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Supreme Court Protects Access To Abortion Pill For Now; Texts Show Trump Allies Weighed Using Breached GA Voting Data To Keep GOP Hold On Senate In 2021; Ex-Manhattan Prosecutor To Testify Before GOP- Led House Judiciary Committee; Tyre Nichols Family Files Civil Suit Over Police Beating Death; One-On-One With Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump; Some Presidential Hopefuls Hit Iowa Forum To Court Evangelical Voters. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 22, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:53]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're back live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this hour with the Supreme Court opening a new round in the escalating legal battle over abortion. Last night, the high court blocked rulings by lower courts that placed restrictions on the commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone. It has been used by millions of women over the two decades it's been on the market.

The late night decision sends the case back down to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and delivers a temporary victory to those concerned about abortion rights 10 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade.

For 49 years, legalized abortion was the law of the land in the United States. Some states had restrictions on how and when abortions could happen, but federal law protected a woman's right to choose. So how did we get to this point where access to safe legal abortions is being marginalized sometimes by the week?

Isabel Rosales joins us now to look at the timeline. Isabel, what can you tell us. Run it through for us.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this latest SCOTUS ruling keeps things status quo when it comes to abortion medication, but on the ground since the overturning of Roe v. Wade what we have seen is a manifestation of really a patchwork system where abortion policy is left largely to states.

Blue states setting up protection to make abortion available largely available. And red states passing limitations or outright bans against the procedure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Summer of 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson the Supreme Court reverses the constitutional right to an abortion upheld for nearly a half century.

Across the nation, intense backlash and scrutiny follows.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abortion bans are illegitimate. Forced motherhood is illegitimate.

ROSALES: Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court majority, called the original 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling "egregiously wrong". Ripples from the Dobbs decision are felt across the country as so called trigger laws take effect in about a dozen states banning or severely limiting abortion in states like Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma.

Republican-controlled state legislatures race to outlaw the procedure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We won't go back. We won't go back.

ROSALES: Legal fights commenced over abortion access. Some state Supreme Courts, like in South Carolina, step in and block abortion bans. In other states, the highest courts ruled the band's complying with their state constitutions.

Meanwhile others like South Dakota widen the scope passing a law prohibiting the use of telemedicine to administer medication abortion.

Midterm elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have to make it a federal right.

ROSALES: Voters in many states reject the most extreme versions of abortion bans. In California, Michigan and Vermont, voters enshrined the right to abortion in their state constitutions.

State legislatures return to session. Some states move forward on more restrictive measures. Just this month in a first of its kind law, Idaho criminalizes out of state abortions for minors without parental consent, calling it "abortion trafficking".

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week signed into law a ban against most abortions after six weeks. Opponents argue that's before many women know they're pregnant.

Nearly a year since overturning Roe v. Wade, another major decision on abortion access from the nation's highest court, the conservative majority court protecting access to a widely use abortion drug, mifepristone, by freezing lower court rulings that place restrictions on medication abortion.

The order means that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of the drug will remain in place while appeals play out potentially for months to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And now this case of abortion medication is with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and they're fast tracking this case. They're sent to get those first briefs by next week and by mid May listen to oral arguments. And again weeks, to months for them to potentially come up with a decision here.

[17:04:58]

ROSALES: And Jim, it's likely that this case ends right back up with the Supreme Court again, Jim.

ACOSTA: It certainly seems that way.

All right. Isabel Rosales, thank you very much.

And joining us now to talk about this further is Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, she sits on the committee that oversees the FDA.

Senator, I guess, first of all, let's just start with your reaction to what the Supreme Court decided here.

SENATOR TINA SMITH (D-MN): Well, what's important to know is that for now, women who live in states where abortion is still legal will still have access to abortion medication, which as you know, is more than half of the legal abortions that happen in this country.

The Supreme Court did the right thing. They did the only reasonable thing. It is really incredible that these lower courts were prepared to buck precedent and follow their ideology. In my view to overturn the authority of the FDA to be deciding what medicines are safe and effective.

I mean, judges are not doctors, and they should not play doctors.

For now this right is still protected only in states where abortion is still legal, but this fight will continue in the courts, and I believe it will continue in the ballot box as well as people voice their values on election day.

ACOSTA: And I know you were once an executive for Planned Parenthood -- I was going to ask you, what does this mean for women. Can women who support abortion rights access, breathe a sigh of relief for a little while now?

SMITH: Well, I worked at Planned Parenthood where I saw every day women make good decisions about their own health care, and they don't need politicians telling them what to do.

For people who live in states where abortion is still, that freedom is still protected. They can know that for now, they will still have access to abortion medication.

But as your piece before I came on showed women in states all over the country are losing that access. And this isn't just happening now. This is part of a concerted campaign by this Republican Party to strip away that freedom.

And I worked at Planned Parenthood. When I saw this longstanding effort to ban abortion, and that is really what we are seeing in states across the country and I think that's what we would see at the federal level if they had the votes.

ACOSTA: And what do you make of what the Supreme Court decided there? I mean, there have been some speculation that perhaps the conservative justices on the court may be decided to recalibrate things a little bit in terms of how much they want to weigh in on the abortion issue.

Do you read into any of that? And I guess Justice Alito offered a dissent there that a lot of folks are focusing on this afternoon. What did you make of his dissent in this ruling.

SMITH: Yes well, I don't take any great comfort in the -- what the Supreme Court issued last night. Of course, the justices that voted to keep the status quo in this country didn't say anything about why they made that decision.

But what Justice Alito said it was really kind of a grievance filled summary of why the Fifth Circuit was correct in stripping away the decisions that the FDA had made about this medication which has been used safely and effectively for over 20 years.

So that leads me to think that this fight is going to be playing out in the courts for many months to come. And you know what is at stake here? Is that the legal authority of the FDA to decide whether a medication is safe and effective and what this means for women and for providers across the country is that there will be continued chaos and uncertainty as people try to figure out what healthcare they can or cannot access while this plays out in the courts

And you have a situation across this country right now where in in some states abortion is legal, it's accessible; in other states it's not.

You have this ongoing legal battle over the abortion pill. Does this give you any sense that there needs to be a renewed effort in the Senate to codify Roe versus Wade? Or is that because of the numbers? It's just not really going anywhere for the time being.

SMITH: Well, I think the first thing is that the responsibility for enforcing the law which is on our side lies with the courts, and they must enforce the law.

Second of all we have seen in Minnesota and across the country that this issue of reproductive freedom is a galvanizing issue for voters. And I believe that it will be a central issue in the 2024 elections just like it was in 2022 here in Minnesota.

You know, here in Minnesota where there was a lot of conversation with voters around reproductive freedom, we elected a Democratic governor and lieutenant governor, Democratic state house and senate, and they are in the process of passing a state law putting into -- putting into our state law a basic protection for reproductive freedom.

[17:09:52]

SMITH: We need to do that at the federal level too. We need a federal law protecting reproductive freedom, and that's why elections matter and when we get the votes, we need to make it happen.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you this. Coming up on Tuesday, President Biden Is expected to announce his reelection bid just a few days from now.

I'm just curious. I think I know what you're going say here in terms of your response, but I fully expect that you are supporting him in that re-election campaign. But do you think it's going to put an end to the speculation about whether or not we're going to see President Biden on the ticket in 2024.

SMITH: Well, I think the president has been telegraphing his intentions. I'm an enthusiastic supporter of the president. I think that his record of accomplishment over the last you know now nearly over three years is proof that he has the capacity and the experience and I think also the steady hand in this time of great chaos to be able to lead us forward.

And so, yes, I expect that what will happen is that there will be a great coalescing around his leadership. I think that really already exists in the Democratic Party, and I think he will be I think he's going to be a very strong candidate. I think he'll -- I think he'll be president. I think he'll win.

ACOSTA: But what do you think about some of these polls that show that there are a good number of Democrats who don't want? They may be very happy with the job that President Biden has done. They may like him a great deal, but they want to see some, some fresh faces out there. Some new blood in the party. What about that? Do you buy any of that?

SMITH: Well, I -- yes. I mean, honestly, I think it's so hard to interpret what these polls really mean and I think that I would you know, what I see is that people are broadly supportive of what he's been able to accomplish, and we're going to have a very tough election ahead of us.

People are going to be making a choice and the choice between President Biden and whoever the ultimate Republican nominee will be could not be more dramatic. We've been talking about abortion rights. That is one of the many things and I think will be a crucial thing that will cause people to decide who they want to vote for.

Who was going to protect -- who's going to protect their rights. Who's going to protect democracy?

And so to me, that is going to be the issue that that will pull us all over the finish line together to elect President Biden again. \

ACOSTA: All right. Senator Tina Smith, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

SMITH: Yes. Thanks, Jim. Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. Good to be with you.

And new details coming up on how Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to attempt to decertify the Georgia senate runoff election in 2021.

Zachary Cohen -- our Zachary Cohen joins us in just a few moments with the CNN exclusive. \

Plus this week, the family of Tyree Nichols filed a massive federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis. The family's attorney, Ben Crump will join me in the NEWSROOM here in just a few moments.

And still ahead, Drake and The Weekend climbing the charts together, but there is a catch. And you may not believe it even after you hear it.

All those details coming up.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:12:54]

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ACOSTA: And now to a very important CNN exclusive. New text messages reveal Trump operatives in Georgia considered a scheme that could have changed the outcome of a Senate runoff election in 2021.

Members of his legal team discussed using breached voting data to try and decertify Jon Ossoff's win over David Perdue. CNN's Zachary Cohen joins us now.

Zach, who were these text messages between and what did they say? Because what this -- I mean, what this means is that -- I mean, they were not just talking about trying to get Trump back in office. They were talking about other things, too.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. These are two men who we know are working directly with Trump's lawyers -- Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and that dates back all the way to election day.

And they were really focused on getting access to these voting system. These voting software data, and they wanted to use it to compile a report that they could then use try to de-certify the Georgia Senate runoff. And these are from January 19, 2021.

So after January 6th when the U.S. Capitol riot happened. If you take a look at what these texts say it really makes their intentions clear. They say, "Here's the plan. Let's keep this close hold for now. We only have until Saturday to decide if we're going to use this report to try to decertify the senate runoff election or if we hold it for a bigger moment."

COHEN: a couple of key things to keep in mind here. One, there is no evidence that voting systems were hacked in 2020, that you know, problems with the voting systems, Dominion Voting Systems caused Trump or David Perdue to lose.

But we also know that this is something that Trump and his allies and his legal team were talking about in the lead up to January 6th. Also we saw them try to do something similar in Michigan when Trump lost that state. And so it was sort of the key to staying in power.

And then we're also finding out new details about this Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020, where Rudy Giuliani himself lays out almost exactly the same plan trying to get access, convincing election officials to give voluntary access to voting systems and could use that to question the outcome of the presidential election.

So a lot of factors at play here, but it's clear that even after January 6th, a similar playbook was being used by Trump and these people that were working for Trump's lawyers at the time.

And Zach, how does this play into the various probes into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election because there are many of them?

COHEN: There are and my sources are telling me that Fani Willis down in Georgia who is overseeing the criminal probe there has evidence that points to the involvement of the Trump legal team and these operatives and trying to overturn not just the presidential results but also the Georgia Senate runoff.

Her investigation is not just about election influence interference in the presidential race. It expands across any race in 2020, so she has evidence of that, and it will be interesting to see if it factors in at all to potential charging decisions.

We know she's building a RICO case, a conspiracy case that could have multiple defendants. We'll see if this plays into any charging decisions that might come.

ACOSTA: All right. Zack Cohen. A very important story. Thank you very much. We know you'll stay on top of it for us.

[17:19:51]

ACOSTA: The Manhattan district attorney's office and the House Judiciary Committee have come to an agreement to allow congressional testimony from a former Manhattan prosecutor.

It's part of the GOP-led investigation into Alvin Bragg's indictment of Trump. Bragg previously brought a lawsuit seeking to block this testimony.

And CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig joins us now. Elie, first can you give us a little insight into who Mark Pomerantz is? That's who we're talking about here.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jim. So Mark Pomerantz was a prosecutor with the Manhattan DA. He's now Jim Jordan's star witness. So let me explain how that happened.

Now Pomerantz many, many years ago was a federal prosecutor at the southern district of New York, where later I would work along with Alvin Bragg actually who was a colleague of mine.

Pomerantz came out of retirement a couple of years ago to join the Manhattan DA's investigation of Donald Trump. By his own statement since then, Pomerantz has said he was essentially obsessed with nailing Donald Trump.

Now Alvin Bragg takes over as the DA about a year ago. In early 2022 Pomerantz brings Alvin Bragg a half baked case relating to Donald Trump's valuation of assets and Bragg says it's not ready yet.

What does Pomerantz do? He doesn't do more work, he quits and he goes on a publicity tour, and he writes a book giving away all sorts of stuff that's happening inside the DA's office.

Now, Alvin Bragg, many other former prosecutors, prosecutors associations came out and said Pomerantz is undermining the investigation. He's giving away inside secrets. His book is called "An Inside Account".

And now sure enough, as a result of that Jim Jordan's attention has been piqued. And so now Jim Jordan's going to be questioning Mark Pomerantz trying to dig up dirt in front of the public.

ACOSTA: And so what are the House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, hoping to learn from Mark Pomerantz? Does it? Is it going to have any kind of effect on the indictment?

HONIG: Yes, it shouldn't. But it will be an interesting bit of testimony because on the one hand, Pomerantz has said publicly and in his book, Pomerantz has said publicly and in his book, he thinks Donald Trump's a felon. He thinks Donald Trump should be indicted for all manner of conduct.

On the other hand, Pomerantz has said in his book and publicly he never believed in the hush money case. He did not think there was enough evidence to charge that publicly, and I think one of the arguments is going to be Pomerantz is so obviously politically motivated. He came out of retirement to work for free. Like I said, he's obsessed with nailing Donald Trump, and I think the argument's going to be his political bias infected that office in the investigation that he was once part of.

ACOSTA: And Elie, let's talk about the potential legal peril for the president's son, Hunter Biden. His lawyers are scheduled to meet with justice Department officials this coming week to talk about their long running investigation.

There haven't been too many public developments in this case by, I suppose that may be changing. What could be next?

HONIG: Yes so this case has been pending somehow, Jim since 2018 since the last administration here we are five years later. It's completely inexplicable to me how nobody has made a decision. Yes or no, charge or don't charge Hunter Biden.

This is not a complex case that involves his individual tax returns and a sort of obscure firearms law. There's no way this should have taken so long, but we are now learning that his lawyers are going in to meet with DOJ prosecutors a common thing that happens.

You try to talk the prosecutors out of bringing a charge and usually Jim that will happen towards the end game. Although this has been dragging on so long, who knows where they are.

But look, someone's got to make a decision here. There's absolutely no reason this case needs to continue to linger and fester.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you. I mean, we just heard from Zach Cohen a few moments ago about the situation down in Georgia. I mean, what do you make of some of that reporting that the Trump legal team may have been trying to use apparently or talking about using apparently breached election data in Georgia to try to de-certify a senate race there and how that may fold into that Fani Willis investigation -- the Fulton County DA's investigation down in Georgia.

I mean, it sounds like a new wrinkle in that case, potentially.

HONIG: It's great reporting by Zach and assuming Fani Willis has that same evidence at her disposal, this could be evidence of a straightforward crime essentially of hacking of unauthorized access to a computer.

And Jim, think if it proves out, it could play into Fani Willis' larger case. It looks like she's gearing up to charge a fairly broad case involving an ongoing scheme, perhaps even racketeering scheme to interfere with the election.

So I think this could be an interesting and sort of tangible piece of evidence in that larger case.

ACOSTA: All right. Elie Honig, thanks so much, really appreciate it.

HONIG: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. The family of Tyree Nichols wants the city of Memphis to pay big time for the role police officers played in his brutal beating. Attorney Ben Crump is representing the family and he joins us live next. There he is. We'll talk to him in just a few moments. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:24:33]

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ACOSTA: This week, the family of Tyre Nichols filed a $550 million civil lawsuit against the city of Memphis, its police department and what the suit called unqualified, untrained and unsupervised officers assigned to a special unit.

They brutally beat Nichols after he fled a traffic stop in January. The 29-year-old man was hospitalized and died three days later. That's just one of the high-profile cases my next guest is handling.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joins us now with more. Ben, it's great to see you. Thanks -- thanks so much for being with us.

It's hard to imagine anything could approach justice for Tyre Nichols or his family. But what do you hope that this lawsuit accomplishes. BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TYRE NICHOLS FAMILY: Well Jim, thank you

for having me. And I think this lawsuit that Attorney Romanucci and I filed on behalf of his family speaks directly to getting not only a measure of justice for Tyre Nichols family.

[17:30:00]

But the $550 million landmark lawsuit is also sending a message to other cities across America that have these police oppression units that have a license to go and terrorized black people and black communities, that if you don't curtail this type of conduct and policy, then we're coming to your city next.

I mean, this conduct was conduct that was sanctioned, and talk to these officers that they could go trip on the constitutional rights of black citizens.

ACOSTA: And so criminal proceedings, as you know, are still to come for these five Memphis officers and the Justice Department is also investigating.

Why did you think it was important to add a lawsuit, a big lawsuit like this on top of it? Is it in case the criminal justice system just let's -- let you down? Is that -- is that your view?

CRUMP: Well, certainly, Jim, we know from many other cases we've talked about over the years that justice for black people in America is elusive, and we can't count on the criminal justice system.

I mean, they could try to delay this forever. And how many more hashtags, how many more black and brown people will be wrongfully and unjustly killed by the time we get to a verdict in the criminal matter?

So this civil lawsuit gives warning to other police departments that they cannot train their officers to go brutalize black people, violate their constitutional rights.

It was intentional when we think about this is the 55th years anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, and this is the city in which Dr. King was slain.

So the family and -- that we were very clear, $550 million is going to send the message, not just but Tyre's legacy, but hopefully prevent anybody else in America for being savagely killed like Tyre Nichols was.

ACOSTA: And last week -- let's talk about what's been happening in this past week. A shocking number of people shot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know you're representing the family of Ralph Yarl, the teen who was shot in the head when he rang the wrong doorbell. The 84-year-old suspect, Andrew Lester, has pleaded not guilty in this case.

What's your reaction to that? CRUMP: Well, Jim Acosta, it's just outrageous when you think that a

young black teenage child can't ring the doorbell without this white citizen coming to the door -- no words is change, and he profiled him simply based on the color of his skin and he shoots him in the head.

And then he aims where is chest, and thank god that Ralph had his arm across his chest or a bullet with the end of his chest. And so it's just a miracle that Ralph is here today.

But it is inescapable that there are these racial dynamics in America that we have to deal with. Because he was questioned for 20 minutes and allowed to come back and sleep in his bed. And that harkens back to Trayvon Martin where his killer got to go sleep in his bed that night.

And in more recent history, it harkens back to Ahmaud Arbery, where the lynch mob, even though it was captured on video, and the police saw it, they still let them go sleep in their bed.

So we have to fight against these two justice systems in America that will allow white citizens that shoot and kill unarmed black and young people and go home and sleep in their beds at night.

And we have to have a national outcry to get the due process and those killers at least arrested to face the charges against them.

ACOSTA: And I -- Ralph's story has really struck a chord across this country. As you know, Ben, when you look at this photo, he just seems like such a nice young man.

And it's just a miracle. I mean, you were just saying a few moments ago, it's a miracle that he's still alive. How is he doing?

CRUMP: Well, you know, he's still dealing with the traumatic brain injury. He's still having a lot of headaches. But thank god he is able to cognitively function and communicate, and that's the blessing.

And -- but just because he was able to survive miraculously, miracles like this come with a cost. We think he's going to have permanent brain damage for the rest of his life. And hopefully that won't deter him though.

We know this is -- he's not out of the woods yet.

ACOSTA: Wow. And that's important to note. He survived, but he's got a long road ahead of him.

[17:35:01]

And, Ben, I have to ask you about how you were also representing the family of LaShawn Thompson. This case really stood out to me. A 35- year-old man who died last September in Atlanta's Fulton County jail amid horrific conditions of filth and insects. This has made international news.

You call his death a human rights violation. I mean, when you look at these pictures, it's just -- I mean, it is -- it's shocking to see this.

What are your next steps in this case?

CRUMP: You know, Attorney Michael Harper and I, we are focused on making sure that they can't sweep this under the rug. This happened in September, and it wasn't until these pictures were released that It's finally getting attention.

His family has been crying out for help as to what happened. I mean, he had 1,000 bedbug bites over his body. He had bedbugs in his mouth, in his nose and his eyes and his ears.

I mean, this is a person who has a mental health issue and not a hardened criminal. And the Fulton County jail officials and the medical examiner are trying to say it's undetermined what killed him. Well, we can just see from the pictures what killed them.

But thank god the Colin Kaepernick Foundation is going to pay for the family to get an independent autopsy.

Hopefully, in the next week or two, Jim, we would be able to tell the world what was the cause of death of the LaShawn Thompson, this man who died a horrible death in the psychiatric ward of the Atlanta Fulton County jail.

And the inmates say he was calling out for help, but nobody paid attention to him because, as the inmates said, they said, he's crazy, we don't have to deal with him.

We can't treat our mentally ill citizens, like they don't matter. He does matter.

(CROSSTALK)

CRUMP: And it raises (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: Right. And it raises the question about the deplorable conditions that exist in many of our jails and prisons in this country.

CRUMP: Yes, you know, Brittney Griner I think had better prison conditions over in prison than LaShawn Thompson had in Atlanta, Georgia.

And we have to just speak truth to power. You cannot warehouse people in little boxes and say that they don't matter because they are alleged to commit a crime.

In America, we're innocent until proven guilty. And he should not have suffered the death sentence because of the status of his mental health and the color of his skin.

ACOSTA: All right, Ben Crump, thanks as always for your time. We appreciate it.

CRUMP: Thank you, Jim. ACOSTA: All right. A short time from now, Donald Trump will address an

evangelical conference in Iowa. He's one of several Republican presidential hopefuls appearing before that conference. But there are some notable no shows. We'll talk about that in a live report coming up next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:42:19]

ACOSTA: As a legal fight over an abortion pill plays out in the courts, several prominent but not all GOP presidential hopefuls are at an Iowa evangelical summit.

Former President Donald Trump is expected to address the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition tonight on a remote video feed. And there are some other notable no shows to talk about as well.

CNN's Eva McKend joins us now from Clive, Iowa, in suburban Des Moines.

Eva, who will be the first to address the crowd tonight. And what more can you tell us?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Jim, if you are Republican 2024 presidential hopeful, this is really the place to be this evening, a rare opportunity to address Christian conservatives in this state.

This, of course, is the first state that will hold that pivotal nominating contest in January, the Iowa caucus.

You mentioned that the former president, he is going to address the crowd remotely. But there are a lot of hopefuls here, so declared candidates and potential candidates.

Including former Vice President Mike Pence will be, I believe, the first speaker, as well as Senator Tim Scott and former Governor Asa Hutchinson. Vivek Ramaswamy is passing by me right now.

And this comes amidst the backdrop of really abortion being front and center. Could turn out to be the defining issue of the 2024 election.

What we have seen in recent weeks as Republicans are really flummoxed by this, unable to clearly define their position on this issue. I'm very curious to see what they will say tonight before this largely evangelical crowd.

I should mention, Jim, that I've just been here a few hours and I've already been invited to church tomorrow.

Organizers tell me that upwards of 1,000 people expected to attend this event -- Jim?

ACOSTA: And, Eva, how is the abortion battle playing out there with the event you're covering? I know there are folks there who are very passionate about this issue and want to see candidates responding in certain ways to that question, that very question.

MCKEND: Yes, this is an issue of significant importance to people here. They want many of these candidates that take the most anti- abortion position possible.

But what we have seen is that a national abortion ban, Jim, is not popular with most Americans.

So I would imagine what we're going to hear from the candidates tonight might be really careful. They might want to say something to appeal to this particular crowd.

But this is perhaps not going to be a message that will resonate beyond this room. So it's a difficult balancing act, and we're going to be listening closely.

ACOSTA: All right, Eva McKend, thank you very much.

[17:45:02]

In the meantime, just in time for Earth Day, CNN's "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper examines how to unscrew a planet. CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, joins us now to explain all of that next.

And in the next hour, the sports victory that brought to American actors to tears. It's a made-for-Hollywood finish from England. No, it's not Ted Lasso, but kind of like that. We'll talk about it just a bit.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: CNN's new investigative series, "THE WHOLE STORY," marks Earth Day on Sunday with Bill Weir. CNN's chief climate correspondent crosses the globe to check out efforts to remove carbon from the environment.

[17:50:02]

Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While he was studying robotic engineering at Dartmouth and earth systems at Columbia, he realized a man-made monster was destroying his beloved Gulf of Maine, warming it up at a rate now faster than 95 percent of the rest of the world.

MARTY ODLIN, CEO, RUNNING TIDE: It's a Godzilla. There's a thing out there, and it's like ruining everything that we love. Right? All the good stuff is getting ruined, all the stuff that's free and fun.

It's burning forests down. It's stealing our fish. It's devastating our crops. It's hurting our farmers. Get mad and go, go kill that thing, right?

WEIR: And right there on a dock in Maine, Marty's metaphor is a lightbulb moment for me, a whole new way to think about a giant problem that began when people figured out how to move lots and lots of carbon, that stuff of ancient life.

From the slow cycle locked in rock and under oceans into the fast cycle in the sea water and the sky. And we've moved so much carbon that monster now weighs a trillion tons, give or take, more than every living thing on earth.

So not only do we have to stop making the monster bigger. We have to catch it, chop it up and bury the pieces back into these slow cycle with something called carbon removal.

ODLIN: Removal is chopping Godzilla down. We got this 400-foot-tall lizard, and we're just chopping that thing down. That's what removal is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Bill Weir joins us now.

Some pretty cool graphics there. I mean, sometimes you got to just show the folks what it's all about.

And the -- and the Godzilla reference, talk about that for us.

WEIR: Yes, you know, I think about this term, even if this is my beat, and when you think about this big C02 problem in the atmosphere, Marty, there are former fishermen from Maine who started this ocean repair company called Running Tide, put it in terms that really made it clear for me.

I mean, it just comes down to, are we feeding Carbon Godzilla every day? Are we chopping bits of him apart the best we can?

Every aspect of our lives creates this sort of planet cooking pollution at this point in human history.

But I just wanted to go look for hope and ideas on how to tackle this. I found hundreds of them out there.

There's so much technology going on from whether Marty uses the power of the ocean, the natural carbon capturing ability of kelp and oysters in his business. Others use machine, advanced technology.

But it's going to take all of the above to make a dent against this big monster.

ACOSTA: Yes, and this effort to remove carbon is called the biggest new industry you've never heard of.

Bill, explain that one for us. Why is that?

WEIR: Well, because, right now, humanity puts about 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the oceans every year that the people I met are doing it maybe a few 1,000 tons, the most successful.

And the money is there. Companies like Stripe Alphabet, Meta have kicked in a big billion-dollar fund to sort of jump start this market and life, you know, in lieu of actual carbon pricing, which economists say would be the most effective way to fund this kind of an effort.

But again, it's sort of like building the oil industry in reverse. And a lot of people will get rich with this new sort of industrial revolution 2.0 that has to happen to sort of stop the worst effects of this climate crisis.

It's just a matter of finding the right ones. Are they incentivized? Is it carrots and sticks the way the Biden administration is doing it now with tougher regulations on power plants and tailpipes. Will it push more entrepreneurs into this space, realizing this is the future?

But it's just the very beginning.

ACOSTA: And why is this program called "HOW TO UNSCREW A PLANET?" I guess you get -- sometimes you just got to hit folks, grab them by this shirt collar, I guess.

WEIR: Yes. Basically because, if you look at the evidence what's happening around the world, you know, just as freaky droughts and floods and everything else, and you listen to the projections of science, this future is screwed.

So I wondered how many people does it take to unscrew a planet? What can we do?

And the answers are really literally all around us. It's just we're sort of stuck in the old ways, the old fuel systems that the people who get very rich on those old systems like it that way.

But a way to kind of grab your attention and realize that, even if we do one little thing to help cut down carbon Godzilla, it adds up in a big way.

ACOSTA: All right, well, Bill, thanks for your part in unscrewing it up for us. Bill Weir, we'll be watching. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

WEIR: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right, and catch Bill's full report in "THE WHOLE STORY," tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern. It's a new weekly program hosted by Anderson Cooper. One "WHOLE STORY," as they say, one whole hour. That's tomorrow night at 8:00.

[17:55:01]

On this Earth Day, we salute others on the front lines of global conservation. Beneath the ocean, coral reefs support a biodiverse community of Marine life and protect our coastal areas. But these valuable ecosystems are threatened.

This week's "CNN Hero" is committed to rebuilding them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE GOLDBERG, CNN HERO: Coral reefs, without them, nothing is here. Simply put, they are what it is that brings the ecosystem together.

Sadly, I've watched us lose that coral reef and the disappearance of that diverse Marine ecosystem.

GOLDBERG: Are we ready to go down?

(CHEERING)

(CROSSTALK)

GOLDBERG: But then he says, you know what, I'm going to do something.

I truly believe we're going to be successful with this restoration work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) It's growing.

GOLDBERG: I see things every time I go in the water that gives me hope.

I love being a part of it. I wake up every day and say, look what I get to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, to learn more about Mike and the dive community, go to CNNheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate your hero.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)