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U.S. Immigration System at "Breaking Point"; Barr: U.K. Parliament Rejects May's E.U. Withdrawal Deal Again; Israel Braces for Protest at Gaza Border; Georgia Lawmakers Approve Strict Abortion Bill; North Korea Restoring Rocket Launch Site. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired March 30, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Not playing games: the U.S. president revisits his southern border threats toward Mexico, saying he will shut down the whole border as early as next week.
Plus another fail for Theresa May's Brexit deal, Parliament rejected her plan again. Britain has two weeks to come up with something to avoid crashing out with nothing.
Also ahead this hour, the state of Georgia and its heartbeat abortion law receiving pushback, even from Hollywood. You will hear from both sides who support and oppose that bill.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers all around the world and here in the United States, I'm George Howell, CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
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HOWELL: It's 5:00 am on the U.S. Coast.
The U.S. president is threatening to shut down the southern U.S. border. He says he's ready to do it as soon as next week. Mr. Trump demanding that Mexico stop undocumented immigrants from coming into the United States. He says border customs and enforcement personnel are overwhelmed, at their breaking point and that the crisis is getting worse.
The agency expects the number of children arriving at the border without a parent to surpass the levels during the 2014 unaccompanied minor crisis. The U.S. Homeland Security secretary is asking her department's employees to volunteer for border duty.
Kirstjen Nielsen says the border protection agencies are not equipped to deal with the migrant surge. In the meantime, President Trump has another -- has issued -- rather, another issue on his plate. It's the Mueller report. Kaitlin Collins has this.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump giving the all-clear.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have nothing to hide.
COLLINS: Voicing confidence in Bill Barr after the attorney general announced Congress will have Robert Mueller's redacted report within weeks.
TRUMP: I have great confidence in the attorney general. And if that's what he would like to do, I have nothing to hide. This was a hoax. This was a witch hunt.
COLLINS: Barr telling lawmakers the White House will not see the document before they do and that Trump is deferring to him on asserting executive privilege.
Despite calling the special counsel's investigation a witch hundred, Trump saved his harshest words for Mexico today.
TRUMP: I'm very upset with Mexico.
COLLINS: Repeating his threat to shut down the southern border, but this time with a deadline.
TRUMP: There's a very good likelihood that I will be closing the border next week. And that will be just fine with me.
COLLINS: Trump warned earlier today that if Mexico doesn't stop undocumented immigrants from crossing into the U.S., he will close it down and halt all trade.
TRUMP: And we will keep it closed for a long time. I'm not playing games.
COLLINS: The presidential threat coming days after the nation's top border official warned that a crush of asylum-seeking families has put immigration enforcement at its breaking point.
KEVIN MCALEENAN, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: This is an unfortunate step and very challenging for our law enforcement professionals to digest.
COLLINS: But also one day after Trump total crowd in Michigan that those fleeing violence and poverty are sometimes faking it.
TRUMP: They're all met by the lawyers and they say, say the following phrase. I am very afraid for my life. I am afraid for my life. OK. And then I look at the guy, he looks like he just got out of the ring, he's the heavyweight champion of the world. He's afraid for his -- it's a big fat con job, folks.
COLLINS: In his first rally since the end of this special counsel's 22-month investigation...
TRUMP: And after three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over.
COLLINS: -- as Trump took a victory lap around Democrats...
TRUMP: The Democrats have to now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous bullshit, partisan investigation, or whether they will apologize to the American people.
COLLINS: -- the president taking delight in going after the House Intelligence chairman in particular.
TRUMP: They're on artificial respirators right now. They're getting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, little pencil neck, Adam Schiff, got the smallest, thinnest neck I have ever seen.
COLLINS: Now the president has threatened to close down the border before. But he's never offered a timeline like he did today.
Right now there are still questions --
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COLLINS: -- swirling around the White House about what this will do because, though the president today described it as a potentially profitable endeavor, it would, of course, affect businesses, factories, those communities down there on the border that cross over so frequently.
And right now the White House is not commenting on whether or not the president's threat also applies to air travel -- Kaitlin Collins, CNN, the White House.
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HOWELL: Kaitlin, thank you.
The attorney general promises the Mueller report is coming out within weeks. That's not good enough for Democrats. They gave William Barr an April 2nd deadline for the full, unredacted report and they expect him to keep it. Laura Jarrett has this.
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LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, April is shaping up to be a busy month over here at the Justice Department, as attorney general Bill Barr informed lawmakers on Friday that he does plan to release Mueller's report on the Russia investigation mid-April, if not sooner.
The big question, just how much will actually be released?
Barr said both he and the special counsel are working together, scrubbing the report for grand jury information, as well as information related to ongoing investigations.
But one issue Barr tried to take off the table was executive privilege, telling lawmakers that there are no plans to share the report with the White House ahead of time. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing full steam ahead,
trying to see that full report, calling on Barr to work with them, to go to get a court order in order to see grand jury information; whereas the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, senator Lindsey Graham, saying he will accept Barr's offer to testify on May 1st -- Laura Jarrett, CNN, Washington.
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HOWELL: Laura, thanks.
HOWELL: Let's talk about all of this with Amy Pope, a former member of the U.S. National Security Council under President Obama. She is with the Chatham House think tank, joins us now in London.
Good to see you.
AMY POPE, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you.
HOWELL: The Mueller report is expected to be released in mid-April if not sooner, likely to be heavily redacted and this latest tweet from the U.S. president is very telling. Let's take a look at this because I want to key in on one word. Let's read it.
"No matter what the Radical Left Democrats get, no matter what we give them, it will never be enough. Just watch, they will Harass & Complain & Resist (the theme of their movement). So maybe we should just take our victory and say NO, we've got a Country to run!"
That's the word that I want to key in on here.
What do you think the word no means there?
Is it no to harassment?
A no to releasing the Mueller report?
POPE: I don't see it as no to releasing the Mueller report. I see it more as let's change the topic of conversation. We know that's a tactic the president frequently uses when he is uncomfortable with the substance or the facts behind a certain allegation.
The Mueller report is a mixed bag for him. On the one hand, it's helpful because it does say he was not involved with conspiring with Russian nationals in his campaign. It is a much murkier question when it comes to the role that he or his colleagues played in obstructing justice.
What this suggests to me is that the president is worried that that report will actually reveal far more about his misconduct than he is comfortable with. So he wants to change the conversation to something else like shutting down the border.
HOWELL: So a change of topic here, saying, here's the question, though, will even the partial release of this report again likely to be heavily redacted? Will it make a difference here to quell questions?
POPE: I'm not sure. It depends how much has to be redacted. And it's fair for the attorney general to redact some of the material under the grand jury laws. The witnesses are entitled to secrecy in terms of the information that they give. And that's an important part of our justice system.
We want people to be truthful and forthcoming. So that's totally legitimate.
The question is, how will the Democrats in the House take the final version?
Does it give them enough information to either make a meaningful investigation on their side or get answers to some of their questions?
And inevitably the Democrats will want to do more and won't be content with the version of the document they see.
HOWELL: All right. I want to touch on the border issue as well. You say it's diverting attention; the U.S. president has been chiming in on that. Border officials saying their resources have become strained, Mr. Trump saying he will shut down the southern border. He had this to say about what he has been calling the crisis. Take a listen.
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TRUMP: They set up these caravans. In many cases, they put their worst people in the caravan . They're not going to put their best in. They get rid of their problems. And they march up here. And they're coming into the country. We're not letting them in our country.
Our Border Patrol, the job --
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TRUMP: -- they have done is incredible. The job that ICE is doing is incredible. And we have run out of space. We can't hold people anymore and Mexico can stop it so easily.
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HOWELL: Is this a manufactured crisis, as critics say, or is this a real problem that has been gradually building to a breaking point?
POPE: Look, the president has turned it into a crisis. There are serious problems in the Northern Triangle, violence is at unprecedented levels. There is tremendous amount of narcotics flowing through there from South America. There are really serious problems in that part of the world.
And what we've been seeing for several years is that, as a result, people are fleeing the violence and the instability, the corruption, to the point that many of them are putting children on the road by themselves to get some out because they're so afraid.
So that's where the crisis is. The problem is the president has addressed the crisis by shutting down mechanisms for people to reach safety, bullying Mexico into action, stripping funds that were going to Central America to address some of these problems.
The bottom line is, unless you address what is happening through the region through a common sense solution, you are going to continue to face people who are fleeing what is a very dangerous situation. That's human nature.
HOWELL: Amy Pope, we appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.
POPE: Thank you.
HOWELL: There has been so much talk about the crisis at the U.S. southern border. CNN goes there to get the latest on the current immigration situation and if it really is a crisis.
Plus, three strikes is an out. That's, at least, the case in baseball.
But will that prove true for the British prime minister Theresa May, whose Brexit deal just failed for a third time in Parliament?
We are live in London and Brussels with that story. Stay with us.
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JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: The ayes to the right, 286. The nos to the left, 344. So the nos have it, the nos have it. Unlock.
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HOWELL: And that was the moment that sent Brexit even into more chaos on the day that Britain should have started a new future. Lawmakers voted down the prime minister's deal for a third time on Friday. Now the U.K. has two weeks to come up with another solution --
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HOWELL: -- or risk crashing out of the E.U. with no deal on April 12th. And despite this latest setback, Theresa May says her government will press on. Listen.
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THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Mr. Speaker, I fear we're reaching the limits of this process in this House. This House has rejected no deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table.
Today it has rejected approving the withdrawal agreement alone and continuing the process on the issue. This government will continue to press the case with the result the referendum demands.
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HOWELL: European leaders are concerned and frustrated with the results of Friday's vote. E.U. Council president Donald Tusk has called for an emergency summit on April 10th.
And a spokesman for the European Commission said this, "The E.U. will remain united, the benefits of the withdrawal agreement, including a transition period, will in no circumstances be replicated in a no deal scenario. Sectoral mini-deals are not an option. "
A spokesperson for the French president said, "The idea of a long extension involving U.K. participation in the European elections can only be considered if the alternative plan is credible, supported by a majority in the British Parliament and extension is not automatic."
The frustration over Brexit spilled out onto the streets of London, as you see there, on Friday. At least five people there were arrested during a Leave protest. Thousands of people came together around the Houses of Parliament, demanding that lawmakers make Brexit happen with or without a deal.
Let's go live to London. CNN producer Salma Abdelaziz is on the story.
Salma, the deadline here locked into April 12th and the possibility of crashing out of the E.U. without a deal, even higher now.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, George. This seemingly never-ending saga of Brexit continues. You are right; Brussels says a no deal scenario is more likely than ever. They are prepared for the U.K. to crash out.
However, as with all things Brexit, it's more complicated. All options are still on the table with Brexit. Let's talk through what could happen in the coming days.
Monday, Parliament will meet again to try to find an alternative Brexit option. Last week, they voted down all eight options on the table. But there were two that came close to succeeding, that is the customs union and a proposal for a second referendum.
It is possible that MPs could find a consensus around one of the two.
Another potential option, May said, as you heard there, that she feels she is reaching the limits of the potential in the House of Commons. Analysts will tell you, she has absolutely lost political capital, political will; she has already offered to resign. A general election is a very real possibility in this country. So that could happen.
The third option, a very lengthy extension. That would require her to go back to Brussels to demand that lengthy extension and, of course, on April 10th, the other E.U. 27 states will get a stalemate. We have already heard there from Macron, unless there is a clear way out to Brexit, he might not agree to it. Other E.U. nations may not agree to it. So that's also a difficult one.
Here's the fourth one, I know this one will sound crazy, bear with me. There is talk today on local media Theresa May could bring her withdrawal agreement to Parliament for a fourth time.
Now whether or not the Speaker would agree to that, who knows. However, that's another thing being discussed today in the media. So really the only thing that is certain is uncertainty -- George.
HOWELL: Wow. Salma, thank you.
Let's talk more about all of this now with Ryan Heath. Ryan is "Politico's" senior E.U. correspondent and joins this hour from Brussels.
Good to have with you us.
RYAN HEATH, "POLITICO": Good morning, George.
HOWELL: So Ms. May's deal was defeated by a smaller margin. Many are writing the deal off as dead.
What do you make of reports that Ms. May could continue to push this deal for a fourth vote?
HEATH: I think she will try to do that. I think this has been the plan all the way along. The idea was to grind the Parliament down. The unexpected factor was that Ms. May didn't expect the speaker of the Parliament to come up with obstacles, saying it was impossible to go back for these extra votes.
Now it's not necessarily likely she will get what she wants after going back a fourth time. But she is getting closer each time. So for a person with few political cards to play, you see the attractiveness of that option. If we go into that general election territory, she is a lame duck.
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HEATH: The New Change U.K. party doesn't have a leader. U.K. Democrats don't have a leader. It's a virtual leaderless election. You've also got the new Brexit Party. It's going to be a nightmare for everyone if they go down that route.
HOWELL: Again, if she pushes her deal again against other alternatives, if it fails again, there are reports it could lead to a general election.
If that comes to pass, would that create, as you say, more chaos?
Could it, in fact, loosen the knot here and maybe open up some possibilities around Brexit? HEATH: It would. So by rejecting every option, Parliament has effectively put all of them back on the table again. Now everything is at that total standstill. So I think for me the big question around the general election is will they conduct it before the 22nd of May, which is that ultimate Brexit deadline that E.U. leaders set at their last summit?
And should the election occur before then, will they be able rush through some very kind of quick decision that doesn't go through Parliament again but does go through whatever government is elected to come to some kind of final conclusion?
Now I sat down with Michel Barnier, the chief Brexit negotiator for the E.U., yesterday. He laid out a couple very important points.
He said if there is a no deal Brexit on April 12th, there will be border checks immediately on the border in Ireland. If the U.K. decides to go for the long extension, it shouldn't think that that is a way out of this Irish backstop issue or that it will be able to negotiate a trade deal during that long extension.
It will just be the same as what we have been doing now, going around on this loop on how the U.K. is willing to withdraw and the trade deal is off the table until they are actually out of the door.
HOWELL: What is the mood there in Brussels for the U.K. to turn back to the E.U. and ask for more time?
And if it's granted an extension that will be longer, certainly an extension that would require the U.K. to come up a plan and the E.U. may attach conditions?
HEATH: The mood, I think, is total exasperation. The general election may be considered a plan by the E.U. but they're divided. So Angela Merkel effectively speaks for the majority at the moment, which is to try and be flexible, to try to come up with a solution.
Emmanuel Macron speaks for a growing minority, which is a lack of patience and saying let's just rip the plaster off, the Band-aid off, whatever you like to say in our own country, and get on with it on April 12th.
That will be a tension point at that April 10th meeting. Of course, you need a consensus to get the E.U. 27 to do anything and there isn't a consensus at the moment.
HOWELL: So if granted a longer extension, it would essentially open the window for more debate, more alternatives, such as a general election, such as a second referendum and even possibly revoking Article 50, which would essentially call Brexit off, right?
HEATH: Exactly. I think the most likely scenario, though, in that long extension, is that the U.K. would work very hard to come up with a solution at the Irish border and really, that's time to sort of put their money where their mouths are. They haven't been able to do that over the last two years. But if you give them another 18 months, maybe there is a technical
solution there. There might be a majority in Parliament for something like the customs union, which is effectively a half-Brexit, where the U.K. leaves; they get control over some legislation, but they can't do the trade deals.
I think if you are going for a long extension and you can't do achieve one of those two outcomes, there is no point to a long extension and that will be in the E.U. leaders' minds when they meet next week.
HOWELL: The other thing, you mentioned the growing minority of nations that say, hey, enough is enough. Let's call this off.
Do you see that growing with so much uncertainty?
HEATH: Absolutely. And this is where Theresa May has got to come up with a credible plan. She can't do her usual thing, which she's done at, at least three consecutive summits, she turns up, gives a long presentation of talking points that everyone has heard in the media before and refuses to answer questions directly.
She has to come one a very concrete set of steps such as general election, such as I'm revoking the Article 50 notification. Here are my timelines for doing it. If she doesn't do that, that's when the patience will snap and Emmanuel Macron will start to win and Angela Merkel will lose her grip over the summit table.
HOWELL: Ryan Heath with perspective, thanks for your time.
HEATH: Thank you.
HOWELL: The U.S. president re-visits his border rhetoric.
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TRUMP: So Mexico is tough. They can stop them. If they don't stop them, we're closing the border, we will keep it closed for a long time, I'm not playing games.
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HOWELL: But the president's latest poll could severely impact thousands of migrants seeking asylum. You will hear from some ahead.
In Gaza, an anniversary that has the Israeli military on heightened alert. You are watching NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM live in Atlanta. I'm George Howell with the headlines we are following for you this hour.
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HOWELL: You may remember 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin. In December she died after she and her father were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border after traveling from Guatemala.
Autopsy results show the girl died from a bacterial infection that spread to her lungs, adrenal glands, liver and spleen. Border officials say they did everything in their power to save the girl.
Her story is not the only story raising concerns over the migrant crisis. Thousands of migrants cross the border, seeking asylum to escape dangerous situations back in their home countries. And a closed border could have dire consequences for them, as our Ed Lavandera explains.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day this week, buses have dropped off nearly a hundred Central American migrants on the doorstep of the Good Neighbor Settlement House Shelter in Brownsville, Texas. Most are requesting asylum. But legions of volunteers are scrambling to help mothers and fathers with their children.
CHRISTINA PATINO HOULE, EQUAL VOICE NETWORK: What we see is our community is being instrumentalized as a tool in a larger political game that is completely antithetical to what the communities here want.
LAVANDERA: Good Neighbor settlement is one of several shelters helping migrants suddenly released by Customs and Border Protection. The agency says it can't handle the massive number of migrants crossing the border.
KEVIN MCALEENAN, COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Our immigration system is at the breaking point. That breaking point has arrived this week at our border.
LAVANDERA: CBP officials say Border Patrol agents are on pace for apprehensions and encounters with more than 100,000 migrants in March which would be the highest number of monthly illegal border crossings in a decade. The Department of Homeland Security today is warning the system is in free-fall and President Trump says the tens of thousands of migrants requesting asylum are carrying out a big fat con job and is now threatening to shut down the border to control illegal immigration.
TRUMP: And we are on track for a million illegal aliens trying to rush our borders. It is an invasion, you know that.
LAVANDERA: We met Vilma and her daughter at the shelter in Brownsville. They asked we not show their faces because they fear being returned to El Salvador. Vilma says she fled her home country with her daughter because they feared being killed. Gang members murdered her mother last year. Her daughter says three police officers unleashed a bruising attack on her in January, kicking and punching her for reasons that were never clear. That's when they decided to leave.
Advocates say this is not a con job but real people facing life and death consequences.
LAURA PENA, IMMIGRANT ADVOCATE: We are not ignorant here in the Rio Grande Valley. We know what's happening.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Immigrant rights advocates say the Trump administration is deliberately creating a sense of chaos with mass releases of migrants or housing migrants under a bridge in El Paso and giving families confusing paperwork.
LAVANDERA: This is one of the migrants here who asked us not to identify her, but these are the forms that they're given once they're released from custody here. If you look closely here, this is supposed to be a notice to appear, giving them a date to appear in immigration court. But here, they're not getting the dates.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Trump administration says there's no manufactured crisis on the southern border and that there is a real humanitarian and security crisis unfolding.
LAVANDERA: So critics say the Trump administration is trying to bolster its case for a national emergency to build more border wall. But the president's threat to close down the border, that is really sending shock waves throughout these border communities.
See that bridge in the distance?
That's what millions of people use to get back and forth, Brownsville to Matamoros. People use that to get back and forth, to see family and friends, to get to work, to get to school, that sort of thing.
They are the lifeline of these border communities and shutting them down, shutting down these ports of entry, will have a devastating effect -- Ed Lavandera, CNN, Brownsville, Texas.
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HOWELL: Ed, thank you.
Parts of Venezuela are again without power. It is the third blackout for that troubled nation this month. And it comes ahead of planned protests set for this weekend.
But Venezuelans received some good news after meeting with both presidents Nicolas Maduro and his rival, the national assembly president, Juan Guaido, the Red Cross announced it has now permission to deliver aid.
Guaido is calling it a defeat for the president there, Maduro, who has prevented aid from coming in. But Maduro claims victory after China and Russia sent aid to that country this week.
The border fence between Israel and Gaza could become a flashpoint in the coming hours; thousands of Palestinians are expected to join a protest there. These demonstrations have been going on now for a year. Since they started, some 200 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
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HOWELL: But it comes at a sensitive time. Hamas has been holding talks with Israel and says those talks are in final stages. Unrest at that border could jeopardize the progress. Our Michael Holmes is following the story in Gaza.
Michael, we understand, just moments ago, you saw tear gas at that location. Tell us more.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there has been a lot of tear gas here, George, the protest doesn't officially begin for another hour. There are already hundreds of Palestinians down here. Earlier, we saw several of them, dozens go up to the fence. The Israelis have been firing tear gas ever since. Hamas has been keeping this as a peaceful protest.
That serves their interest in those ongoing negotiations brokered by Egypt with Israel to try to bring an end to the suffering here in Gaza and ratchet down the violence that has happened.
This is the one anniversary -- first anniversary of this March of Return that has been going on every week here for a year. The anniversary today, Hamas calling for a million man march but won't get anywhere near that. But already, thousands of Palestinians are at our location and there are many other locations along the fence.
In the last hour or so since I spoke to you, there has been a lot or activity. There has been live shots fired; nobody injured here. They have been elsewhere, we are told. But the tear gas has been flowing.
And seconds before you came to us, tear gas landing further back from the fence area. It's actually been landing up to 500 meters from the fence area as well, dispersing people. We just got a good whiff of it ourselves. We saw people scattering as well.
But the problem here, Hamas wants to keep this as peaceful as possible to help those negotiations and show that they can control what's going on here. but we saw earlier the line of -- I don't know if you can see any of the orange vests -- there is a lot of orange vest guys here from Hamas; they were keeping a line to stop people from going up towards the fence.
We saw, as we were standing there, dozens of people broke through, the emotion takes over. They ran up to the fence and there have been clouds of tear gas ever since. As I said, the protest doesn't even begin for another hour, so I imagine that the job of those crowd controllers, if you like, is going to become far more difficult, perhaps near impossible. So as the day unfolds, everybody is hoping it's not the bloodshed we
have seen in past protests every week, where over the last year, you have seen 200 or so Palestinians killed and thousands wounded as well.
There seems to be a growing apprehension, a growing tension here. We are at a place called Jabalia, in the West Bank. As I said, there are many other locations along the Israeli-Gaza border where this is happening.
Israeli forces have several lookout positions or firing positions in the berm behind me. There are also jeeps along that fence, which have been firing the tear gas. There have been clouds of it. I don't see any -- well, there is actually some more just behind me.
But it's going to become a very active day, I think, George, it's been quite tense here at the moment. And it will only get worse.
HOWELL: We wish you safety, Michael, as you continue to follow this story, you and your team again, seeing the situation changed certainly within the last hour.
You mentioned the gentlemen, the Hamas crowd controllers that were in the orange vests. I see fewer of them now and, as you pointed out, more people showing up and, clearly, the situation is evolving, Michael, thank you. We'll stay in touch.
The governor of the state of Georgia is expected to sign one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation.
Coming up, why some conservatives say that bill doesn't go far enough.
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HOWELL: Welcome back. The U.S. State of Georgia is one step closer to passing one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. Georgia's House of Representatives voted to approve the state's so- called heartbeat bill on Friday.
The Republican governor of the state is expected to sign it. The bill would ban most abortions from as early as six weeks into pregnancy, when doctors are able to detect a fetal heartbeat. Opponents say the bill would make most abortions illegal before women even know they're pregnant.
The American Civil Liberties Union plans to sue if the bill becomes law. They say it is an unconstitutional infringement of women's rights. Earlier, the legal director for the ACLU of Georgia explained what they're fighting for. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN YOUNG, GEORGIA ACLU: What the ACLU believes is that every woman has the constitutional right to make their own decisions about when to start or expand a family.
And so whatever beliefs, religious beliefs you may have about the practice, we want everyone to be able to have the freedom to make their own decisions about when to start or expand the family. And that's all we're asking.
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HOWELL: If Georgia's governor signs House Bill 481 into law, it would be among, again, the most strict laws on abortion in the United States. Kentucky and Mississippi, they have both passed similar laws but neither is in effect yet. Both face legal challenges from civil rights and reproductive rights groups.
Other states including Florida, Ohio and Texas are also expected to approve fetal heartbeat laws this year.
With us on set today, we have Joshua Edmonds, Joshua is the executive director for the Georgia Life Alliance and a supporter of the so- called heartbeat bill.
It's good to have you, Joshua.
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HOWELL: Absolutely. So this again would be one of the restrictive abortion laws in the nation and, as it heads to the governor's desk, he is expected to sign it. Listen.
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BRIAN KEMP, GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Georgia is a state that values life. We seal the vulnerable and shelter the innocent. I applaud the Health and Human Services committee for advancing legislation to protect the unborn. I encourage the House and the Senate to do the same.
This is a powerful moment in Georgia. It's bigger than politics and partisanship. Let's see if you like today and ensure that all Georgians, including the unborn, have the chance to live, grow and prosper.
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HOWELL: So Joshua, on the other side of the coin, though, there was this from Stacey Abrams, let's look at this tweet where she said, "There is no leadership in damming women to the whims of yet another test of our humanity.
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"H.B. 481 is bad for women because reproductive injustice is real. It is bad for business, because women won't forget and it is a stain on a state that once knew how to light and lead the way." The question here, even you have said this bill is not perfect.
So what is behind the need to change the law here in Georgia?
JOSHUA EDMONDS, ABORTION OPPOSER: You know, the premise of this legislation and all legislation like it around the country is that, when you have a detectible heartbeat in the womb, that there is the presence of a whole, unique living person. And science tells us that, at the moment of conception, there is a new genetic and unique human person in the womb.
So this kind of legislation seems to protect women's rights in the womb within they are living and need to be protected under law from anything that would prevent them from a life of health and potential.
HOWELL: There is pushback from the ACLU, saying this bill is a waste of time and taxpayers' money; it's taking up time in the court and taxpayers pay for that.
EDMONDS: Any law that is passed can be sued by anyone that disagrees with it. Our law in Georgia will be believe will be looked at differently. Our state Supreme Court are different from other states that have passed this law and our 11th circuit federal appeals courts are different as well from some of the other states that are facing this kind of law.
We believe the makeup of this particular bill is going to be a novel question when it gets before the courts. It won't be handled the same way.
HOWELL: There is the financial repercussion at the State of Georgia, the City of Atlanta can face, specifically from Hollywood, a billion- dollar industry here in Atlanta, when it comes to making films. And the Writers Guild of America East and West put forward a statement. I want to read part of this.
It says, "It is entirely possible that many of those in our industry will either want to leave the state or decide not to bring productions here."
So what's your response to the possibility of money and jobs being lost?
A billion-dollar industry to the state with this bill?
EDMONDS: As our House Speaker said yesterday, Georgia has been the number one state for business for several years running. We have been very friendly to the film industry as well as other industries.
When you look at legislation like this that seek to do to protect the innocence of children in the womb, we can't be dictated what we do based on threats coming from out of state.
So we want to make sure we are considerate for people that bring business to Georgia. We want to make sure we don't have the influence of money dictating what our lawmakers on both sides of the aisle do when they think it's right.
HOWELL: How solid is the science around a heartbeat at six weeks?
EDMONDS: The overwhelming consensus in the medical community is that a heartbeat is detectible six weeks into the womb and earlier. The science says between six and eight weeks, the chances of a miscarriage when a heartbeat is detectible, goes down significantly. The chances of carrying your pregnancy successfully to term are about 98 percent successful between six and eight weeks when there is a detectible heartbeat.
HOWELL: Joshua, we will continue to follow this. Thank you for being with us.
EDMONDS: Thank you for having me.
HOWELL: Stay with us. We'll be right back after the break.
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HOWELL: Pope Francis heads to Morocco this weekend, where he is set to meet with Muslim leaders and immigrants. Just moments ago, the pope left Rome. He was invited by the Moroccan king to boost an interreligious dialogue. About 99 percent of Morocco's population are Muslim, while the majority of the country's Catholics are immigrants.
The U.S. president Donald Trump has decided not to impose more sanctions at this time on North Korea. The announcement caused a great deal of confusion inside the administration because more sanctions were being prepared.
In the meantime, South Korean intelligence reports that a rocket launch facility in North Korea is almost functional again. Here's CNN's Brian Todd with that.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, a perilous crossroads has been reached in the delicate relationship between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un. Kim has almost completely restored his long range satellite rocket launch facility at Tongchang-ri, according to South Korean intelligence.
Kim once promised to dismantle the place and last summer it looked like he was. One mobile building on tracks had its roof and the walls taken off. But over the last month, that building's walls and roof appear to have been added back on and the building has been moved back into position.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREA POLICY: This sends a very, very negative signal. If they launched a satellite launch, it will be a very negative signal that would I think drive Trump crazy.
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TODD (voice-over): So far no response tonight from the White House or the State Department to the activity at that site. Although the North Koreans claim Tongchang-ri is used for rocket launches which put commercial satellites into space, those launches are a major security concern for the U.S. and its allies.
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MICHAEL GREEN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: These so called rockets also are long-range ballistic missiles. And these so called satellite payload is testing to put nuclear weapons on the payload. So these are weapons systems and the U.N. Security Council over the last 13 years has repeatedly told North Korea that they must not do this.
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TODD (voice-over): This comes only a month after the failed summit in Hanoi. President Trump walking away when Kim pushed for almost all sanctions against him to be dropped in exchange for shutting down one major nuclear facility. Analysts say it was a setback Kim likely didn't expect.
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YUN: I do believe he was humiliated in Hanoi. Remember, it took 65 hours to get there by train and then 65 hours to get back. I mean, this was billed as a big summit between leaders of two great countries and he's going back empty handed.
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TODD (voice-over): With tension in the air, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is now scheduled to meet with President Trump in Washington on April 11th. For now, President Trump says he preferred to hold off on imposing more sanctions on Kim's regime.
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TRUMP: I think it's very important that you maintain that relationship at least as long as you can. But we get along very well.
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TRUMP: We have a very good understanding, so I didn't think that those sanctions were necessary at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TODD (voice-over): One expert calls the state of the relationship between Trump and Kim, this no man's land, a "freeze for freeze" situation. North Korea has frozen its nuclear and missile tests. While America has frozen its military exercises with South Korea. This expert says this is not a good situation to be in.
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GREEN: A freeze for freeze is a bad idea because the North Koreans stop testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles but do nothing in this arrangement to give up nuclear weapons or allow any verification that they have frozen and in fact there's multiple pieces of evidence demonstrating they continue to expand their arsenal.
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TODD: That freeze for freeze arrangement is also dangerous on the American side. Analysts say with those joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korea now frozen, America and its ally are losing their military edge more each day, losing their readiness for a possible attack from North Korea -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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HOWELL: Brian, thank you.
Let's end the show on a positive note. A baseball card from the 1920s turned into a grand slam for its owner, a grand slam home run. Take a look at this, the original Babe Ruth playing card is estimated to be worth $1 million to $4 million.
The owner who paid $2 for that card recently had it tested for authenticity. He was thrilled to find out it was legit and even more astounded that it could be worth more than $1 million dollars.
Amazing. Thanks for being with us for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. For our viewers, "NEW DAY" is next. For our viewers around the world, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" is ahead. Thanks for being with us.
