Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20200826

Convention, trump all but erased the longstanding line between official government business and politics. He pardoned a nevada man convicted of bank robbery which has since founded a nonprofit and swore in five new citizens at a naturalization ceremony despite his restrictive stance on immigration. You are now fellow citizens of the greatest nation on the face of gods earth. Congratulations. Reporter after two marines appeared in uniform in that video, a marine corps spokeswoman dismissed concerns that they were being used for political messaging, saying they were only there in their assigned place of duty. The president s chief of staff dismissed concerns that he and top officials were abusing federal offices and property for political gain. Nobody outside of the beltway really cares. They expect that donald trump is going to promote republican values, and they would expect that barack obama when he was in office that he would do the same for democrats. Reporter the evening also featured a rare speech from First Lady Melania Trump who broke with her Husbands Administration by expressing sympathy for those affected by coronavirus. I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know you are not alone. Reporter it was a sharp break from the president s top economic adviser who talked about covid19 as if it was in the past. It was awful. Health and Economic Impacts were tragic. Hardship and heartbreak were everywhere. Reporter coronavirus tests were not required for most guests in the rose garden last night, though an aide says people sitting near the president were tested. Now, jake, the crowd at tonights speech is expected to be the biggest one yet of the convention with well over a hundred people. Though, it will be outside. Its still not clear if theyre going to be testing all of those guests. We were required to be tested before going in tonight. The reporters were at least. But the crowd tonight in that size is going to pale in comparison for what is expected tomorrow night for President Trumps speech. Theyre not just talking as if the pandemic is in the past. Theyre acting as if its in the past. Joining us now, john bolton who of course wrote a blistering insider account. This is the third day of the convention. Based on what youve seen so far, do you think it is effective enough to get President Trump reelected . Well, i think its put him on the road. Thats for sure. We dont really have experience obviously with virtual conventions. But conventions typically give some kind of balance, especially in motivating those who are already supporters. It looks to me like its well produced. And i think theres a Real Advantage to being the incumbent and coming second after the democratic convention. So, i think it clearly is going to help him. In terms of being the incumbent, we have seen some unprecedented destruction of norms during this convention. What seemed blatant violations of the hatch act, which bans federal employees from conducting political purposes, political actions from their government posts, the president of course is exempt from that. But white house staff are on hand as he uses the white house as a backdrop, political prop. He issued a pardon during the convention. He naturalized citizens during the convention. Videos of that. You have secretary of state pompeo playing roles in the convention. Does this bother you . Well, i dont think these are violations of the hatch act. I wrote on that back in the day. I think its unseemly. And i know thats a word you dont normally use about politics in the trump era. But thats what people should focus on. Both parties are guilty of it over time. But its a question of what the American People want. And im worried that this is just part of this conduct and the convention is just part of the destruction of standards. To fight over whether its legal or not i think is a mistake. Its just unseemly. I cant help but think that if a democratic president did this, republicans would be screaming and rioting from a mountain top. Should more of your fellow republicans be speaking out against this . This is now going to be a norm theoretically if biden or some democrat is elected president at some point, whether its november or in the future. They now can accept their renomination from the white house when republicans cant say boo. Its unseemly for both parties. But this is a case of people with short memories. Ill give you an example. The left on the Democratic Party very upset about this. In 1968 i remember it vividly. The secretary of state dean rust testified before the democratic Platform Committee. And the left of the Democratic Party then was all in favor of it because they wanted to rip his lungs out about vietnam war. They didnt get a chance to do it because he got a note saying that soviet troops had crossed the czecho slovak bordeaux. That was a Platform Committee literally a year before i was born. But i hear the point youre making that it has happened to degrees. Rub it in. Go ahead. [ laughter ] secretary pompeo said in his remarks that the president held china accountable on coronavirus, which i think a lot of people have been covering this, found a curious statement because january, february, march, President Trump was not Holding China accountable. In fact, he was listening to president xi instead of his own Health Experts. What did you make of that . Well, its a false statement as is most of the Administration Case on how its handled coronavirus. Theyve made a complete mess of it. And its been a tragedy for americans, those who have died and their families, the economic consequences. To this day, the administration does not have a coronavirus strategy. Now, they may yet get the benefit of it, recent polls apparently show concern with the virus diminishing as a political matter. So they may be able to tough their way through it. But its just one mistake after another. I want to ask you about the fact that the defense departments Inspector General has been called. I dont know if hes going to do it, to investigate whether or not the white house and specifically your replacement, National Security adviser robert obrien, retaliated against Alexander Vindmans twin brother who also served in the white house as an ethics official in the National Security council. He is saying that he was retaliated against. What do you make of it all . Well, ive just seen this in the past hour or so. But my experience with both alex vindman and his brothers were that they were outstanding staffers at the nsc. And i have read the House Democrats letter, which on yev vindmans account quotes two different efficiency reports that his lawyer in the white house that his supervisor in the White House Counsels Office wrote and in the summer of 2019 yev is an outstanding staffer at the nsc. And just a few months later, it looks like he needs remedial reading. That strikes me right there as evidence that either the supervisor wasnt doing his job or that there is retaliation. So i find this a pretty stunning development, and itll be interesting to see what the d. O. D. Inspector general does with it. Because its hot. Theres no doubt about it. At the last minute last night the Republican National convention had to pull a speaker who had tweeted out a link to a deranged antisemitic Conspiracy Theory which referenced the elders of zion, which was a czarist propaganda tool in czarist russia. This isnt the first time that these conspiracy theories have made their way into the Republican Party in recent weeks. We have two different republican congressional nominees, one in georgia, one in florida, who are open conspiracy theorists, whether theyre supporting qanon or theyre selfproclaimed islamophobes. Are you worried about what the Republican Party is becoming under President Trump . Well, im worried about trump. Thats what worries me. I think the Republican Party after this election is going to have a very serious conversation about the direction we want to go in. It will be immediate if trump loses. But its going to happen even if he wins. I wish we just had a figure in the conservative Movement Today like william f. Buckley jr. Who used to be able to enter in these debates and say this is just simply not acceptable for responsible conservatives to believe in. But since there is no philosophy that governs this administration, thats how these extremists creep in. It is disturbing. Ambassador john bolton, thank you so much. The book again the room where it happened. Thank you so much. Coming up, Vice President mike pence is the headliner tonight at the Republican National convention. Coverage begins at 7 00 even. And coming up, how themes of spear in this convention have sparked three nights of anger in wisconsin. Plus, the cdcs suspicion to change its guidance for coronavirus testing. How this may impact you if you need to get tested. Plus, pressure on the cdc that came from the top. Im norm. Im szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. We do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; its important. We walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. Weve both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. After about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didnt notice before. Its still helping me. I still notice a difference. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. So are we. Prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. Thats over 25 million people. With over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of Financial Professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. We make it easy for you with online tools, esignatures, and nomedicalexam life insurance. Plan for better days. Go to prudential. Com or talk to an advisor. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Dont just think about where youre headed this summer. Think about how youll get there. And now that you can lease or buy a new lincoln remotely or in person. Discovering that feeling has never been more effortless. Its the final days of the lincoln summer invitation sales event. Right now, get zero percent apr on all 2020 lincoln vehicles. And were back with the health lead today. A shocking and confusing and suspicious change from the centers for Disease Control and prevention suggesting that a rule take effect that would have fewer people being tested for the coronavirus in the United States, fewer. The exact opposite of what so many Health Experts say is needed in order to identify and isolate the virus in order to save lives. A senior federal Health Official telling cnn that the change is made after the pressure from the top of the trump administration. The cdc is no longer recommending testing for people who do not have symptoms even if they have been in close contact with an infected person. Now, we know that President Trump has been lamenting that so much testing results in higher numbers of cases, a view of the virus that really makes no sense scientifically. Its just political because he thinks it makes him look bad. We test more than anybody by far. And when you test, you create cases. So weve created cases. Youre not creating cases. Taking a test simply reveals an infection. It does not create the infection. Its like saying a pregnancy test is what creates a pregnancy. Its not. And there is no way to sugar coat this. This move to limit testing could theoretically cost lives as a Top Health Expert put it. People without symptoms should be tested because about half of the transmission of coronavirus happens before any symptoms appear. This decision means more infected people theoretically will be walking the streets spreading the virus. This new guidance also comes despite the fact that major labs have been scaling up capacity. Quest diagnostics, for instance, now saying it can handle double the testing it is currently running. But the average number of testing in the u. S. Has dropped. As cnns nick watt reports. Reporter increasing testing on the testing piece. Thats been a mantra, test, trace, isolate, not anymore . The cdc just changed its testing guidance from testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with infection to this. If youve been in close contact but do not have symptoms, you do not necessarily need a test. These are exactly the people who should be tested. I think the cdc really needs to give a much better explanation the entire process of how this was done in the middle of the night with no explanation. It just causes more confusion. Reporter its coming from the top down, one senior federal Health Official tells cnn, from the white house. Our surge testing sites really look for asymptomatic individuals. Were trying to get appropriate testing, not less testing. I think its more likely that this is an intentional effort by the administration to conceal the true extent of transmission in the numbers. Reporter the average number of tests per day in the last month has fallen by 17 . Nationally, the number of new cases is also falling even faster. 20 States Holding steady, 20 more seeing average case counts drop. While were coming down, we know were close to where we need to be. And when people say were coming down, were coming down from a very high peak. Reporter and right now actually recordhigh average case counts in parts of the midwest, iowa, kansas, both dakotas. And yesterday a recordhigh death toll down in mississippi. Dont have parties with 150 to 200 people there. Thats not going to work out well likely for everyone else. Reporter thousands of cases now on College Campuses and hundreds suspended for breaking rules around social gatherings. Montclair state in new jersey just texted students, is the next message you want to get pack your bags and go home . And at in. Krchlt state they just topped 500 cases among the student body. So theyre now going to start moving students out of campus housing. They are going to do it very slowly so they can socially distance as they do it. Finally some good news, moderna, potential vaccine trial phase one, it appears to be safe and also triggers an immune response in every age group including the elderly. Jake . All right, that is good news. I want to bring in cnns chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. And, sanjay, we just learned that the Coronavirus Task force approved these cdc changes to this rule change that dr. Osterholm last hour says he cant understand any Health Reason for it. But you just spoke with dr. Fauci whos on that task force. What did he have to tell you . Well, so this Task Force Meeting where this apparently was discussed was last thursday. I was asking dr. Fauci about this, and he said this im going to read this. He said i was under general anesthesia in the operating room. Last thursday was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding these new testing recommendations. And he went on to say im concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations. Im worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact, it is. So, jake, he wasnt part of the deliberations or discussions. And this is a problem, right . Because admiral giroir was just asked about this. And he said dr. Fauci signed off on this. He wasnt part of these discussions. He was in the operating room for one thing. But also he doesnt agree with this in the sense that he thinks that this may give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic transmission is no big deal. It is a big deal and we can talk about that. But this is worrisome. This is a clear schism, clear difference. We heard one thing from admiral giroir and now were hearing Something Different from dr. Anthony fauci. Giroir has said that hes doing everything he can to get testing up to speed, which is factually not accurate. He also said the guidance changed because of current evidence. Do you have any idea what hes talking about . What evidence . No, we dont. Look, weve been reporting on this for months now so were keeping up with the evidence all the time, talking to sources, looking at preprints, looking at noneven published journal articles, trying to keep up with this evidence. There isnt. In fact, the evidence would suggest the opposite, which is that 50 of the spread roughly, maybe even more according to some data thats coming out now, 50 of that spread comes from asymptomatic people or presymptomatic people, people who dont yet have symptoms. So the idea that you wouldnt test because they dont know that they have the virus and theyre out there potentially spreading it. The idea that you wouldnt test them flies in the face of everything. It flies in the face of what has worked in other countries. If you know one thing from public health, it is test and then trace and then figure out who those close contacts are and test them so that you can actually start to slow down the spread of the virus. This strategy, and ive heard this from numerous people today who have called me. This could potentially worsen the trajectory of this pandemic. More people will get infected, more people will get hospitalized. And more people will die because of a decision like this, and i think thats why people are so concerned. And were trying to figure out why this decision was made. There is obviously this important context, sanjay. President trump, from the very beginning, thought that more people coming into this country remember when he went down to atlanta and spoke at the cdc and there were infected americans on a cruise ship and he didnt want them to come into the United States. He didnt want them to disembark because the numbers would go up. He doesnt like the numbers go up because he thinks it makes him look bad. Thats the context here. He doesnt want testing. He doesnt want it to happen. He thinks it makes him look bad. We do not know that thats the reason that this happened. But we know of no Health Reason why this happened. We know of no Health Reason why this happened. I think what youre suggesting is true. And, look, jake, youve known me for a long time, im a medical sniff scientific reporter. Clearly, you know, this idea of the optics of this driving these decisions seems to be more and more likely whats happening and its dangerous. And its the flip side as well. Over the weekend there was an emergency use authorization made for convalescent plasma without adequate data despite the fact just a few days earlier that said were not going to do this because of lack of data. They just changed on a dime over the weekend. The fda commissioner who i spoke to about this sort of presented this in a way that was not correct. He said that 35 out of 100 will survive as a result of this therapy. Thats not correct. There was not the data and what little data was there was not correctly presented. These two things that have happened, jake, just within the last couple of days. They dont make sense. Theres no evidence to back them up. And im worried. I think that these are dangerous decisions getting made and we dont know exactly whats driving it. But its seemingly more and more not coming from science. And we have already seen in this pandemic, decisions made that are rooted in politics and not health, not medicine, have cost americans their lives. Dr. Sanjay gupta, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Breaking news, according to the nba, the mill baukie bucks are boycotting their scheduled game this afternoon . Why . Well tell you why. Thats next. Tempurpedics mission is to give you truly transformative sleep. So, no more tossing and turning. Because only tempurpedics proprietary material adapts and responds to your body so you get deep, uninterrupted sleep. Take advantage of our best offer of the year, with savings up to 500. Robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Where Everybody Knows someyour name ant to go and theyre always glad you came applebees. Now thats eating good in the neighborhood. Where you can find games, news and highlights. All in one place, right on your tv. The xfinity sports zone. Use your voice to search every stat and score. Follow the teams you love. And, even get notifications with breaking news alerts and more. With the xfinity sports zone everybody wins. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Say xfinity sports zone into your voice remote today. Breaking news now. Nba television has Just Announced that the Milwaukee Bucks are boycotting the nba playoff game that is scheduled to happen right now. This coming after the Police Shooting of jacob blake in wisconsin. The Orlando Magic came out for the game, but the bucks remained in their locker room. They did not come out to the court for the game. Lets get to sports analyst christine brennan. What message does it send for the players to decide as a team that theyre boycotting the game . Reporter jake, it sends an incredibly powerful message from the nba about how serious their players and coaches are about the shooting of jacob blake. Obviously Milwaukee Bucks, kenosha, wisconsin, proximity there of course cannot be denied. Theyre looking out for their community. Theyre looking out for people of color. The continuation of the shooting of unarmed black men is something that nba players far and wide have been speaking out about. Lebron james, you name it, people are sick and tired of seeing this. Doc rivers, coach of the l. A. Lakers talked yesterday at his press conference. All put together, this is the nba doing what the nba does best. And that is speak with one voice for a culture that needs a voice. And i think that is exactly what were seeing here today. Do you expect to see other nba teams follow suit . I do. What im seeing just some quick reporting that ive been trying to do, jake, is that there are real conversations here about what every other team is going to do. As i understand it, the Orlando Magic, also that was the team that the Milwaukee Bucks were playing, that im seeing the wording say, and i have not confirmed this 100 but that both orlando and milwaukee decided not to play. We need to check on that. But what that would indicate, if true, is that or the Orlando Magic decided to join the Milwaukee Bucks. And i think that is a sign, and no surprise to me thats a sign exactly how the nba would want to do this. I wunz be behind tsurprised if they are looking at the big picture, looking at the concern from this league in particular about the shooting of unarmed black men in this country and saying maybe we need to look at this as a big picture and maybe have to make some decisions about more than just this one game. And this also happens during the Republican National convention. Were told the Vice President pence who is expected to speak this evening accepting his nomination renomination as Vice President at fort mchenry, baltimore, were told that he was going to talk about the players who kneel during the National Anthem at nfl games, they do that to protest Police Violence to protest the kinds of things that were talking about here. But this is a bigger statement than kneeling before the National Anthem, although thats obviously a very significant statement and has cost Colin Kaepernick his career and more. This is boycotting a game, a playoff game, no less. Exactly. It is a huge statement. The nba, once again, leading the conversation. They did it back on march 11th, jake, when the nba was the first really big entity to shut down leading into the pandemic, and of course our national shutdown. The nba leads in so many ways. And doc rivers, the coach of the l. A. Clippers, a longtime great in the nba i think said it best. He said we keep loving this country even though it doesnt love us. And he talked about the Republican Convention. He brought that up. This is again an nba head coach saying were hearing this talk about fear at our Republican Convention in our suburbs. He brought up the fact that this just doesnt coincide with what they are thinking in the nba and what we are seeing on the streets, in this case in kenosha, very close to milwaukee. So, absolutely, this is linked, politics, sports, and the nba right in the middle of it once again in a very powerful way. Thank you so much. Cnns sara sidner is live for us from kenosha, wisconsin. Sara, this is a strong message from the Milwaukee Bucks. This is all happening of course because of whats going on where you are. Nba coach doc rivers had strong words as you heard from christine brennan. Republicans of course repeating themes of fear at their convention. Heres the coach of the l. A. Clippers. Take a listen. Looks like we dont have that sound bite ready. Tell us first of all where youre standing right now with that destruction behind you. Reporter so, this was part of the department of corrections here, a Parole Office here in kenosha burned to the ground. There are other buildings around us that were also burned to the ground. We should mention, you know, this was part of the reaction from the shooting of jacob blake, the 29yearold father who was headed to his car, got into a tussle with police, and then headed around to his car trying to get into his car, and an officer shoots him seven times in the back leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. His family has been adamant that the protests that happened in his name be peaceful protests. But that is just not what has happened overnight. There have been several incidents where not only are sort of protesters and police going back and forth. But there have been two people killed, and one person very badly injured in a shooting incident. We now know that a 17yearold young man has been arrested. And that 17yearold came in from out of town because the Antioch Police Department Says that he is an antioch resident. Where is antioch . Its about 13 miles from here in kenosha, wisconsin, in illinois. And so for whatever reason, he showed up here and ended up, according to police, shooting and killing someone. We have seen two horrific incidents that were captured on camera by people in the crowds by livestreamers, botty folks w are just out there protesting, one of which a man is shot in the head, which is extremely disturbing and another of which someone is shot and then another person is shot in the arm. And we see someone walking down the street with a huge long gun across his chest holding his hands up towards police. Police never arrested that man, but now a 17yearold is under arrest from about 13 miles from here in antioch. And, sara, the Milwaukee Bucks, as im sure your, they are supposed to be playing a playoff game about now. But they have refused to come out of their locker room. They are protesting because of the shooting of jacob blake in their home state, wisconsin, which milwaukee is not far from kenosha. Reporter yeah. This is a huge statement. In reaction to what happened to jacob blake, in reaction to what is happening here in kenosha, it is an incredibly big statement for an nba team. And were seeing this more and more. Were seeing people wearing the shirts of people who have been shot and killed by police, black people to be specific, who have been shot and killed by police, whether it is Breonna Taylor or george floyd. And now in this scenario you have a 29yearold dad who, by the way, survived this and who is fighting in the hospital with many different injuries but is expected to survive. But the video itself has stirred so many emotions in people because they are seeing this happen, in their minds, time after time after time, and that it doesnt seem to be letting up, and because there was really a vacuum of information from police. We did not hear from any investigative authority. We didnt hear from the state police. We didnt hear from the sheriff. We didnt hear from the police here in kenosha for several days. And so it left a vacuum of information. A lot of people not understanding, you know, what the circumstances of all of this was, not what happened before jacob blake was shot seven times in the back. And so there is a lot of consternation here about that as well, although we do understand that the way that the laws work here is that the local police are not allowed to investigate themselves. That goes to the state department of justice. But there really has been a vacuum of information. And filling that void, filling that vacuum is a lot of rumors, a lot of people getting upset about a lot of different things. And certainly people out in the streets demanding not only answers but justice, as they see it. This was an absolutely unnecessary and horrific shooting of jacob blake. We have not heard what police are saying or we have not heard their side, if you will, of the story. And so there are a lot of folks who are worried that this is going to escalate and escalate and escalate, especially since we are now seeing people coming to town, standing outside of businesses saying they are only here to protect the businesses. They are strapped with weapons. It just is a recipe for an explosion of potential violence. We saw that happen and unfold last night. Jake . Sara sidner, stay with us. I want to go back to christine brennan. One of the things that im struck by is this year has been marked in so many ways by the nba. One of the ways that the nation first sat up and realized how serious the coronavirus pandemic was after an nba game was canceled on march 11th, i believe. That was a moment, it was the same day that tom hanks and rita wilson were announced of being diagnosed with coronavirus. And now we have this moment of civil disobedience by the Milwaukee Bucks and possibly others, protesting the shooting of jacob blake. It really seems quite remarkable. It does, jake. And that march 11th date, i think there will be many books written on how the nba basically was the north star for so many of us because when the nba said were suspending operations, that everything followed within a day or two the dominoes fell and the entire nation was shut down. I also think were seeing something absolutely extraordinary here. Sara described it as well, of athletes, theyre millionaires. They make so much money, they play a game, theyre lucky in many ways. And the nba players, unlike some of their counterparts in other leagues, they act like they know that. And they act like they get it. And we are seeing something that rarely happens, which is players actively saying were not going to play, taking themselves out of the thing they love the most, and of course its the playoffs in the nba bubble. We see this with the thirts that theyre all wearing. Weve seen black lives matter especially in basketball and the wnba. This is a moment really of sacrifice for these players. Theyre making lots of money, they will continue to make lots of money. But theyre giving up something that we will rarely see a player give up. Im wracking my brain to think of sandy colfax not pitching because of religion reasons. But its incredibly rare. More often we see a selfishness among many people including athletes. This is not the case here. We are seeing the nba stand up in a remarkable way that will once again be part of this incredible narrative of 2020. Stay with us. I want to bring in bob costas, the legend sportscaster. Bob, i have not seen anything like this in my life of an nba team boycotting as a way of civil disobedience, as a way of protest, the Milwaukee Bucks saying that theyre not going to say. I believe that there are other playoff games that are going to take place this evening but not them. Put this in some sort of historical perspective, if you would. Yeah, jake, i have not seen anything exactly comparable to this. There have been gestures. Im old enough to remember when tommy smith and john carlos raised their fist at the mexico city olympics in 1968. Of course, muhammad ali not in a team sport gave up three plus years of his career, and that was remarkable and remains at the top of the pyramid in this respect. There have been concerted efforts by athletes at various times. But never anything that is comparable to this. Colin kaepernick and others kneeling, yes, black lives matter on the court at all the nba playoff games, yes. The Detroit Lions yesterday not practicing, which was a significant statement. But in this case youre talking about a game, and a playoff game at that. And i dont know if others will follow, but obviously its appropriate as christine mentioned a moment ago its appropriate that the Milwaukee Bucks lead the way. Because if you live in kenosha, wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks are your nba team. Obviously sports leagues and the nba in particular have been a place where players are speaking their minds standing up for what they believe. This is obviously a stark example of civil disobedience and protest. Is it hurting the nba with any fans who dont want politics in their professional athletics . I think theres no question that its hurting the nba in that respect. But that doesnt mean that its wrong. And i think that adam silver, who like his predecessor david stern has always been a forwardlooking commissioner. Hes got something to balance here. But i think his basic sympathies are with the players in this situation. And, bob, were told now cnn is learning, and its a possibility it has not been 100 confirmed, that its possible that all playoff games are going to be canceled this evening. Does that surprise you, or is that exactly what you thought might happen with the Milwaukee Bucks taking the lead . No, it doesnt surprise me. I guess theres a distinction here if were just thinking about it from a basketball standpoint, a distinction between cancelled and postponed. They could make these games up. I dont think it makes any difference. If they make the games up, the statement has still been made. Then adam silver has got to figure out a way to navigate this so that, yes, we can continue to play after this, but we have made a very, very strong statement by postponing all the games today. And one of the things i think works in adam silvers favor. This is not a criticism of the other commissioners. There are different dynamics at work in every sport. But i think its safe to say that the relationship between the Commissioners Office and the players in the nba is the most healthy and the most cooperative, not that there arent some disputes and disagreements, but the most healthy of any of the four mens team sports that we follow in north america. Weve also seen some protests being permitted at nfl games. Not so much with major league baseball. What is the reason behind that, do you think . I think there might be multiple reasons. The nfl is some 70 africanamerican. The predominant number of players in the nba the same. Baseball has many, many players of color, especially if you consider hispanic players who are a very significant part of baseballs playing population. But it is not primarily a sport of players of color. Does that have something to do with it . Youd have to think it does. That doesnt mean that there arent some very sympathetic players there, sympathetic to this can you see. And there were people who knelt during the National Anthem at the beginning of the resumption of the baseball season. But i would think that thats the primary reason that you havent seen it as much in baseball as in football and in basketball. And im old enough to remember, bob, im not old enough to remember the 1968 olympics, but i am old enough to remember when Michael Jordan was pressured, guilted for not being more politically active when he was a star player for not being more outspoken in support of harvey gant who was running against a racist incumbent jessie helms. Either way it has really been a sea change. A couple of things just in fairness to Michael Jordan. He says that he said that on the bulls team bus after a practice one day. And he has recently committed 100 million of his own money over ten years to social justice causes. And i dont think that any individual needs to be pressured into doing something that is outside his or her beliefs or what theyre most comfortable with or that they feel most equipped to do. So im not critical of Michael Jordan for what he didnt do when he was a player, except in that one instance. And i said this before. I said it 20 years ago. Jessie helms was a blatant racist. Harvey gant wasnt just an africanamerican man running against. This was a stark moral question and Michael Jordan sat that one out. Yeah. I dont mean to shame Michael Jordan of whom i am a tremendous fan. I just mean the times have changed. Thats more of what i mean. That was the 1980s. And it wasnt as though dr. Jay and Magic Johnson were running around endorsing progressive causes at the time. Really very few people were. Muhammad ali was the exception. Im just saying its so widespread today that the culture has changed. Yeah. The situation has reached critical mass. And i know people will get on me or us for saying this, but you can not have a more stark contrast with this happening during the week of the Republican Convention, and most of those voices there standing not just in sympathy with. You dont have to agree with the rioting. You dont have to agree with every assertion made by every nba player or every person who is in sympathy with the cause of black lives matter. There are legitimate disagreements there. But so many of the voices at the Republican National convention stand in stark opposition and cannot even bring themselves to express basic sympathy with the overall issue, not just to say, oh, yeah, there are oneoffs and there are exceptions, no, theres a systemic problem here, and it resonates all the more because it has such historical antecedents. If you cant acknowledge that no matter where you fall, generally speaking, on the political spectrum, i think history has long since left you behind. If youre just joining us, were following breaking news. The Milwaukee Bucks have announced they are boycotting their playoff game in the nba that was supposed to be happening right now. Theyre doing this because of the shooting by a white Police Officer or Police Officers of jacob blake. Weve also just learned that all nba games tonight are being postponed in the wake of the Police Shooting of jacob blake. Joining me now to discuss cnn senior political reporter niamalika henderson and cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein. Nia, this is a huge moment and its coming just hours before Vice President pence, who has made an issue, a political issue of opposing those nfl players, those Football Players who take a knee during the National Anthem so as to protest Police Brutality and racial inequity. I remember him going to a colts game and storming out angrily because he didnt like that the colts, some of them had taken a knee. I believe it was the colts. And he was going to, i think, address this, the taking a knee issue in his speech tonight. Here we have the nba taking one huge step forward. A huge, huge step forward. And if you remember even as there were discussions about the nba restarting during, you know, after canceling many games because of covid, there was some discussion among some players about not even wanting to have a season because of what was going on in the country because of this social justice protest movement that sprang up this past summer. In some ways you find this as an outgrowth of the frustrations that many of these players have had. And you do have this sea change. We talked about this. This isnt the era of Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson anymore. Its more like the era of muhammad ali, people like lebron james, very, very active, not caring about the bottom line, not caring about maybe alienating some of these white fans who dont like this kind of thing necessarily. But what a huge, huge move for the nba to send this signal and really put the focus on what needs to be focused on, which is this Police Brutality problem in this country that has existed for decades and decades and decades with black people prevailing on white people to Pay Attention to it. Right, if you go back to Martin Luther kings speech, he talks about Police Brutality on his march on washington speech. Nobody really likes to talk about that. They talk about sort of the platitudes from that speech. So this is them saying this can not be ignored and that white people need to sort of be shaken up to focus on this problem that is making black people all throughout this country fear the police and really upset about the racial inequity in this country. And, ron, i think it was 2015, Hillary Clinton was in missouri and she was asked, i think it watt first time she had ever heard the term black lives matter. And i dont mean to denigrate secretary clintons response because it really wasnt part of the conversation, but she said all lives matter as a response. She thought that that was a helpful thing to say. Obviously, it is not perceived as being a helpful thing to say. Flash forward to 2020. The murder of george floyd, and you actually have the 2012 republican nominee mitt romney marching with black lives matter protesters and saying black lives matter. Again, a huge cultural change in the United States of america. And a cultural change that has moved the center of gravity in the country further away from the republican coalition. I think we see that political backdrop very clearly these last two weeks. I thought last week democrats talking about systemic racism more only, explicitly and repeatedly than i at least have ever heard about. And ive been at every Convention Since 1984. And now you have a Republican Convention who is focused on portraying the protesters as, quote, a mob who is coming to get suburban white families in their home. I did think, however, that we really saw the first crack in the armor from President Trump because all the effort that went into last night trying to however implausibly rewrite his history and say that he is a friend now of immigrants and africanamericans and women, i think it was an implicit acknowledgment for the first time that i can remember that his strategy is stirring cultural and racial grievance by itself might not be enough to win and that he has to convince a certain segment of voters that he is not a sexist, not a racist, not a xenophobe, to the change in Public Attitudes that youre describing. But real quickly, 80 of republicans still say Police Shootings of unarmed africanamerican men i believe there are studies suggesting that if you are a black man, you are two to three times more likely to be shot than a white man. I would have to check on that, but i believe thats the case. And nia, lets talk for a second about what the bucks are doing here. Because one of the things thats interesting is in addition to these horrific Police Shootings of unarmed black men, there has also been peaceful protests, and there has also been violent protests. And today Vice President biden issued a statement that he tweeted out, his campaign tweeted out in which he talked about talking with the family of jacob blake. He talked about the importance of stopping this problem. But he also condemned the violence taking place in kenosha, the destruction of property, the destruction of stores, et cetera, by protesters. Weve also heard jacob blakes family say similar things. Whats interesting to me is what the bucks just did refocuses the attention back on jacob blake in a way and away from the violence by protesters in kenosha. I think thats right. Because today you heard i think it was john kasich come out and say the democrats really need to condemn the violence. And by and large, democrats have condemned the violence. You see biden doing it to Keisha Lance Bottoms when there was violence going on in atlanta. The bucks doing this now says takes the focus off that violence and it puts it back on where the protesters, 99 of them, 90 whatever figure you want to say of where they want this, which is on the systemic racism that exists in this country. And specifically when it comes to these Police Departments who often times when they see a black body, whether it be a man or a woman, they react in a way that they wouldnt react to a white person engaged in similar behavior. So, i think the bucks have done something extraordinary. It looks like other teams are doing this. And well see if this kind of goes into other different segments of the country and other different leagues going forward. But an extraordinary move from the nba. And i think this is due to adam silver and also some of these big, big superstars in the league who have just had enough and want to use their platform to move the country forward. And its personal to them. They feel like it could happen to them or their loved ones or their sons or their friends. Niamalika henderson, ron brownstein, thank you so much. We are also of course following breaking news in our national lead. Some areas of Coastal Louisiana are already under floodwaters as hurricane laura approaches the gulf coast. This as the governor of louisiana John Bel Edwards warns residents of the impending and possible deadly storm surge. Youre going to hear ranges of storm surge that we havent heard in louisiana since hurricane audrey in 1957. Youre going to hear the word unsurvivable. To describe the storm surge that we are expecting. And thats not just that was the National Hurricane center who used the word sor unsurvivable. I have never heard the word unsurvivable used so only as a warning. What more are you learning about this dangerous storm surge . I dont remember the last time we heard that either. Weve heard lifethreatening. But unsurvivable is one you should take seriously. This is going to be an event where the storm surge is, by all means, going to be lifethreatening. When youre talking about 20 feet of storm surge in. This part of the gulf coast, louisiana in particular is extremely vulnerable. Its very low lying. We could have water all the way up to i10 easily 30 miles from the coast. And so you are talking about total inundation when you hear 20 feet of storm surge. We already have three and four feet of storm surge on the coast. And this is still 150 miles from the coast. So, 145mileperhour winds, gust of 175. This is a dangerous category 4 storm. And what i fear is this could strengthen even more. It has time to become a strong category 4 or even a category 5 before making landfall. I would actually not be surprised if that were the case. It is moving to the northwest at 15 Miles Per Hour now. Heres the radar. Weve already had some rain come on shore. Weve had tornado warnings. Of course thats always a concern when you have these storms come on shore. So we are going to be talking about the flooding. But i think the bigger issue with this storm most definitely is going to be the wind, but also that storm surge that we cannot ignore. Already seeing more than three feet of storm surge. More than 4 feet, and like i mentioned, the storm is still 150 miles from the coast, 15 to 20 feet of storm surge right here in cameron parish. Cameron is already reporting rain. Weve already had a rapid water rise along the coast there, jake. So it is going to be something to watch overnight. Jennifer gray, thank you so much. And if you are currently in the path of the storm and youre watching this, please turn off the tv and get the hell out of there, get to safety. Join us tonight for cnn special coverage of the Republican National convention. You can follow me on facebook, instagram and twitter jaketapper. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were following multiple breaking stories this hour including the arrest of a 17yearold male whos now been charged in a shooting that killed two people during protests last night in kenosha, wisconsin. Police say his motive is unclear. Another curfew in the city goes into effect in just