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Erin Burnett Outfront
Wisconsin Gov. Deploys National Guard Amid Protests Over Police Shooting Of Black Man; Man Who Filmed Shooting Of Black Man In Wisconsin: It's Traumatizing, It Could Have Been Me; Trump Touts "Incredible" Therapeutic, Scientists Have Concerns; College Campuses Become Virus Hotspots As Schools Reopen; Trump Begins RNC With Baseless Claims, Grim Warnings About Dems; Conflicting Reports Over Whether Jerry Falwell Jr. Has Resigned. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 24, 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 breaking news, Wisconsin on the brink after police shoot a black man multiple times in front of his children. The National Guard called in and a curfew is about to take effect.
Plus, Trump promising a vaccine soon after his announcement about a plasma treatment that scientists had warned wasn't ready. All this just hours before his convention begins.
And Jerry Falwell Jr.'s growing scandals. He just resigned from Liberty University tonight after salacious revelations of an affair between his wife and a pool attendant as he allegedly watched. A spectacular fall of one of Trump's most ardent and early supporters. Let's go OUTFRONT.
The breaking news this hour, Wisconsin on the brink. The state calling in 125 members of the National Guard to the town of Kenosha, just an hour south of Milwaukee. Protesters already gathering in the city tonight coming face-to-face with police officers, which is where officials say a 29-year-old black man named Jacob Blake was shot in the back at least seven times by police.
Now, tonight Blake remains in the ICU. That is what his attorney is telling us at this hour. Local officials right now though are prepared for unrest again after protesters broke windows, torched cars and started a fire at a county courthouse last night. Now, there's a curfew about to take effect in less than two hours and across the country.
You see protesters in the streets, the scene in New York City, hundreds protesting near Times Square as you can see there. And it all comes as Blake's lawyer Benjamin Crump said Jacob Blake's three sons were just a few feet away in the back of the family car when their father was shot in the back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR JACOB BLAKE & FAMILY: It was a birthday party for his eight-year-old son. In that car when he was shot, Wolf, with his eight-year-old son, his five-year-old son and his three-year- old son. It was supposed to be a festive, joyous occasion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Omar Jimenez begins our coverage OUTFRONT from Wisconsin. So Omar, you're there where this happened, what are you seeing right now a couple of hours before the curfew?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, right now there are hundreds of people that have come out to protest, yet again, over how this death unfolded. You look behind me, we are outside the Kenosha County Courthouse and you can see them right in front of the police dressed up in riot gear at this point face-to-face, as you mentioned before.
And while there's still a lot that we don't know about what led up to the shooting, what we do know is there's a lot of pain in this community over what feels like an all too familiar story. And a warning, the video you're about to see may be considered graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ (voice over): Two police officers with guns drawn in Kenosha, Wisconsin closely follow a black man, Jacob Blake, as he tries to get in the driver's side door of his car, one officer grabs Blake's tank top and then seven shots are fired as Blake is hit multiple times in the back.
Three of his children ages three, five and eight were in the car as Blake goes limp. Shortly afterwards, officers can be seen giving some sort of aid to Blake. He was later flown to a nearby hospital and is in serious condition.
Police say they were responding to a domestic incident call, but it remains unclear what sparked the shooting and the video doesn't show the events leading up to it. There's no way to hear what's being said as the event unfolds. But Blake's family attorney, Benjamin Crump, says that Blake was leaving the scene after breaking up a fight between two women.
It's not clear from the video if both officers open fire, neither have been identified. The Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation which is leading the probe into the incident says both are on administrative leave. All officers are cooperating the department said.
And in a statement to CNN, the Kenosha professional Police Association says, "As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all of the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident. We ask that you withhold from passing judgment until all the facts are known and released."
Overnight, violent protests erupted with angry demonstrators setting fire to vehicles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He held his shirt and shot that man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ (voice over): That anger spilling over into early Monday morning as dozens from the community confronted Sheriff's deputies at the scene. In a statement to CNN, Blake's uncle says the shooting is outrageous. "Who was he threatening? He had a tank top and shorts on. He had no weapon. He was going back to the car because the children needed to be checked on. The police were called for a domestic disturbance but Jacob had nothing to do with the fight. This has got to stop."
Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes echoing that anger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. MANDELA BARNES (D), WISCONSIN: And let me be clear, this was not an accident, this wasn't bad police work, this felt like some sort of vendetta being taken out on a member of our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:05:06]
JIMENEZ: Now, as for Jacob Blake, we do understand from the family attorney and from a family friend, he's still in the ICU fighting for his life with the support of a community behind him, as you can hear, and as questions remain over how this interaction ended with seven shots to the back, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Omar, thank you very much.
And the shooting sparking protests far from where Omar standing tonight in Wisconsin, also here in New York City among others. Our Shimon Prokupecz is live in New York. Shimon, what's happening here?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. So we're now in Washington Square Park in the village here in Manhattan and you can see there's hundreds gathered here behind me. We've stopped at this location for speeches, but this is more than you would normally see. People have been out protesting almost every night here in New York City, but this is probably the biggest crowd I've seen since the George Floyd protest.
No doubt a lot of the people here, sadly energized by what happened in Wisconsin yesterday, seeing a lot of the same creases that I was seeing out here when I was covering the George Floyd protests. A lot of them very upset. They can't believe that this is something that has happened again. And again, they're calling for unity, they're calling for peaceful protests, but they still say change still needs to come and they're hoping that at some point, something could happen so that there is change. But, of course, Erin, many of them can't believe that they're out here
protesting what they've been posted protesting really for the last several months, and that it happened again, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Shimon, thank you very much.
And joining me now on the phone is Raysean White. And you know that name, you just saw it on the screen, because he is the man who took the video of the shooting. And Raysean, I appreciate your time.
Look, I know this is hard and as Omar had warned, I warned again, this video is really, really awful to watch. Jacob Blake walks to the driver side of the car, as you're filming, two police officers are following him with their guns drawn at that point. He leans into the car and then an officer grabs the back of his shirt and you hear several shots fired.
Obviously, you started recording at some point. What made you start? What did you see before you started recording?
RAYSEAN WHITE, RECORDED VIDEO OF JACOB BLAKE: I've seen - I went to the window and I've seen these officers wrestling him. Before that happened, Jacob pulled up and he sees a son outside, he told his son to get in the car. When he told his son to get in the car, his son proceed to run towards the car and Jacob walking in the apartment.
I stepped away from my window. I came back to my window and I seen the police wrestling Jacob. One of them had him in a headlock and was punching him in his ribs. The other one had him in a headlock on the other side of them and was pulling his arm.
After they proceed to punch him in his rib, the female officer she tased him and Jacob kind of leaned on the car. They proceeded to wrestle him towards the back of the cars and he went on the other side of the car and they went on the other side of the car on the ground, I just have to pick up my camera so I recorded it.
BURNETT: I mean, did you hear anything? I know you're talking about being at the window, did you hear anything that he said or that the officer said to him before the actual shots were fired?
WHITE: I didn't hear Jacob say anything at all, but I heard the officers screaming drop the knife, drop the knife.
BURNETT: Drop the knife.
WHITE: (Inaudible) and do - I didn't see a knife in Jacob's hand. And he pulled his pants up with both hands.
BURNETT: Oh, OK. Obviously, that could be very significant. So then what happened, Raysean, after the shots were fired.
WHITE: After they shot him, they pulled him. The officer that shot him, pulled him out of the car, and laid him on a ground, he got on his knees, and I guess he was trying to help him like resuscitating him. BURNETT: I mean, Raysean, you're narrating what you saw here that
obviously you saw a lot that happened before that that was so disturbing, you decided to start filming in. But your video is the reason that 10s of millions of Americans now know about Jacob Blake and what happened here.
I mean, how does it make you feel as a black man yourself to actually see this happen, where you were to be the one who was able to pick up your phone and film it.
WHITE: It's disturbing to actually look out my window where I live and see this man get shot by the police seven times. It is highly disturbing for me, but I'm pretty sure Jacob's kids were more traumatized than anybody during the whole situation, they were in the car.
After the shooting, the mom of one of the children pulled Jacob out of the car and that is very disturbing to look at when he's that close to the shots. He sees his dad in that condition, a six-year-old child, is highly disturbing.
[19:10:06]
BURNETT: Extremely so and, of course, I want to emphasize to everybody, we don't know the full condition. We do know that Jacob is still in the ICU. Raysean, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much for talking to us about what you saw.
WHITE: No problem.
BURNETT: I want to go straight to Joey Jackson now, a Criminal Defense Attorney and CNN Legal Analyst. So Joey, you hear Raysean talking about what he saw, what he filmed, discussing that and then also what he saw before and what he heard before. Obviously, the police are still saying all of the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident, you don't know what you don't know, but we know what Raysean saw told us. What do you hear?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, we know more than that, Erin. We know what we see and I know the narrative is, oh, we don't want know what happened specifically before, what the interactions were, you attack the credibility of witnesses, but should we not believe our lying eyes? I mean, we know what we know. We know what we see, irrespective of any witness to take us through the context or the dynamic.
And when you look at that, you look at the tactics and they're flawed with regard to what the police did, drawing a gun and just following around the car. With regard to the strategy, with regard to the humanity or lack thereof, with regard to the morality or lack thereof, you ask yourself the question, did it need to happen.
And so when you put your legal hat on and you talk about what would make this justified, you look to the three things, the immediacy of threat. You see a person walking away from the police. You see a person turning his back going into a car and you see shots to the back.
I don't see the immediacy of any danger, I do not. In terms of the proportionality of the force which you get to multiple shots to the back. What was the struggle? What was the dynamic that led to that? And then finally, Erin, with respect to the reasonability or lack thereof of the officers conduct. How is that reasonable?
And so here we are back in that place, that is the cause of protests throughout the country. That's the cause of so much concern throughout the country. That's the cause of all the issues as they relate to defunding the police and what we can do and relation between the police in the community. This does nothing to further, to bring them together and it's just a tough scenario all the way around.
BURNETT: So I want to ask of something else Raysean said. He heard the police screaming drop the knife, drop the knife. He did not hear Jacob respond. But he also said that he saw Mr. Blake pull up his pants with two hands and he didn't see a knife in his hands. This is a witness. This is an eyewitness that, but they're yelling at him to drop a knife and he's saying he didn't - not only did he not see one, but he was able bviously to pull his hands - I'm sorry, his pants up with two hands.
JACKSON: So we as lawyers when we approach juries always say to exercise your common sense and good judgment. And so again, you evaluate the videotape and when he's walking, you ask a juror, I asked any viewer, do you see a knife in his hands at that point. And when he's walking and he goes to the car, do you see a knife in his hands at that point.
And from the officers' vantage point or reason to observe, what the officer, had there been a knife, been in a position to observe and see a knife. And so you wonder whether that is a fabricated statement made up to justify the conduct or whether there was a knife to - that was ever there and so it begs that question. But you look at it and you look at it in terms of justifiability and lack thereof.
And again, I understand the narrative, there'll be an investigation, we don't know exactly what happened and what led to it, et cetera, et cetera. But what you see is troubling, disturbing and that's the reason so many people are out there calling for justice and calling out the inequality. It has to stop. Another African-American man dead and what's the reason, I don't see any.
BURNETT: We know nothing. We certainly have not been given one at all. Joey, thank you so much.
JACKSON: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, the President playing politics with COVID. New questions tonight about why emergency blood plasma use was suddenly OK'd by the FDA when days before they said they weren't ready to do it.
Plus, the Trump convention primetime lineup about to kick off. America land of promise is tonight's theme. Why then is Trump telling people to be very afraid?
And breaking news, Liberty University says Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president tonight after a stunning admission about his wife in an affair with a pool attendant. Falwell helped deliver the evangelical vote to Donald Trump in 2016, he was early, he was a staunch defender, what now?
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[19:18:32]
BURNETT: Tonight, the President kicking off the Republican convention by playing politics with coronavirus, pushing for treatments and vaccines that may not be ready or safe in order to help his reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The pandemic goes away. The vaccines are going to be, I believe, announced very soon. Yesterday night we did it, last evening we announced a very, very big therapeutic and the therapeutic it's something that really has been an incredible thing. This would have taken, I wouldn't say years, maybe not many years, but it would have taken a long time to have gotten it approved. We got the FDA to it very quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But the President shouldn't be getting the FDA to do anything, right? This is just the bottom line. The FDA should be doing all of that based on the data and the scientific evidence. Instead, the President is potentially putting more American lives at risk because he just wants these approvals and that is good for him.
He admitted last night when he announced that the FDA had issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that there might have been a hold up, but we broke the logjam over the last week to be honest. I think that there are people in the FDA and actually in your larger department that can see things being held up and wouldn't mind so much, it's my opinion, a very strong opinion and that's for political reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:20:00]
BURNETT: The political reasons are his own even when some of the nation's top scientists, including the NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci have both been skeptical that there's enough data to justify doing this with the plasma.
Jim Acosta is OUTFRONT at the White House. So, Jim, I guess here's the bottom line, he's been complaining about the FDA on this issue and saying they should do it. They didn't do it. They didn't have the evidence. They didn't do it. A few days go by. Today is the beginning of his convention and the announcement comes, is it a coincidence?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I don't think there are many coincidences around here not during election time and not during the convention time, Erin. But I mean, one of the things you have to look at and you just played this a few moments ago, the President was saying earlier today that vaccines could be coming out very soon.
I talked to a senior administration official about this just a short while ago who said despite what the President is saying. The timeline remains the same for a coronavirus vaccine either at the end of this year or early next year. But, of course, there are lots of questions to be asked about whether or not this timeline is being politicize. You mentioned the case of convalescent plasma.
Over the weekend, the President was not only pressuring the FDA but accusing the FDA of being part of this deep state. And then lo and behold, Sunday evening, we have this press conference over here at the White House where the President announces that the FDA has approved emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma.
I tried to ask the FDA Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, whether or not he had been pressured into this. He didn't answer the question at the press conference, but then later on gave us an on the record statement, saying that's not the case.
But getting back to this vaccine and this idea of pressure racing against timelines, we reported earlier today, Erin, sources telling us that on July 30th, Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff over here at the White House gave the impression to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that the White House was optimistic about moving ahead with a vaccine before all of the trials are completed.
That obviously concerned people inside the Democratic Party up on Capitol Hill. The Speaker told Mark Meadows no cutting corners here. But, Erin, this is part of a theme that the President wants to carry into this convention. That's why we're hearing from campaign officials that you'll see speakers tonight, praising the President's record on the coronavirus, even though most Americans don't feel the same way, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jim, thank you very much.
And across the countries cases rising on university campuses as schools start to reopen. Erica Hill is OUTFRONT tonight in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR WALT MADDOX, (D) TUSCALOOSA, AL: The truth is, is that fall in Tuscaloosa is in serious jeopardy. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice over): Bars in Tuscaloosa closed for the next two weeks. The University of Kentucky retesting, its 5,500 Greek Life students.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, name and date of birth again please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL (voice over): A cluster to Georgia Tech fraternity forcing all residents of that house into isolation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once we found out about that first exposure, we did prioritize keeping people who are not part of that living community outside of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL (voice over): Cases on campus raising concern, especially in areas making gains. Much of the South is among the 25 states reporting a decline in new cases over the past week, while areas of the Midwest are seeing numbers creep up.
Cases in three states have now been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota earlier this month. Nationwide average daily deaths finally under a thousand for the first time in nearly a month. Yet even in areas doing well, a reminder that things can change quickly. The Mayor of Danbury, Connecticut says travel, barbecues and youth sports are fueling a spike in his town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MARK BOUGHTON, (R) DANBURY, CONNECTICUT: This is a good time to pause, get our numbers down and then we can maybe look at reopening if at all possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL (voice over): As more children return to the classroom, the WHO says kids under five shouldn't be required to wear masks. A global zoom outage today hitting Atlanta public schools on their first day back.
And a Florida judge handing teachers there a win, granting a temporary injunction on the state's order that all schools must reopen for in- person learning this month.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Some staggering numbers out of North Carolina tonight, Erin. UNC Chapel Hill reporting its positivity rate, 31.3 percent, according to the data website there. It was just 13.6 percent last week and you may recall, the school of course moved to undergrad classes online last week after some 130 students who tested positive. That number now up to more than 450.
BURNETT: Well, Erica, thank you very much. Well, 31 percent just - everyone knows the WHO line is 5 percent, that's incredible and doubling. All right. Erica, thank you very much.
I want to go straight now to William haseltine. He was a groundbreaking HIV/AIDS researcher, also former professor at Harvard Medical School in the Harvard School of Public Health. And I appreciate your time as always.
So you heard the President say, his words, "We broke the logjam." And then he said people at the FDA were holding things up 'for political reasons'. The Director of the FDA, Dr. Hahn, said in a statement to CNN that the decisions that scientists at the FDA are making are done on data only. Of course, they didn't have the data a few days ago when the President was complaining and then suddenly they did give this authorization.
[19:25:04]
Do you think that this was really about the data?
WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT, ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: This is not about the data. It was clear from my reading of the data
as well as the National Institutes of Health and the statements from the FDA. That this was not ready for primetime.
We're in a situation where we have a president who wants to give false assurance for his own purposes. He's given false assurances that this would go away early on and it didn't. He gave false assurances that you didn't need to wear masks.
He gave false assurances that we needed to reopen the economy and now he's given false assurances that we have drugs like hydroxychloroquine, which didn't work. And this drug which barely works, if it works at all, and we really don't have the data. And I'm afraid he's about to give false assurances that we'll have a vaccine.
This is not trivial. This is really serious, because he's dealing with the agency which protects us from the snake oil salesmen and patent medicines that have plagued us in the past. You need to know for your children, for yourself, for your parents that the medication you take is safe and will do the job. And if it's subject to political influence rather than a basis on the facts, which this certainly appears to be, we are in dangerous territory.
There is no way as anybody who's developed vaccines as I have and many others have, that we can by November know that a vaccine is safe and effective. It can't be done. If it is approved, as it was in Russia and China, do we want to join that queue? We want to be Russia and China and put the lives of our people at risk? I don't think so. This is dangerous stuff. BURNETT: So I want to play something that the FDA Commissioner Dr.
Hahn said yesterday, Professor, about the plasma treatment and give you a chance to explain it. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. STEPHEN HAHN, FDA COMMISSIONER: Let me just put this in perspective. Many of you know, I was a cancer doctor before I became FDA Commissioner and a 35 percent improvement in survival is a pretty substantial clinical benefit. What that means is and if the data continue to pan out, a hundred people who are sick with COVID-19, 35 would have been saved because of the administration of plasma.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just on a pure data interpretation ...
HASELTINE: That is a gross exaggeration.
BURNETT: ... 35 percent improvement does not mean 35 people out of a hundred, correct.
HASELTINE: No. It's a gross exaggeration of the facts of that study. Most people who took those convalescent sera had no effect at all. That's because they took it after three days from the time they were diagnosed. The vast majority of people do not get to the hospital where you need to be to get this drug within three days of feeling ill. That's the whole story.
The story said if you have taken the drug within three days of feeling ill, you have a slight benefit. If you don't take it and you take it afterwards, you have no benefit. That's the vast majority of patients. That is a gross oversimplification and statement of the efficacy of this treatment.
I'm not saying it's not effective, it could be effective for a short period of time. We just don't have the data to prove it because there is no control.
BURNETT: Right. Right.
HASELTINE: But it could be, but it's definitely not what the FDA Commissioner just told you it was.
BURNETT: Yes. I mean, just on the pure mathematical basis, what he said there would be just inaccurate. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time, Professor, as always.
And next, the Republican National Convention is barely started and, well, we'll see what the tone the President is setting tonight.
And breaking news, Liberty University says Jerry Falwell, Jr. has resigned after an admission involving sex and a claim of blackmail. He made it OK for evangelicals to support Trump in 2016, an ardent defender of the President. Will that change now?
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[19:32:58]
BURNETT: Tonight be very, very careful. President Trump kicking off this week's RNC with a warning about Democrats and some false claims about stealing the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What they're doing is using COVID to steal an election. They're using COVID to defraud the American people, all of our people of a fair and free election.
Be very, very careful. This is going to be, and I really believe this, this is the most important election in the history of our country. Don't let them take it away from you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT.
So, President Trump said the RNC would be very uplifting and positive. Obviously not the tone that he was expressing there.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it was not. I mean, those are the same conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric the president usually does and those were extemporaneous off the cuff remarks earlier today in Charlotte, North Carolina.
And that is a question talking to so many Republicans who are watching this national convention very carefully. They do not hope the president takes that tone at the convention this week. They believe this is a moment for him to reset his presidential campaign, his presidency, and change the narrative on his handling of the coronavirus to talk about the economy. Other things, he did not do that this morning in Charlotte.
So, the question is what will he do this evening? His campaign points to a variety of speakers. Like tonight, for example, we're going to see a new generation of leaders speaking here.
But it is what the president does himself that is going to dominate all of this. He is going to appear every evening here in some shape or form so what he does is going to matter. So, we'll see if he seizes the opportunity to rebrand Joe Biden, to try and make this a campaign about him not a referendum on the president. But it is all up to what the president himself does if he follows the script or if he doesn't -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeff, thank you very much.
[19:35:00]
And I want to go now to our political director, David Chalian, Amanda Carpenter, the former communications director for Republican Ted Cruz. She said she will be voting for Joe Biden. And Scott Jennings special assistant to President George W. Bush who is supporting President Trump.
All right. All, thank you.
So, David, let me just start with Jeff's reporting. He says Republicans he talked to today said this isn't what they want to hear. They don't want to hear about the conspiracy theories on mail-in voting as just one example.
Is it a missed opportunity for him if he keeps going there? Because, clearly, he feels that it works, right? He is going to it again and again because that's his gut.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, it feels good in the feedback loop when he is talking to some folks but it would be a missed opportunity and I don't know if that is what Donald Trump plans to do. I certainly agree with what Jeff was reporting that he is going to be the dominant force here. So, how Donald Trump handles the week will dictate a lot of how the American people perceive what happened here.
But, Erin, this is the cleanest shot and clearest shot at a reset President Trump has since the COVID crisis began. So this is a real opportunity. Everything the American people have been hearing about Donald Trump over the last five, six months has been related to the coronavirus and it has not been welcome news for him.
And so, this is the best opportunity. He is programming he and his team a whole week to tell stories, have real Americans speak up about their experiences, and really try to reset not just on coronavirus which he has to change the perceptions of how the American people are judging him on that very important issue, but also on whether or not this entire election is going to be a referendum or if he can successfully make it a real choice with Joe Biden.
BURNETT: So, Amanda, one thing he has been saying, right, I mean, one of the phrases that come stuck in my mind, abolish the suburbs, right, that these kind of mobs and throngs are going to come and take away the suburban way of life in this country, other . That is one of his messages. And you think Trump is trying to obviously scare voters into believing Biden is a threat to their way of life, their actual where they live but you think that could turn on him and help Biden.
Why do you think that?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, Erin, we've had the last six months of American life robbed from us because of Donald Trump's failed leadership on coronavirus. Things are already scary. Kids can't go to school. People have lost their jobs. And we have no idea when this will ever end. So, people are already terrified.
I don't want to hear speakers come on stage and tell me how scary Joe Biden is because I am already scared about what has happened so far. So, what -- this isn't just about Donald Trump and what is going to happen over the next four days but about the Republican Party and all the people who have enabled this madness to continue over the last four years. So I am really looking for people like Nikki Haley who I want to
respect to look into that camera and tell me from your heart why you really believe Donald Trump deserves another four years given what's happened. Does she really believe that? Or is this just the politically convenient thing to do for herself because she's angling for her own run?
So, I have questions about Donald Trump but I have questions about the future of the party based on what happens tonight, too.
BURNETT: And he has an opportunity here, you know, David is talking about resetting, Scott, but he had an opportunity to say what he is going to do with another 40 years and he has been given this opportunity and very kind and general ways, Sean Hannity among them, right? Hey, what is your plan? He has not really answered it.
Here is how he has answered the question what are you going to do with the next four years in three different interviews.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, one of the things that will be really great, you know, the word experience is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience. I never did this before I never slept over in Washington. I was in Washington I think 17 times. All of a sudden, I'm president of the United States.
I will tell you, it's very simple. We're going to make America great again. We are doing things nobody could have done.
Our country will be so strong at the end of our first term. At the end of the second term, it is going to be at a level nobody will ever have seen a country. We've done a lot but we have a lot of things we can do
I want to take where we left. We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. We were better than any other country. What I want to do is take it from that point and then build it even better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So build it even better. We've done a lot. A lot we can do. We're going to make America great again.
OK. This is an opportunity, Scott, for him to be specific. Is he going to be able to rise to that?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I hope so because a couple of those clips you played were whiffs. I mean, there's no doubt about it. And this opportunity that he has this week is to say for the next four years, I plan to follow these policies. I plan to implement this program. If you let me do that, this is how the country is going to benefit from that.
[19:40:01]
You know, if you go back to 2016, his campaign, they did have a pretty clear message. It had a mission statement. You could pretty well articulate why he was running why he wanted to occupy the chair.
That hasn't come yet. This convention gives him that opportunity. I suspect a lot of that messaging, Erin, is going to revolve around getting the economy back to where it was before coronavirus, which everybody basically agrees was good, and also public safety. I think you see public safety creeping up now and the polling is an important issue for Americans for obvious reasons because several American cities are under siege.
I think those two issues this week are going to be high profile for him to begin to define a specific second term agenda.
BURNETT: All right. All of you please stay with me, because I want to ask you about the Jerry Falwell Jr. news. Salacious and really important for the president.
Liberty University says that Falwell has just resigned as president after revelations of a sordid story about his wife and a pool attendant. Falwell was crucial and helped deliver the evangelical vote for Trump. He was early and loyal. So what now?
And remember this couple, the ones who arm themselves with guns and confronted Black Lives Matter protesters. Well, they will be speaking tonight at the RNC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:05
BURNETT: Breaking news. Conflicting reports tonight about Jerry Falwell Jr.'s fate at Liberty University after the school originally told CNN Falwell was planning to resign Falwell Jr. is now disputing that.
Falwell Jr. is embroiled in controversy after today admitting that his wife had an affair with a man they met when he was a pool attendant at a Miami hotel. Falwell Jr. alleges he was blackmailed after the man threatened to go public with the sordid details.
Athena Jones is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERRY FALWELL JR., PROMINENT EVANGELICAL SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'm going to vote for Donald Trump because I believe he is the best qualified to be president of the United States.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jerry Falwell Jr. lending a helping hand to then candidate Donald Trump in October, 2016, after the "New York Times" reported allegations Trump touched women inappropriately without their consent. A claim Trump denied.
FALWELL: I am one of the 85 percent or so of evangelicals who supported him.
JONES: One of Trump's more prominent evangelical supporters standing by him again in 2018. Tonight, the president of Liberty University may be in need of his own defenders. A man, Giancarlo Granda, confirming to CNN he had a years-long extra marital affair with Falwell's wife after the couple met him on a trip to Miami eight years ago and that Jerry Falwell enjoyed watching from the corner of the room while the pair had sex. Jerry Falwell admitting his wife had an inappropriate personal relationship in a lengthy statement to CNN but denying being involved at all, let alone having watched.
Becki had an interpersonal relationship with this person, something in which I was not involved.
In a statement that referred to a, quote, fatal attraction type situation and included multiple references to Scripture, Falwell said the affair led to stress, weight loss, and reflection. He said he has forgiven his wife and is seeking professional help to address the emotional toll.
"Reuters" first reported the story also supplying texts supplied by Granda who told "Reuters" the liaisons happened at multiple times per year at hotels in Miami and New York and at the Falwells' home in Virginia.
A June 2020 exchange by "Reuters" published showing how the relationship deteriorated sometime after the couple and Granda invested together in a local property. Granda allegedly writing to Falwell: It really as shame because I wanted to reach a peaceful resolution and just move on with our lives but if conflict is what you want, then so be it.
Jerry Falwell allegedly replying: You should by now understand I will not be extorted. I have always treated you fairly and been restrained in response to your threats because I did not wish to ruin your life. Going forward, stop contacting me and my family.
Granda denied the blackmail accusation.
BLACKWELL: We must unite behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
JONES: Falwell, whose January 2016 endorsement of Trump helped him win the support of white evangelicals, a key voting bloc, had already been on an indefinite leave of absence from the staunchly conservative university after posting this photo on Instagram with a woman he says is his wife's assistant, which he later said was meant in good fun.
A troubled moment for an influential conservative voice who nabbed a coveted speaking slot on the final night of the Republican Convention in 2016.
FALWELL: Thank you.
JONES: And he told OUTFRONT in 2018 --
FALWELL: We're all sinners. Nobody understands that better than evangelicals. That is why we're Christians because we believe we all need forgiveness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Now, it's important to know that this is not a criminal matter. Still, it's noteworthy to see yet another important ally of the president dealing with these unflattering allegations or unflattering situation. And it's a far cry from a year ago when Jerry Falwell had a prominent speaking slot at the RNC -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Athena.
Everyone is back with me.
So, David, look, this is a bizarre story. OK? Let's just start with that. Then let's get to the politics here. Falwell endorsed Donald Trump a week before the 2016 Iowa caucuses, right? Stood by the president amidst the controversy.
Came on this program and said we're all sinners so you should forgive him and evangelicals need to get onboard. You know, does this change at all how evangelicals view the president? Is there anything, because of the significance of Falwell's original endorsement and influence?
CHALIAN: Yeah, I doubt we'll see any change because of this story. I mean, the president went through the "Access Hollywood" tape and Stormy Daniels and other episodes that have come to light since he had the rock solid support of the white evangelical community, and none of that caused them to drift away in their support of the president, and so it's hard to imagine how Jerry Falwell's personal circumstances would rub off negatively on the president.
At this point that is a pretty well formed relationship the president has with those voters as sort of complex as it may be as you noted in your interviews with him.
[19:50:02]
BURNETT: Scott?
CHALIAN: Yeah, I mean, I have a hard time to believe any Republican is going to go into the voting booth and say, well, I was going to vote for Donald Trump but because Jerry Falwell likes to watch his wife have sex with the pool boy, I guess I'll vote for Biden. I mean, I just -- I mean, it sounds crazy to say out loud but I doubt anyone is going to go through that algorithm and change their vote.
BURNETT: Amanda, let me ask you, though, you know, Falwell did -- this is a question we ask of evangelicals, though, which was when you believe these things in your personal life you were OK with Donald Trump.
Maybe now we know why Falwell was, because his personal life was not what it looked to be. He again and again defended Trump on issues of morality and his infidelities, sexual assault allegations. And when I spoke to him in 2018, he was very specific and here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FALWELL: When the "Access Hollywood" video came out, I was one of the few that said I believe Donald Trump was a different person than he was in 2005 when that happened. And I really do believe that. I think he's -- he's had a change of heart. I think he's -- he's changed in the positive way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What do you -- what do you make of that, Amanda?
CARPENTER: I mean, this is all sad. I know Liberty University graduates, I know parents sent their kids to Liberty because they really believe in the Christian values that Jerry Falwell said that he did.
And we know a lot more than we did in 2016. Disturbing Daniel's story that wasn't fully uncovered. We now have Trump's record.
And what I see now, I watch all these videos roll in through Republican voters against Trump and when you watch those videos, a lot of them are from real faith and freedom type of voters, the type of voters that would send their children to Liberty University. You can see the crosses in their living room.
And they will tell you with tears in their eyes, that voting for Donald Trump is the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm so sorry. And they want to fix it this time around.
And so I can't draw a straight line between this event and the effect it will have in November but it will certainly play into that environment.
BURNETT: I guess it raises the conversation yet again, those who you surround yourself with.
Thank you-all three very much. I appreciate it.
And next, a high profile couple is set to address the RNC tonight. What will they say about pointing guns at protestors outside their home? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:30]
BURNETT: Remember this, we all saw this picture. The couple from St. Louis who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home. They will be speaking tonight at the Republican National Convention.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the front lawn of their St. Louis home, to center stage of the Republican National Convention, attorneys Patricia and Mark McCloskey rose to social media fame, armed with weapons in front of their house in June as Black Lives Matter protesters marched.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wasn't coming to your house. We was coming to your mayor's house.
REV. DARRYL G. GRAY, HELPED LEAD BLM DEMONSTRATION IN ST. LOUIS: It was crazy. In my mind, I'm 12 feet away from the McCloskeys.
LAH: Reverend Darryl Gray was one of the leaders of the protests that day. The goal was to reach the mayor's house in a gated community. You can see protesters walking through the gates open. Next to the gate is the McCloskey home.
That's Reverend Gray's voice on the bull horn.
GRAY: Saying to them, we're going to keep moving. We're not here for confrontation. We were close enough to see she had her finger on the gun.
LAH (on camera): What do you think about the invitation by the Republican Party to speak at the national convention?
GRAY: You're telling people that it is okay, it is okay to put people's lives in danger. It is okay to jeopardize people's safety because this is the reward that you get.
MARK MCCLOSKEY, ST. LOUIS RESIDENT: I'm not the face of anything opposing the Black Lives Matter movement. I was a person scared for my life who is protecting my wife, my home.
LAH (voice-over): shortly after the confrontation, the McCloskey said they feared for their lives, claiming the protesters broke the metal gate. The couple and their attorney said they supported Black Lives Matter.
ALBERT WATKINS, ATTORNEY FOR THE MCCLOSKEYS: My clients are completely behind and endorsed the message of BLM.
LAH: Less than one month later.
MCCLOSKEY: Black Lives Matter is not about blacks and it's not about lives. It's a Marxist organization that wants to transform the United States.
LAH: Tonight, the couple steps into the spotlight as part of the GOP theme honoring the great American story.
STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS HOST: In a nutshell, what are you going to say?
MCCLOSKEY: You know, just that we have a god given right to defend ourselves. You cannot have freedom and an opportunity to advance unless you have basic safety and security and it's not just limited to big cities. They're bringing it to a neighborhood near you.
LAH: Reverend Gray fears what this message will lead to next. GRAY: You open the door for other people who will think that this is
okay because our president said this is okay. It is not okay. And our president knows it's not okay. The Republican Party knows it's not okay and I believe that most people in America know that it's not okay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: So even though they have this high profile speaking slot tonight. It doesn't mean their legal troubles are over. In their home state of Missouri, the McCloskeys have been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. That is a felony. The prosecutor said in leveling that charge that their actions risk creating a violent situation amid non-violent protests. Well, Erin, those words caught the attention of national Republicans including President Trump -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. And we will hear from them tonight.
Kyung, thank you very much.
Thanks to all of you for joining us. Our special coverage of the Republican National Convention continues now.
