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CDC: U.S. Hits Four Million Doses In A Day, Passes Three Million Daily Average; One Officer Killed, One Injured In Attack At U.S. Capitol; Virginia Takes Aggressive Action To Expand Voting Rights; DOJ Investigates Rep. Gaetz As Part Of Trafficking Probe; Police Chokeholds In Spotlight At Derek Chauvin Trial. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 03, 2021 - 20:00   ET

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

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[20:00:19]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R), GEORGIA: It's unfortunate that Major League Baseball has caved to the cancel culture, and quite honestly, President Biden and Stacey Abrams and a lot of other people are simply lying about this bill. It's really a sad day for Major League baseball.

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GA: It is really probably the first of many boycotts of our state to come. People are making decisions not to come to our state.

STEVE SCHLEICHER, PROSECUTOR: Do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of Mr. Floyd should have ended in this encounter?

SGT. DAVID PLOEGER (RET.), CHAUVIN'S FORMER SUPERVISOR: Yes.

SCHLEICHER: What is it?

PLOEGER: When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended the restraint.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: While we believe vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, the CDC is not recommending travel at this time. Don't let the vaccines and the sunny spring weather give us a false sense that we're in the clear, because we're not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin tonight with an amazing benchmark. Over the past day, the U.S. administered more than 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, that is a record and it brings the seven-day average to more than 3 million doses per day. But the CDC is still urging caution and says hospitalization rates are starting to tick up in some areas after weeks of decline.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans needs to focus on two goals to end the pandemic, get as many people vaccinated as possible and have local officials double down on public health measures.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: We say it over and over again and we need the local people, we need the governors and the mayors and others to be able to say, we're not out of it yet. People say, well, you just want to confine us forever.

No. This is not going to last forever, because every day that you get 4 million, 3 million people vaccinated, you get closer and closer to control. What we're saying is double down, just hang in there a bit longer and the vaccine and the vaccinations of people in this country are going to override the surge of the virus. There's no doubt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And joining me now is Dr. Megan Ranney, emergency physician at Brown University.

Dr. Ranney, great to have you on.

So the U.S. is doing amazing on the vaccine part, right? I mean, more than 4 million doses given just yesterday. But the public health piece, talk to me about how important that is and where we're falling short.

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: So, even with our truly incredible rate of vaccinations -- and I cannot emphasize enough what a great job we are doing right now at getting shots in arms -- we still have only about 20 percent of our population fully vaccinated. Another 10 to 20 percent who've had COVID, that means that about 60 or 70 percent of American adults have zero immunity to COVID-19.

So when they're out and about without masks on, gathering indoors, going to theaters or to restaurants or to bowling alleys and there's these new variants out, they're exposing themselves, getting infected. And then I will tell you, as an ER doc, they are ending up in my ER and in my hospital.

BROWN: So, you see it firsthand. You say that during your last week of your shifts, you saw more COVID patients than in prior months. Do you share concerns of CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who said she had a sense of impending doom?

RANNEY: You know, I pretty much, every other ER doc that I talk to across the country, very much share Dr. Walensky's fear. We are feeling it firsthand in our emergency departments. More patients are showing up sick.

They are all people, yes, who have not been vaccinated. It's 70 or 80- year-olds who declined the vaccine. It's people in their 40s and 50s and 60s who haven't had a chance to get the vaccine yet. And they are coming back more than they have since early to mid-February.

It is a really concerning trend, especially because we know the infections that we're seeing today are just the tip of the iceberg. This virus spreads exponentially. So, we're going to see more cases two weeks from now, than we're seeing today. It's already set.

BROWN: I mean, it really is a race with these variants and getting vaccinated as quickly as possible. And you have people going out, though, they're not wearing masks. Is it COVID fatigue, you think, despite all these warnings? I mean, here we are, it's Easter weekend.

[20:05:03]

How concerned are you that people are just going to disregard the precautions and get together with family members that haven't been vaccinated?

RANNEY: Yeah, I mean, remember back a year ago, right? Trump said that we were ready to reopen for Easter weekend. And here we are a year later. It feels like Groundhog Day to be telling people to still stay home.

Here's the thing: get together with loved ones but wear a mask or get together outdoors. That is how it's safe to see your loved ones, especially if they have not been vaccinated yet. Don't risk exposing each other and having one of you end up in the hospital as a result of an Easter get together.

It is simply not worth it. The end is in sight. But right now, those variants are spreading so quickly across the U.S. There are ways to do this safely. And this is this last holiday where we have to hold on and be super smart about it before vaccines will be available to all of us.

BROWN: Just to be clear, if family members want to get together and they have all been vaccinated, it's safe to gather indoors without a mask, right?

RANNEY: That is exactly right, Pamela. So, if everyone has been vaccinated, it is safe to gather indoors without a mask.

The CDC is also saying that if older adults or people with high risk conditions have been vaccinated, they can choose one other household who has not been vaccinated, assuming that other household has no high risk people to get together with. So, for instance, my parents have been fully vaccinated. I've been vaccinated. My husband hasn't, because he hasn't met criteria in my state yet.

We are going to get together with them tomorrow for Easter and that is a safe decision. But we're not getting together with four families. It's just the two of us, the two households. BROWN: And what is the latest research? Because there's been little

bit of mixed messaging on this in terms of how -- whether you can transmit the virus, how easily you transmit the virus if you have been vaccinated?

RANNEY: So, the research is not fully set yet, which is part of the reason we are getting these mixed messages. Here is what we know for sure. If you have been fully vaccinated, the chance of you catching this virus is incredibly, incredibly low. It isn't zero, but it's really low. Chance of you getting sick, hospitalized or dying is just about zero.

Now, because you are unlikely to catch the virus, by definition, you're also unlikely to pass it onto other people, because if you're not infected, you're not going to get others sick.

If you do catch the virus and you're vaccinated, that's the part where there's a little gray area and we don't fully know whether you could pass it on. It's why we still recommend people even after they're vaccinated wear masks when they're out in public up until we reach that magical herd immunity number of getting around 80 percent of American adults vaccinated.

BROWN: That's helpful information. And if you would also bring us up to date on how long the vaccines offer protection against COVID.

RANNEY: So, this is another place where the science is still evolving. We had the very first trials finished right back last fall. The longest that people have had these vaccines in arms at this point is somewhere around six to eight months. It looks so far that the vaccines cause persistent immunity. So, there's nobody who got the vaccine and suddenly they've lost immunity. It seems like it sticks around and it's really strong.

But we really haven't followed people for a year or two years yet because we haven't had the vaccines that long. There's a little bit of wait and see still.

BROWN: I'm getting my vaccine on Monday, and I can't wait.

Dr. Megan Ranney --

RANNEY: Congratulations.

BROWN: Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks so much, Doctor, for coming on and sharing all of your expertise with us on this Easter holiday weekend.

RANNEY: Thank you.

And don't miss this unprecedented event with Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the medical leaders of the war on COVID break their silence. The CNN special report "COVID War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out", is coming up at the top of the hour.

And the U.S. Capitol building endured yet another violent attack when a man drove a car into a barricade yesterday outside the building. One Capitol police officer was injured and tragically another was killed.

William "Billy" Evans was an 18-year veteran of the force. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling him a martyr for our democracy, noting that he was a father of two.

This devastating loss piles more grief onto the Capitol police force who buried Officer Brian Sicknick after he was injured in a January 6 insurrection, and two other officers who died by suicide after the insurrection.

CNN's Pete Muntean is standing by on Capitol Hill.

So, Pete, where does this investigation stand tonight?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, investigators are just now digging into the past of 25-year-old Noah Green and what may have caused him to carry out the attack on the Capitol here on Friday. What's so interesting are his social media posts.

We have discovered an Instagram account that may have belonged to Green. And in it, he makes a trio of posts in the days leading up to the attack. One post says, quote, I have suffered multiple home break- ins, food poisonings, unauthorized operations and mind control.

[20:10:04]

Another post, a meme, with the image of the leader of the National Islam, the text around says: The U.S. government is the enemy of black people. A third post, Green describes terrible afflictions by the CIA and FBI.

Now, Green went to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, not too far away from here, a 2019 graduate. He played on the football team and some of his fellow football players described seeing similar posts on Facebook as recent as March 17th, only a couple weeks ago. One of his fellow football players tells us, quote, he was going through some stuff for sure.

Now, security here, nothing being taken to chance. You can see the six-foot high fence around the Capitol perimeter. That's been here since about January 6th. But now concrete barriers just went in beyond it. So, a lot of high security here as this investigation is just beginning, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Pete Muntean, I know that you will keep us updated on the latest developments there.

And tonight, as the U.S. Capitol flags fly at half-staff in honor of Officer Evans, he is remembered by congressional leaders who hailed him as a hero and a martyr, by a CNN reporter says she appreciated his kind words and dad jokes, and by his friends call him the prankster of the bunch, always happy, always laughing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT DERRY, OFFICER EVANS COLLEGE ROOMMATE: It was really surreal to just think, I mean I literally just talked to him and we shared a laugh a couple days ago and now he's just gone. It has just been shock ever since. I mean, it's been -- you know, fighting back tears all afternoon and trying to make sense of it all and knowing there's none to be had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And just so sad, I think he leaves behind two children.

Well, as many states look to change voter access, the Commonwealth of Virginia is making changes too, but it's not what you might think. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring joins me to talk about it.

Stay with us.

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[20:16:05]

BROWN: Well, the governor of Georgia today is accusing Major League Baseball of acting in fear of President Biden and so-called cancel culture. Governor Brian Kemp speaking in Atlanta after Major League Baseball announced it's moving the 2021 All-Star game out of Georgia in direct response to the state's new election law that critics say deliberately creates hurdles for minority voters.

Now, the governor defended his new law today, saying any corporate boycotts or lawsuits are worth what he believes is a more secure election environment.

As state Republicans take aggressive action across the country to enact new laws that could make it tougher to vote, the Commonwealth of Virginia has taken bold steps in the opposite direction. In addition to passing its own version of the Voting Rights Act, Virginia's voter ID law has been repealed, election day is designated a holiday, the state allows 45 days of no-excuse absentee voting and anyone who gets a driver's license will be automatically registered to vote.

Also, Governor Ralph Northam restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated felons, some 69,000 people.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring joins me now to discuss this.

Nice to see you. Thanks for coming on the show.

So, let's talk about this new bill, this new law. Virginia had record turnout in the 2020 general election and by all accounts a safe election.

So, why are these changes necessary?

MARK HERRING (D), VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, here in Virginia we are really sending a strong message about the importance of protecting the freedom to vote. Voting is foundational to our democracy.

And while we're seeing other states across the country, particularly in the South, adding new barriers to voting that are going to disproportionately impact black and brown voters, here in Virginia, we're doing everything we can to remove those barriers and to make sure that we do everything we can to protect people's freedom to vote.

Some of the things that I'm really excited about with this new law include things like making it absolutely clear that any form of voter intimidation is illegal, that laws or actions that discriminate against people in exercising their freedom to vote are illegal. And it not only gives voters the ability to go into court and sue if necessary to protect their rights, it gives our office to ability to be proactive and go to court to protect people's freedom to vote.

So these protections send a really strong signal to Virginians and the rest of the country about how we feel about the importance of voting.

BROWN: So, I want to talk a little bit more about that, because those on the other side, Republicans and so forth, would argue, look, you need an ID to drive, you need an ID at the pharmacy, why would you take this away to vote? It's going to make elections less secure. This should be a basic rule.

What do you say to them?

HERRING: Well, I think we've shown over the past year that we can remove those barriers and still have safe, secure and accurate elections even with the challenges that we faced last year with the pandemic, with the Trump administration attacking the integrity of our electoral system. We showed in Virginia that you can have safe elections, secure elections and accurate elections and also remove those barriers.

So, for example, you know, my colleagues and I sued the Trump administration over the Postal Service's efforts to make it harder to vote by mail essentially. We also issued official legal opinions making it clear that voter intimidation and harassment would not be tolerated.

[20:20:00]

I did training videos for local elections officials and local law enforcement so they would know what tools they had to make sure that everyone felt safe when they went to go vote.

So, it's a real strong signal that we in Virginia really want to protect people's right to vote.

BROWN: So, let's talk a little more about what's behind this signal. How much of this has to do with Virginia atoning for being part of the Jim Crow South?

HERRING: Well, it is true, Virginia has a very dark past when it comes to adding barriers to vote that were done in order to suppress black voters and their voices. That's wrong. And we want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard. We believe that, you know, your vote is your voice and everyone's voice should be heard.

And so, we want to make sure that as we go forward, we're doing everything we can to be protective of the freedom to vote.

BROWN: There's been an uproar over the recently passed voting law in Georgia, as we talked about, and other potential voting bills and Republican legislatures. Critics say they're a blatant attempt to suppress the vote.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp defended the law again today. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEMP: Make no mistake: there were issues that happened on the election, like they do in every election. This year, obviously, there was more of a spotlight than ever. I think one of the reasons was the pandemic and it changed a lot of things. We had a brand new system in Georgia. We had things like drop boxes that we'd never used, at least in recent memory.

Therefore, there were mechanical issues that needed to be fixed. There were reasons to try to figure out a better way, a more accessible way and a more secure way for us to hold elections.

And there is nothing wrong with that. We shouldn't apologize for wanting to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So basically, he's saying that, look, part of passing this bill was also building confidence among voters that the election is secure. What do you say to what we just heard from Governor Kemp?

HERRING: That's an extension of the big lie, which is that Donald Trump won the presidency, and that's a lie, and trying to make people think that an outcome that they didn't want to have happen must have involved some -- you know, involved cheating or something.

And that's wrong and it's misleading to the public to say so. And these laws adding barriers to people's ability to vote, using the results of the past election as an excuse is reprehensible.

BROWN: All right. I want to ask you before we let you go. In addition to being lonely among former Confederate states when it comes to expanding voting rights, Virginia is the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. In its entire history, Virginia has executed more prisoners than any other state.

How did such a remarkable reversal come about?

HERRING: Well, we've been moving in these directions for criminal justice reform that really accelerated after the murder of George Floyd. And this is one more of those reform measures. It is something that we needed to do in order to make sure that our criminal justice system is more fair, and it's long overdue.

BROWN: All right. Mark Herring, thank you very much for coming on the show.

HERRING: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: Well, as Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz's week went from bad to worse, you couldn't help notice there wasn't a long line of colleagues rushing to his defense. Up next, I'll speak to former Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent and senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go away.

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[20:28:33]

BROWN: Well, a U.S. congressman from Florida has had to address quite a few very serious accusations this week and is denying all of them. Republican Matt Gaetz in the space of just a few days has denied having sex with an underage girl, has denied paying for prostitutes for himself and recruiting women for his friends and even claimed to be the victim of a crime himself.

CNN's Marshall Cohen has more details -- Marshall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Pamela, it was a whirlwind week for Congressman Matt Gaetz, the pro-Trump firebrand who is now under investigation for possible prostitution and underage sex trafficking.

Now, it all started from an investigation into another Florida politician, Joel Greenberg. He's a friend of Gaetz' and he's the former tax collector in Seminole County.

Investigators believe that Greenberg recruited multiple women online for sex and that he introduced these women to Getz, who also had sex with him, according to the "New York Times."

Some of the women allegedly received cash payments from Gaetz and Greenberg, according to "The New York Times," which said that it reviewed receipts from Apple Pay and Cash App.

A source told CNN that the Justice Department is examining whether any of these payments illegally came from the congressman's federal campaign funds. Now, that's separate from the allegations of underage sex which do involved a 17-year-old girl.

Gaetz's friend, Greenberg, was charged last year in relation to that, with sex trafficking of a minor, stalking, identity theft and a host of other alleged crimes.

[20:30:09]

He has pleaded not guilty but his legal troubles are mounting. The Feds hit him this week with a new 33 count indictment.

In addition, his yours long friendship with Gaetz is coming under fresh scrutiny. Florida state lawmaker, Anna Eskamani, told CNN this week that Gaetz and Greenberg left her an unsolicited and frankly kind of odd voicemail on her cell phone on the Fourth of July in 2019. She gave us a recording of that message. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL GREENBERG, FORMER SEMINOLE COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR: My dear, Anna, this is your favorite tax collector. I'm up in Panhandle with your favorite U.S. Congressman, Mr. Gaetz.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Hi, Anna.

GREENBERG: And we were just chatting about you and talking about your lovely qualities and your --

GAETZ: We think you're the future of the Democratic Party in Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now, Pamela, before I send this back to you, I want to be crystal clear and give you the congressman side of the story. In a statement, Congressman Gaetz' office said he has never paid for sex, and that he refutes, quote, all of the disgusting allegations completely. He's defended himself by saying that he paid for flights and hotels for women of legal age that he was dating at the time. Pamela?

All right. Our thanks to Marshall.

And to unpack this and more, let's bring in the political squad, CNN political commentator Charlie Dent, a former Pennsylvania Congressman, and CNN senior political commentator, Ron Brownstein, senior editor at the Atlantic and author of "Rock Me on The Water in 1974: The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television and Politics." Ron, big congrats on your book.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

BROWN: Look forward to reading it. Gentlemen, just great to have you both on this Saturday evening. Let's talk about this. Charlie, first to you. Most of Matt Gaetz' GOP colleagues are clearly not rushing to his defense. What does that tell you?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: It tells me that that Congress engaged is certainly politically isolated. He's in an unsustainable position. Clearly these allegations are very serious. You know, when you have a Department of Justice, investigation, for prostitution and for sex trafficking, this is -- this no good. He's not --and one thing to endear himself, it seems with most of his Republican colleagues, that stunt he pulled on Liz Cheney really rubbed so many of them the wrong way.

So, I think he's going to come under tremendous pressure to resign. That's what often happens, I served as chair as the House Ethics Committee. And believe me, I saw a lot of situations where members were more or less forced to resign for far less than what we're talking about here tonight.

BROWN: So, on that note, you know, Ron, on the outside, it appears as though Gaetz' days in Congress could be numbered, but we have seen other politicians hang on while under fire from both parties. Think Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Does he survive this? Can he survive this?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, neither party has a monopoly on bad behavior. And in fact, bad behavior maybe one of the last aspects of Washington that is still bipartisan, but I do think --

BROWN: That's a good point.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I do think, you know, the magnitude of these allegations are such that if there is the evidence of the New York Times suggested it's going to be very hard for him to survive.

On the other hand, I also do believe that post-Trump, the goalposts have shifted. I mean, you know, there is a -- I think there is a sense -- there's a willingness in both parties to try to tough out these allegations until the last possible moment, to a greater extent than there was before Donald Trump and the Access Hollywood video and he won the election, you know, just weeks after that. And he is faced during -- he faced a cascade of charges that were at least as serious in some cases even more serious.

So, I do think that if anything, like what has been alleged, is corroborated, impossible for him to survive, but the walls don't close in quite as fast as they did before Donald Trump.

BROWN: All right. So, let's talk about the former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, a Republican, he basically went nuclear on his own party in a new book, Charlie, among many explosive remarks he wrote, you could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name. And in 2010, by the way, we did pick up a fair number in that category."

And in a cnn.com editorial that you wrote, he's right. You argue that Trump, Charlie, was just gasoline on a GOP fire that was already burning. So, is Boehner's book too little too late?

DENT: I don't know if it's too little too late. But I had heard John Boehner make many of these comments while he was speaker. You know, he had a group of about 40 members who routinely did everything they could to undermine him and weaken him and his effectiveness. It happened all the time. And, you know, John Boehner, often said if he didn't have 218 votes, he didn't have crap. He used a more flowery word than that.

[20:35:03]

But he -- you know what he meant, he just -- he was always in a weakened position because some members of his own party, I call them the rejection to swing, were never able to get the yes. And many of them, you know, really didn't come to Washington to govern. They came there in many respects to blow things up.

And, you know, there was a (INAUDIBLE) destroyers that did a lot to harm him in his leadership. And he was pretty angry about it at the time. I heard him talk about it. And he was absolutely right. But this all preceded Donald Trump, and in some respects, laid the groundwork for Donald Trump, who was an accelerant not the cause of these problems.

BROWN: It's quite entertaining, I guess, to see his thoughts on Ted Cruz too. Wow. He did not hold back on that at all.

Speaking of new books -- go ahead.

BROWNSTEIN: I'm just going to say real quick, Pam. I mean, he -- Boehner to me embodies the quest -- one of the biggest questions in American politics for the next few years. There is no doubt that his point, the Trump wing is the dominant wing in the Republican Party, they are going to be setting the direction, but there's somewhere between 1/5 and one quarter of Republican voters, when you look at polls, were uneasy with the direction that the party is heading with, you know, the open appeals to racial resentment, the squeezing of democracy, the retreating from small democracy.

And the question is, do the voters who think like Boehner, do they stay as the subordinate members of this coalition? Did they -- did they kind of stick with it even as it welcomes people like Marjorie Taylor Green that they consider beyond the pale? Do they stick with it? Because they think Democrats are just worse? Or do you ultimately some of them say this is more than I can handle?

BROWN: That's a -- that is a very fair question.

And just on that note, I want to ask you, Congressman, we are seeing across the country, Republican legislatures trying to pass laws that would add restrictions to voting, and we just saw the law passed in Georgia, obviously, that controversial law.

Now, there's an argument that look, their constituents are so concerned about election security, and so forth, these measures are needed. And, of course, that is all stemming from the big election lie that this last election wasn't secure, even though by all metrics, it was.

As a congressman, what do you think about what is happening across the country in these Republican legislatures?

DENT: Well, I think that many Republican legislatures around the country are overreacting to what happened. You know, in fact, I often point out that Republicans actually did quite well in the 2020 election down ballot. It was Donald Trump who underperformed and not because of the way people voted the methods.

Donald Trump lost the election because of his conduct or misconduct in office and his mishandling of the COVID virus, not because of the system. In my state, my home state of Pennsylvania, you know, Republicans won statewide in office that they hadn't won for decades, while Donald Trump was losing above them.

Now, I will also state that some of the opponents of these state measures or proposals, I think are sometimes overstating what's in them. I mean, I think that's also a problem. I would argue to Republicans. Yes, they did find with this system, and it would be a mistake, say in Pennsylvania to repeal the law they enacted in 2019, to allow no excuse absentee voting.

Republicans were quite good at it. Donald Trump suppressed the Republican vote by bad mouthing mail-in voting, and oh, excuse absentee voting. He did it to himself. So, I think, again, this is an overreaction by many Republican legislators.

BROWN: And how much, Ron, do you think it's about trying to re-boost those Republican voter's confidence -- to boost that -- their confidence so that they will vote and not sit it out? Like there was a big concern in Georgia, right? That the Republican senators lost because of the big election lie. What do you think is going on, Ro? How would you describe this dynamic at play?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I believe fundamentally, what's happening is that in most of these states, Republicans, as I've said before, are laying sandbags against a rising tide of demographic change. And whether you're in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, even to some extent some of the Rust Belt states, they can look and see that the next generations that are aging in the electorate, the 18-year-olds every year are predominantly kids of color, and they are making it tougher to vote for those -- for those emerging generations.

The irony, I think as Representative Dent was getting at, you know, Donald Trump show that Republicans don't always do badly in a high turnout environment. Trump turned out lots of people who hadn't voted before, and yet, you have all these Republican legislators who I think are more fearing their base, then trying to reassure their base who in kind of the shadow of Trump, extending his fundamentally racist argument that the election was stolen in cities with big black populations, trying to make it tougher, particularly in those urban settings to vote.

And I think it is something that is a real inflection point for American democracy. And probably the most important decisions Democrats face in the next two years is whether they end the filibuster to try to establish a nationwide Florida voting rights.

[20:40:02]

BROWN: This is -- you just summed it up what a pivotal moment this is in this country. And we'll have to see how this plays out, whether this could actually end up backfiring for Republicans.

Charlie Dent, Ron Brownstein, really interesting discussion. Thank you guys so much for coming on the show.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

DENT: Thanks.

BROWN: Well, as the Derek Chauvin murder trial gets underway, the controversial use of chokeholds is still being debated. When we come back, our Gary Tuchman speaks to an MMA fighter who was trained with police officers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, prosecutors in the Derek Chauvin trial have put the video of George Floyd's death front and center arguing that it shows a clear case of murder. Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. It is a use of submission that even experienced and trained fighters know has deadly potential.

CNN's Gary Tuchman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[20:45:00]

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Pro Edge Boxing and MMA gym in Phoenix, Arizona. And with us right now is a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu. This is Coach Mario Lujan, he works here, he's a trainer.

Chokeholds. So, part of MMA.

MARIO LUJAN, PRO EDGE BOXING AND MMA: One hundred percent.

TUCHMAN: And why do you teach them? What was the teaching of chokehold?

LUJAN: Chokehold is one way to end a fight without any serious violence. And you can do it without serious injury.

TUCHMAN: OK. But you have to do it ethically.

LUJAN: You have to be responsible by it.

TUCHMAN: Be responsible. Just show me what you teach.

LUJAN: One basic chokehold we do is called a rear naked choke. When I'm behind my opponent, I bring my forearm in front of his throat underneath the chin, my hand grabs onto my bicep to lock the position, I bring my other hand behind his head. In here, I slowly start to squeeze. When my opponent taps, I need to release.

TUCHMAN: What's another one to teach?

LUJAN: Another basic choke is called a front guillotine. So, when I have my opponent's head in a down position, I get him in a basic front headlock. Grab my other hand, here, I slowly start to squeeze. Again, my opponent taps, and I got to release.

TUCHMAN: But that's legitimate, that's ethical.

LUJAN: These are all ethical.

TUCHMAN: You've trained with police officers, you know what they go through.

LUJAN: Yes.

TUCHMAN: They're taught to do it like this. They're not taught to do it like what was done in Minnesota?

LUJAN: No, it's definitely not.

TUCHMAN: With one of your associates here, the manager in this gym, I want you to show me what not to do.

LUJAN: OK. Definitely.

TUCHMAN: When Coach Mario looks at the Derek Chauvin videotape, this is what he sees.

LUJAN: He had his knee here on his arm, his other knee was right across his neck, here. I'm being light. You can see where I'm on my toes, right here, because I'm being light, I'm being nice to him. But once I changed my toe position, now, you can see his face forming. If I'm like this, his face is fine. He's fine.

But what I believe probably what should have done was this here on the shoulder blade, hand control, right? And he's here. George isn't going anywhere, especially with three other officers here. He's stuck in this position. I keep the head control so he can't move in certain directions. But as you can clearly see, once I change my foot position, and I start to put the pressure.

TUCHMAN: So, I take it you're horrified when you saw that videotape.

LUJAN: I was like, oh, my God. It was completely unnecessary. He didn't have to have his knee on his neck.

TUCHMAN: What do you teach your students never to do?

LUJAN: Hold the choke. As soon as somebody taps, you need to release the joke.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We'll be right back.

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[20:50:35]

BROWN: This just in to CNN. A law enforcement source tells CNN that the Capitol Police Officer injured in Friday's attack was released from the hospital. CNN has reached out to the U.S. Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Union for comment. That is good news.

Well, we can't let you go tonight without showing you this adorable video out of Connecticut. To all the parents out there, let me know if you can relate to this one. Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mama bear and four cubs stopped traffic in Connecticut trying to cross a road. Mom has her paws for, not to mention her mouth. A third cub crosses, well, make that prances to the other side. Three across and one to go. Uh-oh, the fourth cub is up a pole. Mom to the rescue. But wait, someone is back. It can be a drag wrangling for little ones. This is something any human mom can relate to.

ROBIN COVELLI, FILMED VIRAL BEAR VIDEO: Go babies go.

MOOS: Robin Covelli, mother of four shot the video and said of the pole climber in particular.

COVELLI: He reminded me so much of my son. I could just hear myself yelling, get down over that pole. Get across the street. You're making a scene here.

MOOS: Someone on Twitter posted, oh, someone should get out of their car and help, somebody else, put the wise in wise guy by replying. You want to be mauled? Because that's how you get mauled.

Meanwhile, mom was gently mauling her babies. Robin Covelli's takeaway.

COVELLI: Just how hard it is to be a mom and especially for babies and I really felt for the mom.

MOOS: Scottish comedian, Janey Godley, supplied bear narration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, cheese (INAUDIBLE) mommy -- ow, that's my ear, mommy.

MOOS: And just when it seemed all four were safely across, one of the Cubs made a break forward crossing the double yellow line. Mom was forced once again to take matters into her mouth has another cob followed in her footsteps.

This is the kind of behavior that inspires lame jokes like, why did the bear cross the road to get to the other cub?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[20:55:04]

BROWN: And we're just getting some new information and for my colleague, Kaitlan Collins, that the Biden administration has directed Johnson and Johnson to take over a contract manufacturer company in Baltimore, where there was a mix-up there in 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been contaminated.

Those vaccines had never gone out to the public, but it caused enough concern that now Johnson & Johnson will oversee the production of that vaccine. They're at that place and then the other vaccine that was being done there, AstraZeneca, will now be moved to another location. Some news coming in tonight.

Well, thank you so much for joining me this evening. I'm Pamela Brown. I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at 6:00 Eastern. The CNN special report, "COVID War: The Pandemic Doctor Speak Out," is next.

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