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Shooter Kills Two at Kenosha Protests; Hurricane Laura Forecast to Hit Gulf Coast as Category 4 Storm; Melania Trump Speaks at Republican Convention. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 26, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[05:59:42]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, August 26, 6 a.m. here in New York. We do begin with breaking news.

Pandemonium on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, overnight. Police are searching for a man with a long gun who apparently opened fire on protesters and agitators. Police say two people are dead this morning and one injured after a group of heavily-armed vigilantes took it upon themselves to police the streets.

Many videos on social media show the chaos as some of these shootings played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! He just shot that guy in the stomach! (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) People are getting shot all around us! People are just getting shot everywhere, guys. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: It's been three days since Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times in front of his children. His family says he is paralyzed. Police have still not explained what happened or why they shot him. This morning, we have new video of the moments right before that shooting.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking just moments ago, we just got word that Hurricane Laura is rapidly gaining strength and is now forecast to become a very powerful Category 4 storm today, as it barrels toward the Gulf Coast. You need to pay attention to this. This is a look at the storm from space.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate in Texas and Louisiana. We will get the latest forecast track in just a moment.

More breaking news overnight. The CDC issued new guidelines on coronavirus testing. Guidelines that have left medical experts just dumbfounded and wondering if it's all designed to actually find fewer cases.

Also, we have fresh reaction to night two of the Republican convention, where the president exploited the powers and trappings of government for his campaign in ways that have never been done before, never even close. This wasn't blurring lines; it was obliterating them.

And we will discuss why the simple act of expressing sympathy for coronavirus victims from the first lady stood out so much at a convention proceeding, as if a pandemic that has killed nearly 180,000 Americans is barely happening.

We want to begin, though, with the breaking news on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sara Sidner is there.

And Sara, let's just stipulate from the beginning, there is so much we don't know. But what we do know is that the sheriff there has noted the presence of armed counter-protesters, vigilantes, who are on the streets, as well.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the sheriff has actually said there have been armed militia members out in the streets. We are not sure if the person who is accused of shooting two people and killing them and wounding others is a part of any sort of militia, but the sheriff using the word "vigilantes" are in the streets.

We should also mention that we have seen more video, social media video of a man holding a long gun, running down the street, as people are chasing after him, after they say he shot someone. And then you see him trip and fall. And then you see him firing off several rounds. And there is definitely someone hit in that scenario.

We are -- as we understand it, there is a manhunt underway, at this hour, for the people that the sheriff had referred to as vigilantes. That happened just down the street from the courthouse here where the protests have been breaking out between police and protesters.

But as we understand it, there is definitely a manhunt underway for someone who had a long gun. There is also questions from protesters as to whether there were other people who were also -- multiple shooters, who were also firing off. We're trying to get some of the details now.

But this is what is breaking at this hour. Overnight, there were more clashes between police and protesters, with protesters throwing water bottles, police responding with tear gas. And so that blew up again, but this is new.

We now know from the sheriff that there are, as he put it, vigilantes in the streets. He says that they've been out several nights during these protests. And now two people are dead. Several people, as we understand it, were injured. But we are seeing this extremely disturbing video of a man running

down the street with a gun. You can hear people, you know, yelling at him and him yelling back, to back up. But very, very, very serious situation here, as there is a manhunt underway for someone accused of shooting and killing two people here in Kenosha -- John.

BERMAN: And again, we still have no answers for why Jacob Blake was shot or the incident that proceeded that. That is something that, I know, is very disturbing to the people in Wisconsin, as well.

Sara Sidner, please keep us posted. Again, this is developing throughout the morning. We'll have much more in just a minute.

Breaking overnight, Hurricane Laura rapidly intensified, and it is now forecast to hit the Gulf Coast, possibly as a powerful Category 4 storm, in just a few hours. Look at that.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with this new, intensified forecast and track -- Chad.

[06:05:06]

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, this storm here doesn't look anything like when we went to bed last night. Now there's an eye. The storm is breathing; it's getting stronger. It's getting lower in pressure, and the winds are picking up.

And the bubble of storm surge is going up. So now we don't have a 9 to 12 surge. It's going to be higher than that.

This is what happened to Katrina. When Katrina was a 5 in the southern Gulf, it built that bubble that hit waves in Bay St. Louis and over toward Waveland and into Biloxi. This is what's happening here.

Now, the good news is where this overwash is going to take place as a Category 4 or possibly going down to a 3 by landfall. There's not a lot there. Holly Beach is going to be there.

But just a little bit inland, then you get to Lake Charles. That's the problem. Inland from here, this storm isn't going to hit land and die, because the land between Holly Beach and Lake Charles is very swampy. It's very wet. There's water there. Usually we say, oh, there's land; it's going to die. The computer models still have the potential for this to be closer to Galveston. And in the overnight hours, I think I've seen a little bit of a westward jog, which would be bad news for Houston. The closer you get, obviously, the higher the winds would be.

We know that the winds are going to approach tropical storm force somewhere around 2 p.m. this afternoon along the coast. So after that, you can't do anything. You can't put boards up. You can't do anything. You need to prep now or get out now, if you are in the zone here from probably the Sabine Pass and off to the east. That's really Cameron, Louisiana, population somewhere between 1 and 3,000, depending on the season.

So here you go. The winds are going to be 110 in this entire area, but even if you get up to Shreveport, your winds are going to be somewhere in the ballpark of 80 miles per hour. This isn't going to die off anytime soon.

Landfall likely takes place somewhere plus or minus two hours from 1 a.m. tonight, with a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet. Those barrier islands, Alisyn, are not 10 to 15 feet high. The water will go right over the top. You must be gone.

CAMEROTA: OK. I hope everyone is --

MYERS: Honestly.

CAMEROTA: -- heeding this warning. Chad, we'll check in with you throughout the program.

Half a million Americans are under mandatory evacuation orders in Texas and Louisiana, as Hurricane Laura barrels towards the Gulf Coast. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is live in Beaumont, Texas, with more.

What's the situation there, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Alisyn. People are waking up to a completely different storm. Here in Jefferson County in Beaumont, Texas, the city is on edge. The not-so-distant memory for residents here would be Hurricane Harvey, Rita, and Ike. They know how much destruction and how much flooding can be brought to this very susceptible city.

But of course, the preparations for Hurricane Laura are completely different, because they're amongst the backdrop of a global pandemic. Just take a listen to what this individual had to do in order to prepare for a hurricane amongst COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY LASSAINT, BEAUMONT RESIDENT: Trying to be safe and be prepared for the storm and do the necessary things that need to be done. I'm trying to stay covered up. You know, I have medicine if I need some, whatever that nature. And I'd just like for everybody to be safe out there. Stay to yourselves, social distance, and all of that, so you won't catch COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: Even though there are mandatory evacuations along the southeast coast of Texas, COVID-19 is complicating people's decisions. Do they evacuate or do they shelter in place?

We heard from the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott yesterday, stating that, just because a hurricane is approaching southeast Texas doesn't mean that COVID-19 is going away from the state. We know that Texas is still a hot spot, even though trends in the cases have gone down over the past 14 days, which is, of course, good news. But of course, this is complicating the evacuation efforts here. Talking about the immediate threats to Beaumont and the coastal areas

of southeast Texas, we talked about storm surge with Chad just a few moments ago, with the potential of that storm surge moving inland as far as 30 miles from the coastline and winds in excess of 110 miles per hour.

This is a fast-moving storm. So rainfall threat here is high, but as it moves on, we're only anticipating the 5 to 10 inches of rain within this area. But inland, localized flash flooding certainly a possibility -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Derek Van Dam, stay safe. Keep us posted. Thank you very much for being there. Appreciate it.

We have new reaction this morning to the Republican convention. President Trump using the trappings of government and official business in ways we have never seen before in a campaign. And we heard last night at the convention for the first time from the first lady, Melania Trump, praising the president for his honesty.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live in Washington with the very latest on what we've seen so far -- Jeff.

[06:10:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.

It was the power of the presidency mixed with politics, as you said, like we've never seen before, essentially a national convention being broadcast from the White House.

Now, it was an attempt to broaden the president's appeal beyond the divisions of his first term, but it was capped off by a speech from the first lady, Melania Trump, as we've never seen her before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (voice-over): The second night of the Republican National Convention smashing political norms and blurring the lines between government and politics.

CHAD WOLF, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Congratulations. You're now citizens of the United States of America.

ZELENY: The president appearing in a naturalization ceremony in the White House, conducted by acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no higher honor and no greater privilege; and it's an honor for me to be your president.

ZELENY: The event raising concerns it could have violated the Hatch Act, which prevents members of the executive branch, except the president and vice president, from taking part in political activity. In a late-night statement, a White House official defending the move:

"The campaign decided to use the publicly available content for campaign purposes. There was no violation of law."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo breaking with precedent, making an appearance at the convention from Jerusalem. Pompeo made a full- throated endorsement of the administration's foreign policy, praising policies in the Middle East, China, and North Korea.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Delivering on this duty to keep us safe and our freedoms intact, this president has led bold initiatives in nearly every corner of the world.

ZELENY: Two of the president's children, Eric and Tiffany Trump, continuing the dark themes from night one of the convention, painting a Joe Biden presidency as a threat to America.

ERIC TRUMP, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: And in view of the radical Democrats, America is a source of the world's problems. They want to destroy the monuments of our forefathers. They want to disrespect our flag.

TIFFANY TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: This is a fight for freedom versus oppression, for opportunity versus stagnation, a fight to keep America true to America.

ZELENY: And Kentucky's attorney general slamming Biden for his past comments about black Americans.

DANIEL CAMERON, KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I also think about Joe Biden, who says, if you aren't voting for me, you ain't black; who argued that Republicans would put us back in chains; who says there is no diversity of thought in the black community.

Mr. Vice President, look at me. I am black. We are not all the same, sir.

Joe Biden is a backwards thinker in a world that is craving forward- looking leadership.

ZELENY: Melania Trump striking a different tone than most of the night's speakers during the closing speech of the evening, refusing to attack Biden or Kamala Harris. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, the first lady was one of the few who addressed the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 179,000 Americans.

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically. The invisible enemy, COVID-19, swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us. My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one.

ZELENY: The first lady also addressing the racial unrest in America, calling for unity and empathy.

M. TRUMP: It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history. I encourage people to focus on our future while still learning from our past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, those moments of empathy certainly stood out in the convention and certainly will be on display here tonight, as well, as more racial unrest is, indeed, unfolding in America.

Vice President Mike Pence will be here at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, where he will be delivering his speech this evening. Of course, this is an historic monument and shrine where the national anthem was written back in 1814.

But John, certainly a moment of challenge for this administration, as well, as we see the events unfolding in Wisconsin.

BERMAN: Yes, think about that imagery, where Mike Pence will no doubt, at least explicitly or implicitly send the message that he does not approve of people kneeling during the national anthem, and this in the midst of protests over racial injustice and real questions around the country.

Jeff Zeleny, keep us posted. Thank you very much.

The breaking news we're following this morning, we have just learned two people are dead in shootings on the streets of Kenosha in Wisconsin. The major development appears to be the sheriff saying there has been a presence of vigilantes. He even used the word "militia groups" to counter the protesters. We're going to bring you the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:55]

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news. Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are searching for a man with a long gun wanted in connection with fatal shootings there overnight. Police say two people are dead and another one injured after a clash between these armed militiamen, who were taking it upon themselves to patrol the streets and were apparently shooting at whomever. Other -- other vigilantes, protesters. The chaos is captured on some of these videos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! He just shot that guy in the stomach. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) People are getting shot all around us! People are just getting shot everywhere, guys! (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers and CNN law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey. He's the former Philadelphia police commissioner and former D.C. Police chief.

Chief Ramsey, I don't know where police start. When people in a town like Kenosha decide to bring their long guns to the streets so that they can police the streets, and they're the ones standing in front of businesses. And they're taking it upon themselves to shoot whomever that crosses their path or they get into a fight with, I don't know how police start to tamp all of this down.

[06:20:20]

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, whenever you have armed vigilantes show up at one of these events, something bad is ultimately going to happen. I mean, you know, it's very little you can do. Many of these gun laws do not stand in the way of people showing up, armed, openly, carrying firearms.

But when you have a situation like this, I mean, you just can't have this kind of violence taking place when you've got armed vigilantes showing up and just randomly shooting into a crowd.

First of all, these are not counterdemonstrators. These are people who are exactly what you just called them: armed vigilantes. That's what they are.

And the city's going to have to get a grip on this very quickly, impose a curfew, perhaps even call out the National Guard to shut it down. Because what you don't want to have now are people, demonstrators --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

RAMSEY: -- feeling now they have to be armed, and now you've got armed vigilantes, and then you've got a back and forth. And nothing can come from that other than tragedy.

CAMEROTA: But Chief, I mean, just to -- sorry to interrupt you, but they have that. They have a curfew. They have National Guardsmen on the street. And this still happened last night. Now what?

RAMSEY: Well, they've got to beef it up. They've got to beef it up. They've got to do something.

Again, you know, it's a delicate balance when you're trying to deal with a demonstration. You know, too much presence and then police get accused of being heavy-handed. Not enough presence, then you've got something like this take -- take place.

But they've got to increase the presence. They've got to shut this down. Because if they don't, you're going to have more incidents like this take place, perhaps. I just hope it doesn't spread beyond Kenosha.

BERMAN: Yes, one thing we should make clear this morning is we still don't know very much at all about what happened overnight, who shot whom. What we have been told by the sheriff there is that there was the

presence of these armed vigilantes. He used the word "militia." These were his words. We're simply reporting what they are saying and what we have seen from the video, Bakari.

This is -- I have to say, I mean, this is deeply troubling on day three after Jacob Blake -- let's not forget where this started, with a 29-year-old man being shot in the back nine -- seven times, at least, and we still don't have answers for why that happened, Bakari.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there won't be answers as to why it happened. What we can just assume is that Jacob Blake, like many other African-Americans, didn't get the benefit of his humanity.

But Chief Ramsey was correct in his analysis of this incident. This is what we have in this new America. This is what we have in this -- in this Trump America, where you have individuals who are rightfully protesting. And these are not counter-protesters that show up, but these are individuals who want to take their country back; who show up with these long-form guns; who want to protect a gas station; and then incidents like this occur.

And while there are many people who want to tell the riot -- the protesters, or if it turns into a riot where property is destroyed, where they want to tell them to get out the street, I hear you. I understand you. Nobody wants these protests to involve -- to ever evolve into something that is violent or destroys property. I completely understand that.

But there's not a voice who is actively pushing back on these individuals, these militiamen, these -- these vigilantes who show up around the country. In many times, instigate violence and perpetuate more violence.

You know, we saw this in Michigan. And I have to remind people, we've seen this in Michigan and Kentucky at state capitals, in response to mask mandates. We've seen individuals show up, militiamen show up with guns and hang governors in effigy. And people just say, Oh, let's liberate such and such. This is America.

Well, this isn't America. What this is, this is chaos. This is anarchy. This is death and destruction, all because black people in this country want to be free, and want to be able to have the basic tenants of life, liberty, and be able to pursue happiness.

CAMEROTA: Chief, it's three days. We still have no explanation from the Kenosha Police Department about why they shot Jacob Blake.

We do, however, have a new cell phone video from a different angle. It's so disturbing. I mean, I just want to warn everyone. It's so disturbing to watch, just the few seconds before this shooting, of the neighbors pleading with the police to not escalate this. Little children running out and screaming.

But here are a few seconds of this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get my gun, get my gun. Get my gun. Get my gun. Come on, T.J. T.J.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not in front of your baby here!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody go over there!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, get back! Mom! Mom! You have to get back!

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get my gun. Get my gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, the neighbors know what's going to happen. They've seen it too many times. They're screaming "Get back." They know what's about to happen, and then sure enough, it happens.

Do you, Chief, as a former police officer, have any idea why a police officer would shoot somebody in the back? What would be the justification?

RAMSEY: No, I have no idea why the shooting took place here. I mean, when you look at that particular video, clearly, he's trying to take him into custody. He's resisting arrest, but resisting arrest doesn't justify the use of deadly force.

Now, when he walks around and opens the door, I have no idea what the officer may have seen or thought he saw. I'm not aware of any weapon being recovered, nothing that would justify the use of deadly force in a situation like this. So I don't have an answer for it.

But I can tell you this. Kenosha needs to come out with some kind of information, whether that information is good or bad, come up with something, because the longer this goes on, the more it's just going to intensify. And so, I don't know what they're doing, to be honest with you.

BERMAN: Bakari, we've got to run here, but what should the message be from a leader this morning?

SELLERS: Well, you should ask for calm.

RAMSEY: Well, the message should be --

BERMAN: Sorry, Bakari.

SELLERS: I'm sorry. You should -- you should ask for calm. You should ask for transparency from the Kenosha Police Department. You should ask for justice for Jacob Blake. You should ask for people who take to the streets, do not tell them to stay home, but who take to the streets to do so peacefully. And you should ask those who have come from out of town to spark violence to go back home.

We have to do this in memory of Jacob Blake. And Jacob Blake's family has told us what they want from him while he's recovering in the hospital. He wants peaceful demonstrations. Let's do that. Let's raise our voices. Let's be extremely loud, but let's be -- let's remember to be peaceful while we're claiming and chanting for the Kenosha Police Department to be just, to be transparent, and to be honest.

CAMEROTA: Charles Ramsey, Bakari Sellers, thank you both very much.

So President Trump using the power of the presidency to try to win re- election. We'll break down the key moments from last night's Republican National Convention. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END