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Trump Wrongly Claims U.S. Will Make Billions on Tariffs; Four Ships Targeted Near Strait of Hormuz; Subpoenas Loom Large for Trump Administration; Some Voters Still Haunted by Hillary Clinton's 2016 Loss; Fight for Survival in Caracas Amid Hyper-Inflation; Georgia's Film Industry Threatens Ban Over Abortion Law. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 13, 2019 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Preparing to strike back: U.S. president doubles down on the trade war with China as we wait for Beijing to retaliate against new tariffs.
Also, Trump's critical week ahead: a scandal for Congress as the White House stonewalls dozens of subpoenas that could threaten his presidency.
Venezuelans are desperately fighting hunger. Testimonies from the streets of Caracas, where eating three meals a day is a luxury.
Hello, everyone, thank you so much for joining us, these stories are ahead. I'm Natalie Allen in Atlanta and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Our top story: U.S.-China trade talks still at a standstill. And Beijing could retaliate against new U.S. tariffs in the coming hours. The lack of a trade deal has Asian markets nervous. You can see right there. All numbers in the red, pointing down. The Nikkei, the Shanghai Composite and the Seoul KOSPI.
U.S. market features are pointing to a down day on Wall Street as well. There, you see the Dow futures down, just under 1 point. The Nasdaq as well. The S&P 500 just under a point the same.
Even so, President Trump is projecting calm, with a tweet, saying the U.S. is, quote, "right where we want to be with China." Though Mr. Trump claimed the U.S. would collect tens of billions of dollars and tariffs from China, his top economic adviser admitted that is not the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: It's not China that pays tariffs, it's the American importers, the American companies that pay what in effect is a tax increase and oftentimes passes it on to U.S. consumers.
LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: Fair enough. In fact, both sides will pay. Both sides will pay in these things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Let's turn now to CNN's Steven Jiang, he is in Beijing for us.
Hello to you, Steven.
Any idea what China's retaliation will take, what form?
How far could it go?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: The government still has said not much in terms of details of their counter measures against the U.S. They could obviously impose counter tariffs but not dollar for dollar. Remember, China imports a lot less from the U.S. than the other way around.
So they are literally running around of a marathon products to tax on. But they could cancel major purchases from the U.S., especially agricultural and energy products that could really hurt the political base of Mr. Trump in the U.S.
They could also favor non-U.S. companies when granting market access here or launching unofficial retaliations by making life very difficult for American companies here. They could delay the issuance of licenses or customs clearance or even sending fire inspectors.
ALLEN: Also, Mr. Trump's top economic adviser reiterated Sunday about how this breakdown happened between the two countries. He said talks were going well and then China backtracked. So the U.S. continuing to put this stalemate all on China, Steven.
How is that being played there in Beijing?
JIANG: Well, not very well, as you can imagine. The Chinese government in the past few days has been pushing back on these U.S. claims through the state media. Their point being there's never been a formalized agreement between the two sides because negotiations still are ongoing.
So how could China walk away from something that was never formalized to begin with?
They're also trying to paint the Americans for being unreasonable when it comes to raising the amount of American goods Washington expected China to buy at the very last minute and also trying to describe the American side
being intransigent on a number of key issues from the removal of these tariffs in the event of a trade deal to the final text in any document both sides would sign.
One interesting to note is that, you played that sound bite by Larry Kudlow, basically admitting Trump has been misleading the American public in terms of who is paying these U.S. tariffs.
The Chinese state media has picked up these remarks and now using that to highlight how Mr. Trump's tariffs are only hurting the American people and that there are no winners in this trade war -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right, Steven Jiang for us, we will speak with you again.
Now let's talk about this on how this could play out.
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ALLEN: Andrew Sullivan joins us from Hong Kong, the former head of sales trading for Haitong International Securities.
We appreciate your time and weighing in on this as well. We were talking about China retaliating over these U.S. tariffs.
What are you expecting from Beijing?
How severe could it be?
ANDREW SULLIVAN, HAITONG INTERNATIONAL SECURITIES: As your previous bite said there, they are running out of things to actually put tariffs on. So some of the measures they are likely to take will come down more to sentiment from the public.
And we saw this when the Patriot missiles went to South Korea, a number of the public just generally boycotting Korean goods. And this is something we have seen over the weekend, the nationalist flavor in China has been welling up there.
And it's likely you will see people start to boycott American goods because they feel that America is being unfair against China. And that allows the government a little more wriggle when it comes to actually looking at tariffs, to be more measured. And that gives up the upper hand to show that they are not being the aggressive ones.
And I think that's something they certainly want to show to the world stage, that they are not being protectionist, that they want free markets and they want this thing to work well for the whole economy.
ALLEN: You mentioned the world stage. This is not just about China and the United States. This could have a trickle effect and affect other economies.
SULLIVAN: That's it. We've seen over the weekend, you have the South Korean government lobbying Washington not to put tariffs on the autos there. We have negotiations coming up with Europe, which are at a rather testy state.
And then we'll have the agreement with Japan coming through later. So this is really probably been seen as a benchmark by everybody as to where they are going to set the standard for the other agreements coming through.
ALLEN: Right, and President Trump maintains that tariffs "will hurt China mostly," a quote from him on Sunday. Remember, he said, they broke the deal, they did, China, with us, and try to renegotiate. We will take in tens of billions of dollars in tariffs from China.
But that is not exactly accurate. The impact will be fairly severe on U.S. businesses and consumers.
Can you talk about that?
SULLIVAN: Yes. We have not seen the Chinese exporters lowering their prices to take on the part of the tariff cost. So at the moment, it's being wholly passed on to the American consumer or the American importers are absorbing some of the costs, which will hurt their earnings going forward.
But remember, until Friday, a lot of consumer goods were not actually covered by the tariffs. So this is going to be the change. Now it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take a few weeks for these costs to start coming through.
But then you'll see it on things like smartphones, laptops, things that really affect the general public in America. And they will see the impact of it. And that could backfire against Trump. And we've had a couple of brokers coming out with reports just highlighting the fact that it was going to be the American consumer that pays this money.
ALLEN: And then there's the market. Let's talk about the economic impact there. The Asian markets lower in early trading Monday; the Dow is set to fall sharply again when trading opens in a few hours. President Trump says we are right where we need to be on China.
But if markets falter, could the president's tone change?
SULLIVAN: He always made that very much a success sign of how what he is doing as a president is how well the markets are doing. So it hit the global markets and especially the American markets take a nosedive, then, yes, he will certainly have to rethink his strategy there.
Again, I think he is feeling that the American economy is doing well and it's quite buoyant. But the I think the earnings going forward, we've just got through one earnings season and it was not as bad as people expected. But looking to the second half of the year, if this dispute continues, I think we will see a number of those American earnings starting to suffer and that will hurt.
ALLEN: Andrew Sullivan, thank you for joining us, we appreciate your insight.
SULLIVAN: You're welcome.
ALLEN: Now we want to turn to a neither issue that we are following closely and it does involve the United States. Tensions appear to be rising in an already sensitive part of the Middle East. An alliance of Middle Eastern nations is calling for calm after four commercial ships were targeted near the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf Cooperation Council said Sunday's incidents risk maritime safety. As CNN's Nic Robertson reports, it comes amid a standoff between Iran and the U.S. in the area.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: What we've learned --
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ROBERTSON: -- is what they described as a dangerous development. Four commercial vessels were targeted in their territorial waters, off the port city of Fujairah. That is an important oil facility in the Emirates and right next to the Strait of Hormuz.
And this comes at a time when the U.S. intelligence assessments have been that there is a growing Iranian threat to shipping in the region, that the Pentagon had been concerned that there was a threat to U.S. shipping, commercial and military, in the region and also the shipping of U.S. partners in the region.
What the Emiratis are describing, these attacks, are sabotage operations, subversive operations, that's how they describe it. We don't have much details yet about the type of vessels that were targeted or how they were targeted.
But this came late Sunday evening in the Emirates, information from the Emirati authorities. However, earlier in the day, pro Iranian TV in the region and in Iran have been broadcasting a story saying seven oil tankers in this point city of Fujairah were on fire.
And when we contacted Emirati authorities earlier Sunday to ask about that, they said they had no information about it. For the Emiratis, this is, in their words, a dangerous development, coming at a time of heightened tensions in this region.
The U.S. is sending more of its naval forces and Patriot missile batteries and B-52 bombers into the region, the tension growing. And this incident, whatever it turns out to be, will add to those tensions -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
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ALLEN: And in a related development, we are getting word that the U.S. secretary of state is canceling a trip to Moscow on Monday. He will instead meet with European officials in Brussels to discuss pressing matters, including Iran.
Mike Pompeo departed to Brussels just a few moments ago from Maryland. Before leaving, he reiterated, the U.S. does not want war with Iran.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are not going to miscalculate. Our aim is not war. Our aim is a change in the behavior of the Iranian leadership. We hope the Iranian people to get what they finally want and what they so richly deserve.
The forces that we are putting in place, the forces we have had in the region before, you know, we have often had carriers in the Persian Gulf. But the president wanted to make sure that in the event that something took place, we were prepared to respond to it in an appropriate way.
And as secretary of state, I wanted to make sure that we had all the political and diplomatic tools in the right place. And we want to make sure that we can provide the president with an option set, in the event that the Iranians make a bad decision.
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ALLEN: The U.S. secretary of state will head to Sochi on Tuesday as planned for meetings there with Russian officials. Next here on NEWSROOM, the week ahead for President Trump includes his ongoing battle over subpoenas.
Is the U.S. in a constitutional crisis?
Also:
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ELLIE TAYLOR, HARVARD STUDENT: Some have voiced concerns about you getting Hillary-ed in the election, meaning that you get held to a higher standard than your opponent for potentially arbitrary or maybe even sexist reasons.
ALLEN (voice-over): Is sexism undermining support for women running for U.S. president?
We will look into that, right after this.
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ALLEN: Welcome back.
Donald Trump faces yet another critical week in his presidency. The U.S. leader has issues with China and Iran on his plate and he is in a standoff with Congress. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has a preview.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The battle between the White House and congressional Democrats very much continuing this week. It's been several week since the president vowed to fight all subpoenas issued by House Democrats and we've seen that strategy play out in the last several weeks, but on Tuesday we're expecting a resolution on at least one of those subpoena requests.
That's because a federal judge is expected to rule on the subpoena from the House oversight committee demanding financial records from one of the president's former accounting firms and then on Friday that is when House Democrats have laid out a deadline for the Treasury Department and the IRS to respond to their subpoena on the president's tax returns.
That's a demand that the administration has so far resisted. The Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has categorically refused that request just last week. But the White House's position is remaining firm. They are insisting that they are not going to comply with several of these subpoena requests.
The White House deputy press secretary Steve Groves, he issued a statement on Sunday saying there are rules and norms governing congressional oversight of the executive branch and the Democrats simply refuse to abide by them.
This White House will not and cannot comply with unlawful demands made by increasingly unhinged and politically motivated Democrats.
So the White House very much remaining firm in its position on that, but House Democrats, meanwhile, are grappling with how to get the White House to comply with the 20-plus investigations that so far we've seen simply stonewalling from this White House and from the president and his allies.
Some Democrats are also now calling this a constitutional crisis because of that stonewalling from the White House. The president, though, very much pushing back on that.
He said in a tweet, "The Democrats new and pathetically untrue sound bite is that we are in a constitutional crisis." The president very much rejecting that notion -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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ALLEN: Joining me now from New York City via Skype is CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer, also a professor at Princeton University.
Julian, thank you for being with us.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: Let's begin with Congress. In a serious showdown --
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ALLEN: -- with the U.S. president, Democratic leaders say it is a constitutional crisis. Whether or not, it is certainly a dangerous place. Mr. Trump says he will not succumb to subpoenas; the Democrats say it's their duty to conduct congressional oversight.
Where could this go this week?
What might end the deadlock?
ZELIZER: One side could concede, meaning the president may concede to some of the investigations, handing over some of the material, this is a negotiation ploy. It could end up in the courts if there is no resolution. And it could move toward some kind of impeachment proceedings.
All those are on the table this week. That's what happens when you have a crisis of this sort, where the ordinary mechanisms of government do not work.
ALLEN: We heard one Democrat say on a Sunday talk show that he thinks President Trump is goading Democrats towards impeachment.
What are your thoughts?
ZELIZER: He may be. He certainly may be testing them; that does not mean it won't end up there. I think what he is doing is offering a blanket argument about presidential power and rejecting the notion that congressional oversight is legitimate.
That might go to Democrats and that may be a strategy. But it's also raising pretty serious issues and questions about the power of the presidency that the Democrats are grappling with.
ALLEN: As far as the Mueller report, the president says he was exonerated and now this is just presidential harassment, what the Democrats are doing. He's sent a barrage of 60 tweets over the weekend, blasting, in part, his former counsel, Don McGahn, for not stating publicly as requested that there was no obstruction.
What do you think of the president's fury over that and why isn't McGahn coming forward?
ZELIZER: Well, he was not exonerated, that's not what the report said. So his statement is not true. One of the things that really bothers him in the report are that material presented about Don McGahn, about his efforts to use him, to get rid of the investigation, McGahn refusing to do so.
So I think the president is leading from a defensive posture, I think clearly he's upset and worried about where this will all go and he's trying to spread his argument about what the report says, what people like McGahn are about and ultimately what this whole investigation is.
But there is a discrepancy between what he says and all the other facts we have on the table.
ALLEN: Finally, with Mr. Trump's refusal to cooperate with any subpoenas, including to release his tax returns, could that hurt him in this election season?
This is quite a lot of fuel for this large Democratic field. ZELIZER: Oh, it could. He is hoping that this will help him, that it solidifies its base. On the other hand, the ongoing questions about him, about his accountability and about what he did is clearly hurting him.
He has terrible approval ratings, he always has nationally. And this hurts him as much as it hurts Democrats in terms of shaping the issues and the agenda going into 2020. Many Democrats are really upset and this can mobilize them in the same way it mobilizes the Republican base.
So this is not cost free for the president. And of course there is still the possibility of where this investigation actually goes between now and 2020.
ALLEN: We always appreciate your insight. Thank you so much, Julian Zelizer.
ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: The U.S. Democratic field of presidential candidates has ballooned to more than 20 hopefuls, six of them are women and none of them is leading in the polls. But some voters wonder if sexism is playing a role. CNN's MJ Lee spoke with voters, who fear that nominating a woman again will hand Donald Trump a second term.
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SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's all anybody wanted to talk about, what I was wearing, what my haircut was.
MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six women seeking the presidential nomination for president is a historic election, four Senators, one congresswoman and a spiritual writer.
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a young mom, I'll fight for your children as hard as I would fight for my own.
LEE: Voters across the country telling CNN that it is time for a woman to finally take the White House.
KELLY GRIEF, IOWA VOTER: We make up, I think, 51 percent of the population.
DEVORAH BADEE, MICHIGAN VOTER: I don't think a man could ever handle the pressures of that office any better than a woman.
LEE: But there's another darker sentiment, frustration about sexism, fueled by flashbacks to Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling. But someday, someone will.
LEE: Democratic voters describing a lingering trauma from the last election. TAYLOR: Some have voiced concerns about you getting Hillary-ed in the election, meaning that you get held to --
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TAYLOR: -- a higher standard than your opponent for potentially arbitrary or maybe even sexist reasons.
LEE: And concern that nominating a woman again will hand Donald Trump a second term.
TERESA JONES, SOUTH CAROLINA VOTER: I think most people didn't vote for her because she was a woman. I think that they ended up voting for Trump because he was a man.
JULIE SWYGERT, SOUTH CAROLINA VOTER: I worry about the old boys' club.
LEE: Nine months out from the Iowa caucuses, some of the women who want to see a women president leaning towards one of the men.
BADEE: I would love for Joe Biden because I think he has the best chance of winning the presidency.
LEE: On the campaign trail, the female candidates making a forceful case for why women are just as electable as men.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People tell me, it cannot be done. They're not ready to see you. It's not your time. And I ran. And we won.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Someone once said and I agree with part of this but not all of it, that women candidates should speak softly and carry a big statistic.
(LAUGHTER)
OK, so I think you know I don't always speak softly.
WARREN: It's going to be fun when I say and I won, because that's what girls do.
LEE: A recent CNN poll showing no indication that women are overwhelmingly supporting the female candidates over the male candidates.
This man telling CNN he does have a gender bias.
KEITH KUPER, IOWA VOTER: If there were equal candidates, one was male and one was female, I would support the female. It's high time we had a female president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We shall see. MJ Lee reporting.
Next here, an eye-opening look at the harsh conditions in Venezuela. We discover the lengths some people are driven to in order to survive.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour.
[00:30:15] At least six people were killed Sunday when gunmen attacked a Catholic church in central Burkina Faso. State media report a priest is among the dead, and the church and other buildings were set on fire. The West African nation has seen a spike in extremist violent by militants linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have now withdrawn from the port of Hodeidah in Yemen. The move follows long delays as part of a United-Nations- brokered Stockholm agreement.
The Dow is set to fall sharply at Monday's open, and Beijing is expected to retaliate over stalled trade talks with Washington. The United States hiked tariffs to 25 percent on 200 billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods. But President Donald Trump says the U.S. is, quote, "right where we want to be with China."
The United Arab Emirates says four commercial vessels have been targeted near the Strait of Hormuz. The alleged sabotage incident reportedly happened off the port city of Fujairah. This comes as the United States has warned of Iranian threats to shipping in the region.
After heading to Brussels for talks on Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit Russia, where he will meet with President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, he dismissed criticism that the U.S. has not been tough enough on Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of folks say, "When are we really going to get tough on Russia?" How much of the Mueller report is going to come into the conversations that you have in the coming days?
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: That's crazy talk. That's absolutely crazy talk. And I've heard it. I've heard it from the previous administration. They say, "Oh, we're not tough on Russia." I only wish they would have stopped the election interference. I only wish they would've put Global Magnitsky on some of the bad actors in Russia in the way this administration. I only wish they hadn't gutted the defense budget, to the great benefit of Vladimir Putin. All right?
We -- we've put real money into our Defense Department. Vladimir Putin can't possibly think that's a good thing for him. They gutted the defense budget. The actions that this administration took I would put up against any in terms of our seriousness in pushing back on Russia and raising costs for them. And we can do that at the same time we can have conversations with them and see if there are places that we can find to work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: In Venezuela, the power struggle rolls on. At a rally in
Caracas this weekend, National Assembly leader Juan Guaido urged supporters yet again to maintain nationwide protests against President Nicolas Maduro.
Meantime, three opposition politicians are now taking refuge in foreign embassies after they and other lawmakers were stripped of their immunity.
And as the country's social and economic crisis deepens, and hyper- inflation hits every pocket, Venezuelans are learning that they will have to resort to drastic measures to survive.
Our Rafael Romo witnessed the harsh conditions in Caracas. Here's his report.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This family is waiting by an open-air market. In just a few hours, the fruit that doesn't get sold will be disposed of, and that will become their only meal today.
"Things are very difficult," this woman says. "We can't buy anything with the money we make."
At a nearby park, Marbelia (ph) Hernandez and her children waited all morning long until a good Samaritan showed up.
(on camera): How long did you have to wait to get food?
"Several hours," she says.
This is 21st Century Venezuelan. There's an abundance of rhetoric and propaganda. In the shortage of food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All social classes of Venezuela are struggling to get enough food. Everybody is trying to make ends meet and looking for alternatives to feed their families.
ROMO (voice-over): A seasonal fruit has become the go-to food item to satisfy hunger.
(on camera): How affordable are mangoes right now?
(voice-over): "They're very cheap," she says. "It's mango season, and prices are very low."
There are so many families that depend on mangoes, that the tropical fruit is now known as the hunger suppressor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROMO: This market coordinator says some people have mangoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The purchasing power for the average Venezuelan has collapsed, due to hyperinflation.
(on camera): These are cachapas, a national dish in Venezuela, kind of like a pancake made out of corn. Each one costs about two dollars. The problem is that most people here in Venezuela make an average of five dollars, which tells you a lot about how difficult it is for families to make ends meet.
[00:35:10] (voice-over): Some people are so desperate that they're willing to put their health at risk, like these men looking for metal in a river that carries sewage.
Socialists, who have governed the country for two decades, are calling on people to fight for what they call 21st Century socialism.
"You need to produce something in your own home," this national leader says. "It's one way of defending the motherland."
Back at the park, Marbelia (ph) Hernandez keeps waiting for food.
(on camera): What happens during the rest of the week? How do you make ends meet?
(voice-over): "There's no easy answer." Her eyes are full of tears, but her stomach remains empty.
Elsewhere in the city, two men knocked down mangoes from a tree, while the hope of striking gold keeps these others wading in sewage. And at markets around Caracas, entire families keep on waiting for the garbage that will become their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Caracas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The U.S. state of Georgia, where we broadcast from, sees a steady stream of money from movie studios. It's called the Hollywood of the East. But coming up here, we look at how a controversial new law in Georgia could change all of that.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALYSSA MILANO, ACTOR: Our industry is taking a stand. Women are taking a stand, and we're saying no more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Alyssa Milano there, calling on Georgia's booming movie industry to stop filming in the state. That's after Georgia signed one of the country's most restrictive antiabortion measures into law. Other states also passing similar legislation, limiting access to, and even criminalizing abortions, which are allowed in the United States.
As Natasha Chen reports, a Hollywood boycott could send Georgia a multibillion-dollar message. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marvel movies, "The Walking Dead," "Stranger Things." These were all shot in Georgia, the Hollywood of the South, with more than 90,000 employees in the state tied to its $9.5 billion a year business.
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.
Movie 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 VILLANEUVA, TOURIST: Just do the job. That's it. And this just satisfies the political side of it.
[00:40:04] KEVIN SAUNDERS, TOUR GUIDE: All right. We're going to see a couple of those places that we saw in those "Hunger Games" clips. You guys ready?
CHEN: Tour guide Kevin Sanders is also an actor, and moved to Georgia, where he knew there'd be more work.
SAUNDERS: The up and coming actors, 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: It's not easy for established Hollywood names to leave productions they've committed to. Alyssa Milano said through her publicist she's contractually obligated to finish shooting a show in Georgia for the next month. But, quote, "We'll do everything in my power to get as many productions as possible -- including "Insatiable" -- to move out of the state."
J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele also have a show to shoot in Georgia. They said they will "donate 100 percent of our respective episodic fees for this 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 negativity. The chatter.
CHEN: And if the issue is not resolved, local crews may see their home abandoned, like in a zombie apocalypse.
Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, says it will challenge Georgia's new law in court. Some similar bills in other states have either been temporarily or permanently blocked in the courts.
I spoke with Atlanta-based actor Virginia Vogt earlier. She says there's another option beside hashtag #BoycottGeorgia. She believes it's important for people like her to stay to support local women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VIRGINIA VOGT, ACTRESS: I choose to stand and fight because, first of, all I love Atlanta. I love Georgia. And I think that the women of Georgia deserve better. And I'm just not one for abandoning something that -- that I love. So, I need to stay and fight.
ALLEN: You understand the people that are boycotting, that say "We've got to get out"?
VOGT: Yes. I think I do understand their point. Money talks. And if, you know, Georgia sees a decrease in -- in money because of the film industry pulling out in various ways, I think that that can make an impact.
The boycott camp is more people who don't live here, who are not with their boots on the ground, kind of understanding that community of Atlanta.
ALLEN: Right. Well, some production companies are pulling out. Actor and activist Alyssa Milano said she'll finish up her production, that she may not stay with her show to get out of Georgia.
But at the same time, we know that the acclaimed directors J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele, they're going to continue here, like you, and they say they're going to donate their fees to fight this bill. What do you think about that option?
VOGT: I think that's fantastic. That is definitely what we need. Not just the film industry but the people and the women of Georgia. We need people to -- to take a stand and then put their money where their mouth is. So they're going to film here, and then they're going to take their proceeds and donate it to organizations that are going to be able to fight for reproductive rights and women's rights in this state.
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ALLEN: Of course, we'll watch to see what the impact will be on the state of Georgia.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. WORLD SPORT is next. I'll see you in about 15 minutes for more CNN NEWSROOM.
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[00:45:17] (WORLD SPORT)
[00:57:28] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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