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Arizona Bill on Voting Stalls; CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall; Harris on Role in White House; Cardi B takes on GOP Lawmaker; Brad Paisley is Interviewed about Vaccine Hesitancy; Search for Missing Submarine. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired April 23, 2021 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: They -- there's no evidence that there is widespread voter fraud where really --
JOHN KAVANAGH (R), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Even if there wasn't, why would you send ballots to addresses where there's nobody there? It's a waste of money.
KEILAR: But you're going to purge people who may have moved --
KAVANAGH: Purged. Must we use spin words in this discussion? We're removing people who --
KEILAR: No, that's not a spin word, that's just a fact.
KAVANAGH: We're removing people who haven't voted in any of the last four elections, local or municipal, after they don't reply to a letter they received after three months, and after they don't respond to phone calls and e-mails from the election people.
KEILAR: Yes, to their -- to their old residence, to the -- to the phone number and the address --
KAVANAGH: (INAUDIBLE) to prevent errors than we do with the actual ballots themselves when they come back with signature discrepancies.
KEILAR: To the phone number and the address that you have on record, which if they have moved on, you may not be tracking them correctly.
KAVANAGH: They write their phone number on the ballot when they vote.
KEILAR: And if they haven't voted recently, you're going to have a problem. As you are aware, people change phone numbers. I --
KAVANAGH: They still get the mail. Do you pay bills that come in the mail?
KEILAR: A lot of mail isn't forwarded. You're aware of that. There's a lot of problems with that and (INAUDIBLE).
KAVANAGH: Well, if it's -- yes. And if they move, they're not eligible to use that ballot in that precinct.
KEILAR: That's not necessarily true. Look, that's just not -- that's not necessarily true for --
KAVANAGH: You're really twisting the facts to make your point here. All they're doing is trying to get people who are dead or moved off of the list.
KEILAR: I'm saying for being purged, it's not the precinct. I'm talking about being purged from the (INAUDIBLE) early voting roll (ph).
I'm talking about people who are purged from that early voting list.
KAVANAGH: We use -- can we use neutral names. They're being removed after multiple checks to make sure that they actually aren't there. They aren't being purged.
KEILAR: That is -- that is your -- that is how you describe it, sir.
And we do appreciate you coming on.
KAVANAGH: Well, I'm not spinning it. So that's why -- I'm doing the truth, I'm not doing spin.
KEILAR: I'm not spinning it either.
Arizona State --
KAVANAGH: Well, purge? What -- what am I, Stalin? Come on, don't be ridiculous. This is really -- this is why we can't have reasonable discussions across the political divide because everybody wants to throw gasoline on what should be a critical intellectual discussion.
KEILAR: Sir, you're not being honest and what you're saying doesn't even line up with --
KAVANAGH: Oh, now (INAUDIBLE) --
KEILAR: It doesn't even line up with what you have said about votes.
KAVANAGH: What am I dishonest?
KEILAR: You talked about quality votes over quantity. I think that is loud and clear.
Arizona State Rep. John Kavanagh --
KAVANAGH: That's what -- where is that dishonest? Somebody who doesn't want to be registered to vote, who doesn't ask for a ballot, who doesn't follow politics, who doesn't know the issues is a different voter from somebody like you whose -- who's -- who's career is politics and knows everything. I'm not saying those people can't vote, but if they don't want to vote, I'm not shoving ballots in front of them and forcing them to be registered against their will. I think that's freedom. KEILAR: They have -- their will is to be on that list.
KAVANAGH: Yes, and I haven't taken anybody off the list whose (INAUDIBLE) --
KEILAR: And, sir, one vote is the same as another vote. This is our right. This is our right as Americans.
KAVANAGH: You have a right to electricity. If you don't pay your electric bill, they turn your power off if you don't mail your bill in.
KEILAR: Sir, I'm going to have to leave it there. I'm going to have to leave it there, sir. Sir, I'm going to have to leave it there with you.
State Rep. John Kavanagh, thank you.
KAVANAGH: OK. I thought so. It was great. Good --
KEILAR: OK, so we're just hours now away from a big event here on CNN. It's a town hall on the climate crisis. How does the Biden White House plan to deliver on the promises the president just made on emissions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And Cardi B. not backing down. How she's standing up to a congressman after his dig about decency.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:38:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To protect livelihoods around the world and keep global warming at a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius. We must get on the path now in order to do that. If we do, we'll breathe easier, literally and figuratively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: President Joe Biden making an aggressive pledge to cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030, a move he argues will help lift the economy in the U.S. and around the world.
Joining us now is Dana Bash, CNN chief political correspondent and co- anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION." She is also the moderator of a special CNN town hall on the climate crisis. It happens tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
So, Dana, what can we expect tonight other brilliance?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of substance. A lot of substance on this important existential issue. And, you know, I have to say, I'm -- I'm very proud to be a part of this because it is something that matters so much to every single human being, every living thing on this planet.
And the fact that the president held a two-day summit yesterday and today and the fact that he has assembled a team of people who are trying to look at this issue holistically is fascinating. And they are pretty much all -- the top four -- on this issue in the administration are coming on and they're going to answer really important questions from audience members, from Americans.
[08:40:07]
Everything from the practical question of, when can I buy an electric car, if I -- if I want to do my part and buy a car that's actually affordable, to questions about the transformation, the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy and how that is going to be possible.
You know, we have to look at it realistically because they need partners around the world, but also here in business and in Congress. And, you know, we're going to talk about the very real challenge in doing that.
KEILAR: We can't wait for it, Dana.
I should also mention that you got the first solo sit-down interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The first one she's done since she took office.
Let's listen to part of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I carry a great sense of responsibility for all of the young girls and boys of color, those who identify in some way because maybe no one expected something of them, but they expect a lot of themselves to do well and to do right and to do good.
So, yes, I carry a great, great sense of responsibility, if not the seriousness of the responsibility to be in this position and be a voice for those who have not traditionally been in the room.
KEILAR: And, of course, she said this against the backdrop of just an historic week with many around the country pointing at the Derek Chauvin verdict as a sign of justice being served.
What more did she tell you about the significance of this week?
BASH: It was really fascinating to be with her this week when we have had such a moment, a cultural moment, and a lot of hope that there is a shift in -- with the racial divide and the incredible, horrible discrepancies of brutality, violence against people of color that we've unfortunately seen over and over and the shift, of course, when I say that, I mean in terms of the verdict, but what she said and made very, very clear to say that this is still a long-term project. She pushed for the Congress to do its part to have a federal role, to legislate police reform. But, more broadly, it was really fascinating to talk to her as she is settling into the 100-day mark of her role as vice president in this moment. Not just because of the racial reckoning, but so many other issues. And she talks about how she is dealing with that and how she is approaching it, in public and in private, with the president of the United States.
BERMAN: So, Dana, I've watched the House for years. You've covered the House for years. Brianna's covered the House for a long time. I don't know if we've seen anything quite like this, so let's watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GLENN GROTHMAN (R-WI): As a practical matter, broadcast TV affects the moral norms of the nation. I received complaints in my office, and rightfully so, about Cardi B and the Grammys. They wonder why we are paying the FCC if they feel that this should be in living rooms across the nation.
I assure the FCC that millions of Americans would view her performance as inconsistent with basic decency. Wake up, FCC, and begin to do your job. The moral decline of America is partly due to your utter complacency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: This is what Representative Republican Glenn Grothman chooses to take on this week, Cardi B, right? I mean this is approximately six weeks ago. What are we seeing here?
BASH: It's so blatant. It's so obvious. This is a member of Congress who is reaching as much as he can to stoke a cultural war, a culture divide. We have seen -- maybe not this particular rock star, maybe not this pop star, maybe not this particular issue, but we've seen this for decades, right, members of Congress looking at the cultural issues in order to divert from real issues.
And, actually, Cardi B responded to him. She said in a tweet that he should focus on other things. She was clearly referring to the fact that he is from Wisconsin and that is a place where he should be there demanding justice for Jacob Blake.
I just want to also tell you one other thing because I went back and looked. This is also a member of Congress who, in 2010, was campaigning in a primary and talked about a war on men that was destroying America because girls have an unfair advantage at work in the form of undeserved promotions. So I think we should consider the source here.
BERMAN: Don't know how he made it this far with that war going on. Whoo.
All right, Dana Bash, thank you --
BASH: We've got your back, John.
BERMAN: Thank you for being with us this morning.
Do not miss this special CNN town hall tonight hosted by Dana Bash, "The Climate Crisis," that's at 10:00 Eastern on CNN.
And see more of her one on one exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris Sunday morning at 9:00 on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
[08:45:02]
We could go on and on with things that you need to watch that Dana's done.
All right.
KEILAR: Brilliance. Brilliance.
BERMAN: With vaccine hesitancy threatening to derail the end of the pandemic, a country music superstar stepping up to do his part. Brad Paisley joins us live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: With vaccine hesitancy threatening to prolong the pandemic, a country music superstar is telling his fans to take the shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PAISLEY, COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR: Empty seats can't cheer. They don't tailgate, and they don't know fight songs. Empty seats don't sing during seventh inning stretches. And they don't know stats or superstitions. There's a soundtrack for places like this. And it isn't made in a studio. It's made by you.
So when it's your turn to get the vaccine, be a fan. Take the shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That is, of course, Brad Paisley. And he is joining us now.
Brad, it's great to have you on this morning.
Tell us about your decision to do this. Why it was so important to put your voice out there.
BRAD PAISLEY, COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR: Hi. It's good to see you guys.
Well, I think that in knowing the doctors at Vanderbilt Hospital here, which has been instrumental -- it's been instrumental in the development of this, of one of the vaccines for sure, you know, they were talking to me about doing a campaign and showed me a lot of the data.
And, you know, when I look at my industry, the way it's been gutted, and the alternative, which is to continue on like we are, it can't happen. So we've got to get people back out there where they're going to come see shows and I think mentally we need it. And I was all in. I said, yes, absolutely, let's do this and try to help this cause and move the ball down the field.
BERMAN: You know there are people out there who are hesitant. You know there are people who are your fans who, you know, have gone (INAUDIBLE) --
PAISLEY: My friends.
BERMAN: Right, you're -- so what do you say to them? What do you say to them?
PAISLEY: Well, I mean, they get an earful when they talk to me because I -- you know, I've done a lot of the deep dive on this with my friends that are -- that are -- that have a license to practice this, you know, that are truly people who, not only have inside information on -- on what's in these, but also on how effective they are. And, basically, it's a -- it's a battle to sort of make sure that they are weighing the right pros and cons of this.
[08:50:04]
And there's really -- it's just really one of the modern miracles of medicine, what we are seeing. We shouldn't have this, this soon. I mean in the sense that this has been so -- it's been so storybook that we were able to get sort of out front of what would have been probably another surge. And the idea that we've come through with something that is effective is -- it's something to be proud of. And I think, as a -- as a nation, we are so close to being through this that I'm just trying to help get us there, because we've got to get back on the road.
KEILAR: And -- well, to that point, the -- one of the reasons we know we're getting close is that you're headlining Nashville's Fourth of July concert. This is the first major post-pandemic event. What does it mean to be able to have that on your calendar?
PAISLEY: It means everything to me. It means everything to my family, my band. It means a lot to my wife at the thought of me actually going back on the road and leaving the house once coming up. It's something she's really looking forward to.
But the idea of playing at lower Broadway in Nashville and sort of saying, look what we accomplished, that we have gotten through this thing, is going to be one of the most -- I hope -- one of the most amazing moments of my career.
And I think that Nashville, as a whole, has been hit maybe in some ways twice as hard with our industry as anywhere. We just haven't been able to do what we do to any great degree. There's just so many musicians that are driving Uber and delivering pizza instead of playing their road gigs. And the idea that we come through this and I'm standing and looking at a sea of fans, I really want to get there.
BERMAN: Vaccinated fans? Will you feel safer if they're all vaccinated?
PAISLEY: Well, sure, absolutely. I think we've got to -- we've got to hit a threshold on that. And, you know, everybody's sort of unsure as far as how far the virus got, what's that number and what's the number we've got to hit. But Nashville's done a pretty good job of the rollout. I mean we had a -- we had one of the stadium rollouts where they did 10,000 in one day, people just drove through. I had two different songwriter buddies of mine go get vaccinated the same day at the stadium where the Titans play. So, I mean, we are -- we're heading that direction. So we just got to -- we've got to keep going.
KEILAR: Well, it is going to be amazing that you are playing in July. We can't wait for that. We'll see if your message is getting through to people. We sure hope that it does.
Brad Paisley, thank you.
PAISLEY: Thanks for talking to me. We'll see you guys soon.
BERMAN: All right, time is running out now for the crew of a missing submarine. Does an object spotted on the water overnight offer any hope?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:56:33]
BERMAN: The U.S. is sending help to the ongoing search for the Indonesian submarine with 53 crew members that went missing during military exercises on Wednesday. An identified object with strong magnetic resonance has been spotted at the search site. Officials say the sub has less than 24 hours of sufficient oxygen remaining.
Joining me now is ocean explorer Tim Taylor. He's the CEO of Tiber and Subsea and the founder of the Lost 52 Project.
Tim, the object with this strong magnetic resonance, what might that mean?
TIM TAYLOR, OCEAN EXPLORER: This is -- this is an area during World War II where battles were waged and ships were sunk by other submarines. So it could be just an old wreck. So there are -- there are littered -- the bottom is littered with different wreckage from World War II, obviously (ph).
BERMAN: So it really just depends on what --
TAYLOR: It's steel. It's probably something steel or metal, but we don't know.
BERMAN: So there was an oil slick spotted early on in this search, which could be either really good news or really bad news.
TAYLOR: Right.
BERMAN: Explain that and what hope you have.
TAYLOR: Well, if -- if there's oil leaking from a ship, it -- typically that would happen in a -- in a failure in the submarine. That being said, there are still wrecks that are sunk off of North
Carolina in World War II that are leaking oil. So it's -- again, it can go back to an old ship wreck down there.
So finding this is going to take technology. They're going to get the sonar in there soon and they're going to start sweeping the bottom and start scanning for this and finding it is, I think, the key for these -- for this.
BERMAN: Look, I mean, let's all hope there are still people alive in the sub.
What could they or would they be doing now to try to get themselves rescued?
TAYLOR: Well, typically, if there are survivors in the submarine, depending on what kind of condition it's in, they would have options at their disposal. Sometimes they have sonar buoys they can send out. Making noise, et cetera, that acoustics can find them.
I think it really boils down to how deep this submarine was lost. If it's in shallow enough water, these people can survive. If it's deep, it -- they probably will not. And I spoke a second ago that the kids in the caves that were lost in the caves, we thought they were gone until we sent divers in and they found them. So you want to keep the hope alive.
BERMAN: How are they conducting the search now?
TAYLOR: Well, all the vessels that are coming in, I believe they're bringing in side scan sonar, which is just basically going to take images of the bottom with sound. So it's lung exposure images and they'll find any anomalies if they're there and then they can explore.
BERMAN: What are the possibilities of things that could have gone wrong for a submarine?
TAYLOR: Well, it's a human, manmade object, so usually human error. But if they were doing a torpedo run, like they say they are on the news, they were doing a practice torpedo run, there could have been a problem with the torpedo tubes. There could have been a problem with the torpedo. Were they using live ordnance? You know, something could have happened there.
Once a sub loses control and gets to a certain depth, and it keeps -- it's out of control, then things start crushing and failing and it could be one thing led to another, and then ultimately the demise, especially if it's in deep water.
BERMAN: Tim Taylor, let's hope.
TAYLOR: Yes.
BERMAN: Let's hope that a day left worth of oxygen, hopefully -- hopefully some --
TAYLOR: We always have hope.
BERMAN: Appreciate you being here.
TAYLOR: All right.
BERMAN: All right.
KEILAR: All right. (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: Busy, busy week.
KEILAR: Gosh, it was, wasn't it? What a year this week has been.
BERMAN: We should do a segment like that? Oh, we are.
KEILAR: We did.
BERMAN: All right, CNN's coverage continues right now.
[09:00:08]
