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New Day Sunday

Trump Calls Asylum Program "A Scam", Claims Applicants are Coached; Trump: Democrats Allowed Anti-Semitism to Take Root in Their Party; Over-the-Top Celebration at Texas Tech; Wind, Hail and Tornadoes Threaten 30 Million People; Dems Face Tough Legal Battle to Get Trump's Fake Tax Returns; New Documentary Seeks to Expose Voter Suppression "Playbook"; More Than 280 Workers Arrested At Texas Technology Company. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 07, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:24] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump sending his most direct message yet, his most blunt message to people thinking of crossing the border.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The asylum program is a scam. People that look like they should be fighting for the UFC. You look at this guy, you say, wow, that is a tough cookie! Asylum. Oh, give him asylum. He is afraid!

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People were hesitating coming here to Iowa because President Trump --

TRUMP: If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, they say the noise causes cancer. You told me that one, OK?

SANDERS: We have a lot of wind turbines and I'm worried. Am I going to come down with cancer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a hugger, I'm a kisser and I'm a little bit, I'm a sniffer, OK? The last thing I want to do is offense anybody. The important thing I think is that I'm listening. I hear you. I feel you. I feel you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not the right direction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Let's talk it out, America. What do you say, huh?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you.

President Trump is back at the White House this morning after going on the attack in a speech to the Republican Jewish coalition in Las Vegas yesterday.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he said on several -- he hit on several targets there, accusing Democrats of letting anti-Semitism take root in their party and in America.

BLACKWELL: He also taunted asylum seekers and compared them to ultimate fighters. He rallied his best there on the divisive issue of immigration.

CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood has the latest on the president's comments.

Sarah, good morning to you.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning, Victor and Christi.

And President Trump returned here late last night from that speech at the Republican Jewish coalition meeting in Las Vegas. At that event, Trump quickly launched into the attacks on Democrats and the immigration system and specifically he was critical of the asylum process, claiming that migrants who seek asylum in the U.S. are frequently coached as to what to say to immigration officials to increase their chances of obtaining that status, and those comments come amid a surge in migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally and claiming asylum.

Many of them families, children who are seeking status in the United States. Here is what President Trump had to say about asylum yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The asylum program is a scam. Some of the roughest people you've ever seen, people that look like they should be fighting for the UFC. They read a little page given by lawyers that all over the place. You know, little lawyers. They tell them what to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Those comments came one day after President Trump visited the border between Mexico and California. As the president is seemingly back pedaling on his threat to shut down the border between the U.S. and Mexico, he said that he would do it as soon as this week if Mexico didn't do more to help stop the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S. But now, he has put a year-long time line on it saying he will close the border next year if Mexico hasn't stepped up apprehensions.

This as Customs and Border Protection says its system has reached capacity and is starting to release migrants into the southwest United States, it can no longer hold them. Trump has also reprised his attacks on Democrats' policy toward Israel and accused the Democratic Party of allowing anti-Semitism to take a root among its ranks.

Here's what the president had to say about that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now, the Democrats have even allowed the terrible scourge of anti-Semitism to take root in their party and in their country. They have allowed that. Special thanks to Representative Omar of Minnesota. Oh. Oh. Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israeli. I forgot! I'm so sorry!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, a spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded by slamming politicians who would use the U.S.-Israel relationship as a political weapon, though he didn't name President Trump specifically.

And during the speech, President Trump also praised his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner who is Jewish for his work for the Middle East peace plan, who have also spent some time touting his own administration efforts for boost ties with Israeli -- Victor and Christi.

[07:05:01] PAUL: Sarah Westwood, thanks for breaking it down for us.

BLACKWELL: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot back at the president's claim that Democrats have allowed anti-Semitism to take root in their party. This is in a statement to CNN: a spokesman for the speaker said: Politicians who seek to weaponize the U.S.-Israel relationship and turn it into a wedge issue are no friends of Israel, and the transparent cynicism of their words are clear to all.

PAUL: With us now, Karoun Demirjian. She's a CNN political analyst and congressional reporter for "The Washington Post."

Good morning to you, Karoun.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Christi.

PAUL: I want to read the reaction from all of this from the JDCA, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, as well. They put out a statement after hearing what the president said last night saying: We strongly denounced President Trump's continued assault on decency and truth and we unequivocally reject Trump's ongoing efforts to politicize issues related to Israel on the even of the Israeli election.

What do you make of the timing of this?

DEMIRJIAN: I think that the president has taken a step into a fray that usually presidents try to stay out of. Usually when there is a foreign leader who is up for election and especially in a close race, you try to hold back and not make gestures that are going to swing public sentiment based on how they play for that candidate but not how Trump has been operating. Netanyahu came to the White House and did a requisition of Golan Heights, which is, you know, for decades, this has been an unresolved issue. It's still an unresolved issue, but he put the America's stamp of approval on Israel on the issue of Golan Heights at this point in a full capacity.

And those are gestures that you don't traditionally see an American president make because as much as these remain internal issues and internal elections, the American president's words have a special sway especially with a close ally and the president has clearly chose not to keep out of that ring.

PAUL: I want to look at the support he has from the Jewish community just in the 2018 Jewish vote -- in 2016, rather. Look at this, Hillary Clinton had 71 percent of the Jewish vote, President Trump, Donald Trump at the time, candidate Trump, only had 24 percent. He needs those votes and needs to connect with this community.

Why would he take this on at this point?

DEMIRJIAN: Well, this is the thing is that the Jewish vote in America has been trending Democratic. And it used to be this was an issue it was difficult to try to win political votes on either side. Every since the time we were talking about the Iran deal, Israeli started to emerge as an issue that the parties thought they could exploit and at this point, you've got an Israeli government also that has kind of looked more toward the Republican Party as the people who are aligned with them. Again, we are starting off really the origins of this go back to the Iran deal time, you know? Netanyahu did not like that deal that Obama was brokering and now there is a Republican in the White House who is making it very clear that he is ideologically in line with the kind of Israeli leader.

The party now, the GOP is trying to translate into talking about the fact they support Israel and Democrats don't. I think there's a lot of evidence to say that is not true. There's probably more criticism of the Democratic leadership in the party than there is in the GOP, but generally speaking, you're seeing this lineup on both sides and appealing to various parts of the Jewish lobby of these political organizations and Jewish Americans and making this play.

It's not just the president. You're seeing it happen in Congress too around the sidelines of this War Powers vote on Yemen that happened the last week, questions about the boycott of Israeli goods I think both parties do not like and became an attempt at a wedge issue to try to drive Democrats off this bill. So you'll probably see this sort of move and talking points repeat themselves over and over and over again because they hope that Republicans will bid up their standing with parts of the Jewish American vote and Democrats are saying, no, people are not fooled like that. But the question is out there.

PAUL: OK. Karoun Demirjian, we appreciate you being here. Thank you, ma'am.

DEMIRJIAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, while President Trump levels threats against Mexico about containing the immigration crisis at the southern border, Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States are starting to settle in Mexico City, some of them. Now some Mexicans are dubbing themselves as Trumpistas, agreeing with Donald Trump's stance on immigration.

CNN's Paula Newton explains.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was once part of the caravan, but Mayra Lopez Garcia says she now thanks God and Mexico for letting her stay right here.

"We're fine here," she says. "That's why we're not thinking of going to the United States. We'll stay here".

Granted a temporary visa, Mayra makes a living making tortillas.

[07:10:01] She said she escaped poverty and violence in Guatemala and is now counting on Mexico for her future.

Tens of thousands would like to join her. Mexico's border both to the north and south are overwhelmed with migrants mostly from Central America who have already been waiting months for a chance at a new life in the United States.

So, if we end up with a chance to stay here in Mexico, we will take it says Carlos Gomez from Honduras and work hard to make a living.

(on camera): And this is where things are getting complicated for New Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He had promised more humanitarian policy for migrants and that's being challenged now not just by President Trump but more Mexicans too.

(voice-over): Even people like Aaron Mendez who helps run a migrant shelter near the border.

"I think one solution is change the immigrant strategy," he says, "which now lets in all the undocumented migrants."

That echoes the thoughts of so-called Mexicans trumpistas, who may not even like President Trump but believes he has a point when it comes to immigration.

On a popular national radio station, Radio Formula, the head of the migration agency was put on the spot this week about Mexico will cope with all the migrants. He admitted his government is granting fewer humanitarian visas.

Tere Vale is a Radio Formula journalist and host, she says it's obvious the migrant influx is unsustainable.

TERE VALE, MEXICAN JOURNALIST AND RADIO HOST (through translator): We see something now in Mexico, a president who is very docile when facing pressure from the United States. Mexico is between the sore and the wolf.

NEWTON: President Trump claims his ultimatums are the reason Mexico is now apprehending more migrants on its southern border. Mexican government counters it has a long-term plan. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, Mexico is put under a lot of pressure. We

are being squeezed, exactly. I think it's unfair to say that we are not trying to be part of the solution because I think this administration has done a lot of things that can be done to help this humanitarian crisis.

NEWTON: Mexico says it plans to make history of the caravans with economic development in southern Mexico and Central America. To do it, though, it will need much help and patience. Not just from the Trump administration but Mexicans themselves.

Paula Newton, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: We will stay on top of that story for you as well.

Listen, there are thousands of Texas Tech students who were cheering the school's Final Four victory but they went from celebrating to rioting.

BLACKWELL: Yes, burning furniture and flipping cars. We'll tell you how the police were able to break up the chaos here in West Texas.

Plus, severe storms have ripped through the South. And more storms are expected today.

And, you know, House Democrats are planning on getting the president's tax returns. That legal battle, though, could take months and ultimately end up in Supreme Court. Our next guest says there is a chance Democrats are going to lose this fight.

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[07:17:32] BLACKWELL: in riot gear were called in overnight to break up crowds after celebration by some Texas Tech fans escalated into a riot in Lubbock.

PAUL: Yes, look at it there. Huge crowds in the streets after the men's basketball team defeated Michigan State to secure a place in the NCAA championship game. But the local CNN affiliate says, look at this, people were burning couches and they were flipping cars and that was before police were able to break up the cars. The city of Lubbock issued a statement calling the postgame violence disappointing.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Andy Scholes now live from Minneapolis.

Andy, you lived in Lubbock for three years. What does this moment mean to that city?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I tell you what, Texas Tech really has never won anything in terms of team sports. They have one title to their name, that was women's basketball in 1993 and that team still revered in the city. I mean, the coach of that basketball team Marsha Sharp had a freeway names named after them. They haven't won anything since. I was in Lubbock when they had that big football win against Texas in

2008, that Michael Crabtree catch. I remember similar scenes after that game, students taking to the streets to celebrate but I don't quite remember any fires or them tipping cars over at that point. But that is just how much the city and the students are craving a championship there at Texas Tech. They are not really prepared to handle this kind of success because they have never really experience the defendant before.

Hopefully, if they do win the championship Monday night against Virginia, they handle it a little bit better than they did in the Final Four.

PAUL: All righty. So talk to us about the other big game last night.

SCHOLES: Yes, so Auburn and Virginia game ended in controversy. You got to feel bad for Auburn this morning. They were down big in the second half. Went on a 14-0 run to come back to take the lead but a no-call end and a controversial call in the final second will haunt Auburn University forever. Show you what happened. Five seconds left in the game.

Ty Jerome picks the ball up off the court and dribbles again and a clear double dribble the officials flat-out missed. Virginia kept the ball and Kyle Guy gets the ball in the corner and misses the three that would have won the game but a foul was called and the Auburn fans in the stadium thought they had won the game.

[07:20:01] Guy went to the free-throw line and said he was terrified. Didn't look it, though. He knocked down all three free throws to win the game for Virginia by one point. Auburn fans, the team just beside themselves. I went into the locker room after the game and spoke with Auburn team and they were understandably just devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED HARPER, AUBURN GUARD (JR.): It was probably the toughest basketball game I ever had in March Madness in the Final Four and to lose like this was definitely tough.

HORANCE SPENCER, AUBURN FORWARD (SR.): It was probably the toughest basketball career honestly. I never really had a close loss like that. I never recall losing by a buzzer-beater.

BRYCE BROWN, AUBURN GUARD (SR.): Felt like we had the game in the bag. The last 30 seconds. We were all emotional after the game. Just don't know what to say, honestly.

BRUCE PEARL, AUBURN HEAD COACH: We focused on how we were going to handle the defeat at auburn, with class and dignity. There are lots of calls during a game and you got to -- you got -- you're going to get some and some you're not going to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Auburn fans watching on campus and at bars, they thought they had won the game before they realized a foul was called in the final second. I was sitting there by the Auburn student section in the stadium and many started crying when they ended up losing this game. I caught up with some of the students who were leaving and they felt cheated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am so upset! Auburn basketball has come so far this year and so phenomenal to see it come this far and to see it in this way is just awful!

UNIDENTIFEID MALE: I don't like it at all. Not one bit.

SCHOLES: You feel like you were cheated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit, a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disappointment. I mean, every step of the way, we fought and fought and fought and to have it taken away like that in the last seconds, it's just ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I think sometimes you got to let the play aside. It wasn't our day at all. Came out and played our hardest but came up short.

SCHOLES: That call?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So the stage is set. Texas Tech is going to take on Virginia and we will see some history in this one because neither school had has ever won a men's basketball championship. Tip-off late one tomorrow night at 9:20 Eastern.

Guys, one campus is definitely going to be celebrating come Monday night and like I said I lived in Lubbock. I know how badly they want to win this championship.

PAUL: All righty. We'll see how it goes. Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Have fun with all of that.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLACKWELL: Rain, hail, tornadoes. There are areas from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio River Valley that are bracing for some really rough weather.

PAUL: Also ahead, a legal battle between the White House and, of course, House Democrats. Our next guest says they won't get those returns unless they invoke impeachment.

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[07:27:20] BLACKWELL: All right. Be careful out there today because severe storms are affecting 30 million people from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio River Valley.

PAUL: Yes, the main threat is hail, winds, possibly a couple of tornadoes.

CNN's Ivan Cabrera is following all of that from the CNN weather center.

How ripe is the weather for this?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think very likely. Good morning. I think we are going to have a repeat of what we had yesterday which was a heck of a lot.

We had numerous damaging wind reports no the dozens and likewise with hail, and we can't rule out a potential for tornado. This is a multi- day threat that really has continued over the last 50 days. So, let's talk about the pattern here that is set up. These disturbance have come in through Texas.

In fact, at this hour, we have been counting lightning strikes. That's how many we are talking about here. Severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 9:00 a.m. for Eastern Texas. Look at the lighting amount. In the last half hour, upwards of 6,500 lightening strikes. And you don't need damaging winds. This is deadly stuff. So, certainly stay indoors until you heard the last thunder strikes and you back outside.

For today, the area expands, further east and further north. We are talking Corpus Christi all the way up into Columbus, Ohio. That is something, damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes.

The main threat you'll see here is not the individual cells that produce tornadoes but the main event I think is this squall. You see that? That's indicative of winds that are pushing the thunderstorms out ahead, and so you'll get wind gusts in excess of hurricane force winds and I think they hit later this afternoon.

And there's tomorrow. We have more on the way. Remember, this is the season. Winter is still fighting out with spring and the battle in between is never good and we are likely going to see that again expanding further to the East Coast tomorrow. Charlotte and Raleigh watch out, portions of South Carolina as well, again, the same threats, damaging winds and large hail and isolated tornadoes, guys.

PAUL: Take it easy today and tomorrow, folks. We want you to be safe.

CABRERA: You bet.

PAUL: Ivan Cabrera, thank you.

BLACKWELL: There is an uphill legal battle brewing between the White House and House Democrats that could last for months. The House Ways and Means Committee has requested the president's tax returns from the IRS which it has the legal right to do but not a done deal by far. In fact, my next guest says there is constitutional law and political power that would impede their effort.

Joining me to discuss, CNN legal analyst Ross Garber. Ross represents clients and political investigations and teaches a class on political investigations and impeachment at Tulane Law School.

Ross, good morning to you.

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, first, let's start here. The Democrats think the law is clear that the Treasury shall furnish an individual's tax returns but you write in this piece it's unlikely they get them.

[07:30:04] I want to walk through a couple of reasons that you suggest.

First, there's an issue of impeachment. You write that unless Democrats invoke impeachment, there's a strong chance they'll lose this legal fight.

Explain that.

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, here is where we start. The Democrats are half right. There is a statute that says if the chair of the Ways and Means Committee asks for somebody's tax returns, the IRS shall give it to them. Now that is incredibly strong legal language, shall means it must happen.

But there is a constitutional overlay and a constitutional overlay -- and remember, this is a statute that applies to everybody's tax returns -- yours, mine, everybody watching us. The constitutional overlay is that there must be a legitimate legislative purpose to asking for these tax returns. And that is the issue here is, what is Congress' legitimate legislative purpose for asking for the returns?

Now, Congress says the reason we need them is because there's a regulation that says that the IRS is supposed to examine a president's tax returns. If a court looking at this, they would say, is that really going on here and is that legitimate? The president's lawyers have a fair argument, I think, that that's really not what is going on here, is that they don't need the president's business and personal tax returns going back to 2013 to be able to monitor whether the IRS is complying with this purpose. So, what's really going on here?

BLACKWELL: Now, in the question of impeachment, if they had invoked impeachment, you think this would have been a slam dunk for House Democrats?

GARBER: Well, maybe not a slam dunk, but a much better argument. So, if they invoked impeachment -- remember, Congress has sole impeachment authority, and it's incredibly powerful. If they had invoked impeachment, they would have a much stronger argument because of that power, and because it's pretty broad in scope.

If they had said, hey, look, we need to see the president's tax returns because we think it's possible he committed an impeachable offense and the tax returns are going to be potential evidence, then they would have a much stronger argument, I think, than the argument they have come up with. But they haven't wanted to use the impeachment word I think for political reasons.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So, you write this as well. Battles over information between Congress and the executive branch are relatively common, but they almost always end in a negotiated resolution. Now, a source inside the administration tells CNN that this is a hill and some are willing to die on it. We know this administration has not handed over documents that have been requested by congressional house chairs thus far.

Do you expect that this is something that will be negotiated?

GARBER: Well, so there are going to be negotiations for sure. Now the question is, are they going to result in a deal between the parties? Now, right now, Congress and the American people have virtually no information about the president's tax returns. One thing that they may interested in, they may not -- they may realize congressional Democrats that they're not going to get all of the tax returns and all of the information, but they may be interested in whether, for example, the president's tax returns are under audit. You know, that's something that the president claims and Democrats express doubt about, that may be something that they are interested in.

So, there will be negotiations about this. Will there be a deal? Who knows? I think in the end, you know, probably not. But if there is not a deal, then they are looking at a very long court fight that may actually outlast a Congress in which case a court could it's moot. So, in other words, you know, when the new House comes in January of 2021, if the litigation is not resolved, and I don't think it will be, then a court could say, it's a new Congress and the old request is void.

BLACKWELL: Wow. All right. Ross Garber, always good to have you, sir.

GARBER: Thanks. Good to see you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Now, later this morning, Larry Kudlow, Senator Michael Bennett, and Congressman Adam Schiff all join Jake Tapper on 'STATE OF THE UNION", that's today at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Is the principle of one person, one vote under attack? There's a documentary aiming to expose the playbook it says Republicans are using to block certain groups from the ballot box.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Donald Trump has said so many times, the elections are rigged, but in a much different way that he claims. They are rigged to stem the rising Democratic tide of non-white voters and to discourage younger voters. Clearly, the voter suppression playbook is working all too well. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: We'll speak to the producers of "Rigged" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:39:17] PAUL: Purging voter pools, redrawing districts and adding extra requirements to be able to cast a ballot, there are some of the tactics a new documentary says are part of a playbook they call Republicans are using to suppress the voters of minorities and the poor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's part and parcel to the same benevolent dark strategy. Cut a few voters here, a few voters there, discourage others from even taking the time to cast a ballot. In short, undermine the sacred American principle of one person, one vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Tim Smith and Mac Heller are the producers of "Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook".

Gentlemen, welcome. They're with us this morning.

And, Tim, let me start with you, because there's a lot that's uncovered in this film.

[07:40:05] Ten plays essentially. We don't have time for all of them but what are one or two of the most effective that you've found?

TIM SMITH, PRODUCER "RIGGED": The one that we have seen a lot of is voter ID, you know, where people now have to show restrictive voter ID that's like a driver's license or what have you, and it just -- 90 percent of the people have it but 10 percent don't. So, that is what is going on in a number of states. I think more than 20 states have passed these voter ID laws.

PAUL: So, let me ask you, Mac, what stood out most to you as you were doing this, what was your biggest takeaway when all was said and done?

MAC HELLER, PRODUCER, "RIGGED": Christi, what struck me so hard is that some Americans would try to deny other Americans the right to vote. What we love about this country is that the voters choose the politicians. The politicians don't choose the voters. But that is what these laws try to do.

BLACKWELL: Mac, your film suggests that it was the election of President Obama in 2008 that really mobilized some well-funded Republicans to start, not trying to get out more of their voters but to get out fewer of the Democratic voters. What was it about that election, beyond any other election that the Democrats won, that really was the catalyst for what you found?

HELLER: Victor, the 2008 election was the first election in which voters of color compromised over 25 percent of the electorate and that number is going up. And some Republicans took a look at this and said, you know, we need to make a bigger tent. We need to change our party's policies and include more people.

But others took a different route and said let's try and have less of the other people able to vote and that's direction they took.

PAUL: Tim, I know a lot of voters suppression laws have been blocked by the courts. The last point in your playbook I understand it describes an effort to change the courts. President Trump, he has been working to confirm, of course, different judicial nominees.

Have you seen or have you been able to identify if there has been any impact thus far, Tim?

SMITH: The rulings still continue to be in favor of voting rights but he has changed, I think, 20 percent, 25 percent of the federal court in terms of appointments. Obviously, there is two Supreme Court appointments he's also made, but it's sort of ominous the way the court is being changed and that was sort of last bulwark. In 2016, we saw a lot of favorable announcements they struck down some of these voter ID laws but we are going to worry that might not happen in the future.

BLACKWELL: Control room, let's get the Stacey Abrams SOT ready, because I want to talk about Georgia. The film focuses, at least start to focus on North Carolina but I want to talk about Georgia, because Stacey Abrams who lost the race for governor, she's called the now Governor Brian Kemp, I'm going to quote her here, the architect of voter suppression. Here's what else she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS (D), FORMER CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR: So, in response to what I believe was a stolen election, I'm not saying they stole it from me, they stole it from the voters of Georgia. I cannot prove empirically that I would have won but we will never know. So what I demanded on November 16th was a fair fight. Because you see, voter suppression is as old as America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: How effective have, Tim, some of the efforts that she is spearheading and we are seeing across the country been to try to fight against to suppress some of the suppression, so to speak?

SMITH: You know, what we are trying to do with our film and what Stacey is doing is great is letting people -- a lot of people don't know that voter suppression is going on. You know, they think the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed and took care of it. As we know no 2013, Supreme Court undercut some of the major portions of the Voting Rights Act.

So, it's important to know the future of voting is imperiled and you have to tell people that and not enough people know it. PAUL: Before we let you go, we have to get to the other side in here,

regarding gerrymandering, for instance. They've been having similar -- Democrats have been using similar tactics in that regard as well. One of the cases that Supreme Court is hearing right now from is Maryland.

How does that -- what do you say to the people on that side of this, Tim -- Mack. I'm sorry.

HELLER: Christi, gerrymandering is bad whoever does it, and Democrats have done it, and Republicans have done it. And just recently in New Jersey, there was an effort by some Democrats to pouch the voting districts a little bit.

[07:45:01] And so, we are against that wherever it happens.

When there is a line in the film where a commentator says that gerrymandering wants you to believe that your vote doesn't count, and if your vote doesn't count, then why vote? And so, it's another form of suppression. And the good news in some states, like, very recently, Michigan, we have gone from a politician-led redistricting effort to a citizen-led nonpartisan redistricting effort much better, and as we come around to a new nationwide redistricting round in 2020 and 2021, that will be very, very important to get that right.

BLACKWELL: The film hits on Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, a lot of states.

Tim Smith and Mac Heller are the producers of "Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook". Gentlemen, thank you for being with us this morning.

SMITH: Thank you.

HELLER: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Hundreds of undocumented workers and their families are left unsure of their future after a massive raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas. Coming up, what led ICE agents to raid the Texas Technology Company?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:20] BLACKWELL: Immigration and Customs Enforcement say they just conducted what was its largest raid in a decade, nearly 300 undocumented workers, many of them women were arrested at a technology company outside of Dallas.

Kaylee Hartung reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One by one more than 280 undocumented workers were rounded up at this technology company outside of Dallas on Wednesday and immediately transferred for to be processed for immigration removal.

The raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested adults from 15 different countries. More than 200 women, some of them mothers. This Honduran immigrant who goes by the name Ana (ph) tells CNN affiliate KUVN she was one of the last to be processed.

ANA, HONDURAN IMMIGRANT (translated): So I took off running for the warehouse, to see if I could leave. But someone said that nobody could escape because we were surrounded.

HARTUNG: She remembers the anguish she felt as she realized she didn't know when she would see her family again.

ANA: There were people saying, I have small children and I don't know who's going to pick them up. And then I thought about my daughter --

HARTUNG: Ana was among the 174 immigrants released on their own recognizance, issued a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge. She says they dismissed her $2,500 bond, citing overcrowding at the facility. Others arrested had to pay bonds, between $5,000 and $10,000, according to the non-profit, the North Texas Dream Team. ICE touting the raid of the largest of its time since 2008 executed a federal criminal research warrant at the CVE Technology Group facility and four of its staffing companies, after receiving tips that the electronics equipment repair company may have been hiring undocumented workers.

In a statement to "The New York Times," Edward Cho, the chief executive of CVE Technology Group, said: We are cooperating with the authorities and intend to continue doing so. We're also focused on providing support to impacted employees and their families for whom this is a profoundly upsetting development.

Despite being free for now, undocumented workers like Ana face an uphill battle to fight their deportation, a battle that could end up separating their families.

(on camera): We reached out to the U.S. attorney's office for the eastern district of Texas to inquire if the owners of this technology company will be facing any charges for employs undocumented workers, but our efforts had been unsuccessful.

Kaylee Hartung, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Kaylee, thank you.

"Saturday Night Live" is bringing back Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden. His campaign aides are trying to put him through sensitivity training.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON SUDEIKIS AS JOE BIDEN: Look, look, look, you guys know I'm a tactile politician, right? I'm a hugger, a kisser and a little bit of a sniffer, OK? (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:57:37] PAUL: Welcome to Sunday.

You know, relationships are tough.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Victor has got some stories we're not going to be able to get into apparently, as I do.

BLACKWELL: True.

PAUL: But couples will have conflicts always. The approach, though, is what makes the difference.

BLACKWELL: This week's "Staying Well" looks at solving those conflicts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been married for 11 years, and we've been separated four times. The trouble started right away.

What we fought about a lot was what I expected from him, what he expected of me and not meeting each other's expectations.

SAUL STERN, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST: If they can get beneath what the conflict is about, what's behind it usually, if not always, is I don't feel loved, valued, appreciated.

ABRAHAM PENA, MARRIED FOR 11 YEARS: Being married at such a young age, I had commitment issues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would tend to shut down and I would think, are we going to separate, is he going to leave?

STERN: When we're upset, we lose our ability to solve problems. What needs to happen first is to be calm in the body. That starts by articulating your own feelings and having them accepted by your partner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To have that sense of feeling insecure again really just shook me.

PENA: I 1,000 percent understand.

STERN: Too many of us have not had enough practice at being able to articulate our feelings.

PENA: When I'm in my moment of weaknesses, I don't want you to see that.

STERN: If you change just one small thing to express appreciation for one another every single day, 30 seconds, and they're on a completely different path.

PENA: I don't want to let you down.

STERN: We still have conflict, but we're able to communicate through it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our relationship is not in question anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: I give them so much credit for talking about all that.

BLACKWELL: I should have tried that.

PAUL: We all should try that, trust me.

We're so grateful that you started your day with us. We hope you make good memories.

"INSIUDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" is coming up next.

BLACKWELL: We'll leave you with "Saturday Night Live" bringing back Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden as his campaign aides try to coach him on his style with voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUDEIKIS: No, I've got to keep it neutral. Greet her like I'm greeting a guy.

OK. So, come here, you son of a bitch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe, stop that.

SUDEIKIS: I'm not just messing around, OK? OK, let me tell you why you're going to vote for Biden.

Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)