Trump Accuses Portland Mayor of Weakness Amid Protests; Trump Stokes Law and Order Fears Ahead of Election; Kushner Will Be on Historic Flight Between Israel and UAE; Portland Mayor Blames Trump for Violent Protests
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A deadly shooting on the streets of Portland gets political. The mayor blasts President Trump for inciting violence in his city. Protests in Wisconsin, as well, where the governor is urging the president to stay out of his state for now, as Joe Biden prepares to ask voters, are you safe in Donald Trump's America? Plus, the FDA is reportedly considering fast-tracking a coronavirus vaccine before a critical step. That has many medical experts concerned. Welcome to you, our viewers around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, and this is CNN NEWSROOM. The mayor of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon is laying the blame for recent violence squarely at the feet of U.S. President Donald Trump. And there are concerns the city could see more in the hours ahead. This was the scene on Saturday. Trump supporters, riding through downtown Portland, some firing paintballs at Black Lives Matter activists. "The New York Times" says protesters threw objects back at them. While these clashes were happening, one person was shot dead. A warning: in the video we're about to show you, you hear gunshots, which may be disturbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Go!</s>BRUNHUBER: "The Times" says the victim was wearing a hat with the insignia of a far-right group, so police are saying little about the killing. Protests have been going on in Portland all summer. President Trump is accusing Mayor Ted Wheeler of being weak. Here's how Wheeler responded on Sunday.</s>MAYOR TED WHEELER (D), PORTLAND, OREGON: For four years, we've had to live with you and your racist attacks on black people. Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence? It's you who have created the hate and the division. It's you who have not found a way to say the names of black people killed by police officers, even as people in law enforcement have. And it's you who claim that white supremacists are good people. Your campaign of fear is as anti-Democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country. You've tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history. And now, you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped.</s>BRUNHUBER: And the president reacted in real time with a series of tweets, calling Wheeler, a host of insulting names. Well, CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell joins me live from Portland on the phone. First of all, Josh, what -- what more do we know about the shooting and the group to which the victim belonged?</s>JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, Kim, there are still a lot of details that police are not yet releasing at this hour. We talked to the police chief here in Portland just a couple hours ago, and asked the questions about the latest. Where is the investigation? And he said that it's very much in the early stages right now. They are still gathering information. They are still asking the public, anyone who may have been in and around, the area where this gunshot victim was killed to provide that information to law enforcement. We do know, based on our colleagues at "The New York Times," they are reporting that the deceased individual, again, as we've been mentioning, had a hat on, a cap, with the insignia of a far-right group. And so the question now for law enforcement and elected officials here in the city of Portland is if this person was, indeed, a pro-Trump supporter, one of these far-right groups that -- members that came here to the city, trying to engage protesters. With this person now shot dead, they're worried, tonight, that there could be additional violence on the street, especially if there is an influx of group members coming into the city, trying to seek revenge. That is something that is very concerning officials here. For over 90 nights, there has been protests here in the city of Portland by groups that have been calling for racial justice, that have been calling for an end to police brutality. And in the evening hours, some of those protests have turned violent. And just last night, we saw those clashes between violent protesters and hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump, who came in in a caravan into the city in order to, you know, counter-protest. That leading to encounters and violence, and several arrests. And again, one person shot dead. So the investigation into that continues, but for authorities, the larger issue is not just that one incident, but also, they're very much being worried about a repeat tonight of additional violence on the streets of Portland.</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's exactly it. I mean, so far, things seem quiet. But law enforcement, preparing, as you say, for the threat of violence. Do you know what exactly they've been doing in order to -- to potentially head off confrontations, if anything?</s>CAMPBELL: You know, we asked earlier, the police chief. I asked them directly at a press conference, what is the plan tonight? What are you going to do to try to stop the violence that we've seen? And I have to tell you, the answer left a lot of eyebrows raised in that room. Because what he said, in response to that question was, Well, I don't know. I haven't met yet today with my team, the incident commanders. And so, he was not prepared to offer, publicly, what the plan will be tonight to secure the city. And the reason why that's troubling is not only because we just had an evening of violence, but even authorities have mentioned that they've seen on social media indications that there may be far-right groups coming into the city tonight, again, trying to seek retribution for the death of one of their group members. So the idea that the police would not have, right now, a plan in place to try to surge resources is obviously very troubling. And then you look at, again, the past nearly three months of, night after night of violence in the city of Portland, to be sitting her, now, three months later, rather, still with no plan with how to secure the city, doesn't give people in the city we talked to, residents, a lot of hope that authorities will be able to quell the violence.</s>BRUNHUBER: It is shocking. Hopefully, things will stay peaceful. Thank you so much, Josh Campbell, in Portland. We appreciate it. And for more now on this, I'm joined by journalist Sergio Olmos. Thank you very much for speaking with me. So given the violence last night, given the, you know, two groups and authorities could collide again, one of those groups possibly seeking revenge, do you have any sense of how on edge people are there now?</s>SERGIO OLMOS, JOURNALIST: Most of the city is not on edge. In terms of protesters, and yes, there is some tension about -- because there is chatter with certain, you know, right-wing pages about retribution tonight. But I want to make clear, you know, what the -- what the police chief was saying today was about staffing, you know, large, planned rallies, like the one on Saturday and the one Saturday before that. In terms of the nightly Black Lives Matter protests, there is -- there is 42 (ph) of officers staffed for those. And like, tonight, there's going to be police officer staffed at Laurelhurst Park where the, you know, Black Lives Matter protesters are gathering right now.</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes, I guess, I mean, we know, there's always a police presence. But given what happened yesterday, we were expecting, perhaps, details about an enhanced presence or special considerations, given that we could see more violence. I wanted to ask you, there's also a lot of anger over accusations that police enabled those caravans and the vigilantes. What are -- what are you hearing on that?</s>OLMOS: Yes, so to answer both those concerns, they're actually the same, which is the police have been staffing, for 94 days now, officers at night to handle the Black Lives Matter protesters. And they have 42 officers, the rapid response team, and then another 30 to create a mobile field force for arrests and stuff like that. And those are polled from, you know, patrol units and stuff like that. And what they're -- what the police chief is saying, you know, at these press conferences, is look, we can't do that at night and have those officers go, like, in the middle of the day to another rally. Like, they have to sleep, right? They have to, like, do the shift the next night. And so we just don't have enough officers to staff rallies at night, and at the daytime. And because of that, the ones planned by the conservative sides are left open, and you know, for now two weeks, we've had consecutive violent rallies. So that's the issue that's going on right now. Critics will say, you know, why does the police choose to assign more bodies to the Black Lives Matter protests. You know, the police chief will say, We need more police officers.</s>BRUNHUBER: Wondering whether the -- the war of words between the president and the mayor has, or will, exacerbate the tensions there. I'm also wondering, on a sort of larger question, I guess, are the protesters aware how happily President Trump is sort of sailing in the political headwinds they're creating there?</s>OLMOS: Yes, so you know, the mayor is leaning into that conversation with the president. And in terms of the protesters here, they -- the mood is not -- like, Donald Trump, the president, is not talked about very often. The protests here have been largely against this local police force and kind of errors they've committed in the past. They do, you know, when federal agents were here for about two weeks and it was, you know, a scene outside the federal courthouse, they were definitely, you know, focused on the federal agents. But the president is kind of a secondary issue here. They really do want local, like, city council people to defund this police department. The election is kind of a secondary issue to them. But if you listen to the mayor, you know, it is a fight for democracy. He's choosing to engage with this in terms of -- of federal overreach, and so that's kind of where he wants to have that conversation. Locally, they're more focused on the police department here.</s>BRUNHUBER: And his response may be predicated by local politics there, as well, facing a challenger himself, and he certainly wants to be seen as an opponent of Donald Trump. Is that accurate?</s>OLMOS: Yes, yes. Definitely. I mean, this is a very liberal city, and there's not a lot of Trump supporters here. He definitely is saying something that a lot of people will say, which is, you know, they don't like what the president is saying about Portland. But I think outside of Portland, you know, that probably gets more nods. Inside of Portland, there's a lot more sense of we weren't having that conversation. We were arguing against you and your police force. You know, he's also police commissioner. So I think what you're seeing with that press conference, him talking about the president, to a lot of viewers here, it felt like he was ignoring the criticisms laid at him and directing his ire towards somebody that, you know, most people have kind of written off anyway.</s>BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Well, we really appreciate your local insights, Sergio Olmos in Portland. Thank you.</s>OLMOS: Thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: Well, as we mentioned, Mr. Trump isn't letting the Portland mayor's remarks go unchallenged. In one of several stinging tweets, the president says, "Ted Wheeler, the wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor of Portland, who has watched great death and destruction of his City during his tenure, thinks this lawless situation should go on forever. Wrong! Portland will never recover with a full for a Mayor." Well, on Tuesday, the president will travel to another hot spot where racial tensions are high. He's scheduled to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, to meet with law enforcement. He'll also survey the damage from the protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. But the state's governor is pleading with President Trump to reconsider the trip, and Wisconsin's lieutenant governor says the president's divisive rhetoric won't be helpful.</s>MANDELA BARNES (D), WISCONSIN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: You look at the incendiary remarks that the president has made, they centered an entire convention around creating more animosity and creating more division around what's going on in Kenosha. So I don't know how, given any of the previous statements that the president made, that he intends to come here to be helpful. And we absolutely don't need that right now.</s>BRUNHUBER: Still, the White House says the president's Kenosha visit will happen as scheduled. So while Donald Trump prepares for that trip, his challenger in the upcoming election, Joe Biden, will be in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday. his campaign says he'll ask voters a crucial question they'll face this November. Are you safe in Donald Trump's America?</s>BRUNHUBER: Ryan Lizza is a CNN senior political analyst and chief correspondent for Politico, and he joins me now from Washington. Thanks so much for speaking with us today. I want to start with President Trump's response to the violence in Portland and to the city's mayor. Clearly, both are useful foils for his law-and-order campaign. Do you think the violence and chaos will help his reelection bid in the sense that it will not just activate those, you know, Republican America is under siege but also help win back those white suburban voters?</s>RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I think all year, that dynamic has been what he has been wishing for, and frankly, pushing for. Kellyanne Conway, his senior adviser, the other day kind of said the quiet part out loud when she said that the more violence and chaos there is, the better -- I'm paraphrasing -- it is for Trump electorally. I can't remember any time in modern American politics where a presidential campaign was hoping for violence and a spike in crime as a -- as a positive electoral force for them. What's odd about this is he's the incumbent president, so you would think that the more chaotic things are, the more people would turn against him and look for the alternative, which is what his opponent will argue. That being said, I think there is something to the fact that some of these protests, when they turn violent, they can potentially have the effect of turning off some of the voters that Joe Biden is relying on, and some of the voters that frankly, up until now, have been very, very supportive of the anti-racism protests in the United States. That's been the big dynamic this year, is that a lot of these white suburban voters that we're all talking about, the kind of swing vote in this election. Most of this year, they have been highly pro-protest. And some Democrats, as your question kind of alludes to, are a little concerned that that dynamic could change. I think it's too early to say that yet, but that is the fight now between Biden and Trump, is who can take political advantage over this chaotic situation. And I know that's kind of crude to put it that way, but that is what we're seeing.</s>BRUNHUBER: So -- so you think it might cut both ways, then, as you know, Biden tries to say, well, you know, this is, you know, Trump's America. I want to ask you --</s>LIZZA: Yes. That's exactly it.</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes. Despite, you know, Donald Trump's racially-divisive rhetoric and his general reluctance to criticize the actions of white supremacists, you've written recently that the appeal to black voters that we saw during the Republican convention isn't as odd as it seemed to many pundits. Can you explain this?</s>LIZZA: Well, you know, there are some Democratic analysts that will point to 2016, when Hillary Clinton did not do as well as Barack Obama did with African-American voters, and to some evidence from some key states in 2018; and then a third data point is some of the polling this year showing Trump being surprisingly -- I wouldn't say strong with African-American voters, but better than one would expect, given his policies and rhetoric. Now the argument against that is well, Barack Obama was the first black president. You probably can't compare Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's black support. It's -- it's natural that it went down a little. But I think it's something to watch. And I don't think the Trump campaign is completely insane with their outreach to black voters. We're only talking for a potential of, you know, what, one to two to three to four points, but that could be decisive in some of these swing states, if it works. Remember, the last election was decided by 70,000 votes in three states. So, you know, a little bit of support on the margins for black voters could -- could be very meaningful for Trump. In other advanced democracies, you know, it's very unusual to have one ethnic or racial group that votes, you know, 85, 90 percent for one party. So it's not -- you know, eventually in American politics, there will probably be some more diversity in some of the -- in the -- in the black vote. And that's what some Democratic analysts are pointing to. I will tell you this is a very controversial debate among Democrats.</s>BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Well, it's something that we'll be watching for in the -- the coming days as we head toward the election. Thank you so much, Ryan Lizza. Appreciate it.</s>LIZZA: Thank you, Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. So we have Mr. Trump portraying himself as the law-and-order president at home, and the consummate dealmaker overseas. Oren Liebermann has details of a historic flight scheduled in a few hours, and the agreement that some are hailing as a rare foreign policy win for the president.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot going into this flight, and it's not just the people on it but the build up around it, and what's been billed by the United States as the first ever direct commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The flight number itself, El Al Flight 971. That's the telephone country code of the UAE. The return flight is El Al 972, the country code of Israel. The words "peace" are written on the side of the airplane just over the pilot's window in Hebrew, English and Arabic, and both sides are hyping this as a major accomplishment, not only for the Middle East but, of course, for the Trump administration and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [00:20:12 Israel Pilots Association says the flight plan is to take the plane directly over Saudi Arabia before landing in Abu Dhabi. That would be the first time ever that an Israeli commercial aircraft flew over the Arabian Peninsula, though as of Sunday night, the pilots' association says that hasn't been finally approved by the Saudis and, at this point, at least it could change. As for the delegation itself, led by President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, it was given the royal treatment or, in this case, the head of state treatment. Kushner spoke by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the prime minister's official residence, alongside national security adviser Robert O'Brien. When Kushner spoke, he talked about not only the accomplishments of the Trump administration as it relates to Jerusalem, for example, moving the embassy, but also of the wider Middle East, especially hyping on the recent agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, promising more is to come.</s>JARED KUSHNER, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISOR AND SON-IN-LAW: While this peace agreement was thought by many to be impossible, the stage is now set for even more. Over the last three and a half years, a lot of people described the state of the Middle East as hopeless. But what I felt, over the last couple of weeks, is a new sense of optimism. And we must seize that optimism, and we must continue to push to make this region achieve the potential that it truly has.</s>LIEBERMANN: After returning from the UAE on the Israeli flight, Kushner is expected to visit other countries in the region, including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman as he tries to build on the momentum of the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. His goals here, at least twofold. First, to see if any other Arab states will follow the UAE's lead and normalize relations with Israel. That would be a major foreign policy victory for Trump just ahead of elections, just in time to tout that. And second, to see if any of these countries will send representatives, specifically high-level representatives, to what is expected to be a White House signing ceremony with the heads of state of Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.</s>BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the White House's chief coronavirus advisor says it's possible to beat the virus, as long as people work together. Yes, easier said than done.