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Georgia Lawmaker Arrested as Governor Signs Law Limiting Voting Rights; Biden Gives First Press Conference as President; 5 Killed in Deadly Tornadoes in Southern States. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 26, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

[05:59:51]

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 (voice-over); President Biden feeling emboldened during his first news conference.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think my Republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to work together or continue the politics of division.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we saw with this press conference is what we've seen with the Biden presidency throughout, which is that President Biden has tried to set a different kind of tone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday, March 26, 6 a.m. here in New York.

And we begin with a developing story in Georgia. A black lawmaker arrested by state troopers for knocking on the governor's door as he signed a law -- a sweeping law overhauling voter rights. Here's that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PARK CANNON (D), STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Are you serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you are not --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not under arrest.

CANNON: Under arrest for what? For trying to see something that our governor is doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's Georgia state representative named Park Cannon being forcibly removed in handcuffs last night while Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill that restricts voter access, based on the false premise that there was widespread voting abuse.

Representative Cannon now faces two felony counts this morning. She has since been released from jail.

Georgia becomes the first presidential battleground to impose new voting restrictions following President Biden's victory.

President Biden blasted Republican efforts to limit voting rights as, quote, "un-American and sick" during his first news conference.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also developing this morning, we're getting new pictures from the deadly tornado outbreak across the southeast. These pictures you're looking at right now, this driver got caught in the storm in Alabama. Five people are dead in that state alone, where more than a dozen tornadoes were reported. Look at that.

We're going to begin, though, in Georgia. Dianne Gallagher is there. And Dianne, these new voting restrictions are now law and the source of still new controversy.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, John, Alisyn.

You know, State Representative Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, and again, an elected state representative, voted against SB-202 but said that she wanted to see and thought that the rest of the public should be able to see Governor Brian Kemp signing it into law.

Well, he did that behind closed doors. She knocked on the door, and, well, just take a look at the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANNON: The governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians. Why is he doing it in private and why is he trying to keep elected officials who are representing us out of the process?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said you'd give her one more time like you're going to do something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're under arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you are not --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she's not under arrest.

CANNON: For what? Under arrest for what? For trying to see something that our governor is doing? Our governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians, and you're going to arrest an elected representative?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, look. Representative Cannon was arrested. She was charged with felony obstruction and also disrupting the General Assembly. She didn't bond out of jail until after 11 p.m. last night.

Her attorney says that she will be vigorously fighting these charges.

Now, the representative tweeted after getting out of jail last night. She thanked Senator Warnock, who's not just her senator but also her pastor, for coming to the jail to support her and also for throwing his weight behind the voting rights movement.

Now, I do want to get into what SB-202, which is now law here in Georgia, does. It's a sweeping election overhaul of legislation. But when we're talking about how it may restrict voting rights specifically for people of color, it does things like add I.D. for absentee ballots. It prevents the secretary of state's office from sending out unsolicited absentee applications. It also makes it a misdemeanor to give somebody food or drink if they're waiting in line to vote.

And perhaps the part that people are most concerned about is the fact that it gives these broad powers to state officials over local election management, including the ability to get rid of local election officials.

John, Alisyn, I can tell you that there's already a lawsuit. Democratic attorney Marc Elias filed one on behalf of the New Georgia Project last night. Not the first -- excuse me, it's the first, but it won't be the last.

CAMEROTA: Yes. It sounds like this is just beginning. Dianne, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

So Georgia state representative, as we've just told you, Park Cannon was released from jail a short time after her arrest. She then thanked her supporters on Twitter overnight, writing, quote, "I'm not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. I'd love to say I'm the last, but we know that is not true."

[06:05:07]

Joining us now is Patricia Murphy. She's a political reporter for "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution."

So Patricia, what happened last night? Why couldn't this state rep witness the signing ceremony?

PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION": So Governor Brian Kemp has typically been press conferences in this large open atrium at the state capital so far this year. And last night, he decided to sign SB-202 in his office. It's a very small space. The door outside his office was closed and guarded by two state troopers.

Representative Cannon was knocking to get into the doors. The state troopers told her to stop knocking. It's really all caught on tape.

When she didn't stop knocking, I think you've seen there on the tape that they put her hands behind her back and arrested her. I think that came as a huge surprise to the representative and the people with her. And then she was literally taken to the county jailhouse and booked on felony charges. And it's not the first time we've seen state troopers arrest black lawmakers here in the state capital. I think it's a surprise to people that it happened yesterday, even as the governor was signing this bill.

BERMAN: And as the governor was signing this bill, the symbolism. I mean, he was surrounded by a bunch of white guys. I mean, that was the picture there. The governor signed [SIC] by a bunch of white guys, signing into law a bill that many people in your state think will restrict or cut back on the ability of minorities to vote.

I just want to step back and look at the big picture here, because this is a huge bill. Right? What's it actually correcting? I mean, I don't think there's any mystery about why this bill is passing now, Patricia.

MURPHY: Well, that's exactly right. I mean, there has been a huge disconnect since the beginning of the legislative session about why this has become the single-minded focus of Republican lawmakers down here at the state capitol when just weeks before, the Republican leadership of the state was defending the 2020 elections, counts, recounts, audits. You all were with us the entire time. Never any evidence presented, no court challenges, nothing ever presented, any evidence of the kind of fraud that Donald Trump was accusing the state officials of.

But it absolutely planted in Republican voters' heads this insistence that this entire election was a fraud and was stolen from Donald Trump. And everything that's been happening down at the state capitol really has been a result of that.

And we hear from Republican lawmakers that this is a result of -- it's an effort to increase voter confidence. It's really an effort to increase Republican voter confidence. And all of these state legislators are up for reelection in 2022. All of their potential challengers are getting their campaigns ready right now. They need to take to their voters something to show that they've done something about 2020, when really, there was no evidence that anything was necessary.

CAMEROTA: And so can we just go through some of the things in this new law? Because I want you to point out the things that are just -- that the rest of us -- sound just peculiar. So now there's strict voter I.D. requirements for absentee ballots.

They also prohibit the mailing of unsolicited absentee ballot. As you remember, that was a huge pet peeve of President Trump's.

BERMAN: Ballot applications.

CAMEROTA: Ballot applications. Yes.

BERMAN: There's a big difference between mailing ballots, yes.

CAMEROTA: OK, ballot applications.

Limit the ballot drop box locations. So now they are moved inside, which obviously makes it harder to drop off your absentee ballot.

It -- it also allows state control over the local election boards. We need your help with that. It removes the secretary of state as the chair. So is that a punishment for the secretary of state? I mean, is that just a direct, obvious, you know, punitive move there?

And then it bans giving food and drink, like any water to voters in line? It makes it a crime? Why?

MURPHY: So when we've heard the challenges of election fraud to everything that happened in 2020, it really does not line up with a lot of the fixes that they've got in this bill. That's been a huge part of why Democrats have raised so many questions about this, especially the food and drink. It has nothing to do with voter fraud. It's very obvious it has just nothing to do with it.

It does, however, get to the point that it would keep voters in line longer, if there are lines that are longer. People are bringing them food and drink to let them stay there longer and cast their ballot. So I think that's what is -- assumed to be the real point of that.

I would say the biggest piece of this legislation that is not getting a lot of reporting and probably should is that the power that Brad Raffensperger had throughout the 2020 election has really been stripped away from him in a lot of ways, and that has been concentrated in the state legislature. It's given these legislators the authority to go in and replace county election boards, those boards that are called underperforming. It's not exactly clear what it means if you're an underperforming board.

And that wouldn't just apply to the very small counties in Georgia but to the largest counties, as well, like Fulton County.

[06:10:04]

Another concern that we really do hear from voting rights advocates is that there are so many changes in this bill. Voters may not encounter the differences until they're voting or trying to vote, especially the voter I.D. requirement. Two hundred to 300,000 Georgians have no voter I.D., have no license. So they're going to need to figure out how to get their documentation into the state. There's also been a reduction and requirement in how long you have to

get your absentee ballot in to the state. And so all of these changes, I think, are -- we're told is mean to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. I think the concern, absolutely, among Democrats and voting rights advocates is that it's going to be harder to vote.

BERMAN: Patricia Murphy, thank you very much.

Just one note on the water. You know, it prevents people, Republicans, against hydration, as it were. It deals with long lines. Where were the long lines in Georgia? They were in the largely African-American communities in the counties where, you know, it largely is harder for them to vote. So there are long lines there. You can't bring them water. So the idea is the lines can't be as long.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, that one is just so obvious, to make it more uncomfortable.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Physically uncomfortable to vote.

BERMAN: President Biden at his news conference called these efforts sick and un-American. That's just one headline in the first formal news conference.

But more than that, you've got this real explicit sense of what he thinks his priorities are.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond live at the White House. And Jeremy, when I say explicit, the president told us exactly what his focus is. And if you look at the polls, it's exactly what the public's focus really is.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No doubt. President Biden came out to that news conference yesterday, and he wanted to talk about one thing, and that was the coronavirus pandemic and his efforts to combat the pandemic and the economic crisis that, of course, has accompanied that pandemic.

But the presidency, in so many ways, can be defined by the crises that presidents don't plan for. And that is why yesterday we saw President Biden facing a series of questions on the crisis on the southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice-over): Kicking off his first formal news conference, President Biden announced he's doubling his vaccine goal to 200 million shots in his first 100 days.

BIDEN: But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing. I believe we can do it.

DIAMOND: Dominating the hour-long event, questions about the crisis at the southern border, and the growing number of unaccompanied children in overcrowded facilities. The president said his administration is working to improve conditions, but he deflected blame for the surge, instead putting much of the onus on his predecessor.

BIDEN: So what we're doing now is attempting to rebuild, rebuild the system that can accommodate what is happening today. And I'd like to think it's because I'm a nice guy, but it's not. It's because of what's happened every year.

DIAMOND: Biden also pressed on how he'll muscle his policy priorities, from voting rights to gun law reform, through a 50/50 Senate, as long as the filibuster remains intact. The president signaling he's open to reforms, including doing away with the 60-vote threshold required to advance some legislation if the gridlock gets worse, agreeing it's a relic of the Jim Crow era.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Why not abolish it if it's a relic of the Jim Crow era?

BIDEN: Let's figure out how we can get this done and move in the direction of significantly changing the abuse of even the filibuster rule first.

DIAMOND: Biden also slamming Republican voter suppression efforts happening in states across the country.

BIDEN: What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick.

DIAMOND: But after passing the coronavirus relief bill without support from Senate Republicans, Biden seems to be looking for bipartisanship outside the Beltway.

BIDEN: I've not been able to unite the Congress, but I'm uniting the country based on the polling data.

DIAMOND: And when Biden hits the road next week, he's expected to unveil a $3 trillion plan focused on improving the nation's infrastructure.

In the wake of two mass shootings within a week, Biden gave this answer when asked about whether he'll take executive action or go through Congress for gun reform legislation.

BIDEN: All of the above. It's a matter of timing.

DIAMOND: Biden also confirming for the first time he plans to run again in 2024. As for a possible run against his predecessor --

BIDEN: My predecessor, oh, God, I miss him. No. My answer is yes, I plan to run for re-election. That's my expectation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIMOND: And the president also making news on the U.S.'s longest running war. The president, who is facing a decision on when to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, said it is unlikely that he will meet that May 1 deadline established by former President Trump, but he did say that he cannot picture having U.S. troops in Afghanistan next year -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Jeremy, thank you very much for that recap.

So at least five people were killed overnight by tornados ripping through southern states. CNN's Derek van Dam is live in Columbiana, Alabama, with more. What's the situation there, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Alisyn.

It was very heart-wrenching, the scene that we came across last night. It's locked down where we currently are now, in and around Columbiana, just south of Birmingham.

But when we came across the scene, about half a mile from where I'm standing now. There were homes and barns completely torn off of their foundation, moved literally several dozen yards away from where they originally stand.

Two people in the area that we came across last night were actually transported to a local hospital for their injuries, but there was also an animal rescue center there that was impacted. They had over 50 horses, several sheep, and other various animals. And the residents of this community, this very small community south of Birmingham banding together to try and corral these animals and bring them to safety. There are 25,000 without power in Alabama, but over 115,000 without power from the Gulf Coast states all the way through the Ohio River Valley. For the most part, even though there's a marginal risk of thunderstorms today, the severe weather threat has ended where I'm located now. There are still stronger storms to our east in Georgia.

But we don't have to wait long in this springtime season. We have an enhanced risk of severe weather this weekend in the same locations that have been battered by tornadoes over the past week -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's just horrible, Derek. Thank you very much for reporting on the ground for us.

So President Biden laying out his priorities at his first news conference. How do his priorities line up with average Americans'? That's next.

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[06:20:48]

BIDEN: Today, I'm setting a second goal, and that is we will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in people's arms. That's right, 200 million shots in 100 days. I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing. I believe we can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: President Biden focused on the pandemic and economic relief.

Joining us now, CNN political analyst Margaret Talev. She's a managing editor at Axios. And CNN political analyst Seung Min Kim. She's a White House reporter for "The Washington Post."

And guys, so much has been made of the fact that the president seemed to be trying to turn the focus to the pandemic and economic relief, no matter what he was asked in the news conference.

You know where Americans' focus is? The pandemic and economic relief. It's not so much just the president; is that's where, actually, Americans tell us their focus is, according to the latest CNN poll. The coronavirus, 30 percent say it's the most important issue; then political divisions; then the economy.

That really shows you where the focus of the country is, Margaret. So given that prism, explain what we saw at the news conference.

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, John. Good morning.

Yes, it was President Biden's first news conference, you know, more than two months into his presidency. So of course, he was going to get questions about everything else, which is in part, why the White House kept wanting to push back that first news conference, because they don't want to talk about other things.

But coronavirus is absolutely the most kind of imminent domestic existential threat to the country, and more than 500,000 people dead, a massive economic threat.

And it's also been a source of success so far, at least for the new president, in terms of being able to get shots into arms, in terms of being able to get this $2 trillion stimulus through, and the predicate for the $3 trillion infrastructure fight you're about to see.

But at the same time, like, when you're president, other stuff comes, you know, across your screen that you have to deal with, too. These are all competing questions. And so all of the questions about immigration, the filibuster, gun control, China, are completely expected.

But yes, no surprise that President Biden wanted to talk about coronavirus both because it is what is most on people's minds and it is because it is how he wants to be able to define the early successes of his presidency.

CAMEROTA: And on the other hand, Seung Min, since that poll was taken -- that was taken between March 3 and March 8 -- there have been things that have cropped up.

So now the border, the surge at the border has become much more to the fore of reporting, and we see the visuals. Not always, because we're not allowed in. But we see some of the visuals of it which obviously grabs people's attention and gun violence, of course.

So it was after that was taken, that poll was taken that we've seen these two high-profile mass shootings. So he did get a lot of questions about those things.

And was he -- I understand what his priorities are, but was he clear about what his policy is at the border? Do we understand any better today what they're going to do about the surge at the border?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So right now, it wasn't as -- he had said basically what he has said a lot of time before. I mean, he got about, you know, four -- you know, four to five separate questions on the border. And he had repeatedly pointed to how a former president, Donald Trump, had kind of torn down a lot of these existing asylum systems, which is true.

That -- that it kind of helps prevent other legal avenues for these Central American minors to come to the United States.

But it is clear that this is still very much a humanitarian and operational challenge for Biden in terms of transparency and access. He did -- even though he did commit to a specific time line, he did say he would work to allow media more into -- allow more media access into those -- into those, you know, Customs and Border Protection facilities, where children are being held in facilities that are not appropriate for them, that are being overcrowded.

[06:25:03]

But clearly, with the amount of questions that he got at the press conference -- at the press conference, it was really -- it's clearly going to be a continued struggle for the Biden administration.

Now, a quick point on guns. What I thought was really interesting was, when he was asked on guns yesterday, whether he would take executive actions on guns and asked him about various legislative proposals, he said, sure, all of the above. And he -- he underscored his commitment to overhauls in gun laws.

But then he pivoted immediately to infrastructure, his infrastructure plan when he wasn't asked about that. So that was a little hint into showing where his immediate legislative priorities lie. And I thought that was kind of an interesting point.

BERMAN: Let's put that up on the screen, so people can see it again. It's where his legislative priorities lie. It's where the American people's legislative priorities lie.

You have the pandemic. You have political divisions in between the pandemic and the economy, and that's interesting, Seung Min. Political divisions. You asked -- you were at the news conference, by the way. Well done on your part. And you pressed him on the filibuster. The filibuster has to do with -- with getting any part of his agenda passed through Congress with 50 votes, as opposed to 60 votes, which is nearly impossible. He made a little news there. Explain.

KIM: So he became much more --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: It's being abused in a gigantic way. And for example, it used to be you had to stand there and talk and talk and talk and talk until you collapsed. And guess what? People got tired of talking and tired of collapsing. Filibusters broke down, and they were able to break the filibuster and get a quorum and vote. So I strongly support moving in that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: President Biden decided to explain it.

BERMAN: He butted in.

CAMEROTA: He butted in.

BERMAN: He butted in when I was trying to get you to answer that question, Seung Min.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

KIM: Well, I've been tracking a lot of what President Biden has been saying specifically on the filibuster, and I thought yesterday's comments were the most forceful that he has been in his interviews and his past statements about getting rid of that legislative hurdle, which is such a huge obstacle to his and the Democrats' very ambitious legislative agenda.

You had Kaitlan ask him, you know, flatly, is the filibuster a relic of the Jim Crow era. And you had a very clear, direct answer. Yes.

But Biden -- President Biden is not willing to go all the way there, saying legislation should be able to pass and clear the Senate with a simple majority vote, which is what a lot of Democrats are going for and which Democrats will need to pass, you know, voting rights legislation, immigration legislation, gun reform changes.

So we'll see -- the president keeps moving. But whether he gets to that point

CAMEROTA: Seung Min, Margaret, thank you both very much.

BERMAN: We have new details of how the lawyer for the Colorado massacre suspect is laying the groundwork for an insanity defense next.

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