BURNETT: Dylan, thank you. I appreciate your time.
LOEWE: Thank you.
BURNETT: And everyone is back with me.
So, Karen, tonight is going to make it official, right? As Dylan saying, Kamala Harris is very well aware of the historic nature of her speech tonight. The first time a woman of color is on a major party ticket for the White House, right? So, this is the first time anybody will be there in her shoes.
What do you want to hear and see from her tonight?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I want her to tell her amazing American story because, as was just pointed out, people know something about her, but she has such an incredible story. One of the things about her story that is so perfect for the theme of this convention and the things we're talking about, it is an American story.
It is a story that is, frankly, only possible in America, between her parents coming together, putting herself through -- working her way through school, her mother working hard to raise two daughters, you know, her being there with her mother when she was dying of cancer. Too many of us know that painful experience.
This is a tough woman who is qualified and accredited and has, as we would say, the receipts to prove it. And also I want her to speak to, and I think she will as I think Hillary will as well, the history of this moment. I cannot begin to tell you what this moment will mean for black women.
We worked so hard to make the case for a black woman vice president and then to get behind her, so that arc of history, we're not the backbone of this party. We are the leaders of this party and now we have the chance to be at the highest decision making tables of our government. That's what tonight is going to be about for me. BURNETT: And also to connect with people, there is a level, Bakari, of
something personal that people are going to want. And she seems extremely capable of providing. She has that ability to do that. A little bit more of what she's expected to say tonight, I'll just read part of what we're going to put on the screen.
She's going to say, I'm committed to the values that she, referred to her mother, taught me to the word that teaches me to walk by faith and not by sight and to a vision passed on through generations of Americans, one that Joe Biden shares.
And she'll continue to talk about her vision for the country, a country where we look out for one another, where we rise and fall as one, where we face our challenges and celebrate our triumphs together. Today, that country feels distant. And she will say Donald Trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods.
So, she's going to be pointed at the president, but she's also going to be deeply personal.
Bakari, you know her well. What -- what do you think we will hear? When she talks about her story, her personal story about her parents who were immigrant who is came to America?
SELLERS: I think most people can see themselves in Senator Harris, whether or not it's growing up the children of a single mom, whether or not it's being an immigrant in this country. And as Karen so eloquently put, whether or not it's being the strength of being a black woman in America and having to overcome all these obstacles.
Her race in the presidential campaign was not easy. The journey and path she took to becoming Joe Biden's vice president was not easy. I spoke to her Monday, Sunday, Monday, and we just laughed and giggle because if it was going to be a black woman we know it wasn't going to be easy.
Kamala Harris is made for moments like this. And tonight she's going to be fine because the ancestors in Barbara Jordan, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Hillary Clinton, Shirley Chisholm are going to carry her through. And I expect her to be the star of the night just as Jill and Michelle were the nights before.
BURNETT: Right, which, of course, and I know you got Barack Obama speaking tonight as well. So, obviously it is --
SELLERS: Who? Barack who?
BURNETT: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
You mentioned Hillary Clinton, we're going to talk about her in moments. So, I'll hit pause here because next, Hillary Clinton is on the docket along with several other women. Obviously, this is a big night for Hillary Clinton. We're getting new details about what she's going to say and the warning she's putting out there.
Plus, Harris is the first Indian-American on a major party ticket. She's now inspiring a new generation of women to consider politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIRL: Seeing a woman that looks like me do it is kind of like me seeing myself doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:22]
BURNETT: Breaking news, we're learning more about what Hillary Clinton will say tonight in her convention speech. She'll say in part: I wish Donald Trump had been a better president, but sadly he is who he is. For four years, people have said to me, I didn't realize how dangerous he was. I wish I could go back and do it over, or worst, I should have voted. Well, this can't be another woulda, coulda, shoulda election.
All right. Everyone is back with me.
So, Jess, you worked on Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, obviously Karen did as well. Her presence tonight is a reminder to many Democrats of that painful loss, an open wound, still a lot of frustration and anger.
What are you expecting from her tonight, Jess?
JESS MCINTOSH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's important for her to remind the American people about that loss, about everything that we lost. Hillary Clinton is a reminder of what could have been had we had a leader who put compassion first, who led with science who trusted the facts, who put the American people before herself.
And when we hear from her, we sort of hear everything we could have been instead of the reality we're living in now. So, I think it's important for her to bring that up. I think it's important for her to say that.
We know that we have to overcome the same voter suppression, the same Electoral College, the same interference from foreign adversaries that we did in 2016. Hillary Clinton got 5 million more votes. If we want to win this year, we might have to go even bigger than that because we are up against so very, very much.
So, I know it's a little troubling to take us back to that night because no one wants to live there. I would also like to say we heard from John Kerry last night, and I think we did in 2008 too. We had a long storied bipartisan history of hearing from the people we have nominated to be our leaders.
[19:50:03]
And it should be no different that Hillary Clinton should obviously with her vote total last year address the convention. BURNETT: All right. So, David, no doubt she'll do that. But in part
what I was referring to also is those who are frustrated at her, even in the Democratic Party, right? That that loss was in part because of complacency in her campaign and lack of preparation in the right states. There's some of that feeling underneath the surface.
Is that relevant at all tonight, or are Democrats watching going to be able just put bygone be bygones?
CHALIAN: Yeah, I don't think it is actually all that relevant. I think this is Democratic convention. A whole slew of Democrats will be excited to hear from Hillary Clinton who is very well-liked by the Democratic Party at large.
And imagine the flip. Can you imagine, Erin, if Biden somehow snubbed Hillary Clinton and didn't invite her to come speak and address --
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHALIAN: -- the great national convention.
BURNETT: Right.
CHALIAN: That would have a much bigger downside.
BURNETT: Yes.
CHALIAN: Listen, nobody is going to note vote for Joe Biden watching the convention tonight because Hillary Clinton spoke at the Democratic Convention.
BURNETT: Right, again, that's the bottom line.
Now, Karen, she's far from the only one, though, because tonight, you're going to see women that have taken on Trump very aggressively. Two of them, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Warren. They have no fear. They thrive, in fact, on going after this president as he likes to go after others.
For example, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: President Trump is clearly ethically unfit and intellectually unprepared.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): He is a thin-skinned racist bully.
PELOSI: As the president fiddles, people are dying.
WARREN: Donald Trump is corruption in the flesh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So shall we expect more of that tonight, Karen? FINNEY: Yes, indeed. I'm telling you, the women are bringing it to
this convention. All due respect to the men, you're going to hear a couple sides of this. Elizabeth warren is so powerful and strong, particularly in her economic critique. She can speak to us about it like no one else. So, from that perspective, I think we'll hear more tough talk from her.
Nancy Pelosi, for Democrats, she is the woman that's the tip of the spear in the fight against Donald Trump and holding the line, holding it down and I think we're going to hear her and I 100 percent believe Donald Trump will be hitting the twitters right after she's finished speaking.
BURNETT: I'm sure. I'm sure. There is a lot for him this everyone.
All right. Thanks all of you.
And I'm going to have a lot more about women and politics in my documentary "Women Represented: The 100-Year Battle for Equality". That airs this Saturday. It is a conversation and it is at 10:00 Eastern.
OUTFRONT next, Kamala Harris about to shutter a ceiling, the first woman of Indian descent on a major party ticket. What today's big moment means to South Asians across this country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:05]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Kamala Harris about to give her acceptance speech.
Waiting eagerly to hear it, Katerina Shadrach, an 11-year-old. She's from Colorado.
We introduced you to her on this show. She will be featured at the convention. She's going to be there tonight as the nation learns more about Kamala Harris and her Indian heritage.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Your next vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Kamala Harris accepts her party's vice presidential nomination --
HARRIS: I stand before you as the first candidate for vice president of the United States, of South Asian descent.
LAH: An entire group of Americans will see themselves.
From a Democratic organizer, and South Asian woman in California. KATERINA SHADRACH, 11-YEAR-OLD HARRIS SUPPORTER: This is just
incredible.
LAH: To 11-year-old Katerina Shadrach in Colorado.
HARRIS: What's up, Denver?
LAH: Katerina has been drawn to Kamala Harris since her presidential run.
HARRIS: Oh, my God!
LAH: We first met her at a Harris presidential rally in Denver. Tonight, Katerina will be featured in a video that is part of the convention program, talking about Harris and what she needs to girls like her.
SHARDRACH: Seeing anyone who looks like me do it, this kind of like me seeing myself doing it because honestly, in my opinion, I do kind of look like her. You see yourself and you put that goal that yes, I'm going to do it.
LAH: A reflection that South Asians are celebrating across social media. Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi posted side by side pictures of her Indian American childhood next to Harris with the words representation matters.
MINDY KALING, ACTRESS AND AUTHOR: So, we are both Indian, but actually, we are both south Indian.
HARRIS: Yes.
LAH: Actress Mindy Kaling, best for her role in "The Office", talked about her Indian heritage with Harris in this video last year.
She tweeted, "Was there ever more of an exciting day?"
Katerina's father says Harris nomination is a marker, not just today, but for tomorrow.
SHERMAN SHADRACH, KATERINA'S FATHER: South Asians are part of the workforce, and not so much part of leadership. But we can lead, we could bring about change, and we can help, and we can make people feel better about living here in the United States.
DITA BHARGAVA, KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTER: Oh, my God, it's historic for me, and it's historic for my daughter, my son.
LAH: It means being seen, says Dita Bhargava. She's now organizing for the Biden-Harris ticket, hoping American politics will now reach and target Asian-Americans, the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S.
BHARGAVA: To see someone like her be able to not just crack those ceilings but break through them, it's incredibly inspiring. I think it's going to be having a huge impact on all of our communities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Now, Kamala Harris is accepting the nomination amid a-changing political landscape. In 2020, more women of color are running for Congress than ever before in American history and, Erin, yes, a historic moment tonight for Kamala Harris, but she's also representation of the changing times -- Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely. Kyung, thank you.
And our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention continues now.
