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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Democrats Push Voting Rights Legislation; States Expanding Vaccine Eligibility. Aired 4:30-5p ET
Aired March 24, 2021 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:31:45]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our health lead today: More people in more states are now eligible to get their shots. By tomorrow, five states will be offering a COVID shot to any resident 16 years old or older.
And at least 20 other states plan to expand eligibility by the end of April.
But, CNN's Nick Watt reports, this move may be a double-edged sword, as local health officials are worrying that the expanded demand could challenge their vaccine supply.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R-AZ): Vaccinations will be available to all 16 years and older on March 24.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's today. And tomorrow in Georgia?
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): All Georgians over the age of 16 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination.
WATT: At least half of the states will open vaccination to everyone 16 and older by the end of April, around 130 million doses now in American arms. Around 1.3 million school staff have now been vaccinated. New York City high schools are back in person this week.
MIGUEL CARDONA, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: About 75 percent, or three- quarters, of our schools are offering some form of in person learning, including hybrid.
WATT: But:
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I continue to be worried about the latest data and the apparent stall we are seeing in the trajectory of the pandemic. CDC is watching these numbers very closely.
WATT: Nearly 40,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus, and five months after discharge, seven in 10 people still suffer symptoms, a new study finds.
New cases, nearly 53,000 reported yesterday. DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: When you are at that level, I
don't think you can declare victory. We are at the corner. Whether or not we're going to be turning that corner still remains to be seen.
WATT: One issue that will emerge, should there be different rules for the vaccinated and the not? The Miami Heat just announced they will reserve sections in the stands for vaccinated fans only.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Now, someday soonish, we will reach the point where supply meets demand for the vaccines, and then, say some local health officials, is when the really hard phase begins, when they start moving into parts of the population that are not so willing to be vaccinated, but, every day, more evidence that these vaccines work.
This morning, the CDC director said that, as vaccines have increased in the over-65s, the number of E.R. admissions in the over-65s has fallen -- Jake.
TAPPER: That's great news.
Nick Watt, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
On Capitol Hill today, a rare appearance in what should have been an uneventful Senate hearing and how the word shame took over the conversation.
That's next. Stay with us.
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[16:39:03]
TAPPER: In our politics lead this afternoon: President Biden put his vice president, Kamala Harris, in charge of one of his administration's growing challenges. She is now the point person on immigration from Central America, as record numbers of migrant children are coming to the border.
Her job is a tough one and complicated, but, bottom line, she will need to spread the message to migrants that now is not the time to come here, the administration says.
Ron Brownstein, author of the new book "Rock Me on the Water," and White House correspondent for Politico Laura Barron-Lopez, they both join me now.
Laura, let me start with you.
Does this move show that President Biden trusts Kamala Harris enough with one of the major issues of his administration, or does it raise a question about why he wouldn't want to be point person it?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, as president, he has to delegate. And I think it does show the former, Jake, which is that he does trust her to lead on this. But it is certainly a tricky political issue, and it's one that is going to be difficult for her. And it's one that she has some experience, but a limited experience, in handling.
[16:40:07]
When she was a senator, she was one of the most vocal voices on immigration policy. She also dealt with a little bit of it as attorney general of California, but she doesn't have the most expansive experience in terms of diplomacy.
So, this is certainly going to test her.
TAPPER: The Biden administration, Ron, is now allowing cameras into one of the facilities in Texas for these undocumented migrants after mounting pressure to do so. Now, this is not the same facility spotlighted by Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar last week showing minors crowded on the floor, not following the COVID protocols.
Do you think the White House is trying to paint a prettier picture of what's going on down there with this tour today? And is that giving Americans a false sense of how bad the conditions are for these young people?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.
I mean, you look at the nature of the crossings that we are looking at, it's a humanitarian crisis, more than it is a national security or economic kind of threat, which is the way that these -- this is usually portrayed. We're talking about unaccompanied minors.
And so it really becomes a question of their treatment here in the near term. But in the long term, sending Kamala Harris to Central America really does reflect what Democrats believe is the ultimate solution here, which is trying to deal with the root causes of migration and the reason that so many people feel they have no choice but to undertake this very difficult journey.
And, of course, as you know, Joe Biden kind of had this role for Barack Obama in trying to find agreement with those countries. And, ultimately, I think that is where this administration and Democrats in general are going to put most of their chips for trying to get this under control.
TAPPER: Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to pass this voting rights bill with new legislation. It would expand voting access, weaken voter I.D. requirements, restore voting rights to former felons, complicate efforts to purge rolls of inactive voters, overhaul campaign financing, curtailing gerrymandering.
I mean, it's very comprehensive and controversial. The conversation went downhill quickly today at a Senate hearing on the bill. Take a listen to Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): How are poor people going to pay for a notary, when there's virtually no indication of fraud? It is one of the most despicable things I have seen in all my years. Shame, shame, shame.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): If anybody out to be feeling any shame around here, it's turning the FEC into a partisan prosecutor, the majority controlled by the president's party, to harass and intimidate the other side.
That's what you ought to be ashamed about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, Republicans are saying this is a power grab by Democrats. Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty went as far as compare what's going on here to the Mao and Maduro regimes.
Ron, you wrote an article for CNN outlining why Republicans are so against aspects of this bill. Tell us more.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, what we are seeing here, I think, in many ways are Republicans stacking sandbags against a rising wave of demographic change across the Sunbelt in particular.
If you look at states like Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, the trajectory is very clear, Jake. The voters aging into the electorate who are turning 18 every year are increasingly kids of color, the majority kids of color in most of the states that I mentioned.
And the Republicans I think in those states are trying to cement and entrench their advantages, which are based on their strong performances among older non-college and non-urban whites while they still have the statewide power to do so with these voter restrictions and with the gerrymandering that's coming next.
And I do wonder. I was listening to my left here to a panel at Brookings with Jeff Merkley and Amy Klobuchar. And they actually -- I submitted a question this morning. I asked them, would they want to pare back the bill to deal with just the immediate emergency of what we are seeing in voter suppression in these states? They both said, no, they want to go the whole hog and do the big comprehensive package.
But I do wonder, given the stakes, given the magnitude of what's happening in these red states, whether Democrats at some point are going to feel the need to just focus on undoing some of these new suppression measures.
TAPPER: And, Laura, what's your take on what's going on here?
BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, I certainly agree with Ron, which is that Republicans are trying to make moves across states across the country -- in states across the country to limit access to voting. I mean, that's clearly what is happening. And part of that is because
of the demographic changes. I mean, young voters voted majority for Biden, and they turned out in strong numbers in states that flipped, like in Arizona and Georgia.
One thing though, is that Democrats are -- it's very hard to see how they're going to pass this expansive bill because of the legislative filibuster, which I know we talk about a lot, and whether or not they're going to be able to find Republicans to get on board with a bill like this, to get
ten Republicans.
[16:45:10]
And if they aren't, then this is going to run right into the filibuster, and, again, he's going to apply the pressure that majority Leader Schumer wants to apply to get rid of the filibuster.
TAPPER: Yeah, they don't just need ten Republicans. They also need Joe Manchin of West Virginia who is not supportive of it right now.
Laura Barron-Lopez and Ron Brownstein, again, the author of the new book "Rock Me On The Water," thanks to both of you.
On the pandemic, convincing people that the vaccine is safe, especially the one group that has good reason to distrust what they hear from the U.S. government. We'll tell you more, next.
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TAPPER: In our health lead, some skeptical Americans are changing their minds about getting the COVID vaccine.
A new CBS News/YouGov poll shows 55 percent say they will get the vaccine or have already gotten at least one dose.
[16:50:06]
But 22 percent say they will not get a shot.
That's a big problem in places such as the Osage Nation in Oklahoma where it's hard not to see why there'd be a distrust of a government coming to you claiming to be in good faith. Many still do not trust the vaccine despite Native American communities being hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of the Osage Nation are fighting skepticism by taking the vaccine out of health clinics and trying to bring it directly to the people, as CNN's Sara Sidner now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Osage Nation is bringing the vaccine to the people instead of waiting for the people to come to them. GEOFFREY M. STANDING BEAR, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE OSAGE NATION:
Nearly 50 percent of our people were choosing not to take the vaccination.
SIDNER: One of the overarching reasons for that, distrust of the U.S. government among some Osage goes as far and wide as the plains of their nation in Oklahoma.
STANDING BEAR: Historically, there is an association between the coming of the government and death.
SIDNER: In the mid-1800s, it was disease brought in by outsiders that decimated the tribe. In the 1920s, the Osage battled a uniquely human disease, rampant greed and racism. White Americans who would stop at nothing, even mother to take Osage land after oil was discovered here.
CAROL CONNER, EDITOR, THE FAIRFAX CHIEF: A block and a half from where we were sitting a house was blown up as an attempt to murder Osages for their land and money.
SIDNER: A hundred years later, the Osage are battling new skepticism fueled by COVID-19 misinformation.
DR. RON SHAW, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE OSAGE NATION: Anything from the nano chip is in the vaccine and people are going to be tracked to where the whole COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax and untrue.
SIDNER: What that tells us is that the Osage Nation is not immune to the conspiracy theories that are across the country. But it was fear of potential side effects that spooked Janese Sieke even though she works in health care.
JANESE SIEKE, OSAGE HEALTHCARE WORKER: As an employee of a health center, we were one of the first ones offered. And I originally said no.
SIDNER: Her father, an Osage elder, changed her mind with a lot of love and a lot of wisdom.
RAYMOND LASLEY, OSAGE ELDER: Of all people not to trust the government native people are the ones that shouldn't trust the government. But this is a case where we need to put our trust in science. We need to put our trust in medicine.
SIDNER: Still, not enough people in the Osage Nation have chosen to get the shot. So the tribe did something it has never done before, opened their health services to non-natives, giving COVID-19 vaccinations to everyone 18 or older, no appointment necessary.
Marcia Pryse and her husband drove over an hour for their chance.
MARCIA PRYSE, OSAGE COUNTY RESIDENT: I really was excited about it because I haven't got good full-on hugs from my kids in so long.
SIDNER: And they've taken it on the road.
SHAW: We've tried to remove all the obstacles.
SIDNER: Sending out their brand new medical unit to rural areas. Here, even in the face of a man collapsing after his dose, with what nurses believed was a seizure, not a single person walk away from their chance. One hundred thirty-five got the shot.
VERN, LUMBEE TRIBAL MEMBER: I'm more concerned about the virus than the vaccine.
SIDNER: But others still won't take it.
JOEY STAFFORD, HOMINY RESIDENT: For people at risk, it could be detrimental. But for the rest of the population, I don't think it's as big of a deal as what they've made it out to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (on camera): Now, you heard there from Raymond Lasley and his daughter. You heard that conversation between the two of them where she was reticent and he was gung-ho. One of the reasons why he was so adamant that it was so important to take the vaccine is because he himself as a child almost died from measles before that vaccine was available. His brother had polio.
When those vaccines were available, his parents taught him how important the science was behind vaccines. And he has now shared that with his children successfully -- Jake.
TAPPER: Sara Sidner in Oklahoma for us, thank you so much. What a great report.
Coming up next, the strong words in Washington today from women soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Stay with us.
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[16:58:44]
TAPPER: In our money lead, here's why you might have to wait even longer for an overseas delivery. It could take days to clear this cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal. Evergreen owns this vessel called the Evergiven. It ran aground yesterday during a sand storm. The ship stretches about four football fields long. It's blocking pretty much the entire Suez Canal about 100 other ships are just waiting to get by it, one of the busiest waterways in the world.
Also on our money lead today, today March 24th is Equal Pay Day, which symbolizes how far into this year women have to work to earn the same pay that men made in all of 2020. Census data shows women in the U.S. earn about 82 cents for every dollar men make. Women of color are shortchanged even more.
Women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe spent the day making her case for equal pay. She, of course, was on the team that sued the U.S. Soccer Federation after their spectacular World Cup Win, even though her team was paid less than the, shall we say, less successful men's soccer team.
Right now, Rapinoe is at the White House. Earlier today, she was on Capitol Hill. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAN RAPINOE, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: We've done everything. You want stadiums filled, we filled them. You want role models for your boys and girls and your little trans kids, we have that. You want us to be respectful. You want us to perform on the world stage.
And simply, there's no reason why we're underpaid for the exception of gender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Our coverage on CNN continues right now. Thanks for watching.
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