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The Lead with Jake Tapper

LeBron James Joins Fight Against Republican-Led Bills Which Would Make It Harder to Vote; How Schools in Canada Stayed Open. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired March 05, 2021 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:30:03]

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, FORMER HHS SPECIAL ADVISOR: That's what this is all about. And there are real advantages to this vaccine, being a single dose and being so stable, so you can move it into areas that normally you might have a hard time getting vaccine into because of refrigeration and freezing requirements of the other vaccines.

So, you know, this is the right vaccine for the right group of people and it's going to do the same thing that the other vaccines do in terms of preventing that severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And the health guidance I've heard is whatever vaccine you can get, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, get it. Do you agree with that?

OSTERHOLM: Absolutely. One thing I can guarantee you will keep you at risk for getting this disease and having potentially a fatal outcome is not having that vaccine. Get whatever you can as quickly as you can get it.

TAPPER: There's been a lot of focus on Texas and Alabama lifting their mask mandates. But they're not alone. Fifteen other states have already lifted mask mandates. Connecticut is going to be allowing indoor dining again. New York is opening movie theaters. Virginia is green lighting overnight summer camps.

What do you think this is all going to mean?

OSTERHOLM: We're walking into the mouth of the monster. We simply are. The virus that we're really concerned about and have been for recent weeks is this B.1.1.7 variant from the United Kingdom, is a virus that is 40 to 60 percent higher in terms of its transmission, its effectiveness in getting from one person to another. It is equally so in terms of creating severe disease as opposed to a milder disease.

And yet right now, that virus is about to take off in the United States. A number of states have seen it go from 1 or 2 percent of the viruses identified to now over 20 to 30 percent. In Europe, these countries that have been in lockdowns literally for two or three months because of this, once they saw the virus level go over 50 percent of all the viruses found, then they had a major surge of cases. We literally are sitting on top of that at a time when, instead of actually getting better prepared for it we're opening up and inviting the virus in.

TAPPER: Listen to what Dr. Anthony Fauci told me yesterday when I asked when can the country reopen? How low, for example, do you want daily infection rates to be before steps are taken to reopen? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I would say less than 10,000, maybe even considerably less than that. Also, I would like to see a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you agree with that? You would like to see the numbers of new infections daily 10,000 or lower and much higher rate of vaccination before mask mandates and other steps could be lifted?

OSTERHOLM: Yeah. I think we have to get them lower, or else we will continue to see transmission. Remember, we are already talking about only 70 percent of the population willing to get vaccinated. That means 30 percent, we still have to work with and convince them to get vaccinated. If that 30 percent doesn't get vaccinated, we could see a substantial amount of transmission going on for weeks to months ahead.

So for us to really feel like it's a new order, a new day, we're going to have to drive these transmissions down even more than I think potentially that Tony just shared with you.

TAPPER: Michael Osterholm, thank you so much for your time and expertise as always, sir. Appreciate it.

OSTERHOLM: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, on the sidelines of NBA all star weekend, LeBron James is on a mission. His mission? Voting rights. I'm going to talk to a top (AUDIO GAP) King James says democracy is under attack.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:03]

TAPPER: We're back with our politics lead.

Today, NBA star LeBron James is joining the fight against legislation, such as the bills being debated in Georgia, to roll back and make it more difficult to vote in the state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA STAR: And now look what they're trying to do, using every trick in the book and attacking democracy itself. They saw what we're capable of, and they fear it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Georgia Republicans say the new laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. Although we should mention no matter how many times President Trump and his lackeys claim it, there was no massive voter fraud in the 2020 election, according to the FBI director and Trump's own attorney general.

Joining us to discuss is Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official for the state of Georgia.

Thanks so much for joining us again.

So, look, I know you're not proposing this legislation, but I just want to get your thoughts on it. Georgia didn't have -- well, Georgia had, rather, no excuse absentee voting, meaning you could get an absentee ballot. You didn't need to have an excuse. That passed in 2005, passed by Republicans, was sworn into law.

But then Democrats won the presidential contest and these two Senate races and Republicans are trying to get rid of no excuse absentee ballots.

I mean, just on a basic level, can you see how awful that looks?

GABRIEL STERLING (R), GEORGIA VOTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER: Well, of course (ph), you can really definitely spin it. And I think that a lot of legislators are proposing bills. Human reaction tends to be to overcorrect sometimes, and maybe a lot of folks back home.

And I don't think at the end of the day, you're going to see no excuse absentee go away. It's been an effective system. It's passed by Republicans. Speaker of the House has said that he wants to keep the no excuse system.

So, I think at the end of the day, that will probably remain there. But one of the problems we see sometimes is politics on both sides. There's actual really good election administration stuff in many of these bills.

[16:40:03]

There's also ridiculous overreactions to some of the other ones. I mean, we won't get into details but a lot of these guys are proposing things knowing they're never going to pass. But then it gives their opponents the opportunity to paint them in a light like Mr. James' commercial just did.

TAPPER: So, the Georgia House bill would limit the number of ballot drop boxes, where they're able to be put. It would reduce the number of Souls to the Polls voting events that black churches, for example, use to only one Sunday during early voting as opposed to every Sunday. It would set a new deadline for requesting absentee ballots. It would even prohibit people to handing out water to voters standing in line.

Now, we just witnessed two big elections in Georgia. The Republican governor, the Republican lieutenant governor, the Republican secretary of state and you, all of you said the elections in Georgia were free and fair and had integrity.

So, why is there any need to do this stuff?

STERLING: Well, there's several things that happened. Obviously, we got through this election in a COVID situation. From an election administration point of view, every single county, large or small, was pushed to the brink, with a lot of focus on big rich counties, like Fulton and DeKalb. What we don't talk about is counties like Candler and Raven that are smaller and have less, you know, money to do a lot of this stuff.

So, in a sense of fairness, look at it this way. On Sunday voting, right now, if you're in a rich county like DeKalb or a Fulton, you get tons of weekends to do it. Right now, our small counties are stretched to even do some of these. So, they're -- we're trying to make it even so no matter where you live in Georgia, you have the same access to the polls.

On drop boxes, another thing they did, they're supposedly bringing them back to population size but 38 counties didn't have them all and they're mandating you have at least one in every county, so evening some of that stuff out.

And the specific one that's important to me from an election administration side is the absentee ballot application deadline. This is normal. Florida has it. They were touting how good the Florida absentee system was, because what happened is if you request an absentee ballot ten days or more before the election, 90 percent of those ballots were voted. If you request about 10 days or after towards the election, only 52 percent of those.

This isn't about franchising people. It's about county election workers do their job in a way that doesn't break the system. We're designed to be an in-person voting state. And that's what we've been doing for, you know, 15 years until this election. Even then, in the middle of a pandemic, 25 percent were absentee ballots.

And one of the other big things we're doing is introducing the identification number to use instead of signature because that takes away all the subjectivity. It's easier to train and easier for our election officials to administer.

TAPPER: Yeah.

STERLING: Now, I don't think we're going to see things slowly rolled back at the end of the day. Cooler heads are going to prevail.

TAPPER: What's your response to people like LeBron James who look at what's going on and say, you know, the same rules were in play, you know, except obviously, it was a pandemic, so more people used the no excuse absentee ballot opportunity, but a lot of black voters went to the polls and now you're trying to disenfranchise us? I mean, that's what LeBron James is saying. STERLING: The same rules apply for everybody. It doesn't

disenfranchise anybody. Having to put an identification number, which is 97 percent of people on the voter roles have. We have one of the highest in the country, we have that. Still allowing no excuse absentee -- which I think will be there at the end of the day -- still having three weeks to early voting, which nearly no other state has.

It is easy to register in our state. We have automatic voter registration. It is easy to vote in the state because you got three ways to vote in the state, but it's really difficult to cheat.

But one place where things can happen has been around absentee ballots. We never said it was a perfect election. There was double voting. There's people who voted in the state. We had felons that voted.

So, shoring up security around those things can make the system better because any vote diluted is a vote denied, especially a state that's so close now. It really is going to mean every one of those votes is going to count.

TAPPER: Yeah, I didn't say you said it was perfect. Obviously nothing is perfect in this world. But there certainly wasn't enough evidence of fraud that would have tipped any of these elections one way or another.

STERLING: (AUDIO GAP) we want to have as good of a system as we can for every Georgian so that they all have the confidence that vote is going to count as they cast it.

TAPPER: Well, I hope that you're right when you say cooler heads are going to prevail because some of these proposals are downright insulting.

But let me ask you about the only example of an attempt of widespread fraud that I saw in Georgia in the last election. The prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, is investigating President Trump's attempt to influence the Georgia election, to get enough votes to tip it to him over Biden. That investigation entered a new phase this week when two grand juries were convened in the case.

I know you're not doing the investigation, but I wonder, have you testified? Do you expect to be questioned as part of this investigation?

STERLING: Well, you know, when that phone call first happened, I was kind of upset that I wasn't on the phone call. But after the phone call happened, I was very happy I was not on that phone call.

So, I don't expect to be called in to testify about any of that.

[16:45:01]

You know, we did get a letter from the District Attorney Willis to, you know, keep the records and those kinds of things. It was typical in this kind of situation. But we'll watch this process work its way through, as everything is done through the process in and follow the laws in the state of Georgia.

TAPPER: All right. Gabriel Sterling, I know you have some fly fishing to do. Thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it.

STERLING: Thank you, Jake. Have a good weekend.

TAPPER: You, too, sir.

Another big debate: schools, reopening them -- reopen them now? Keep them closed? What the U.S. could learn from our friends and neighbors across the border. What is Canada doing? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: The world lead now. It's the debate going on inside every community in the United States and well beyond our borders. Can schools reopen safely with the pandemic still with us?

In our latest installment of education in the time of COVID, we look just miles over our northern border where our Canadian friends and family might have the answer.

[16:50:06]

CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Toronto and in suburbs, the lockdown is on. The order is to stay home. But the school buses, they're rolling, and so is this family.

For months now, most students in Canada have been in the classroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone have everything they need?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yeah.

NEWTON: Even here in one of the country's COVID-19 hot spots.

UNIDENTIFIED KIDS: Bye!

NEWTON: Here's a stay-at-home order in place right now your kids are walking to that building.

ROMANA SIDDIQUI, MOTHER: I have to tell you, we went back and forth several times. Even the night before I was having anxiety that maybe I should just keep them home. In-school learning really is best for the quality of their mental health, their academic support, for everything.

NEWTON: And you see the difference in your kids?

SIDDIQUI: Absolutely.

NEWTON: From Vancouver to Calgary, to Toronto, Montreal and beyond, some provinces have a virtual option. Some split time between online and in person, but nearly everywhere the sound of kids at school now resonates right across the country.

MARK WITTER, PRINCIPAL, ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Make sure we stay in our zones, friends.

NEWTON: But it's been a big challenge. Principal Mark Witter gives us a tour of recess COVID style. Kids are divided into cohorts. There are masks, even outside. There are spaced desks inside, hand washing stations, too.

It's not always been easy. Within weeks of St. Francis of Assisi near Toronto opening in September, there was an outbreak of COVID-19. Seven positive cases, two classrooms went home. Learning went online for two weeks.

Principal Witter says it was challenging, but thorough contact tracing meant parents were reassured.

WITTER: When they place their trust in their children with us each and every day, that the children are going to be safe. That they're going to be happy, and when children are safe and happy, they're going to learn.

NEWTON: But it is here in classrooms, where everyone had to lean on teachers as never before.

ANDREA O'DONNELL, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: I think we're living proof that it is achievable. I'm not saying it wasn't challenging, by any means. How do you keep those masks on those little 4 and 5-year-olds? How are they going to be able to physically distance? You know, I, myself, was one of the skeptics.

NEWTON: Like in Chicago and other major U.S. cities, going back into schools has been contentious. Teachers unions are still pressing for smaller class sizes, more teachers, better ventilation.

HARVEY BISCHOF, PRESIDENT, ONTARIO SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' FEDERATION: It's a mixed bag. Certainly there's been occasional closures and widespread closures but we absolutely agree it should be a high priority to keep schools open.

NEWTON: And the payoff is what every parent, teacher and student wants to hear.

O'DONNELL: I was really happy when we were allowed to come back, just to see their faces again. It just brings so much more joy to be with them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (on camera): Isn't that great to hear, Jake? It's amazing.

And I want to tell you, the teachers are not vaccinated. In fact, they probably have no hope of really getting that vaccine, most of them, until the summer. Listen, Canadian unions, teachers unions, have advocated just as hard as the ones in the United States.

It has been messy. It's been chaotic, but they've tried to stick everyone, as much as they can, to the science, and that has given everyone the room that they have needed to really compromise.

And I also want to say, look, watch this space. Everyone I spoke to said these variants of concern, higher rates of transmission could still mean that, you know, we're not hearing the last of kids in school in Canada -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Paula Newton, thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, Pope Francis' first trip to a place many told him not to go to.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:58:30]

TAPPER: In our faith lead today, Pope Francis arrived in Iraq today for the first-ever papal visit to that war-torn nation. The historic three-day trip, his first since the pandemic began, includes meetings with top religious and political figures.

Beginning today in Baghdad with a welcome at the presidential palace. The pope was warned about going, given security concerns and rising COVID case numbers in Iraq. But the pontiff decided to go anyway, calling it an effort to spread peace and unity.

We want to remember one of the 522,000 lives lost to COVID in the U.S.

Today, we remember Elizabeth Duff, a trailblazer in Nashville honored over the years for breaking barriers. Duff grew up in the segregated south, never allowed to sit in the front of a bus. But in 1974, she got there and made some history doing so. Elizabeth Duff became the very first black woman to drive a Nashville City bus.

And she could fill a bus with all the love in her life. She had 16 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. Elizabeth Duff was just 72 years old.

Our deepest condolences to the Duff family today. May her memory be a blessing.

We are also celebrating life today here at THE LEAD. We want to introduce you to the newest member of THE LEAD family. Our producer Ann and her husband Lance Marlow (ph), they are now the proud parents of Emerson Louise or Emmy Lou, named after two of their beloved family members who would have loved the chance to meet her.

Emily Lou weighed in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces, 21 inches long. Her parents described Emmy Lou as perfect. We agree. We can't wait to meet her safely in person. Joining me Sunday for "STATE OF THE UNION". My guest includes Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Republican Governor Tate Reeves, Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. That's Sunday at 9:00 and noon.

Our coverage continues right now. I'll see you Sunday morning.