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Romney Booed While Speaking At Utah GOP Convention; Rudy Giuliani Rails On Investigators After Raid Of Office And Apartment; More Than 243 Million COVID Vaccine Doses Administered In The U.S.; Coronavirus Pandemic Vaccinations; Andrew Brown Jr. Rally; CNN Heroes. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 02, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: NEWSROOM continues right now with Jim Acosta.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: And you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin with breaking news.

Two people have died and 23 people have been taken to hospitals after a boat overturned off the coast of San Diego in California. It happened near the Cabrio National Monument and Point Loma earlier today.

Authorities are still searching the water for both boats and aircraft at this time. We'll continue to monitor the story and bring you the latest as we get it. As all that comes in, breaking news. Two dead, 23 rescued after a boat overturning off the coast of San Diego.

And now to the state of the Republican Party. He was impeached twice, lost the White House, cost the Republicans the House and Senate, in addition to inciting an insurrection, yet Donald Trump is like the bad ex some Republicans can't seem to quit. Need proof? Just look at the reception for GOP Senator Mitt Romney in his home state for going against Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I know how the fact that I wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues, and I'm also no fan --

(CROWD BOOING)

ROMNEY: Aren't you embarrassed? And I'm also no fan of the president's -- yes, sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My friends, this is the moment I was talking about. Please. Thank you. Show respect.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: But they didn't show respect. And it's not just Romney. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, third ranking House Republican, is also taking heat for her friendly fist bump with President Biden this week. But while Romney and Cheney face backlash for speaking their conscience, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who's at the center of a sex trafficking probe, is feeling so energized by the MAGA base he's going on tour.

He's planning to hold rallies across the nation. He'll be joined by congressional lightning rod Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene. As you may recall she has previously mocked a school shooting survivor and promoted QAnon conspiracy theories. The pair will kick off their America First tour on May 7th.

And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is up on Capitol Hill for us.

Suzanne, voters booing GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. I never thought I would see something like that continue to this day, and Gaetz, meanwhile, is feeling like he has enough support to go on tour. What's the state of the GOP right now, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, it really is interesting and fascinating when you watch it because it's an exclusive club that's getting bigger here. These are folks who are facing the punishment, the wrath, if you will, of not only Trump but his allies.

The list gets longer, Cassidy, Murkowski, Cheney, Burr, Kinzinger, all of them whether or not it is voting for impeachment, for conviction or even just legitimizing the past previous election presidential election. They are all facing this backlash now.

Now what happened with Romney, this was the convention, the Utah Party convention, and all these folks facing their own criticism from their own party. He was not censured as some of the others that I had mentioned but rather, yes, he was booed and humiliated.

It seemed to get much, much worse as he moved forward to talk about some of his street cred with the Republican Party, namely the presidential nominee of 2012, and that he was voting his conscience, essentially, when he was convicting the president in the impeachment trial. All of that seemed to make it much, much worse.

Now, Jim, you know that Romney has had kind of a shaky relationship with some of the hardcore Republicans within the state of Utah but this looks very, very different, and it feels different. This seems to be a test for a lot of Republicans in terms of the future of the party.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, an independent herself in some ways, she, too, was spared a censure vote by her own state for convicting the president, for that vote. But she seemed to be very disturbed in knowing exactly where this is going. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I was appalled. Mitt Romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well. We Republicans need to remember that we are united by fundamental principles such as a belief in personal responsibility, individual freedom, opportunity, free markets, strong national defense. Those are the principles that unite us. We are not a party that is led by just one person.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That one person, as you know, she's referring to as Trump.

[16:05:03]

And she realizes, as many of the people in the Republican Party, that they are fighting for the soul of the party and which direction it will go. Clearly those who defied the former president are now paying some political price -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.

And we have the perfect political couple to talk about all of this, the former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Al Cardenas, and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro.

Al, thanks so much, both of you, for joining us. We appreciate it. It's great to see you both.

Al, what does it say about the party that Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene would probably get a better reception these days at a Republican event than Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney right now?

AL CARDENAS, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, there's a populous wave out there that started a number of years ago and it got obviously reenergized even more when President Trump was in office. Obviously, it's paid a price. We lost the House, we lost the Senate. We've got a lot of important members resigning, not wanting to serve in Congress during this climate.

So the sooner we get over this era, the better. But that's why I'm staying in the party. I'm one of those who doesn't accept this populism. I think the party ought to go back to an era where we can stand on our values and our policies. And that's what we're fighting for. But to see the Romney reaction in Utah is very discouraging.

But look at Utah, look at Arizona. A red state that's turned blue because of political party leadership and the Republican Party. So I'm hoping for a change. I hope that the shelf life of this populous movement ends when the election results turn differently but we'll see.

ACOSTA: Ana, what did you think of that when you saw Mitt Romney get booed like that?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I really couldn't believe it. Look, I thought it couldn't get any lower than hearing John McCain get booed as he was dying. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee. And then, you know, we've seen Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney, a Cheney, for god's sakes, the daughter of Dick and Lynn Cheney. This woman was basically weaned on Republican milk, be called a RINO and being attacked just because she does not behave like a lemming, following Donald Trump.

And now to hear Mitt Romney, they called him a communist. They called him a traitor. This was the Republican GOP nominee in 2012. A communist? I mean, Mitt Romney is a walking advertisement for capitalism and free enterprise and good hair and good teeth.

I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous, appalling. And what it tells you is that the people who are showing up to these party conventions are really behaving far more like a cult than they are like a party with convictions and principles and values, as Al described.

ACOSTA: Yes, I don't think they would consider Mitt Romney a communist over Bain Capital. But, Al, former President Trump told FOX this week he's considering --

NAVARRO: Or in Cuba.

ACOSTA: Or in Cuba.

NAVARRO: Right.

ACOSTA: Trump told FOX this week that he's considering a run in 2024 and that he would certainly consider Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the governor of your state where you are right now, as his running mate. Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's done a great job as governor. A lot of people like that. You know, I'm just saying what I read and what you read. They love that ticket. But certainly, Ron would be considered. He's a great guy.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: You know, I thought I was hearing that Ron DeSantis would likely be at the top of the ticket, Al. But yet he's under Trump's shadow there, it sounds like.

CARDENAS: Well, he's going to have a general election in Florida next year, and I'm not sure it helps him in any way to be linked to Donald Trump in a presidential ticket in a state that's very competitive and purple. Ron DeSantis has good numbers in Florida. Why would he need to get mixed up with that, just on the eve of a midterm election? So I think Donald Trump is using it for his own benefit because DeSantis is doing well in the polls.

But he's certainly doing DeSantis no favors by advertising him on his ticket. Donald Trump doesn't do anybody any favors but himself.

ACOSTA: Ana, what do you-- and do you think there's any chance Donald Trump runs for president again? Everybody says oh, no, he's just doing this to freeze the field because he wants everybody to hang on his every word. What do you think?

NAVARRO: Look, I think he's going to milk it for as long as he possibly can. He's going to milk it to raise funds. He's going to milk it to incite revenge against those that voted against him, you know, in primaries. So I think he's going to meddle in the primaries.

I think he's going to try to stay relevant as long as he can, but it's hard to see a guy who spends most of his day golfing and watching OAN and FOX News, the bullshit factory as you call it brilliantly, running for office again.

[16:10:05]

People get rusty. And, you know, I mean, he kept talking about Sleepy Joe and making Joe Biden's age an issue. Well, he's no spring chicken. And in three years, he's going to be even less of one.

ACOSTA: Yes. Al, I want to turn away from the factory if I could for a moment to ask you about this more restrictive voting law that just passed in Florida. I mean, some of the provisions we're talking about -- here, we can put some of this up on screen. New rules to restrict voting by mail, as well as tighter voter I.D. requirements.

I want to play you how some of the debate played out in the state capital. You hear from both Republicans and Democrats here. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BLAISE INGOGLIA (R-FL): Florida, no matter how much you hear out of the back row, no matter how much you hear from the opposition, Florida has much, much, much more access to voting and the polls than almost every other state.

SEN. TRAVIS HUTTON (R-FL): We have four ways to vote in Florida. In person, vote by mail, early voting and if this passes now manned drop boxes. Four ways to vote in Florida with plenty of time. The only excuse you have is that you're lazy if you do not vote.

REP. CARLOS GUILLERMO SMITH (D-FL): We found zero cases of voter fraud. So what's the problem that we're trying to fix? Oh, here's the problem. Florida Democrats cast 600,000 more vote by mail ballots in Florida.

REP. MICHAEL GRECO (D-FL): That bill that was passed in the state just north of us sent us a message, and the response to that bill should have let us know that we should not be doing this. Please do not Georgia my Florida.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: "Please do not Georgia my Florida." What did you think of that, Al?

CARDENAS: Well, look, the truth of the matter in all of this is that both sides are right in their arguments. One, Florida's laws, even after this new legislation, are still better than in some Democrat states, which need to look out after themselves, like Colorado, New York. At the same time, we had almost a perfect election last time. There weren't any irregularities. And so why tinker with it is my point of view.

And in Florida, you've got 66 constitutionally elected supervisors of elections who have -- you know, you like to get their input on the matter and I don't think they really needed a change or wanted a change, but, you know, my personal feelings, as much as you can facilitate people voting legally, the more of it, the better, and so, so be it.

We'll see what happens. Clearly it's going to be challenged in court on constitutional grounds, although, you know, a challenge is going to have some tough time going at it since there are other states that have more restrictive laws.

ACOSTA: Ana, I mean, these laws that are being passed in all these states, they almost seem like the illegitimate children of the big lie. What's going on here?

NAVARRO: I think they are the children of the big lie. I think it's a -- you know, it's a concerted effort by Republicans to make it more difficult to vote by mail because so many Democrats showed up and did so. Look, I'm old enough to remember when Jeb Bush was governor of Florida and Al Cardenas was chair of the Republican Party of Florida, and they did everything they could to expand absentee balloting.

And absentee balloting in Florida was something that Republicans won for decades and decades. Al and I have been voting by absentee as long as I can remember. And I actually this might backfire on them, making it harder to vote by mail, making people have to request a ballot more often than we do right now because until Donald Trump came along and lied about, you know, the election being rigged and lied about the effectiveness of absentee ballots, Republicans used to handily win the vote by mail vote in Florida and in other states.

I also think, Jim -- and this, you know, is the part that really bothers me. Look, there was no election fraud in Florida when it came to absentee balloting. There was election fraud. And here in Miami, in the district, in the state Senate district that Al and I live in, there are people who are actually arrested and are going to trial for shell candidates, for putting up straw candidates to confuse voters.

ACOSTA: Right.

NAVARRO: Yet that, that which is real election fraud, which really happened in at least three districts in Florida, that doesn't get addressed, and yet this fabricated, made-up, exaggerated, nonexistent vote by mail issue gets more restrictive. It makes -- as a voter, forget a Republican or a Democrat, as a Florida voter, it makes no damn sense.

ACOSTA: All right. So much doesn't make sense these days but --

CARDENAS: Jim, I see that you --

(CROSSTALK)

[16:15:04] CARDENAS: I see, Jim, that you have two couples here today, so before the show, I thought maybe it was a trailer for Valentine's Day special you were hosting.

ACOSTA: Right. Well, we know you guys got top billing today. So we appreciate that.

NAVARRO: Well, but I'll tell you something. The Hoover Avalon, you know, Al and I, we don't share bathrooms. We don't share closets. We don't share cameras. It's just, you know -- it's a good thing we got through it without a fight.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Distance makes the heart grow fonder. That's right.

NAVARRO: But, Jim, wait. A personal privilege before we go. We are very proud of you, as a fellow Cuban-American, like Al. And you know how unrepresented Hispanics, Latinos have been in media.

So it's a moment of pride for us as CNNers to see you, to see Ana Cabrera, to see Boris Sanchez as anchors on CNN, and I haven't had the chance to tell you that I'm very, very proud of you. Congratulations.

ACOSTA: That means so much. All right, Ana, Al, I take it. I don't get that very often. You know, it doesn't always play out that way when I'm out in the real world but thanks so much, Ana and Al. We appreciate it. Great talking to both of you.

Coming up, Rudy Giuliani railed against the investigators who raided his home and office saying they hate him and they hate Trump. But how much evidence does it take to get a search warrant like that? "Cross Exam" with Elie Honig is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:27]

ACOSTA: CNN is learning the federal raid on former President Trump's one-time attorney Rudy Giuliani made an impression on Team Trump. One Trump adviser telling CNN, quote, "This was a show of force that sent a strong message to a lot of people in Trump's world that other things may be coming down the pipeline."

That brings us to our weekly "Cross Exam" segment with CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig who's here to answer your legal questions, and maybe Rudy Giuliani is watching, Elie, I don't know. Bu one viewer wants to know how much proof do federal prosecutors need to get a search warrant and can they use evidence they may find that falls outside the scope of the search warrant itself? That's an interesting way of phrasing it.

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So first of all, all of this advice is free to Rudy Giuliani to use or not use as he sees fit. There is a specific legal procedure here. Prosecutors have to establish what we call probable cause that a crime was committed and that they're likely to find evidence of that crime in the place they're searching. It's a difficult process. I've done it. You have to write it all out in detail.

A federal judge will then review that and decide whether he or she agrees. If so, you get the search warrant. Now you have to specify a crime. The crime that was specified here was a violation of the foreign lobbying statute. The probable cause is essentially that Rudy was lobbying on behalf of some foreign interests, lobbying the U.S. government and failed to disclose it.

Now that's a fairly rare law -- that used law, however, prosecutors are going to be able to use all of the evidence that they found during that search, whether it relates to the lobbying violation or any other crime. So they're going to have a lot of evidence to go through from those cell phones. They're going to be able to follow that evidence wherever it may take them.

ACOSTA: And this -- I think this is a very key question in all this. Can Rudy Giuliani claim that evidence of his communications with Donald Trump is protected by attorney-client privilege? Is that likely to succeed?

HONIG: Yes, he can claim that and there will be procedures in place to protect the attorney-client privilege. So what they'll do is prosecutors will send out a separate team called the wall team. That's not part of the prosecution. They will first review any evidence to decide whether it's actually legitimate attorney-client privilege between Rudy and Donald Trump, or any other client.

If it is privileged, they will hold it back and that information will never make its way to the prosecution team, but everything that's not privileged will go over to the prosecution team. Rudy will be able to challenge those assertions. Michael Cohen had a similar process. He challenged them with very, very little success, it's worth noting.

And finally, remember, if the communication relates to an ongoing crime, the commission of a crime, it is not privileged. Prosecutors will be able to use that in any case they may want to file.

ACOSTA: All right, Elie Honig, all interesting. We'll see if Rudy Giuliani is watching and we'll have you back next week. We'll see you soon. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

Up next, with more than 30 percent of Americans now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, there is a new indication that life is inching closer to normalcy. Hint, you will need your passport.

And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:49]

ACOSTA: ACOSTA: The CDC today reporting an enormous and encouraging number in the battle against the coronavirus. As of today, more than 243 million doses of COVID vaccine have been administered across the country. The CDC also reporting that 31 percent of the total U.S. population is now fully vaccinated.

And joining me now CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Dr. Reiner, let's talk about this tweet you put out earlier today. I thought it was very interesting. "If you've reliably worn a mask over the horrible last 14 months, you've shown your patriotism. And now if you've gotten vaccinated, you've shown that patriotism once again. Go for a walk today, take your mask off, lift your face to the sun, and say a small prayer of thanks."

I can say, I have done that myself. You tweeted this selfie a few days ago with the words, "Vax on, mask off. That's how it works." More power to you, Dr. Reiner. I think that's terrific. I've been running without a mask on since getting double vaccinated. I think, you know, it's totally fine.

You believe getting vaccinated is a patriotic duty. But a poll shows -- let me show you this real quick before getting your take on all this. Roughly a quarter of U.S. adults say no way, they will not get any coronavirus vaccine. So what's it going to take to get these people on board? And why was it so important for you to tweet that message and show yourself out there?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, thanks, Jim. Thanks for having me. Look, science and this pandemic have been so severely politicized that, you know, masks now have become sort of a symbol of party affiliation. And when I suggested that if you're vaccinated, it's really safe for you to go out and about without a mask on, it was really attacked.

A lot of people are afraid to take their mask off, they're afraid to being labeled as sort of a party if they're seen in public without a mask. And what I'm trying to say is for the first 12 months of this, you know, horrible experience, our patriotic duty was to wear a mask. That was our only tool to put this pandemic down.

Now that we have these remarkable gifts from God, gifts from science, these vaccines, our patriotic duty is to get vaccinated.

[16:30:02]

That's how we put an end to this, once and for all. And once you are vaccinated, you are remarkably protected. You can go about your life. You can go out to your job without a mask. You can go for a walk. You can go eat inside in a restaurant. You are safe.

The challenge going forward, as you said, is to convince the folks in this country who are either hesitant or who are deniers. The folks who are hesitant are the people that are basically saying, well, I'm going to wait and see.

The folks, you know, who tend to be on the right side of the political spectrum are not really hesitant. They are deniers. They are denying either the safety of the vaccine or the necessity of the vaccine. And it's -- I don't know how to reach them, unless and until the

people that they trust, like the former president, reaches out to them in a sincere way.

ACOSTA: Yes, something tells me you and me yelling about this, shouting it from the rooftops, --

REINER: No.

ACOSTA: -- may not be as effective as other information sources. You're absolutely right.

And President Biden, I want to ask you about this. He's been pretty diligent, in public anyway, about wearing a mask. This week, he called wearing a mask outside a patriotic responsibility. But after the new CDC guidance, we've heard some health experts wonder if that's kind of going too far with all of this. What do you think?

REINER: Yes. You know, the problem is that, again, you know, as I've been saying this week, we have two countries. We have vaccinated America and we have unvaccinated America. And I'm sure that Dr. Walensky, at the CDC, is just really petrified that if you tell vaccinated America that you can take your mask off and leave it in your car, that no one will wear a mask in this country.

ACOSTA: Right.

REINER: And, you know, the half of this country that are unvaccinated are still very much susceptible to illness. One thing that I will (INAUDIBLE) who haven't been vaccinated. Right now, we're averaging between 600 and 700 deaths per day, which is a lot better than where we were in January. Every single one of those people is un -- you know, were unvaccinated.

There have been literally just a handful of people who have died after being thoroughly vaccinated. Every person who continues to die, and there are still several hundred, are unvaccinated. That should really tell you all you need to know, if you're wavering about whether to get a vaccine or not.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, I mean, I think it's absolutely necessary. It's critical for everybody to go out there and get their vaccine. And, as you say, it's a patriotic duty. It's also kind of a ticket to get back to normal and get back out there and enjoy nature, the warm weather and everything. Let's hope people take the advice.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thanks so much for that. We appreciate it, as always. Good talking to you.

And a piece of welcome news that recently came is that the European Union is expected to allow fully-vaccinated Americans to visit this summer, after more than a year-long ban on nonessential travel. I want to bring in Brian Kelly, also known as The Points Guy.

Brian, everybody trusts your advice on travel. What do American tourists need to know if they hope to travel to Europe this summer, in terms of getting in and getting out of E.U. countries? I know a lot of people want to go over to Paris and sit at those cafes and whatnot. What can you tell us?

BRIAN KELLY, FOUNDER, THE POINTS GUY: Well, yes, and it's great news for families as well. So, many people have been separated by COVID. So, it's good news.

But we still don't have all the details yet. But countries like Croatia, Greece are already open. And if you're vaccinated, you don't need to do any pretesting. And that's what the E.U. commissioner said as well. So, we're still waiting on details, but it looks like June should be a go for Spain and France.

I think the big question, now, is the U.K. We haven't heard when the U.K. will open but it's looking good.

ACOSTA: That'll be just something to see. And Delta, this weekend, became the last major airline, I'm a little bummed about this, to lift its capacity limits and start selling middle seats again. Mainly, because I like having those middle seats open. But it was certainly helpful during the pandemic.

What other significant air-travel changes are you seeing, in terms of the in-flight experience? Because it is going to go back to those super-packed airplanes.

KELLY: Yes. And if you're flying, you should not expect an empty plane these days. The TSA screening about 65 percent of passengers from pre- pandemic which is pretty high, considering there's almost no international flights today. So, assume your plane is going to be full.

Also, I highly recommend, eat at home. You know, airports and planes, most airlines, have scaled back their service, so the food is not even that good on the plane anyway.

ACOSTA: Right.

KELLY: But the airlines are now -- Delta is now putting hot meals back on flights. You know, for the last year or so, it's been snack boxes on most airlines. And airlines are now, you know, rolling back service.

But, in general, I recommend take your own snacks when you travel.

ACOSTA: That's great advice. And the CDC says cruise ships may be allowed to start sailing from U.S. ports in mid-July. This was an industry that was badly crippled by the pandemic. It's hard to imagine cruise ships getting back out there again. But do you think the demand for cruises is likely to return by mid-summer?

[16:35:03]

ACOSTA: Can they actually pull this off, do you think?

KELLY: That's a billion-dollar question for the cruise industry. I know cruisers are among the most loyal travelers out there. The bookings for next year are already very strong on most of the major cruise lines.

But, you know, there's a lot they need to do, in order to get those cruises safe. They have to do a bunch of test cruises with, you know, test passengers. There's a lot that is -- needs to happen.

But, you know, a lot of the cruise companies have said, hey, we're not even going to cruise from U.S. ports. We see a lot of cruises out of Bermuda, Barbados. So, you know, right now, it's all on. But I'll be interested as well. And you must be vaccinated to go on any of the cruises that are currently available this summer.

ACOSTA: Yes, I would not do that, unless that were the case. All right, Brian Kelly, thanks so much for coming on. We appreciate it. Good talking to you.

And from Johnny Carson to Jimmy Kimmel, the stories of all your favorite late-night legends are coming to CNN. The story of late-night premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY CARSON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT": Now, don't start anything you can't finish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The laughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hot damn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The joke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hooked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brought all this energy into your room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, this could be a game changer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Johnny Carson was the one that made late-night T.V. important.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT": There's no rules. No one even knows what to expect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything could happen.

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT": Late night became this ritual.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just felt like one big party.

FALLON: It's electric.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's part of American culture.

JAMES CORDEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT": You really realize the power of these shows to inform and to uplift. [16:36:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Right now, in North Carolina, the family of Andrew Brown Jr. and community activists are speaking to a crowd as they prepare for tomorrow's funeral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: No good cops in a racist system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No good cops in a racist system.

CROWD: No good cops in a racist system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No to the racist system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Brown was fatally shot last month by deputies trying to execute a warrant. Protesters have since demanded body cam footage of the shooting be released, but a judge ruled it will not be made public until authorities finish their investigation.

And CNN's Natasha Chen joins us now from Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Natasha, what are you seeing there?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, right now, the protesters have marched around the city, and they've stopped outside the Pasquotank County Public Safety building which has been the center of so much action, in the past week or so, since Andrew Brown's killing. This is where the family has held press conferences. The building behind us is where the family went in to view body camera footage, which turned out to be 20 seconds long.

And now, I'm going to step aside, so you can see that there are representatives of the family speaking at the moment. We've heard from Andrew Brown's son, earlier today, as well as his son's mother.

And a lot of the people here are really, as you can imagine, very disturbed by the fact that there has been little transparency, as far as video goes, in this case. They are chanting, you know, release the video. The whole video. The real video. Because what the family saw was redacted. Some of the faces in the video were blurred.

And I want to share a bit of what family attorney, Harry Daniels, told us earlier on the air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY DANIELS, ATTORNEY: We are fighting for accountability and transparency. What the district attorney does in a case. What he would do if the prosecution. That's up to him, as a district attorney. But if it's an unjustified shooting, killing, murder, execution, whatever they want to call it, justice needs to take place. This is a dawn of a new day. This is a George Floyd era and we're answering for the people who took in an oath to uphold their oath to prosecute all (INAUDIBLE), no matter where (INAUDIBLE.) So, we are very hopeful accountability will take place in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And the marches have been happening continuously for many, many days. And today's crowd is a bit larger. And what we've seen are families bringing their small children out. In fact, I took some video of this five-year-old girl, Jordan Coffey, who was leading some of the chants on the megaphone. So, children are being brought by their parents, really being educated about what it is they're fighting for, for transparency in this case.

And as far as the video goes, you mentioned that a judge had denied for the request for the video to be released publicly right now. The judge did say it was OK for the family to view more of the body camera footage, but it's unclear exactly when that's going to happen.

So, what they're all asking for here seems pretty straight forward, but it can be pretty complicated to have that accomplished -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, in that video you were just showing a few moments ago of that little girl who was marching, I think that's extraordinary, Natasha. Can you talk about that a little bit more, what this little girl was saying? I think it's interesting that a lot of parents are passing these lessons on to their kids. That they shouldn't tolerate this either. That they should be speaking up, too.

CHEN: Right. Well, I noticed that she was walking along and her mother was encouraging her to do these chants. Some of the chants that you've probably heard at a lot of Black Lives Matter protests in the past.

And then, the leaders of the group saw her doing that and gave her the megaphone. Led her to the front of the line. And her -- I assume it's her mother. She said, you know, get angry. You know, she was telling her little girl to use her voice, to speak loudly. And that was quite a moment.

[16:45:00]

CHEN: A lot of people following along with her.

And I should mention that one of the stops that they made was at the home of Andrew Brown, where he was shot and killed. And the entire family stood in front of a new mural that was painted on a wall, including Andrew Brown's very young daughter, who was wearing a T- shirt, on the back of it saying in memory of her dad -- Jim.

ACOSTA: A lot of pain in that community. A lot of growing calls for change. Natasha Chen, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

Coming up, the power of propaganda. How a big lie, the big lie about the election is now the basis for new state laws all across the country. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:00]

ACOSTA: And an update on our breaking news out of California. We told you about this at the top of the hour. Two people have died and 23 people have been taken to hospitals, after a boat overturned off San Diego's coast. You are seeing some new pictures now just coming in. We got this video from the scene earlier today.

First responders pulled multiple people from the water. As you can see, they're using all kinds of watercraft to carry out this operation. Officials in San Diego, we should note, will be holding a press conference at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, so we'll be monitoring that. We're going to continue to stay on top of this, bring you the latest as this comes in.

And propaganda as policy. Turning back to Trump's big lie about how the election was won by Joe Biden, not by Donald Trump. But that big lie is now the basis for dozens of state laws restricting access to the ballot. Here is Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is stunning. It's depressing.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a simple question. A matter of fact, not opinion. Did Biden legitimately win enough votes for the presidency?

KING: Three in 10 Americans say, no.

STELTER: CNN's new polling by SSRS, showing the blistering damage of the big lie. Damage led by the former president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ran two elections. I won them both.

STELTER: These lies are now being turned into policy. With Republicans pushing bills in state legislatures, it would make it harder for some to vote. And with pro-Trump officials in Arizona holding a baffling recount.

KATIE HOBBS, SECRETARY OF STATE, ARIZONA: This is just an exercise to perpetuate the big lie.

STELTER: It is lying as the new normal. Lying as the basis for political warfare. When you start to look around, you can see that lying is the scar tissue, connecting almost every story in the news.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST, "THE LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW", FOX NEWS: The Virginia Department of Education is taking steps to abolish advanced degrees for gifted students. Now, why? Because they're worried students who excel aren't diverse enough.

STALTZER: No, "The Washington Post" said, that's not true. Neither is this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: However, they're being given a book. Everyone is being given a copy, apparently, of Vice President Kamala Harris' book.

STALTZER: That nonsense about the V.P.'s book at migrant shelters started in "The New York Post" newspaper, and a reporter resigned over it. You can't help but notice how many of these nonstories start in right-wing media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say good-bye to your burgers, if you want to sign up for the Biden climate agenda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To cut our red meat. He wants to cut out 90 percent of the red meat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No burgers on July 4th.

STELTER: Cut it. Cut it. It's all a lie. Yet, even after it was debunked, the House GOP leader tried it again.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: He wants to control of your life. He's going to control how much meat you can eat. Can you imagine that?

STELTER: Can you imagine lying with abandon? That is the big question all of this raises. When did this form of cheating, cheating the truth, become so common? Did Donald Trump unlock something that's now everywhere? There's COVID misinformation, vaccine misinformation and so much B.S. about Biden, it's hard to keep track.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fake Biden speech.

STELTER: Lin Wood, an attorney who fought for Trump in court, is now running for office in South Carolina. And he keeps implying that Trump is still the real president.

LIN WOOD, ATTORNEY: Don't be fooled. Joe Biden never got more than two percent of a vote in his life.

STELTER: Don't be fooled, he says, while trying to fool all of these people. Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: And now, to England. Hundreds of Manchester United fans there stormed the stadium and pitch at today's match against Liverpool. And, no, this isn't some post-game celebration. This happened before the match.

Man United supporters were protesting the club's U.S. owners and their attempt to join a European super league last month, which was called off within 48 hours after fans revolted. Today's game has been postponed.

And as the vaccine rollout continues and parts of the U.S. loosen restrictions in some community school re-openings are still in flux. As a result, many parents remain in a difficult position. Who will supervise their children, while they're returning to work?

That's where CNN Hero Jennifer Maddox steps in. She's turned her after-school center, on Chicago's South Side, into a remote learning hub to provide students with the support they need and give families peace of mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER MADDOX, FOUNDER, FUTURE TIES: We don't want them to make the choice. Me earning a living versus my child getting an education. What type of a choice is that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

MADDOX: If they have to go back to work, we're available for them to bring their kids every day so that they can go to work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That one's yours.

MADDOX: We provide them with a safe space, making sure they are online every morning, on time. Making sure that they are in class.

[16:55:00]

MADDOX: That they're engaged and able to complete their assignments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, very good.

MADDOX: We try to make sure that our doors stayed open. That we were constantly staying involved and connected with the young people, because they were really struggling, trying to cope through COVID.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: To see the full story about Jennifer's work to support kids and their families during the pandemic, go to CNN Heroes.com.

[16:55:32]

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