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Don Lemon Tonight

DHS And FBI Warns Of More Violence; Interview With Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO); Sen. Lindsey Graham Releases Statement He Doesn't Believe Trump's Words Incited January 6 Riot; Turns Complete 180; Unvaccinated People Faces More Risks; Eric Adams Won Democratic Nomination In New York; Bill Cosby's TV Wife Faces Backlash; Critical Race Theory Misunderstood By Parents And Lawmakers. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired July 06, 2021 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST (on camera): Thank you for giving us the opportunity. "DON LEMON TONIGHT" gets the upgrade as D. Lemon sees if he can eat his body weight in nachos. Laura Coates is at the helm.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Is that what he's doing?

CUOMO: At best.

COATES: I like nachos.

CUOMO: At best that's what he's doing.

COATES: Man, well, at worse Don is doing. If that's -- if that's the upshot of all of it, Chris, I don't know what to think. Nice show as always, great show. Thank you for the humor and laugh tonight. I needed it. I appreciate it.

CUOMO: For not smiling and we're crying. I look forward to the show, Laura.

COATES: Me, too. Thank you. This is DON LEMON TONIGHT, and I'm Laura Coates in for Don Lemon.

And look, I know you remember, because how could you ever forget? How could any of us forget what we saw with our own eyes exactly six months ago today? Something we never in a million years thought we'd see, the United States Capitol, the seat of our democracy, battered, defiled by hundreds of bloodthirsty rioters.

Lawmakers like Senator Mitt Romney and the then-vice president forced to run for their lives. The pictures, the videos are burned into our memories. But just today the FBI released 11 horrific new videos from body cameras, officers who risked their lives trying to keep the insurrectionists out of the capitol.

And I warn you, some of this is very disturbing to watch. You know, we haven't bleeped any of it to give you the full context. When there is this video of MAGA head rioters on the capitol steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Traitor!

UNKNOWN: Traitor!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): And another sickening video of rioters assaulting police officers and with threats against lawmakers still increasing, with homeland security and the FBI warning about the potential for more violence tied to this bogus conspiracy theory that Trump will somehow return to the presidency next month.

With all that, Republican deniers are doing everything they can to bury what happened and why it happened, to bury the big lie.

I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. Congressman, I'm glad you're here tonight. Thank you for taking the time. It's always a pleasure to speak with you.

You know, Congressman, the FBI is releasing 11 new videos from the insurrection tonight, and we see rioters brutally assaulting officers and trying to get closer to lawmakers just like you. This was all happening as you took cover in the House chamber. And here we are six months later, and I just have to ask, how does it feel to see these rioters so determined to harm you and your colleagues?

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Hi, Laura. Thanks for having me on. It's always good to talk with you as well.

I mean, there's just no other way to paint this. I mean, there's video, America saw this happen in real-time. We were there as members of Congress, there were journalists there, there was 140 police officers who were brutally beaten.

This was an insurrection against our democracy, it was assault on the pantheon of our democracy, the U.S. Capitol building, a place that so many of us have memories of visiting as children. There has to be accountability of this. It doesn't matter what Trump enablers or those who want to sweep this under the rug want to try to say happened. We all know what happened.

And there is plenty of video and there's plenty of eyewitness accounts, and it's extremely painful, especially for those officers who were beaten so brutally. One lost his life. Another one took his life shortly after the event. So, thinking about them and their families and the way they were trying to cross over is a very painful thing.

COATES: I mean, the whole world was really an eyewitness to what we saw, and just seeing that and reliving it with the footage and the new footage is just devastating yet again.

[22:05:00] And you know, homeland security officials are warning of more violence this summer because apparently right-wing conspiracy mongers think that Trump will be reinstated in August.

So, is law enforcement actually ready for another attack if it were to happen, because multiple Capitol Hill police officers tell CNN that not nearly enough is being done here?

CROW: Yes. Laura, what people need to understand is this is not an exercise in history. We're not just trying to get the history books right here on January 6. This is an ongoing extremist movement, a conspiracy theory movement, an anti-government movement that's dangerous. It's growing. It's growing because Donald Trump and his enablers continue to spread the big lie, continue to tell lies and sow these conspiracy theories.

And these aren't -- these aren't benign things. This isn't just story time. This is stuff that's actually emboldening and creating and spreading an extremist movement in the United States of America. So, law enforcement needs to get ready, but we're not going to sit there as Congress and just hope that they do.

My job is not to sit there and just hope that they get ready. I have oversight role, I have obligations, leadership function to make sure that they're ready. That's what the January 6 commission is going to be about, that the select committee, rather, that we just convened last week. That's what the Government Accountability Office investigation review that I'm overseeing in the House is going to be about.

We're going to get facts and then we're going to act on those facts, and we're going to find out what we need to do to protect the American people.

COATES: I want to talk about that committee because we don't know who Kevin McCarthy will pick to serve on this select committee. If he selects any of the 139 members of the House who voted to overturn the election results even by the way after the insurrection, should Speaker Pelosi use her veto power in some way here?

CROW: Well, I'm not going to presume to say what the speaker is or isn't going to do, but I've always said, and many of my House colleague share this view, is what McCarthy chooses to do and what the GOP colleagues in the House choose to do is irrelevant for our purposes.

We have a duty. That duty flows from our oath. We have an obligation to protect the American people to ensure their public safety, to uphold the Constitution and our Democratic practices. And it doesn't matter what other people do.

But we'll respond to that in the way that we have to, we will uphold our democracy. We will keep people safe. We will protect our law enforcement officers who are on the front lines doing the work of battling this extremist movement, and you know, we will do that regardless of who they appoint to this select committee. COATES: You know, I tell you what, Americans need to have those

reassurances here, and you know, especially when you have another January 6 video the FBI released just tonight showing rioters wearing MAGA hats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Traitor!

UNKNOWN: Traitor!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): You know, you would think that that horrific day would have served as a massive wake-up call, but as you know, within days it was back to politics as usual. So, I wonder about the words you use, the enablers, et cetera. I mean, how do you work with Republican colleagues who are even to this day still pushing former President Trump's big lie?

CROW: Well, Laura, I'm a student of history. I've studied history for much of my life and I actually gain some comfort from it, but at the same time, you understand what we've learned from history is there are very few clear-cut moments for people just having an enlightenment. Or awaken to a truth or realize that there is this big lie that they've been told and decide to change course.

Things happen over time. And they happen over time because good people stand up. They push back against it. They tell the truth, sometimes at a great personal cost to themselves. And that's what we're seeing happen. It needs to happen faster, it needs to happen with more people, there's no doubt about that.

But, you know, we continue to do this work. And as MLK has always said, the arc of history is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice because people bend it towards justice. But it doesn't happen fast and it isn't always clean.

COATES: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

CROW: Yes. Thanks, Laura.

COATES: Now I want to bring in CNN political director, David Chalian. David, it's so nice to see you on a night like this on this really, the sixth month, really, anniversary.

And you know, President Biden is putting out a statement on this terrible anniversary saying, while the attack poses an existential crisis, he says that democracy did prevail. I mean, maybe it prevailed, but it's certainly still under attack. Isn't it, David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, it prevailed but it also were shown to be in a pretty precarious state, and something even the president in his statement, Laura, I think indicated requires the constant work to protect it, to defend it, to make sure that it is being fortified.

[22:10:10]

Because clearly, the tenuous nature of our democracy I think was laid bare in many ways on January 6. And just seeing the video that you've been playing again tonight, Laura, I mean, it's hard not to get chills and a little choked up watching it, watching the very House of American democracy get attacked in that way.

COATES: I mean, watching, you're right, watching in that one footage the officer repeatedly trying to get back up as he's, you know, savagely assaulted and beaten down. I mean, it's incredible to think that, look, I mean, Republican candidates who are running in 2022 are increasingly focused on the baseless claim that the election fraud was rampant which, in part, is a part of what people, I presume, thought justified their behavior going into the capitol. So, what does this mean that so many Republicans are willing to run on this when we're seeing this?

CHALIAN: Well, it means that Donald Trump still has quite a grip on the Republican Party. I mean, I think the Washington Post looked into more than 700 Republican candidates that had filed the FEC paperwork and found, you know, nearly a third or so actually putting the notion of what occurred on January 6 sort of at the center of their campaign, the notion of the big lie that led to the January 6 insurrection at the center of how they're trying to appeal to Republican voters.

And I think all of that indicates, that commitment to the big lie indicates a desire to please Donald Trump and his supporters and not get crosswise with him because it is his power that still fuels the Republican Party.

COATES: I want you to listen to what Senator Lindsey Graham had to say just this morning, David, about the capitol attack. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): President Trump's speech in my view didn't cause the riot. It didn't help, but it didn't cause it. So, I think it's important to understand the difference between peaceful protest and a riot. And what happened inside the U.S. Capitol, and I was there, was shameful, it was despicable, and the people who did it need to go to jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): Didn't cause but didn't help it. I mean, that's what he's saying now, David, but listen to what he said on the day of the insurrection, six months ago today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it being this way. My god, I hate it. From my point of view, he's been a consequential brother. But today, the first thing you'll see. All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): I mean, interesting. He's trying to say the riot was bad, at the same time letting Trump off the hook. David, can he actually have it both ways?

CHALIAN: Well, he certainly seems to think that the voters in South Carolina will allow him to try and have it both ways. I mean, to hear him say on January 6, enough is enough, count me out, but then subsequently for many months thereafter been out golfing with Trump and still courting his input into the party out there saying that Trump must be sort of at the center of the party.

The idea of running away from him, he thinks, would be a political disaster for the Republican Party despite what you heard from Senator Graham on the Senate floor that night. Clearly, he's trying to separate Donald Trump from what occurred on January 6. I think the facts leading up to the 6th of January, Laura, make that separation pretty hard to do.

COATES: If not impossible. David Chalian, thank you so much for joining me tonight. I appreciate hearing from you.

CHALIAN: Thanks.

COATES: And I remind people, it's only been six months. Think about that. It's only been six months since we watched in horror as a violent mob scaled the walls of our capitol. Just six months since an American president, American congressman and a man formerly known as America's mayor rallied that crowd to undermine Congress' certification of the Electoral College. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYER: Let's have trial by combat!

UNKNOWN: Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): It's been six months since Officer Eugene Goodman tried to lead a threatening mob away from the Senate floor where members of the House and Senate were waiting like sitting ducks.

[22:15:04]

Six months since Officer Michael Fanone begged for his life, imploring a violent mob to stop their savage assault to save his children's father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him.

UNKNOWN: Hold on, hold on. I got you. I got you.

UNKNOWN: Guys, I got it.

MICHAEL FANONE, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: I got kids.

UNKNOWN: Don't hurt him.

FANONE: You can't do this to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): And six months since gallows were erected outside the capitol, awaiting the hanging of an American vice president. Six months since a confederate flag was proudly carried through the halls of Congress. Six months since members of Congress put on gas masks and removed their congressional pin so that they could not be identified as elected officials who could be taken hostage, or worse, killed.

Six months since the valiant men and women of the Capitol Police and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department waited for hours for reinforcements to come. And for six months now, the American people have been told to simply move on. All the while the former president and his Republican allies refuse to even acknowledge President Biden's victory.

And why is that? Because apparently, trying to prevent the destruction of our democracy is somehow a distraction to democracy. This is as illogical as the revisionist history being told about that horrible day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): We've seen plenty of video of people in the capitol, and they weren't rioting. They don't -- it doesn't look like an armed insurrection when you have people that breach the capitol, and I don't condone it, but they're staying within the rope lines in the rotunda.

TRUMP: Look, they went in. They shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards.

REP. ANDREW CLYDE (R-GA): You know, if you didn't know the tiny footage was a video from January 6, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): Now, those were tourists? And I suppose King George was simply the guy who sold us our teeth? But America should not just move on, but it does have a chance to move beyond the things that threaten our democracy. Move beyond just the idea of America and realize what it must be in practice. Move beyond the rhetoric about the sanctity of our democracy and

actually secure it. Move beyond the performative demands for transparency and accountability and actually ensure it. Move beyond the celebration of our independence and actually free our democracy from the tyranny of the big lie. Let's move beyond, not just move on.

Now we're keeping an eye on hurricane Elsa that is taking aim at Florida. That is the CDC is saying tonight the Delta variant now makes up half of all new COVID cases in this country. And President Joe Biden is urging unvaccinated Americans to get it done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Millions of Americans are still unvaccinated and unprotected. And because of that, their communities are at risk, their friends are at risk, the people they care about are at risk. This is an even bigger concern because of the Delta variant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES (on camera): The CDC saying today the Delta variant now makes up more than half of the new coronavirus cases in the U.S. Cases are up across the whole country. An average of three times higher in states with lower vaccination rates.

President Biden making a new push today to get more Americans vaccinated and warning that people should think twice about not getting vaccinated.

Joining me now to discuss, Dr. Ashish Jha. He's the dean of Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Jha, thank you for joining me tonight. I appreciate it.

ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Thanks for having me on.

COATES: You know, Dr. Jha, president Biden, as you know, announced these new vaccination efforts, but the Delta variant we're learning makes up more than half of U.S. cases. And look at this map. When you look at the trends, we're seeing more states now in the red than we frankly have seen in months. So, what worries you most about this?

JHA: You know, what worries me most, Laura, is that basically we have so many Americans especially concentrated in those states who are unvaccinated, who are at risk for substantial infections and hospitalizations and deaths. About 99 percent of people who are dying right now of COVID are unvaccinated. This is completely unnecessary. And what worries me is we're not going to make enough progress on this.

COATES: So, what more should or even can the administration be doing? I mean, we didn't -- he didn't hit the goal that they were aiming for on the Fourth of July when it came to total vaccinations, so, I mean, what's next? What's left to do?

JHA: Yes, I think there are a couple things. I mean, first of all, I think the president set a very ambitious goal of 70 percent. We didn't get there, we got to 67, which is pretty good but we have to do better. But I think what's going to make a really big difference is the FDA providing full approval of these vaccines. We have so much data, I think the FDA will be able to do that.

And that will give confidence to a lot of individuals, to a lot of companies, to businesses, to schools to ask their employees and their students to get vaccinated. I think that will make a really big difference as well. There is a lot of work to do here, but I really do think full approval from the FDA would end up making a very big difference.

[22:25:01]

COATES: Any idea about what that timeline would look like? Or could like?

JHA: Typically, under normal circumstances, once an application is filed, if there is enough data, it takes three to six months. These are not normal circumstances. We're in the middle of a global pandemic. The data is in. I don't want them to cut any corners. We've got more than enough data. Now with all that data I'm hoping that it can happen in the weeks ahead and it doesn't take much longer than that.

COATES: Speaking of data, you know, the Israeli government is saying that it found that the Pfizer vaccine, one that's available here in the U.S. as well, is slightly less effective against the Delta variant at, I think 64 percent effective against all -- for all cases, but it's still 93 percent effective against severe illnesses. So what does this actually tell us? What's behind the data here and is there cause for concern about efficacy rates here?

JHA: Yes, I have to tell you, I'm not super concerned and let me say why. First of all, the data from the Israeli government, again, they've been doing a very good job so no criticism of Israel on the data in general. But this specific number is based on a modeling study and we don't have all the results.

But I look at it in the context of Canadian data that came out yesterday, that shows almost 90 percent effectiveness, U.K. data almost 90 percent effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against the Delta variant. So, my sense is that the Pfizer data -- that the data is going to hold up really, really well against the Delta variant and this 64 percent is probably a blip and not really the real, the real final word on this.

COATES: Very reassuring, Dr. Jha, thank you for your time. Nice speaking with you. Thank you.

JHA: Thank you. COATES: A big announcement in the New York mayoral city primary. CNN

projecting Eric Adams will win the Democratic primary, and by the narrowest of margins.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES (on camera): Breaking news on the race for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York. CNN projects Brooklyn borough president, and former police captain Eric Adams has won the primary, making him now the favorite in the general election.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now. Polo, I'm glad you're here in this breaking news night.

I mean, Eric Adams is beating out the large Democratic primary field. Just how close was this race, though?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Laura, it only took what, two weeks, two tabulations and a huge mistake by the New York City's elections board which they said that was corrected and didn't have an impact on the election. And it was so unpredictable. But also, as you point out, Laura, it was so tied as well.

Just look at those final numbers right now. And you can see why CNN now is making that projection right now, that Eric Adams will win the Democratic nomination for the mayor's race in the city of New York. A tiny difference, a single percentage point there, just well under 10,000-vote difference.

Now as for Kathryn Garcia, so far, she's only said that she would be making a statement tomorrow at the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park. That's certainly no coincidence that she would have been the first female mayor in New York city.

But again, let me remind for our viewers, this was the first rank choice voting experience for New Yorkers where they had the opportunity to actually list or rank their top five preferences. Those candidates with the fewest votes they would actually get eliminated, and then those votes would then be allocated to their second preference. And that's how we got where we are tonight.

COATES: I mean, clear as mud, right, in terms of that. We're under 8 or 8,000 votes here, and you wonder what it came down to it this sort of narrow margin, because, you know, today the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, issued the first in the nation executive order declaring gun violence in New York as a disaster emergency.

And you got to wonder, is the surge in crime what this race came down to? I mean, it's a huge commentary that somebody who is a former police captain is now likely the favorite to win mayor race.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely. Two weeks ago today, I stood at a polling location in Brooklyn and many voters told me yes, the economy, transportation, health they're certainly big issues, but the issues of crime was certainly front and center.

We have seen obviously this increase in street crime, (Inaudible) crime, certainly a rise in hate crimes as well targeting Jewish community, the Asian community, as well. And multiple high-profile shootings. And so, what we heard time and time again from voters is that they wanted somebody who could address this kind of issue.

And we know that Adams is the moderate here, certainly trying to strike that middle ground here, saying that he would address this, but at the same time also address racial injustice. And that's what many voters hope to see in their next mayor.

COATES: You know, the New York City board of elections, to your earlier point, I mean, they've been facing a lot of criticism for how --

SANDOVAL: Right.

COATES: -- they even rolled out these results. And there were more problems today, I understand? What happened?

SANDOVAL: Yes, and part of that is with timing. I mean, when do you usually brunch, 11 or 12 o'clock? Not 6.39 p.m. And that was really the big head scratcher here. Because you can see New York City's board of elections actually tweeted this earlier today saying that they promised today's release is more brunch, more of a brunch special versus club hours.

But instead, we obviously ended up getting these at about 6.39 p.m. tonight. So that certainly was quite the head scratcher here. Now to be fair, they did say that because of that issue that popped up last week, they had another layer of counting, but at the same time they also attempted to downplay what happened when they accidentally counted 135,000 test ballots saying that it was simply a catch-22, Laura. But New Yorkers, I don't know if they'll buy that.

[22:35:07]

COATES: I mean, I'm wondering, has the person who came in second so far, have she -- Garcia, has she conceded?

SANDOVAL: No concession as of this point. She's only put out a statement saying that she plans to share some remarks tomorrow at Central Park, again, at that particular location that certainly has a message in itself.

COATES: Thank you, Polo. Nice to see you.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Laura.

COATES: I appreciate it.

Actress and Howard University dean Phylicia Rashad is getting a lot of backlash after her tweet supporting Bill Cosby following his release from prison just last week. Now some people at Howard are demanding her resignation. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES (on camera): Bill Cosby's former TV wife is facing major backlash after tweeting support for Cosby who was released from prison just last week when his sexual assault conviction was overturned.

[22:40:07]

Now Phylicia Rashad apologized for her tweet, but some students at Howard University where she's now a dean says that's not enough.

Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This week, Howard University is open for summer classes, but some students are still reeling from last week's comments made by Phylicia Rashad, their college of fine arts dean, who tweeted in support of Bill Cosby.

DARLENE SINGUI-TANYI, HOWARD UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2021: It's kind of like a slap in the face, to be completely honest with you.

CARROLL: Darlene Singui-Tanyi, a new Howard graduate, says Rashad's comment harm the effort of trying to lift the shame and guilt often associated with reporting sexual assaults.

SINGUI-TANYI: It kind of feels as if she doesn't feel for those victims and doesn't feel for those other victims who have not been able to come forward, especially at college campuses, especially at Howard campuses, because I know that there are plenty of incidences that have occurred that women do not feel comfortable coming forward about.

CARROLL: Howard law student Makiah Lyons agrees.

MAKIAH LYONS, HOWARD UNIVERSITY LAW STUDENT: There were real implications to communicating to young women and vulnerable people that they don't matter in the shadow of a powerful man's legacy. And that's what that communicated whether she intended to or not.

CARROLL: Rasha's tweets came last week after the Pennsylvanian Suprema Court overturned Cosby's sexual assault conviction. The ruling did not say Cosby wasn't guilty of the accusations. It said his rights of due process were violated. Even so, Rashad, a long supporter of her former co-star tweeted, finally, a terrible wrong is being righted, a miscarriage of justice is corrected.

The backlash was immediate. Calls came in for her resignation and for Howard to fire her. Rashad quick to apologize saying in part, my remarks were in no way directed toward survivors of sexual assault. I vehemently oppose sexual violence. I find no excuse for such behavior.

The university distancing itself from Rashad, saying Rashad's initial tweet lacks sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault. Personal positions of university leadership do not reflect Howard University policies.

There were some who publicly supported Rashad's initial comments about Cosby including singer Stephanie Mills and former TV reality judge Joe Brown. And Cosby, himself who criticize Howard University saying you must support one's freedom of speech which is taught or supposed to be taught every day at that renowned law school. The question for some who work within the sexual assault community now is, was Rashad's apology enough?

TRACEY VITCHERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IT'S ON US: We really believe that colleges and universities need to listen to their student community, and particularly their student survivor committee, and if the student survivors at Howard feel that she should be removed, fundamentally the college needs to take that seriously.

CARROLL: The students we spoke to could not say for sure if they thought Rashad should keep her position. Sarena Straughter is a poly sign major and president of Revolt, an on-campus group helping to create a safe space for women.

SARENA STRAUGHTER, HOWARD UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2022: I still believe that Phylicia Rashad has a lot to offer, especially to the college of fine arts. But I understand if other students feel that more action needs to be taken and I would support that as well.

CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): Thank you, Jason.

And now an update to a story we've been following. Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones turning down a tenured teaching position at the University of North Carolina, instead accepting a tenured professor position at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Now she was initially denied tenure at UNC until faculty and alumni protested.

Hannah-Jones calls UNC officials dishonest about the reasons for the initial denial and blames it on negative reaction to her groundbreaking work on the 1619 Project, which we contextualize as the history of the U.S. surround 1619, August when the first slave ship arrived.

Hannah-Jones saying in a statement, these last few weeks have been very dark. To be treated so shabbily by my alma mater, by a university who has given me so much in which I only sought to give back to has been deeply painful.

We'll be right back.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES (on camera): Parents across the country are outraged over critical race theory. And lawmakers in some Republican led states banned teaching it. And therein lies the problem.

Critical race theory is an idea, not an actual part of the curriculum, it's not being taught to schoolchildren. But it is a political tool some on the right are using to scare people.

More tonight from CNN's Elle Reeve.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNKNOWN: There are thousands of parents all over the U.S. of all races who have been speaking out against CRT and rightfully so. These are my babies, not yours! If you are embarrassed or ashamed of your skin color, that's your issue, not mine or my children.

ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is a school board meeting in a suburb of Philadelphia where a small group of very vocal parents are speaking out against critical race theory, or CRT.

UNKNOWN: We do not want our children to be taught that America is systemically racist.

UNKNOWN: Six hundred thousand people died in the Civil War to end racism and slavery. Don't rewrite factual history or indoctrinate, just present the facts.

(APPLAUSE)

[22:49:59]

REEVE: In the wake of protest of the murder of George Floyd, Republican politicians have been hyping critical race theory as a threat to the impressionable minds of America's children.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Critical race theory says every white person is a racist. Critical race theory says America is fundamentally racist and irredeemably racist.

REEVE: In more than 12 states legislators have proposed bills to ban CRT. We wanted to meet the actual people working with actual kids and actual schools. So, we talk to Keziah Ridgeway who teaches high school African-American history and discusses CRT in her anthropology class.

Can I just start with a very simple, what is critical race theory?

KEZIAH RIDGEWAY, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Yes. Critical race theory is not being taught in schools. It is a theory. It is a lens by which to view history and the way that law and race kind of overlaps and connects in society.

Can it influence the way that some teachers teach? Yes, but that's a good thing, right? Because race and racism is literally the building blocks of this country. So how can you not talk about it?

REEVE: Critical race theory is an I academic framework that says racial inequality is perpetuated by the racism embedded in America's laws, not by individual bigotry. But relentless propaganda from some conservatives has created a panic that white people and especially white children are under attack.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Critical race theory is basically teaching people to hate our country.

JESSE WATTERS, HOST, FOX NEWS: Schools are embracing this ideologically and forcing white students and white teachers to be ashamed of their own skin color.

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, FOX NEWS: It's not critical race theory. It's racism.

RIDGEWAY: These are systemic things, ignoring it perpetuates the problem, by acknowledging it we can find solutions and we can address the problems in the inequality that exists in our country. And so, I think teaching it this way actually does the opposite of what these people say it does.

REEVE: Are you teaching children to hate America?

RIDGEWAY: No, I'm teaching children to question America. And that's what makes a good patriot.

ELANA YARON FISHBEIN, FOUNDER, NO LEFT TURN IN EDUCATION: Don't force on our kids a particular world view. Taking a wide brush and painting this country as structurally racist is insane.

REEVE: Why is it insane though?

FISHBEIN: It's just a lie.

REEVE: Last year, Elana Yaron Fishbein says she received an e-mail from her kids' school that students would be learning more about the role of race in American society. She thought the materials were racist, so she pulled her kids out of public school. Then she created an advocacy group no left turn in education to draw attention to her claims that CRT is poisoning young minds.

This isn't just history. In the '90s the crime bill gave much more severe sentencing to crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine simply because black people were perceived as doing crack cocaine and white people --

(CROSSTALK)

FISHBEIN: Ask Joe Biden why he did that.

REEVE: That's a great question. Whether this Joe Biden, I think is a perfect illustration. Right? Joe Biden would present himself as a nice guy who had never have a racist bone in his body, yet he participated in creating these laws that have a structural effect of affecting black people more than white people.

FISHBEIN: But you don't have them now.

REEVE: People affected by that law are still alive. FISHBEIN: We're talking about something entirely different now. This

is my taxpayers' money. I don't want it to go to indoctrinate kids that then are going to hate my kids because of the color of their skin. And attack them because the color of their skin. What happened in the summer, it twisted the minds of all kids. My kids can be attacked by antifa kids or BLM kids if they're not black. They are white like my kids. But they are believing, they were indoctrinated and they internalize this philosophy.

REEVE: Were your children beat up by antifa kids?

FISHBEIN: I beg your pardon?

REEVE: Were your children beat up by antifa kids?

FISHBEIN: I'm talking, it's going to happen if we're not going to stop it. But we going to stop it. We are. We are the great majority of this country.

REEVE: Anti-CRT propaganda is drawing big crowds.

UNKNOWN: Of course, I'm against critical race theory.

(APPLAUSE)

REEVE: More than 100 people showed up at this diner near Baltimore where local Republican groups had a panel on school COVID shutdowns and CRT.

What is critical race theory?

SAM JONES, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN: Critical race theory is taught to our nation's youth that the way that you're born contributes to the amount of success that you can achieve in this country. It states that white people are born with everything, and if you're not white, you're born with nothing.

REEVE: Can you name any critical race theory scholars?

JONES: Probably not.

REEVE: Can you name any critical race theory concepts?

JONES: I don't know what the concepts are, I think I -- I think I summarized critical race theory as a whole pretty well.

[22:55:00]

CRAIG LEWIS, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN: To paint the country as an inherently racist country from its founding is dangerous.

REEVE: The three fifths compromise was written into the Constitution in which slaves are counted as three fifths of that --

LEWIS: Of course, and that was applied at an earlier time. That's not the case now obviously. REEVE: Well, you just mentioned the founding of the country, so.

LEWIS: Well, yes, it wasn't perfectly written in the Constitution.

REEVE: When did you first hear about critical race theory?

MEKKAH X. MOHAMMED, CONCERNED PARENT: Sometime around last year.

REEVE: Where did you see it?

MOHAMMED: On Fox News. The idea that you can succeed based on your race is ludicrous. This is not the 1960s anymore. Just because of your skin color does not mean that you cannot be successful here in America. Point blank, period.

RIDGEWAY: I teach these books from my anthropology class.

REEVE: Are you teaching white kids to hate themselves for being white?

RIDGEWAY: No.

REEVE: Are you teaching black kids that there's nothing they can do to improve their situation?

RIDGEWAY: Absolutely not.

REEVE: There's racism and they can never fight it, so they should give up.

RIDGEWAY: Absolutely not. I'm creating little free thinkers and future politicians and lawyers and teachers and changemakers. Our kids are smart. They know what's happening. And I think we do them a disservice by continuing to pretend like critical race theory is the issue, when it's really, you just don't want kids to learn the truth.

Because not only do they become critical thinkers, they also become voters, and that's what is scaring a lot of these people because they know that as this generation gets older a lot of these people that are making these laws will be voted out of office.

REEVE: Elle Reeve, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

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