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The Situation Room

Portland Mayor To Trump: It's You Who Has Created The Hate; Biden To Deliver Remarks Amid Violent, Deadly Unrest; Kenosha Officials Have Concerns With Trump Visiting Tuesday; At Least 36 States See Surges At Universities And Colleges; Intelligence Chief Tells Congress No In-Person Briefing On Election Security. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 30, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

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.

And we begin tonight with outrage in Portland, Oregon, from Mayor Ted Wheeler, not just at the killing that happened on the streets of the city but at the president of the United States who he blames for inciting violence not just over the past weeks but for the past four years. Here is what the mayor said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR TED WHEELER (D), PORTLAND, OR: It's you who have created the hate and the division. It's you who have not found a way to say the names of black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have. And it's you who claimed that white supremacists are good people.

Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country. You've tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history. And now you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president immediately responded and as usual fashion on Twitter calling Wheeler an, I'm quoting now, the wacky radical left do nothing Democrat mayor of Portland who has watched great death and destruction of a city during his tenure. That was just one of dozens of tweets and re-tweets the president fired off today. Another actually questioned the official death toll from coronavirus and that was deleted by Twitter. All of this coming after one person was shot dead in Portland last night.

But Wheeler wasn't the only person taking aim at the president today. His opponent in the race for the White House, former Vice President Joe Biden, also slammed President Trump in a statement saying this. The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone whether on the left or the right and I challenge Donald Trump to do the same.

Biden seems likely to repeat that challenge tomorrow when he speaks in Pennsylvania posing one question to American voters, and I'm quoting now, are you safe in Donald Trump's America?

Our CNN reporters are covering the story for us from Washington, here in Washington, to Portland, all across the country. I want to go first to our Law Enforcement Analyst, Josh Campbell. He is in Portland on the ground for us. So what did we learn from today's press conference, Josh, that was rather lively?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It was indeed, Wolf. This is a public safety crisis that's fueled by politics here in the city of Portland. We know there have been protests that have been going on here calling for racial justice, calling for an end to police brutality, that since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.

But there's been this added layer, this toxic mix of not only protests but also politicians weighing in, including the president blasting the city's Democratic leadership for these ongoing protests, many turning violent during the evening hours.

We've heard local city officials here in Portland saying that it's the federal government, their presence, and the president himself who was causing a lot of the agitation and the anger. So this back and forth today, as you mentioned, we just heard moments ago from the mayor here really taking aim at the president. In his ridicule saying that the president has caused a lot of this violence. We know that overnight, Wolf, it was a very violent situation here where we saw something that we haven't necessarily seen in weeks past.

And that was this large influx, hundreds of pro-Trump supporters that came here to downtown in this caravan. Police tell us there was this -- there were these incidents of violence between those pro-Trump supporters as well as some of the counterdemonstrators, police making a number of arrests.

One person was shot and killed. Our colleagues at The New York Times saying that that person had a pro-right wing group insignia on his hat. And so there has been this question here among law enforcement experts that we've talked to.

And officials here in Portland, they are concerned that tonight might be even more violent because they're getting a sense from social media that there might be groups of people that are pro-Trump supporters that may be coming trying to seek retribution for the death of this man overnight, so just a very volatile situation.

The one key takeaway we saw in addition to hearing the mayor coming out and really forcefully telling the president that, look, you're not helping the situation. We also we heard from police officials here in the city of Portland. And I've got to tell you, there were a lot of eyebrows that were raised. I asked the police chief what the plan for tonight. We know that there have been these reports, that there might be this influx of people coming in here, more violence. The police chief said that he couldn't talk about the plan because he hasn't yet spoken with the incident commanders for the day.

[18:05:01]

And as I mentioned, a lot of eyebrows raised. Now, we are almost over 90 days of protests here. And for law enforcement to not have a grasp of this situation causes a lot of questions about how prepared they are.

Again, officials here are worried about another night of violence fueled by both the rioters, both the pro-Trump supporters that have engaged in violence and you have law enforcement that's here as well trying to stop the violence on both sides, not a good mix and we're expecting more violence tonight, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's not good. There's video from last night of a Trump supporter shooting paintball guns at protesters, spraying some of them with some sort of aerosol from the back of pick-up trucks. What are local police -- what are the police saying about the individual who was shot and killed and who may have been responsible for that?

CAMPBELL: So the police aren't saying much at all at this point. We did ask them at this press conference what's the latest on that investigation. All they would say is that they're asking people not to publicly speculate about what took place because their investigation is still under way. They are still gathering facts. They're appealing to the public, any witnesses to come forward and provide information.

But, again, we all know social media is its own toxic mix at times and there are already theories about what's taking place as far as this homicide overnight, but police officers aren't providing any information. And I've got to tell you, again, circling back, the fact that police are also telling us that they don't really have a plan yet that they're prepared to provide some details on raises those questions, about whether they will be prepared for anymore violence tonight.

You did mention that one video, and this was taken by our colleague, Mike Baker, at The New York Times, that showed men in these trucks that had these Trump flags, American flags, shooting paintballs in to the crowd of protesters, and then demonstrators throwing projectiles back at that truck.

One reporter at this press conference asked whether police will seek to hold accountable the people in that video that were firing into the crowd with these paintball guns, which are not lethal devices but can still provide, you know, serious injuries, and that's assault. What we saw there on that video, the police official not saying that they are prepared to really go after those pro-Trump supporters only saying that they are always looking for evidence that leads them to hold people accountable, not very forceful in that regard there. So, again, you just have this volatile mix, Wolf, where you have video of protesters, you have video of a lot of this violence and you have the police that aren't coming out and saying at least fully what their plan is to try to stop some of this nightly violence, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. It looks like it's going to be another very, very tense situation during the course of this night in Portland. Josh, we'll stay in close touch with you. Be careful over there.

As for the president, he had no public events on his scheduled today. He spent part of the day in one of his golf courses outside in Washington, D.C. This is the 294th time since taking office. And as I mentioned, he has also been very busy posting a barrage of tweets.

Let's go to Jeremy Diamond. He's over at the White House for us. So, Jeremy, what else do we know?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we saw the Portland mayor, Ted Wheeler, draw a direct line between the president's divisive rhetoric and the violence that you are you seeing in some American cities. And the president was very quick to respond to that, in fact, responding via Twitter while the mayor of Portland was still delivering his news conference.

Let me read you a part of that tweet from the president, the president firing back accusing the mayor, Wheeler, of being a radical left do nothing Democrat mayor. And then he also seems to suggest that he could send federal forces to Portland, saying, he would like to blame me and the federal government for going in but he hasn't seen anything yet. We have only been there with a small group to defend our U.S. courthouse, because he couldn't do it.

And then he goes on to say, the people of Portland, like all other cities, and parts of our great country want law and order.

And, Wolf, the mayor of Portland was then asked to respond to the president's tweets during this news conference, as if they were speaking to each other via the media. And listen to how Mayor Wheeler responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHELLER: It's classic Trump. Mr. President, how can you think that a comment like that, if you're watching this, is, in any way, helpful? It's an aggressive stance, it is not collaborative. I certainly reached out. I believe in a collaborative manner by saying earlier that you need to do your part and I need to do my part, and then we both need to be held accountable.

Let's work together. Wouldn't that be a message? Donald Trump and Ted Wheeler working together to help move this country forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, look, Wolf, it certainly does seem that Mayor Wheeler is kind of speaking out of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand, he is directly opening his news conference by criticizing the president and then says, of course, that he wants to be collaborative.

But there is no question here that the bigger gain here for the president is that this is a great thing for him. Politically, this is exactly what the president is looking for. He is looking for a foil in Mayor Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, and he is also looking to amplify these images of some violence that has taken place in some American cities as he charges into the rest of this 2020 presidential campaign.

[18:10:01]

The president tweeting nearly 90 times this morning, amplifying some of the footage of these clashes between his own supporters and some of the Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, the president even praising his supporters re-tweeting a video in which they were firing these paintballs and pepper spray at some of these protesters.

So there is no question that the president here is not trying to unify the country in this moment of division. He is only seeking to amplify things and he certainly, Wolf, has not been urging for calm of urging for his supporters or the protesters on the other side to try and de- escalate this very volatile situation. Wolf?

BLITZER: Let's not forget the president has 85 million-plus followers on Twitter getting all those tweets. Jeremy Diamond, we'll get back to you. Thank you very much.

The president's rival, Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, he is now scheduled to deliver a speech tomorrow in Pennsylvania. His core message, as we said, are you safe in Donald Trump's America?

Our Correspondent, Jessica Dean, is covering the Biden campaign for us. Jessica, so give us a preview. What do we know what the former vice president's planning on saying tomorrow?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I really think that encapsulates it, Wolf, what you just said. That is going to be the general message to people, are you safer in Donald Trump's America, really turning the Trump campaign, President Trump's attacks, right back at him. And they're going to lay out the case and try to build the case that President Trump has not been able to do his job.

And because he cannot do the job of being president, that this is Donald Trump's America, what is being seen in the streets of Portland right now, that he is using his position to really drive division within this country. We can expect Joe Biden to talk about how COVID continues to ravage the nation, how the economy is struggling to come back as well, and then to fold in there, of course, in a very key way how Trump has fanned the flames of division within this country, and has not acted as a president bringing the country together.

Joe Biden issuing a statement earlier today strongly, forcefully, condemning the violence that was happening in Portland, I want to read a portion of that. He said in his statement, shooting in the streets of a great American city us unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right and I challenge Donald Trump to do the same. It does not matter if you find the political views of your opponent abhorrent. Any loss of life is a tragedy.

He went on in that statement to say that it is the job of the president, Wolf, to turn the temperature down, to bring people together. And we heard him say right here on CNN earlier last week, I believe it was Thursday. He said that -- Biden said that he believes President Trump is rooting for this violence. And that's, he says, the total opposite of what a president of the United States should be doing in this moment that they should be bringing people together.

So, again, this speech coming tomorrow in Pennsylvania, we can expect to hear very forceful words from Joe Biden and a very forceful condemnation of this violence. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, temperature clearly not going down but going up and up and up towards some sort of fever level. All right, Jessica, thank you very much.

Joining now, the former White House senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, she is the Author of the best-selling book, Finding my Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. Valerie, thanks so much for joining us. You were a senior adviser to President Obama all eight years. Let me ask you about Joe Biden's speech tomorrow. I want to get to that, and we will get to that.

But what was your immediate reaction to yet another protest turning deadly and the Portland mayor placing the blame squarely on President Trump?

VALERIE JARRETT, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, this is happening on President Trump's watch. And just for once, I would like for President Trump to say, the buck stops with me. I think the president's rhetoric that we've seen over the last nearly four years coupled with his political strategy that unfolded last week at their convention shows the divisive strategy that he has used. And rather than focusing on the underlying racial tensions in our country, he thinks we can solve this with additional law enforcement.

And so that is not the leadership, I think, we need right now. I think you'll hear from Vice President Biden very strongly how important it is for us to de-escalate, bring ourselves together, find what we have in common, really try hard to heal the underlying tensions, and that that's the solution.

I completely say it is unacceptable to have violence in any of our nation's cities, and we should all condemn it. But it isn't enough just to condemn the violence. We have to look at the root cause of the deep-seeded anger, frustration and lack of trust that we have around our country when it comes to race in our country. And President Trump has not begun to deal with that issue. If anything, he has exacerbated it.

BLITZER: The mayor's news conference in Portland, Valerie, was supposed to be an update on the shooting investigation, the killing of one individual overnight in Portland. [18:15:08]

Did the mayor cross the line using that moment to really attack the president?

JARRETT: I think he is showing the kind of frustration that we're seeing among elected leaders -- sorry -- all over the country, the frustration that they don't have a partner in Washington, that there is no one there who can work with them. And I think at the end, what he said was really important. Look, I'm a Democratic mayor. You're a Republican president. We should work together. And if we can model that kind of behavior, then imagine what we could do?

This should not be a matter of the president talking about Democratic cities. They're American cities. And he is responsible for those cities. And simply sending in law enforcement does not deal with the root problem that we know exists across our country. And I think what you'll hear tomorrow from Vice President Biden is a more hopeful message about how we can work together as opposed to pulling us apart.

BLITZER: That would be good if they could start working together, because, unfortunately, the temperature is, as I said, going up and up and up.

As you know, several officials in Kenosha are already expressing their concerns about the scheduled visit by President Trump there on Tuesday. They fear it will only stoke tensions. What do you think? Do you think this trip will do anything to calm the situation there and elsewhere around the country?

JARRETT: No, and I don't think that's his strategy, is to calm. And I think we've been hearing from his political folks that they're goal is to stoke the fires. All of the language we heard at the convention saying that Vice President Biden and Senator Harris will make our country less safe. This is working for them, but it is not working for the American people.

And another point I would make, Wolf, is that this is not a time for the president to be going to Kenosha. The resources that will be taken away from keeping the calm in that city to go to supporting his trip are counterproductive. President Obama never went to a place where he thought he was going to be taking resources away.

And so stoking the fuels, stoking the anger, encouraging divisiveness is simply not going to help our country move in the direction that I think most Americans want to go.

BLITZER: Valerie Jarrett, thanks so much for joining us.

JARRETT: You're welcome, Wolf.

BLITZER: President Trump, as I said, planning to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, but local officials, they are saying they are deeply, deeply concerned. We'll update you on what's going on when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

BLITZER: As we continue to follow the violence unrest that unfolded last night in Portland, it's important to note that it's the second city that has seen protests turn deadly this week. First, it was Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a 17-year-old Trump supporter is accused of fatally shooting two people and injuring a third during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

And as activists call the White House to denounce the shooter, our Dana Bash asked the Republican senator of Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, to do the same. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The 17-year-old accused of committing those two murders was a Trump supporter.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): It's a tragedy.

BASH: Do you condemn that?

JOHNSON: It's a tragedy.

BASH: Do you condemn it?

JOHNSON: It's a tragedy. It's a tragedy.

BASH: It's a tragedy, but do you condemn it?

JOHNSON: But entire the situation is a tragedy. Listen, I don't want to see any loss of life. It's a tragedy. And the way you prevent these tragedies is you support law enforcement.

BASH: But a tragedy could be a car accident.

JOHNSON: You allow for peaceful protests but you don't allow --

BASH: Do you condemn this?

JOHNSON: You don't allow peaceful protests to turn it into a siege.

Listen, I don't want anybody to lose their life. I don't want to see the violence continue. I don't want to see businesses burn down. I don't want to see economic destruction. I condemn it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president is heading to Kenosha on Tuesday to see firsthand the damage caused by all the unrest.

Joining us Ed Davis, he is the former Boston police commissioner. Commissioner, thanks so much for joining us. Do you think it's a good idea for the president actually to be visiting Kenosha on Tuesday? It's a pretty sensitive moment right now. ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: It is. It's a horrible idea. I've worked with the Secret Service on any number of presidential visits. It drains staffing from the police department. It's like putting a flame to this terrible situation that's occurring there, and it's -- it's something that -- a president coming into a city without the approval of the mayor is very, very unusual. I've never seen this kind of thing happen before.

So this is a very dangerous time, tonight in Portland, and Tuesday in Kenosha.

BLITZER: If you were the police chief in Kenosha, how would you be preparing for a visit like this by the president of the United States?

DAVIS: I would be begging him not to come. And if that didn't work, I would be asking for all the resources I could get, including the National Guard.

BLITZER: And tell us why.

DAVIS: Well, because this is a tinderbox right now. And there are going to be protesters on both sides of this equation coming in to that city.

And so as we saw in Portland last night, and the police chief just said, it is very difficult to keep small groups away from each other. This is not just one location. They're going to be all over the place. And we are very much on the precipice here.

We really need to stop violence. There needs to be an adult in the room. And the only one that I've heard is Joe Biden, actually.

BLITZER: You know, it's a sensitive moment indeed. I spent seven years as a white house correspondent, did a lot of traveling with the president. The Secret Service has to prepare for all the possible worst case scenarios.

[18:25:00]

This is an enormous challenge going into a city like Kenosha at this moment, right?

DAVIS: It really is. The protection of the president is their job. And you're going to a place where people are showing up with long guns. People on both sides of this incident are -- are really at their wits' ends with the middle of COVID and unemployment being what it is and all of the stress on race and police violence. This could not be a worse idea.

And I wish that the Secret Service could prevail on this president to do the responsible thing. He will be in danger there, as will the whole community because of this incident.

BLITZER: Well, let's hope it gets -- and we get through it safely and securely. Ed Davis, the former Boston police commissioner, thanks for joining us. DAVIS: A pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: The coronavirus pandemic is still raging in many states and universities and colleges around the country, colleges and universities that recently reopened over the past few days for in- person classes are now reporting major, major outbreaks, at least in 36 states, more than 8,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on campuses around the country. We'll update you, very disturbing development, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:54]

BLITZER: The coronavirus pandemic here in the United States continues. No end in sight. The University of Alabama now records at least 1,000 cases of coronavirus among its students just 10 days after reopening the campus. And it's just the latest university that is reporting a very disturbing surge as students return to campus. Get this. At least 36 states have now reported positive cases at their respective colleges and universities adding more than 8,700 confirmed coronavirus cases to the nation's tally of more than six million over these past six, seven months. Very disturbing developments indeed.

Our medical analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder, is joining us now. She's the producer and host of the podcast, "American Diagnosis and Epidemic."

Doctor Gounder, how concerned are you, in the last few days alone seeing so many thousands of new coronavirus cases amongst students on various campuses across the country?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, I think unfortunately we expected college students not to behave like college students and now we're criticizing college students for behaving like college students, and that's frankly not really fair. I think it was unrealistic to think that this could be done without major outbreaks. So on the one hand I am concerned because it is going to permeate into the rest of the community. But I'm not surprised. I think we all saw this coming.

BLITZER: Classrooms are probably the least of the concerns. Lots of new freedoms, meaning lots of socializing, no parental supervision, and a lot of folks, a lot of parents are out there right now asking, is it the right time to send your child off to college? What do you say?

GOUNDER: Well, from a public health perspective, from an infectious disease control perspective, I would say probably not. But I also think about it from the perspective of when I went to college. I think, you know, a big part of your college education isn't just what you do in the classroom. It's the informal education you get that you learn from other students, that you learn while you socialize.

And I think that part of their education really is going to be compromised by this. You know, if it were me and I had a child that was of college age I would have them stay home, take a gap here and do some volunteering in the community if it was safe to do that.

BLITZER: Or do some virtual learning online. Are there effective COVID-19 testing strategies at universities right now that can point to minimizing the spread?

GOUNDER: Sure. Well, Doctors Walensky at Mass General and Patel at Yale actually did some modeling research on this to see if you tested would you be able to contain spread of the virus on a college campus, and what they found was if somebody, if the students wore masks religiously and you tested everybody about once a week, you could contain the spread. But that's a really big lift to do that level of testing for many of these colleges and universities.

BLITZER: What do you say to those who argue, well, there may be 8,700 students who have tested positive for coronavirus over the past few days as they return to campus, but they're largely asymptomatic or minor symptoms. They're young, they're strong, they're healthy. So they'll be a little bit sick. What's the big deal? What do you say to those folks?

GOUNDER: Well, the big deal is that they are weak links in the chain. They are contributing to chains of transmission. So risk of transmission to faculty and staff on campus. Risk of transmission to maybe members of the college community student body who do have weaker immune systems for one reason or another, and they also present a risk to the town where these colleges are located. Many of which are smaller towns that don't have the health care system to deal with a big spike in cases if it gets out into the community.

BLITZER: And another risk is we still don't know everything about this coronavirus. We don't know if the long-term impact, even if you're asymptomatic or only minor symptoms, we don't know what's going to happen in six months or a year from now because we still don't know enough about this virus.

[18:35:05]

Doctor Gounder, thanks so much for joining us.

GOUNDER: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Amid a racial reckoning and an outcry against police brutality President Trump has blamed Democrats for allowing protests and violence to continue. But now the mayor of Portland is strongly, fiercely, pushing back.

We'll discuss that and all the breaking news, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: After a night of violence left one person dead in Portland, Oregon, during protests on Saturday, the city's mayor took to the podium today and put much of the blame for the charged atmosphere squarely on President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR TED WHEELER (D), PORTLAND, OREGON: Yesterday's events began with hundreds of cars filled with supporters of the president rallying in Clackamas County and then driving through downtown Portland. They were supported and energized by the president himself.

[18:40:02]

You've tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history, and now you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Portland is the second city that has seen protests turn deadly this week after two people were fatally shot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

I'm joined now by the president and CEO of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson.

Derrick, thanks so much for joining us. And we're just getting some breaking news, and I want you to react. We're just learning that the Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has just written a letter to the president of United States basically saying don't come to Kenosha on Tuesday. Evers writes, "I write today to respectfully ask you to reconsider plans to visit Wisconsin." Then he adds this, this is the governor of Wisconsin.

"I along with other community leaders who have reached out are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together."

That's a very strong statement from the governor of Wisconsin, basically telling the president, this is not the right time for you to visit Wisconsin. What do you say?

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Well, that's consistent with what the mayor of Portland just said earlier in the press conference. It's consistent with what many have been saying over the last three and a half years. I can recall the first year in office when I took this position, and I said the president was a racist. I can recall when White House correspondent April Ryan also said the same thing.

We're looking at a president that has stoked a level of fear and xenophobia and racial hatred, and now the evidence of that stoking gets come into bear. And what's ironic about both the incident in Portland and the incident in Kenosha this week, you had individuals who traveled from outside of those communities, from outside of the state, to be involved with racialized violence. And it's unfortunate that we have someone who should in this moment be seeking to heal communities, he's seeking to demagogue the moment in an effort to get re-elected.

BLITZER: You heard, we all heard, Portland's mayor this afternoon, Ted Wheeler, pointing the finger directly at President Trump for the hatred and the violence we're seeing. Did the mayor go too far, you think? Because at the end of his remarks he was also reaching out and saying, let's all work together to deal with this crisis.

JOHNSON: Well, the mayor exhibited leadership. He appropriately called out, where is this coming from? It is coming from an overtly charged political landscape where individuals feel empowered, emboldened to carry out these types of activities. We have a president who spent all night long on Twitter encouraging directly and indirectly this type of violence.

But most unfortunately with this we're going to find that peaceful protesters who are marching under a factual statement that Black Lives Matter, they're going to be blamed for the violence that they are not created. They're going to be blamed for the violence that they are not promoting because we have a president of this nation who is using 1940 tactics of fear and racial hatred to try to get re-elected.

BLITZER: Do you think the president's words have made the protesters less safe or made them simply feel less safe when they go out to march? Because this is a very tense moment in American history.

JOHNSON: They've made them less safe. You have someone who travelled from Illinois to Kenosha to commit acts of violence and murder two individuals. You had individuals who traveled outside of Portland to come into the city to murder individuals. Between the president's rhetoric and demagoguery, and Facebook's lack of monitoring their platforms, we're looking at a serious problem leading up to the elections.

I hope people are paying attention and not get distracted by what's taking place. These are all southern tactics stoking fear, based on race, to get people emotionalized and lose sight of the fact that it's this president that has created a pandemic, a health crisis, that's like inner response is this president is creating economic downturn, and it's this president that's causing the riots that's taking place in the streets.

But Wolf -- finally, Wolf, I'm also concerned with agitators posturing as if they're part of a peaceful protesters, inciting activity. You know, I have a lot of questions around what happened after the State of the Union -- I'm sorry. The gathering this past week in front of the White House when you had those agitator harassing people coming out the White House. I'm not for sure they are a part of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

[18:45:02]

These are individuals that are unfamiliar to the D.C. community. These are individuals who came in and I would not be surprised if we learn later that they were there to instigate incidents such as that.

BLITZER: Yes. And the police in Portland, they have not yet released the information and certainly no names involved of the shooter or the person who was shot and killed overnight in Portland.

Derrick Johnson of the NAACP, thanks as usual for joining us. JOHNSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Coming up, Democratic lawmakers are outraged after the Trump administration scales back election security briefings.

We have new information. We'll share it with you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:11]

BLITZER: Partisan fallout today over the announcement from the director of National Intelligence, no more in-person briefings on election security, said those briefings will be shared as written documents. The announcement comes amid warnings that Russia, China and Iran are trying to interfere in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Joining us now, CNN Legal Analyst, Elliot Williams. He's a former federal prosecutor.

Elliot, thanks so much for joining us. The president says it's designed, this new policy, simply to stop leaks of classified information. But the information will still be shared even though it will be written documents. What does that say about the reasoning behind this? Democrats especially in the House and Senate, they're upset because they want to be able to ask questions.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, it's interesting because the president has a long record with this administration of not regarding Congress as a coequal branch of government, not wanting to submit to any form of scrutiny or oversight by Congress. So we've seen, you know, we talked about it on air countless times, Wolf.

The problem here is that we know from 2016 of at least Russia's intent to interfere in our elections. We now know for 2020 that China and Iran also intend to interfere. And so it's troubling to say the least that now the president has -- or the administration has once again regarded -- chosen to regard Congress not as a coequal branch of government and simply to just sort of go it alone.

So this has profound consequences for our election security now that we politicize intelligence this much.

BLITZER: Yes. You're right. Because as recently as July 24th in a public statement, the director of National Intelligence said that China, Russia and Iran were seeking to interfere in the upcoming election. We assess that China prefers President Trump does not win re-election as far as China was concerned in this intelligence assessment. We assessed that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former vice president Biden and as far as Iran is concerned, we assessed that Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions.

Those are serious allegations and the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the leaders of Congress, they deserve a right to press forward with more specific information.

WILLIAMS: And in fact it's almost a good thing or a positive thing, ironically, that you have foreign actors wishing to interfere on both sides of the aisle. So it does not appear to be a partisan issue in the United States. It's literally the integrity of our core systems of government.

To be clear, Congress requires in the House Intelligence Committee, which is what we're talking about today, requires that all kinds of information be submitted and provided to the intelligence community. For instance, it is required under law that Congress -- that the administration brief Congress on any covert action that they engage in. And election security is that kind of information that is so critical to the security of the United States that Congress and the folks who legislate around these things ought to know about it.

So we should -- again, it's more of the same from the administration with its relationship to Congress and the history books will write about this one day. But at the end of the day this is making all of us less safe not just Republicans and not just Democrats, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Let's not forget, we're only about 65 days away from November 3rd, the election. But weeks in advance, starting fairly soon, people will be able to start voting in various states.

Adam Schiff, the congressman, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he says the House may actually subpoena intelligence officials now to find out more about this decision. Possibly hold a public briefing. Do you think that's the best course of action right now, Elliot?

WILLIAMS: It is because that's a very important tool that Congress has. And if we had a normal functioning constitutional government, that would be something that presidents of both parties who have submitted people to. When I worked for the Obama administration, they testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee all the time. The Bush administration did when I worked on the Hill.

So it's not uncommon and it's a very important step. Now, once again, we've seen the administration take a very politicized approach to even the act of the subpoena and so that's very troubling. Now, what Congressman Schiff, Chairman Schiff can do is subpoena the materials, and subpoena the information, and just have it in a closed hearing because it is the House Intelligence Committee and they do have that ability for them.

So this idea that things would be leaked is foolish because, number one, you would know who was doing the leaking, and number two, they have a mechanism for doing things in secret to begin with. So I just think they simply don't want to give information to Congress. That's where we've been for the last two or three years, and that's where it's going to be as long as Donald Trump is president with a Democratic Congress.

BLITZER: Yes. And they do have secure rooms as you correctly point out, Bob, on Capitol Hill, to have these kinds of sensitive classified briefings.

Elliot, thank you so much for joining us.

[18:55:02]

WILLIAMS: Of course, Wolf. Thanks.

BLITZER: Quick programming note for our viewers. Tune in later tonight right after THE SITUATION ROOM for a special back-to-back, all new epidemics of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." It all gets started 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

We'll have more on the breaking news coming up, including Portland's mayor firing back at the president and blaming him directly for the violence in his city. His message to President Trump, it's you who created the hatred. That's next.

Also a surprise announcement by the former vice president, Joe Biden, his opponent in the race for the White House.

Stay with us, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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