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New Day
Trump Continues to Mislead on Mail-in Voting; Belarus Leader Rejections New Election; Coronavirus Update from Around the World. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 18, 2020 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: If you would have the leadership at the level of the White House giving directives to the governors in the states saying, look, this is what we have to do to save lives, the American people would have -- would have fell into place. Not everybody, but enough to contain this epidemic.
And this is the problem, that you had a White House that was so intent on, quote, opening up the economy, oblivious to the fact that when you have this massive resurgence, as we had, that the economy would falter anyway. By not having that federal leadership, including leadership of the White House Coronavirus Task Force to take the bull by the horns and say, America, this is what we need to do, we need to do it now, and then we could have a good fall, which we could have -- we could have had, they now want to blame it on the American character -- characters, as I said, some kind of twisted version of de Tocqueville (ph), and I don't buy it.
I think we could have done it and we should have done it. And the truth is, we could still do it. But -- and I put forward an October 1st plan over the summer. Unfortunately, since we've delayed it, that October 1st plan is now creeping into November, and we're going to hit up against the election. So we're basically -- the White House has decided they're just going to let this thing burn and we are going to move to 180,000 deaths pretty soon, then 190,000 deaths, and then by 300,000 deaths by the end of the year.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. OK, on that note, Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you very much. Thank you for letting us get through another segment without accidentally uttering a profanity out loud.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm not going to -- I'm not going to swear.
CAMEROTA: I know, I'm afraid I am. I think you are influencing me. I'm afraid, before this show's over, I'm going to say it.
BERMAN: That's a goal.
CAMEROTA: Thank you.
All right, so, the U.S. Constitution guarantees that Congress has the power over the Postal Service, but perhaps President Trump is not familiar with the Constitution. We have the must-see story of how the U.S. Postal Service has become a political weapon, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:36:01]
BERMAN: So, developing overnight, I'm really not sure we've ever seen anything like this in politics before. A former senior Trump administration official has broken ranks and is endorsing Joe Biden in this new political ad.
Former Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor calls his experience in the administration terrifying and makes a series of allegations in a video produced by a Republican anti-Trump group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES TAYLOR, FORMER DHS CHIEF OF STAFF IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses have burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn't support him and that politically it wasn't a base for him.
He was one of the most unfocused and undisciplined senior executives I've ever encountered. I came away completely convinced, based on firsthand experience, that the president was ill-equipped and wouldn't become equipped to do his job effectively. And what's worse was actively doing damage to our security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The White House has responded with a statement, as you might imagine. It says, quote, this individual is another creature of the D.C. swamp who never understood the importance of the president's agenda or why the American people elected him and clearly just wants to cash in.
And it's worth noting that the administration hired him.
CAMEROTA: OK, the embattled postmaster general has agreed to testify before Congress next Monday to explain the changes that he's making to the U.S. Postal Service that is slowing down the mail. President Trump continues, meanwhile, to set the stage for rejecting the election results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: John Avlon has a "Reality Check" on why the president is turning the Postal Service into this political weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS ANALYST: Now, you might ask yourself how the post office became a political battleground with the election now just 78 days out. Well, buckle up for a quick ride for how the post office got into a cash crisis, started slowing down delivery and removing hundreds of sorting machines, both under the new postmaster general, a Trump mega donor, culminating in the post office finally warning that voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail-in ballots during a pandemic, all while President Trump basically admitted his end game.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work. That means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it.
AVLON: Now, Trump's saying the quiet part out loud again, sabotaging the post office to suppress mail-in voting, despite requesting a mail- in ballot himself.
Let's start with facts first.
The founders put the post office in the Constitution. It's a public service, not a business, and it trounces other federal agencies with a stunning 91 percent approval rating. So that's more than twice President Trump's job approval and five times as popular as Congress.
But the Postal Service has been in financial trouble for more than a decade, and it's not just because of email. But a 2006 act of Congress which required that the Postal Service to fully fund its retiree health benefits 50 years into the future, something no other business or government entity has to do.
So, this problem predates President Trump, but his new postmaster general isn't helping. Louis DeJoy was put in place this summer after donating millions to Trump and the Republicans, keeping a $30 million to $75 million stake in his former company, a Postal Service contractor, and a major conflict of interest to many, except the Postal Service ethics officials who cleared him.
But the real controversy came when DeJoy started making his money- saving reforms, which caused delays in delivery, reduced operating hours, cut overtime, removed mailboxes, and high-speed letter sorting machines, the kind that process mail-in ballots. An outcry in an IG investigation followed, but Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tried to clean it up here on CNN.
MARK MEADOWS, CHIEF OF STAFF: There's no sorting machines that are going offline between now and the election.
AVLON: He's saying that it's not going to happen anymore, not that it hasn't been done. There have been reports of sorting machines taken offline in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Missouri, and Michigan, to name a few.
[06:40:00]
And CNN obtained documents showing a more detailed plan to move 671 machines offline by the end of September in dozens of other states. CNN also obtained photos from a source claiming this used to be a sorting machine. Not only removed, but in pieces, in crates, which gets us back to the original question. Given the expected massive increase in mail-in voting, why would Trump's new postmaster hamstring the ability to process mail in advance of the election?
We could get some answers when DeJoy testifies before Congress next week, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi brings Congress back early from summer recess to approve (ph) funding for the post office and block changes. But it seems clear that President Trump is trying to reduce confidence in our elections and suppress the vote, even before a single ballot has been cast.
And that's your "Reality Check."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Our thanks to John Avlon there for some reality.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting with Vladimir Putin as the election crisis in Belarus escalates. What will the Trump administration do? A live report from Belarus, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:45:03]
BERMAN: All right, developing this morning, a new day of huge protests in Belarus following a presidential election widely seen as fraudulent. The European Union is holding an emergency meeting tomorrow as they consider sanctions.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, with more.
And again, Fred, the things we have seen developing behind you, the things that you have witnessed, it's so important for you to be there. Given us the latest.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, I think it certainly is, John. Certainly we're seeing things that were impossible here in this country only about a week ago. Right now there's a demonstration going on behind me in front of the main jail of the intelligence service of Belarus, the KGB, and that's, of course, where a lot of political prisoners are being held in this country. And the folks here are coming out and demanding that those political prisoners be released.
Again, a week ago they would have been beaten down by security forces immediately. Now they are staying here and they are protesting as it seems as though Alexander Lukashenko, the longtime dictator's grip on power continues to wane.
Here's what we're seeing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PLEITGEN (voice over): Belarusians banding together to oust longtime dictator Alexander Lukashenko. These are industrial workers supporting state media workers on strike, saying they're fed up with untruthful reporting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I've decided to quit because many of my friends ended up locked in prisons and tortured. And these are not just some people I read about. These are the people I know personally.
PLEITGEN: The journalists want to finally report on the massive opposition protests that are bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets and tell the truth about a brutal crackdown and thousands of arrests and reports of torture after last Sunday's election, which the opposition says was rigged.
PLEITGEN (on camera): The opposition has called for a general strike here in this country, and that means that many factories are also walking off. And they say that pressure is not going to stop until Alexander Lukashenko cedes power and also allows for a new election.
PLEITGEN (voice over): Lukashenko's answer, a clear no.
My response to this, he says, we held the elections, and until you kill me, there won't be any new elections.
Lukashenko tried to speak at one factory but was booed, workers yelling "get out!"
Many Belarusians fear Lukashenko might be trying to drag Vladimir Putin into invading Belarus. Lukashenko falsely claimed NATO is amassing forces at Belarus' borders. The alliance has denied that. And Lukashenko says the protests in Belarus are a threat to Russia as well.
But while Putin has said he would help if needed, so far there are no signs he has any interest in moving his army into Belarus like he did in Ukraine in 2014.
While European leaders have strongly condemned Lukashenko, weaker comments from President Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's a terrible situation, Belarus. We'll be following it very closely.
PLEITGEN: But for many Belarusians, there is no turning back. They vow to continue their action until they finally get free and fair elections.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: There you have it, John, the situation here in Belarus, obviously, remaining very tense as many people here are wondering what exactly Russia's next move might be. The U.S. so far really not a factor at all, the Trump administration, in all of this. Meanwhile, however, the Europeans taking matters into their own hands. Angela Merkel came out and she had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin and found some pretty tough words, saying Lukashenko needs to release political prisoners and talk to the opposition to find some sort of way forward in all of this, John.
BERMAN: Yes, it wasn't clear that President Trump knew exactly what was happening. He said, we'll follow this very closely, which is often code for --
CAMEROTA: I don't know what you just said.
BERMAN: Exactly.
Thank you, Fred. Appreciate it.
I want you to look at this video now. This is the original epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, China. They went from one of the strictest lockdowns to this. This. Look at all those people! Really? I mean, like, anywhere in the world right now, especially where the virus originated? Really? We'll discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:53:59]
CAMEROTA: It was ground zero in the pandemic. It underwent the world's first and most-strict lockdown. But today, this is Wuhan, China. Thousands of people partying at an electronic music festival.
CNN has reporters all around the world covering all of these developments for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVEN JIANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Steven Jiang in Beijing.
Over the weekend, thousands of revelers packed a pool to the brim at a local water park in Wuhan, the ground zero of the pandemic, waving to the beat of music and cooling down in the water without any masks or social distancing measures in sight.
Just four months ago, the city was emerging from a brutal 76-day lockdown, during which its 11 million residents were mostly confined at home. Such sweeping measures are now being credited by the government here for containing the virus, not only in Wuhan, but also in the rest of China.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Seoul.
In-person church services will now resume in Seoul and the surrounding areas. This is after a recent cluster in one of the churches here in the capital.
[06:55:03]
Now, we understand there are other high-risk facilities, like karaoke bars and clubs and buffet restaurants will also be shut down. The vice health minister saying that these are really the early stages of a massive recurrence of coronavirus cases, given the fact that this cluster in one particular church has already spread to other churches, to medical facilities, and to call centers.
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota, Colombia.
And South America remains tangled with Covid-19. On Monday, partial good news out of Bolivia when it comes to the political crisis that was taking place on top of the health emergency triggered by the virus. On Monday, many of the road blocks in (INAUDIBLE) and all across Bolivia were lifted and traffic returned almost to normality.
But the news and the outlook remains grim, not only in Bolivia, but all across the Andean Range to Peru, when it comes to Covid-19. The virus really making inroads across these societies. And Peru, just a couple of days ago, overtook Mexico as the second most hit country in Latin America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Our thanks to all of our correspondents there.
So, Michelle Obama delivering a powerful indictment of President Trump. We have reaction to her convention speech, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:00:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, "Uniting America."
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: Donald Trump is the wrong president.
END
