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New Day

Voting Rights Restored in Florida; Hart Apologizes to LGBTQ Community; Haaland Slams Gaetz's Comments; Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 08, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:05] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: A possible game changer for future elections in Florida. Starting today, voting rights will be restored to about 1.5 million non-violent former felons in this all important swing state.

And CNN's Rosa Flores is live at Miami-Dade County election headquarters with more.

This is a big deal, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is, Alisyn. And good morning from the recount capital of the world, aka Florida, where this state is waking up with morning to the equivalent of a political land grab with 1.5 million newly eligible voters overnight. Now, both parties are telling us that they plan to cater to this group ahead of 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice over): Rashawn Welch turned his life around in the nearly five years he spent in federal prison for bank fraud and now he's a successful entrepreneur in Miami.

RASHAWN WELCH, LOST RIGHT TO VOTE WHEN CONVICTED: Well, now I'm able to get these young men that had a bad past to be able to change their lives now.

FLORES: But one thing has been out of his reach ever since his conviction, the right to vote. Something forbidden for felons under Florida law until now. The sunshine state overwhelmingly approved an amendment allowing an estimated 1.5 million felons, who have served their sentences and ay probation or parole, to register to vote starting today. The new rights don't apply to those convicted of murder or violent sexual offenses. 1.5 million new voters in a state already infamous for razor thin margins elections and nail-biting recounts.

CHARLES ZELDEN, PROFESSOR, NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: We are the swingiest of swing states.

FLORES: Political science professor Charles Zelden says Amendment Four has the potential to dramatically alter Florida's political landscape. ZELDEN: It doesn't matter what party they're in, because this

potentially changes the political dynamic across the state, in every county, in every voting district.

FLORES: But that no one knows for sure what such a massive, potential increase to the voter rolls, in such a short amount of time will mean for the political establishment. And that's why Zelden says politicians are rattled.

ZELDEN: They are literally an unknown, which is why the politicians are scared.

FLORES: The ACLU of Florida, which spearheaded the statewide effort, says getting Amendment Four passed was a battle that transcended party politics.

MELBA PEARSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ACLU OF FLORIDA: This was truly a non- partisan issue.

FLORES: But acknowledged it's the parties that stand to benefit the fruits of the ACLU's efforts.

PEARSON: This is an equal opportunity amendment. And whoever takes advantage of it is who may see a change in the coming years.

FLORES: As for Rashawn Welch, he doesn't plan to waste any time in exercising his new right.

WELCH: I am excited to go register to vote tomorrow. And not only am I going to go register to vote, I'm going to take some people with me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:08] FLORES: Now, today is inauguration day for incoming Governor Ron DeSantis. Now, the Republican opposed the amendment during the campaign trail and he has said that he doesn't plan to delay the implementation of the amendment, but according to a spokesperson, he does say that the incoming governor plans to ask the legislature to clarify some of the language. Now, the ACLU says that that should not be necessary.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That will be very interesting to see what the Republican legislature in Florida does going forward, if they try to muck this up in some way.

Rosa Flores for us in Florida, thanks very much.

Actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty in a sexual assault case. Spacey appeared in court in Nantucket on Monday for his arraignment on a felony charge of indecent assault and battery. Prosecutors say he groped an 18-year-old busboy at a bar on the island back in 2016. If convicted, Spacey faces up to five years in prison. Later, Spacey was pulled over by police in Virginia for speeding. New video shows police talking to him. Police say Spacey was let go without a ticket and received a verbal warning.

CAMEROTA: All right, an emotional response from Kevin Hart. The comedian apologizing to the LGBTQ community. What the actor told our Don Lemon, next.

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[08:40:19] CAMEROTA: OK, comedian Kevin Hart apologizing to the LGBTQ community after facing criticism over a year's old Homophobic tweets and some comments in his comedy routine. As you know, the comedian backed out of hosting this year's Oscars. And Hart spoke about all of this on his radio show. Listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HART, COMEDIAN: I understand why people are hurt. I understand what these words mean. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I said it again when I stepped down. I apologize. I wrote it. I said it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

HART: Right. I know I did. These weren't words that I said to gay individuals. This is wrong now because now we're in a space where I'm around people of the LGBTQ community and I'm aware of how these words make them feel and why they said that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) hurt because of what I've been through. And so then we say, hey, man, as a group, let's erase this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We don't talk like this no more. Hey, let's not do this. We don't -- we don't post (EXPLETIVE DELETED) on social media and more importantly within my comedy act I'm going to make sure that I don't do anything else offensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, CNN's Don Lemon made a public appeal to Hart to make this a teachable moment, and Don Lemon joins us now. Never before seen before noon.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON": This is early.

CAMEROTA: I know.

BERMAN: Well, if nothing else, Kevin Hart brought us together.

LEMON: Yes.

BERMAN: No, you know, so (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: He did. He's bringing us together.

CAMEROTA: So, I mean, let me just try to summarize what your feeling was and why you made a public appeal on your show. You felt that his apology in the past hadn't been sufficient. Is that fair?

LEMON: There were a couple of things. As I was -- as we were doing this story, we looked for the apologies that he said that he had done in the past and we couldn't find them and the website Vulture could not find them as well. We found evidence of him talking about it and saying, I've addressed this, but didn't find anything that said I'm sorry or I apologize. And I made an appeal saying, if it is out there and you have it, please give it to us and we will correct it or whatever. There's no evidence of that. So I think that was it.

The issue with Kevin wasn't that -- yes, the issue was the tweets and what he said in this thing. But something that happened ten years ago, it wasn't that some people were trying to extract a pound of flesh from him for that. There was no -- there seemed to be no contrition. And he didn't understand the seriousness of his comments and how gay kids are beaten by their parents and --

CAMEROTA: Because that was part of his comedy routine, right?

LEMON: Yes. And are stigmatized by society.

CAMEROTA: Am I right that he said that he -- that if he had found out that his child was gay, that he would have broken a dollhouse over his head.

LEMON: Right. Right.

CAMEROTA: And he never seemed to understand that that can lead to aggressive acts.

LEMON: Right. And the only apology we found was after he stepped down from the Oscars. A real apology. He had addressed it, I'll give him that, but he hadn't really -- any evidence that we saw, an apology.

BERMAN: So I think we're burying the lead here. You got a phone call from Kevin Hart over the weekend.

LEMON: After -- after the appeal, yes.

BERMAN: Over the weekend. A long conversation.

LEMON: Yes.

BERMAN: Now, this was an off the record conversation, so you can't tell us the details of it.

LEMON: Right.

BERMAN: But you can sort of give us a sense of the nature of the conversation.

LEMON: Yes. And it is, it's an ongoing conversation that we have that's -- and I asked him, well, can I share this -- elements of this. And I don't want to give specifics, please, because he did get very specific about why he felt the way he felt and, you know, experiences in his life. And I understand that.

What I feel, and sometimes, you know, people get upset because it's all -- why is it incumbent upon the group or the people who are the real victims of and ism (ph) or a phobia to be the people who give an olive branch, but you have meet people where they are. And so I was happy that he called. I was happy that he was very honest. And I told him, and I can share my part, that he's not a victim. And -- but I understand that some people -- many people grow up and they don't come into contact with people who are openly part of the LGBT community. Certainly people are a part of it. They're gay. They -- or lesbian or transgender or whatever. They just don't tell you because they're worried about a stigma. And so I understand that. And so it's a learning curve for people.

And I also tell people that even with myself, I have to check my internalized homophobia about certain issues. I had a learning curve when it -- when it comes to or when it came to transgender people, when it comes to people who were part of my community who were feminine (ph). Things that you think -- stereotypes that you think about. And so so we can't expect people -- other people not to have those certain issues, but you have to move past that and you have to hold people accountable.

BERMAN: You said you told Kevin Hart that he's not the victim. Do you think he's behaving like he's the victim?

LEMON: I do. I said as much. I do think he's -- because, listen, when he made these comments ten years ago he was Kevin Harts, right? He made them selling out stadiums for comedy tours. Then, five years later, he's a bigger Kevin Hart. He's in movies. He's a different Kevin Hart. One day before he was asked to host the Oscars, he was a different Kevin Hart. When you're asked to host the Oscars, you're Kevin Hart. You're in Oprah territory. So people are going to bring things out in your past, but you're at a different level now. Sometimes you just take slings and arrows and you say, OK, I understand what you say and you move on because you're much bigger than the issue and you can bring light to an issue.

[08:45:28] Now he says he doesn't want to be an ally. OK. People asked him to be an ally. That doesn't mean --

CAMEROTA: You had asked him, in fact, on your air, can you be an ally of the LGBTQ community.

LEMON: Yes. An ally doesn't mean being a spokesperson. It doesn't mean that you have to get out there and march. And so I don't know if maybe we have different definitions of ally, I don't know, but he says that it wasn't his dream or whatever to be an ally. And I understand that. That's his -- that's his right.

CAMEROTA: His prerogative. Yes, for sure.

LEMON: That's his prerogative. If he doesn't want to, then we cannot extract, again, a pound of flesh out of him. But we can certainly hold him accountable.

And I do have to say this. I thought these words were important. I thought, of course, I'm sorry, that's important. I also think, I apologize, that's important. But he said, if the fight from the LGBTQ community is equality, that's the fight. I'm riding with you guys. I understand you. I think that's -- I think that's big.

BERMAN: Right.

CAMEROTA: I think so too.

LEMON: And I think if he means those words, then I think he's on the right track. And then we see. If not, then you hold him accountable again.

BERMAN: Very quickly, is he going to host the Oscars, do you think?

LEMON: I don't think so.

CAMEROTA: You don't think he's going to?

LEMON: I don't.

CAMEROTA: That's a shame, because, as you know, so many people have called for him to. And, again, this -- we could have continued the conversation.

LEMON: I think he thinks it's going to be a distraction, but I don't -- I don't think so.

CAMEROTA: Don Lemon, great to see you.

LEMON: Thank you, guys.

BERMAN: You know, he exists in the morning.

CAMEROTA: And he's great in the morning.

BERMAN: Who knew? Who knew?

CAMEROTA: You should do this more often.

LEMON: Really?

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, guys.

CAMEROTA: All right, listen to this coming up. She's one of the first Native American women ever in Congress, and she is slamming a fellow lawmaker for his attack on Elizabeth Warren. Her message, next.

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[08:50:30] CAMEROTA: She is one of the first two Native American women in Congress and she's already taking on controversy. Congresswoman Deb Haaland called out fellow Representative Matt Gaetz after he said this about Elizabeth Warren.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MATT GAETZ (R), FLORIDA: I know the president likes to call her Pocahontas, but now that she's making her way from the eastern seaboard into the center of the country, maybe Sacajawea would be more appropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when you say things like that, half the world screams at you that you've made a racial slur.

GAETZ: No, I'm simply saying that this is someone who misrepresented her heritage that I think is in the word clouds of the verbatim and anything you ask about Elizabeth Warren is that she wanted to be forward leaning on this element of her own biography that wasn't accurate. So it's not about her heritage, it's about trustworthiness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, Congresswoman Haaland responded to that in a tweet saying, Sacajawea made great sacrifices that changed American history. When anyone speaks her name, it should be with great respect. Congressman Matt Gaetz's comments are offensive and hurtful. I invite him to meet with me so I can share how such comments are a continuing assault on indigenous people.

Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Deb Haaland.

Great to see you, congresswoman.

REP. DEB HAALAND (D), NEW MEXICO: Thank you so much for having me.

CAMEROTA: Have you heard from Congressman Matt Gaetz?

HAALAND: No, we haven't. We -- we reached out on Saturday via e-mail to members of his staff. We -- my scheduler called yesterday and we haven't heard anything.

CAMEROTA: OK, well, he responded to you on Twitter. He says, I always enjoy conversations with new colleagues. Can we invite Rashida Tlaib too. She seems to have a sophisticated understanding of non-offensive language.

HAALAND: It's not about non-offensive language right now. Of course he used a racial slur, and that's getting a little old. What it is about is Congress' responsibility are the trust responsibility of the United States to Indian tribes and I invite him to read the recent United States Commission on Civil Rights report entitled "Broken Promises" so that he can truly understand how Indian country has been left behind for decades and decades and decades. So those are the issues that he should be talking about instead of using an American hero's name as a racial slur.

I -- you know, right now, the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women across this country is great. We need to find solutions to things like that, to poverty, to creating jobs, to making sure that people have Internet connection in those rural communities.

CAMEROTA: And, listen, I'm not trying to get -- to have you engage in some kind of name calling back and forth with Matt Gaetz, unless it is indicative of something that I have noticed happening with the freshmen class of representatives, particularly the women. It seems as though, correct me if I'm wrong, all of you are sort of more ready for a fight. It seems as though you're taking a different tact than people who came before you where you're -- you're not backing down from Twitter spats or on-air arguments.

HAALAND: Well, I'm not -- I'm not feeling like it's so much of a spat. It's -- it's misconceptions. It's -- it's -- it's really, you know, what Congress should be talking about are the real problems that real people in this country are facing and how we can go about making sure that we're doing the best we can to solve those problems.

I think the last thing that Mr. Gaetz should be doing is using native women's names as racial slurs. That doesn't solving anything. And we need to get back to the -- to solving the problems for real people in this country, like opening up the government.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about -- about what's happening. OK, so let's talk about that and what's happening.

So tonight the president is giving a primetime speech for what he's calling a crisis at the border. You, of course, represent New Mexico. So, if the president tonight does declare this somehow a national emergency, what do you do?

HAALAND: The national emergency is jobs in the country. The national emergency right now are people being able to go back to work, the almost 1 million federal workers who need a -- who need a paycheck so they can pay their rent, so they can put food on the table for their children. You know, everything's being held up because of this shutdown. And that's the real emergency.

The wall is a fantasy. It's not going to solve the problems that we need in this country. Climate change is the crisis. We can do that by creating green energy jobs. You know, making sure that kids have food on the table, not staving off their SNAP benefits.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

[08:55:13] HAALAND: There are so many ways that we can help America to be a better place.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HAALAND: Building the wall is not one of them.

CAMEROTA: So -- so, listen, we have less than a minute, but are Democrats willing to compromise somehow, give the president some sort of money for border security, call it what you will, in order to re- open the government?

HAALAND: I think we've already compromised by the bills we passed in the House on January 3rd. So I hope that the president really sees that real people are hurting in this country because of the government shutdown. He doesn't -- I don't think he understands what it's like to be on food stamps. I do. I know what it's like for 90 percent of Americans who are living in poverty. So I hope that he will understand and have some compassion for the people who are hurting right now and make an effort to reopen the government today. CAMEROTA: Congresswoman Deb Haaland, we really appreciate having you

on NEW DAY. Thanks so much for being here.

HAALAND: Thank you. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, so, who will deliver the Democratic response to the president's Oval Office address? That's next.

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[09:00:03] JIM SCIUTTO: A very good Tuesday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy has the day off.

Eighteen days into the partial government shutdown