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The Situation Room

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Says Trump Created Hate and Division; Trump Tweets Condolences for Victim of Shooting in Portland; Joe Biden to Deliver Remarks Amid Violent, Deadly Unrest; FDA May Consider Approving COVID-19 Vaccine Before Phase 3 Trials; Wisconsin Governor Implores Trump to Reconsider Visiting Kenosha; Biden, Trump Fight for Voter Approval Post-Convention; Iranian Americans Living in the U.S. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 30, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Flights there and back will be numbered LL 971 and 972. Those are the telephone calling codes for Israel and the United Arab Emirates -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Oren Liebermann reporting for us from Jerusalem, thank you.

And a quick programming note, tune in tonight right after the SITUATION ROOM for a special back-to-back all new episodes of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." It also gets started at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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.

One person was shot dead in Portland, Oregon, after a night of violence between protesters and Trump supporters. Portland's mayor is express outrage at the violence and outrage at the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR TED WHEELER, 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.

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 responded in typical fashion on Twitter this morning calling Mayor Wheeler, and I'm quoting the president now, "a fool." And then during the press conference firing off this tweet once again calling the mayor, and I'm quoting, "The whacky radical left do- nothing Democrat mayor of Portland, who has watched great death and destruction of his city during his tenure."

The president has mostly downplayed the nation's racial reckoning since the death of George Floyd back in May, offering few words or actions to try to quell all the unrest. And with 65 days until the presidential election, Trump insists people won't be safe in Joe Biden's America. But Biden plans to turn that logic around when he speaks in Pennsylvania tomorrow posing this question to voters. "Are you safe in Donald Trump's America?"

We're covering all of this from all angles and locations, from Portland to the White House here in Washington. Let's go right to Portland first. Josh Campbell is on the scene for us.

Josh, after last night's deadly violence, where does the investigation stand right now and what are officials there preparing for as far as tonight is concerned?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, it was a violent night here in the city of Portland. There were clashes between pro- Trump supporters as well as some of the demonstrators and rioters who have been here for over 90 days now. And that resulted in one person being shot and killed. Police say that they heard the sound of gunfire. They rushed to the scene and found a man who was dead on the ground.

Now "The New York Times" is reporting that the deceased individual had a hat with an insignia of a far-right group leading to questions whether this person was part of that Trump -- pro-Trump caravan. Police just a short time ago with this press conference with the mayor indicating that they are getting some indication on social media that there people that are talking right now about coming here to downtown Portland in order to seek revenge and vengeance for that person who was killed.

Obviously raising questions about whether we will see an even more violent night here in the city of Portland than we've seen in nights past. One thing that we noted from and talking to law enforcement is that, you know, I asked the question to the police chief, what's the plan for tonight, and he said that he didn't know. He needed to talk to his incident commanders, which raised a lot of eyebrows in the room when he said that because again there have been so many demonstrations here that have turned violent.

The idea that they don't yet have a full plan that they're ready to brief. Again, a lot of questions being raised there. This all comes as a backdrop of, you know, continues with this war of words between the mayor of Portland, between President Trump, after this person was shot and killed overnight. And we saw this violence, we saw people according to police that were arrested. The president this morning rather then condemning the violence that was happening here, he took to Twitter, his favorite medium, and said that what occurred here overnight was not unexpected.

Essentially saying that because Democratic officials in this city haven't stopped a lot of the violent protests that he assumed that perhaps it was inevitable that this would happen. You would have these counterdemonstrators coming here in his name, you know, with their pro-Trump signs engaging some of these demonstrators, that leading to violence.

I asked the Portland mayor, the president was live tweeting this press conference as he's prone to do. I asked the mayor about that. He said that of course it's not inevitable that there would be violence because according to the mayor the president himself has been fueling so much of the anger that has been taking place here.

So again just a chaotic scene, Wolf, both this war of words between the politicians and also you have this now competing groups talking about possibly coming here tonight engaging in more violence -- Wolf.

[20:05:01]

BLITZER: Well, is there a curfew there in Portland tonight?

CAMPBELL: You know, that was a question that was raised to officials and they looked stupefied. There didn't seem to be something that they are planning for tonight. In fact, the police chief said that they had tried that in the past and it didn't work. There were these large crowds that were still out here despite having the curfew in place. Again, raised these questions, you know, if you don't have the personnel, then what is the plan?

And again it goes back to the police chief not indicating at least when we asked him what that plan would be. So it's not just the protesters, it's not just the potential for violence. Again a lot of questions here about whether this city is actually ready. Law enforcement is actually ready for yet another violent encounter. According to what we heard today, the answer appears to be no -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, if they're going to have a violent encounter, they should have a curfew and they should be able to implement a curfew if they're a serious city over there worried about, God forbid, more death on the streets of Portland.

Josh Campbell, thank you very much.

Jeremy Diamond is over at the White House for us.

Jeremy, not only do we have this clash between the president and Portland's mayor, we now have the highest ranking official in Wisconsin, the governor there, joining the calls for the president to cancel his trip on Tuesday to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

I want to get to that, Jeremy, but I want to ask about a tweet from the president, which has also raised some eyebrows. Update us on that.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The president of the United States is tweeting his condolences this evening to the victim of that apparent homicide last night in Portland. The president tweeting rest in peace and then naming this individual. We are not at this point naming this individual because Portland

officials have not yet named this person. And CNN has not been able to independently verify the information that is circulating on social media.

But it is of course notable, Wolf, that the president is chiming in on the situation. And so early of course. We know that officials there are still gathering the facts, as I said. They still haven't even identified this person. But it does appear based on the reporting that this individual may have been a supporter of the president's, which may explain why we see such a quick reaction from him.

We should note of course that the president has yet to offer his condolences to Jacob Blake or his family. Instead what we have seen from the president, he said on Friday that it was not a good sight. That it was a sight that he did not like to see in reference to the video of a police officer shooting Jacob Blake, firing seven shots at Jacob Blake.

Now as you were talking, Wolf, there is also this issue of the president's visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, especially in flight of the fact that he has made very few public comments about Jacob Blake. There is no indication as of now that he is going to meet with Blake or his family during this visit to Wisconsin on Tuesday.

And the governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers is speaking out about this. And this is his statement. Let me read you a part of it. He is urging the president to reconsider his visit to that city. He says, "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. I'm likewise concerned that an in-person visit from you will require a massive redirection of these resources to support your visit at a time when it is critical that we continue to remain focused on keeping the people of "Kenosha safe and supporting the community's response."

So you see there both a concern about -- from a resources standpoint about the law enforcement resources that a presidential visit inevitably draws out, and then also of course from a more political standpoint, the question of what kind of a message the president is going to bring to a city that right now is in really such a volatile situation, Wolf.

And if history is any indication, we know that this is a president who does not choose to be that consoler-in-chief. This is a president who instead seeks to seize on these divisions that exist and stoke those divisions for his own political gain. And as of now, all the White House has said, they have not responded yet to Governor Evers' letter to the president. All they have said so far is that the president is going to go there to survey the damage of some of the riots that have taken place in the city of Kenosha and also to meet with law enforcement officials -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeremy, thank you. Jeremy Diamond at the White House. So the president rival, the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, will deliver a speech tomorrow in Pennsylvania. His core message, are you safe in Donald Trump's America?

Let's go to our correspondent Jessica Dean. She's covering the Biden campaign for us.

Jessica, give us a preview of what we can expect to hear from Biden tomorrow.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're hearing from Biden campaign aides that we should expect to hear Joe Biden draw a contrast with his vision of leadership with that of Donald Trump's leadership. We should expect for him to talk about what he thinks a president should be doing in these moments and what he sees Donald Trump doing in these moments. Earlier today, Biden releasing a statement forcefully condemning all of the violence both on the left and right saying that that is absolutely not necessary, calling on Donald Trump to do the same.

[20:10:02]

I'll read you a bit. He said, "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. It does not matter if you find the political views of your opponents' abhorrent. Any loss of life is a tragedy."

And in that statement, he also went on to say that it is the role of a leader to turn down the temperature when it gets hot, when there is violence, to bring people together. And he makes the case and he will likely make the case tomorrow as well that Donald Trump is simply not up to the job of doing that. That instead, he is fanning the flames of division within this country and Joe Biden wants to offer another path forward that he sees himself as able to bring to the table.

We're also told by aides that he had considered traveling to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to condemn the violence there as well. But that local officials there, as we've heard from Jeremy and Josh, is reaching out saying that they're concerned about President Trump's visit. And the Biden campaign simply didn't want to cause any more problems. They also didn't want to be knocked off course by what President Trump is doing.

As one aide said, they are focused very much on their message that they have had have from the very beginning, Wolf, that was the message he had the day he got in this race, which is this is about restoring the soul of the nation. So we can expect for them to come back to that message tomorrow and for Joe Biden to really make the case that there is another way forward. And that his version of leadership is what will draw America and push America forward and bring America together -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Jessica, thank you. Jessica Dean reporting.

I want to bring in the global human rights leader, Martin Luther King III. Martin, thank you so much for joining us as usual. When Joe Biden

speaks about the ongoing unrest tomorrow, what would you like to hear from him at this very, very critical sensitive moment?

MARTIN LUTHER KING III, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER: You know, I think that somehow our nation has got to be unified. I think that the statement that he's already released is certainly, in my judgment, on target because unfortunately we have seen the president always fan the flames. And I wish that he could operate differently, but we don't expect that. But certainly, Joe Biden presents a different narrative.

And, you know, the reality is, all of us have to roll up our sleeves if we're going to resolve these very difficult problems. Whether it's around violence, whether it's around the plague that is -- I mean, that is killing people. And so I think that the unity is needed now. And someone who can in fact reach out to all sides regardless of what your view is, which is what he said in the statement that he released today.

BLITZER: The mayor of Portland Ted Wheeler, he laid much of the blame for the nation's violence and division right at the president's feet during a press conference about last night's fatal shooting in Portland. How much of a factor do you think the president's rhetoric is in all of this, Martin?

KING: I certainly believe that the rhetoric plays a role. And as you know, or many may know, the last book my father wrote was, where do we go from here? Chaos or community. It feels as if we're in chaos. But somehow we've got to work to community. We have to great community. When community exists, these kinds of things that we are seeing obviously disappear. That means finding ways to create opportunity. Finding ways to be inclusive and not exclusive. Finding ways to lift up and not push down. And so I think that's -- actually that's just where we are right at this moment.

BLITZER: The president, as you know, he's scheduled to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. Tonight the Wisconsin governor is asking the president not to visit. Do you think he would do more harm than good by going to Kenosha at this sensitive moment?

KING: You know, I would love to think that he would be able to do good, but unfortunately, that has not been the experience because his rhetoric already proceeds. And that rhetoric might do more harm than good. For him it's just a political stop to organize police and everyone else who he believes supports him. And really the president is supposed to speak to all of the people. To try to bring people together, to resolve issues.

And unfortunately that is not what it feels like he wants to do. And so I kind of agree with the governor. And also from a resource standpoint. It takes a lot to protect a president. And if resources are deployed away from the situation centrally, that could be problematic.

BLITZER: Yes. It could be indeed. And the governor, Tony Evers, made a very strong statement urging the president to reconsider not visit Wisconsin at this sensitive moment.

As the president picks fights with local officials like the Portland mayor, for example, and lives are lost at protests, whether in Kenosha or Portland, are you worried that the violence and the politicking will overshadow the message behind the black lives matter movement?

[20:15:16]

KING: I am concerned, but I think just as we had a major demonstration on Friday for the 30 -- I mean, the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, I believe people have the capacity to rise up and it's not just in anger. It really is mobilizing, it's organizing, it's becoming engaged. It's registering even at this point, and voting. And I still think that opportunity exists. I am concerned about how it is being portrayed by others.

However, the large overwhelming number of demonstrations that we've seen in this nation and around the world have been peaceful. There is violence. But also I think we need to think about, we never say what precipitates the violence. Think about the fact in Kenosha, prior to Mr. Blake being shot seven times, people were not rioting.

And I'm not justifying rioting, I'm just only stating for a fact. Every action creates a reaction. And so we need to talk about how do we keep those things from happening so that we can keep violence from emerging.

BLITZER: Martin Luther King III, thanks so much for joining us. Obviously we're going to stay in close touch. Appreciate it very much.

KING: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, the FDA is reportedly considering fast-tracking a coronavirus vaccine even before a critical step. But is it a dangerous move? We have new information, we'll share with you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:52]

BLITZER: There are two COVID-19 vaccines currently in phase three trials here in the United States and two more are expected to begin phase three trials by mid-September. It's a race against time to come up with a viable vaccine, but is safety taking a high enough priority?

Dr. Ashish Jha is joining us right now. He's the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Dr. Jha, thanks so much for joining us. And as you saw earlier today in an interview with the "Financial Times," the commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Stephen Hahn, says they could implement what is called emergency use authorization of a vaccine even before phase three trials are completed. That is not the same as FDA approval. But do you think that's really safe to do that that?

DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Wolf, thank you for having me on. I'm not at all convinced that that's a wise move. And let me explain why. I do think it's really important to complete the phase three trials. You know, if we see compelling data early, we will still want to make sure it is safe. Emergency use authorization is really best suited for therapies for sick people. We're going to give vaccines to healthy people. In that context, we really need to have a high bar for safety.

BLITZER: Because you know, you want to make sure that there are perhaps deadly side effects from this new vaccine. You've got to go through all the trials.

JHA: Exactly.

BLITZER: A recent poll actually showed it, you saw this, Dr. Jha, that 40 percent of the American public right now, they're already saying they won't take the vaccine if the data is not complete and safe. And that number could actually increase. Do you think people will be skeptical to take it? Because that's a huge concern right now.

JHA: It is. You know, and unfortunately, you know, we have a long history of people not always trusting the science around vaccines. In general, vaccines are incredibly safe and very effective. But that's because we've done the careful studies, and I do believe it's important to do those careful studies again to assure the American people that these are safe and effective to take. And that's why it's important that we don't cut corners.

I still believe we will do it right, but I want to make sure that happens.

BLITZER: Yes. Let's hope they do it right and that the vaccine is safe and effective.

Let's talk about reinfection. A man in Hong Kong was identified as the first confirmed COVID reinfection. But now researchers in Nevada identified a 25-year-old man who appears to have been infected with coronavirus twice. What do we know right now about reinfection with COVID-19?

JHA: And so, Wolf, neither of these cases was completely unexpected. You know, we didn't ever think that the virus was going to give 100 percent immunity. That some people would get reinfected. The Hong Kong case was reassuring actually because the second time around the person had no symptoms at all. And we said, OK. That's how immunity works.

The Nevada case is a bit more puzzling. The person got a bit more sick on the second time around. It's one case. I think these are going to be rare, but we're going to have to watch where the science and data goes on this.

BLITZER: Because in that Nevada case, the scientist said the man had strains of COVID that were slightly different. Would a vaccine cover potentially those kinds of variations?

JHA: Yes. Most of the vaccines that are being developed right now really look like they should be able to cover those kinds of variations. So I know people are worried about that. So far, I haven't seen any data that makes me worried. I think the vaccine should be pretty effective against a variety of different variations of the virus.

BLITZER: Thirty-six states are now reporting outbreaks of COVID-19 on college and university campuses where students have gone back to school in recent days. About 8700 cases in recent days in 36 states. The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa yesterday they said they had a thousand plus new cases since they reopened two weeks ago. These are pretty significant numbers. How worried should parents be right now about sending their kids back to colleges around the country in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic?

[20:25:02]

JHA: Yes, you know, Wolf, this has been a frustrating issue because I think there is a way to bring kids back in safely. You've got to do testing when they return. You've got to quarantine them. Then you've got to have a testing program while they're there. Many colleges just aren't doing those things. And they're sort of hoping and praying that things will work out well. It's not working out well. So, you know, I think the key issue is to follow the science and not just hope for the best.

BLITZER: You're at Harvard, and you're moving to Brown University fairly soon. What are they doing in the Ivy League schools?

JHA: Yes, well, I'll tell you. The Brown plan has been very straightforward, which is we're waiting until the data suggests that we can bring the students back. We're going to do entry testing when they come back. And then we're going to do ongoing surveillance testing. Because along with all the distancing and other things that are so important and mask wearing. So the bottom line is that I've been advising colleges and universities to follow the science on this.

And I believe if they do, they have a pretty good shot of being able to stay open. But if they don't, there's really not much hope of being able to keep the colleges open without large outbreaks.

BLITZER: This coronavirus pandemic continues. At least right now no end in sight.

Doctor Jha, as usual, thank you so much for joining us.

JHA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Wisconsin's governor is now asking President Trump to reconsider his planned visit to Kenosha on Tuesday amid serious worries that potentially could further escalate tensions.

Stay with us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:02] BLITZER: From Kenosha to Portland, we're seeing protests unfold across the country over racial injustice. And as thousands marched in the streets to demand an end to it, there's also a growing movement among some of President Trump's supporters to meet those protests head on.

Joey Jackson is a CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. Cedric Alexander is the former president of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement executives.

Cedric, let's start with Kenosha, where the president scheduled to visit on Tuesday. The governor has written a letter asking him to reconsider his visit, writing in part, and I'm quoting now, "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."

What do you think, Cedric? Does this potentially put local law enforcement in a rather tough spot? They have to prepare for a visit from the president of the United States at the same time knowing the mayor, the governor, the lieutenant governor for that matter have all asked the president not to come. This is not a good time.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT EXECUTIVES: Well, let me say this, Wolf, from that of former public safety director and a former lawman, I would say under the circumstances of what's going on in Kenosha with all politics aside, this for me is purely about public safety. I think it would be to the best interest that neither the president nor Joe Biden go into Kenosha at this time.

The most important thing there now is that that city needs to be brought up to under some type of control. Because it's been too many days in which they have been in such social unrest. We have seen for too many days now. So I think there's going to be additional support that I hope that that governor -- that mayor asks for because it put a lot of stress up on their local police there, which they are not clearly, I don't believe they're capable of managing.

But I think at some point, all consideration must be about public safety at this point. Not politics. So to your question, my answer would be, I don't think it's good for either one of them to attend at this time. We need to get this community at a place where it's back to some sense of normalcy because lives are at a stake.

BLITZER: Yes. Yes, local enforcement, they have their hands full enough right now.

Joey, let's turn to Portland. The "New York Times" reporting that the man who was shot and killed in Portland overnight was wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group. Obviously this is a complicated situation, but what do you make of that detail?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I make a number of things, Wolf. I mean, more globally, I make that we're in just such difficult, uncertain and troubling times. I make of it also that we talk about de-escalation generally as it relates to police. We need to be speaking about it as it relates to politicians and the rhetoric used, as it relates to people, you know, who are on the streets and what's happening, and so the reality is, is that we are in a difficult spot.

And that spot takes us to a place where, yes, we're talking about Kenosha, but then we're talking about Portland, but then we're talking about Atlanta, but then we're talking about New York, and the troubling thing to me is that we have to get a grapple upon what the root cause of this issue is. And the root cause of the issue is the troubling issues that are happening with the police as it relates to young black men who are being shot apparently for no basis whatsoever.

We have to get a grapple around that. Certainly, we need police, but police need communities. And when communities feel disrespected and when people are watching things, Wolf, and it's like you're watching in your own eyes, and we're talking about investigations and not accountability, we're going to see issues like this. And so never anyone should be shot whether it's in Portland, whether it's any place else in the country.

Certainly no matter what hat they're wearing, no matter who they support, no matter who they love, it doesn't matter. You shouldn't be shot and killed. But people are raw right now. And those emotions are going to get worse in the event that we don't grapple behind this and that we don't have leadership from the top bringing us together and not pushing us apart.

[20:35:02]

BLITZER: Cedric, the mayor of Portland unleashed as you heard a scathing critique of the president, placing the blame on him for creating the division, for creating the hate we're seeing on America's streets right now. We did see the president tweet seem to relish the conflicts. What role is his rhetoric having on these clashes right now? Because he's posturing himself as the, quote, "law and order president."

ALEXANDER: Well, let me tell you this as a law and order lawman myself. It's at times like this quite frankly, both whether you're on the right or on the left, and I certainly do understand the frustration of the mayor, and I can in some ways understand the frustration of the president. But both of them are going to have to demonstrate a type of leadership that this country needs right now from the right and the left.

Nothing would be better than the president of the United States and that mayor finding a way to come together to help resolve that issue in Portland. But doing it in a way in which the American people can look at them as being a model. Because at this point right now, there's no positive modelling that is coming in these very tough times that we're living in. And it's occurring in a lot of cities across this country, as you just heard Joey articulated.

So I think it becomes important from the frustration from any side that the politics are somehow put aside. The showboating and the grandstanding is put aside. Because the American people, and that's the greatest majority of the people that are in this country who are looking for leadership and expect leadership from those who are in leadership positions to find a way to meet in the middle because we're a country right now that is hurting and that is misunderstood, and a lot of different ways and a lot of different domains, this has become very complicated, very convoluted.

And leadership right now is what's going to lead us out of here. So whoever can say that they are law and order, we have to conduct ourselves not just in the sense of the physical law and order, but we also have to be mental and smart in the terms of how we move towards a society where we do have law and order. But it requires at this moment more than anything else is that leadership itself come together and role model for this country what is so urgently needed.

BLITZER: You know, legal experts are warning that some of these far- right militias with their embrace of high powered weapons, lack of police training, are on actual shaky constitutional ground right now in what they're doing. What do you think?

JACKSON: I think a couple of things. I mean, first off, just to pivot quickly to my friend Dr. Alexander's point, I do agree that we need to come together. I do agree it would be great for the mayor and president to do that. But when you have a president who says he's a fool, calling the mayor names and various things, I don't know how we get to that point. And that's what I mean as to the issue of de- escalation.

To the constitutional question, look, let's understand that everyone has a right to bear arms. But there are also laws in place such that you do not overreach. Right? The fact is you want to bear an arm, you can. Should you use it against someone else, no. Should someone die as a result of your activity, no.

Listen, the fact is, is that we are a country founded upon principles, with the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment and freedom of protest and freedom of speech and bear whatever you want. But at the end of the day, that is not meant as an absolute right where you can have a gun and kill someone. Where you can have speech and, you know, and there could be just this mass, just chaos everywhere.

And so ultimately at the end of the day, something needs to happen in a positive way, some harmony needs to take place. But I think it gets worse before it gets better, particularly in an election year where people are raw and for good reason based upon what we're seeing.

Finally, Wolf, I think what we are seeing as it relates to cities around the country, the diversity of these crowds that are launching for justice. The diversity of these crowds that are launching to say enough is enough as it relates to violence against black men in this country and black women in this country, I think that's a positive thing. But, you know, ultimately, we have to get a fix on this and a fix quickly or more people are going to die.

BLITZER: Joey Jackson, Cedric Alexander, guys, thank you very much. Obviously, very sensitive moment in American history right now.

Coming up, a new poll taken after the Republican National Convention. Now suggests President Trump is not necessarily seeing a bump in support following his convention. We're going to break down the numbers, when come back.

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[20:43:30]

BLITZER: The 2020 national party conventions are over and instead of speaking on the last night of the Republican National Convention, President Trump, he actually broke tradition and spoke on all four nights. Now some new poll results are in.

Let's bring in our senior political writer and analyst, Harry Enten is joining us right now.

So, Harry, what are we seeing? Any signs of the traditional convention bump for the president?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: The quick answer is no. Now I should point out we only have limited data, but the first data that we do have is from ABC News-Ipsos poll. And they asked about candidate favorability. And what we see is when we compare the results from last week to the results to this week, those who have a favorable opinion of Trump that was 32 percent last week, it's 31 percent this week.

No bump. In fact Biden was the one who jumped by a point. And if we look at the horse race averages right now, Biden versus Trump and we compare that to four years ago, when it was Clinton versus Trump, what do we see? We see that Biden is up by eight points over that 50 percent mark that we spoke about yesterday, Wolf. And that is in considerably better position than Hillary Clinton was four years ago at this point when she was only up by five and well short of 50 percent.

BLITZER: So these initial post-convention numbers is very, very early one poll. How big potentially, though, is the trouble for the president?

ENTEN: I would think it's very big if these numbers hold. You know, as you point out, it's just one poll. There are some other data as well I'm looking at. But the reason why I say it would be very bad news for the president is because you can look back through history and look at how convention bounces after the convention and compare those to the final results.

[20:45:02]

And what do we see looking back through history? What we see is that the challenger oftentimes from this point forward is often the one who gains. It's not in fact the incumbent who gains. And of course Trump is down by this point. More than that, the polls from this point tend to be pretty close to the results. So this is bad news for the president, but it's also bad news for this reason, Wolf.

Voting starts very, very soon. Keep in mind that in North Carolina this week what you're going to be seeing is that the absentee ballots are going to be sent out to voters starting on September 4th. I believe that's this Friday coming up. And there are a slew of other key battleground states that are going to start sending out those ballots this month. So the president has a more limited time than you might think to make up the deficit.

BLITZER: Still 60 plus days to go. Three presidential debates, one vice presidential debate, there are still plenty of time.

Harry Enten, thank you so much for joining us.

ENTEN: My pleasure, Wolf, as always.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Tonight CNN will be airing back-to-back all-new episodes of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." W. Kamau Bell joins me live with a preview when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:50:34]

BLITZER: At the top of the hour, W. Kamau Bell is back not with one but two, two all-new episodes of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." The first airs at a special time once again 9:00 p.m. looks at Iranian Americans and how they are trying to preserve their culture in a country full of misconceptions about who they are. Watch this preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: James Rezaian, an Iranian American, decided to move to Iran and work as a reporter for the "Washington Post." He wrote about what life is like for everyday Iranians.

JAMES REZAIAN, WASHINGTON POST: It's not a country of extremist people.

BELL: That's definitely not the image that the news --

REZAIAN: Yes. I mean, these are people that have been through so much tumult in the last 40 years. And actually in the last 100 years. Never been in a place where I have seen more of an aversion to physical violence than I have in Iran.

BELL: Yeganeh Rezaian is an Iranian journalist who lived in Tehran when she and Jason met, fell in love and got married.

YEGANEH REZAIAN, JAMES' WIFE: I wanted people to know that it's a beautiful land. We have good people. They have good food. And the people are not very different from anywhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And W. Kamau Bell, the host of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," is joining us now.

Kamau, the relationship between Iran and America has always been sort of complex. How has it gotten even more complicated, shall we say, during the Trump administration?

BELL: I mean, I think that, you know, Trump in many ways hasn't been a lot different from a lot of previous administrations where Iran is a convenient enemy to put on our enemies list. And so Trump has certainly ramped that up quite a bit. And in this episode, you'll see a lot of the values of Iranian people, it's the same that a lot of immigrants have. They come to this country. They love their homeland. They want to assimilate, they want to keep their culture. So it's really quite a distance between that and the image of Iran in mainstream media.

BLITZER: You spoke to a number of Iranian-Americans in the New York area. What do they most want other Americans to understand about them and their culture?

BELL: I mean, it's funny. If you had to deal with the Olympics of hospitality, I think Iranian-Americans would win that. And people from Iran would win that. I think they really want to know that they are very open. I mean, it's sort of the thing that is troubling. They have to talk about how open they are, at the same they have to be protective because the images out there in the world.

BLITZER: In tonight's second episode, you're looking at the homeless crisis in Los Angeles. How did the situation get so bad and what's actually being done to try to address it because it is an awful situation right now?

BELL: Well, you know, every mayor who comes into Los Angeles says they are going to fix it. And that hasn't happened. So I think we have to think about the fact that people have lived on Skid Row where we are tonight for 100 years or so. So that is a community down there. And if you talk to a lot -- living down there, they like living down there. They just wish they had places to live and better places to live. So I think you have to really look at them as a community and not as a problem.

BLITZER: Let me quickly get your reaction to what's been going on in our country. The president announced he'll be visiting Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. It's a sensitive moment. What do you make of that?

BELL: I mean, I'm pretty sure, didn't I hear that the chief of police doesn't want him there either? Nobody --

BLITZER: No. The governor, the mayor, the lieutenant governor, they've all said to the president this is not a good time for you to come.

BELL: I mean, that tells you everything you need to know about President Trump is that when the nation is hurting, his help is rejected. Because they know he's not bringing help, he's bringing rhetoric. And one thing he's definitely accomplished in his time in his office is he has told people who are racist not be ashamed of their racism anymore. So a community that's dealing with racism does not need him to show up.

BLITZER: W. Kamau Bell, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for everything you're doing.

And to our viewers, two, two brand new episodes of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" premier live right here on CNN, right at the top of the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:58:58]

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us for this special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

But before we sign off tonight, let's take a moment to remember some of the truly wonderful people we've lost to COVID-19.

Maurice Ford, a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Corrections deputy, had been hospitalized with coronavirus since June. He passed away on Thursday leaving behind his wife and adult son. His colleagues updated their social media profile photos to display his badge number 8351. He was 50 years old.

Basilio Lopez of Arizona was a father of five who loved to laugh, play with his kids, and indulge in craft beer. He and his entire family contracted the virus back in June but he never recovered. His partner Leslie described him as the family's rock. He was 42 years old.

Captain Bryant Anderson was a 16-year veteran with the fire department in Converse, Texas. After he lost his battle with COVID-19 on August 18th, the fire chief posthumously promoted Captain Anderson to the rank of battalion chief. His family was presented with a helmet and shield. This was all part of a funeral service where he was remembered for his big heart and work ethic. He was 45 years old.