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Rally In Memphis For Expelled TN Democrat Justin Pearson; Sen. Scott Campaigns In Iowa After Launching Exploratory Bid; White House Warning About "Tranq Dope"; The Impact Of "Tranq Dope" On People In Philadelphia. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired April 12, 2023 - 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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[13:30:25]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: The backlash to the backlash has not let up in Tennessee. Right now, in Memphis, a rally is underway to support the expelled state lawmaker, Justin Pearson.
He was one of three Democrats who faced expulsion from the Republican- dominated State House after they protested for gun reform in the chamber.
And last week, the GOP super majority voted to kick Pearson and Justin Jones out of their seat.
So on Monday, Jones was voted back into his seat, a temporary measure until a special election can be held.
And in the next hour, we'll find out if Democrats can make it a two for two, a vote to give Pearson his job back on his -- back on the docket in Shelby County.
CNN's Ryan Young is right there at the rally in Memphis right now.
So, Ryan, what are you hearing amidst the crowd and the people who decided to come out and rally today?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Abby, a lot of energy that's behind all this. They are speaking right out there now. The Tennessee Three just finished talking.
You can feel how big this crowd is. This crowd plans to march all the way to the Shelby County commission meeting where they all plan to sit inside and try to push Justin Pearson back in.
I'm talking to people who live in this area. They believe Justin Pearson will get his seat back.
This protest has lasted a little longer than what they expected. They're now going to march that mile to that commission meetings, so hopefully to get Pearson back in.
Then the plan is to take it either by FedEx or by hand back to the state capital so we can have the swearing in moment again on the state capitol steps.
Abby, this has played out so unbelievably, in terms of the rocket that these two young men have been on since this vote happened.
You had the vice president show up here. You've had leaders from across the country talk about this movement. And then you had the governor of the state calling for common-sense gun laws.
In the entire time, the push has -- pushed this crowd into being a multi-generational, multi-colored sort of combination of people. And now you're hearing folks talking about trying to vote to change the supermajority.
All this. Abby, happening at a very historic place. This is the Lorraine Motel and, of course, with where Dr. king was killed.
So the march is getting ready to start. We're going to walk up. In the next half hour or so, maybe even the next hour, we'll find out whether Justin Pearson will get his seat back -- Abby?
PHILLIP: All right. We'll be watching.
Ryan Young, thank you very much.
And turning to politics now, Senator Tim Scott is in Iowa today, meeting with families that homeschool their kids.
That is notable because, earlier today, the Republican lawmaker launched a presidential exploratory committee, moving one step closer to formally entering the race for the 2024 Republican nomination.
And in his announcement video, Scott said that he will not back down from defending conservative values.
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SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): I know America is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. I know it because I've lived it. That's why it pains my soul to see the Biden liberals attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And joining us now is CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.
So, Scott, you heard there in that video Senator Scott, Tim Scott, talking about how America is the land of opportunity, not the land of oppression. That really stood out to me.
Also because he's standing at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the sight of where the Civil War first shots were fired. And he mentioned that in the first words of that statement.
What do you make of that choice, positioning himself on this issue of race in a party that I think you would agree, is still predominantly white?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Tim Scott is one of the most relentlessly optimistic people in politics. Certainly, in the Republican party.
He always describes the United States as a land of opportunity. He calls the Republicans, the GOP, the Grand Opportunity Party. That's his disposition.
And it's really going to, I think to your point, stand out in this field where you've got other candidates who are constantly describing America in sort of apocalyptic tones.
Where Scott comes from, though, given where he started, and given -- you know, he always says he went to from cotton to Congress in one generation given where his grandfather started and then where he is wound up.
And then given the fact that he was raised by a single mother, given the fact that he credits getting on track with his education as turning his life around.
And it's his life story that I think sort of informs this narrative about America being a land of opportunity.
And that's why Republicans love Tim Scott. He's inspiring. He has great communications abilities. He's a great retail politician. He's beloved in his home state.
[13:35:02]
So, you know, I think he starts pretty low in the polls, but he's got all the skills and the life story and sort of that candidates something to make a go of it.
And I'm glad he's in the race. I think it's good for American politics.
PHILLIP: Well, if he officially gets in, which I think we expect that he will, he would be running against another South Carolinian, Nikki Haley, also from a diverse background.
They're both from -- from the state of South Carolina. Also both trying to carve out a kind of sensible Republican lane. Can they both occupy that lane going into 2024?
JENNINGS: Well, I think, when you look at lanes in this primary, there's really only two. There's Trump and then there's everybody else.
And right now, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and all the other names are in the everybody else, along with Ron DeSantis. And there's no question that Ron DeSantis is in a different polling universe right now than Senator Scott or Governor Haley or anyone else.
So I think what the people in that other bucket are trying to do is emerge as the one.
The one thing that's true is that fragmentation -- if Scott and Haley and DeSantis and Pence and Pompeo, Asa, and all these people stay in for a long time, that kind of fragmentation wi8ll almost guarantee Donald Trump the nomination.
He's already going to be difficult to beat, even if it ever gets down to a one-on-one contest. So I think that other bucket, the non-Trump bucket, they've got to get down to one person.
And you look, Tim Scott has the kind of message in candidate skills to make a go of it. But again, Ron DeSantis right now, in that bucket, is, by far and away, the leader of it.
But that's what campaigns are for, to see who can rise up over a period of time.
PHILLIP: All right, we've got five candidates, potentially, more or less in the field right now. We'll see how big it grows.
Scott Jennings, thank you very much for all of that.
And up next for us, a new warning today from the White House about a dangerous new opioid hitting American streets. What Biden's drug czar just told CNN about "Tranq dope."
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PHILLIP: The White House is sounding the alarm over a frightening new substance being called "Tranq dope." It's a Fentanyl laced with an animal tranquilizer.
And this is the first time that any administration has declared an illicit substance and emerging threat in this manner.
CNN's health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, just talked to the White House's drugs czar about this.
So, Jacqueline, what did he tell you?
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Abby, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the nation's drug czar, told me that we are now seeing Fentanyl laced with the tranquilizer Xylazine in almost all 50 states.
And by declaring this an emerging threat, that means the administration will have a national response ready in the next 90 days.
It means that the president's $46 billion drug budget that he proposed to Congress, some of that could be used to take a closer look into the role Xylazine is playing in the opioid crisis.
And Dr. Gupta also told me that, right now, while we're looking at Xylazine, there could be other contaminants out there. Have a listen.
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DR. RAHUL GUPTA, WHITE HOUSE DRUG CZAR: Xylazine is one of the contaminants in Fentanyl. But there could be others.
So I think with declaration of emerging threat, we're sending a clear message to producers and traffickers of illicit Xylazine and illicit Fentanyl that we're going to respond quickly.
We're going to match the challenge of the evolution of these drugs supply. And then we're going to protect lives first and foremost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD: And, Abby, just last year, Xylazine was in 23 percent of Fentanyl powder, 7 percent of Fentanyl pills, according to the DEA.
So this is something that we're watching closely. And it's on the rise. So we can expect to hear more from the White House in the coming days -- Abby?
PHILLIP: Yes. Very disturbing there.
Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much.
Now combining this tranquilizer with Fentanyl complicates an already very dangerous situation.
CNN's Elle Reeve took to the streets of Philadelphia to learn more about the impact of this Tranq dope on people there.
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NICK GALLAGHER, FORMER "TRANQ DOPE" USER: Of course, it is bad. I don't know I did. I was one of the first victims out here with this kind of shit.
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The opioid crisis has been going on for a long time. But in Philly, the problem has shifted. Most of the street Fentanyl supply is cut with an animal tranquilizer called xylazine or Tranq.
GALLAGHER: To be honest, I've already noticed the change, was just horrible, wasn't doing anything for me anymore. You build a tolerance for everything eventually.
REEVE (on-camera): Yes.
GALLAGHER: And then I started going Tranq and heroin disappeared altogether. They made it cheaper and easier to get, not just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and killing everybody.
REEVE: Does Tranq give you the same feeling that Fentanyl would?
GALLAGHER: No. Get warm and fuzzy from Fentanyl. Tranq puts us sleep.
REEVE (voice-over): Tranq was found in over 90 percent of the dope samples tested in Philadelphia. And it's spreading to other cities on the East Coast. In 2021, it was detected in 34 percent of overdose deaths in Philadelphia.
Users did not want xylazine, but now they're addicted to it.
(on-camera): OK, so someone told me you're a real O.G. out here. What does that mean?
(LAUGHTER)
JENNIFER BARG: Original gangster. OK, yes, I've been out here for a long time. I -- a lot of people know me.
REEVE: So you've been here when, like Tranq started being in the supply, right?
BARG: Absolutely, yes. I've seen the whole transition go from real heroin to Tranq and (INAUDIBLE), and it really changed a lot of people's habits, lifestyles.
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REEVE (voice-over): Xylazine is a powerful sedative, not approved for use in humans. It can cause users to be motionless for hours, even days. It also causes skin wounds that won't heal and that can become necrotic. Doctors don't yet know why.
GALLAGHER: They removed seven pounds of flesh and a liter and a half puss. It's been open for 21 months. That's how horrible was Tranq could have. Whether or not your body heal.
REEVE: In Kensington, the main avenue runs under the elevated train. And on many of the corners, you can buy drugs.
On the side streets and in the park, people without homes live and sleep and use illegal drugs.
SARAH LAURELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAVAGE SISTERS: Hey, what's up, Pop? Did you want to get on the list?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
REEVE: A Percocet prescription led to Sarah Laurell getting addicted to heroin and living on the street.
When she got sober, she created Savage Sisters, a harm reduction organization that offers showers and nurses to treat people's wounds.
LAURELL: Shower, wound care? Both or just shower?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both.
LAURELL: Everybody knows about Kensington. It's a tourist location for drugs.
REEVE (on camera): A couple of people mentioned that people will come down here for the weekend and never leave.
LAURELL: You just get stuck. Why go home?
JAMES SHERMAN, DIRECTOR OF MEN'S PROGRAMS, SAVAGE SISTERS: This is McPherson Square Park, but we call it Needle Park.
REEVE: Why?
SHERMAN: Everybody shoots up here. There's a lot of syringes left around.
REEVE (voice-over): One day, in 2019, a friend drove James Sherman to Kensington to buy Fentanyl, and he never came back to the car. He spent two years homeless, 18 months of them in this park.
SHERMAN: Well, I had two hustles. I don't know if one is necessarily appropriate to talk about a camera, but it's like hitting people. You know, people that are injecting. If they're not good at themselves, they need, you know, what we call a hitter.
And then my second one is what we call a runner. Somebody comes down from the county and they want to know where the good stuff is. You know, some people would say, hey, I need -- I want a bag of coke, but like, I don't want that subs (ph).
REEVE (on-camera): Yes.
SHERMAN: Or, you know, somebody would say, hey, I want Tranq, but I want a little bit of Fentanyl. And I would just know that from being down here. So I said, hey, I'll take it, but, you know, you're going to have to look out for me.
REEVE: Wow. Kind of like a tourist guide?
SHERMAN: Yes, 100 percent like a tourist guide. A middleman of copying drugs, for sure.
REEVE: So now what's the differentiator if Tranqs and everything?
SHERMAN: Well, probably just which ones are heavier with the Tranq, and which ones are least Tranqi.
REEVE (voice-over): The nurses at Savage Sisters use their experience with addiction to care for people who come in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I used to learn that you might be hydrate pains.
REEVE (on-camera): Have people come in here where you're like, dude, you got to go to the hospital?
STEPHANIE KLIPP, NURSE, SAVAGE SISTERS: All the time. It's really hard, scary. You know, you're going to the hospital. Like, are you going to manage my withdrawal? Are you going to manage my pain? Are you going to treat me like, absolutely who uses drugs, stigmatize me and throw me back out?
DR. JOSEPH D'ORAZIO, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN & ADDICTION MEDICINE SPECIALIST, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, PHILADELPHIA: This has made it really difficult for patients to get into recovery. You know, they're so fearful of the withdrawal. They're fearful that the doctors and nurses don't know what Xylazine is.
REEVE (voice-over): Xylazine withdrawal lasts longer than opioid withdrawal, and it can cause intense anxiety.
Doctors don't know the best way to treat it, and they're trying different drugs to see what works.
But D'Orazio warns that cracking down on Tranq will just push dealers to introduce other, more dangerous drugs.
He says what will help is making it easier for users to get health care.
REEVE (on-camera): But how do you do that? How do you make that access to care better?
D'ORAZIO: Better medication. So better ability to manage withdrawal. Creating more housing access. Housing is a major issue in our community. And I think that's something that we're not concentrating on is the prevention of this disorder.
REEVE: And what would that be? More mental health care?
D'ORAZIO: Yes, absolutely.
LAURELL: The same reason that that mom on the main line reaches for a martini glass at noon is the same reason that I reached for a rig and put a needle in my neck. I was in pain. That's it. I was hurting.
The people that are out here numbing their pain with substances, whether it's heroin, alcohol, cocaine, we need to address the pain. We need to stop isolating the substance and look beyond it.
[13:49:09]
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Philadelphia.
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PHILLIP: President Biden has officially arrived in Ireland. And he is there, in part, to retrace his own family's roots. This is video from just moments ago where the president took a guided tour of the Carlingford Castle.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan is live in Ireland for us.
So, Donie, how's it going?
Oh, I don't think Donie can hear us. But we'll give it a couple more seconds. I think he's gone also from across the pond.
After months of speculation, Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Prince Harry will attend his father King Charles III's court -- King Charles III's coronation next month.
But his wife, Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, will not be by his side. The palace says she'll be staying in the United States with the couple's two children.
And last month, a spokesperson told CNN that the couple had received an invitation to the coronation but had not yet confirmed their attendance.
[13:54:54]
All right, that does it for me here on CNN. But don't go anywhere just yet. There's a lot more news right after this break.
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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And I'm Erica Hill.
[13:59:55]
Just minutes from now, an ousted Tennessee lawmaker may know whether he can actually go back to that job he was elected to do. The voters that needed to reinstate Justin Pearson -- the votes, rather, needed to reinstate Justin Pearson happening this hour.
