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Democrats and Trump Head For More Big Showdowns Over Probes; Democratic Presidential Candidates Take On Gun Violence; Pope Sets New Rules To Report & Investigate Sex Abuse; Hollywood Takes on Georgia's Abortion Laws; Ohio High School To Eliminate Valedictorian Honor In Effort To Improve Student Mental Health; Star of "Mod Squad" and "Twin Peaks" Dies At Age 72. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 12, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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


[14:59:40] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for being with me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with the mounting showdown between Democrats and Congress, and the Trump administration as the White House faces another critical week of subpoenas and document deadlines.

The President and his allies are facing off with House Democrats over dozens of investigations involving Trump.

[15:00:01] The Washington Post summing it up with this headline, Trump and his allies are blocking more than 27 Democratic probes in an all- out war with Congress. This week the two sides could be headed for more clashes. Democrats are giving the IRS and Treasury Department until Friday to turn over six years of the President's personal taxes. And Democrats are considering multiple contempt charges including one against US Attorney General William Barr for not turning over the unredacted version of the Mueller report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA) CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Here, the Trump administration has decided to say a blanket no, no to any kind of oversight what so over, no witnesses, no documents, no nothing, claiming executive privilege over things that it knows there's no basis for. There's no executive privilege over the hundreds of thousands of documents regarding events that took place before Donald Trump was president. You can't have a privilege, an executive privilege when you're not the executive. So they know that vast categories are inapplicable to the privilege here so they are just stonewalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House for us. So, Jeremy, another big week of subpoenas and deadlines for the Trump administration and how might it all play out?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Well, the battle is certainly continuing between the White House and Capitol Hill. House Democrats in particular who are issuing, you know, handling a string of investigations into this administration, issuing subpoenas as well.

This week we've got a couple of key dates to look forward to. On Tuesday, a federal judge is expected to rule in House Overnight Committee's subpoena for financial records from the President's former accounting firm, and then on Friday that deadline that you mentioned for the Treasury Department and the IRS to submit those tax returns, the President's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.

As of now the President, of course, has adamantly resisted that request and we don't expect any change in that posture. Democrats had also hoped to get the Special Counsel Robert Mueller before the House to testify next week. That is not yet happening but the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, he insists they will get Robert Mueller eventually to testify on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIFF: The American people have every right to hear what the man who did the investigation has to say. And we now know we certainly can't rely on the attorney general who misrepresented his conclusions. So he is going to testify, and, yes, it's certainly true that these additional acts of obstruction, a president having obstructed the Justice Department investigation, now obstructing Congress does add weight to impeachment.

He may us get there, he certainly seems to be trying, and maybe this is his perverse way of dividing us more. And as you heard in the clip earlier, he thinks that's to his political advantage but it certainly not to the country's advantage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And beyond getting Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify on Capitol Hill, Democrats are also grappling with a number of investigations. You know, as you mentioned before, more than 20 House Democratic investigations that the White House or the President in some fashion are either stonewalling or blocking, simply not complying with those requests from the House, and Democrats are also trying to grapple with how they will respond to the non-compliance from the Trump administration.

There are -- there's really a push and pull within the House Democratic Caucus over how hard to go against the Trump administration. You heard the Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff. He even talked about the notion of finding some of these officials who are refusing to comply with those subpoena requests, other Democratic lawmakers even talking about jailing potentially some of those individuals who are not complying.

The White House though is remaining firm in its posture. We got a statement from the White House, Deputy Press Secretary Steve Groves. He says in a statement that there are rules and norms governing Congressional oversight of the executive branch, and the Democrats simply refuse to abide by them. That has been the White House's position all along. He finishes by saying the White House will not and cannot comply with unlawful demands made by increasingly unhinged and politically motivated Democrats.

So as you can see there, Fredricka, it does not appear like there's any change in tune from the White House so far. I think we can expect a lot more back and forth between the White House and Capitol Hill as the federal courts are now getting involved as well.

WHITFIELD: Jeremy Diamond at White House, thank you so much.

With me now is Karoun Demirjian, a Congressional Report for the Washington Post and a CNN Political Analyst, Walter Shaub who is the former Director of the Office of Government Ethics and a CNN Contributor, good to see you both. All right.

So, Walter, you first, you know, Congress, you know, a coequal branch of government. It is expected to carry out its duty of oversights. So, is this standoff over documents at constitutional crisis level in your view?

WALTER SHAUB, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it is and we're going to have to wait and see how it comes out. A crisis can go two different directions. It could come out OK or it could not come out OK.

[15:05:00] But we have this practically unprecedented situation where the administration is just declaring an across-the-board obstruction to any kind of oversight and acting as if the Congress has no legitimate role in oversight. What's particularly unnerving about that is Bill Barr has shown himself to be something of a partisan because his spin on the Mueller investigation's conclusions bore no relationships to what we actually saw was in that report when the report came out.

He is now overseeing a number of ongoing Department of Justice investigations and implicate the President and his administration, but we can no longer count on him. And so we are left with Congress having to exercise its constitutional role of oversight to resume some check on the presidency. And if the administration gets away with completely shutting that down, we have a completely unmoored presidency with no more bounds to the limits the constitution puts on it than the President himself is willing to honor. And he's already shown us he's not willing to honor much.

WHITFIELD: And Walter, you just heard Jeremy with the White House statement there who really saying, I mean, who counters that notion of, you know, oversight authority and says, you know, the results and norms. These democrats are not even honoring what are rules and norms, you see it right there. Simply refusing to abide by them, Democrats are demanding documents that they know they have no legal right to see? Well, how will the courts entertain that statement?

SHAUB: Yes. I mean, first of all, I think that's typically inflammatory language of this administration. It's somewhat rich for them to be decrying departure from norms when this administration is known for simply just shattering every norm it doesn't like, except so far the norm of executive privilege which it's actually trying to expand beyond all recognition.

I think the courts will find that much of this is releasable and that the decision to refuse, to have a number of key witnesses come in and testify is untenable. The problem is the administration will surely succeed in delaying a number of things. And I think that's their main goal here.

They know a number of legal positions they have taken are just nonsensical and have no basis in any kind of precedent but they know that it will take a while to sort that out, and I think delay is their goal.

WHITFIELD: Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, you know, said earlier on "State of the Union" that these ignored subpoenas, stonewalling on documents in her view are very troublesome. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that we are seeing a breakdown of responsibilities. I am seeing up close where there is a failure to respect the significance of Congress' duty to perform a role of oversight over the administration, over the agencies. I'm seeing a failure to appreciate the importance of testifying before Congress in a way that is straightforward and truthful.

So I think, yes. I think it is fair to say that we are looking at a crisis, not only of confidence but potentially a constitutional crisis, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Karen, there's still is some real confusion though about what to, you know, how the Dems are looking at this. Because while there seems to be, you know, some real agreement on whether it's a constitutional crisis, you heard from Nancy Pelosi who actually said, you know, it's the President who is trying to goad them into impeachment proceedings and that wouldn't be wise.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. I mean, look, the underlying question as we talk about constitutional crisis and people defining it is that, is what are you going to do about it if that's what you think it is?

And so, you forgot all this discussion right now about are we going to bundle contempt resolutions and put those on the floor? That's one step, but the ultimate question is do you get to the point of looking an impeachment. Pelosi seems very, very unlikely to want to go there, but if the question is does her caucus push her there?

She thinks it's unwise politically. She thinks that the party can get mired in this impeachment pit if they do it to -- they focus on that because then they will have to message on the impeachment vote that they took, and maybe that will drown out some of the focus that they want to put on other issues like the healthcare, like the economy, and everything else that the 2020 candidates are trying to pitch on the stump right now.

But there's a lot of groundswell within the Democratic Caucus in the House who actually say, "Look, if we have the option of impeachment and we think this is a constitutional crisis, we're kind of duty bound to go there and if that side of things wins out, then they are going to be looking at trying to step up these procedures and these steps that they take, and escalate despite from their end.

We're not quite there yet. The next step is do they bundle this contempt votes or do they target anything more than Barr and the tax returns, or do we see other subpoenas come out in the meantime to decide to actually take to that next level to get into the courts.

[15:10:02] And I think this is right now what the committee chairs are grappling with because they have to strike the balance between the rank and file who are more inclined to impeachment than the leader.

WHITFIELD: And it isn't just members of the Democratic Caucus they are speaking out. I mean George Conway, the husband of Trump advisers, Kellyanne Conway, has been on a tweet storm lately blasting the President and even suggesting that Trump should be brought to justice if he isn't removed from office.

So, Karoun, so this is rather complicated because, you know, Kellyanne Conway is a huge defender, of course, of the President. But then she's got her husband who is speaking against the President in a very different way.

DEMIRJIAN: Yes. I mean, George Conway has established himself as a very critical (inaudible) chorus against the President on Twitter. And people focus on the Kellyanne Conway-George Conway marriage and they have been profiled many times about how they just have a very strong difference of opinion about President Trump.

Look, he's speaking for a faction of the greater GOP out there that is probably very frustrated President. The problem is that that's not really reflected at this juncture in the GOP representation in the Senate. And it's the Senate has to make the decision in the end. If the House does impeachment that means nothing in terms of whether President Trump stays in office or not, it's up to the senate to vote on that. Then referral and determine whether Trump stays in office or not.

Right now, the Senate is run by the GOP and the GOP members in the Senate are not inclined to vote against Trump and try to kick him out of office through that process. And so, you will hear a lot of this frustration aired by people who do not hold elected office right now, of both parties expressed in public spaces and that's something that people have to keep in mind as they think about their 2020 campaigns, which is of course what everybody has got in the back of their minds as they weigh whether or not to go here. And that's what you hear reflected when people like Speaker Pelosi and others talk about not being sure.

WHITFIELD: Karoun Demirjian, Walter Shaub, good to see you both. Thank you so much. DEMIRJIAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, 2020 Democrats making their policy pitches on the campaign trail and one key issue, many are already talking about gun control. Can that be a winning issue for Democrats?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:49] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Senator Kamala Harris promising to take executive action on gun control in her first 100 days in office if she wins the White House. The Democratic presidential candidate speaking exclusively to CNN, blamed the lack of federal action on gun law on Congress, not having the "courage to do something."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I'm proposing, one, that if by my 100th day in office when elected president of the United States, the United States Congress fails to put a bill on my desk to sign, with all of the good ideas or any of the good ideas that I'm prepared to take executive action because that's what's needed.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Executive action to do what?

HARRIS: Action, to do specifically for anyone who sells more than five guns a year, they will be required to perform background checks on the people they sell them to. And this will be the most comprehensive background check policy that has ever been had in our country thus far.

TAPPER: Can that be done by executive order?

HARRIS: Yes. Yes, it can. I'm also prepared to say and to direct the ATF to remove and take away the licenses of gun dealers who fail to follow the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In the wake of so many school shootings, Democratic candidates are pushing sweeping proposals to curb the violence. Here's CNN'S Rebecca Buck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm afraid that one day I'll go to school and I'll never come out. I'm sorry.

REBECCA BUCK, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A student and a mother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's devastating that my 6-year-old had to be taught how to hide and stay quiet in case someone came to her school to shoot people.

BUCK (voice-over): Both brought to tears by gun violence in America and looking to 2020 Democratic candidates for answers.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am tired of going to funerals where parents are burying their children.

We are going to bring a fight like the NRA has never seen if they are going to defend corporate gun manufacturers more than to represent this people.

BUCK (voice-over): Senator Cory Booker this week laying out a sweeping gun reform plan, a 14-point approach that would expand background checks, close loopholes and ban assault weapons. And just as drivers need a license, Booker thinks gun owner should to, a process that would require fingerprints and interview, and completion of a gun safety course.

BOOKER: Enough is enough. I will not only lead this fight but we will win this fight.

BUCK (voice-over): Not long ago candidates would have shied away from this fight, less they risk alienating world voters or incurring the wrath of the NRA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She would lead you defenseless.

BUCK (voice-over): But that's been changing. Now Democrats aren't just talking about gun control.

HARRIS: We need reasonable gun safety laws in this country.

BUCK (voice-over): But putting it front and center.

REP. ERIC SWALLWELL (D-CA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be the first campaign to make ending gun violence the top priority in my campaign.

BUCK (voice-over): It's a welcome change for Kris Brown, president of the gun reform advocacy group Brady.

KRIS BROWN, PRESIDENT, BRADY: The new normal absolutely is that presidential candidate on the Democratic side in this particular race actually really thinking thoughtfully about what the right solutions are and laying claim to those solutions.

BUCK (voice-over): In a recent CNN poll, 65% of Democratic voters said it's very important that the Democratic nominee supports executive action for stricter gun laws, ranking the issue third behind climate change and Medicare for all. Activists say the mass shooting last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, marked a turning point in the national debate.

BROWN: That ignited something in this country, not just in Parkland, not just in Florida. It sparked a nationwide movement of youth who were active on this issue, who voted on this issue, and they still care passionately about this issue, and so do their families.

BUCK (voice-over): Those voters help sweep Democrat to victory in 2018, like Lucy McBath who ran on gun reform in suburban Atlanta and won. A blueprint Democrats believe for doing the same at the presidential level.

[15:20:00] BOOKER: I'm running for president for many reasons. This is one that we will get it done. We will get it done.

BUCK: Now, even as this issue is getting more attention from the Democratic field, there is not yet a consensus among candidates on gun policy. Beto O'Rouke saying he does not fully agree with Booker's plan and gun licensing may be a step too far.

Rebecca Buck, CNN, Charlotte.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And even though more Democrats are pushing for gun control, it doesn't necessarily mean it's resonating with voters. A new Monmouth Poll of New Hampshire voters ranked the most important issues for 2020 Democrats. 16th on the list was gun control with only 4% of respondents saying it was the most important issue. And we should note much of New Hampshire is rural where gun ownership is common.

So with me now is David Swerdlick an Assistant Editor for the Washington Post. Good to see you, David.

DAVID SWERDLICK, ASSISTANT EDITOR, THE WASHINGTON POST: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So what does that poll tell you about where voters are in that politically key state versus where the candidates, you know, say their positions are?

SWERDLICK: Right. Well, first of, Happy Mother's Day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thanks.

SWERDLICK: I think that poll tells you on the one hand that this election may not or probably won't be decided on the issue of gun control. In recent cycles, just hasn't been the issue that many voters have swung on in terms of whether they vote for a Republican or a Democrat.

That being said, if you drill down into some polls where they ask the question about gun control laws, around 60 percent of people in national polls say they want stricter gun control laws. The problem, if you're a gun control advocate is that only about a third of Republicans want stricter gun control laws, and as long as the US Senate is controlled by Republicans and there's a Republican president in the White House, it's unlikely that you're going to get those stricter gun control laws that based on polling.

WHITFIELD: And particularly in the general election, Dems will need to appeal to Republicans, you know, if they want to unseat this Republican President. So is what Harris is talking about, you know, a winning issue for Democrats? SWERDLICK: Well, it's not clear to me that it's a winning issue. But on the other hand, I think as Rebecca just report, it's an issue on which Democrats are now, not as afraid to campaign on.

Going back to the Parkland High School shooting, we've seen so many high school and college shootings and other mass shootings in the country that I think it's not harder for gun rights advocates to use the old lines like, you know, guns don't kill people, people kill people. It's becoming clearer that guns are a problem in society and now the debate is over what to do about that.

So when you have Senator Harris come out and say that there's no courage on the part of legislators for not doing anything about this and you contrast with the courage of Kendrick Castillo, the kid at the Denver high school or Riley Howell, the student at UNC Charlotte, then I think she makes a strong point, Fred. On the other hand, when she says, "Look, elect me and I'm going to executive order gun control," I think she's running into a problem that she's going to be challenged on both the Democratic debate stage and in a general election should she get that far because it's not really clear how she would do that.

WHITFIELD: So Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, well, he used his speech last night to call out fellow Democrats and the President for playing "identity politics." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The current administration has mastered the practice of the most divisive form of such politics, peak white identity politics, designed to drive apart people with common interests.

One thing we do have in common, maybe the challenge of belonging in a society that sees us for what makes us all difference. I'm not talking about pretending that there equivalencies between the different patterns of exclusion in this country.

I may be a part of LBGTQ community but being a gay man doesn't even tell me what it's like to be a transwoman of color and that same community. But being gay just like every other fact about me from where I grew up to what I look like means that I have a story. And if I look to that story, I can find the building blocks, not only for empathy, but for the impetus to action. Because the more you know about exclusion, the more you would think about belonging. And we have a crisis of belonging in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So will that message of, you know, this crisis of belonging help broaden his appeal to a more diverse audience?

SWERDLICK: Fred, I think it will, and I think he did a good job bearing that speech of pointing out that identity politics doesn't just apply to minority groups. There's also such a thing as white identity politics and President Trump plays it routinely. I also think that it's a good political instinct if you're running for president, to be the president of the entire country to take a unite or not divider stance. And in that stance that was a successful sort of framework that he used in the speech.

[15:24:58] Where I think Mayor Buttigieg has struggled with this a little bit in past comments, and I still don't think he quite turned the corner there, is this idea that certain issues related to certain groups are identity politics and only belong to those groups.

If LBGT couples want to get married, that's not just an identity issue, that's an issue of American citizens wanting their rights. If African-Americans don't want to be singled out by police, that shouldn't be lump into a category of identity politics. That should be citizens demanding their rights. And I think Mayor Buttigieg, it's a good speech but he still has a way to go on some of these issues.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Swerdlick, thanks so much.

SWERDLICK: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, the Pope lays out sweeping new changes in the reporting of child abuse in the church. Some say it does not go far enough.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Pope Francis has issued a new law in the Catholic Church holding clergy accountable for reporting sexual abuse or cover-ups. Here's CNN's Delia Gallagher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN REPORTER: Pope Francis has issued a new universe reporting policy for sexual abuse and cover-up which all Catholic dioceses around the world must comply with by June of 2020. Now, one important aspect of these new rules is that it makes it mandatory to also report cover-up on the part of church leadership. It also says that all Catholic dioceses around the world must have in place a public and accessible system for people to report by June of 2020.

[15:30:08] Now, the reporting involves reporting to Catholic Church authorities and not to civil authorities, and it will be most important for those countries that do not yet have this kind of system in place. In Europe and in many English-speaking countries there has been a procedure in place for some years now in terms of reporting a sexual abuse.

The Vatican's top sex abuse investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna says that the new document sends an important message to Catholic Church leadership that they are not above the law. The new rules go into effect on June 1st for a this year for a three-year trial period, it remains to be seen how much this will affect the Catholic Church's overall approach to fighting sexual abuse.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: I want to bring in Mitchell Garabedian now. He is an attorney who has been representing clergy, sexual abuse victims around the world for decades now. So, Mitchell, good to see you.

You have said that these new rules actually allow the Catholic Church to continue to ineffectively self-police and basically discourage victims from just calling the police, I'm quoting you actually. So why do you think that?

MITCHELL GARABEDIAN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM: Well, first of all, Happy Mother's Day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

GARABEDIAN: You're welcome.

I believe that the Catholic Church is continuing its secrecy by keeping the investigations internal. We've got an entity that has allowed the wholesale sexual abuse of children and cover it up for more than a century. My first case goes back to 1937 when a man was sexually abused by a priest here in Boston.

Now, how can you trust an entity that has covered up the wholesale sexual abuse of children to investigate itself in a fair way? I mean, even church documents, the canon law for instance. Canon law states when a clergy's sexual abuse matter is looked into, it shall be kept secret. And that secrecy is really what drives the Catholic Church. And this paper step, this small paper step towards trying -- towards investigating clergy sexual abuse is just feeding that secrecy, that there are three issues that should really be addressed.

One is the priests are not mandated to report the crimes to civil authorities, and these are crimes. The sexual abuse and the supervision, and there goes the supervision, is more than they go as intentional. These are crimes.

Secondly, that there needs to be punitive damages put in place. So if a priest or a nun whoever within the Catholic Church does not comply with the law, they must be punished, just as though they were in civil society.

And thirdly, that the last issue is the persecution issue where the church says we don't want to review priest names because they might be persecuted in third world countries.

Well, I have two responses to that. First of all, tell that to a little boy who has been sexually abused by three priests over the course of 15 years or a little girl who has been passed around a table and passed around a table of priests, and sexually abused, and sexually abused, or a child who has reported the abuse to a priest and told to see a supervisor as a vice chancellor had been sexually abused there.

I mean, there needs to be -- the church can at least call Homeland Security if they have a concern. Homeland security will step in. WHITFIELD: So then, what does this, you know, "policy or the Pope's approach," you know, with this I guess new statement, you know, that it would still be an internal issue that would be handled. What does this tell you about the potential future or, you know, what hope then do you have that any entity outside of the Vatican, outside of the Catholic Church would handle such alleged abuses?

GARABEDIAN: Well, first of all, this plan is another indication that the Catholic Church is going to protect itself at all costs. And it's portraying itself as a victim. When I say, well, we don't want to report a priest's name because that's priest could be persecuted. It's portraying itself as the victim and it's forgetting about the needs for victims to try to heal and the safety of children.

And I think it's very important to note that this is their attitude, they are protecting the Catholic Church first and foremost. Statute of limitation laws need to be changed both criminally and civilly, nationally and internationally.

[15:35:02] So that civil authorities can step in as they did in Pennsylvania, as they are doing in many states now, so they can investigation the catholic church when it comes to the health, safety and welfare of innocent children and so the victims can try to heal It's crucial, it's critical.

WHITFIELD: Mitchell Garabedian, thank you so much.

GARABEDIAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Georgia is home base for dozens of movie and television productions every year, but could a controversial new law put a stop to that and cause the state billions of dollars, why so many industry are calling for a boycott of the Hollywood of South, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Georgia, it's known as the Hollywood of the South. But it's also home to shows like "The Walking Dead," "Stranger Things," productions that bring in billions of dollars to the state's economy.

But all of that could be in jeopardy after the state recently passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Now many of the Hollywood's elite are demanding the film and television industry boycott the state of Georgia. Here's CNN's Natasha Chen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marvel movies, "The Walking Dead," "Stranger Things," these were all shot in the Georgia, the Hollywood of the South with more than 90,000 employees in the state tied to its $9.5 billion a year business.

[15:40:05] But many A-list actors, writers and producers are reeling from Georgia's heartbeat bill signed last week which outlaws abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That's around six-weeks into a pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant.

Movies fans touring Atlanta's film locations heard about the boycott.

IRENE BERSON, TOURIST: I agree with them and I'm glad they're taking a stand about it. And hopefully taking that stand will make a difference.

CHIQUI VILLANUEVA, TOURIST: Just do the job and that's it. And just set aside the political side of it.

KEVIN SAUNDERS, TOUR GUIDE: All right. We're going to see a couple of places that we saw in those "Hunger Games" clips. You guys ready?

CHEN (voice-over): Tour guide Kevin Saunders is also an actor and moved to Georgia where he knew there would be more work.

SAUNDERS: The up-and-coming actors, the crews and everybody that have built a foundation in places like this. We don't have the luxury of being able to say, "OK, hey. Let's just go to California"

CHEN (voice-over): It's not easy for established Hollywood names to leave productions they have committed to. Alyssa Milano said through her publicist, she's contractually obligated to finish shooting a show in Georgia for the next month but "will do everything in my power to get as many productions as possible insatiable to move out of the state."

JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele also have a show to shoot in Georgia. They said, they will donate a 100 percent of our respective episodic fees for the season to two organizations leading the charge against this draconian law

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all feeling it, if not financially at the moment, just the negativities, the chatter.

CHEN (voice-over): And if the issue is not resolved local cruise may see their homes abandoned like in a zombie apocalypse.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Natasha. All right.

It's graduation season, and it's long been considered an honor to be named valedictorian, but now one Ohio high school might be ending that tradition next school year. More right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:42] WHITFIELD: All right. It's perhaps one of the most prestigious honors one can get in high school, being named the valedictorian, number one in the class in terms of grade point average. But starting next year, Mason High School in Mason, Ohio will do away with having a valedictorian. They say it's all part of an effort to improve mental health. In a statement, the school's principal said this will help reduce the overall competitive culture at MHS to allow students to focus on exploring learning opportunities that are of interest to them.

Let's bring in psychotherapy and author Robi Ludwig. Good to see you. What's your reaction to this kind of change and Happy Mother's Day?

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPY AND AUTHOR: Well, first of all -- and Happy Mother's Day.

WHITFIELD: Thanks.

LUDWIG: I think that some competition is a good and healthy thing, and pretend that competition in the real world can be a slippery slope. We don't want to do that in high school.

WHITFIELD: So this high school is saying --

LUDWIG: And it prepare kids for the real world.

WHITFIELD: Yes, sorry about that delay. But, you know, this high school says the changes in the name of mental health, that, you know, their statement is saying that there's just too much pressure on some kids, and so it is not inspirational but instead it's potentially damaging. Is that what we read into their statement?

LUDWIG: Well, there are studies that do suggest that being a valedictorian or striving for that does cause mental health problems or puts undue stress on students. Then I think that's something to consider. I have not seen that.

Yes, school can be stressful. But I think the bottom line is if parents and teachers address kids and students, and help them understand you don't need to graduate number one to do well in the world. And that you could graduate number 6 or 100, and help them understand that they can be themselves. They can pursue what they want and that being number one isn't the only way to be successful.

WHITFIELD: So then, tell me more about the other point that you're making which is sometimes competition can be a good healthy thing and removing that kind of competition could also be potentially damaging.

LUDWIG: Well, the real world is competitive. There are people who are out to get you. It's tough out there. It's tough to get jobs. You are competing against other people who may be smarter than you, who have certain strengths. And so it's really good to be in an environment where you can train yourself to open up and be able to handle those kinds of challenges.

And if we take that away in schools, then we're really not preparing kids for the real world. We're softening them up. It's like basically saying if not everybody can be quarterback of the football team, then maybe there should be no quarterback of the football team which sounds a little ridiculous.

WHITFIELD: So, Robi, Mason High School apparently isn't alone. There are other high schools that have made similar decisions about removing the valedictorian or salutatorian. What are your thoughts, you know, about how schools are grappling with this? How they should make these kinds of judgments?

LUDWIG: Well, my daughter goes to a high school that has eliminated valedictorian and doesn't believe in ranking kids. And I know that the kids are still tremendously stressed. They still need to get into college. They still need to do well in the SATs and SITs.

So the stress is really there. Listen, schools have to do what they feel comfortable doing but I am not -- I could not say that having ranking really puts undue stress on kids. I think that parents need to advise their kids that success happens in all different ways, you don't need to be number one. But there are people out there who will rank number one and number two, you have to deal with that reality in the real world.

WHITFIELD: All right. Robi Ludwig, always good to have you. Thank you so much.

LUDWIG: Always good to be here. Thank you.

[15:50:00] WHITFIELD: We have so much more in the newsroom straight ahead but first meet this week's CNN Hero, Ruth Hendricks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH HENDRICKS, VOLUNTEER TO FEED THE SICK: There's a special connection when you're feeding people.

Let's do the veggie burgers.

In the beginning, our mission was feeding people living with AIDS. And now we have added people living with other chronic illnesses. A lot of them are bed bound. Many times they don't have the money to shop it's kind of a desperate thing when they don't have any food in the house.

Nice to see you.

It's bringing that love, it's brining that dignity to them. This is the assignment that I feel that I've been given.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And to see how Ruth got started and has kept this amazing work going or to nominate your own hero, go to cnnheroes.com right now.

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WHITFIELD: Peggy Lipton, the star of "Mod Squad" and "Twin Peaks" has passed away. Lipton is best known for her role as an undercover officer in the series "Mod Squad" which ran from 1968 to '73. That role earned her four Golden Globe nominations and one win for Best TV Actress in a drama. She was also married to legendary music producer Quincy Jones. Her daughters including actress Rashida Jones put out a statement saying she was battling cancer.

[15:55:07] Peggy Lipton was 72 years old.

Catholics in Sri Lanka held Sunday mass today for the first time since the deadly Easter attacks that killed 250 people and injure 500 others. Parishioners packed into church this morning in the capital city of Columbo, expressing forgiveness for the bombings on several churches and hotels. Churches were closed for two weeks as a precaution against the possibility of more attacks.

And tonight W. Kamau Bell travels to twin cities to meet members of the Hmong community and hear their stories of lost, perseverance, and hope that make up their American journey. Here's preview.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four years in the jungle. We escape. We could not stand them anymore. It's too tough. We decided to escape from the jungle to China. We walked for 45 days.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: 45 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I carry my youngest brother on my back. We poisoned him quite a few times.

BELL: Poisoned him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.

BELL: How?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of the jungle, you could pass through military camp they would shoot you. So you give them from opium and put them to sleep. You don't kill them. You just put them to sleep because they may cry. And they get hungry they may cry. And they hear, then they shoot you so.

BELL: So you like anesthesia, put them under.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, something like that.

BELL: so they wouldn't cry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Watch an all new "United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell" tonight 10:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

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