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Don Lemon Tonight
Don's Take on President Biden's Speech; President Biden Delivers First Prime-time Address as America is at a Turning Point; Stacey Plaskett Responds to GOP Congressman Who Claims BLM Doesn't Like the Old-Fashioned Family; The 'Locker Room Talk' Defense. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired March 11, 2021 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I remember it. I remember hearing about it, and the heartbreak. And then soon after, the hope that Andrew and his wife had that they could do something for somebody else. Bean's short life would inspire a long commitment to what people at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute do.
I want you to be on Team Beans. Now, this hat, CNN put together for us. It's a really good thing to do, by the way, unusual on my business, Team Beans. Now, I am going to start a little action on social media. And whoever wants this hat the most will get and I will send you everything that we do for my show as well, and I will owe you one.
If we can raise money and help another family, what a beautiful gift that would be to Beans. So you go to teambeans.shop, all right? I'll tweet out the link. And this hat -- if you want this hat, make me an offer.
Thank you for watching tonight. Let's get to the big show "CNN Tonight" with the big star D. Lemon right now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Wore this today. I got to go on the T.V., so I can't. You're leaving, so I can't put it on, but I wore this today.
CUOMO: Yeah, you don't want -- you don't to mess up the wig.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I wore this today. I also wore this one as well just so you know. This is Scott Beigel. Remember, he died in the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School shooting. And so, you know, the mask makes us remember COVID.
And this is for really amazing colleague and his entire family, Team Beans. I went there today. So make sure everybody -- you go there, you support it, and it goes to supporting cancer -- a cancer foundation and not one more child should have to deal with this. Not one more family should have to deal with it.
CUOMO: Kids are going to lose but we can make a difference. LEMON: Yeah.
CUOMO: And the reason we did it is, look, we care about our own always. But Andrew and his wife are special people who fought a hell of a fight.
LEMON: Yeah.
CUOMO: And really did it in an inspirational way. I've never seen people -- and they're young, too. I've never seen people come together around their kid any better than they did and made all of us love them and Beans. And I'm happy to do this. And again, you want it, still got (INAUDIBLE) in back. That's the way all the kids wear it today.
LEMON: Yeah.
CUOMO: Make me an offer. Highest offer will get the hat and everything I offer on the show. And I'll tell you, this is an emotional time, you know. My -- you know we all lived through such horrors this last year. Everybody lost something or someone. And now we're trying to figure out how to mark life going forward, whether the loss is permanent as it was with Beans or temporary like with me with the long haul thing.
My daughter turns 18 tomorrow, by biggest one.
LEMON: Oh.
CUOMO: And --
LEMON: Yeah.
CUOMO: You know, it really makes you think. Everybody says it went by in a blink.
LEMON: Yeah.
CUOMO: No, it didn't. No, it didn't. It's -- 18 years is a lot of time and it just makes us all remember what life is about and what you leave and what your legacy is and how you take care of each other.
The president hit those notes tonight and it was right that he did.
LEMON: Well, that's where I want to go. If you talk about compassion, someone who knows compassion, someone who has suffered as much loss as Joe Biden --
CUOMO: Yeah.
LEMON: -- before he was president and his first time in the White House as vice president, just losing -- he lost two children. He lost his wife. And you could feel in his speech tonight the compassion that he had, that he has, and I think for the time that we're in right now with the -- with COVID, with people suffering so many losses, with just what's happening in the country, the right person, the right time at the moment. That's not political. That's coming from a place of the heart, a compassionate place of the heart. I've got to tell you, we're thinking about everybody who has suffered from COVID, all the losses we've had, and especially (INAUDIBLE) right now.
Chris, I love you. I'll see you tomorrow night.
CUOMO: I love you, Don Lemon, especially tonight.
LEMON: Team Beans. Make sure you go to the site and check it out.
This is "CNN Tonight." I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining.
So, we have breaking news, OK? I think it is fair to say, and I think you'll agree, most of you, the country is at a turning point tonight. And the president of the United States is speaking to the American people in his first primetime address on where we stand after a year of COVID.
It has been a long, torturous year. Don't you think? A long year. Think about everything we've gone through, the quarantine, the lockdown, the misinformation, the crazy statements, the fighting over masks, all of that.
[22:04:418]
LEMON: But right now where we are, this president is promising every one of us, every adult will be eligible for a vaccine no later than May 1st, urging Americans not to let masks divide us, condemning hate crimes against Asian-Americans as wrong and un-American, and demanding they stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Too often, we've turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other. Vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated.
At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives. And still, still, they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong, it's un-American, and it must stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Compare that to the racist names for the pandemic that the other president called this virus. None of that tonight. None of it. Not a trace. Ah, how refreshing, how human, how compassionate, how American.
President Biden acknowledging it won't be easy, saying, I need you to get vaccinated and wear masks to get us to something close to normal by the fourth of July.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people. I need you. I need every American to do their part. That's not hyperbole. I need you. I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity, and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well.
Because here's the point, if we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July 4th, there's a good chance you, your family and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What the president is saying is help is on the way! That's how the preacher says it on Sunday morning, right? Help is on the way! Come on, everybody! Help is the on the way! If you just do your part, right? There was no, I alone can fix this. No, no, no. No, I know better than the generals. How about, we're all in this together? I need your help. We're all Americans. Woo! Halleluiah!
How different is that? How different from the -- me, me, me that we heard for four years! I need you. Now the president has to deliver though on his promises and on the monumental COVID relief bill that he signed just today. All that as we mark one year of COVID, a year like nothing we have ever seen really in most of our lifetimes in this country, nothing.
The deadliest year in the recorded history of the United States. Think about that. The deadliest year in the recorded history of the United States. A year of COVID and a year of lessons about leadership. Exactly one year ago, the then-president of the United States said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Now here we are after a year of denial, of downplaying the virus, of saying it would just go away like magic, saying we could inject disinfectant. After a year of lies, that cost the lives of more than 530,000 Americans.
We can never ever, ever forget those who we lost. But as President Biden is keeping his promise to make COVID relief his first priority, the GOP or the GQP is completely failing to meet the moment. Republicans are hard at work trying to disenfranchise Americans in a voter suppression effort, the likes of which we have not seen since Jim Crow.
[22:10:00]
LEMON: There are more than 250 bills nationwide to roll back voter access, 24 of them in Arizona alone since January. One Arizona Republican is really -- he is taking -- saying the quiet part out loud to new heights or maybe probably better new depths.
His name is John Kavanagh. He is a Republican in Arizona State House putting it all right on the -- out in the open here. Listen to this, OK?
He says -- quote -- "Everybody shouldn't be voting." I'll say that again. He says, everybody shouldn't be voting. Not everybody wants to vote. And if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they're totally uninformed on the issues. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well.
Can you believe it? He actually said that out loud. Now you know the thinking. Everybody shouldn't be voting. You mean like when voters had to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar, like that kind of stuff? Like when Black folks were turned away? Like that kind of stuff? Like poll taxes? You know what -- you know what I'm talking about. Suppression!
You mean like when literacy tests were used to keep people of color and sometimes poor whites from casting ballots. What he is saying is the definition of voter suppression, because you know why? Everybody should be voting. That is the American way. That is the foundation of our democracy. Free, free, free and fair elections, not quality of votes. Free and fair.
If you care about democracy, then you want everybody to vote. Everybody is equal under the law. Come on. Everyone is equal under the law. Not the quality of this person's vote is better than the quality of this person's vote. It doesn't -- that's not how our democracy works.
And as Joe Biden vows to open up vaccines to all American adults by May 1st, his predecessor is trying to take credit for it. So, look, the vaccines were developed under the Trump administration. For the former president who was secretly vaccinated, by the way, in the White House, for him to now want to take credit for vaccines is really something.
Is it any wonder that he is the only living president who wasn't photographed getting vaccinated? The only one. Is it any wonder that he's not part of the president's club urging Americans to get vaccinated?
We've lost enough people and suffered enough damage.
In order to get rid of this pandemic it's important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've lost enough people and we've suffered enough damage.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order to get rid of this pandemic, it's important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated.
UNKNOWN: I'm getting vaccinated because we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, we urge you to get vaccinated when it's available to you.
BUSH: So, roll up your sleeve and do your part.
UNKNOWN: This is our shot. Now, it's up to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: There's one in every bunch. Or in this case, there's one not in every bunch. And over at the Fox propaganda network, the people who brought you the GOP outrage machine with Dr. Seuss, Mr. Potato Head, and Neanderthal thinking, now we have Tucker Carlson singlehandedly managing to turn the military against him. Really?
This is how you appeal to the GOP base, by infuriating our military with slurs against women in uniform? OK. I hope everybody is sitting. Turn up the volume because you've got to hear it to believe it. Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: So, we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the U.S. military. China's military becomes more masculine as it has assembled the world's largest navy. Our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist.
The bottom line is it's out of control and the Pentagon is going along with this. Again, this is a mockery of the U.S. military and its core mission, which is winning wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:15:00]
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Told you. A mock -- a mockery. A mockery. Pregnant woman in uniform a mockery. How do you think he got here? Let me tell you what's a mockery -- let me tell you what's a mockery. A host -- and I'll say it again -- the Fox propaganda network who never -- never served in the military, mocking women who do. That's what a mockery is.
The Pentagon incensed at the disrespect of women in the armed forces. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, saying, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shared the same revulsion as many military leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY (voice-over): What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military. Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That's on them. The secretary certainly shares the revulsion of so many others to what Mr. Carlson said in his opening statement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: New Jersey Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill said -- who spent almost 10 years on active duty in the navy, by the way, tweets that she served with women who risked their lives to protect our country. Tucker Carlson did not.
And over on the propaganda, Fox propaganda network, he is playing the victim after getting called out for mocking the women who serve in our armed forces, who risk their lives to protect our country.
The Pentagon won't stand for it. And we shouldn't either. We shouldn't stand for any of it, not the propaganda, not the voter suppression, none of it. We shouldn't. America is at a turning point right now, as I said, and the president is making some big promises. Now he has to deliver on those promises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There is hope and light and better days ahead if we all do our part. This country will be vaccinated soon. Our economy will be on the mend. Our kids will be back in school. And we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Biden addressing America tonight, marking one year of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, saying the virus is taking a terrible toll, but offering messages of hope. The president telling states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1st.
We have a lot to discuss. CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash is here and our chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, as well. Good evening to both of you.
Kaitlan, why don't we start at the White House? President Biden is addressing the pain of the nation for over a year but with an eye toward the future, setting some big goals over the next few months. What did we hear?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, officials said that he really wanted to strike that balance, acknowledging that yes, you are still seeing about 1,500 people die every single day, but also look ahead to what's going to come.
And so, he was setting goals tonight. We actually got dates from President Biden. One of the biggest and I think is most significant the people are going to be looking at is that May 1st date, saying that this is when he's going to direct all states, which the White House says he has the authority to do via the Health and Human Services Department to make sure all Americans are eligible to actually get the vaccine by no later than May 1st.
They were talking about tools to make it easier to actually find a way to get a vaccine. That has been a real struggle, actually scheduling a vaccine appointment. So, they're going to have a federally-supported website to go and look for where the closest vaccine to you is. They also set up a call center for people who don't have access to internet.
The other big thing, I think, that so many people have asked about is when are schools are going to reopen and reopen the way that we saw them before. They were talking about the money that they're going to be investing in doing that as well, looking at that, expanding also as these vaccinations are going forward who can actually conduct these vaccines.
And so you saw several steps coming from this. But I think at the end, what you heard from him was saying that this is not just on the federal government. It's also on individual Americans to make the decision. Go out there and get the vaccine when it's their turn.
I think he spent part of the speech actually addressing the vaccine hesitancy, which is what you heard from so many federal health officials is a concern. When the supply is here and everyone can get it, people will be reluctant to do so. And you really saw him take time in tonight's speech to address that part.
LEMON: Dana, I want to play a little bit more of the president tonight and then we'll discuss. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's the details of life that matter the most, and we've missed those details. The big details and small moments. Weddings, birthdays, graduations -- all the things that needed to happen but didn't. The first date. The family reunions. The Sunday night rituals. It's all has exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Dana, there is compassion. There is empathy there. This is what President Biden does very well. What did you think of his tone and message? It wasn't until the end that he really touted his rescue plan.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That part was vintage Joe Biden, taking the realities of people's humanity, the realities of what people need and want in their everyday lives and relating to it and making it clear that he understands it.
And, you know, that is something that is so basic that we had become until the last four years used to seeing and hearing from presidents. You know, the kind of sympathy factor, the empathy factor and the relatable notion of somebody who's, yes, in the White House, who is the most powerful person, you know, in this country and in the world but somebody who, you know, understands the struggles people are going through.
[22:25:02]
BASH: And there are a few politicians who really get that at their core like Joe Biden. And, you know, that was a big part of what he was doing tonight in addition to the policy prescriptions --
LEMON: Right.
BASH: -- in addition to the promises that he made that Kaitlan was talking about.
LEMON: Let's talk a little bit more about the promises. But, I mean, he relay the story about a woman he said he met on the campaign trail this past summer who said, I just want you to tell me the truth, just tell me the truth, I can handle it. And he believes Americans want the truth.
So, having said that from the very beginning, Dana, President Biden has been managing expectations and then trying to exceed them, now people are going to be very excited about May 1st and getting life back to normal soon after. Is that a risky promise?
BASH: Yes, it is a risky promise. But, you know, the fact that this president who understands the expectations game when it comes to politics and when it comes to leadership felt that he could say, and his advisers felt that he could say May 1st, speaks to the confidence that he clearly has with regard to the supply because, you know, there are all kinds of problems with regard to finding a way to get the vaccine.
The processes in each state or even here in D.C. are very cumbersome and certainly not uniform. But the big thing is supply. And the fact that the deal that he helped to bring together, unprecedented deal between two major competitors, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, that is one example, and just the fact that there are three really good vaccines on the market of why he felt like he could say that.
But to go back to your original question, is it risky? Yes, because if he can't get that done, then that's a bar he set for himself.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. Kaitlan, talk about a study in contrasts here, President Biden condemning the rise in violence targeting Asian- Americans. Listen, I remember when he -- I'm sure you were there as well. I know you were there as well when he would get into skirmishes with Asian-American reporters at the White House. So, talk about a different message than the former president who used to use racist language to describe the virus.
COLLINS: Well, and just a few days ago when former President Trump put out a statement trying to take credit for the vaccines, basically there's a sense in the Trump world that the Biden administration is taking credit for Operation Warp Speed, the program that they started, he called it the China virus.
And that is something that several times the White House was pressed on, which is why is the White House so regularly referring to it is that given what we've seen play out over the past year, which is this rise in bigotry and violence toward Asian-Americans because of terms like that and others that people have used, I won't repeat here.
And so what you saw President Biden did tonight was take a moment to address that specifically head on, which I think is notable that he did do that in a national address where millions of people are watching to say that that was un-American and it was wrong, and really just try to address that in a sense that you did not see with the last White House where there are several instances we could bring up where it was not only former President Trump but some of his senior White House aides doing that, as well.
I think there is a difference in talking about that and talking about holding the Chinese government accountable for how they responded to the initial outbreak of the pandemic and what they could have done differently.
I think that's something you'll see the Biden administration deal with going forward, which is how are they going to navigate a relationship with them on that. But he did take time out of that tonight to address that and tell people they need to stop doing that.
LEMON: Kaitlan, Dana, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and you're reporting. Thanks so much.
BASH: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: President Biden sending a message of unity, but with Republicans focused on division, are they missing the mood of the country?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Biden going easy on the GOP in his White House address tonight, even though not one single Republican voted for his COVID relief package despite broad public support.
He says in addition to helping Americans beat the virus, it will create millions of jobs and cut child poverty in half. The president is signing the bill into law today and about to kick off a sales pitch by traveling to several states. I want to bring in Matthew Dowd now. He is a former chief strategist for President George W. Bush. Matthew, good to see you this evening. Let's talk about what the president said tonight, now saying vaccines for everybody by May after passing this bill that was already very popular with Americans. What's the republican response going to be because they haven't had much of one so far?
MATTHEW DOWD, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, you know, as I listened to that speech tonight, Don, I was struck by the fact like it was I felt like I had gone back to earth after being on Mars --
(LAUGHTER)
DOWD: -- for four years and being able to breathe normal oxygen.
LEMON: I'm glad you said that. I felt like I was in another country than I had been, you know, the last time we saw someone speaking from the White House like that and not saying China virus and I alone can fix this and it's not a big deal.
DOWD: Well, yeah. And it's funny. As I listened to it, you know, it reminded me that he presented a trifecta of leadership, right? And the trifecta is competency, honesty, and empathy with a dash of humility mixed in. And that's all the decent leaders in the world do, do and are able combine all those things.
It's interesting to me what the Republicans are going to do. I don't think they have an ability to respond to that type of leadership because they've gotten so entrenched in the way Trump was and the way Trump has sort of basically become the Republican Party.
[22:35:00]
DOWD: And so I think their only response is not a vision. They don't really have a vision that they have that they can sell to a majority of America. It's tactically. And you're seeing what they're tactically trying to do across the country, which is they know what they're doing isn't popular and they know what president Biden is doing is popular.
So, what do they do tactically? Try to prevent a majority of Americans from voting, and that's what I think the response is.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. I said that last night. A lot of this stuff -- last night or the night before. I can't remember. But a lot of this stuff, I think that they're just distracting the American people with, you know, Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head while they're trying to restrict voting rights from, you know, many Americans, especially Black and brown people.
Let's stick with tonight, though. This is the president and then we'll talk. What he said about unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Even if we devote every resource we have to, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. And national unity isn't just how politics and politicians vote in Washington, what the loudest voices say in cable or online. Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Matthew, it is a call to action. But isn't he also reframing what unity is, taking partnership out of the equation? Partisanship, excuse me, not partnership.
DOWD: Well, to me, that's one of the most important things I think they can do, which is the way it's been defined in so many conversations around Washington is that unity is somehow trying to get somebody's vote who will never vote with you, as that's defining unity as opposed to unity is where the American public is.
And so I think that's really smart. I've always thought that leaders should define unity as what the voters want, not what somebody in Washington is willing to block and not do. You can't invite somebody, you can't get in a situation where you invite somebody to a party, they refuse to come to the party, and then you give validity to their complaints that they never got -- they never were included in the party when they never wanted to come anyway.
And so I think this is the way to go. I think the American public -- we know a vast majority of Democrats support it and vast majority of independents support it. And even a plurality of Republicans support what he is doing.
And so redefining unity and redefining bipartisanship, not in what is going on in Washington, D.C. or what Mitch McConnell or somebody in the Republican house is doing, but redefining is what the American people want. That's the way to go because that's what we want.
And the other part of unity is shared sacrifice. And the president, though he didn't use those words, basically called on each of us to be part of the shared sacrifice. And how little it is -- maintaining six foot distance and wearing your mask, and we think about all the sacrifices that have been made by the civil rights movement, by people during World War II throughout our history, they gave their lives in order to push America forward.
All we're being asked is these little things and the president is doing that. It's not just promising things. It's asking us to be involved and that's part of unity.
LEMON: Isn't that, ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country, right? That was a moment. But listen, you said something. I've been thinking about it as you've talking when you said -- when you talked about the response of the Republican Party and what they're doing.
They really are stuck. Don't you think they're stuck in sort of the way things were and Joe Biden just is -- just ignores them and just continues on with his agenda? That has to be really frustrating for them. And I would imagine -- well, I want to know what you think. What happens to them if the economy comes roaring back? If the virus is manageable within, you know, by summer or by fall? What happens with the Republican Party?
DOWD: Well, I think there -- I mean, I would say -- I would often say that they need to do soul searching. But I think that the soul of the Republican Party is so dissipated that it's even going to be even difficult to find at this moment in time of who they are and what do they stand for in this.
And so I think -- I mean, if the economy, which is expected by Wall Street and other business people to come back because there's a pent up demand and a pent up ability, people want to get out and do things again, I think it looks like the COVID situation will be under control as best as possible and as speedily as possible now that President Biden is putting some competent scientific leadership who are speaking truth.
So, I don't know what, Don. I don't know what they fundamentally do. That's why they're stuck in this culture war, which meaningless things about talking about all of these things that don't matter to average Americans in this. But this is the problem we're in because they do not have an ability to speak to the majority of the country.
[22:39:59]
DOWD: The only part of America they're speaking to fundamentally is the part of America that is shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, which is mainly white Christian -- mainly white Christian males of the country, which is now about 30 percent or less of the country. As that diminishes, they become out of step with the demographic change of America. And that's their fundamental problem.
I thought -- you know, I worked for George W. Bush. He pushed and pushed and pushed to be as inclusive as possible because he knew how that would mean, what it would mean for America, and to be a legitimate leader you have to govern for the country. The Republicans basically have seated the ability to win the national popular vote to never win it again.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
DOWD: So, I guess they try to win case by case basis and maintain some semblance of power. But project five years from now, Don, they have no ability to win elections across the board.
LEMON: Unless they suppress the vote, which is what they're trying to do now. Everything you just said --
DOWD: Unless they do --
LEMON: -- that's suppressing of the vote. Yeah. Thank you, Matthew.
DOWD: Unless they go against the fundamentals of our democracy. And that's what they seem to be doing. This shouldn't be a partisan issue, as you know, Don. LEMON: Yeah.
DOWD: This shouldn't be about who is going to win or lose, it is about what our democracy is, which should be every person ought to have an ability to have a vote.
LEMON: Yeah. Amen. I really enjoy our talks. Thank you. Matthew. I'll see you soon.
DOWD: Take care, Don.
LEMON: A Republican congressman insinuating Black Lives Matter doesn't have family values. But my next guest isn't letting him get away with that. Delegate Stacey Plaskett is here, and she's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Biden's speech tonight marking one year since COVID upended life in the U.S. The president directing all states and territories to make the vaccine available to all adults by May 1st and pledging communities of color won't be overlooked. So, how will the COVID relief bill help the hardest hit parts of the country?
Let's discuss now. Democratic delegate Stacey Plaskett is here. She represents the U.S. Virgin Islands and was one of the impeachment managers in Trump's second impeachment trial. Delegate Plaskett, thank you so much for joining us. Let's get straight to this, what the president said tonight.
He wants all age groups to have access to the vaccine by May 1st. But looking at who has a vaccine right now, these are the facts. Only 6.4 percent of fully vaccinated Americans are black. Is enough being done to get the vaccines to communities of color and encourage people to get these shots?
STACEY PLASKETT, DELEGATE TO THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Well, I believe that the president has a tremendous rollout plan to get all of us vaccinated by May, to have the vaccines in place.
I think it is incumbent on us as elected officials along with the government to continue in an aggressive messaging plan to make African-Americans, people of color, feel comfortable about the vaccine, to overcome many of the resonance within each of our communities that are keeps individuals from being vaccinated, some of the most vulnerable communities.
I'm so excited to see an individual like Dr. Nunez-Smith, who is heading up this work for the president, who is actually from the Virgin Islands. There are people of color who are involved in this work. And I think that they're going to send out the right message and eventually would come up to speed.
LEMON: We've got to discuss your confrontation with Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman after he made an outrageous claim about Black Lives Matter and family values. Let's listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GLENN GROTHMAN (R-WI): I know the strength that Black Lives Matter had in this last election. I know it's a group that doesn't like the old-fashioned family. Disturbed that we have another program here in which we're increasing the marriage penalty.
PLASKETT: How dare you, how dare you say that Black Lives Matter, Black people, do not understand old-fashioned families?
Despite some of the issues, some of the things that you have put forward that I've heard out of your mouth in the Oversight Committee, in your own district, we have been able to keep our families alive for over 400 years, and the assault on our families to not have Black lives or not even have Black families.
How dare you say that we are not interested in families in the Black community? That is outrageous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What is -- what is going on? What do you think about the state of the GOP, especially of the leadership right now? Is it about -- is it about the policy of white grievance?
PLASKETT: Well, I don't know what their policy is. I just feel that they're becoming more and more emboldened in what they're willing to say. The fact that the GOP leadership does not respond to individuals within their caucus making these kinds of statements is just as difficult to contain myself about than the individuals themselves who are making the statements.
The fact that there were those individuals in leadership on the GOP side that were right there who never said anything, who smirked, who listened to individuals, not just Grothman but other members of their caucus making the most outlandish claims and they're never checked on it, means that they have a level of comfort, that the last four years have given them a feeling of respectability in their entitlement, some of them racism that needs to be checked.
As I said to you and others, I did not intend to go on the floor to have a discussion about Black Lives Matter, about Black families.
[22:49:47]
PLASKETT: I was there to talk about how this rescue plan was going to lift up tens of millions of children out of poverty, that is creating equity within Black communities, that is going to support our restaurant, our hospitality sector, that the small business set asides for minority communities and that are going to allow our children to get back to school. That is what I was there to talk about. And yet we can segue. And, you know, I am not going to let someone, particularly white man, assault Black families who have for the past 400 years in this country been able to maintain themselves, maintain a semblance of community, maintain a semblance of family after the assault on our very existence.
Black Lives Matter was there to ensure that Black lives could exist so that we could have fathers and brothers and husbands in our households.
LEMON: Delegate Plaskett, it's always a pleasure. Thank you for coming on the show.
PLASKETT: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you so much.
PLASKETT: Thank you so much.
LEMON: An alleged Oath Keeper says that it was just locker room talk when he stormed the Capitol screaming, take this, hang the traitors. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Take this -- new details about alleged member of the extremist group, the Oath Keepers, and their activities surrounding the January 6 Capitol attack.
In court, an FBI agent identifying alleged Oath Keeper Joshua James as a driver for close Trump ally Roger Stone for an event the day before the insurrection. Stone denies any advance knowledge of the Capitol attack.
Another alleged member of the group charged in the attack within (INAUDIBLE) excuse, prosecutors say Thomas Caldwell kept a -- quote -- "death list" and messaged others saying that he wanted to -- quote -- "hang the traitors."
Caldwell's lawyer defending those threatening messages in court as off caller joke, saying, it's locker room talk and male bravado, not meant for public consumption. That sounds familiar. Where we heard it before?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (voice-over): I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Whatever you want.
TRUMP (voice-over): Grab them by pussy.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP (voice-over): You can do anything.
This was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologized to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, yeah. The old locker room defense right out of the Trump playbook.
President Biden addressing the country tonight, laying out steps to get life back to something like normal, telling Americans that he needs their help. Stay with us.
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