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Former President Barack Obama Criticizes President Trump in Speech at Democratic National Convention; Wildfires Cause Continuing Evacuations in Northern California; Some Teachers' Union Push to Delay In-Person Classes. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 20, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MILES TAYLOR, FORMER DHS CHIEF OF STAFF: Everywhere from Anthony Scaramucci to Bolton and Jim Mattis, former secretary of defense. But hopefully we'll see more in the leadup to November, and stay tuned.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Miles Taylor, we really appreciate you speaking out so candidly with us and telling us what's really going on inside. We will speak to you again soon.

TAYLOR: Great. Thanks, Alisyn and John. I appreciate it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, what can you say?

CAMEROTA: Astonishing.

BERMAN: He paints a picture, and this is his version, although it lines up with some of the other things we've heard before, but this is astonishing.

CAMEROTA: He just couldn't have put a finer point on it. And he's obviously taking -- he's risking his own physical -- rest his life, he's saying, but it's worth it, he says. And he says that he thinks other people will make that decision at some point soon.

OK, good morning, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

We are just hours away from watching Joe Biden formally accept his party's nomination for president of the United States. His running mate, Kamala Harris, making history last night, accepting her nomination to become the first black and South Asian woman ever on a major party ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D-CA) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am here tonight as a testament to the dedication of generations before me. Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all. I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: No question that was a moment in history. Another moment in history, President Obama, a former president of the United States, giving a stark warning about the safety of our democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes for them to win. So we have to get busy building it up by pouring all our efforts into these 76 days, and by voting like never before for Joe and Kamala and candidates up and down the ticket so that we leave no doubt about what this country that we love stands for today, and for all our days to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: President Obama's former adviser is standing by right now to talk to us in just a moment. And later we'll speak to Joe Biden's former speechwriter about what we could hear when he accepts the Democratic nomination tonight. All of this as the U.S. recorded 1,300 new deaths from coronavirus in a single day. I think that's the 22nd day in the last month with more than 1,000 deaths.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator, senior political commentator, David Axelrod. He was a senior adviser to President Obama and his senior campaign strategist. Also with us, CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, who is currently advising and volunteering for the Biden campaign.

Axe, I want to start with you. We asked you yesterday what President Obama was going to say, and you didn't tell us this. I think you underplayed what he was going to say, because this, we keep throwing around the term "historic," it was, not just because it's a former president directly critical of a current president, which you don't see, but also because of how he laid out the stakes as it being dependent -- democracy dependent on what you, the voter, does right now. What did you see, what drove it, and how surprised were you?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I wasn't surprised. I had actually talked to his team. I knew where he was going to go, but more than that, I knew what his motivation was. What I was thinking about last night when I heard him speak was a conversation we had when he was president and he said the Bushs, both presidents Bush, have taught me a lesson in how to be a former president. And what he meant was that they kept their counsel, they weren't critical of his policies. And that was what his intent was when he left the White House.

And what he made clear last night was what motivated him to speak was not his differences with Trump's policies, which are obviously deep and profound, but his difference with his conduct in the office, his treatment of democracy. Barack Obama, as you said last night, and almost every president in our history have thought of themselves as a trustee of the democracy. George W. Bush in the transition from administrations could not have been more helpful and supportive of us, not because he agreed with the policies of Barack Obama, but because he saw himself as a trustee of the democracy, of its institutions, its norms, its rules.

[08:05:08]

And Donald Trump simply does not. And that is frightening to Barack Obama and those who feel profoundly about these institutions. That is what drove him last night. To me it didn't sound like a convention speech. It did not sound like a politician trying to attack another politician. This was a former president who cares deeply about this democracy and is making a fervent plea to Americans to stand up for these institutions by coming out and voting in November.

CAMEROTA: OK, so let's listen to a moment, President Obama laying out of what he sees as the failings of President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: 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. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But he never did. For close to four years now, he has 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 could 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Ana, what did you hear in that part of the speech or any part of it?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I was struck by the emotion of Barack Obama's speech. There was a moment there where it felt like he was tearing up, and he got very emotional talking about John Lewis, talking about the shoulders he stood on. So I think it was both a rebuke of Donald Trump, which I think he didn't do lightly. And what you just heard there, what was ironic, and like it was almost on cue, Barack Obama is giving this speech, and within seconds Donald Trump, his twitchy little Twitter finger is tweeting away, trying to troll Barack Obama, basically proving Barack Obama's point the he has not grown into the presidency and that he craves attention.

But the part -- I thought it was a wonderful, eloquent, brilliant call to action. Look, I thought the entire convention yesterday weaved in policy issues with so much emotion and putting faces and names and stories to the issue of immigration, to the issue of gun reform, to the issue of climate change. It was the entire thing felt like aloe on the burn that has been happening for the last three-and-a-half years in America. BERMAN: David, I know you also noted that for all of the direct

criticism of President Trump, President Obama made the address about you, made it about the voter, said this is what you now do. It is the moment where you need to stand up. And on that line what does Joe Biden need to do tonight? And what I mean is, look, we've heard a lot about President Trump, and to some extent we've heard a lot about Joe Biden's biography, but how does Joe Biden address the voter? How does he say this is about you? What does he need to say?

AXELROD: Well, first of all, I think he needs to approach this almost as a person who is going to be president speaking to an anguished country in the middle of overlapping crises, a pandemic, the economic crisis, the crisis of the social crisis that we've been through relative to race, and to give people a sense that we can get to a better day and I know how to do that. I think that is the most important thing that he can do.

How he does it has to be -- is important as well because the attack of Trump, and the one that I think you're going to hear next week -- by the way, parenthetically, I agree with Ana about last night, which was very, very powerful. Next week everything that we saw last night will be turned on its head, and pleas for commonsense gun control will be assaults on the Second Amendment, pleas for climate action will be an assault on your economic well-being, and so on. And an underpinning of all of that will be an attack on Biden's mental acuity.

[08:10:00]

They know that Biden can't be depicted as a radical left politician because that's not who he is culturally, that's not who he is politically. But that's how they want -- so they will depict him as the unwitting dupe of the far left, a trojan horse through which this radical agenda will be passed.

Tonight, he has to stand up and be forceful, robust, and give people confidence that he's the man in charge, and give people a sense of what that vision is and draw the largest number of Americans into that vision. If he does that, he'll take a big step forward, and he'll create fortification against what's going to be a savage week next week.

CAMEROTA: Ana, you're advising the Biden campaign. I can't imagine anybody not doing what you say, so what are you telling them to do?

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Look, I kept saying to them that we needed to see representation on the screen, that there are so many people that through the Trump administration have felt trampled on and have felt unseen. And I've got to say, last night they brought it home. It was all about representation. My little melanated, cynical heart, my immigrant melanated woman heart felt so full last night because it was the women in white, it was Hillary Clinton reminding us that it is on us, and that 3 million votes, winning by 3 million votes is not enough, and we have got to go do more. It was Gabby Giffords playing that French horn. It was little Estella giving the story about her mother who was deported, the daughter of the U.S. marine whose mom got deported. It was story after story. It was Prince Royce doing "Stand By Me" in Bachata, which is merengue, it's a Dominica Republic rhythm. If you didn't feel represented last night, I don't know what convention you were watching.

Actually, today with David and John is the first time I see a white man like in eight hours, other than Joe Biden last night. And that's OK. They've had 240 years of representation. They're going to be OK. Last night I think was about telling people who have felt unseen, we see you. You are here. You are part of this table. And I thought it was inclusive. It's given people something that I think many have not felt for a long time, particularly these last few months when so many of us have been stuck at home making banana bread -- optimism, a plan for the future, hope. I am hearing a lot of people tell me that, tell me that they are feeling excited and hopeful and optimistic for the first time in many months.

CAMEROTA: Well, we hear you.

AXELROD: Can I say --

CAMEROTA: Very quickly, David, a few seconds.

AXELROD: Yes. I thought it was interesting that Democrats reserved the economic discussion for the second hour when they were going to have the largest argument, because that is the broadest argument. And I agree with everything that Ana said. But the fact is we are a deeply divided country, and those who -- she talks about people who feel unseen. Donald Trump placed the resentment of people who fear change and who -- white voters who think they're going to be pushed out. And that is, that is something that Democrats have to be aware of because they need some of those voters to win this election.

CAMEROTA: David Axelrod, Ana Navarro --

NAVARRO: Can I say one last thing? So Miles, who was on right before us, the former DHS official said Donald Trump wanted to sell Puerto Rico and swap it for Greenland. Well, I say we swap Trump for Joe Biden and we send him to Siberia so he's a little closer to his friend Putin.

CAMEROTA: OK, on that note, Ana Navarro, David Axelrod, thank you both very much.

BERMAN: That was like I'm going to say goodbye. No, you say goodbye. You say goodbye.

CAMEROTA: One more thing.

Developing right now, there are new evacuations ordered in northern California as wildfires rage across that state. Lightning strikes and this blistering heatwave are making it very hard for crews to battle this virus. CNN's Dan Simon is live in Vacaville, California. What's the situation at this hour?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. These fires continue to spread out of control, especially this fire where we are in Vacaville, California. An unfold number of people have been forced to evacuate in the tens of thousands of people, and the scope of the devastation is now coming into focus. More than 100 homes destroyed across five counties, 124,000 acres charred. You can see this one home behind me that has been destroyed.

Authorities in California saying this has really been an unprecedented situation. Over the course of 72 hours, there have been some 11,000 lightning strikes happening in the state of California, and that is literally resulting in hundreds of wildfires, about two dozen of them major, including this one. And because there are so many fires, resources are stretched thin. We talked to one couple here in Vacaville who lost their home, and they say they lost it because there were no fire engines that can respond.

[08:15:01]

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO LCIP)

MARCI ALBERS, VACAVILLE RESIDENT: I just kept thinking after we left, oh, the house will be there, we'll be fine. We did everything, you know, we were supposed to and apparently they had no fire trucks. They're all over in Berryessa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We can't --

ALBERS: So they couldn't do anything. We just had to watch it burn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: State of California's asking for more resources to come in to continue battling these blazes. Of course, all of this happening in the middle of a pandemic. There are evacuation shelters that have been opened. Red Cross workers asking people if they have any COVID-19 symptoms and taking people's temperatures as they walk through the door -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Dan, thank you very much for that update.

So, teachers in at least two major U.S. cities are threatening to strike over their safety concerns. What they want to see before in- person classes resume. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Teachers in Detroit considering a strike. The teachers union says its members want to teach online classes only because of coronavirus safety concerns. In New York City, the teachers union wants to delay in-person classes until all students and staff can be tested for the virus.

Joining us to talk about this and more, we have CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So, Sanjay, we've been talking about this for days and weeks.

[08:20:02]

So many parents are so confused about what's going to happen the first week of September and whether or not their schools can safely open. You have put together your list of how schools can, what the -- you know, what the sort of milestones are that they would have the hit.

So, explain what they are.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think part of it is you've got to see what's going on in the schools in terms of making sure they're practicing the public health practices that we've been talking about. But also, look at the screen here. You know, there's certain phases that, you know, we're required for states to go through before reopening and that involves seeing a 14-day downward trend in new cases.

If you see that, and you get a pretty good idea that the numbers are headed in the right direction. Yeah, the state is going to have a better chance of being able to control what will surely be some intermittent outbreaks. And you're going to see more cases as kids go back to school. The question is, can you control them with adequate testing, with adequate tracing? All the things that we've been talking about.

And as you know, a lot of places still don't have the testing. So, it becomes a problem in a lot of places.

There's another number as well. We could show this map of positivity rates. We've talked a lot about this over the last several months, but basically if you test 100 people, what percentage of them are likely to come back positive? If the number's higher, that means you're not catching all the cases out there.

So, on this map, you'll find your own state. If it's dark, that means the positivity rate is high and you probably are not catching enough cases. There's probably a lot more virus circulating out there.

So, in Georgia where I live for example, even though my school which I visited, did the homework on, they're trying to do all the right things in terms of mask mandate and hand hygiene and trying to create physical distance, but the positivity rate is still so high. 11 percent and the numbers overall are too high. So we decided for example not to send our kids back to school.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, there's an important development yesterday that I think did confuse a lot of people. A lot of people have been looking at convalescent plasma treatment as one of the therapies that might very well help soon in terms of battling coronavirus.

GUPTA: Yeah.

BERMAN: The FDA apparently was going to grant emergency use authorization for it, but then the NIH stepped in, Dr. Fauci and Collins said we don't have enough data yet. And now, there's some interesting fighting. People are upset about it.

What does this mean? What are they not seeing that they want to see and how soon before this is authorized?

GUPTA: Well, you know, the second point that you're making I think is crucial as well and the FDA is basically saying, hey, look, just to be clear, we're an autonomous organization, and we look at data and we may even evaluate data that not everyone else gets a chance to see.

So, just keep that in the back of mind. I think there's a lot of enthusiasm around this idea of convalescent serum which is taking antibodies from people who have recovered and using them either as a preventive or a treatment in people for COVID-19. I think what Dr. Collins and Dr. Fauci were saying were basically, look, there's not enough data here yet in the form of these randomized trials. Some people get the convalescent plasma, some people don't.

Are we confident that the convalescent plasma is what's really helping people? When they looked at the data they said that's not enough data there yet. And if you grant an emergency use authorization, it basically makes it much more challenging to continue to do the trials because everybody wants the plasma if they're in the hospital and sick. I think that's the point they're making.

But, you know, as we talked about last hour, Just having covered this now -- reporting on it for so many months, there's been a little bit of a shift. Getting an emergency use authorization was very easy. I mean, they were giving these out very, very easily and now, it's becoming more of a challenge to get an EUA for a therapeutic like of this, even for some of the testing.

So you're seeing more of a clamping down on giving out the emergency use authorizations, delaying time lines, a lot of the scientists are saying this is good. We need to make sure we're dealing with lots of facts and data and science starting to authorize these things.

That's starting to happen more and more now.

BERMAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks for helping us understand this. I really appreciate it.

GUPTA: You got it. No problem. Thank you.

BERMAN: So a bullet left her unable -- left her son unable to speak at 13 years old, but now, she's using her voice to speak out on gun violence at the Democratic convention. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:29:07]

CAMEROTA: Survivors of America's gun violence epidemic delivering powerful messages at the Democratic convention. Listen to one woman, DeAndra Dycus talk about how her bright, promising teenage son ended up paralyzed by a bullet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANDRA DYCUS, TEEN SON BECAME QUADRIPLEGIC BY GUN VIOLENCE: My son DeAndre was only 13 years old. He was recognized as a gifted and talented student. His possibilities were endless.

He was dancing at a birthday party when he was shot in the back left side of his head, shattering his skull. One shot changed our lives forever. Today, my Dre does not talk, he does not walk. I know he knows me by the smile he shows when I walk in his room. But I'm unsure if he knows a gunshot has changed his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: DeAndra Dycus joins us now. She's a gun violence prevention activist now.

END