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Trump Says, Deep State At The FDA Deliberately Slowing Vaccine Work; Texas Woman Nearly Loses All Family Members And Her Job; Trump Falsely Claims Democrats Dropped God From Pledge Of Allegiance At DNC; Trump In Overdrive To Produce A Blockbuster RNC That Outshines Dems; Steve Bannon Charged With Fraud In Border Wall Fundraising Campaign. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 22, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

Right now, a simply stunning accusation from the president of the United States, I quickly want to go to the White House. Jeremy Diamond is on the scene for us. The president, Jeremy, as you know, making a very serious accusation against one of his own key government agencies today with no evidence to back it up at all, as some senior congressional leaders are calling it scary and dangerous. Tell our viewers what's going on.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. It is a very serious and completely baseless accusation from the president here that he's leveling at the Food and Drug Administration and its leader, Dr. Stephen Hahn.

Here is the president's tweet, Wolf, he says the deep state, or whoever over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. We must focus on speed and saving lives. And you see there he tags the FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.

Now, there's not only no evidence to back up what the president is saying here, but any political motivations in delaying this. But there's no evidence that there is any attempt at all with the FDA to delay things. In fact, the president in the past has praised the FDA for quickly moving to approved important therapeutics and other things needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The only person who has talked here about anything happening before November 3rd, particularly as it relates to vaccine is the president of the United States himself, who recently suggested that there might be a vaccine ready as early as November 3rd, Election Day.

Of course no health expert has actually said that themselves. Instead, public health experts have suggested that a vaccine likely won't be ready until the end of the year or early next year. They are right now in the midst of those very critical phase three trials that simply cannot be sped up for safely and efficacy purposes, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Certainly if it's extraordinary that the president is actually accusing a deep state, supposed a deep state of the FDA of trying to undermine an opportunity to get a therapeutic or a vaccine to prevent the death of thousands, tens of thousands of Americans for political purposes, because the deep state supposedly wants the president not to be re-elected.

He also, the president, tweeted something else today that was not just fuzzy and its accuracy, it was completely not true. Tell us about that.

DIAMOND: That's right, Wolf. Another baseless claim from the president, this time, he is claiming that Democrats purposefully took out the words under God during the Pledge of Allegiance during the Democratic National Committee.

The president saying that I thought they made a mistake but wasn't, it was done on purpose which is, frankly, just blatantly false. Listen for yourself, Wolf, you can hear the Pledge of Allegiance went down at the Democratic National Committee last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: One nation under God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation under God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, what the president appeared to be referencing there, is something that's been circulating on right-wing media sites, which is that there were two individuals who were doing the Pledge of Allegiance during campus meetings earlier in the day, now during the prime time programming who omitted the words under God. It's not clear if they did so intentionally or not, Wolf. But either

way, certainly not a decision by the DNC, certainly not something that's part of the official Democratic programming last week. The president's claim here just doesn't hold any water, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we, of course, carry that the Democratic National Convention every night. We watch every minute of it unfold. And at the beginning, every night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they open with the Pledge of Allegiance.

And every night, the words under God were definitely included at two caucus meetings that were in televised earlier in the day, they weren't included, but every night in primetime, they certainly were included. Jeremy, thank you very, very much for that.

As of this week dozens of prominent Republicans, including former national security officials and congressmen and even a former senior Trump administration official have publicly endorsed Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. And starting on Monday, the GOP will have a chance to respond to the defections when the Republican National Convention begins.

Let's discuss this and more, the former Trump Primary challenger, the former South Carolina Governor and Congressman, Mark Sanford, is joining us right now. Governor, thank you so much for joining us.

The Democratic Party, as you saw this week, they're presenting itself as a so-called big tent party with room for all types of voters, part of the details highlighting Republicans, prominent Republicans supporting Joe Biden.

[20:05:07]

Will that pitch, do you believe, be effective?

MARK SANFORD (R), FORMER 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know. A lot of folks have decided, certainly, where they are but could fight in any political context which is for independence, in the middle and there's an eternity, if you will, in political terms between here and the beginning of November. So I think it will have some effect on the margin. And I think, that you know, the next 60 days, again, or a long way to go, I think you'll see other high level Republican defections, if you want to call it that, toward Biden and his candidacy. We'll see what unfolds.

BLITZER: Earlier this summer, you indicated you're still leaning toward voting for President Trump. As of today, is he going to get your vote?

SANFORD: He won't get my vote. And I just -- there's -- I guess there's a half-life to crazy. And this has been one topsy-turvy administration with a lot of what's gone on and a lot of the tone that has been talked about, whether with the Democratic Convention over the last week or over the last couple of years. And so he won't be getting my vote. Where I'm going to cast, I don't yet know.

BLITZER: Do you think you'll vote for Biden?

SANFORD: Well, you're turning around and asking the same question twice, which is the mark of a great reporter. Again, I don't know where I'm going to cast my vote. Time will tell. It will be difficult for me. I've been involved with Republican Party politics for 26 years. I believe in the ideals of the Republican Party. And, therefore, to which is very difficult base on the platform, if you will, of the Democratic Party, and somewhat of what it stands for.

But what I'm struggling with and I think with a lot of Republicans are struggling these days is what exactly does the Republican Party stands for as there has been something of a giant lurch from the so-called Reagan revolution and the revolution of 1994.

I was part of with the class of 1994 going into the United States Congress. There's been a real lurch philosophically from where the party was then to where the party is right now under Trump. And a lot of us, therefore, searching in terms of what we might do politically on that front.

BLITZER: In the next hour, I spoke with the Trump Campaign's Communications Director, Tim Murtaugh. He said some well known prominent Democrats will actually be at the Republican Convention next week. He didn't say who, but do you believe we'll see that?

SANFORD: I'll believe that when I see it. On both sides, it's very difficult if one is engage in the real life process, of one is been long vested in the political process to change stripes based on the affiliation, based on people that want and he's got an over lifetime in politics and based on most of all the ideas and ideals that a party stands for or should stand for. And so, again, I'll believe that one when I see it.

BLITZER: He said that he couldn't say whether former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, will be at the Republican Convention, even though former Democratic Presidents Carter, you know Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, they were all at the Democratic Convention. Do you expect to see Bush and Cheney at the Republican Convention?

SANFORD: I would be surprised. That would be my take.

BLITZER: Why is that?

SANFORD: Although, you know, the former vice president's daughter, Liz Cheney is deeply involved, honestly, in Republican Party politics and maybe at a deference for his daughter, he might be there. But absent that, I would be very surprised because, again, based on tenor alone, rather than that sort of big tent that Reagan talked about, rather than being a happy warrior.

As Reagan talked, it's become something of a blood contest or a blood sport with Trump, wherein unlike Reagan who could sit down with tip or kneel, who he disagreed with philosophically with a whole host of terms, but at the end of the day, they would have a drink and say, well, we disagree, I'm not going to be disagreeable and I'm going to look for common ground.

And this president was certainly elected to shake things up in Washington. But he's taking that into a level that I think he's dangerous in terms of a Republican, our ability to interface politically as Republicans and Democrats.

BLITZER: Yes. He and the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi haven't spoken in months and months.

Let's talk about the coronavirus while I have you. The CDC's latest projections, Governor, forecast nearly 195,000 Americans dead from coronavirus by September 12th, just a few weeks. Right now, more than 175,000 Americans are dead.

So in a home stretch of this campaign, 75 plus days, we will be near, what, 200,000 Americans, truly an unthinkable number during this pandemic, a lot higher than so many of the other developing -- developed nations, I should say. How is this going to affect the campaign?

[20:10:00]

SANFORD: Bad news is bad news. And I can't remember if it was Truman or exactly who it was. I think it was Truman that said the buck stops here. And so presidents disproportionately get the credit when the economy is going great and they disproportionately get the blame when it goes longer, much larger forces at play than what the president does or doesn't do on either of those fronts.

And the same holds true with the pandemic, not of one's making, not of one's choosing but the ground is here and you have to react to it. And, ultimately, you're held accountable as a chief executive, whether it's the governor in a state or president in a country.

And so, I don't think it accrues to his political benefit. I think it's part of the reason you've seen he's erosion in terms to polling, when you go back to the beginning of the year versus where we are right now. And I think that will be exacerbated as you begin to see more and more unrest with regard to the economy.

The Fed and fiscal policy is certainly doing everything that they can in terms of trying to correct it and throw money at the problem. But you see more and more cracks and fishers when I talk to small business, people down here in Charleston, in ways that there struggling and ways that friends of theirs in other states around the country are struggling as well.

BLITZER: Mark Sanford, former Governor of South Carolina. Thank you so much for joining us.

SANFORD: My pleasure. Take care.

BLITZER: Thank you, be safe out there.

Before President Trump and Vice President Pence made their bid four years ago -- they made their bid four years ago, they were elected, now they're going to try to get re-elected. Please join Anderson Cooper with your guide to four unconventional days coming up. The Anderson Cooper 360 RNC preview live tomorrow, 8:00 P.M. Eastern right after our special edition of the Situation Room. That's tomorrow.

Coming up, in a new interview, Joe Biden says he'd be open to shutting down the U.S. to stop the coronavirus if that's what the medical and scientific experts suggested. So is that the only option left? We'll discuss that and more when we come back.

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[20:15:00]

BLITZER: As the coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States right now, small rural communities are being increasingly impacted now, while one woman in a small Texas town is facing the possibility of losing nearly all of her closes family members to this deadly virus.

CNN, Ed Lavandera has more and how the pandemic has affected one Texas family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mama, give him a kiss.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Vearline Rougely, celebrated her 80th birthday with her husband Raymond in March, their family could not sense the storm sweeping into the isolated world behind the tiny wood curtain of east Texas.

They live near Carthage, place that calls itself the best small town in Texas. If the coronavirus could find them way out here, it can find anyone. And that's what happened in mid April.

SHENNA ROUGELY, FAMILY AFFECTED BY COVID-19: I was in a state of shock.

LAVANDERA: The Rougely's daughter, Shenna, says the virus inflicted vicious pain on her parents and sister. She learned they were all infected on the same day.

S. ROUGELY: I was just thinking what am I going to do if I lost my mom, my dad, and my sister all at the same time. I just -- I pray and I said, God, please, do not do this. It was the worst day of my entire life.

LAVANDERA: 84-year-old Raymond and Vearline ended up in the same hospital fighting for their lives. Vearline was put on a ventilator. Sheena could only talk to her father in nurse assisted video chats.

S. ROUGELY: Dad, I need you to hang in there, okay. Dad, I love you, okay.

RAYMOND ROUGELY, COVID-19 PATIENT: I'm doing my best I can.

S. ROUGELY: I don't want you to give up, okay. I know you thinking about giving up, and I know you're tired.

LAVANDERA: But the virus was too much.

S. ROUGELY: And I don't want you to cry or anything like that. But guess what, I'm going to see you soon.

LAVANDERA: Raymond Rougely died just a month after getting sick. This was one of the last conversations Sheena had with her father.

S. ROUGELY: All right, I love you Dad, I love you so much. I'm so thankful you're my dad. I thank you for everything, okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Shenna, don't cry, honey. It's okay.

LAVANDERA: In the midst of all this, Shenna was also laid off from the airline job she had had for 18 years.

S. ROUGELY: I didn't want to lose my family, you know, my sister got better. I said, God, whatever you do, please I can't handle losing both parents.

LAVANDERA: Her sister was starting to recover but Vearline was struggling.

Then in mid-June, after some 60 days on a ventilator, Vearline emerged alive, shocking her family and their doctor.

S. ROUGELY: He looked at me dead in my eyes and said, 80-year-old people do not survive this. And he looked at my mom in awe. The doctor said she kicked COVID's booty.

LAVANDERA: I've never met Wonder Woman before. I'm very excited to do this.

VEARLINE ROUGELY, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I tell you few months ago, I didn't feel like no Wonder Woman.

LAVANDERA: You absolutely are.

You spend some 60 days on a ventilator fighting for your life, and here you are.

V. ROUGELY: I didn't know it. I didn't know that. I didn't know I was in the world. I didn't know nothing, until I started coming around, come to -- come to myself.

LAVANDERA: At the end of July, Vearline, returned home. Friends and family organized a welcome home car parade. The next day, her children broke the news that Raymond Rougely wasn't coming home.

I imagine your miss your husband quite a bit.

V. ROUGELY: Oh, Lord, yes, do I. I just wish I saw his picture when he was, you know, like taking his last breath. I just wish I had been there just to whisper in his ear or hold his hand.

LAVANDERA: Vearline Rougely says the COVID pandemic struck his family like a tornado falling from the sky.

[20:20:03]

They weathered the storm but they'll never be the same.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Carthage, Texas.

BLITZER: What a story that as Ed, thank you very much.

Joining us now, Dr. Patrice Harris. She is the former President of the American Medical Association. Dr. Harris, thanks so much for joining us. And as you know there's increasing evidence, almost every week of racial and ethnic and minority groups are being disproportionately affected by this deadly coronavirus. How serious is this especially from minority groups in the rural areas of our country.

DR. PATRICE HARRIS, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Well, Wolf, as you know, this virus is relentless in its one mission, and that is to replicate by infecting as many people as it can and this virus knows no boundaries. I think, early on, clearly, we saw the impact of this virus in our denser cities in New York City.

But now, as the story that you just demonstrated shows that it can get to our rural areas. This virus knows no boundaries. It certainly does not respect states. It does not respect jurisdictions. And we also know, and we've known from the very beginning that communities of color are disproportionately impacted.

I've been talking to some of my colleagues and one study showed that African-Americans are three times more likely to know someone who has died from COVID-19. And so, we need to be relentless, just as relentless as this virus in giving the data, in working on therapeutics and moving forward with the vaccine that safe and effective. So we can do all that we can to limit the devastating consequences of this virus.

BLITZER: This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that the phase three clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines should aim to include minorities at levels that are at least double the representation in the overall population. Tell us why that's so important.

HARRIS: It is so important because, as we talk about the need for and encourage everyone to get the vaccine once the vaccine is developed, I think there will be a greater comfort level if we know that there was a diversity of race and ethnicity in age and gender in the clinical trials. We know, for so many reasons, we all know about the Tuskegee study, we all know about the story of Henrietta Lacks.

So there's no question that mistrust in the system is warranted. And as I have said many times that you have to earn trust, and so I know that many clinical investigators are working to earn that trust. It is a one foot in front of the other endeavor. But, clearly, and I do encourage everyone out there to ask questions and to get the information that they need and please participate in these clinical trials.

BLITZER: Dr. Harris, thank you so much. I know you going to be coming back later for more, but thanks so much for that. Stand by.

Also coming up, the president today, making a rather bizarre and false claim about the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention. His false claim and what actually happened, that's next.

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[20:25:00]

BLITZER: In the days leading up to the Republican National Convention, which starts on Monday, President Trump now spending his time sending out some rather bizarre tweets. Case in point, he tweeted this. Let me put it up on the screen.

The Democrats took the word God out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn't. It was done on purpose. Remember, Evangelical Christians, and all, this is where they are coming from. It's done, vote November 3.

CNN checked the video tape all four nights, the tweet is clearly false. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: One nation under God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One nation under God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So all four nights, Ron Brownstein, our Senior Political Analyst, they did open the primetime convention, and I was covering it for our viewers. We were watching every night, there was a Pledge of Allegiance every night, they said the words under God. There were two caucuses early in the day, weren't televised, small little caucuses where the individual doing the Pledge of Allegiance didn't say the words under God. But why would the president tweet about something like this that could be so easily disproven?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, it is, at once, absurd and extremely revealing, absurd in the sense that, as you point out, he often lies about things that can be easily disproved. But it is extremely revealing because it shows how his instinct is always go to the culture war and to try to foment culture war, culture war with a very specific sort though, Wolf, culture war that leaves him trying to mobilize bigger margin among groups that are minority, the population.

we talk about Evangelical Christians in the tweet. They are very strong group for him. He won 80 percent in 2016, the polling. He's going to win 80 percent of them in 2020.

[20:30:04]

But they're down to 15 percent of the population, down even from 17 percent as recently as 2016. And if you look at the kind of the other side of the ledger, Americans who don't identify with any religious tradition, they're up to about a quarter of the country.

And while the evangelical Christians still add vote them as a share of the electorate, the larger truth is that the President, on all of these fronts, is in a position of trying to squeeze bigger margins and a shrinking groups at the expense of alienating the groups that are

BLITZER: Your latest article, which is truly excellent, a lot of great information in the Atlantic is entitled, The Democratic Convention is a Reality Check for Trump. Tell us why. What were the main points of your article?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, yes, it's basically this. You know, if you look at the, you know -- I believe the fundamental dividing line in American politics for the last decade, at least, has been in between a democratic coalition that largely welcomes the way America is changing demographically, culturally, and economically.

And a Republican coalition that mobilizes the voters who are the most unhappy with the way America is changing demographically, economically and culturally, and Trump has enormously accelerated that.

I mean, he has made the Republican Party much more dependent on white evangelicals, non-college whites and rural whites. And, you know, he is very strong and all of those groups and, in fact, his strength is growing again, among the non-college whites in a way, I think, Democrats have to keep an eye on.

But the reality is all of those groups are shrinking as a share of the electorate. I mean, non-college whites were a majority of the voters the last time Republicans won the popular vote in 2004. They were down to 42 percent in 2016, they're probably be 40 percent in 2020. So across the board, Trump is trying to win by maximizing his margins among groups that are shrinking, and is there a pathway to make that work possibly again through the Rust Belt where those groups are overrepresented, but in the long run, is there any business in the world that would build its business model on trying to dominate markets that are shrinking while writing off the markets that are growing?

BLITZER: The President said in a recent interview that the Republican National Convention is going to be, in his words, very positive and uplifting. But at a time when more than, what, five million Americans have been affected with coronavirus, more than 176,000 have died and thousands more are going to be dying in the coming weeks and months, do you think that's really possible?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, the President's situation is that he cannot make this race more competitive without improving people's verdict on his performance, particularly on the coronavirus. I mean, Joe Biden has been ahead by eight, 10, 11 points in national polling, even though in many of those polls, his favorability is net negative, particularly among people under 50 or it's quite net negative, and he leads Trump by enormous margins, nonetheless.

And I think that Trump's instinct, you know, as kind of a marketer is always to from the beginning of the coronavirus has been to trying to project and normalcy as much as possible.

And yet that compounds his problem because I think very clearly in polling for months, Americans have felt that he's not listening to experts, that he's more worried about his own situation and about the country's and having a convention in which there may be minimal social distancing, people without masks and an upbeat portrayal at a time when we're, you know, closing in on probably 200,000 Americans dead by the time of the first debate on September 29th. I think while what may be what his base wants to hear, does not reach beyond that.

BLITZER: The President's base, clearly, and I think you agree with me, is going to stick with him. But will that be enough for him to win the election?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, no. I mean, look, is it -- is it possible that he could find a way to maximize turnout enough on his core groups, particularly of non-college and rural whites, to squeeze out an electoral college victory, even while losing the popular vote? Sure, but to get in the position to do that, to be in the position to maybe hold the line at Wisconsin, Arizona, and Florida, he's got to pick up about three or four or maybe even five points. And that is not easy.

Again, I don't think there is any way for him to get this closer, unless people have a more positive verdict about his stewardship of the country, maybe events will cooperate. But he is -- it is just as likely that many of the institutions that he is pressuring to open. I mean, we are seeing a clear line of pressure from the president to Republican governors, to public universities and red states to open. If those places are closing again in mid-September or early October, this could go further south on the president.

But the key, Wolf, is improving the perceptions of his performance. I think there's only so far you can go by raising questions about Biden. And this is a president who has never reached 50 percent of the approval at any point in his presidency. The only president we can say that about.

BLITZER: Yes. The key question, of course, is that you're better off today than you were four years ago. That's going to be impacting a lot of voters out there.

Ron Brownstein, your article in The Atlantic, excellent. I highly recommend people go there and read it. Thanks so much for joining us.

[20:35:00]

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Coming up, the President's former top adviser is now facing criminal charges of fraud in connection with a border wall fundraising campaign. We're going to take a closer look at the case when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: President Trump's former senior adviser, Steve Bannon, is fighting back after he and three others were charged with fraud over funds raised for a border wall. Bannon is calling the allegations against him a political hit job. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Look, I am not going to back down. This is a political hit job. Everybody knows I love a fight. This was to stop and intimidate people that want to talk about the wall. This is to stop and intimidate people that have President Trump's back on building the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Bannon is now out on bail, $5 million bail after pleading not guilty. The funds in question were part of a campaign called We Build the Wall. That fund raised about $25 million, promising 100 percent of all that money would go to the construction of a wall on the southern border with Mexico.

[20:40:07]

Our chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is joining us right now, he's the author of the new and best-selling book, "True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The investigation of Donald Trump," there you see the cover.

Jeffrey, so tell us about these charges against Steve Bannon.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's really a straightforward fraud case. The four defendants, as the government alleges, made repeated representations to their contributors. We are going to use this money, 100 percent, to build this wall or support the wall.

And at the same time, they were secretly conspiring to put hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars, over a million dollars into their own pockets. That's a straightforward fraud. It has nothing to do with the nature of the charity or the cause. It's all about what representation you make and whether it's -- whether it's honest.

We'll see if they actually go to trial, but it is worth remembering that in federal court cases in the Southern District of New York, well, more than 90 percent of the people wind up either pleading guilty or being convicted.

BLITZER: Well, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York are filing the charges Bannon, as you just heard, calling it, in his words, a political hit job. What's your reaction to that?

TOOBIN: Well, it seems like the legal strategy here has nothing to do with persuading a jury of people in Manhattan, that he's not guilty but persuading Donald Trump, that he's worthy of a pardon, because he is trying to portray this case as an attack on the president, not on -- and using only these four defendants as surrogates.

And the President has shown that he's willing to use that absolute pardon power to grant a commutation to Roger Stone. And, you know, to Sheriff Arpaio, you know, he uses the pardon power to help his political supporters. And Bannon seems like that's probably his best shot. And frankly, it may be.

BLITZER: But the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is part of the Justice Department, they report to the Attorney General Bill Barr, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And, you know, that -- it doesn't mean, you know, just because Bannon says it's a political hit job, just because Bannon is trying to make this into a political case, doesn't mean it is and in fact, I think there's very little likelihood that there is. As I said, this is just a straightforward fraud case. You tell people who are giving you money, we're using it for purpose A and you use it for purpose B, your personal enrichment.

There are cases like this in the federal courts, absolutely every day. It has nothing to do with what the cause is. But the President, you know, is protective of his people, he's angry at what he calls the deep state that and that and he's included the federal prosecutors in Manhattan in that description. So, Bannon is trying to rile up the president to get him off. And frankly, he probably has a better chance of that than with a jury in New York.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting during an event to raise money for the We Build the Wall cause. Steve Bannon appeared to joke alongside Brian Kolfage about the very thing he and Kolfage are now charged with. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the We Build the Wall wallet fund. Donate now online at www.webuildthewall.us. We need your support to fund our next wall projects and secure our border, because every mile matters. And now, here are your hosts Stephen K. Bannon and Brian Kolfage.

BANNON: Welcome back, this is Stephen K. Bannon, and we're off the coast of Saint-Tropez in Southern France in the Mediterranean. We're on the million-dollar yacht of Brian Kolfage. Brian Kolfage, he took all that money from Build the Wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So, Jeffrey, could prosecutors actually use that clip somehow in a legal prosecution? And if so, how?

TOOBIN: Absolutely, just planned for the jury. It's what's called an admission. It's a -- and now, you know, Bannon and his lawyers can dismiss it as a joke.

But, you know, what's so interesting about this case is, is it shows how many of the people around Trump seem to review Trump supporters as suckers, as marks. And, you know, there's news about the NRA, the National Rifle Association, very similar, where the leadership of the NRA use the money, the hard-earned money of contributors, you know, to fund their lavish lifestyles. Just like the accusations in this case.

[20:45:02]

And, you know, you just have to wonder at some point whether these people who are earnest in their belief in Second Amendment, in building the wall, realize they're just being used as dupes and dopes by the people who claim to represent their interest.

BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin's new book is entitled, once again, True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump. It's out right now. It's a New York Times bestseller already. Jeffrey, thanks as usual for joining us.

TOOBIN: All righty, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, the Gulf Coast readies now, for not just one, but two, tropical storms that could hit New Orleans, as hurricanes are within days of each other. We're going to have the latest forecast and more when we come back.

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[20:50:12]

BLITZER: There's breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now. Tropical storms Laura and Marco both heading toward the Gulf of Mexico putting Louisiana, right now, in a dangerous path.

Our meteorologist Chad Myers is joining us. Chad, we just got an update, I understand, on tropical storm Marco's track, what's the latest?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Still going to approach the U.S. Coast as a hurricane, maybe only 75 miles per hour. But, you know, when these things get in the Gulf, Wolf, they can explode rather quickly. This is something we're going to have to watch.

We'll start with Marco, even though it's the M storm, it's closest to the U.S. It's a 65-mile-per hour storm right now. It doesn't look very good. But we're going to watch this because it's going to get in very warm Gulf of Mexico water and make an approach to Louisiana, maybe Mississippi, maybe Texas, sometime early during the day on Monday.

Now, this is Laura, much bigger looking storm, not really as much wind, only 50 miles per hour, but it is going to travel over Hispaniola and Cuba, but a tremendous amount of rain on those mountains around those countries, and we are going to see flash flooding significant there across those two areas, 50-mile per hour winds because it's going to stay overland for a lot of the time, but then it gets into the Gulf, then it gets into the warm water and then it tries to make a run at the U.S.

Notice, the cone is bigger for Laura because it's still farther away from the U.S., so the cone gets wider with time. There is Marco's computer programs, there is Laura's computer programs, all coming up toward the Gulf Coast over the next few days.

Monday, and then on Wednesday, there you go. One and one. People ask me all the time, Wolf, is this going to affect -- is one effect the other? The only way is that if Marco cools the water up the Gulf.

We'll watch it very closely in New Orleans and a lot of other places are worried right now. Chad, thank you very much. We'll stay in close touch with you.

I want to bring back Dr. Patrice Harris. Dr. Harris, we're still in the middle of a worsening pandemic, so what safety precautions do people, along the Gulf Coast, over there, need to be taking right now, for example, if they need to evacuate and find shelter, I'm specifically concerned about older Americans. I'm concerned about Americans with underlying health conditions. They're all basically at home right now because of the coronavirus, but they might need to evacuate.

DR. PATRICE HARRIS, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Wolf, two key words here and that's planning and preparedness. And certainly, it is the hope that those who are responsible for the disaster response for hurricanes and tornadoes and other natural disasters, are coordinating and planning and talking to and maybe even doing tabletop exercises with those responsible for public health preparedness.

We will have to think through what will happen, for instance, if there needs to be shelter resources, of course. Normally, we'd have to make sure that there are enough cots and often you see those cots close together. We can't do that right now. And so hopefully, these two areas of government response are talking and coordinating to make sure that as they plan for a potential hurricane, they also are taken into account the need to ensure to mitigate spread for COVID-19.

BLITZER: Because the -- what concerns me also, Dr. Harris, is that if they do need to evacuate, they got to evacuate and still obey, not only wearing a mask, but socially distancing at the same time. And if you have thousands and thousands of people fleeing their homes, that's not necessarily going to be all that easy.

HARRIS: Absolutely, and certainly complicates what would normally happen in preparation for a hurricane. And so again, we hope that there's coordination right now, at all levels. This is certainly another opportunity where we need a whole of government approach and everyone thinking and coordinating for a worst-case scenario. You certainly hope for the best, but you have to plan for the worst.

BLITZER: Dr. Harris is the former president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Harris, thanks so much for joining us.

HARRIS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Coming up, the president sowing doubt about the 2020 election are threatening to deploy law enforcement to the polls when Secretary of State is likening it to voter suppression. She's standing by live, we'll discuss when we come back.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

[20:55:34]

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM. And there's major breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now.

According to The Washington Post, the President's older sister, retired judge Maryanne Trump Barry was secretly recorded by her niece slamming her brother President Donald Trump and his policies. In the audio, Maryanne Trump Barry was heard saying, her brother, quote: has no principles and that you can't trust him.