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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Diversity on Display As Dems Officially Nominate Biden; Postal Union Doubt USPS Will Reverse Changes; More Colleges Tell Students to Stay Home; S&P 500 Hits Record High Despite Millions Out of Work; Malian President Steps Down Two Months of Protests. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: America, Joe Biden is officially nominated for president in a first of its kind virtual roll call. We have the highlights.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: The postmaster general says no more cutbacks until the election but cuts have already been made and there are renewed concerns they won't be reversed.

ROMANS: And resident halls that resemble hospital. A dire warning from one Yale professor as the pandemic force more colleges to shutdown in-person learning.

Welcome to your viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, 5:00 a.m. here in New York. Seventy-six days until the election.

And we begin this morning with Joe Biden now officially the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family. And I'll see you on Thursday. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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JARRETT: Votes in the first-ever virtual roll call cast by delegates scattered across the country at sea shores, cornfields, bridges and in front of protesters. Even the process of nominating Biden told a story. A security guard who bonded with Biden last year in an elevator, Jacquelyn Brittany, gave the first nomination speech.

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JACQUELYN BRITTANY, SECURITY GUARD NOMINATES BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT: I see powerful people in my elevator all the time. When they go off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby.

But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could really tell he really saw me. That he actually cared, that my life meant something to him. And I knew even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story in there with him.

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ROMANS: It was another night marked by speeches from across the political spectrum, including familiar Republican voices.

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CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF FORMER SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Style of legislating and leadership that you don't find much any more.

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ROMANS: That's the voice of Cindy McCain, the wife of late GOP nominee for president and Trump detractor, John McCain. She highlighted the Biden-McCain friendship and the importance of leadership around the world.

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COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Joe Biden will be a president we'll all be proud to salute. With Joe Biden in the White House, you'll never doubt that he'll stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around.

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JARRETT: That, of course, was the longtime Republican and former Secretary of State Colin Powell officially backing the Biden-Harris ticket. Also last night, former President Bill Clinton gave Biden a political boost and Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, added a personal touch, assuring voters that Biden can heal a divided nation.

We get more now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny in Wilmington.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, the second night of the Democratic National Convention settled under the virtual convention mode in a much easier way. Some of the old school methods, the roll call vote, for example, really came to life on the screen in ways that they had not in years before. Democratic officials expressed to me afterwards, you know, really excitement about this, seeing it come to life on social media on Twitter, even engagement, just watching the state by state roll call.

Largely, this has been a pro forma exercise that's happened inside the convention wall, but because of the realities of the pandemic, it was taken outside the hall and showed tapestry of America, Americans that are indeed Democrats and are going to vote for Joe Biden. So that was viewed by Democratic officials as actually somewhat of a surprising success, but it was overall the humanizing of Joe Biden, really in speech after speech, even in some of the toughest speeches from former President Bill Clinton who had the toughest word yet for President Trump, but also words of strength for Joe Biden.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Joe won't just put his signature on a check and try to fool you into thinking it came from him. He'll work to make sure that your paycheck reflects your contribution too and your stake in the growing economy. In this job interview, the difference is stark. You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years -- blame, bully and belittle. You know what Joe Biden will do -- Build Back Better.

ZELENY: Certainly foreign policy front and center throughout the evening. Colin Powell, the former secretary of state and, of course, general, giving his full support for Joe Biden.

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Yes, he endorsed Barack Obama. Yes he supported twice but never appeared before at a Democratic convention. Clearly a sign this is a different time.

But then the personal story of Jill Biden, and her love affair for Joe Biden and their family, that was one of the strongest testimonials we have seen in a convention, standing in a classroom, room 232 of Brandywine High School here in Wilmington where she used to teach establish telling a story of a nation growing in pain because of the coronavirus and she talked about what the presidency of her husband would mean for the country.

DR. JILL BIDEN, WIFE OF JOE BIDEN: We haven't given up. We just need leadership worthy of our nation, worthy of you. Honest leadership to bring us back together, to recover from this pandemic and prepare for whatever else is next -- leadership to re-imagine what our nation will be. That's Joe.

ZELENY: In the final moments with the former vice president appearing on stage there next to Jill Biden, his wife, that was clearly a humanizing moment as well.

So, by and large, Democratic officials much pleased by the second night of the convention. Now, heading in to the final two nights, of course, Senator Kamala Harris will deliver her big address to the country, really her introduction of sorts right here at the Chase Center in Wilmington and on Thursday evening, of course, Joe Biden accepting that nomination for president.

He ran more than three decades ago, now accepting the nomination here. His life long quest to be president coming closer but of course the hard work now is beginning after this convention. But for now at least, Democrats breathing easy and really enjoying what the second night of this convention was, seeing so much of America -- Laura and Christine.

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JARRETT: Jeff, thank you so much.

New overnight, postal union leaders are expressing doubt that critical mail processing equipment will come back in service before the upcoming election. There are still some big questions this morning after the U.S. postmaster general said Tuesday he would suspend a series of operational changes and cost-cutting measures until after election.

Louis DeJoy says any changes will be put on hold to, quote, avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail. He does not however address changes that were already made like taking those sorting machines off line. In recent days, mail boxes have also been removed or relocated in a number of states, including critical swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: And the facts and the evidence on the ground here in Pennsylvania is that they have made specific changes to the way mail is delivered, back in July. That's impacted the flow of mail. They've got to go at a bare minimum undo what they've already done, make clear that they are not going take any steps going forward before they take the foot off the gas.

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ROMANS: Widespread delays and backlogs prompted accusations that the president and post master general were trying to slow mail service ahead of an election that will see a record number of mail in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic. There are real life implications to these changes. Postal delays forced the Veterans Administration, the V.A., to fine alternative delivery methods for medicines in some areas. The V.A. has experienced an influx of mail order prescriptions during the pandemic as facilities have prevented large number of patients from refilling their medicines in person.

JARRETT: All right. New coronavirus cases now declining in most of the U.S. including the badly hit South. It's now been four straight days with fewer than 50,000 new cases. That's the first time since June that's happened. But the death toll remains stubbornly high. And average of over 1,000 per day for more than three weeks and that's projected to drag into September.

ROMANS: Schools still feeling the impact in a pretty big way. This morning, "The Yale Daily News" reports one professor issued a warning to students. Be prepared for widespread infections, potential deaths and residential life to look like a hospital unit. Yale plan to have graduate students and a portion of undergrads back on campus. Thousands of positive tests already reported at colleges nationwide. Notre Dame says it is suspending in person classes for two weeks amid a spike there. Michigan State University will start the fall semester remotely, pausing plans for a hybrid instruction. A college in New York also reversing course and shirting to an all remote fall semester. JARRETT: And in New York City, more than 300,000 K-12 students are

opting for all remote learning. The city is preparing for almost 700,000 students to start at least some school in person. Meantime, businesses are facing a serious hardship right now. A survey from the New York fed finds about 1/3 of New York area businesses won't survive without government support if revenue levels do not improve, Christine.

ROMANS: And we know that all of that stimulus has stopped.

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And Congress has not agreed on a new package.

All right. Closing businesses means millions of people out of work. That isn't stopping a record rise on Wall Street. And a military coup for the resignation of a major world leader with big implications in the fight against jihadist groups.

A CNN live report next.

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ROMANS: Good morning.

A stunning split screen. Millions of Americans are out of work. Coronavirus cases are spiking. But the COVID crash on Wall Street is officially over.

The S&P 500 closed at a record high Tuesday for the first time since the pandemic began. It took five months to go from the March low to a new peak. The Nasdaq also a record high. The rally has been driven by record stimulus, vaccine progress and hopes of a swift economic recovery.

But the stock market is not the economy. There is still a jobs crisis in America. In March and April, a record crash of 22.2 million jobs gone.

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A little more than 9 million have come back. That means we're not even halfway to reversing the jobs carnage caused by the pandemic.

And people nationwide are forced to wait in long the lines to apply for the work there is. These thousands over the weekend at a steel mill in Texas, local news reports say people arrive at 3:00 a.m. to get in line for the hopes of the job, Laura.

JARRETT: Well, new overnight, the president of Mali resigning just hours after a military coup. There are serious questions this morning about what comes next in a country that's critical to the U.S. fight against jihadists.

David McKenzie is live for us in Johannesburg.

David, who will take power now that the prime minister and the president, all these top officials were arrested?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Laura.

For now, it's going to be the military officers that orchestrated this coup in a very chaotic day in Bamako, Mali, the capital of Mali. This country is hugely strategically important for the U.S. It is a place which has seen a great deal of insecurity and many hundred of attacks by insurgents over the years.

Now, overnight, the president got on national television and he said he was forced to step down.

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IBRAHIM BOUBACAR KEITA, PRESIDENT OF MALI (through translator): If today it please the elements of our armed force to conclude that it should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice? Because I do not wish for any blood to be spilled to keep me in office.

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MCKENZIE: Well, President Keita has faced months of protests from opposition groups and ordinary Malians and there's a substantial French military force in Mali that is trying to keep those insurgents at bay and great deal of American troops on the ground, particularly in neighboring Niger. What this means for the fight against those extremist groups is unclear.

The last time there was a coup like in this 2012 that led to substantial increase in power by those insurgent groups. So, the U.S. will be watching very closely and hoping some sort of stability returns swiftly to Mali and that region of the Sahil -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right. David, thank you for staying on top of this for us. Appreciate that.

Still ahead, Los Angeles Lakers putting a spin on a Trump phrase in a push for social justice.

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JARRETT: LeBron James and the Lakers sending a message before their first playoff game last night.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Laura.

So, you know, a big part of this NBA restart has been continued fight for social justice and LeBron and all the Lakers last night wearing the same hat as they continue to ask for justice for Breonna Taylor. LeBron posted these pictures to Instagram.

The hat looks like MAGA hats worn by supporters of Donald Trump but the text on the hats read make America, arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor with the words "great again" crossed out.

Taylor was shot and killed in her apartment in March by Louisville police who were executing a no-knock warrant.

This is what LeBron had to say about the hats after the game.

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LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: This is something we continue to put our foot on the gas, continue to pressure, you know, the situation that's going on in Louisville, Kentucky. Innocent woman being killed and -- by the name of Breonna Taylor, a woman who had a bright future. And her life was taken away from her.

And there's been no arrests, no justice, not only for her but for her family, you know? And we want to continue to shed light on the situation. It was unjust. And, you know, that's what it's about.

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SCHOLES: As for game one against the Blazers, LeBron doing everything he could to try to get the Lakers their first playoff win since 2012. He finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists.

But check out Damien Lillard. Tied game in the fourth quarter, Lillard just pass and uses the screen, hit the three from way downtown. Blazers pull away in the final minute to upset the Lakers in game one, 100-93.

Now, Lakers were not the only one seed to go down yesterday. The Magic stunning Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 122-110 in their Eastern Conference opener. This is the second time in post- season history both eight seed beat the top seeds in game one of their series.

We got four more games on the schedule today, a triple header on our sister channel TNT. That gets started at 4:00 Eastern.

All right. The college basketball season meanwhile not that far off. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski says the sport can't afford another year without the NCAA tournament.

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MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, DUKE COACH: We're just saying that the NCAA is most concerned about because men's college basketball and the tournament pays for something like 98 percent of the -- it produces 98 percent or more of the money for the NCAA. We need to have the tournament. We can't have it where two years in a row you did not have the NCAA tournament.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: Yeah, when they cancelled the tournament last year, they lost over $375 million, Christine.

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So, you know, no matter what, they want to find a way whether they have to take all the teams and put them in a bubble or some sort of, you know, protocols to make that tournament happen because like Coach K said, they can't afford not to have it again.

ROMANS: All right, Andy, thanks so much for that. Nice to see you this morning, this Wednesday morning.

All right. It is day three of the Democratic National Convention. Tonight, Senator Kamala Harris makes history as she accepts the nomination for vice president. Plus, hear from former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Special coverage continues tonight at 7:00 Eastern live on CNN.

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