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Supreme Court Protects Access To Common Abortion Pill For Now; Sudan's Army Agrees To Help Evacuate Some Foreign Nationals; Montana House Refuses To Recognize Transgender Lawmaker For Second Time; Florida Bans Teaching About Gender Identity Through 12th Grade; Seven Miles Of Public Beach Closed After Massive Sewage Spill; Car Thefts Prompt 18 Attorneys General To Recall Hyundai, Kia Models; Activist Killed In Cop City Protest Had 57 Gunshot Wounds. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 22, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:04]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday.

I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

And we begin with the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a critical 11th hour ruling protecting access to a common abortion drug, at least for now.

The high court freezing a lower court's ruling on the drug mifepristone which had placed debilitating restrictions on its usage.

Well, the drug is the predominant method for ending pregnancies in the U.S. widely used for decades taken by millions of women? The decision sets up the most consequential abortion related dispute since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A new appeals process must now play out. A process that could take weeks or even months.

CNN's Ariane De Vogue is following this major decision.

Ariane, the court's brief was left unsigned, and the votes were not disclosed. Why?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Well, you make a really good point here because it really shows what the Supreme Court did. The Biden administration went to the Supreme Court and asked for emergency relief. This lower court had put restrictions on this abortion drug.

The Biden ministrations wanted the Supreme Court to lift those restrictions while the appeals process played out.

So the Supreme Court in that order that you referred to agreed to do so. It did not rule on the merits of whether the FDA had the authority in the first place to approve the drug. It simply said that right now that drug could remain widely available in the states that allow abortion while this appeals process plays out.

So that means that not only is the drug widely available, but the moves that the FDA made in the year since of approval to ease access, those will also remain in place. For instance, you can get the generic, that the drug can be mailed to you. It can be used up to 10 weeks in pregnancy.

All that now will remain in place as this case continued. And as you said it would have taken five justices to grant this emergency relief and we don't know where all the conservative justices were. We only know that Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito they would have ruled against the Biden administration.

So for now, this case returns to a very conservative federal appeals court, which has already said it will hold hearings in May, and it's going to really dig into the issue now. Really look into what we call the merits of the dispute.

Then it will rule and then most likely, Fredricka, this whole thing is going to make its way back to the Supreme Court. But for now, this abortion medication drug is widely available in the states that allow abortions.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ariane De Vogue, thanks so much for that.

All right. The order offers a temporary victory for the Biden administration, which has sought to protect abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. So Kevin what is the president saying today?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the president and his team breathing a sigh of relief this morning. In reality, this is really the best outcome they could have hoped for from the Supreme Court, but at the same time there is -- they are under no illusion. This is not the end of the road.

And what the president did say that he is preparing for quite a lengthy legal road ahead. They're developing various contingencies should this order -- should this drug be restricted further down the line. And now the president in a statement released really just minutes after that decision came out last night.

Said that "As a result of the Supreme Court stay, mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use while we continue this fight in the courts, continue to stand by FDA's evidence based approval of mifepristone. My administration will continue to defend FDA's independent expert authority to review, approve and regulate a wide range of prescription drugs."

Now leading up to this decision, the president and his team had been developing various contingencies should the court had ruled a different way. Those contingencies remain on the table for now, and they will continue to develop them as this continues through the appeals process. But the other important thing that the president said in the statement was he really got at the political aspect of all of this. He said that if Americans believed in the right to abortion that they need to elect lawmakers to congress, who would restore the protections that were included in Roe versus Wade. Of course that was turned down -- struck down by the Supreme Court last year.

Another -- this does get at the very significant political aspects of this. This will remain a central issue as we get into the campaign season.

[11:04:54]

LIPTAK: So as the president's aides remained focused on the public health aspects of this they obviously remain very cognizant of the very salient politics of it as well as this continues to make its way through the courts, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kevin Liptak, keep us posted from the White House. Thanks so much.

All right. Turning now to the escalating crisis in Sudan. The country's army says it will help facilitate the evacuation of diplomats from a number of countries, including the U.S., the U.K., France and China.

More than 400 people dead in just a week of battles as two of Sudan's top generals fight for power. The Pentagon is now deploying additional troops near Sudan to assist with the evacuation, but the State Department has warned that the situation inside the country is too dangerous to evacuate private U.S. citizens.

CNN's Larry Madowo is in Nairobi, Kenya. Larry, where do things stand?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, Fredricka, one country has been able to get its citizens out of Sudan -- that country, Saudi Arabia. They've been able to pull out diplomats and even other countries, citizens of other countries from the Gulf Region.

We've just seen one vessel arrive in Jeddah so that came from Port Sudan in the east of Sudan. But this is supposed to be day two of a three day ceasefire in Sudan that's supposed to be part of coinciding with the Eid holiday at the end of Ramadan.

But even during the cease fire fighting has still been going on, especially the capital Khartoum. Two places where it's mostly concentrated -- around the presidential palace and the general command headquarters. That's where the army headquarters is situated.

And this fighting is still ongoing between the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group and the Sudanese army. So not quite a quiet Edi -- the three day weekend that the ceasefire is supposed to have held so for a lot of people a lot of concern.

But that Sudanese -- evacuation for these Saudis is just the first of a number of countries that are arranging to get their citizens, especially diplomatic staff out of Sudan, the U.K. telling CNN that an evacuation is not imminent. But the U.K. prime ministers held an emergency meeting of what is called the COBRA squad -- COBRA meeting to arrange and talk about this situation.

The U.S. says it's still too dangerous to arrange for a private evacuation of private U.S. citizens out of Khartoum even though there are arrangements in place if it were necessary to evacuate diplomatic staff and to secure the embassy in Khartoum.

I want to play for you, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary talking about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When it comes to Sudan, this is a warning, a level four warning that we provided to them many months ago, basically telling Americans who were there to leave if they could, and also not to travel -- Americans not to travel to Sudan. So we've been very clear on that again. Again, it's not our standard procedure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The U.S. government thinking here and justification is that even in Yemen, in Libya, in Syria, they didn't evacuate private U.S. citizens when those governments were collapsing, and they're not about to do that in Sudan.

But that said the Pentagon has previously said that they're adding additional capabilities in the region in Djibouti, that's right next to Sudan in case they need to evacuate diplomatic staff, but that's still not happening as we speak, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very tenuous.

All right. Larry Madowo, thank you so much.

Let's talk more on all of this -- this escalating crisis. Susan Page is the former U.S. ambassador to South Sudan. She was also the acting permanent representative to the African Union.

Ambassador, so glad you could be with us. So these leaders who had previously worked together to topple the al Bashir regime in 2019 and to orchestrate a military coup back in 2021 are now battling against each other.

What differences do you see? What similarities are there?

SUSAN PAGE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR, SOUTH SUDAN: So thank you very much for having me. Well, first of all, it was actually the civilians who really toppled the Bashir regime and the generals came together basically to sort of take charge of what the civilians had done.

But right now they are fighting for control -- excuse me -- and they don't want the other to be in charge of the situation in Sudan. So each one wants to be the leader and the other doesn't want to have their forces -- the Rapid Support Forces RSF -- to be integrated into the army and to undergo real security sector --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Who could possibly intervene here? Is it going to be up to neighboring countries and their leadership? We already know Saudi Arabia has pulled out its people, might it have a place at the negotiating table to help?

PAGE: Well, there has been ongoing mediation efforts to get to the civilian -- a new regime that would be civilian-led.

The problem is that you have Saudi Arabia, you have UAE, you have the U.S., U.K so you've got the Quad, but you also have neighboring countries -- everyone has slightly different interests in the region, and there's a lot at stake.

[11:09:57]

WHITFIELD: And then how concerned are you about this Russian mercenary group Wagner playing a role here, you know. Where is the armor coming from, where do the finances come from, who has the advantage here in terms of the dueling forces within Sudan?

PAGE: Well it's a little bit different. So the RSF has a lot of men on the ground, and their Headquarters really has been Darfur because they were so heavily-involved in Darfur.

That's where the Russian Wagner group comes in. There have been agreements made. There's -- with gold and the gold trade, which is really quite rampant. And they've got the numbers, but they don't have the firepower that the armed forces have under Burhan and the staff. So the airplanes -- all of that that's the armed forces. And then the men, the numbers but not necessarily trained army are the RSF.

So it's -- it's unclear who will have the upper hand.

WHITFIELD: So what is it going to take?

PAGE: Well I think you know the best thing is, if there can actually be a cessation of hostilities arranged long enough for people to get to safety --

WHITFIELD: Who arranges that?

PAGE: -- well, I mean, there have been lots of calls, you know, very much unanimous calls for a cessation of hostilities, but it hasn't helped. So -- but they have to keep trying. And then they can get to the negotiating table. But the civilians have to be part of that.

WHITFIELD: And thus far 400 people and that's -- those are the numbers that we know -- 400 people have died in just a week's time. What are your greatest concerns about particularly U.S. personnel, citizens who remain there and other you know allied countries, France as I mentioned, the U.K. they have people there and, of course, the citizens of Sudan are in peril as well.

But what are your concerns about the safety, any potential evacuation efforts?

PAGE: Well my biggest concern really is the safety of all civilians -- all citizens, of course. The citizens themselves, the Sudanese are doing amazing work with very little under extremely dangerous circumstances.

Getting people to safety, moving people getting them access to different areas where they can maybe get safe haven or even move outside of the country.

But an evacuation as long as the airport is unsecure, insecure and unsecure, and there's fighting around the airport and the skies, until that is secured, it's virtually impossible to get people out of Khartoum.

Now other areas where there's also fighting going on, and there are local airports there, too, that's a problem. So the most important thing is safety, security, shelter and people being able to get more supplies, get food and water.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever see the potential of this happening? Or did you feel fairly confident that with an independence of Sudan? That perhaps you know it had found its place in securing its people, its borders, and secure it from the same kind of violence and tumult that it experienced when it was North and South Sudan.

PAGE: Well you know, the independence of South Sudan, the part of the problem is ok the Sooth is also involved in helping to secure peace in Sudan. But again if this conflict goes on longer and that brings in the possibility of other countries actually getting involved, again because of their own interests.

And for South Sudan, which borders Sudan, their oil has to go through Sudan's port and Sudan's refineries. So -- and there are other issues with other neighboring countries of Sudan, so it's a really horrifying situation.

WHITFIELD: The rich resources always at the center of conflicts like this.

PAGE: Often.

WHITFIELD: Ambassador Susan Page, such a great pleasure to see you.

PAGE: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much for being here -- for being here in Atlanta.

PAGE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

PAGE: It's my pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Montana's house of representatives is refusing to recognize a transgender lawmaker and calling for her censure after she pleaded with her Republican colleagues to reject a bill that would ban transition care for minors.

Her interview with CNN next.

Plus, a CNN exclusive: Two Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia's Senate runoff in 2021. We'll tell you what was discussed in their text messages.

[11:14:48]

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Police in Utah are looking for the suspects who vandalized the home of state senator Mike Kennedy. The Republican senator shared this image Friday, showing slurs written in graffiti on his garage door. Police say the suspects appear to have targeted him in a possible act of retaliation after he sponsored a bill banning gender transitioning surgical procedures for minors.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Kennedy said, "To those who seek to use violence, vandalism and intimidation to deter me from standing up for what is right let me be clear. You will not succeed. I will not be deterred by your cowardly actions."

And for the second time now, Montana's Republican-controlled house has refused to recognize a transgender lawmaker following comments she made on the house floor earlier this week.

[11:19:45]

WHITFIELD: On Tuesday, Zooey Zephyr was speaking during a floor debate about amendments to a bill that would ban medical care for transgender minors. She said the Montana house should be quote, "ashamed" that the bill is tantamount to torture and that those who vote yes will see blood on their hands.

The Montana Freedom Caucus is now calling for Zephyr's censure for what it calls inappropriate language and they used inaccurate pronouns to describe her.

Zephyr spoke with CNN yesterday about her comments, saying she stands by what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOOEY ZEPHYR (D), MONTANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I was elected on behalf of my constituents to come here and debate bills and have the hard discussions. And I will punch in on every bill that my community would want me to speak on. And what the speaker does with that is up to him.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So let's talk about what you said, because, you know, I think the Montana Freedom Caucus is correct that you tried to -- you tried to shame the legislative body. I'm not judging whether that was right or wrong. But you definitely were. W

Why do you think it is tantamount to torture? Why do you think that lawmakers who vote against allowing trans kids or kids who identify as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth having puberty blockers, for example? Why would that cause there to be blood on their hands?

ZEPHYR: So I know as a trans person, the joy and how we come alive when we are allowed to transition. And I know the pain that comes with not being able to transition.

Also in terms of blood on their hands, I have lost several trans friends to suicide this year. I have had trans family members tell me or trans Montanans and their parents. Tell me about suicide attempts in their family, including one trans teenager who attempted to take her life while watching a hearing on one of these anti trans bills.

That's the impact that this legislation has, and that's why I rose to defend my community and hold the Republicans accountable for their actions.

TAPPER: So obviously, a lot of opposition to the transgender community is rooted in ignorance and bigotry without question. What might you say to somebody who says look, there just isn't enough research on trans kids getting these procedures done, whether it's puberty blockers or, you know a more severe step, such as a sex reassignment surgery. And sometimes it happens every now and then, that somebody regrets it, and we want to make sure that that doesn't happen.

What would your message be to that person?

ZEPHYR: I would say first and foremost, we acknowledge when it comes to other procedures, any other type of medical care. We go with the recommendations of the major medical associations. And every major medical association says that gender affirming care is important. It's life saving for trans people.

And when it comes to people saying, well, if there's some person may regret there may be a detransitioner (ph) down the line. You look at something like knee surgeries that have huge 5 percent regret rate. The regret rate for transitioning is minimal. The regret rate for gender affirming surgeries is less than 1 percent.

This care saves lives. We know it. We know it reduces suicidality. We know the regret rate is minimal because it's important and my community needs access to it.

TAPPER: So in addition to the people, the legislators across the country trying to stop transgender healthcare, the puberty blockers and the like from people under 18. There is also a movement to prevent anyone, including adults. from getting access to that kind of surgery.

And there was an interesting moment in Missouri this week. I'm sure you were focused on Montana. But I don't know if you saw it or not, but the Republican attorney general is trying to make -- trying to make Missouri the first state to restrict transgender health care for adults.

And his own secretary of state, Jay Ashcroft, very conservative Republican said he doesn't support hormone therapies. He doesn't support gender surgeries. But he said, I wouldn't want to be the attorney that tries to defend this ban on adults getting it.

And I thought that was interesting. I wondered if you saw it and what you thought of it.

ZEPHYR: So I think it's important to acknowledge the way in which these attacks have progressed. This -- the attacks on trans rights began with attempts to limit trans athletes in sports and as we're seeing that conversation begin at the federal level as well.

And the folks who want to strip trans people of their rights, as Michael Knowles said, eliminate trans people from public existence entirely, they're not going to stop with a sportsman. Their goal is to create more and more policies that limit trans people's access to the care we need.

And that's why you're seeing some states say youth ban, but they're looking to move the needle and that's why you see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:24:49]

WHITFIELD: All right. Zephyr says no amount of silencing will stop her from standing up for the rights of the transgender community. The Montana house voted Thursday to pass the bill.

All right. Coming up, a CNN exclusive: text messages reveal how Trump operatives sought to use breached voting data to de-certify Georgia's Senate election in 2021. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now to a CNN exclusive.

Newly-revealed text messages show that former president Trump's legal team didn't just try to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Their operatives also tried to impact the Senate race in that state in an effort to keep Republicans in charge.

Jim Penrose, a former NSA official working with Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, to access voting machines in Georgia, wrote a text in January of 2021 to Doug Logan, CEO of Cyber Ninjas a firm that purports to run audits of voting systems.

[11:29:58]

WHITFIELD: And in those messages, the operatives tried to figure out what to do with data obtained from a breached voting machine in rural Georgia and whether that information could be used to decertify the Senate runoff in which Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue. Penrose writes, quote, "Here's the plan. Let's keep this close hold. We only have until Saturday to decide if we are going to use this report to try to decertify the Senate runoff election, or if we hold it for a bigger moment."

With me now to discuss these developments, Michael Zeldin. He is a former federal prosecutor. Michael, great to see you. So --

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: By learning of these texts now what possible laws were broken based on this new reporting?

ZELDIN: Well what we have here is the unauthorized access to this privileged computer data. There is a conspiracy to acquire and improperly distribute that data. There is probably a crime of interfering with the rights of the people of Georgia to have a free and fair election.

And if this -- if this is a series of crimes, a pattern of criminal activity, then it could possibly violate the Georgia RICO statute, which criminalizes a series of criminal activities by the same person or group of persons.

So there's a lot at stake here.

WHITFIELD: So this kind of evidence tells you what about the potential for prosecutors to kind of widen their probe? I think public opinion may have been they were thinking prosecutors were focusing in on a phone call between the secretary of state and a former president.

But now with information like this, what does it say about how wide this investigation maybe getting.

ZELDIN: Well, it is evidence that I think is more damning than that phone call because this is a conspiracy to acquire and they actually did acquire data from voting machines in Georgia, they endeavor to do so in Arizona and in Michigan.

And so this is a broad scheme to interfere with the orderly transfer of power to decertify the Biden win. So this is the type of evidence that doesn't really depend as much on the intent, the criminal state of mind that is required in the phone call conversation.

So I think it's actually stronger evidence for both Georgia prosecutors and federal prosecutors. Remember this is a federal election that's at stake here.

WHITFIELD: And how do you see this potentially being folded into investigations on the federal level with this special counsel investigation?

ZELDIN: Well again. We don't know what Jack Smith is looking at, he's the special counsel. But if the investigation is that these individuals the targets of this investigation, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and others have been reported in the media were endeavoring to prevent the orderly transfer of power and this was part of that scheme in conjunction with the false electors and with the telephone call that you just mentioned, then you have a very broad based conspiracy here to charge people with defrauding the United States, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and that's a serious charge.

WHITFIELD: You see the sharing of information between the Georgia and federal prosecutors.

ZELDIN: Yes I would think so. Or they each will get it independently, but absolutely. I think these are overlapping cases now as it relates to this data breach, the transfer of this data and the conspiracy to use it not only in the presidential election but in the Georgia Senate runoff elections.

WHITFIELD: All right.

ZELDIN: Very troubling stuff.

WHITFIELD: Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. Finish your thought --

ZELDIN: No, no. I'm just -- just say it's very troubling stuff. Even if criminal charges don't come out of this, just the notion that you would engage in a conspiracy to illegally access data from a polling station in rural Georgia and then try to use it somehow to manipulate the outcome of a Senate race in Georgia or the presidential election is just unbelievable, really.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And still unclear if there was a directive. It was -- if it was their idea, those in the, you know, party to the text or if there was a directive from someone else, and of course, you know, following those threads will also change the investigation.

Michael Zeldin --

(CROSSTALK)

ZELDIN: Just one thing to that point, Fred. Exactly because there is reporting that there was an Oval Office meeting at which President Trump was present when the use of this data was discussed. So if that's true, and they can prove that the president was involved in this scheme, that's very direct evidence of his criminal intent.

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Zeldin, thank you so much.

[11:34:58]

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, Florida State Education Board just voted to ban schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to all students, kindergarten through 12th grade.

The president of one of the largest teachers unions from south Florida joining me to discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. More classroom clashes in Florida after the state takes new steps to further a controversial law. This week, the Florida Board of Education expanded the ban on teachers informing students about sexual orientation and gender identity through 12th grade, that far exceeds the law passed last year dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill which had restricted those topics through third grade.

It's just one of several steps Florida has taken as part of Governor DeSantis' anti woke agenda. But critics warn that agenda is already hurting Florida schools.

[11:39:57]

WHITFIELD: Joining us right now is Karla Hernandez Mats. She is the president of the United Teachers of Dade, which represent employees of the fourth largest school district in the country, Miami Dade County.

Karla, good to see you. Welcome.

KARLA HERNANDEZ MATS, PRESIDENT, UNITED TEACHERS OF DADE: Good to see you, Fredricka. My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. So this new policy would mean teachers could be suspended or even have their teaching licenses revoked if they talk about these topics outside of health or reproductive courses.

So what effect do you think that is having on teachers and their students right now?

MATS: Fredricka this is, you know a question that's so important that we talk about this is really having a chilling effect on so many levels. And what it's doing is that it is really dismantling public education.

And so you know, we know that Governor DeSantis is hateful and vindictive, and this is retaliatory for so many reasons. I mean, he bans books. He removes African American studies, right. This is part of what he's doing to gain national attention.

And we know that he's also attacking Disney, so Floridians are not surprised that he's attacking this vulnerable population. But what it does is this is part of his relentless crusade to privatize public education. He just passed this bill HB-1, which opens the floodgates on vouchers, and he's privatizing our schools. He doesn't want children to have access. He doesn't want to have children -- for children to get, you know, high quality public education.

And so he's doing all these things to push back on people, and we've even seen it with his law that he's trying to pass as well. That is a union busting bill. He doesn't care about workers. He doesn't care about our rights, and he's trying to take away people's rights in the state of Florida.

And this is how he does it. He attacks teachers. He attacks vulnerable communities and he attacks public education. WHITFIELD: So Karla, I wonder what are teachers telling you, because I

mean, who doesn't you know, remember, you know, while in the classroom sometimes lessons take a turn right because of a thought or a question, an inquiry that a student might make and what are teachers now saying about how they handle, you know, when, when a student has an inquiry, you know, that is any that encroaches on any of these topics that now have restrictions.

How has it changed the mood? The tenor, the feeling in their classroom between teacher and students.

MATS: You know, every teacher works really hard to make sure that all children no matter their race, their gender, their nationality, their income level that they all receive access to high quality education in a safe learning environment.

And so what this is doing -- this is dismantling this. this premise that teachers have these classroom environments that are welcome, that are welcoming. You know, we, believe in the Socratic method of teaching and we want to ask questions, and we want children to also or our students to ask us questions as well.

And so what we know, even with these book bans, it is creating a chilling effect where teachers are now scared to talk about authentic real history to talk about real issues that are happening in our community, and so what it's doing, it's watering down education. It's dumbing down education. It's also privatizing education and, of course, it's vilifying certain communities.

Again, we know that he's out for a run, but what he's doing is that he's attacking the most vulnerable people. He's attacking children. He's attacking teachers, he's dismantling public education, and that's not what Floridians want.

This is the most restrictive government that we've ever been a part of that we've ever witnessed and it's fascism.

WHITFIELD: Governor DeSantis talked about, you know this expanded policy while speaking in South Carolina this week, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVENOR RON DESANTIS (R-FL): It is wrong to tell a second grader that they were born in the wrong body. It is wrong to teach kids they can change their gender. And in Florida, we've made sure that gender ideology has no place in our K through 12 schools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So I know you've had dialogue with the teachers. What about the students? Are you hearing from them about that?

MATS: Well, number one. This is just is evidence of how he disparages and vilifies educators the most noble profession in the world in existence. There is no evidence that any of that is actually happening. He's lying, because if you look at state statute and what has occurred for the past 20 years, Florida has been under Republican control.

That means that the board of education the Department of Education in the state of Florida has had every curriculum every standard, everything has been approved by the GOP. So if he has problems, and he thinks that that's what's happening, that means that they have been allowing it to happen.

[11:44:58]

MATS: Teachers are here to teach. They want to teach with authenticity. They want to teach truth. They want to make sure that children are cared for and welcomed regardless of their status, their gender identity, anything, they just want to make sure that children are supported and that they reach their highest potential.

And for him to try to vilify and say false things about educators just shows how hateful he is, how he's trying to destroy public education, and how he's hurting people.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Karla Hernandez- Mats, so glad you were able to join us. Thank you so much.

MATS: Thank you, Fredricka.

All right. Still ahead, a viral social media trend has put an alarming spotlight on how easy it is to steal certain Hyundai or Kia cars. And now officials from 17 states and the District of Columbia want them recalled. What the companies are saying next.

[11:45:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Not a day at the beach today because right now seven miles of public beach in southern California are closed after 250,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Los Angeles River. Sanitation officials say an equipment malfunction caused a blockage that led to an overflow of sewage and that sewage eventually reached the city of Long Beach, prompting the closures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't enjoy the water. You can't jump in. You can't swim in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Crews says they finished their first round of cleanup yesterday. Officials have not said when the beach will reopen.

And attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia urging a federal recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles, citing an alarming wave of thefts in the last few years, and this affects millions of vehicles built between 2011 and 2022 that don't have electronic immobilizers leaving ignition switches that are easy to bypass.

Stealing those cars actually became a viral challenge on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes I see. They tried to steal my Kia, bro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They busted out the back window and then they broke off the locking mechanism to be able to actually steal it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval live for us in New York. So what has been the response from Kia and Hyundai about this recall.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Hyundai Fred, responding, saying that the vehicles in question that they are fully compliant with anti theft practices. Meanwhile you also have Kia. They have added that they are continuing to roll out upgrades, software upgrades for the vehicles for their customers, as well as even sending out steering wheel locks for impacted owners at no cost.

So you are getting a level of reaction from these manufacturers. But really, let's remind viewers how all of this started this week when attorneys general in 17 states in addition to the District of Columbia as well. So you have 18, sort of top cops in jurisdictions asking the federal government to issue a recall saying that these two vehicle manufacturers have failed to respond in the face of an alarming increase in vehicle thefts throughout the country.

Really just pick your jurisdiction Fred, just in Los Angeles alone an 85 percent increase in the theft of these cars and what these authorities are arguing in their letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is they are, they say that certain vehicle models manufactured between 2011 and 2022, whose easily bypassed ignition switches and lack of engine immobilizers make them particularly vulnerable to theft.

Let's get a little bit more specific here. According to that letter vehicles such as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson as well as the Kia Forte and Sportage when equipped -- when equipped with turnkey ignitions are roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of a similar age. We're talking about those vehicles that don't have that typical push button ignition.

And that's what's concerning for officials here, especially with this TikTok trend that has led to vehicle thefts and especially young people, stealing these vehicles recording themselves doing so, going on joy rides. And that is what's leading to some accidents that have claimed at least eight live.

So certainly concerning for jurisdictions and concerning for close to 8.3. million -- or the owners of that many vehicles, Fred.

WHITFIELD: These are popular cars. SANDOVAL: They certainly are, they're all over the streets. At least

3.8 million Hyundais and 4.5 million Kias could potentially be affected by this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. In this quick programming reminder, "EVA LONGORIA: EXPLORERS JALISCO", the birthplace of modern Mexican culture.

Watch a new "EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR MEXICO" tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:54:02]

WHITFIELD: All right. New details now about an environmental activist who was shot and killed while protesting the police training facility known as Cop City in Atlanta.

Manuel Teran sustained at least 57 gunshot wounds, according to an official autopsy report from the county medical examiner's office. Police claimed the activists had fired a gun. But the report noted that there was no gunshot residue on his hands.

CNN's Nick Valencia takes a closer look at the case.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the results of Manuel Teran's autopsy are only fueling speculation among his friends and family that Teran was unjustifiably shot and killed by police during a January clearing operation at the site of a proposed police and fire training facility, known by its critics as Cop City.

The medical examiner report notes that there was no gun powder found on Teran's hands, despite claims by police that Teran opened fire on those that were doing that clearing operation. The medical examiner does note, though, that they did have a test done to see if there was trace amounts of gunpowder on Teran's hands, but investigators declined to share the results of that test to CNN.

The GBI has said that a nine millimeter handgun registered to Teran was discovered at the site and then a projectile that injured a Georgia state trooper matched the gun that was registered to Teran.

[11:59:52]

VALENCIA: But protesters after this official autopsy say that their narrative and claims that the officer or the trooper rather was injured by friendly fire is more likely what happened.