Transcripts For CNNW New Day With Alisyn Camerota And John Berman 20200817

Vote counts but that only one vote counts. This is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day, monday, august 17th. 6 00 here in new york. In the same actual room at the same actual time for the First Time Since march. I barely recognize you. Have i changed . No, you havent aged a day. Its so great to be back in the studio. Its just this moment of normalcy it feels like. Except i have to wear pants. Are you . Im wearing suit pants for the first time in five months. The good news is they still fit. The bad news is theyre desperately uncomfortable to the jeans ive been wearing every day without marching. You havent had the quarantine 15 . No, ive been managing to keep it off. I find light beer and vodka are not that caloric. Its just great that the numbers in new york are such that we can do this. You and i are six feet apart. Weve measured. So i hope this can last. Yes. Well, i think that depends on a large extent on what happens in the country and what everyone in the country does over the next several months. So this morning the coronavirus death toll in the u. S. Has surpassed 170,000. It took just 18 days to add the last 20,000 deaths. The u. S. Is now averaging more than 1,000 deaths a day and has been for three weeks now. And the last thing you want to see is this. An actual decrease in testing. 15 states are conducting fewer tests in the previous week in the sevenday average. Testing peaked in midjuly and dropped. Why on earth do less testing . One thing that may help or that the fda has approved a salivabased coronavirus test for emergency use. This could give americans a fast and inexpensive option to get tested and avoid the discomfort of the swab that goes up the nose and scrapes the brain. This could be a major development. Also nancy pelosi calling for lawmakers to return to washington this week for a vote to block the Trump Administration from defunding the u. S. Postal system. The trump appointed postmaster general already enacting a series of changes that have led to slower mail delivery. And hes warning states that mailin ballots will not be delivered on time for election day. President trump admits he is blocking Postal Service funding in order to stop mailin voting. Several states are this morning considering legal action. Meanwhile, its day one of the Democratic National convention so well tell you what to expect in this unusual year. We also have a new cnn National Poll to show you. It shows the race between President Trump and joe biden tightening up. So lets begin our coverage with cnns diane gne gallagher live atlanta with new developments on the pandemic. Alisyn, more than 40,000 new cases of covid19 were confirmed across the country on sunday alone. And while there were some places like here in atlanta where theyve got a brandnew testing site, up here overall, testing is down across the United States leading many to believe that we still do not know the full scale of infection in the United States. Growing concern that the u. S. Is testing less for coronavirus even as over 1,000 americans die daily from the disease. The average number of coronavirus tests per day dropping by more than 68,000. Compared to the last two weeks of july. Thats according to the covid tracking project. It may be testing fatigue or a sense that why should i get tested if the results dont come back for a week because theyre not useful. This virus is still spreading widely in the communities. Its not under control yet. Reporter as testing has slowed, pos tiitive rates incred in 36 states as of friday. According to Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource center. In california, nearly 8,000 new cases reported on sunday alone. The sevenday Positivity Rate nearly 7 . In illinois, the states governor announcing new restrictions will take Effect Tomorrow in an area across the border from st. Louis. The metro east region showing an eightday average Positivity Rate above 8 . And chicagos mayor warning her city is seeing a steady increase in cases fueled by people ages 18 to 29. Weve just got to break through the young people that theyre not immune to this virus. Reporter meanwhile, as schools and universities continue working on their reopening plans, several reporting outbreaks. If we want to have everything working and football and schools, we need to get the Community Spread of this virus down. Reporter in arizona, one School District is canceling inperson and online classes due to a large number of staff absences. The j. A. Combs unified School District does not know when instruction will resume. In georgia, Cherokee County shutting down a third school due to a cluster of cases. More than a quarter of the students at Creekview High School in quarantine. The university of North Carolina at chapel hill reporting a fourth cluster of cases. This one based in a residence hall. And at Oklahoma State university an offcampus Sorority House locked down after reporting 23 cases. This large gathering at an offcampus housing area near the university of north georgia going viral. Sparking concern because no face masks are visible. Masks are not mandatory in georgia. School outbreaks not concerning white house Senior Adviser and trump soninlaw Jared Kushner who has young children. We absolutely will be sending our kids back to school, and i have no fear in doing so. Reporter a bit of potentially promising news on the testing front. The fda has granted an emergency use authorization for a salivabased test. Its the same one the nba has been using in the bubble to test asymptomatic people. The nba helped fund the research on this. Whats key here is that it is not only quick but it is inexpensive because it doesnt use any proprietary items like the swabs or anything else making it easier to facilitate across the country. And we are going to be getting much more information about that during the program, dianne, thank you. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling lawmakers back early from their august recess to vote on legislation that would block changes the Trump Administration is making to the u. S. Postal service. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Mitch Mcconnell to do the same with the senate. Cnns Phil Mattingly is live on capitol hill with more. What have you learned, phil . Its a move that underscores how sharply the concern has risen amongst democrats about operational changes within the u. S. Postal service that have slowed deliveries over the last several weeks and months. The speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, calling the chamber back as early as saturday. Thats nearly a month before they were supposed to return from their august recess in between two national conventions. And underscoring that democrats right now believe and think that the white house, led by the president , are essentially rigging the Postal Service to try and slow down deliveries amidst the expectation of millions of mailin ballots. The speaker in a letter to colleagues last night saying, lives, livelihoods and the life of the american democracy are under threat from the president at a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is election central. Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote. Now the house coming back this weekend. The senate as you noted, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calling on the senate to do the same. No answer from Mitch Mcconnell on whether he is willing to consider that, but something to Pay Attention to. This is not just a partisan issue. Republicans, as well, including Senate Republicans Susan Collins of maine who faces a very difficult Reelection Campaign in november coming out in a tweet last night saying the senate should return and should address funding shortfalls. Many of the operational changes if not all of the operational changes that have been put into place are due to funding concerns, at least according to the postmaster general. When you mix those changes with what the president has said, much of which has been false or completely unproven up to this point, democrats believe there are Serious Problems here. They are bringing the chamber back to vote on legislation to block those changes, and there will be an oversight hearing as soon as next week. Still waiting to hear if the postmaster general and other usps leadership will attend but theyve been invited and democrats making clear theyll not change course any time soon. They view this as a serious concern. And it puts it front and center during Convention Weeks. Phil mattingly, thanks so much. So it is Convention Day in america. The Democratic National Convention Kicks off tonight in, well, wherever. Unprecedented doesnt begin to cover this. In many ways, this will be the most unusual convention we have ever seen. Cnns jessica dean is live in wilmington, delaware, with a preview. I just note that wilmington, delaware is nowhere near milwaukee, wisconsin. No it is not, john. We are nowhere near milwaukee, wisconsin. We are in wilmington because thats going to be kind of one of the anchor areas of this convention, as you mention, thats fataking place all acros america. Lets talk specifically about tonight. What can you expect on this first night of this 2020 Democratic Convention being produced remotely and across the country. Michelle obama, Bernie Sanders, john kasich, really explaining the spectrum of speakers that will be here, because tonights theme is we, the people. Theyre trying to make this message come through that they welcome everyone to support the biden harris takicket this year. We got information about what this might look like logistically. There are four set stages. One near wilmington, one in milwaukee, where the convention was originally supposed to be anchored with thousands of delegates yelling in a Convention Hall. Los angeles and new york. In addition to that, there will be a number of speakers spread out across the country. Theyll be at Historic Sites that are going to be tethered thematically to what theyre talking about, im told. And production kits sent to delegates, members of the party, people all across america who can set those up in their home and theyll be using that for the roll call. Again, something wed typically see in a Convention Hall. Theyll go to 57 different live shots on that one. And then also for reaction shots. So as the speakers are speaking, a truck thats located here in wilmington will be able to punch up hundreds of feeds from across the country and get those reaction shots. And to give us an idea of what this could look like being the key word, we did see that biden and harris had an allstaff meeting last week. One of the staffers tweeting out what that looked like. You can see how they brought in dozens and dozens of people remotely with biden harris in there. Looking ahead for the rest of the week, john, speakers that we would expect at the convention. That includes president obama, former president bill clinton, hillary clinton, last cycles nominee and Kamala Harris and joe biden who will be giving their acceptance speeches right here in wilmington. Jessica dean in wilmington. Michelle obama, Bernie Sanders tonight, but, of course, its worth watching because we never see anything like this before. We have no idea how its going to go. Its our new normal of seeing that huge screen of little dots of faces. I have some experience in tv with signals coming in from different places. How did that go . Sometimes strange things can happen. Sometimes. So its worth watching to see. New video just in to cnn showing this huge party near one georgia college. Just days before the start of the fall semester. New information on the impact of this, next. A lot of Healthy Foods are very acidic and theyre actually pulling out the minerals from the enamel. I like to recommend pronamel to my patients. Pronamel will help push the minerals back into the enamel, to keep the enamel strong. I know it works. And i hear nothing but great things from my patients that have switched to it. Guys guys safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. 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First of all, let me congratulate both you and john on being back in the studio. Must feel good to get back to work in a familiar location. Thank you. It does everybody is congratulating everybody is so happy were six feet apart. Its fantastic. Its good news. The testing situation is not good in the United States. What were not picking up are people who are contagious. Thats the right word to use, contagious. Were probably missing 8 out of 10 people who are contagious. And any decrease in testing is worrisome because were already not doing well. And if you dont pick people out of a crowd who are contagious, the epidemic spreads, as you have reported and we have se. This emdemsick still spreading and we dont identify the people to help control their spread. Now one of the reasons that testing is decreasing is that supplies arent being shipped to places that can test. Its part of a strategy not to count how many people are infected. So that is one of the reasons. Another reason that you mentioned is that people may becoming more reluctant. If you dont catch people within a very short time of testing, they start going into a phase of the disease in which theyre no longer as contagious. You want to catch people right at the spot, not later. Its embarrassing. Its the exact wrong time to see a decrease in testing. This far into a pandemic to see a decrease in testing, its embarrassing for the United States. Now professor there is a development which some people look at and say may help in this which is the fda granting emergency use approval for this saliva test. We can get results back in as quick as three hours. It uses materials that are more accessible. How much hope do you put in this saliva test . Well, first thing to say it is promising because the data now shows that you can pick up the virus during the contagious phase in saliva. Thats really good. The second thing is it makes it much less uncomfortable. You dont have to put a swab deep into somebodys nose. Saliva is something that were familiar with all the time and so its not that difficult. This test is one good step toward ultimately what we will and should have and could have now which are very rapid tests available some places in the world where all you do is put a little bit of saliva on something equivalent to a pregnancy test and within 15, 20 minutes get a result. Thats going to make a sea change. The actual cost to produce those is less than 50 cents. And they can be produced in massive quantities, hundreds of millions of quantities. It can be used for testing at home, at workplaces, for testing at schools. That is where we should be today. That technology has existed for a long time, and now we know that it can be used for saliva. This is all good news. And i think by the end of the year, youre going to see a sea change in the way we test. Youll be able to test yourself you dont have to process it. The one just approved by the fda, you saliva test at home and you dont need to send it anywhere for processing. It can give you a result . No, that is what could happen. What is now happening is you need to i read it carefully. You need to give the saliva sample under a licensed supervisor. And then give that sample over. They then give you back the result. Thats the first of the next step, which is to be hopefully a home test. Thats available some places, not everywhere. Lets take a look professor if we can, im sorry. I want to take a look at a picture which i know will frankly shock you as kids around the country are going back to school and some universities are beginning to welcome students back on campus or near campus. This is what definitely appears to be a party. This is near north georgia university, about an hour or so north of atlanta. And, look, i mean, you cant see too closely but you see closely enough to know whats going on which is a bunch of young adults, im not going to say kids, professor, because these are people who are in an age range where the virus can be transmitted. I dont see a lot of masks. I dont see any social distancing. I see a lot of shouting. How concerned should we be about this, and what does this tell us about universities opening up . I think the first thing it says, we should be very concerned. Those people are definitely spreading the virus amongst themselves. Georgia is a high incidence. I would put it in the orange to red category, which is the most dangerous category for this virus. The people who are now in the hospitals, a bulk of the people in our hospitals are people of just the age of the people you saw. The damage that they can do to themselves if they get this virus and dont even know they have this virus can be considerable to their future. And they are spreading the virus to older people and to younger people as well. I think its very worrisome that if we dont get the message to young people that they can transmit this virus. They can become ill from this virus. Were going to have a continued epidemic and when you hear the governor of georgia tell you, you dont need to wear a mask, do your kids best to make sure nobody does wear masks, youre getting exactly the wrong message. This is the kind of thing that can result. Professor haseltine, thank you for being with us. Youre welcome. Thank you. Breaking overnight. Police in seattle, after several officers were injured during a protest overnight. At least ten people were arrested. One of the officers suffered a significant eye injury. Protesters in seattle have been demanding Racial Justice and Greater Police accountability. Also developing overnight, a tense standoff in texas between police and a gunman who shot three police officers. It is continuing at this hour. Police say the gunman remains barricaded inside a home holding three family members hostage. Police say the suspect is in his mid20s. He has Mental Health issues. The officers were shot after responding to a call from the gunmans mother who said her son kicked in a door and was acting aggressively. The three officers are expected to fully recover. House lawmakers are being call back to washington to address the growing crisis with the u. S. Postal service. Were going to discuss how democrats are trying to fight back against President Trump not wanting mailin ballots. To fix the economy we have to get control over the virus. Im releasing a plan to save lives in the months ahead. We need to increase federal support for testing, doubling the number of drivethru testing sites. We absolutely need a clear message from the very top of our federal government that Everyone Needs to wear a mask in public. Every single Frontline Worker should have the personal protective equipment that they need to be safe. We need to support schools and childcare programs so parents, if and when they can return to work, are confident that their children will be safe and cared for. And finally, we need to protect the populations most at risk our seniors, vulnerable populations with preexisting conditions. We need real plans, real guidelines, with uniform nationwide standards. Its a simple proposition folks, were all in this together. We gotta fight this together. Well emerge from this stronger because we did it together. Im joe biden and i approve this message. vo because we know you want to get back to going your speed. Steering life at 10 and 2. Youre prepared for this. And so are we. Soon youll get back to skipping the counter without missing a beat. Back to choosing any car in the aisle. Back to being the boss of you. Go national. Go like a pro. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Ask your doctor if your teen Simon Pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500 coming to the green flag, racing at daytona. Theyre off. In the kentucky derby. Rory mcllroy is a two time champion at east lake. He scores stanley cup champions touchdown only mahomes. The big events are back and xfinity is your home for the return of live sports. Breaking overnight, house Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she is calling back lawmakers from their summer recess to deal with the crisis at the Postal Service. House democrats have launched an investigation over whether the Trump Administration is intentionally undermining the agency ahead of the president ial election. Joining me is pro publica reporter jessica hughesman. This is your beat. You cover this. Youre an expert, which is so important, because, frankly, theres so much bunk being spewed right now about the post office and mailin voting that its important to get the facts out there. I know its august, but i want to start with christmas. Lets establish a base line here. Compare christmas to election day in america. You know, i think its really important to remember that the post office handles literally billions of pieces of paper and packages every single year. And so i think the most number of mailin ballots well see across the whole country is about 100 million. And thats just registered voters and thats just registered voters who choose to vote this cycle and every Single Person in the country sends far more mail than that on christmas and even thanksgiving. The post office has the capacity to deal with this. That doesnt mean that policy issues between now and then wont affect their ability to do that job, but they certainly have the capacity now. This is your beat. Have you ever covered a Political Movement to cancel the ability to send christmas cards prior to christmas . You know, i havent. But that is one that i would like to cover. It might be a refresher from this very heavy political season. Im making were joking but the reason i brought that up is because theres so much of this thats bunk. The system is in place and can handle it under the right circumstances. And, but. Talk to me about these sorters that are being taken offline and some of the boxes removed. Allegedly the Administration Says this will stop. How much of a problem is that and whats the real problem in terms of the delivery slowdown that many people have seen around the country. Right. You know, i think that people are very focused on these sorters, on the boxes being removed and in my mind, those are actually not the problem at all. And the Trump Administrations pledge to stop removing those items before the election is basically a pr stunt. These pieces of equipment have been scheduled for removal for quite some time and in many cases that predates the tenure of mr. Dejoy who is currently running the usps. The real problems are the ones that mr. Dejoy has made himself in relation to the policies of the usps. So for example, he has barred people from working overtime which is very important if you are a mail delivery person. If you cant get all of your packages and all of your mail delivered on your first route youll often go back or theyll send someone else to complete your route or if mail comes in late in the day that is still delivered that day. And or its still shipped for delivery that day. That is now no longer happening and you and i can both sort of think about scenarios in our mind in which those things that have yet to be delivered are ballots. And the usps has pledged to continue to push forward and make sure that the election can happen, and they have been planning for this since even before mr. Dejoy got into his positi position. So the capacity is certainly there but these policy changes about overtime and multiple runs could really hamper the ability of ballots to get from point a to point b. We talk about ballots, and a big part of this has to do with election day which is 80some days away. There are a lot 5 peopof people lot of parts of the country that depend on timely mail delivery. We have had senator manchin and hes up in arms about people not getting their prescription drugs. About people not getting, in some cases, their Social Security checks, in some cases not getting things they need and can only get through the Postal Service. I personally relate to this very well. I own property in rural east texas, and, you know, fedex doesnt deliver there. Dhl doesnt deliver there. The u. P. S. Doesnt even deliver to my street. I have to rely on usps. The last mile is always done by usps. Its really important to remember that even though urban and suburban communities could probably function okay in a situation in which the usps doesnt exist, Rural Communities would feel even more isolated than they already are. These founders of the United States envision usps to bind the country together. And i think that the country would still remain bound as long as you live in an urban or suburban area if it were to go away or be hampered. Jessica huseman. Merry christmas to you. We invite you to come back over the course of this election and talk about the facts of mailin voting. Its very important people get them. We appreciate your time. Thanks so much. South korea scrambling to contain a large outbreak contained to a church or tied to a church. Hundreds of churchgoers have tested positive. We have a live report from seoul, next. When we started carvana, they told us that selling cars 100 online wouldnt work. But we went to work. Building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. Creating a coast to Coast Network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. We live in the mountains so i like to walk. Im really busy in my life; im always doing something. Im not a person thats going to sit too long. In the morning, i wake up and the first thing i do is go to my art studio. A couple came up and handed me a brochure on prevagen. Ive been taking prevagen for about four years. I feel a little bit brighter and my mind just feels sharper. I would recommend it to anyone. It absolutely works. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Break overnight, the embattled leader of belarus declaring hell not hold another election, quote, until you kill me. The administration is cracking down on protesters who say last weeks election was rigged. Cnns Frederik Pleitgen is live in the capital of belarus with all the breaking details. Whats the situation on the ground, fred . Hi there, alisyn. The opposition is still making a lot of headway here. Yesterday they had what many say was the largest opposition demonstration in this countrys history getting about 100,000 people onto the streets. Oshl obviously with a message saying they want lukushenko to step down. He tried to hold a rally himself but had to bus in protesters to that rally and it was still a lot smaller. What we have going on today, theres a general strike going on that was called by the opposition. The place that im standing here right now was actually state tv, a normally big propaganda arm of alexander lukeshenkos regime. They want to report truthfully on the protesters going on and also to report on the detentions and that crackdown that have been happening. This walkout was initiated by the camera operators and photo journalists. Its one of many walkouts in all sorts of industries across the country. Lukushenko tried to go to an event today and speak to loyal supporters but even there shouted down by the crowd saying, go away, go away. It seems has position is getting weaker by the minute. Theres fear here on the ground that lukushenko may be try to draw Vladimir Putin into all of this. He was claiming there was some nato buildup at the borders with belarus. There have been some phone calls between puten and lukushenko but it doesnt seem russia has any appetite of doing anything here in belarus. Dangerous rhetoric there. Frederik pleitgen, thank you. Please be careful. Its important to have you there so we can see whats going on. Appreciate it. Developing overnight, south korea reporting nearly 200 new coronavirus cases as the government there scrambles to contain a large new outbreak linked to a church. More than 300 members of one church have now tested positive. Paula hancocks live in seoul with the latest here. People have been told indoor gatherings at places like churches are problematic. Yet, here we go again. Thats right, john. If you feel like we have been here before in south korea, its because we have. Back in february and march, that was how this pandemic really took off here. With thousands related to one religious gathering testing positive. This is another church gathering. Or man 300 tested positive, including the reverend himself. Just a couple of days ago on saturday, that reverend went to an antigovernment protest in downtown seoul where thousands of people have congregated. It had been banned by the police but they went ahead anyway. And he gave a speech to the people there and he was not wearing a mask as he was doing that speech. So clearly there are now concerns as to whether or not he may have infected others at that protest. So with this church itself, Health Officials say that they are still trying to track hundreds of the congregation. More than 1,000 they say, that they havent contacted. At this point theyve got the Police Involved to try and track them down to make sure they get a test and that they quarantine themselves. The Health Minister has said that this has the potential to be massive, if it is not handled correctly. On saturday, the number of new coronavirus cases here in south korea was at a fivemonth high. So there are concerns that this could turn into what we saw a number of months ago at the beginning of this pandemic. Once again, a church being implicated here. John . It is increasing in south korea but still nowhere near the rate or levels were seeing in the United States. Paula hancocks, thank you for being there. Appreciate it. Cnn has a brandnew National Poll on the state of the president ial race. This is on the morning of the first night of the Democratic Convention. The numbers might surprise you. Thats next. Sir. We need a doctor. [running footsteps and siren] youre talking about a first generation american from the streets of the Imperial Valley who rose to beat the odds. She worked nights and weekends till she earned herself a masters degree. She was running in a marathon when a man behind her collapsed from cardiac arrest. And using her experience saved this mans life. So why do i think there should be more people like carmen bravo in this world . Because that man. Was me. An army family who is always at the ready. So when they got a little surprise. Two . They didnt panic. They got a bigger car for their soontobebigger family. After shopping around for insurance, they called usaa who helped find the right coverage for them and even some muchneeded savings. That was the easy part. Usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it easy. Uswheor an overdueesde the to rmakeover. E need it get all your pet essentials right when you need them, with Curbside Pickup at petsmart. And enjoy 15 off when you buy online and pickup in store. New this morning, a brandnew cnn National Poll that shows the 2020 president ial race tightening just ahead of the Democratic National convention which begins tonight. Were now just 78 days away from election day. Joining us now, cnn political commentator karen finney. She was a senior spokesperson for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign and also james mackinnon. A key player in the 2000 and 2004 Republican National conventions. The poll shows the race tightening. What does that tell you, and what does that tell you the democrats and the Biden Campaign need to do in this bizzaro Convention Week . It tells you its not over until its over. This is a huge lifeline for the trump campaign. Its been months and months of bad polling. I think theyre out there printing millions of copies of this and air dropping it over key battleground states. But it also testifies to the importance of the convention because this is a real opportunity. This and the debates are going to be where people really focus on joe biden and his running mate Kamala Harris. And subsequently, the republican convention. So the polls are tightening and the message to the Biden Campaign is dont take anything for granted and run like youre 20 points down no matter what the polls show. They are tied in battleground states. At the moment in this new cnn poll biden has 49 and trump has 48 . Im just wondering, do you think the tightening that were seeing here does mean that President Trump has successfully exploited the unrest that weve seen in places like portland that he has hit so hard as claiming that thats what democrats cause . I dont think we know that from voters. What i do think we know as mark said, though, is it means democrats, some of vus been saying this all along. You cant take anything for granted. And frankly, i was expecting things to tighten up at some point. And hopefully coming out of the convention well get the democrats will get a bounce. Obviously, trump will likely get a bounce coming out of his convention. But the other thing in the poll that was so important was that the enthusiasm was deepening. And that was really important because, you know, at about this time in 2016, you all may remember, we were looking at polls and while hillary was ahead, that enthusiasm, the depth of that enthusiasm was not quite there. And so to see that thats what you really need. People energized and excited and knowing youre going to make a plan to go vote in this period of time. So people know theres an abc News Washington post poll out that shows a tenpoint spread which is much bigger. Theres the nbc news wall street journal poll which shows a bigger spread. Different polls show different things. The cnn poll shows the race tightening. I want to talk about the convention and talk about enthusiasm. Michelle obama speaks tonight. Shes the biggest name who i keep saying take the stage. I think shes take the whatever. Take the living room. I dont know how it works in this thing. But how are you getting the enthusiasm you need to get. What we are going to see from her . Michelle obama knows how to bring down the house. She did it in 2016, as you remember. Some people were hoping shed run on the ticket as the vp. So i think shes going to do a fantastic job and, you know, tonight is about the whole theme of the convention is about unity. And tonight is going to be a we the people and who better than Michelle Obama to start us off and to remind us and reground us. She has such a fantastic ability to reground us into what really matters. And our values and what were fighting for in this moment. And i think theyve done the convention folks have done a really fantastic job of trying to create moments in a way you couldnt, do frankly if we were all in one place. Sorry, milwaukee, because wed love to be there. But they really tried to take advantage and be graetsive with the fact well be in different locations and having speakers use those locations to help tell a story. Mark, i know before this, you were ready to retire the conventions entirely. Thought that perhaps they had outlived their usefulness. Do you think this reimagines them and recharges them, or is this on its way to extinction . Well, you know, i had some responsibility for the conventions in 2000 and 2004, and even then we had discussions about how anok roanistic these things were. The rolling fiveday parties and balloon drops and bad speeches and bad entertainment, particularly on the republican side and then we should reimagine it. Thats exactly whats happening right now. And i think after we see what happens after the next couple of weeks, people are going to say, thank god. At least the virus put the conventions out of our misery and theyll be forever changed in a way thats really positive. So whats going to happen is both the parties are focusing on what matters. The key speeches, key messages and something thats a tv show that people are going to watch and so the but its still a big moment for both parties so they want to maximize it and theyve never done it like this before. Its going to be interesting how both parties execute and who does it best. Im curious, mark and you thought the Kamala Harris rollout last week was odd to have a Vice President ial candidate rolled out with no cheers but i had a different reaction. I worked with diane sawyer who occasionally used to speak softly but youd lean in. Youd lean in and pay much closer attention sometimes because someone is not speaking as loudly. And it had that effect with me when biden and harris were speaking without an audience. You started leaning in more and paying attention. How do you reach people tonight and who do you want to reach . Well, thats a great point, john. And well see how that works out because in actuality, really great speeches are not speeches where people are yelling at a huge Convention Hall but the really good ones are conversations where people draw you in. People like Michelle Obama do that really well and ive got a good roster of speakers. At the end of the day, what people are going to focus on is the ticket, and not all the collateral celebrities and everybody else who is speaking, even though it will be helpful to the democrats to show unity. Thats the theme. And what they want to show is we dont have this internal fight. The progressives are not making over. Its not this battle between left and right. Were all together. And i think theyve done a better job with that than i can remember the democrats doing in many, many years. Mark mckinnon and karen finney. We have Amy Klobuchar and cory booker on the program today. Stick around for that. I used to work with ted koppel. But he doesnt whisper. No, but he has a great voice. The head tilt. When you tilt your head and lean in you he has really great hair. When you lean in you Pay Attention. Cnn has brandnew reporting that iran has paid taliban fighters to target american and Coalition Troops in afghanistan. How will President Trump respond to this . We have details for you in a live report, next. With sofi its possible to get them paid off and start new. Car vending machines and buying a car 100 online. Vented now weve created a brand new way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old, we want to buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our technowizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds. When youre ready, well come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. Thats it. So ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. Verizon knows how to build unlimited right. You start with the network jd power has named the most awarded for Network Quality 25 times in a row. Then, give people more plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need. Verizons unlimited plan is so reasonable, they can stay on for the rest of their lives. Include the best in entertainment and offer it all starting at 35. Plus, 700 off our best phones when you switch. Because everyone deserves the best. The is unlimited built right. Only on verizon. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. We adapt and we change. You know, you just figure it out. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. When i refinanced with sofi, that allowed me to pay off aggressively and save without breaking my back or breaking the bank. We have some breaking news right now. Cnn has just learned an assessment by u. S. Intelligence agencies has found that iran, in addition to russia, also paid bounties to taliban fighters to target u. S. And Coalition Troops in afghanistan. Cnns Alex Marquardt is live in washington with the breaking details. What are you to understand, alex . Good morning. Thats right. Not just russian bounties but iranian bounties on u. S. Forces. Iran has been paying taliban fighters to target american and allied troops in afghanistan in exchange for bounties. That is the phrasing from the pentagon. Last year alone in 2019, u. S. Intelligence identified payments linked to at least six attacks. One of them was a highly sophisticated attack in december at bagram air base. Thats the most prominent u. S. Base in afghanistan. That attack killed two civilians and injured dozens, including four american personnel. It was so sophisticated that u. S. Air strikes had to be called in to kill the taliban attackers. The name of the country that made those payments to the Haqqani Network is a branch of the taliban. But two sources familiar with the intelligence told my colleague zach cohen that it refers to iran. Then the question became how to respond to those bounties on american troops. This past march, after a process that lasted around three months, mu multiple sources told cnn that the decision was made not to take specific action because it could jeopardize the u. S. Peace process with the taliban. This is how one source described that monthslong debate. The object of concern was the relationship between iran and the taliban because it seemed like one that in any other year would have merited pretty concerted action. The overarching element to all of this has been the prioritization of the peace deal with the taliban and even going back to december 2019 was a wellknown priority in terms of what the u. S. Response would be to a potential incentivized attack backed by a foreign government. According to an internal memo cnn obtained, the National Security council did acknowledge the relationship between iran and the Haqqani Network posed a significant threat to u. S. Interest. But responding that the nsc felt would negatively impact those peace efforts. One current and another former Administration Official both tell cnn the link between iran and the taliban was part of the argument for the u. S. Killing of qassam suleimaniny that took place back in january. The fact that iran paid the taliban for that attack at bagram in december, according to a document from the pentagon, they said it probably incentivizes future highprofile attacks on u. S. And coalition forces. In the days that followed that attack in december, u. S. Officials, including secretary of state mike pompeo, they condemned the attack, but the wounded americans were never mentioned nor was iran. Now we should note we heard back from the pentagon from a spokesman. He said in part the administration has repeatedly demanded publicly and privately that iran cease its scourge of malign and destabilizing behavior throughout the middle east and the world and that iran seeks to undermine the afghan Peace Process and foster a continuation of violence and instability. Alisyn . Alex marquardt, thank you very much for that breaking news. New day continues right now. This is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. Dont adjust your set. Yes, john and i are back together in the flesh. Six feet apart. Its great to see you. Dont come any closer. I wouldnt dream of it. Im saying that not just for coronavirus concerns. Dont come any closer. This is