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At This Hour

Florida Legislature Passes Restrictive Voting Bill; 50,000 Fans Expected at Churchill Downs for Kentucky Derby; Investigations Underway after Man Died in Police Custody after Being Restrained on His Stomach for Five Minutes. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 30, 2021 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN AT THIS HOUR: We've covered extensively and we will continue to cover extensively how voter access has come under attack since the 2020 election. Until now, many of the Republican-led efforts have been in states that Joe Biden won.

But now Republicans in Florida are looking to restrict voter access in a state Donald Trump won. Last night, the Republican state senate passed a bill overhauling election laws in the state and the bill is now on the way to the governor.

Joining me right now, CNN's Dianne Gallagher, who has been tracking this. Dianne, can you talk us through what changes this bill is making?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sure thing, Kate. And, look, I think we should point out here that Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign this into law, called the Florida 2020 election perhaps the most transparent and efficient election in the nation.

But we're still seeing a lot of changes, like we have around the rest of the country. So let's tick through some that this bill will alter in the Sunshine State. It adds new I.D. requirements for voting by mail. It also limits who can handle a completed mail-in ballot and it limits drop box use and access. And for those election supervisors who may not follow these new drop box rules, there is a potential $25,000 penalty.

It also requires election workers to staff those drop boxes when they're open but doesn't provide any additional funding. And it also prevents any sort of non-profit or private donations to help election offices conduct elections.

Now, again, you see a lot of that is about mail-in balloting and 4.8 million people in 2020 voted by mail. And you've got look at these numbers here because Democrats did outpace Republicans by about 600,000 votes in 2020 when it came to mail-in ballots. But that's not how it's traditionally worked here. In fact, in the past, mail-in balloting, which is very popular in Florida, has been more of a Republican style of voting.

And so Democrats who were on the floor debating this said, look, we sort of see what is up here. Finally, we surpass you during this pandemic in mail-in balloting and suddenly you want to put restrictions on the process. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. Dianne, thank you very much for covering it for us.

Still ahead for us, 50,000 fans are gearing up right now to return to watch the Kentucky Derby in person once again. How are they going to keep everyone safe? We're going to talk to Louisville's mayor, next.

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[11:35:00]

BOLDUAN: To the races now. It is a new day for the Kentucky Derby as derby weekend is upon us. And fans will be allowed back to Churchill Downs in Louisville for the country's most storied horse race.

After COVID spoiled race fans' plans last year, just like pretty much every other in-person sporting event, capacity, they are allowed back in, kind of. Capacity is going to be limited between 40 and 50 percent this year, meaning, between 40,000 and 50,000 spectators will be allowed it to attend.

So, how else is the derby different this year and how much will it be the same?

[11:40:02]

Back to normal, Mayor, Democratic mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer joining me right now. Mayor, thank you for coming in. A big weekend for you guys. What is different about the derby this year? How are you keeping people safe?

MAYOR GREG FISCHER (D-LOUISVILLE, KY): Kate, it's great to be with you. I've always thought of the Kentucky Derby as the world's biggest fashion show and certainly the rights of spring as well for all of America. So people are really pumped up about getting a little bit back to normal.

Usually, we have about 150,000 people at the track tomorrow. It will be about 50,000 and, of course, the Oaks today is running (INAUDIBLE), so it will be about 50,000 as well. So, less people, as you say, and then the big charity galas that are held, they're not going on this year. Some of them taking place virtually. So it's not the kind of the pandemonium and craziness that always is but it's nice to feel things coming back with energy and people smiling and it's a beautiful spring day here today, and it will be also tomorrow.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. So, masks are going to be required for all at all times, unless you're actively eating and drinking, is how we've all learned to know it. How do you police that?

FISCHER: Well, we do that really well here. Obviously, we have done it with different sporting events, whether it'd be football or soccer or basketball. So it's part of the culture of people going to events now. And Churchill is a massive facility. As I said, it holds 150,000 people. So with just 50,000 there tomorrow, they'll be spread out. They will be obviously monitoring what is going on and most people monitor who they're with as well.

So we're not concerned about that but we certainly have taken all the precautions and masking is an expected protocol now. And we've got about 60 percent or so of our adults vaccinated here. I'm not sure what percent of locals will be at the track tomorrow. But the people flying in, I hope most of them will be vaccinated. So we're following all the precautions and hoping for the best, but it feels good to kind of get back to normal.

BOLDUAN: It does. It's good even talking about it. How important is the derby, because getting back to normal is also getting back to recovery, economic recovery? How important is the derby and pulling this off successfully to Louisville's comeback, well, to the state?

FISCHER: Well, it's a big thing. Obviously, no city really has the whole world watching for the most famous two minutes in sports. And, economically, it's a big boost to us here in Louisville. It's about a quarter billion dollars or so of economic impact that it gives for us. And it really gets the restaurants filled back up again and the hotels. And it's just so tough on our restaurant tiers this whole pandemic. So it's good to see the pep in the step of everybody getting their hospitality game back on.

So, it's significant but I think it's symbolic too, right? I mean, it's spring, we're out of worst of the pandemic, hopefully. But I say it's like we're coming around to the finish right now and we can see the finish line just like we can at the track, but we can't let down in terms of getting our vaccines. Everybody still needs to get their vaccine on to help us get through all this.

BOLDUAN: The only appropriate sports metaphor would one that you just did on this day. So, thank you, Mayor, for staying on theme.

Talking about recovery, the president -- President Biden, he just announced the kind of the second part of his sweeping economic plan. And we're talking about with these two portions, infrastructure and families and education, like $4 trillion in spending across the country.

How do you -- you can talk about it from a federal level, but what's most important is on a local level. How do you sell that to folks in Louisville? Because it's a ton of money and it is a serious rework of the role of the federal government in our lives.

FISCHER: It's an extraordinary investment in our people that they deserve. When you think about where our country is now compared to, let's say, 50 years ago in terms of the gap of incomes and wealth, when you think about where we are today as a country compared to ten years ago with China and how we need to catch up with them, of all things, with infrastructure and technology, it is long overdue. In my mind, we've lost our competitiveness as a country and this yawning gap we have between the rich and poor in our country is unsustainable, from a racial equity standpoint, from a fairness and opportunity standpoint. So I look at all this as a long overdue investment, where interest rates are super low right now. It's the smart thing to do.

BOLDUAN: Mayor, thank you for coming on. Good luck this weekend.

FISCHER: Okay. Everybody needs to feel like they're a Louisvillean, a Kentuckian tomorrow. Come visit us.

BOLDUAN: We will, every time. I'll find my southern draw (ph) just for those two minutes. It's good to see you, Mayor. Thank you very much.

Coming up for us, we are turning back to a major story that we will continue to follow, and, unfortunately, because more and more incidents are occurring, another deadly police encounter, and this time in California. What needs to change with policing in America right now? That tough, important conversation is coming up.

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[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: Three separate investigations are under way after yet another deadly police encounter in America. This time in California, where body cam footage released this week shows police officers restraining Mario Gonzalez. A warning here, this video is disturbing.

Police say it started when they responded to separate reports about a man who appeared to be under the influence and a suspect in a possible theft. What the video eventually showed is Gonzalez appeared incoherent, police trying to lead him away. But then you see pinning Gonzalez to the ground for five minutes.

He loses consciousness. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. And as I mentioned, this is all now under investigation.

Joining me right now is W. Kamau Bell, the Host of United Shades of America.

Kamau, you've -- I was listening to you talk about this incident, what happened to Mario. It's an example of why the entire policing system needs to be examined and changed.

[11:50:02]

What is it about happened here? Talk to me.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: Well, first of all, two people called 911 on a man who was drunk in the park. So you have to first ask what were you calling about. He wasn't bothering anybody, but, fine. The problem is when you call 911, you generally get police showing up with guns, and that is the main -- and who show up to address a criminal. And he was not a criminal, maybe he shouldn't drink in the park but who of us hasn't been drunk in the park at some point or the other and we didn't end up dead.

So I think we're talking about -- we have to look at policing, we have to have a new way, if somebody's drunk in the park, a social worker, a ride home is what should show up, not a police officer.

BOLDUAN: And this is, sadly, another example in just another way that we have to examine and look at and it shows us once again why this conversation and more than a conversation, action is really needed. And it gets to implicit bias, it gets to systemic racism, it gets to overt racism in America.

And President Biden is talking about racism in a new interview. And I want to play what he said.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No, I don't think the American people are racist.

I don't think America is racist but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that, slavery, have had a cost and we have to deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That is -- was at least in part in response to, of course, the conversation sparked by Republican Senator Tim Scott, who said in his Republican response that America is not a racist country. And this is like day three of this. And I'm wondering, is this where the conversation needs to be right now? Like what is this really about when you get past political answers from politicians?

BELL: Well, first of all, I think it's just -- President Biden respectfully said America is not racist and then defined it as a racist country in his response. So I think that's the first part. It reminds me of the Malcolm X quote about, if there's a knife in my back and you pushed six inches and you pull it out three inches, that's not healing. Pulling the knife out isn't healing, healing the wound is what is healing.

And right now, I feel like we're standing around pointing at a guy with a knife in his back, talking about that knife, and congratulating ourselves for at least noticing the knife.

BOLDUAN: It feels a little weird, like just how it started. It just feels weird how the conversation is occurring.

BELL: Welcome to the cognitive dissonance of being black in America, Kate Bolduan, congratulations, that people are having conversations about you while you're in the midst of experiencing trauma instead of saying, what are the big ways in which we can heal the trauma.

BOLDUAN: So this gets to exactly what you're focused on in United Shades this season, these tough issues that you always take on. The first episode could not be more timely because it is about focusing on policing and racism in America. Let me play a review for everybody.

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BELL: Is this moment different as far as like where we are in America and specifically around law enforcement?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, it's just this moment of being a black man in a police uniform, right, and there are some problems, so systemic problems, that's been in policing for a very long time that you know need to be rooted out. And so you sit in this place where you're like, do I fit in, right? Sometimes you even ask the question, do I fit in? I'm a black man before I put on a uniform.

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm one when I take it off.

BELL: And you're one while you got it on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And he's a police chief now, right? I mean, you always learn something --

BELL: He is now a police chief, yes.

BOLDUAN: -- something from your journey each season. What surprised you in this episode and this season?

BELL: I mean, this whole season is basically framed by COVID. So every problem we're talking about in every episode, every challenge that's going on in this country has been made worse and more stark by COVID.

So in the episodes, you'll see us right there, we're not wearing masks but we were all COVID tested. And all the -- and many of the problems that we've noticed with policing in this country have been made more stark by COVID. So I think that's the thing that I think I learned from this season is like America is at a tipping point right now. And as much as we want to have hope and optimism about like the Derek Chauvin trial, that's just one thing. There's a lot more we have to do.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Thank you, it's good to see you.

BELL: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: This all new season of United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell starts Sunday night here on CNN.

First for us, in some communities, schools are not yet fully reopened. We know this. And parents are still stuck in a very difficult spot, no one to care for their kids when they return to work.

Now, one Chicago woman is trying to help.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want them to make the choice, me earning a living versus my child getting an education. What type of a choice is that?

Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they have to go back to work, we're available for them to bring their kids every day so that they can go to work.

We provide them with a safe space, making sure they are online every morning, on time, making sure that they are in class, they're engaged and able to complete their assignments.

[11:55:02]

Okay, very good.

We try to make sure that our doors stayed open, that we were constantly staying involved and connected with the young people, because they were really struggling trying to cope through COVID.

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BOLDUAN: To learn more, go to cnnheroes.com. We'll be right back.

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