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Police Identify Bomb Suspect near Capitol; Texas Democrats End Effort to Freeze GOP's Voting Bill; Lynsey Addario is Interviewed about Women in Afghanistan; San Francisco's Vaccine Mandate Begins Today. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 20, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:16]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: A man with a history of anti-Democrat rhetoric is now behind bars this morning following an hour's long standoff, a scary one, near the U.S. Capitol during which he claimed to have an explosive device. Police have identified the man as 49- year-old Floyd Ray Robert (ph) of Grover, North Carolina. He had previously said, quote, all Democrats need to step down. That's what (ph) authorities say. His motive this morning is still unclear.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities took the incident seriously. It prompted an evacuation of multiple buildings in the area as police and the FBI responded to the threat.

CNN law enforcement analyst Whitney Wild has been covering it.

Whitney, I mean, one of the things I find most amazing here is he was live streaming on FaceBook like 30 minutes as he was carrying this out. But what more do we know about him and his motive?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is that he's made these past FaceBook posts that indicate he was a Donald Trump supporter, that he said repeatedly he wanted to make a change. And in this -- these videos that he posted, these ramblings that he posted on Thursday, he made a list of statements, including that he didn't care if Donald Trump was ever elected again.

So, in the press conference, at the end of the day, once police had finally been able to apprehend this suspect, they were reluctant to ascribe a political motivation to it. In fact, didn't really describe much of a motivation at all, Jim and Poppy. Instead they said that this person had suffered family trauma -- excuse me. The recent death of his mother may have played a role. Basically suggesting that there were personal challenges he was facing, that were burdening him that day and affecting his emotional state.

However, it's impossible to ignore the political themes here because he made so many political statements in those FaceBook Live videos and in his past posts. Right now law enforcement is still trying to assess what these charges might be. Still trying to assess whatever evidence was recovered from his vehicle. What we know is that this started around 9:15 Thursday when he drove his vehicle up onto the sidewalk, claimed he had a bomb, again, started FaceBook Live videos throughout the morning.

Eventually, though, law enforcement was able to convince him to come out of the vehicle. In the end, they found that he did not have a bomb.

CNN was able to reach out to his son and here's what the son told anyone. Since Biden got elected he's just been like, man, he doesn't change, I reckon. I tried to hill him, who cares what goes on up there in D.C. Worry about what you have -- what you've got down here. I tried to tell him that and he's like, no, I'm sticking up for my country. We need to get the country back to the way that it was.

This highlights a theme that law enforcement has been grappling with, which is trying to find out where the threat lies among people who are sounding off on FaceBook, in addition to recognizing we remain in this heightened threat environment. So those statements made coupled with the fact that he was saying, Jim and Poppy, he had a bomb, elicited this enormous law enforcement response yesterday. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the tactics of domestic extremists.

Whitney Wild, thanks so much.

Well, Texas House Democrats' historic quorum break has come to an unexpected end. Last night at least three additional Democrats returned to the floor clearing the way for Republicans in that state to pass this new restrictive voting legislation.

HARLOW: So this marks the first time the Texas House has reached a quorum, meaning the number they need on the floor to move forward with something. Democrats, as you'll remember, fled the state 38 days ago. That held up legislative business, really all legislative business, in the chamber.

Our national correspondent Dianne Gallagher joins us.

Dianne, good morning. You've been on this story since they fled and covering this legislation far before that. The month long holdout prompted the house speaker to sign arrest warrants for the 52 house Democrats who fled the state. Now three at least are back on the floor. What does this all mean for them and I think much more importantly this bill?

[09:35:03]

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And so, Poppy, Jim, those 52 civil arrest warrants are now cancelled, even though it was just those three additional Democrats who showed up on the floor last night. The statehouse just barely made quorum. They got the exact number they needed with those three new Democrats. Some had already come back after they returned from their trip to Washington, D.C. But this had been this group holdout, because this truly is the only option that the Democrats have to prevent some sort of legislation that will overhaul elections from eventually passing.

We are in the second called special session in the Texas legislature right now. And the governor was pretty adamant about the fact that he was going to keep calling special sessions until the agenda that he set forth passed and it was handled. The Democrats had been in this sort of stalemate, this standoff with the governor. That ended last night.

Now, those three members issued a statement indicating that in part they were prompted by the surge in COVID-19 in the lone star state. They, though, also said that they were proud of what they had accomplished, noting, quote, our efforts were successful and served as the primary catalyst to push Congress to take action on federal voter protection legislation. Now we continue the fight on the house floor.

I can tell you that the Texas Democrats who have not returned have been very upset, noting that already that legislation that passed the Texas senate last week is set to have a public hearing in a committee on Saturday. So it's moving quickly through the Texas house already.

Jim. Poppy.

HARLOW: As it was expected to do.

Dianne, thanks very much for the reporting on this.

Up next, we will speak with the photo journalist who has captured remarkably powerful images like the one you're looking at of Afghan women over the past two decades but now she is calling for action and has written a new piece with a crystal clear message, the Talban's return is catastrophic for women. She joins us.

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[09:41:43]

HARLOW: Women living in Afghanistan saw huge strides of progress in the past two decades after the Taliban fell. They went to school. They worked outside their homes. They trained as police officers and journalists, even elected members of parliament. But now, with the Taliban back in power, the huge question and the critical question is, do these gains evaporate? While the Taliban say they are committed to peace and willing to maintain some rights for women, reports of abuse and human rights violations suffered by women and girls, even in recent days and weeks, are surfacing.

Here is President Biden on protecting women in Afghanistan. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are Afghan women outside the gate. I told them, get them on the planes. Get them out. Get them out. Get their families out if you can.

But here's the deal, George. The idea that we're able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rational. Not rational. Look what's happened to the Uighurs in western China. Look what's happening in other parts of the world. Look what's happening in the Congo. I mean there are a lot of places where women are being subjected.

The way to deal with that is not with a military invasion. The way to deal with that is putting economic, diplomatic and international pressure on them to change their behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, my next guest has been ambushed by the Taliban while hiking with U.S. troops six days in the Corengal (ph) Valley in Afghanistan. The Taliban then surrounded them. She has spent the last 20 years covering women in Afghanistan and has won a Pulitzer for her remarkable work.

Joining me now is Lynsey Addario, photojournalist and author of "It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War."

Lynsey, thank you very much for joining us.

LYNSEY ADDARIO, PHOTOGRAPHER: Hi, Poppy. Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Your images, your pictures say it all, so we're going to show a lot of them as we speak. But, I mean, what you capture is really the inner lives of Afghan women, side by sides of schools in Kandahar in 2001, you know, versus 2010 when they were learning freely in the classroom, dramatic improvement in maternity wards when it comes to maternal health after the Taliban fell, women voting, women becoming police officers, the list goes on -- women wearing makeup, the list goes on and on and on.

Now that you see this fall, this rapid fall, how do you process it as you yourself are working to get your own interpreters, people that worked side by side with you in the country, out of Afghanistan safely?

ADDARIO: I mean, it's really hard to process. I think since Sunday, even Saturday, I've been sort of in overdrive, writing that "Atlantic" piece, trying to get the word out that this is critical. I think that, you know, with every day the window seems to be closing. I think we have been very lucky that the Taliban has even let people get to the gates even though it hasn't been without violence. But that could change. That can change in a minute.

You know, I was just getting a message from my translator that I'm trying desperately to get into the gates and onto a plane and there was a huge explosion. She just said, my house just shook. I mean that was 20 minutes ago. And so how -- it's not only, can we get them a spot on the plane, can we actually get them to the airport, can we get them in the gates?

[09:45:01]

I mean one of them has a two-year-old. They have children. HARLOW: Of course. We saw that image that I think will just really

mark history here and that we will see for decades to come of Afghans passing over an infant to troops on the other side of the Kabul Airport.

You wrote in "The Atlantic," in this piece that was so compelling and really made us want to speak with you, that when the Taliban fell, women quickly proved themselves to be invaluable to the work of rebuilding the country. And you talked about the silence of life under the Taliban that sits with you more than anything.

Do you believe the Taliban is that dramatically different now, or do you expect a return to the same?

ADDARIO: I would love to believe that they're dramatically different. I -- obviously, they are on a great PR campaign. They're trying to show the international community that they have changed, that they will allow women to go to school. But -- I was there. I was there three times when they were in power, in 2000 and 2001, and I saw what it was like for women. I saw firsthand. Women couldn't leave their homes. Educated women stuck at home serving tea and cookies. You know, music was illegal. Television was illegal. All forms of entertainment were illegal. Girls couldn't be educated. Women couldn't be educated. It was devastating. The only women on the streets were widows who were begging because their husbands were dead and they couldn't work.

So that, you know, I don't know. I would love to believe they will allow women to continue working, but we've already heard that a family member of a German press member was killed. We've heard that the Taliban is going knocking door to door. My phone is blowing up with messages waiting for the knock at their door. I mean we need -- we should not have left people like this.

HARLOW: As you covered going back over and over again, I wonder what it was like for you, personally and professionally, and then as you became a mother in the middle of all of it and, you know, I can't even imagine trying to explain this to my children, what was it like for you to see the progress that was made? And did they believe, the women of Afghanistan that you covered so intimately, that this could all reverse course for them?

ADDARIO: No, I think no one wanted to believe that they would ever go back to Taliban rule. It was so beautiful to watch the progress being made. I was there, you know, when the Taliban fell in Kandahar. I went back in 2002. And then 2005, '06, basically I've been back almost every year in the last 20 years. And to see women running for parliament, working as lawyers, working as teachers, really out there in part of the society was incredible.

But I don't think anyone ever imagines in their lifetime that they will go backward. I think everyone always strives to go forward. And so none of these women ever thought they would suddenly be stuck at home. But all of the women I know are too terrified to go outside.

HARLOW: Lynsey Addario, your work is so compelling. It's so important. Thank you for doing it, as you said, year after year after year. We have no doubt you will be back and come back to us and share those messages. Thank you, Lynsey.

ADDARIO: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Just some powerful stories there.

Well, starting today, anyone in San Francisco who wants to eat, drink or exercise indoors must now show proof they're fully vaccinated. Could other cities soon follow suit?

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[09:53:02]

HARLOW: So there is a new vaccine mandate in San Francisco. It takes effect this morning, like what we have here in New York.

SCIUTTO: Exactly. Anyone 12 and older getting inside certain places, such as restaurants and gyms, now requires you showing that, proof of full vaccination.

CNN's Dan Simon, he's live in San Francisco with more on this.

Dan, I mean, businesses, in effect, have to police this. I mean I've been to restaurants in New York, for instance, where they say, hey, show me your card. Is that how it's going to work there?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think so, Jim and Poppy.

You know, this is a city from the very beginning widely embraced, both masks and vaccines. Nearly 80 percent of the population in San Francisco, eligible population, has been fully vaccinated. So all indicators are that people and businesses are ready to fully accept and embrace these new rules.

So now let's go over what these rules are. Businesses need to obtain your vaccine card when you walk into that business. You can either show your physical card or a picture of it.

Now, what businesses are we talking about, bars, restaurants, clubs, theaters and gyms. And, of course, children under the age of 12 are exempt.

Now many restaurants and bars in San Francisco have already done this independently for several weeks. They took it upon themselves to do this. Now, it's a far different thing now to have the city mandating it.

And this is something of the early reaction we've gotten. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF DOWD, BAR PATRON: I think that everybody needs to help each other out and get vaccinated. And this is a really wonderful way to do that. And also we've had to support the bar and restaurant industry for a very long time through the pandemic and it's like the least we can do. NIKKI LOGAN CURRA, BAR PATRON: I think a lot of people are going to have a stink about it but I think a lot of people are going to be really happy that they're in an environment with likeminded people who feel like they're making all the precautions they can to stay safe.

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SIMON: Now, one thing to note here is that employees will have a little bit more time to come into compliance with this, October 13th. The city didn't want to jeopardize jobs so they're giving workers a little bit more time to be fully vaccinated.

[09:55:02]

Now, as you said, New York already has this. But there is one key difference here between New York and San Francisco. New York requiring just one dose, San Francisco, you have to be fully vaccinated.

Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: That's a significant difference. Good point, Dan. Thank you for the reporting.

Speaking of New York, something very special happening here tomorrow night. You'll only see it on CNN. So please join us for the "We Love New York City: The Homecoming Concert." An incredible lineup. It starts tomorrow, 5:00 Eastern, right here exclusively on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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[10:00:06]

HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. So glad you're with us. It's the top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow.