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Michigan Reports Third Surge As COVID Cases Accelerate Statewide; Pandemic Doctors Speak Out On COVID War; Sudden Rise Of Waters Caught Nashville Residents By Surprise; Biden Addresses Reporters Before Leaving Delaware; Forty-Five States Have Seen Bill Aimed At Rolling Back Voting Access; Interview With State Rep. Erica Thomas (D-GA); Virginia Beach Shootings; CNN Hero Zannah Mustapha. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 28, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:13]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for joining us on this Sunday.

Your vote, your right to vote, where and where you can vote. Republican lawmakers in nearly every state right now are writing bills to restrict voting rights. To put hurdles between you and the voting booth. We'll tell you the next big states to watch, coming up.

Plus, clean up underway in Nashville after dangerous and deadly flooding. Fast-moving water sending people climbing trees and into their attics to save their own lives. Four people are dead. More than 100 had to be rescued.

And a fatal police-involved shooting in Virginia Beach but now questions about why the officer who shot and killed a man didn't have his body cam turned on.

But we begin with disturbing news out of Michigan where the state's health department has announced Michigan is now experiencing a third surge in coronavirus cases. Officials are pointing to a number of factors for this rise, from increased gatherings to re-openings to several outbreaks within schools and prisons.

Joining us now is Dr. Leana Wen. She's a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore health commissioner.

Dr. Wen, what do you believe is the main driver behind this third surge in Michigan?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think what's happening in Michigan could well be happening in other parts of the country, and in fact we are seeing upticks in Massachusetts, in the New York area and then some other places, too. And I think what's happening is that we have three factors here.

On the one hand we have vaccinations really picking up, which is great. We're at now more than 2.5 million vaccinations a day. But on the other hand we also have restrictions that are being removed. We've got mask mandates that are being lifted and we have more contagious variants that are occurring, that are becoming dominant.

And that's really concerning because if we have something that's more transmissible, it means that all the activities that we thought were relatively safe including in-person schooling are now a bit more dangerous. And so we really have to be on guard even more so than before.

CABRERA: One detail that stands out to me from this report is that cases are increasing the most among the younger population, specifically 10 to 19-year-olds. What do you make of that?

WEN: Well, a lot of our children have been, for most of the pandemic, have been sheltered from one another in a lot of places because in- person school has not been occurring and also because other types of extracurriculars including sports have not been happening either. And now that we're bringing them back, especially with this more contagious b.1.1.7 variant, the variant that first came from the U.K., I think that has a lot to do with now, the rising proportion in children.

And I think the takeaway here, though, is that we really need to keep up our precautions especially because our kids cannot yet be vaccinated. And so it's even more incumbent on us adults to be vaccinated when it's our turn and to make sure that we abide by mask mandates.

CABRERA: We also know more and more people are starting to travel with records being set it seems every day with TSA. And CNN is learning Airbnb and Vrbo are overloaded with reservations right now. Is that concerning?

WEN: Well, we know that whenever we're seeing travel surges, that we're also seeing surges in infection. And to me that's not -- it doesn't mean that you should never travel, but rather I think we should be very wary of what we do once we travel because it's not the transit that worries me. It's not getting in a car and driving, or even flying. The risk of transmission during flights is very low. But, rather, it's what do people do after they travel?

They're not just going hiking in a national park and not seeing anyone. Most of the time people are traveling to see loved ones and then they are indoor crowded gatherings. That's where a lot of transmission occurs. So I would just urge people try to hold off on traveling until after you're fully vaccinated and if for whatever reason you cannot, at least when you go somewhere, make sure to be outdoors as much as possible and definitely wear your mask.

CABRERA: Dr. Wen, please stand by as we are learning some stunning new details about what occurred during the pandemic at its onset and in the months after it began. Details of what happened between then president Trump and the doctors who advised him. It helps explain how we ended up here. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Special Report "COVID WAR: THE PANDEMIC DOCTORS SPEAK OUT" is at 9:00 tonight and Sanjay is with us now with a preview -- Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, I think that the conversations tonight in the documentary you're going to hear are going to be tough to hear but also fair. And all of it done in the spirit of trying to learn lessons, lessons for what can be done right now because we're still in this pandemic but also for the future in terms of trying to either prevent one or at least slow it way down if one happens in the future.

But there's also so much happening behind the scenes. Dr. Birx, for example, did an interview on "STATE OF THE UNION" here on CNN and she described for me the aftermath of what happened after that interview aired.

[16:05:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: I knew I was being watched. Everybody inside was waiting for me to make a misstep so that they could, I guess, remove me from the task force. It is extraordinarily widespread. The CNN report in August that got horrible pushback. Everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus.

That was a very difficult time because everybody in the White House was upset with that interview and the clarity that I brought about the epidemic.

GUPTA: I can tell just by reading your face that was a really tough time. What -- what happened?

BIRX: Well, I got called by the president.

GUPTA: What does he say?

BIRX: Well, I think you've heard other conversations that people have posted with the president. I would say it was even more direct than what people have heard. It was very uncomfortable, very direct and very difficult to hear.

GUPTA: Were you threatened?

BIRX: I would say it was a very uncomfortable conversation.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Ana, I have to tell you I think Dr. Birx was the most introspective out of anyone we interviewed and very reflective, very self-aware, I think in some ways of the damage to her own reputation, the mistakes that she's made, all of that. Also her hopes for the future. So all of this was done again in the spirit of learning lessons for right now because we're still dealing with this pandemic but also for the future. And I hope you'll get a chance to watch it 9:00 tonight.

CABRERA: I think a lot of people are wondering why she didn't speak out and say all of this sooner. Thank you, Sanjay.

Dr. Leana Wen is back with us. First your reaction from what we just heard there from Dr. Birx, something we're only learning about now?

WEN: Ana, I have a lot of empathy for Dr. Birx, who I should say I don't know personally. I've never met her in person or really encountered her in a professional setting, but I have a lot of empathy for her because I think people are looking at this now and saying well, why didn't she speak up sooner? But what would have happened -- so let's play this out. Let's say that she had actually called out the Trump administration and then resigned, who would she have been replaced by?

Maybe she would have been replaced by someone like Scott Atlas or someone else who would have just rubber stamped everything that former President Trump said. And Deborah Birx could have joined the chorus of public health experts on the outside speaking the truth, but I think she probably made the gamble that she would be more effective inside the administration. And she did actually do a lot of good.

She travelled around the country, spoke with governors and mayors, and county executives directly. And I think it's really hard to judge her and say well, she should have quit when I think she did make a big impact in the way that she chose to do it.

CABRERA: We've also played the clips previously this weekend of Dr. Redfield, the former CDC director, discussing what he believes is the origin of the coronavirus, saying he thought it was perhaps in a lab, even though that has not been, you know, determined officially. Is it important for us to learn the true origin of this virus?

WEN: Yes, it is because I think it's important for us to prevent this from happening in the future. And if in fact this was a lab leak of some kind, then we absolutely need to know if this originated from animals to humans. Then that's also important for us to know as well. But I think that people like Dr. Redfield who have a significant public platform really need to be careful of what they say.

And I think there are a lot of us in the Asian-American community who have been rather surprised at his comments because we know that words really matter. And when the former president said things like the China virus blaming in essence people from China for causing the virus, that has led to a lot of anti-Asian hatred and crime and murder. And I really would hope that Dr. Redfield backs up his assertion with more evidence.

CABRERA: Dr. Leana Wen, it's always good to have you with us. Thank you for joining us and for your continued guidance throughout this pandemic. Good to see you.

WEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Another reminder, be sure to tune in tonight for an unprecedented event from Dr. Sanjay Gupta when the medical leaders on the war on COVID break their silence. The CNN Special Report, "COVID WAR, THE PANDEMIC DOCTORS SPEAK OUT" begins tonight at 9:00 Eastern.

Now to Nashville, dangerous flash floods claiming the lives of at least four people. The fire department rescuing at least 130 others from cars and homes. The city of Nashville recording its second highest two-day rainfall in history.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in Nashville for us. And martin the mayor there says he got more than seven inches in just 48 hours.

[16:10:06]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And for the most part, though, the amazing thing is the flash flood waters have receded, but the evidence of what it did is everywhere in communities here.

This is an apartment complex we found, three-story building. If you're on the upper two stories, you're probably OK, although you would have been terrified. But if you were in the basement apartments like these, you would be lucky if you got out alive. Look at what the water did. It didn't just go into these apartments, it flowed right through it. Went in through the units on the back side of the building and then came pouring out of the units that are on this side of the building.

It was about midnight last night when residents say this happened. First, they said their phones went off with the flood warning alerts, then people began hearing the fire alarms in the building and wondered what was going on. Then they heard the shouts and the screams of their neighbors in the basement. And that was when the flood of water just came pouring through in a raging torrent.

The fire department did show up to think about trying to evacuate people here but then they quickly realized that the parking lots and the driveways and the open areas were so overrun with water it would have been too dangerous. So they sheltered people in place in the building until the waters began to subside.

Brett Ramsey is one person who remembers the terrible flood from 11 years ago. Here's what he had to say about last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT RAMSEY, NASHVILLE RESIDENT: You know, they said back in 2010 that was a 500-year flood. Obviously, it wasn't. What's crazy because my mom was also born and raised in the South and I called and Facetimed her and she started crying.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Remember, it isn't just the flood now than you might remember, the bombing in Christmas, and then on top of that you had the tornado last March. It has been a terrible time for the people of Nashville, and yet once again they're here pitching in cleaning up -- Ana.

CABRERA: Wow. Just incredible to see the power and the destructive nature, all that water.

Martin Savidge reporting in Nashville, thank you.

Now to an unprecedented attack on voting rights in modern times. In Georgia with just -- you know, which just made it illegal to give voters food or water while they wait in line isn't alone. We will talk you through the efforts that are happening elsewhere to make it harder for people to vote. And odds are it's happening in your state.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:36]

CABRERA: Welcome back. President Joe Biden just spoke with reporters before he left Wilmington, Delaware, on his way back to the White House. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm coming over, you're running too much.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you made a final decision on how you're going to approach your legislative agenda? Is it going to be one bill or are you going to split it up into multiple bills?

BIDEN: I have, but I ain't telling you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any reaction to what happened in Myanmar?

BIDEN: It's terrible. It's absolutely outrageous, and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator Chris Murphy said today that he thinks there's a chance to get 60 votes for a background check proposal? Are you prepared to make calls to Republicans to try to get that over the finish line?

BIDEN: Of course, I am. I'm the only one that's ever got it passed, man. Everybody keeps wondering if I care about rational gun control. The only gun control this nation has ever passed is mine. It's going to happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, how close are you to naming a national cyber director?

BIDEN: Close.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Within days, sir?

BIDEN: Close.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Close?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We've seen Republicans --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: COVID cases are going. What's going wrong in America?

BIDEN: Well, based on what I'm hearing, apparently people are letting their guard down, but I'm having a meeting with the team tomorrow, and I'll get a better stance.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) for Lent?

BIDEN: I gave up all sweets for Lent. You have no idea how hard it is for me.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What's the first sweet you're looking forward to having when it's over?

BIDEN: Ice cream.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are going to do -- sanction Myanmar? What is the plan here for the U.S. reaction to what is going on?

BIDEN: Well, we're working on that now.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We've seen Republican senators at the border. Former president Trump said he's been asked by some Border Patrol agents to go to the border. Do you think that would be productive and any timetable on when you might go?

BIDEN: We are putting in place a plan that I feel very confident about, and I don't care what the other guy does. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about Neera Tanden, sir? Do you have a place in mind for her yet?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How concerning is the emerging partnership between China and Iran?

BIDEN: (INAUDIBLE) about that for years.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I want to get straight to CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz there.

Arlette, the wide-ranging number of questions that he just took really demonstrates all that is on his plate right now. What stood out to you?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Ana. There are so many issues right now that President Biden is confronting in this White House. And just to tick through a few of those answers that he has, he was asked about his forthcoming recovery plan and whether he plans to split that up into separate bills or do something all in one. The president not really revealing his cards right there. But we have heard that he will be announcing these plans at least in

two separate portions. Later in the week he will be in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to talk about his infrastructure plan. And then in April he's expected to focus on the caring economy. Now this plan overall is expected to have a $3 trillion price tag and there could be elements of that infrastructure bill where they could get some bipartisan support.

Now, on another issue that has been a big topic of conversation right now is the issue of guns. And he was asked about some comments that were made earlier today by some senators saying that they do think that they might be able to get bipartisan support for background checks.

[16:20:05]

And the president said he is willing to make calls on that issue and pointed to the fact that he has been successful on gun control in the past. If you look back to the Brady Bill when he was in the Senate, he was instrumental in getting that passed. Of course when Biden was vice president he tried to shepherd through the background check bill after that terrible shooting at Sandy Hook. They were unable to do it just then.

But you heard the president also expressed this willingness to take executive action on guns. So we know that those are some options that the White House is considering right now. And then finally on that hot topic of immigration, you heard former president Trump saying that he is thinking about going down to the border himself.

President Biden, the current president, saying that he is not paying attention to what the former president is doing but that he is working on a plan to try to deal with this migration issue down at the southern border.

You have heard the administration saying that they are expanding HHS shelters to try to get some of those unaccompanied minors out of those border processing facilities that are not well-equipped to house children in these longer periods of time. And then the president has also appointed his Vice President Kamala Harris to lead those diplomatic efforts in Central America to try to address those root causes of these migration issues.

But as you mentioned, so many questions on such a wide range of topics that shows you just how much this White House is currently grappling with in this moment -- Ana.

CABRERA: Arlette Saenz, in Wilmington, Delaware, for us. And there you see the president leaving heading back to Washington tonight.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:24] CABRERA: Today Georgia's first black Democratic senator vowing to fight the sweeping voter restrictions that Governor Brian Kemp just signed into law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Unfortunately, Georgia has a long history of voter suppression, and when I say a long history, I mean in recent years. And certainly, it is ramped up with this bill that he signed into law. This is really about preserving the voices of the people and their democracy. And I honestly think, Dana, that politicians focused on their own political ambition is what's gotten us here in the first place.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

WARNOCK: You have legislators who are running scared. And so rather than having the people select their politicians, and politicians trying to cherry pick their voters, this is an assault on the covenant that we have with one another as the American people and it's my job to protect it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Those restrictions include, among other things, limiting the use of ballot drop boxes, imposing ID requirements for absentee voting, and even making it a misdemeanor to give food or water to voters in line. But Georgia is hardly the only state where Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote. There are 45 states in all with this kind of legislation. And CNN political correspondent Sara Murray is with us now.

Sara, so much attention on Georgia this week but what other states should we be watching?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, there are a lot of states where we are seeing the fallout of these baseless claims of election fraud, and for a number of these Republican lawmakers in the state legislatures, that means putting forward all these different bills that could potentially restrict voters' access to the ballot box.

If you look at Arizona, one of the proposals floated there would repeal this early voting list, which allows voters to automatically receive absentee ballots. It would require voters to submit identification paperwork with their mail-in ballots. It would also shorten the early voting window.

Now if you go over to Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, even though he said the election in Florida went smoothly in November of 2020, now he's supporting these new electoral restrictions. Those proposals include things like banning vote by mail ballots from being sent unless they're explicitly requested by the voter and eliminating these ballot drop boxes, making voters either return their ballots by mail or return them to an election office, which of course is going to make it harder for more people to get all those ballots in. Now if you go over to Texas, we're also seeing Republicans put forward

a number of different measures there. One of them would bar counties from sending absentee ballot request forms to voters unless they're specifically asked for. Another measure would limit county's authorities to expand their own voting hours.

So, Ana, this is the kind of thing that we've seen Republican lawmakers pushing in states across the country. And obviously the fact that the law actually passed in Georgia has put the spotlight on a number of these proposals that will go through legislatures in other states.

CABRERA: Thank you, Sara, for laying it all out for us.

Joining us now is Georgia State Representative Erica Thomas and her colleague, Representative Park Cannon made national headlines this week after she was arrested for simply knocking on the door while Governor Kemp was signing sweeping voting restrictions into law. She was, you can see, taken into custody by officers and she was charged with two felonies.

Representative Thomas, thank you for being with us. You told CNN that Representative Cannon, we just saw on that video, was traumatized after this happened. How is she and what's next in your fight?

ERICA THOMAS (D), GEORGE STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It's step by step really. You know, and again, like I said before, she's definitely traumatized. We all are. You know, even witnessing this is a very traumatic ordeal. Seeing that we have to go back to work on Monday and deal with all of this all over again.

[16:30:00]

CABRERA: What do you mean, deal with this all over again?

THOMAS: So, we have two more days in this legislative session, and we have to face the Republicans on Monday that are trying to strip our voting rights away. And it's a lot to take. The emotion that is there, when you can see how -- look into someone's eyes that does not want people that don't look like them to be able to vote.

And so, it's a lot to take in to fight this fight every single day and, at the same time, have to wake up another day to do it once again.

CABRERA: You think the issue -- the root of this issue is -- has to do with race?

THOMAS: Well, I think the root of this issue has to do with the Republicans losing in 2020 and on January of this year. That is the root of this issue. You know, again, we should be doing a victory lap right now. We have extra nominal numbers. People came out in raging numbers all over Georgia. So, we should be celebrating.

But we're not celebrating. We're trying to defend and fight these -- actually to fight these Republicans from taking our voting rights away. They do not want this to ever happen again. So, they're trying to put things in order, like saying that requiring early voting hours to be 9:00 to 5:00 with just an option to stay to 7:00. You know, how can we do this to working Georgians that have to make a living wage within those hours? And you can see that this is targeted.

CABRERA: And we know we've given a lot of attention to that one provision about making it illegal to give food or even water to people waiting in line to vote sometimes for several hours, eight hours, plus, in the past, often in the hot sun. And that's, again, just one example of some of the, I guess, head-scratching elements of this bill.

With this new law, what is your big fear for the next election?

THOMAS: You know, my big fear is just one of the fears that you said. You know, when -- at the last election, me and my daughter, we were passing out water, chips, all types of different things for people that were standing in line for four to five to six hours.

Can you imagine my daughter getting a misdemeanor or my daughter being talked to by someone and saying, you can't do this, when she is trying to give a helping hand to an older person or someone that wants to use their right to vote and stay in line? You know, these are fears that we think about every single time.

And also, you know, when you think about the state takeover of elections, getting rid of the secretary of state, a constitutional officer, getting rid of his duties that are in the Constitution, passing this without a constitutional amendment. And taking away his right to be over this election and letting them decide who is going to be over the state election board.

They're cherry picking it and saying that they can give unlimited challenges to someone's voter registration. Why are we doing this? They're calling it the Voter Integrity Bill. But this is not about integrity. This is about them trying to steal the election this year and next year and for years to come.

CABRERA: You're colleague, Donna McLeod, says there have been tensions since the legislative session began. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNA MCLEOD (D), GEORGIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: One actually -- representative -- Republican representative, stood up and said, it's local control until we get out of control. And the only out-of-control situation is that the counties are now more diverse.

We were dressed in -- for Black History Month, we put on African attire to, you know, salute the motherland. And one of -- the same representative, actually, stood in front of us and said, are you going to do a sing and dance for me? This is the kind of stuff that's been going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Assuming that's true, I have to call out that blatant racism. Can you describe the culture in the Georgia State Capitol right now?

THOMAS: It is thick. It is -- the culture there is a very thick -- you can cut the tension almost with a knife. You know, when they got up and they defended these bad election bills, they had the audacity to talk about Jim Crow. And to say that Jim Crow was a Democrat and that our -- we are the ones that started Jim Crow. How dare they say those types of things and expect us to be silent?

You know, we had one representative that even got up and screamed, Jim Crow was a Democrat, and turned around to three black women representatives.

[16:35:03]

THOMAS: You know, this is getting out of control. It is one thing to be a state representative and to represent the people. But it's another thing to take that title and use it to slander and demean the Democrats in that House of Representatives.

And, again, that is a fight that we have to fight every single day. We have to go back on Monday and see what else they come up with. We still have other bills on the floor. They still have H.B. 531 in the -- in the Senate. You know, we have a lot of different bills. There are so many election bills on the floor. So, they might bring another one up tomorrow or Wednesday. We don't know.

CABRERA: OK. Georgia State Representative Erica Thomas, I appreciate your time. Thank you for being with us.

THOMAS: Thank you.

CABRERA: Next to Virginia Beach where a series of separate shootings has left two people dead, eight others injured, and an officer now in the spotlight after it was revealed his body camera was turned off when he killed one of the shooting suspects. That's next, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[16:36:13]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: We're following a developing story out of Virginia Beach, where police say an officer who shot and killed a man, during a chaotic night, did not have his body camera turned on. The deadly incident happened as officers were responding to report of three separate shootings in the same night. CNN's Brian Todd is joining us from Virginia Beach. We know the officer's body camera wasn't turned on, but do we know why, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, we really don't know why. The police chief has said that -- confirmed what you just said. The body camera was not turned on. They're trying to determine what the situation was which caused that to be the case.

Also, the key question, was Donovan Lynch -- the young black man, 25 years old, who was shot and killed by the officer. Was Donovan Lynch armed or was he not armed during this confrontation?

There were reports initially that he was not armed, but the police chief pushed back on that last night, a little bit, saying that there was a firearm found in the vicinity of where the shooting occurred. That does not mean that Donovan Lynch was armed. But it does leave open the question. And the question still has not been answered.

We do have other information for you this afternoon. We have the names of three suspects who were arrested and are being held without bond in the shooting that started right here behind me. This was the first shooting on Friday evening, where at least eight people were wounded.

No one killed. But three suspects arrested in connection with that. Ahmon Adams, 22 years old; Devon Dorsey Jr., 20 years old; and Nyquez Baker, 18 years old, being held on seven accounts of felonious assault, being held without bond.

The Virginia Beach Police Department trying to determine if that initial shooting and the shooting of Donovan Lynch and the shooting of a bystander was -- if these shootings were at all related. There was a lot of chaos unfolding on Friday evening when that all went down.

And what we can also tell you, we have new information on the victim who was a bystander, Deshayla Harris. We have learned that she was part of a reality T.V. show that was airing on the Oxygen Network. That's pretty much all we know. She was a bystander, according to police, caught up in the gunfire in the second shooting incident. Deshayla Harris, 29 years old.

This, again, unfolded in a very chaotic fashion, Ana. As we mentioned, the shooting started there just behind me in that parking lot. That's where most of the victims were shot. About eight of them were wounded. Then, De Shalya Harris was killed in an area just over here on 19th Street. And then, Donovan Lynch was killed on 20th and Pacific Avenue down here.

And, again, police still not answering the question of whether he was armed or not. We've been pressing the police for answers. They have not even released the name of the officer involved in this shooting. We've been pressing them on that as well. And why that officer's body camera was not turned on. We continue to press police for those answers -- Ana.

CABRERA: We know you are digging. Thank you very much, Brian Todd.

Coming up here in the NEWSROOM, we will be talking with a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who has spent years covering the border. And he'll tell us the story of the crisis through his lens, plus his message to the Biden Administration. That's next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[16:43:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: And now to the surge of migrants at the nation's Southern Border. The Biden Administration is projecting they will need at least 34,000 more beds to keep up with the projected number of unaccompanied migrant children expected to arrive in the next six months.

The press has not been allowed into the more crowded facilities that look like the one you see there on the right side of the screen. People sleeping on floors with mylar blankets. Instead, journalists have been allowed into the HHS facility you see there on the left side. So, two very different realities.

I want to bring in John Moore. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and special correspondent for Getty Images. He's been documenting the situation at the border for years. He is also the author of "Undocumented: Immigration and the Militarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border."

John, I know you have strong feelings about the lack-of-press access. So, before we talk about that, I do want to at least talk about what you've witnessed, what you have had access to since you just got back from the border. Tell us about what you saw, including, I know, migrants crossing the Rio Grande.

JOHN MOORE, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, GETTY IMAGES: That's true. I was just round in South Texas's Rio Grande Valley, where I was able to photograph people coming across, and also working towards Border Patrol agents. The pictures you see here are actually from Ciudad (ph) Juarez in El Paso when people were coming through West Texas a couple weeks ago.

And, as you can see in these pictures, I'm actually photographing from the Mexican side of the border. Why is that? Because the U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection are not allowing media to accompany them right now. So, having to stand in another country to photograph what's going on in my country was a surreal experience, to say the least. But photojournalists are intrepid and we try to do what we can to tell the story.

CABRERA: Yes, and --

MOORE: Now, these pictures here, Ana -- excuse me. You can see Department of Public Safety, DPS, in Texas. These Texas troopers are patrolling by air and by river. And we did get access. I was able to get access with them. I think they saw that the federal government was not allowing media along. So, they thought they would take advantage and bring the media along to show what they're doing. And so, we can find access, but it's made it more difficult these days.

[16:50:01]

CABRERA: And you wrote a powerful op-ed, a powerful op-ed, in this week's "Washington Post" about, as a journalist, being kept away from the border facilities. You say, the official policy has swung from zero tolerance to zero access. What kind of access were you denied?

MOORE: Well, traditionally, through the last four administrations, and I photographed through four presidents now on the border, we've been able to accompany Border Patrol agents in the field on what are called ride-alongs. Not all media, but many media have been able to do that.

And we've also been given, at least I've been given in the past, access to detention facilities, holding facilities, processing centers inside. Of course, with strict regulations, often times I cannot show faces of people who were in detention at that moment.

But in the field, I'm able to photograph people going into custody. I'm able to do a lot of things that I can't do right now. And that's been consistent through Republican and Democratic presidents.

CABRERA: Why? Why do you think this administration is being so difficult when it comes to transparency?

MOORE: Well, the reason that we're given right now is that they are following COVID protocols. That there's danger for us to be going into these places and photographing agents in the field or in the detention centers. I would say that, at this point of the pandemic, I think that we know very well how to take care of ourselves. Photojournalists, like myself, I've covered a pandemic. I've worn a respirator in the back of ambulances. I've worked in lots of fairly dangerous situations and come out just fine. And so, there's ways that we can do this.

And, besides, when you have Congressional delegations of some 15 Congress people going through, it's hard to imagine that one or two journalists going through at a time could be dangerous, and especially outside when we're covering their outside activities.

CABRERA: You already touched on this but because we do have the video, we can show our viewers the comparisons to the previous administrations and the access that you spoke of. Because I know, you know, with the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration, you were eager to get access and to tell the full story as well. Are you saying, then, that the Biden Administration is much worse than even the last two administrations?

MOORE: Well, in terms of press access, that's definitely the case. As you see these detention photos, I was able to go into Border Patrol holding facilities, even I.C.E. detention centers, prisons, and photograph, in some cases not showing faces. And there you see the Border Patrol Academy, which was hard to get into, and that was during the Trump Administration.

This photograph here of Border Patrols capturing people photographed from the air, from a helicopter. There's all sorts of situations that I could do before. Now, they say it's because of COVID right now. I would like to show what is really happening.

And when they close off access, the way they're doing right now, it leaves the government open towards conspiracy theories. I have no reason to believe what is happening is malicious or untoward these centers.

But if you allow photojournalists to show what's happening, the public can see and the public can get on board with the way they're dealing with the situation. And if you want to call it a crisis or just a challenge, it doesn't matter to me. When you see the photographs, viewers can decide for themselves.

CABRERA: Oh, look at that picture right there, that woman and that little girl. Those images just speak volumes. What caught your eye there?

MOORE: You know, she had fallen behind the main group. There were about 80 people walking in front of her. And her daughter was heavy and she had to set her down. And they took a drink from that bottle of water. And, you know, the desperation that people have is almost palpable. And, certainly, it's not the case that everyone will be granted asylum. Many people don't deserve it. Many people do.

And the process that is happening right now is one in which -- look, the administration says they want to be more humane and transparent. And those are fantastic goals. But if they're not as transparent, it's hard for us to show how humane they're being. And I think the public would like to see that.

CABRERA: You are so good at what you do. John Moore, thank you for your reporting. And keep up the good work. Appreciate having you with us.

MOORE: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: This week's CNN Hero has made it his mission to give thousands of children, caught up in conflict, a brighter future. Meet Zannah Mustapha.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZANNAH MUSTAPHA (voice-over): These are children who do not even know what's their second name? What's their tribe, their religion? Children who do not even having this war. They are confused and in a helpless state. You need to give them courage. You have to give them hope.

[16:55:01]

MUSTAPHA (on camera): Morning, morning, morning.

(voice-over): We are in a community where every segment of the society is being ravaged.

(on camera): Good morning.

(voice-over): What keeps me going is the resilience of these children. Whenever I see their faces, it gives me hope. It keeps my dream alive.

[16:55:36]

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