No Officers Charged With Killing Breonna Taylor; President Trump Won't Commit To Peaceful Transfer Of Power; Trump Threatens To Overrule FDA Plan For Toucher Vaccine Guidelines.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: After no officers are charged directly in the death of Breonna Taylor.</s>LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Less than six weeks to the election and the president floats what was once unthinkable, refusing to leave office.</s>ROMANS: And the president wants a vaccine before Election Day and he's threatening to overrule stricter guidelines to make it happen. Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.</s>JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. About 30 minutes past the hour here in New York. Breaking overnight, a new version of an all too familiar story -- protests across the country after no police officers were charged directly in the killing of 26-year-old black EMT and aspiring nurse, Breonna Taylor. The community's pain screaming from the front page of today's Louisville "Courier-Journal." Last night, two Louisville officers were shot. We're told the wounds are not life-threatening and a suspect is in custody.</s>ROMANS: One of the three officers involved in Taylor's death, Brett Hankison, was indicted on charges of first-degree wanton endangerment and this was -- that was not even, though, for Taylor's death. It was because officials say he fired blindly through a door and window -- bullets that wound up in a neighboring apartment.</s>PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, man.</s>PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter.</s>ROMANS: The charges immediately criticized as insufficient by protesters and activists. The other two officers who fired weapons during this botched March raid -- excuse me -- were not indicted. The state attorney general says one witness heard police identify themselves, but Breonna Taylor's boyfriend did not and opened fire with a gun he owned legally when he thought someone was breaking into the apartment. The A.G. says that a single shot is enough to justify the use of force by police.</s>DANIEL CAMERON, KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL: As our investigation showed and the grand jury agreed that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their return of deadly fire after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker.</s>JARRETT: One of the big serious outstanding questions, in this case, is why were the officers there in the first place. The attorney general says the federal authorities are looking into the warrant the police were executing. Taylor's ex-boyfriend was the actual focus of the drug investigation in this case that led officers to Taylor's apartment where incidentally, no drugs were found. That man, the ex, was already under arrest 10 miles away. Taylor family attorney Benjamin Crump called the grand jury's decision outrageous and offensive. Here is Taylor's cousin.</s>TAWANNA GORDON, COUSIN OF BREONNA TAYLOR: It is so insulting that you would say that the neighbors' lives mattered more than Breonna Taylor's life. There was negligence that night. They shot one time in self-defense because they thought someone was coming into their apartment, and they shot over 20 times. Six of them hit Breonna, killing her, and it's negligence. Our family is grieving all over again. It is March 13th all over again for us.</s>ROMANS: Overnight, protests across the country remained mostly peaceful. There were some arrests. Jesse Jackson saying that violent demonstrations would be a commercial for Trump. Racial justice protests have waned since George Floyd was killed, but this grand jury decision could reignite them just as health experts warn the pandemic is getting worse heading into fall.</s>JARRETT: A peaceful transition of power has always been a bedrock of American democracy. The president said so himself.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power.</s>JARRETT: But our system doesn't secure the peaceful succession of power, it merely assumes that it will happen. Yet, now, our system is faced with a president who refuses to say that he will honor that sacred pact.</s>REPORTER: Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferal of power after the election?</s>TRUMP: Well, we're going to have to see what happens. You know that. I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. And --</s>REPORTER: I understand that, but people are rioting. Do you commit to making sure that there's a peaceful transferal of power?</s>TRUMP: No, no. We want to -- we want to have -- get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very -- you'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. There'll be a continuation.</s>ROMANS: Get rid of the ballots, he says. Get rid of mail-in voting, which is not only reliable and legal but has been done successfully for years in several states, so that Trump can have, in his words, a continuation of his presidency. Here's Joe Biden's response to the president.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What country are we in? I'm being facetious. I said what country are we in. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don't know what to say about it but it doesn't surprise me.</s>ROMANS: Republican Sen. Mitt Romney calls Trump's answer unthinkable and unacceptable. He says it sounds more like Belarus. This week, the president essentially admitted he wants a new Supreme Court justice confirmed before the election in case he needs a swing vote for cases about disputed ballots. Last month, the Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley told Congress the military will not play a role in the election and will not help settle disputes if the results are contested.</s>JARRETT: Well, as some officials are trying desperately to get the politics out of science, President Trump injects the politics right back in. CNN has reported the FDA is considering tougher vaccine guidelines. But on the same day that the vice president asked governors to boost confidence in an eventual vaccine, the president said he can overrule steps that the FDA would take to delay the timeline.</s>TRUMP: It sounded to me like something extremely political. Why would they do this when we come back with these great results? And I think you all have those great results.</s>REPORTER: But when do you expect the vaccine?</s>TRUMP: Why would we -- why would we be delaying it? But we're going to look at it. We're going to take a look at it and ultimately, the White House has to approve it.</s>ROMANS: The director of the National Institutes of Health says the last thing we need is to create another cloud of uncertainty over vaccine development. There has been a major dip in trust this summer as more decisions appear to be politicized. Another 1,100 Americans lost their lives yesterday. The CDC director warns 90 percent of Americans are still at rich -- at risk of catching this virus. That shows how deadly it could be to rely on herd immunity, as President Trump has suggested. Herd immunity was also at the core of this tense exchange between Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci.</s>SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): You have been a big fan of Cuomo and the shutdown in New York. You've lauded New York for their policy. New York had the highest death rate in the world. How could we possibly be jumping up and down and saying oh, Gov. Cuomo did a great job?</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: No.</s>PAUL: He had the worst death rate in the world.</s>FAUCI: No, you misconstrued that, Senator, and you've done that repetitively in the past. They got hit very badly. They've made some mistakes. Right now -- if you look at what's going on right now, the things that are going on in New York to get their test positivity one percent or less is because they are looking at the guidelines that we have put together from the task force of the four or five things -- of masks, social distancing, outdoors more than indoors, avoiding crowds, and washing hands.</s>PAUL: Or they've developed enough community immunity --</s>FAUCI: Right.</s>PAUL: -- that they're no longer having the pandemic because they have enough immunity in New York City to actually stop it.</s>FAUCI: I challenge that, Senator, because --</s>PAUL: I'm afraid -- I'm afraid we're --</s>FAUCI: -- I want to -- please, sir, I would like to be able to do this because this happens with Sen. Rand all the time. You are not listening to what the director of the CDC said, that in New York it's about 22 percent. If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, I believe you're alone in that.</s>ROMANS: Sen. Paul is a doctor -- an ophthalmologist, to be precise -- and he had coronavirus. Yet, that was his takeaway.</s>JARRETT: Syracuse University says it's canceling spring break to minimize travel-related virus risks. Ohio State recently did the same. And in New York City, the Metropolitan Opera will remain shut for another year. That's a big warning sign for America's theaters, concert halls, and live entertainment venues. And when this year is finally over, Times Square will be hosting a virtual New Year's Eve ball drop.</s>ROMANS: And that is where we are in 2020 -- a virtual ball drop. The coronavirus pandemic worsening overseas. Israel is already tightening new restrictions during its second lockdown as cases keep rising. Strict limits on protests and prayer groups. And, Israel's popular open-air markets are now closed. In Germany, the country's economic and foreign ministers are both in quarantine after contact with people who tested positive. France is imposing tougher restrictions on the hospitality sector. Marseille has been placed under maximum alert and all bars and restaurants there must close, starting Monday. The U.K. recording its highest daily increase in cases since May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson just announced new -- tight new restrictions through the end of the year.</s>JARRETT: A federal judge says the White House will have to include a sign language interpreter in its live feed of coronavirus briefings, starting in October. The National Association of the Deaf sued to force that change. The group's CEO says the order sets a great precedent to achieve full accessibility.</s>ROMANS: All right. The pandemic has caused an athleisure boom. Millions of people are swapping out jeans and office wear for yoga pants as they work and stay at home. Sales at Athleta, the athleisure label at Gap, rose six percent during its latest quarter and it's opening new stores despite Gap sales falling. I spoke to the head of Athleta, Mary Beth Laughton, about how the pandemic has led to innovation.</s>MARY BETH LAUGHTON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ATHLETA: We noticed early on that in the pandemic that some customers were hesitant to shop in stores and we launched a virtual concierge service. We made sure to offer her options -- you know, choice and convenience. So we now have 65 percent of our stores with curbside pickup offering. We have buy online pickup in stores. We just tried to give her a bunch of options.</s>ROMANS: It's been a real retail reset because of this virus. Most retailers have been slammed by the pandemic. Bankruptcies and layoffs have piled up. While athleisure has taken off, it's unclear how long that boom will last when people start going back to the office. Laughton says Athleta will be able to shift with its consumers.</s>LAUGHTON: I think we can definitely adapt. And times have changed and I think the customer is just going to continue a lot of the ways of living that she's taken on during this period, even into the workplace.</s>ROMANS: It's so fascinating, Laura -- the big shift you've seen at retail places like Amazon and Walmart. Anybody with a vibrant digital strategy --</s>JARRETT: Yes.</s>ROMANS: -- seems to be innovating and moving forward. But a lot of brick and mortar stores have filed for bankruptcy and have had to lay off a lot of workers. So just a huge transition in retail.</s>JARRETT: Yes, what a great and timely interview. I know the soft pants that they have are very popular in my household after the show.</s>ROMANS: Yes.</s>JARRETT: All right. Well, heading now back to Washington, President Trump will pay his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg later this morning. She's lying in repose at the Supreme Court for a second day. Lines of mourners stretched for blocks on Wednesday, and an army of her law clerks lined the steps as the casket arrived.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: It has been said that Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso but became a rock star instead. But she chose the law. Subjected to discrimination in law school and the job market because she was a woman, Ruth would grow to become the leading advocate fighting such discrimination in court. She was not an opera star but she found her stage right behind me in our courtroom.</s>JARRETT: President Trump says he will nominate Ginsburg replacement on Saturday. As of right now, all signs point to Judge Amy Coney Barrett.</s>ROMANS: All right. The most anticipated moment of the election is almost here. Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off in the first presidential debate. Live special coverage starts Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on CNN.