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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Georgia GOP Passes Sweeping Bill Restricting Voting Access; Biden Staunchly Defends Voting Rights At New Conference; Ship Blocking Suez Canal Could Take Weeks To Remove. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 26, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:15]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour this Friday.

A key battleground state just made it a crime for you to bring water to a voter. Georgia, the latest state to pass new laws rolling back access to the polls -- to the ballot -- just hours after President Biden gave a passionate defense of voting rights.

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STATE REP. PARK CANNON (D-GA): (Knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp's office door).

GEORGIA CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: Quit, quit. I'm going to arrest you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you are not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. She's not under arrest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Arrested for knocking on the governor's door. As Georgia's governor signed the bill, State Rep. Park Cannon arrested and removed from the Capitol building for refusing to stop knocking on the governor's office door as he signed the bill in private.

JARRETT: Released from jail overnight, she compared the closed-door signing to the murders last week of Asian women at spas in Atlanta. Quote, "Different tactics, same goal: fear and control."

CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports for us now from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Laura and Christine, the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, signed a sweeping election overhaul bill into law on Thursday after it just blazed through the House and Senate hours earlier. Now, it's known as SB 202 and it really does change Georgia elections from top to bottom.

And look, voting rights advocates, Democrats, and critics of this bill have said that at its heart it will make it harder for many people to vote, specifically people of color. And they point to some of the measures like requiring I.D. for absentee ballots and limiting drop boxes, as well as making it a misdemeanor to give somebody food or drink if they're waiting in line to vote.

But the part of the bill that we've heard the most outrage over from those activists is the fact that it gives broad power to state officials over local election management, so much so that they can even replace local election officials.

Now look, Republicans have said that they think that this improves access and inspires confidence. And they point to the fact that instead of just now one required Saturday in early voting there are now two required Saturdays. And Sunday voting on two different weekends is now optional in early voting in Georgia.

But still, look, critics say that at the root of this they believe that it is restrictive and that they expect to see it in court -- Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for that.

Let's go to CNN's Daniella Diaz who joins us with more on the voting rights debate from Capitol Hill now.

Daniella, this new Georgia bill is really part of a much wider Republican effort to restrict voting across the country after the turnout in 2020. And it also underscores, in part, why you saw the president so forceful about voting rights yesterday.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Laura, President Joe Biden, in his first press conference yesterday since he became president, slammed any Republican-led effort at the state level to limit voter access.

This -- and just hours later, Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation in Georgia that would limit voter access -- a direct result of Biden winning the election and former President Donald Trump pushing the lie that the election was stolen from him.

Here is what President Biden had to say yesterday at his press conference.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick.

Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote, deciding that you're going to end voting at 5:00 when working people are just getting off work -- I mean, this is gigantic what they're trying to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Now, there is currently a bill that passed the House and is stalled in the Senate that would counter these Republican-led efforts across the country in 43 states, specifically, to limit voter access. And it's always the same problem in the Senate when Democrats want to pass legislation. They need this 60-vote threshold to pass any legislation in the Senate to break this filibuster. And right now, this bill does not have 60 votes to break the filibuster.

And even Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia we always mention, said that he wants Republican support behind any legislation to help voters not be limited at the ballots -- or at the ballot boxes because he doesn't think that if it passes Republicans will support legislation across the country that's just passed by Democrats.

So this is a major issue for Biden.

JARRETT: Yes. So the president -- he faced a ton of questions yesterday about the filibuster and about that 60-vote threshold to get anything passed.

[05:35:03]

But he also faced a number of questions about immigration -- the situation at the border, of course. The number of migrant children really front and center with the U.S. -- the number of children now in U.S. custody -- more than 17,000 children. That's more than double from just a month ago and we're heading into summer months. And more than 500 of these children, Daniella, actually have coronavirus.

But it's interesting. When the president was asked about it from any number of reporters, he didn't really have a plan that he laid out in the same way as he did for something like COVID or infrastructure. What he said is I'm trying to clean this up and once I do, then you'll have access to these facilities.

DIAZ: Laura -- and lawmakers are still making this a priority, Democrats and Republicans. In fact, there's going to be two separate groups traveling to Texas today to tour separate processing facilities for unaccompanied minors. One group led by Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn -- they're leading a group of 17 Republican senators to Texas -- and another being led by Joaquin Castro. And he's leading a small group of Democratic House lawmakers to Texas.

So these are still priorities in Congress. They are still concerned about how these migrants are being treated -- these unaccompanied minors are being treated at these processing facilities.

And I want to note that even though a lot of the rhetoric that was coming from Republicans is that these are Mexicans crossing the borders -- unaccompanied minors are Mexican. It's not. It's a lot of people from the Northern Triangle that are trying to escape poverty and other terrible conditions in their country and come to the United States for better conditions, better life.

And, President Joe Biden said that this decision to let them cross is a moral one. He doesn't want to let them starve across the border or face any danger -- these accompanied -- these unaccompanied minors. So this has been a priority for him. He's committed to helping these -- this immigration situation, something that he promised to do when he was running for president.

JARRETT: You saw the president there, as you mentioned, trying to also separate out the situation for the children crossing without their parents versus what's happening with the vast majority of adults who are crossing who are actually sent back.

And, Daniella, actually, now the ACLU is threatening to take the administration to court if it tries to send all migrant families back across the border. That's not what they're saying they're doing right now but it's something the ACLU is keeping an eye on. So this is just the beginning.

Thank you for staying on top of all this -- appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right, to the pandemic now.

Duke University expects to have enough doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for all students once North Carolina's eligibility expands at the end of the month. Students there just came off a stay-at-home order due to a spike in cases.

Now, the university says it won't require vaccination, but in New Jersey, Rutgers will. The school is one of the first to require all students attending in-person to be vaccinated for the fall.

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Scene from "Hamilton" on Broadway.

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JARRETT: Miss the sound of Broadway? The show must go on, but when and how?

CNN has the pandemic covered, as we do every day, coast-to-coast.

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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Alexandra Field in New York City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is working on a plan to bring back Broadway shows as soon as September. The city already funneling resources into the plan. They'll be setting up vaccination sites specifically for theater industry workers, staffed by theater industry workers. They're also going to deploy a mobile vaccination unit for off-Broadway, and they're setting up pop-up COVID-19 sites.

They're also working on a crowd management plan. But the curtain can't rise until there's official sign-off from the state.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Nick Watt in Los Angeles.

California, the most populous state in the country, just announced that April 15th it will open vaccine eligibility to everyone age 16 and older. A bunch of states have already done it, a bunch more have already announced that they're going to do it. California now joins them.

And Gov. Gavin Newsom also says that starting now, if an eligible person shows up for a vaccine and they have a family member with them, that family member will also get the vaccine, no questions asked.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Erica Hill in New York.

Encouraging new research from both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine find they work incredibly effectively for pregnant women and lactating mothers. This is the largest study to date on pregnant women who, along with nursing mothers, weren't included in the initial clinical trials of those vaccines.

The findings also showed antibody protection was passed on to their newborns.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Stephanie Elam.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is saying anyone 16 and older is now eligible to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and pointed to 10 weeks of decline in new cases.

The governor also saying that he's lifting all COVID-related restrictions on businesses and saying bars can now go back to regular operations. He says that if those businesses would feel more comfortable still using social distancing and masking guidelines they are allowed to do that.

[05:40:08]

And while the state never had a mask mandate, he's encouraging all Arizonans to continue to wear masks.

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ROMANS: All right, big tech CEOs in the hot seat for misinformation on their platforms. This is the first time Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai testified since the Capitol riots and the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

Congressman Mike Doyle said his staff was able to easily find anti- vaccine content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Zuckerberg refused to take responsibility for Facebook spreading

misinformation that led to those riots on Capitol Hill. Instead, Zuckerberg pinned it on someone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: We did our part to secure the integrity of the election. And then, on January sixth, President Trump gave a speech rejecting the results and calling on people to fight.

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ROMANS: Big tech has been here before, right, facing pressure about information and foreign interference in U.S. elections. All three CEOs argued they acted aggressively by removing accounts, posts, and issuing warning labels on content.

Thursday's remarks came as lawmakers consider legislation that would rein in tech. Some bills target allegations of anti-competitive practices while others focus on data privacy and how to moderate content.

We'll be right back.

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[05:45:38]

ROMANS: Canal clogged. It could take days or weeks to move that massive ship wedged in the Suez Canal, blocking the critical waterway.

Look at this. The scale of this job enormous. Look at that. Smaller equipment, which is not so small in real life, trying to free this enormous supertanker.

John Defterios is in Abu Dhabi for us following this. I saw one official who said this ship is stuck rock-solid. You've got ships on both sides full of things like oil, T.V. parts, car parts, instant coffee -- you name it -- stuck in this important waterway. When are they going to get this loose?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR AND ANCHOR: Well, I'll tell you, they're working hard at, I think Christine, in trying to get this elevated to a higher level. We've heard from the Suez Canal authorities saying they want to dig up 20,000 cubic meters -- 700,000 cubic feet over the weekend if it's possible. They're trying to accelerate the process here. That's the equivalent of eight Olympic-sized pools.

And you're talking about the CEO of Boskalis, one of the Dutch companies involved in the salvage operation, saying he thinks it's stuck rock-solid here. Of course, that's not what the shippers want to hear.

And we know that the boats are starting to stack up -- or the ships, themselves -- around 200 right now. And Refinitiv told us in the last hour that could swell to better than 300 by Sunday.

And to give you a sense of lost commerce -- what's happening in the canal because of the lack of movement -- $400 million a day usually passes through. That's nearly $10 billion a day, $400 million an hour. Think about the fact that it's just not happening and then the spillover effects it will have on the global economy if it carries on for the better part of a week.

ROMANS: Yes. You've already had a global supply chain that has been disrupted by COVID and by changing demand patterns and trying to keep up with that. Just a remarkable wrinkle on top of that.

You say there might be this window of opportunity in the next few days to figure this out. Why is this window so important?

DEFTERIOS: Well, this digging that's taking place -- now, we're hearing a narrative. I spoke to one shipping executive overnight saying they're expecting Mother Nature to give a hand here with a seasonal high tide between Sunday and Monday. We're not the only ones talking about it right now. And that could assist the Suez Canal Authority and some of the salvage operators that are on the ground right now.

At the same time here, we have to start seeing how many ships start to reroute. We already have reports of seven going now to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa and then going to Europe and to the United States.

So it's quite a challenge. You're going to have higher shipping rates, higher container rates --

ROMANS: Yes.

DEFTERIOS: -- higher oil prices -- which are up nearly two percent right now -- if this doesn't end, Christine.

ROMANS: Yes. I mean, rerouting there is something that takes more time and takes more money. But if you don't know when you're going to unstuck the Suez Canal, wow.

All right, nice to see you. I'm sure we'll talk about this again very, very soon. John Defterios for us --

DEFTERIOS: Thanks.

ROMANS: -- in Abu Dhabi.

The University of Southern California agreeing to an $852 million settlement with more than 700 women accusing the college's longtime gynecologist of sexual abuse. It is the biggest sex abuse payout in higher education history.

The women say Dr. George Tyndall, who worked at the school clinic for 30 years, made lewd comments, photographed, and groped them during medical examinations. Tyndall has pleaded not guilty.

JARRETT: Seven hundred women. That's just amazing.

The death toll from the winter storms that pummeled Texas more than double what we last knew. Officials now say 111 people died when the heat shut off and water pipes froze there. Forty-seven was the last known death toll. Now, the majority of the deaths were from hypothermia.

And amazingly, 127 residents still under a boil water notice, Christine.

ROMANS: Major police reform in New York City. The City Council ending what's known as qualified immunity. That protects police officers from most civil lawsuits.

Additional oversight and more transparency from the department also on the way. The city's Civilian Review Board will now be allowed to investigate officers with a history of bias and racial profiling complaints.

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JESSICA WALTER, ACTRESS, "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT": Get me a vodka rocks --

JASON BATEMAN, ACTOR, "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT": Mom, it's breakfast.

WALTER: -- and a piece of toast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Actress Jessica Walter, who died Thursday, in a career- spanning six decades. She played so many roles but none more iconic than Lucille Bluth -- my favorite character ever -- the boozy, self- absorbed matriarch of T.V.'s "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT." Her co-stars remembering her as brilliant, funny, and one of a kind.

[05:50:05]

Jessica Walter was 80 years old.

ROMANS: All right, 50 minutes past the hour.

Looking at markets around the world to end this trading week, Asian shares have closed higher -- a strong performance there. Europe has also opened up here.

Stocks closed higher Thursday after a sign things are getting better in the labor market. The Dow closed up almost 200 points. The Nasdaq finished slightly higher after several days of losses.

Investors hoping the economic recovery is starting to pick up steam. We saw another 684,000 people file for jobless benefits last week. Look at that trend. That's the lowest since the pandemic began.

You've got warmer weather allowing for outdoor activities. You've got the vaccine rollout. That's resulting in fewer layoffs. The Senate voted to extend the Paycheck Protection Program to the end

of May, critical for small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, too.

Pent-up demand for travel causing airlines to add more routes to their schedules. United and Southwest both adding dozens of new domestic routes during the summer, including popular vacation destinations. United said it will also resume service to international points, including some in Europe.

Industry experts say travelers are feeling more comfortable booking summer trips, causing the increase in demand.

Now, if you are looking for a rental car you may not find one, or you're going to have to pay hundreds of dollars a day. Here's what's happening. This rebound in spring break travelers has led to a shortage of cars in vacation hotspots, which means sky-high prices for renters. One search shows a rental in Orlando, $300 a day.

It's still possible to find cars in other locations. Omaha, for $300 a week instead of per day.

When people stopped flying last year rental companies parked their cars at ballparks or sold them as used cars to survive the crisis. And now you're seeing demand pick up and that means prices will go up because supply is down -- Laura.

JARRETT: Sister Jean, Loyola's 101-year-old basketball-loving nun, shares her inspirational pregame prayer ahead of tomorrow's Sweet 16 game.

Carolyn Manno has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Carolyn, Sister Jean actually talked to our Coy Wire?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she did. Good morning. Happy Friday to you. I think you're going to love this story.

As you know, Laura, Sister Jean is a devote follower of two religions, one of which is college basketball. And when her team made the Final Four a couple of years ago, back in 2018, that really put her on the map. She is a global star. She's back, she's better than ever, and she's talking to us.

Her team back, too, in the midst of another magical run. They look really good.

Loyola's team chaplain in the spotlight. And as she divulged to our Coy Wire she gets very specific in those legendary pregame prayers that have motivated players for decades.

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SISTER JEAN DOLORES SCHMIDT, TEAM CHAPLAIN, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO: I say hi, Ramblers. Are we ready? And they say ready, Sister Jean.

And I say to them well, let's us pray now and ask God. So we begin the prayer by saying good and gracious God, we're about to play and we will say the Oregon State Beavers. You have to watch every player but here are the ones you need to look at especially. And I'm not going to say the numbers now because Oregon State Beavers might be listening.

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MANNO: So that's the Ramblers' secret. She's sending scouting reports skyward, Laura. She's one of a kind.

And as the sister noted, her team faces Oregon State tomorrow at 2:40 eastern. The Pac-12's dominance, another great storyline there. So that's the first game of a quadruple-header. Be sure to catch the primetime games on our sister channel TBS.

In the meantime, less than a week after the NCAA faced widespread criticism for disparities between the men's and women's tournaments, the organization is having a law firm evaluate gender equity issues in all college sports.

In a statement, NCAA president Mark Emmert said, in part, "While many of the operational issues identified have been resolved, we must continue to make sure we're doing all we can to support gender equity in sports." He says the preliminary assessments are expected by late- April; the final report expected this summer after all championships are completed.

And lastly this morning, a reminder that March Madness is not only for D1 hoops people. West Texas A&M down two in the final seconds of the semifinals. The loose ball finding Zach Toussaint (INAUDIBLE) a player Sister Jean-style, and it is answered. His teammates ring (ph) him on the court. Those right there, Toussaint's only three points of the game.

The sophomore from suburban Chicago sending the Buffaloes from Canyon, Texas to the championship game with a one-point win. So they will play Northwest Missouri State tomorrow at 12:00 for the championship.

March is the best. That's all there is to it, Laura and Christine.

JARRETT: If you're only --

MANNO: It's the best.

JARRETT: If you're only going to have one three-pointer of the game, that's the one you want to have, right?

MANNO: Correct. Happy Friday.

ROMANS: My whole -- my whole family on Saturday will be wearing Sister Jean hats, Sister Jean t-shirts, Loyola socks. We are all in.

JARRETT: Superfans.

ROMANS: I took Loyola all the way, Carolyn -- all the way. So I'm praying.

MANNO: It's a good pick. It's a good pick. ROMANS: Thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.

[05:55:00]

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signing into law a sweeping election bill that could restrict ballot access.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This bill targets minority voters because we have the votes to change elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bill greatly improves the process of administration of elections.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden feeling emboldened during his first news conference.

BIDEN: I think my Republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to.