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Angry Parents & Students Confront Uvalde School Board, Demand Action; Uvalde Families Demand Gun Reform; New CNN Poll: Voters Split Evenly by Party in Choice for Congress; House GOP Won't Whip Members to Vote Against Same-Sex Marriage Bill; Ricky Martin's Lawyer: Nephew's Allegations "Untrue" & "Disgusting". Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 19, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:13]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Today there's growing demand for action in Uvalde as the shattered Texas community approaches a new school year.
It was emotional and confrontational at last night's three-hour-plus school board meeting where grief, fear, and anger were on full display.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT CROSS, UVALDE VICTIM'S PARENT: You all do not give a damn about our children or us. Stand with us.
(CHEERING)
CROSS: Stand with us or against us, because we ain't going nowhere.
UNIDENTIFIED UVALDE PARENT: My daughter has something to say.
MEHLE QUINTANILLA-TAYLOR, STUDENT: This was the last dress that all my friends saw me on. Most of those kids were my friends, and that's not good. And I don't want to go to your school if you don't have protection.
JAZMIN CAZARES, UVALDE VICTIM'S SISTER & STUDENT: How am I supposed to come back here? I'm going to be a senior. How am I supposed to come back to this school?
What are you guys going to do to make sure I don't have to watch my friends die? What are you going to do to make sure I don't have to wait 77 minutes bleeding out on my classroom floor just like my little sister did?
I know there's nothing you can do to bring my sister back, but maybe, maybe, if you do something to change this, you can prevent the next family from losing their child.
RACHEL MARTINEZ, UVALDE PARENT: You need to clean house. You need to start from zero. Hire experienced, trained officers. My daughter, Lela, is so terrified of the thought of having to return
to school in just a few short weeks that she comes to tears.
VINCENT SALAZAR, UVALDE VICTIM'S GRANDFATHER: I've lost a loved one right here. My only granddaughter. I can hold myself together now because I've done my crying. Now it's time to do my fighting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:35:03]
CABRERA: The last man is the grandfather of 11-year-old victim, Lela Salazar, saying he's done crying, now he's fighting.
CNN's Rosa Flores joins us.
Rosa, this community has been through so much. They are demanding change. What exactly are they asking for?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ana, they are asking for accountability. They are asking for school police chief, Pete Arredondo, to be fired, the firing of the school superintendent.
They want the officers that work at that school district to be fired and replaced with other police officers.
They are also asking for an accounting of the moneys that are being spent by the school district to keep their children safe. During that meeting, they said we want to see the receipts.
They want to make sure the money is allocated in a way that will keep the children in that district safe, something that obviously did not happen on May 24th.
They want to also make sure that these decisions are being made in a transparent fashion.
They are asking for executive session meetings by the school board to be open so that the families of the victims can have a close ear to the decision making that is a key role of the safety and security of the children in this school district.
Now one of the things I have to mention, Ana, there's so much pain, so much hurt in this community, and a lot of it has been because of the changing narratives from the beginning.
And you remember this. From the beginning, there's been so many changing narratives about what happened, what didn't happen, if somebody engaged the shooter, if they didn't engage the shooter.
Well, a few days ago, the mayor of the city of Uvalde released a lot of body camera video that really put everything into perspective because it was on video. It was on body camera video.
Which raises a very serious question: Why did the top executive of the city wait for nearly eight weeks before releasing this video? He could have saved all of this community the pain of those changing
narratives if this video would have been released weeks ago.
So that these families did not have to go through the agonizing wait of trying to figure out what happened in the last moments that their children were alive.
CABRERA: And I'm sure it's just traumatizing them over and over again as information is coming out in drips and drabs and still not a complete story.
I understand you are also hearing growing calls for gun reform. This is Texas.
FLORES: You know, Ana, you are absolutely right. A lot of these families, that is what they are demanding as well. They're demanding gun reform.
They know, at the end of the day, it was a gunman who entered that school with a gun that massacred these children and their teachers. And that's what they're hoping for. They're asking for gun reform.
The governor of the state of Texas -- and this is Texas, like you said -- he issued a statement saying that critical change needs to happen in the state of Texas. And he listed a lot of things he would like to see changed. You know what wasn't there, Ana, on that list? Gun reform.
CABRERA: No surprise.
Rosa Flores, thank you.
[13:38:25]
Just in, brand-new polling by CNN on how Americans feel about the state of political play months before midterms. And here is a hint. Neither party should start celebrating just yet. That's next.
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[13:43:27]
CABRERA: We have brand-new CNN polling out this hour on the midterm elections, and it shows voters closely divided.
Let's bring in CNN political director, David Chalian.
David, walk us through these numbers, first on the choice for Congress.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: As you note, this is a dissatisfied electorate on both sides. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the poll think both Republicans and Democrats in their areas are not addressing the right priorities.
And that gets us to this generic congressional ballot. We asked sort of the choice for Congress, are you more inclined to vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate? Look at this. It's tied, 46 percent to 46 percent.
Now on this score. Democrats tend to pick up seats when they're not tied but actually ahead in this. So Republicans may still feel heartened by this.
But this shows a much closer election than necessarily the political environment would suggest.
Another good piece of news for Republicans in the poll, Ana, take a look at this enthusiasm advantage. Seven points, 35 percent to 28 percent.
And 35 percent of Republican voters in the poll saying they're extremely enthusiastic about voting this midterm. And we've seen that GOP enthusiasm advantage throughout the year.
CABRERA: We know that the president's standing with voters has historically had an impact on his party's midterm performance. How is the president currently doing according to voters?
CHALIAN: Well, Ana, on issue number-one, inflation, it's dismal.
The president's approval rating on the critical issue of inflation is at 25 percent. Seventy-four 74 percent of voters disapprove of how the president is handling that.
[13:45:05]
And 75 percent of Americans say inflation is the thing in the economy that is causing their family the most pain right now. So this is a driving force. And it's a terrible score for Biden.
His overall approval rating stands at a numeric low in CNN polling, 38 percent overall job approval, 62 percent disapprove. This also causes real concern not just in the White House but with Democrats on Capitol Hill.
And take a look, Ana, where that 38 percent stands against his modern- era predecessors at this point in their presidencies. Where is Biden? All the way down here.
Even numerically, one number below Trump at 38 percent compared to where Trump was in 2018 ahead of his first midterms at 39 percent.
But you see that Joe Biden is not stacking up well against his predecessors -- Ana.
CABRERA: David, thanks for that --
CHALIAN: Thanks.
CABRERA: -- sort of snapshot of the state of mind of the American voter right now. Staying in Washington, a source says House Republican leaders are not
planning to whip their members to vote against a bill codifying same- sex marriage nationwide. Meaning, this bill could head to the Senate with bipartisan support.
The legislation is a direct reaction to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas saying a number of privacy rights cases, like the one that legalized same-sex marriage, should be revisited.
And then just days ago, Republican Senator Ted Cruz agreed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our history. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.
In Obergefell, the court said, no, we know better than you guys do. And now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage. I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Let's get to CNN chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, now. He's joining us from Washington.
Manu, are the votes in the Senate there?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's unclear at the moment. I just talked to the Senate Republican whip, John Thune, whose job it is to count votes.
He said, quote, "Hard to say. The votes could be there," he said. He indicated they have not yet reviewed the legislation. Because, at you noted, it is in the House today. The House is expected to pass it by a bipartisan majority.
I'm told by one Republican source that there could be dozens of Republicans that defect and go for it, reflecting how the tide has shifted on this issue.
Particularly, among Republicans who once railed against same-sex marriage but have, for the most part, shied away from the topic.
But they very well could be put on the spot in the Senate if Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, puts the bill on the floor, which he's likely to do so in the coming weeks.
If he does do that, the Republicans are split. Some Republicans, like Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, told me today this is a messaging bill.
And another Republican, Lisa Murkowski, indicated she could support this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I mean, it's obviously settled law right now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You would vote no?
CASSIDY: Again, it's such a silly messaging bill. I'm just not going to address that.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): I have suggested to others that not only would I like to see Roe, Casey and Griswold on contraception codified but I've also made clear my support for gay marriage years ago.
So I will look at what the House is doing and see what that might mean here on the Senate side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now in the aftermath of the abortion decision, and in the runup to the midterms, Republicans -- Democrats are not shying away from those cultural issues.
They are planning to push ahead on another measure as well as soon as this week in the House to essentially assure Americans have access to contraceptives, another issue that we'll see how Republicans come down likely to support it in droves.
But some may have concerns about it. Some may break ranks. On this issue, same-sex marriage, will see a divided Republican conference as well -- Ana?
CABRERA: Manu Raju, thank you for that reporting.
[13:49:12]
We're back in just a moment.
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CABRERA: We have a quick update for you. A jury has just been seated in the contempt of Congress trial of former Trump advisor, Steve Bannon. Opening statements are expected to quickly follow this jury selection.
You'll recall Bannon is charged with two misdemeanor counts related to defying a subpoena from the January 6th Select Committee.
"Untrue" and "disgusting" -- That response today from lawyers representing Ricky Martin, the pop star facing harassment allegations from his adult nephew in Puerto Rico. Martin denies any wrongdoing.
Let's bring in Jean Casarez.
And, Jean, a lot to dig into in this story. Get us all up to speed.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have been speaking with Puerto Rican police officials, and they're telling me that, based on their knowledge, that there was a relationship between a nephew and Ricky Martin.
And, according to what they know, that that relationship ended. Two months later, the nephew went to a judge and, based on the evidence he had, what he told them, got that ex parte order for protection.
I do want to say that there's a question now that is looming as to whether this would be a blood relative or not. It is an adult.
Now, the next thing is that Ricky Martin's attorney, Marty Singer, came out publicly with a statement. We want to show that to everyone.
[13:54:59]
He said, quote, "Ricky Martin has, of course, never been -- and would never be -- involved in any kind of sexual or romantic relationship with his nephew. The idea is not only untrue, it is disgusting."
"We all hope that this man gets the help he so urgently needs. But most of all, we look forward to this awful case being dismissed as soon as a judge gets to look at the facts."
"The allegations against Ricky Martin leading to a protection order are completely false. We are confident that when the true facts come to light in this matter, our client, Ricky Martin, will be fully vindicated."
Now, Ricky Martin went on Twitter, disputing the allegations, and saying that they are "completely false."
"I appreciate the innumerable gestures of solidarity and I receive them with all my heart."
Now, "El Bolsero," which is a very reputable newspaper publication in Puerto Rico, is saying that, from their understanding, the petitioner, which would be the nephew, is saying that Martin was loitering around his home at least three times and he feared for his safety.
Now, next week, there will be a legal proceeding where both sides for the first time are heard, and the judge will then decide whether to dismiss or continue the order.
Ricky Martin and his attorney should be at this proceeding, but I was told by the police they can be there virtually -- Ana?
CABRERA: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you for that.
That does it for us today. We'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place. As always, until then, join me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera. Have a great afternoon.
The news continues right after this.
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