Return to Transcripts main page
The Situation Room
Joe Biden Set to Deliver Address at Democratic National Convention; Interview With Chicago, Illinois, Mayor Lori Lightfoot; Interview With Former Acting CDC Director Dr. Richard Besser; Steve Bannon Arrested on Fraud Charges; Coronavirus Pandemic Still Raging; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed on Biden's Faith Front and Center on Last Night of Democratic Convention; Soon, Biden to Accept Democratic Presidential Nomination; Ex-Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Charges. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 20, 2020 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:02]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: There are now more than 5.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.
Colleges and universities in at least 17 states right now are reporting outbreaks on campus, forcing more than 1,000 students across the country to quarantine.
We're also counting down to the final night of the Democratic National Convention, where Joe Biden will deliver a speech officially accepting the nomination for president of the United States.
Let's go to CNN's Nick Watt. He's out in Los Angeles with the latest on the coronavirus pandemic.
Nick, we're also getting some breaking news out of the White House, where the Trump administration is now formally declaring teachers across the country essential workers. And, potentially, that could be significant. Tell us why.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, so teachers are now under the same designation as doctors or law enforcement, and an interesting reaction already from the American Federation of Teachers.
They say that this new designation could be used to -- quote -- "threaten, bully, and coerce" teachers back into the classroom to serve the political agenda of the president and some governors.
They say that if he really viewed, if Trump really viewed them as essential, then he'd act like it and give the resources to make sure that they are safe in classrooms.
All of this, Wolf, as so many schools and colleges are wrestling with trying to reopen safely.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (voice-over): Fifteen student athletes now COVID-positive at Ole Miss, two new clusters identified at North Carolina State sorority houses, five new collegiate outbreaks in Kansas, Greek life in the spotlight.
DR. LEE NORMAN KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY: There really needs to be a significant curtailment of their social activities, because they're just not getting it quite honestly.
WATT: UConn just kicked some students out of on-campus housing after an unapproved gathering. COVID-19 cases now reported at colleges and universities in at least 17 states.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Each university not only has to do entrance testing. But what we talk to every university about is being able to do surge testing.
WATT: And thousands of kids in K-12 grades now in quarantine across the country, Massachusetts now mandating flu vaccines for most students from kindergarten through college.
DR. EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: We really can't afford to have both illnesses circulating at a significant level.
WATT: COVID-19 vaccine news. The Warp Speed chief estimates one will be widely available spring or early summer. He told "Business Insider" we might be back to normal end of 2021, if people take it.
AMC Theaters taking a big step today, reopening in some cities with 15 cent tickets to classic movies as the lure. Nationwide, the rate of new cases is falling, for now, but there are spikes in Maine, Wyoming and in these 18 states the average daily death toll is still climbing. Nationally?
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Deaths are the lagging indicator, and deaths are now flat. They are not yet decreasing.
WATT: We're told they will, but only if we're smart. And:
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DEPARTMENT OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CHAIRMAN, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: The population seems to have divided itself into two groups. There's the safe group, and then there's the other group that are more carefree, rather than careful.
WATT: Allegedly in that latter category, a TikTok star who unfortunately owns this the Hollywood hills party pad. The city of Los Angeles just cut the utilities after complaints of crowds from neighbors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dozens of kids without masks piled up against my door. I can't get in or out. So, that was it. I'm a rat. What can I say?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: And, Wolf, I'm ending, I'm afraid, on a terrible note. Florida just passed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths, joining a club that no
state obviously wants to be a member of. Right now, it's Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey, and here in California -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And, nationally, more than 1,000 Americans are still dying every single day, very disturbing, indeed.
This is by no means over. And it doesn't look like there's any immediate end in sight.
Nick, all right, thank you very much.
Let's go to our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.
Jim, President Trump is campaigning right next door to Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, what, only hours before Biden formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination.
What's the latest?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.
President Trump just wrapped up this speech in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he launched into a series of attacks on Democratic nominee Joe Biden, as the former vice president prepares to give that speech on this last night of the Democratic Convention.
During the president's rally, Mr. Trump said he hopes the U.S. is nearing the end of the pandemic, when that's not the case. The president is still sowing doubts about the upcoming election, claiming that the only way he can lose is if the vote is rigged. That's obviously false.
[18:05:05]
But the president is back in a familiar position, distancing himself from yet another former aide who is now under indictment, this time, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Stung by days of attacks during the Democratic Convention, President Trump is on a rhetorical rampage, slamming Joe Biden.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Joe Biden is a puppet of the radical left movement that seeks to destroy the American way of life.
ACOSTA: The president is diving into some of the planning for his own convention at the White House next week, hoping to showcase what he sees as the everyday Americans, whose lives have been improved during his administration, not to mention respond to the warning from former President Barack Obama that Mr. Trump represents a threat to democracy. BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump
hasn't grown into the job, because he can't.
ACOSTA: The president seemed triggered by that address on Twitter, as he ranted in all caps about Obama and Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris.
Mr. Trump's reelection chances took another gut punch, after his former chief strategist Steve Bannon was indicted on charges of defrauding donors through a private effort that raised millions of dollars to fund a border wall. Bannon was arrested on a yacht.
TRUMP: Well, I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a long period of time, as most of the people in this room know. I think it's a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon.
ACOSTA: When asked about Bannon's arrest, Mr. Trump claimed he didn't know anything about the project called We Build the Wall.
TRUMP: I know nothing about the project, other than I didn't like -- when I read about it, I didn't like it.
ACOSTA: But hold on.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: It's really the heart of the Trump movement.
ACOSTA: Not only was Bannon a key figure behind We Build the Wall. Donald Trump Jr. spoke out in favor of the effort.
Another We Build the Wall organizer, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, said Mr. Trump had given the project his blessing.
KRIS KOBACH, FORMER KANSAS SECRETARY OF STATE: I was speaking with the president, and we were talking about a variety of issues. And the topic came up. I mentioned that I was working with We Build the Wall.
And he said: "Well, you tell the people you are working with that this project has my blessing."
ACOSTA: Just last month, the president told FOX he appreciated Bannon's support.
TRUMP: He says the greatest president ever. I mean, he's saying things that I said, "Let's keep Steve out there, he's doing a good job."
ACOSTA: Bannon is just the latest in a long line of former Trump aides and associates to be indicted or found guilty in court.
What does it say about your judgment that these are the kind of people who you're affiliated with...
TRUMP: Well, I have no idea.
ACOSTA: As for the president downplaying his connection to Bannon, Mr. Trump has used that line before on his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort once his legal troubles began.
TRUMP: I know Mr. Manafort. I haven't spoken to him in a long time, but I know him.
ACOSTA: The White House is also dancing around Mr. Trump's comments about QAnon.
TRUMP: I have heard these are people that love our country.
ACOSTA: With the press secretary struggling to explain the president's embrace of the fringe movement.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is talking about his supporters. He believes his supporters are good hardworking people that love this country.
ACOSTA: The president also sounded off a judge's ruling that Mr. Trump may have to hand over his tax returns to prosecutors in New York.
TRUMP: Nobody has anything. We didn't -- we don't do things wrong.
ACOSTA: More headwinds for a president whose aides still refuse to say whether he will accept the election results.
MARC SHORT, CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I don't think the campaign has any doubt that the American people will reelect Donald Trump and Mike Pence for four more years this November.
ACOSTA: But it's the mounting challenges from the coronavirus pandemic that continue to weigh down Mr. Trump's reelection chances.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy is the latest high-profile Republican to test positive for COVID-19, a virus the president keeps saying will disappear.
TRUMP: It's going away. No, it'll go away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And late today, a Republican group of former national security officials released a statement endorsing Biden in the 2020 race.
The officials, who served in the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations, all described the president as unfit to lead the U.S., saying he failed on the coronavirus, solicited foreign influence in the upcoming election, and aligned himself with dictators around the world -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jim, thank you very much, Jim Acosta reporting.
Let's get some analysis. We're joined by the former acting CDC Director Dr. Richard Besser.
Dr. Besser, thanks so much for joining us.
And, as you just heard, the White House now officially declaring that teachers around the country are essential workers, part of their campaign to pressure school districts to bring the students back into the classroom this fall. What do you make of this?
DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Well, I think teachers are essential workers. I think staff who work in schools are essential workers.
But that doesn't mean that they have been given what they need to do their job safely. As a pediatrician and a parent, I know that children need to be in school and they need to be there learning. There's so many reasons that they need to be there, not just education, but socialization, nutrition, health. There's all kinds of reasons.
But we haven't seen the dollars come from the federal government to ensure that schools across the nation have what they need to make sure that students are safe, that staff are safe, and that teachers are safe.
And while most children, thankfully, will do well with this, we know that there are a lot of teachers, there's a lot of staff who have medical conditions or they're of ages that put them at greater risk.
[18:10:07]
BLITZER: And let's not forget, as I always want to remind everyone, that even if these kids, whether in kindergarten or fifth grade or eighth grade or in high school or whatever, even if they come down with coronavirus and are completely asymptomatic, Dr. Besser, they can still transmit this virus to their friends and family and others as well, including the teachers.
BESSER: That's right.
It's so important that schools have systems in place, that they're working with public health. Any community where there's still ongoing transmission at a significant level will not be able to open safely.
Schools in lower-income neighborhoods, schools that serve black and brown children have been underinvested in for decades, for generations. They don't have the resources in place. And so these dollars should still come. A threat that schools won't get dollars if children aren't there in person is a total mistake.
The dollars need to come to ensure that everyone who's learning from home has computers, has broadband, has access to try and reduce some of the disparities we're going to see on the education side.
BLITZER: And even if these young students are completely asymptomatic, correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Besser, we don't know what the long-term impact of coronavirus potentially could be on these kids.
BESSER: That's right.
I mean, you have to balance the risk from disease from the benefit of being in school. And there are communities in this country where the level of disease transmission is low enough that I think the benefit is in favor of children being in school, but only if the schools have been able to do those things, in terms of decreasing the number of children in classrooms, hire staff so that you can do screening, hire staff so that you can disinfect your classrooms, put up barriers so that staff and teachers can be as safe as possible.
Those are the things that need to be in place, but then only in places where transmission is very low.
BLITZER: We learned today that a Yale university professor issued a rather stark warning in an e-mail to returning students, saying, in her words -- let me quote -- "We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections and possibly deaths in our community."
She goes on to say, students' decisions will have life-or-death consequences. These are obviously very powerful words up, one every student needs to hear right now, I think you agree.
BESSER: Well, as you were saying, across America, 1,000 people are dying every day.
And as schools reopen, as children go back into the classroom, as young adults go to university campuses, there will be people who get infected and, unfortunately, there will be people who die. It's not that people wouldn't die if they weren't going back to school, because this pandemic is still widespread.
But we have to recognize, we have to be ready to deal with the fact that there will be people who die on campuses as people come back.
BLITZER: So what's your recommendation, Dr. Besser, at the college campuses, universities around the country right now that they're supposed to -- the kids are supposed to -- the students are supposed to be coming back?
BESSER: It's not a one-size-fits-all.
So there are college campuses that are in states where there's not a lot of transmission that are in isolated, semi-isolated areas, where you may be able to pull this off.
But we also have to enlist young people. If you look at young people across the country leading movements for social justice, for racial justice, to combat climate change, and then you see a lot of young people on campuses going to crowded parties, we need to find a way to enlist the power of young people and what they can do if they get on board with trying to put their efforts toward preventing spread on campuses, which then would prevent spread within the communities in which they're living.
BLITZER: Always important to hear what you have to say, Dr. Besser. Thank you so much for joining us.
BESSER: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Just ahead, I will speak with the Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot, about all the late-breaking developments, including President Trump's latest attacks on her city.
There you see the mayor. We will discuss when we come back.
Also, more on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. We're getting new information, new details.
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:18:43]
BLITZER: So, we're just a few hours away from Joe Biden accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.
Let's discuss this and more with the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot.
Mayor Lightfoot, thanks so much for joining us.
What are you hoping to hear tonight from Joe Biden in his acceptance speech?
LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Well, I think he's got to do a couple of things.
Number one, he's got to set the tone for how we unify the country. There's so much division, so much frustration and anger. And I think the one thing that Joe Biden brings to this campaign is the ability to be a real unifier and draw a very, very sharp contrast between himself and President Donald Trump.
I think he's also got to give people the ability to hope. Hope is in short supply these days. And I think that's what people really desperately need. I think the moments of this convention that have resonated most have been those voices from ordinary Americans who are talking about what their aspirations are.
I think he's got to meet that need, that desire for hope. And I'm confident that he will. And then he's also got to reintroduce himself to folks, not just as Obama's vice president, but a man who's dedicated his life to public service.
You see some of those testimonials over the course of this week, but I think he's really going to drive it home and explain to people the kind of person he is, the kind of man that he is, the kind of father, the empathy.
[18:20:10]
All of that has got to come through tonight. And I think he will do it.
BLITZER: Yes. That's so important to reintroduce himself to a lot of potential voters out there.
We heard last night from President Barack Obama, I think like we have never really heard him before, a truly scathing critique of the Trump presidency.
Would you like to see a similar acute attack tonight on President Trump from the vice president -- the former vice president?
LIGHTFOOT: No, I think that's what you leave your surrogates to do.
I think he's got to be the one that is inspiring people along the ways that I just talked about. I don't think he needs to level a searing attack against President Trump. I think he's got to tell -- draw the contrast.
And I think the body of evidence of why Trump should be one term and done, one and done, is out there and available. There's plenty of surrogates that can do that work. That's why you have a vice presidential nominee.
And I think both Michelle Obama, in her incredibly, incredibly powerful and impactful speech, and the former president last night really laid the foundation for that, along with a number of others.
BLITZER: Today, yet another White House official, Mayor, refused to say whether President Trump would accept the results of the presidential election if he loses.
How concerning is that to you?
LIGHTFOOT: Well, I mean, I think this is part of the game plan to create chaos and worry.
He's going to accept the results. He's going to lose on Election Day. We're going to turn a page from this dark chapter, and he will accept the results. He has no choice.
BLITZER: In his pitch to voters today, the president -- he was in Pennsylvania, in Scranton -- he said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of -- quote -- and still quoting him -- "bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago."
So how do you respond to that?
LIGHTFOOT: I don't respond to that. I mean, that's just ridiculous, hyperbolic rhetoric, that he is in a race to the bottom.
And we're going to see that every day between now and November 3. He's trying to scare white middle-class voters and trying to borrow, and really clumsily so, from the 1968 Richard Nixon playbook.
It's a different world. And what we have here is a fundamentally failed leadership on every major issue. Why are we meeting remotely? Why are schools not opening? Why are businesses suffering? Why are we seeing a catastrophic economic decline?
That all leads back to Donald Trump's incompetence as a president of the United States.
BLITZER: Yes, let's not forget that, just last week alone, another 1.1 million Americans officially filed for unemployment, first-time unemployment opportunities.
Another 1-point -- I think more than 50 million have applied over these past few months, and many of them have gone back to their jobs. A lot of them have just simply given up on trying to find jobs. This is a disturbing part of this whole development as well.
Mayor Lightfoot, good luck in Chicago. Thanks very much for joining us.
LIGHTFOOT: Thanks, Wolf. Always a pleasure.
BLITZER: Thank you.
Just ahead, we're going to bring you a preview of the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention.
And there's more breaking news we're following. The former Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon has just entered a plea in federal court, after prosecutors charged him with felony fraud.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:28:25]
BLITZER: We're counting down to the fourth and final night of a truly historic Democratic National Convention.
Joe Biden is set to formally accept his party's nomination and officially kick off the general election.
Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
I understand, Jeff, you're learning more, you're getting some new information. What can you tell us?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there's no doubt Joe Biden has delivered presidential announcement speeches and concession speeches, but he has never delivered the type of speech he will deliver here tonight at the Chase Center in his hometown of Wilmington.
That is an acceptance speech for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Now, this really puts an exclamation point on what was a very uncertain primary throughout the last year or so, and certainly an uncertain campaign with the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, President Trump may be at the center of this campaign, as he's been trying to show us every day, but I am told by Mr. Biden's advisers he will not be at the center of the show tonight. That's because the speech tonight and the entire programming is all about Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (voice-over): It's Joe Biden's night, as he formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination. At the apex of a half-century in politics, he becomes the party's standard-bearer for the first time, and now owns the burden of trying to defeat a sitting president.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm running to offer our country, Democrats, Republicans and independents, a different path.
ZELENY: For the last year, a promise to restore the soul of the nation has been the anthem of his candidacy.
BIDEN: We choose hope over fear, truth over lies, and, yes, unity over division!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ZELENY: And it will be a theme of his address tonight, aides tell CNN, but with a message focused on the future with the spirit of resilience to lift up a country in crisis.
[18:30:08]
Tonight, former rivals, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and Michael Bloomberg all stepping up to help Biden prosecute his case against President Trump.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I know a predator when I see one.
ZELENY: On Wednesday night, California Senator Kamala Harris accepted the party's vice-presidential nomination, presenting herself to the country as a history-making agent of change.
HARRIS: Donald Trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods.
And let's be clear, there is no vaccine for racism. We have got to do the work.
ZELENY: Hillary Clinton offered a warning to Democrats and other voters that only she can give.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And don't forget, Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose. Take it from me.
ZELENY: Our democracy, yet the words of former President Barack Obama perhaps carrying the most weight, delivering a remarkable rebuke of his successor.
OBAMADonald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't.
ZELENY: And a call to action that the nation's democracy is on the line.
OBAMA: This president and those in power, those who benefit from keeping things the way they are, they are counting on your cynicism. That is how they win.
ZELENY: Tonight, Biden effectively becomes the leader of the Democratic Party. It's a role that even he says is temporary.
BIDENI view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.
ZELENY: His place in American history is still unfolding but he is that bridge. From the Obama/Biden coalition to the Biden/Harris coalition, which he hopes will lead him to the Oval Office to become the 46th president of the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, Joe Biden has gone inside the Chase Center here twice today to do a walk through to see what it's going to be like to give a very unconventional convention without an audience or without applause.
But, Wolf, I can tell you this, there may not be an audience inside. This parking lot you see behind me here, it's essentially going to become a drive-in movie theater. People are coming in now. They're encouraged to stay in their cars, but they'll be watching the events unfold tonight from a movie screen. So that's about as good as you can do in the hometown here in Wilmington, Delaware, in a convention during a pandemic. Wolf?
BLITZERThink about those drive-ins when I was a young kid growing up in Buffalo, we used to go to the drive-in. It's making a comeback now. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very, very much.
ZELENY: A political version of it, exactly.
BLITZER: Yes, certainly.
All right, we're just getting this into CNN. We're getting a preview of a biographical video that will play right before Joe Biden delivers his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president. I want to discuss with our Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, and our Political Correspondent, Abby Phillip.
Gloria, let's watch a little bit of this video that will introduce Biden to the country tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the first time, Joe saw the heavy burden on a father and it was a lesson he would never forget.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A job is a lot more than a paycheck. It's about dignity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The country was losing tens of thousands of jobs a day and they needed three votes to pass the economic rescue package.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden has handled the task of going to get those three Republican votes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe returned to the place where he had been so effective.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Passionate argument, sympathetic listening, a willingness to make adjustments and accommodations to bring people on board.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the law finally passed, the president tapped his partner to run the program. Joe tracked every dollar calling mayors and governors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talking to them on the phone one-on-one. He gave all of them his cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I watched him bring his heart to that job. It matters that you have in your mind the family that you're trying to reach, the neighborhood that you're trying to reach, the people whose lives are affected by what you do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Gloria, you have a powerful CNN documentary coming up soon on Joe Biden, his personal life in so many ways, as we've now all seen has been truly front and center all this week.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, and they're going to highlight the Recovery Act, of course, because he was in charge of implementing it. I mean, around the White House, they used to call him the sheriff because he was keeping track of the
money and he was calling the mayors and he was calling the county council folks to say, how are you spending this money and are we spending it appropriately?
But the larger picture here is they're going to tie his experiences in life and in government, like that one, to his values.
[18:35:01]
And then they're going to try and let you know how that will transform into a working agenda as president of the United States.
So I think what we're going to hear tonight, we're going to see a lot of these videos talking about his life and his values as a public servant and also as a parent when they do the video of Beau, but then he's going to have to talk about what that means or how he will lead the nation going forward.
BLITZER: You know what, Abby, so what do you make of that message linking Biden's personal skills with the ability to get things done with Congress?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a coda for this week that has been on the other end of things about President Trump's unwillingness to do the job, inability to do the job, lack of work ethic, frankly, is what a lot of the speakers have been talking about, and that they're going to be contrasting that with the message tonight, which is all about Joe Biden as the sort of doer in the White House. It is a little bit of a tricky message because I think that the Recovery Act is something that the Obama folks -- Obama era is very proud of, but it's going to be very easy for Republicans to say, well, you know, that -- the argument for Trump, frankly, is that he believes that that economic recovery was a recovery but it was too slow.
So it is a little bit of a double-edged sword. But for Biden, the message is about why all of this talk about working with Republicans and getting all of these Republican endorsements matter and for those three votes that they talked about in that video in terms of getting things done in Congress, the question, as Gloria said, is how is he going to put that into motion for the future, for his own administration that he wants to have?
BLITZER: That's a good question.
You know, Biden, Gloria, isn't expected, we're told, to make President Trump the main focus of his acceptance speech later tonight. How important is it for him to lay out a specific vision of a Biden presidency and avoid, really, attacking the current president of the United States?
BORGER: Well, you know, he may not say Donald -- he may not do it the way Barack Obama did it. Others have done it for him. And so he doesn't have to come out and say, Donald Trump is this, this, and this because that case the Democrats have made and they've made it over the past three days. I do think he will compare his skill and his experience in public service and his ability to try and work across party lines, and that may be overstated, by the way.
We live in a very different world right now than the world that Joe Biden lived in when he was in the Senate or even when he was vice president, but I think he's going to -- you know, he's going to make that case. It's going to be an implicit comparison but he is also going to have to show how he would lead and where he would lead the country.
And so we heard the message on climate change last night. We heard the message on immigration, but it has to come from him and he has to convince Americans that, in fact, he would be the president of all Americans, not just the base of the Democratic Party.
BLITZER: What sort of balance, Abby, do you think he needs to strike tonight?
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, what's been interesting in this convention is seeing how relentlessly in the middle the Biden campaign wants to remain. They ran this entire Democratic primary trying not to go too far left and getting really criticized by the Democratic left over that. And I think that the convention this week is also in that vein because they do believe that is where the country is. It is also is a sign that they believe that that's where the Democratic Party is. So I think you're going to see much more of this sort of centrist message coming from Joe Biden tonight.
BLITZER: Okay. Guys, you'll be with us throughout the night as well so don't go too far away.
Just ahead, my conversation with one of Joe Biden's closest friends, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who will introduce the presidential nominee tonight for this truly historic event. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
BLITZER: More now in the felony fraud charges against the former Trump senior adviser, Steve Bannon, his not guilty plea late today in federal court. Joining us to discuss, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, CNN's Senior Legal Analyst, Preet Bharara. He is also the host of the new and very important podcast, Stay Tuned with Preet. Preety, thanks so much for joining us.
So he was a chief strategist for the president of the United States, at least for a time, now arrested off a private yacht in Connecticut for fraud. We've got some new video that's just been made available to us showing him leaving the federal court house in New York. You used to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, you're familiar with this whole area. You see him there as he's walking out. He's smiling. We're told he was released on $5 million bail. How serious do you think, Preet, are these charges?
PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Very. I mean, any time the federal government, through the Justice Department, brings a felony charge against you, it's a big deal. It's a serious matter and not to be taken lightly. In addition, when you read the charges in this case, it goes with the indictment, you see how strong the evidence is, you see how much it's based on documents, how much it's based on text messages and then you see what the potential exposure is. One count on conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the total maximum charge is a total of 40 years.
[18:45:05]
So it's quite serious.
BLITZER: Are you surprised he got out on $5 million bond?
BHARARA: No. I mean, I did look all the documents and papers and see the arguments, but, you know, someone like this, you tend not to think is a flight risk. He's got a connection to the United States. He's got reason to want to clear his name or tried to help himself in some way or another, whether by cooperating or otherwise. It's a substantial bail package, but, you know, in a case like this typically, you would seek detention.
BLITZER: The Southern District of New York, which you obviously know well, you used to lead it for quite awhile, part of the president's own Department of Justice at the same time. So, that made this arrest not by the Manhattan district attorney, but by the federal government, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York reports, what, to the Justice Department here in Washington. So, this is clearly a big deal. Would the U.S. attorney for the
Southern District have to get approval to do this from the attorney general, Bill Barr?
BHARARA: Well, that's an interesting question. One is the question, would they need to seek it. And second, did they give the heads up?
Bill Barr himself credited him and said he was briefed on the case in the last few months. So, he's been aware of it. I will tell you, frankly, if this case arose just now, given the degree to which Bill Barr seems to have been meddling, it's -- other than the fact that Steve Bannon was formally associate with the president of the United States, it is a garden-variety charity fraud relating to money laundering and wire fraud.
And, you know, on cases like that, there's no regulation or rule that I'm aware of that requires notification or approval from the attorney general. Cases are brought like this all the time.
That said, it sounds like there was, some months ago, a briefing of the attorney general, which means that the attorney general who we know from other cases understands how to interfere and how to meddle, did not do so in this case. So, I guess, implicitly, it has the imprimatur and blessing of Bill Barr, even though you have some like Steve Bannon in the caption.
BLITZER: Preet Bharara, as usual, thanks so much. We always rely on your expertise in these kinds of matters. We'll continue this conversation, of course, down the road. Thanks so much for joining us.
BHARARA: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Just ahead, I'll speak live with Senator Chris Coons of Delaware who will actually introduce Joe Biden in just a few hours as he accepts the Democratic presidential nomination. There you see Chris Coons. He'll discuss with me, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:52:12]
BLITZER: And we're just a few hours away now from Joe Biden accepting the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
Joining us now the person who will introduce the former vice president later tonight, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.
Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us.
From what I understand, your speech will focus in at least in part on faith. Faith is obviously a large part of the Biden's lives, he and his wife Jill Biden practicing Catholics. So, what will your message be tonight? You're going to have a huge audience out there.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Wolf, that's right. Thanks for a chance to be on with you. I am excited. This has been a great convention, a great week. And I'm
blessed to have an opportunity tonight to introduce Americans to this side of Joe Biden, to someone I've known and watched and followed for 30 years.
I've seen how in moments of joy and of triumph he's turned to prayer, and I've seen how in moments of great loss and deep suffering, he's turned to God for strength, for solace, and for the ability to get up and go -- go on with his life after a loss that defined his early time in the Senate and after the loss recently of his beloved son five years ago.
I think that's important, Wolf, because tens of millions of Americans right now are going through very hard times. More than a million people filed for unemployment last week. We've had 170,000 Americans die in this pandemic, often alone. And so many of us are anxious or concerned about our children going back to school or college, about our parents or -- friends or family possibly be sickened whether in senior centers or in their homes.
So, Joe's compassion, Joe's positive and optimistic view and his empathy is important for us getting through this. And I want us to have the chance tonight to help people see how that's rooted in his faith.
BLITZER: Not long ago, as you know, Senator, President Trump claimed that Vice President Biden wants to, quote, hurt God, his quote is hurt God. Do you expect faith to play an increasingly prominent role in the campaign over the next two months?
COONS: Well, Wolf, one of the things I'll say tonight is I think bears repeating is that for too long, Democrats have been retiring, shy, quiet about our faith and about the ways in which our faith inspires us to act. That's certainly true with Joe Biden.
I think it's important that we see the original founding sin of our nation, slavery and racial justice as equally faith issues in this election as the social issues that, since the '80s, have been defined as the religious issues in an election.
So, whether or not we have a just and human immigration policy, whether or not we are good stewards of creation and confront climate change, whether or not we treat each other as children of God, these to me are all important issues in the election.
[18:55:08]
And they should be understand -- understood as issues that for Americans motivated by faith should implicate their decisions at the voting booth in November.
BLITZER: Senator, thanks so much for joining us. We'll look forward to your remarks later tonight. Appreciate it very much.
COONS: Thank you, Wolf. BLITZER: This programming note, join me once again 8:00 p.m. Eastern,
an hour from now, for CNN's special coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
And we'll have much more of our special coverage. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
_
