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Biden to Make Passionate Plea For Voting Rights During HBCU Speech; Biden Delivers Commencement Address at South Carolina State University. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 17, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: This morning, President Biden is in South Carolina to make a passionate plea for voting rights. You're seeing live pictures there. That's South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn giving the introduction to the president. Any minute now, the president to deliver the commencement address at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz, she is there. So, tell us what the president's message will be today.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, President Biden plans to use this commencement address as another opportunity to appeal to Congress to take action when it comes to voting rights as voting rights legislation is stalled up on Capitol Hill. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki previewed the speech saying the president would make a passionate case for protecting the right to vote, which she said is under attack across the country by Republican officials.

Now, Republicans up on Capitol Hill have blocked some Democratic-led bills to address issues relating to voting rights. And, recently, there has been this flurry of discussion up on Capitol Hill, also at the White House, about what Congress can do regarding to voting rights legislation. Of course, with Republicans blocking it, it would require at this moment a change to Senate rules.

But the White House officials are very skeptical that this can actually take place as there are still some Democrats who are opposed to changing those Senate rules.

Now, the president here in South Carolina today is also visiting a state that helped turn around his presidential campaign back in 2020. It is his first visit to South Carolina. And this commencement address at South Carolina State University is also a tribute, a way for the president to honor his longtime friend, Congressman Jim Clyburn. 60 years ago, Clyburn received, earned his degree here at this historically black university, but he was unable to walk the stage at his commencement ceremony.

Fast forward 60 years to today, Clyburn asked Biden on the come to the state to deliver this commencement address. The White House saying he will be honoring his friend, as he does it. And, of course, this is also, in a bit of a way, a thank-you, a repayment for that Clyburn endorsement back in 2020, which helped turn his campaign around.

SCIUTTO: Yes. You might say he put him on the path to the nomination. Arlette Saenz there, thank so much.

Some families who have children are with autism are finding hope in cannabis. But that hope can come with some risk. Up next, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me about his CNN special report, Marijuana and Autism.

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[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: Families who have children with autism spectrum disorder have often struggled since there is no FDA-approved drugs to treat the core symptoms of autism. One of the more common and challenging of those symptoms is self-harm and violence.

Now, more parents are turning to marijuana to help their children. Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to some of these families in a CNN special report, Weed 6, Marijuana and Autism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was on a car ride like this when the Zartlers first tried marijuana, rides that before cannabis they never even dreamed of taking because this would happen.

But one day in June of 2009, they had no choice. Kara had an important doctor's appointment five hours away in Galveston, Texas. Christy and Mark decided to try the marijuana brownies that their neighbor had made.

CHRISTY ZARTLER, KARA'S MOTHER: I just gave it to her and she ate it and it was about an hour where she was sitting, no longer rocking, no longer hand slapping, no longer hitting, and she's sitting there and looking out the window and she's looking at me and smiling. It was like a miracle.

GUPTA: I got to see it up close when I went on a drive with them after Kara had a dose of cannabis.

C. ZARTLER: We would never be able to do this.

MARK ZARTLER, KARA'S FATHER: It's an easier life for everybody.

C. ZARTLER: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now. Sanjay, a lot of folks know you have been reporting on medical marijuana for years. Why did you decide to explore this particular use? GUPTA: Well, you know, what has happened when you report on something like this for a decade is that you're talking to researchers and scientists and families all the time. And one thing that happened was when cannabis became permitted for treating seizure disorders. What you found is a lot of those children had signs of autism. And these researchers were coming, saying autism symptoms were improving, if not, going away in a lot of these children as well.

So, they started doing research. And it's interesting because you follow these trials over time, you start to actually see some of this data.

[10:40:02]

People often think of these things as more anecdotal, and we tell the story of a particular girl here, but she's emblematic, Kara is, of so many others, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Tell us how much data is there showing that this effect is broad.

GUPTA: Well, as has often happened in the world of cannabis research, the early data often comes from overseas and oftentimes Israel. So, sometimes -- so we've seen data from Israel now for several years. They've been conducting these trials. And it's challenging with children with autism because you have to blind the trials so they don't know what they're getting. Sometimes they'll take the cannabis medication for a period of time, placebo, and then crossover to make sure the data holds up. But now, we followed a trial out of New York that's been going on for about two, three years now, and several trials out of Southern California at UCSD.

So, we're going to present some of that data, some of which has not been seen before, but it's very interesting to sort of look at not only, you know, what -- if it's working or not but how it might work, how cannabis could potentially impact the brain. And I can tell you it's not just sedating. There's a lot of medications that are very sedating that are often given to these children, powerful psychotropic drugs, but there does appear to be something more that's going on here.

SCIUTTO: It's great work you're doing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: On Sunday, please join Sanjay for a look at how some families with children with autism are finding hope now in cannabis and see how for some that hope does come with risk. This new special report, Weed 6, Marijuana and Autism, begins at 8:00 P.M.

COVID-19 is ravaging the L.A. Rams, taking out at least one third of the team's roster. So, what's the NFL do? We're going to have that, coming up.

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SCIUTTO: Live pictures there from Orangeburg, South Carolina, South Carolina State University, where President Biden delivering the commencement address. Here's what he said a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: A few classes every once in a few generations enter a point in America that actually has a chance to change trajectory of the country. That's not hyperbole. You face that inflection point today. I'm confident you'll meet the moment. You're ready because you're part of a proud and sacred tradition, an HBCU tradition. More than 180 years of excellence. An institution that instills a sense of purpose and commitment to make a difference in all their students, not just lift up yourselves but to lift up others. An institution grounded in the belief that every American of every race, background and ZIP code should have a fair and equal chance to get as far as their God-given talents give them.

Incubators of scholars and educators, advocates and athletes, leaders of industry and entertainment, faith and medicine, arts and science, the molders of trailblazers, visionaries of public servants. You know it. You know better than anyone. HBCU's have helped produce 40 percent of all the black engineers in America, 50 percent of all the black lawyers in America, 70 percent of all the black doctors and dentists in America, and 80 percent of all the black judges in America.

Folks, I see HBCU excellence every single day in my administration, and I'm not an exaggerating. Vice President Harris, my cabinet, Michael Reagan, administrator of the EPA, senior White House staff, staff across my entire administration. Graduates, I'm here to congratulate you but also let you know that your country -- this is not hyperbole -- is counting on you. They're counting on you to change, to turn the dial at a moment we have a chance to do it.

I'm committed to doing everything I can to make real the promise for all Americans, for all of you. That's why my administration has delivered $5 billion so far to HBCUs just this year, just this year. You have more to come. Because there's nothing you're unable to do if you have the product, if you have the laboratories, if you have that a lot of these HBCUs aren't endowed like these other universities.

For South Carolina State, it helped to help clear the balances of more than 2,500 students with student debt, it helped students weather financial hardships from the pandemic and stay in school. It financed -- the residents hold the largest in South Carolina. And that's why we're working to increase, and we will get it done, with Jim's help in the House, Pell grants, another $1,500 so particularly black students and lower-income families can attend community college, four-year schools, and black universities, HBCUs.

[10:50:16]

That's why I'm proposing a historic investment to expand these HBCU programs in high-demand fields like cybersecurity, engineering, and health care. These are the big paying jobs getting out now. But too many, too many HBCUs don't have the laboratories, don't have the capacity. They have the intelligence. They have the intellectual capacity. But they don't have the research in front of them. We're going to create new research and development labs to prepare students for jobs in the future and establish HBCU research hubs all across this nation.

I also re-established the president's board of advisers on HBCUs led by a friend of mine, Dr. Tony Allen, the president of the Delaware State University, as I said, used to work on my staff, to engage the private sector to advance HBCUs. It's beginning to happen. I think your president will tell you.

Vice President Harris is in constant contact with leaders of the Divine 9. I signed an executive order to advance HBCU excellence across administration, in everything from policies to funding. And part of that effort includes recognizing outstanding HBCUs student scholars, like your student government president we just heard from. Congratulations.

But there's always more we can do. We're going the lead the way, just as Jim has led the way. What makes Jim so effective as the highest ranking Southern African-American ever in the House of Representatives is Jim never forgets where he came from. Don't you ever forget where you came from. That's your secret power. You understand, there's no one more effective who knows how to get things done than someone who understands the need to get things done and the people who need it, I mean it, who understands what folks are going through. That's Jim, and that's many of you, and that was me graduating years ago.

With the infrastructure law we just wrote and signed into law and that Jim did so much to pass, we're going to create better jobs for millions of people to rebuild our roads, highways, bridges, cities, small towns, rural communities. It means more opportunities for black businessmen, black contractors, black engineers, building black communities back to where they have to be. And I mean it.

So, if you don't know the community, it's hard to know what it needs. It means every American and every child being able to turn on a faucet and drink clean water because we're going to rip up every lead pipe in America. And something that Jim has really championed. It means everyone should be able to access high-speed internet, urban, suburban, rural.

Graduates, you lived it. No student should have to go to a coffee shop or a fast food restaurant to get the internet so they can do their homework. We're going to make sure it never happens again. This is the United States of America, for God's sake.

And the criminal justice reform, we need it from top to bottom. I believe we need judges who understand the experience of the people where they come from. That's why I'm proud I appointed more black women to the federal bench in the circuit courts and more former public defenders to the bench than any administration in American history. The previous record was three black women in eight years. We've confirmed four in less than eight months, and there's more we can do. There will be lawyers and judges who will be in charge who understand real people and the needs of people.

On police reform, I share the frustration and I know the family well, the George family justice act and policing act. I know the family well. It's not been passed in the Senate. But the fight is not over. Despite Republican obstructionism, we made changes to the federal law enforcement policies that I have the ability to do with the stroke of a pen. The Justice Department has banned chokeholds, restrict nod- knock warrants, required federal agents to wear and activate body cameras. And also is ending the Justice Department use of private prisons, rescinding previous administration requirements that U.S. attorneys seek the harshest penalties. The Justice Department has opened a pattern and practice investigation into systemic misconduct of police departments in Phoenix, Louisville, Minneapolis, Mt. Vernon, New York.

[10:55:00]

But we're just getting started. This administration is going to continue to fight for meaningful police reform in Congress and through additional executive actions. And you'll be our next generation of elected officials, police chiefs, civil rights leaders, leading the way. See what just happened in New York City? First black woman head of the police department.

With my American rescue plan was passed right after historic investment in community policing and violence intervention programs. They're shown to reduce violent crime as much as 60 percent. We don't have to spend less money. We have to spend more money for police to give them the kind of help they genuinely need.

Why is a police officer showing up to suicide threat, someone trying to jump off a building? We need more social workers there. We need more psychologists there. They need help. They're basically good people. Prevent violence in the first place. We're expanding summer programs and job opportunities and other services to keep young people safe and set them up for success. We're helping formerly incarcerated people reenter the communities. Somebody gets out of jail now after serving their time, what do they get? They get a bus ticket and $25 and they end up under the same bridge that got them there in the first place.

So I'm going forward to make sure that everything that's available to anybody else is available to them, notwithstanding the fact they've already served their tomb. We're going to reinstate access to Pell grants, job training, apprenticeships, prudent pathways to a better life.

But we need you. We need you to lead a lot of these efforts. We're also working to stem the flow of firearms and rogue gun dealers to curb epidemics of gun violence in this country. No greater victims than in the black communities. We talk about these massive shootings. Well, guess what? There's a massive shooting every day in urban America, the number of lives that are taken.

But you'll lead the way as community leaders, educators, faith leaders, nonprofit leaders. That's what my daughter is doing right now. She's a social worker. She's heading up Boys & Girls Clubs all across the country. We have got to give people alternatives. We have got to give them a reason to think they can make it.

We're also going to use the federal government's purchasing power for billions of dollars in new opportunities for devastated small businesses including minority-owned small businesses to access government contracts. The goal I've set is 50 percent increase in the number of minority contracts going to minority firms by the year 2025.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Mr. Biden speaking at South Carolina State University, delivering a commencement address there but also making a strong plea, an impassioned plea for his larger political agenda. We're going to continue to cover his speech there. Thanks for joining us today. We hope you have great weekend. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts after a short break.

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