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New Day

TX Democrats Stage Walkout, Blocking Restrictive Voting Bill; The First Vaccinated Holiday: 37M Americans Set To Travel; Manhunt For Gunmen At FL Concert, In Another Mass Shooting. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 31, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar on this New Day. Breaking news. Democrats in Texas staging a walkout overnight to block a bill that would make voting harder in that state. One of them joins us live in just moments.

Plus, a manhunt underway for the gunman who opened fire at a club in Florida in another mass shooting in America.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: As the country marks its first major vaccinated holiday, one former health official says it's not uncommon for viruses to escape from labs. We'll discuss. And the Biden administration is now cranking up the pressure to strike a deal on his agenda as the drumbeat grows louder for Democrats to use the nuclear option.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, May 31, Memorial Day. We are thinking of our troops and the families of those troops. Breaking overnight, Texas democrats blocking the passage of a restrictive voting bill by staging a dramatic walkout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Quorum is apparently not present. The point of order is well taken and sustained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Republican back legislation would have made it harder to vote by mail while empowering partisan poll watchers and also making it easier to overturn election results.

KEILAR: Democrats likening the measure to Jim Crow laws while assembling at a predominantly black church after their walkout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JESSICA GONZALEZ (D-TX): So really this is witch hunt that is aimed at people of color. We are going back centuries instead of - instead of working on problems, instead of making our state a better place for every Texan, we spent time on guns, we spent time on trying to restrict their rights in law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now Republican governor Greg Abbott says he is going to call a special session of the legislature to restart the process as soon as tomorrow. And joining us now is Taylor Goldenstein, the Austin bureau reporter for The Houston Chronicle. She has been following the latest developments overnight.

OK, Taylor, first, just tell us what happened here, describe this walkout.

TAYLOR GOLDENSTEIN, AUSTIN BUREAU, THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE: I mean, it was a pretty remarkable outcome to what happened you know, last night not necessarily what everyone's expecting. This was - this bill had the support of the state's Republican governor and the leaders in both of the Republican dominated chambers. It had already passed in the Senate. And it was just one vote away from being on the governor's desk as we speak.

KEILAR: So you were expecting that this was going to be pushed through I think, as we all were, and instead what this was just a surprise walkout?

GOLDENSTEIN: Yes. And this is a tactic that's only been used a handful of times in Texas, the last time being in 2003, when Democrats fled to Oklahoma, but definitely not something you expect.

KEILAR: So we heard a little bit of what Democrats were saying, what else did they say?

GOLDENSTEIN: Yes, Democrats were essentially, like you said, calling this Jim Crow 2.0, pointing to different restrictions that would have impacted voters and specifically voters of color, such as some of the voting expansions that were pioneered in the Houston area such as drive thru voting, 24 hour voting, and kind of the proactive sending out of mail ballot applications.

KEILAR: So this - this isn't over, right? This effort is still going to move forward at some point here. Explain to us this special session the Governor's talking about.

GOLDENSTEIN: Right, so Texas that kind of already knew that we had a special session coming because census data is late and we need to do redistricting. So that's coming. Whether he's talking about that special session, or if there'll be you know, an earlier one, just to handle this or other issues, we still don't know.

KEILAR: Well, Taylor, we certainly appreciate you telling us a little bit about what is going on with this surprise move there. Taylor Goldenstein with The Houston Chronicle. Great to see you.

GOLDENSTEIN: Thanks so much.

BERMAN: Right. Joining me now is Democratic Texas House member Joe Moody. He was one of the members who walked off the House floor. Representative, thanks so much for being with us. How did this go down? When did you know this was the plan?

REP. JOE MOODY (D-TX): Look, the idea that you can break quorum is something that's always out there. And when you're when you're pushed to extreme, you respond to that with extreme and so we always have that tool at our disposal. And at a certain point, it became very evident that the only way to stop this legislation, at least in the short term was to not be present.

BERMAN: Why was this worth it? What was it about this legislation that made you stage this walkout?

MOODY: Look, the right to vote is something that we hold very dear and near to our hearts and for the people that we represent, it means everything. The franchise is something that was never taken for granted in communities like mine. And we will never take it for granted.

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And so when people come to challenge that, and if people come to take that away, we're going to do whatever it takes to maintain the franchise.

BERMAN: Just so people know some of the things this bill does is it makes it more difficult to vote absentee, it lowers the standard to overturn an election, it limits the amount of time the polling places can be open in certain locations, that - that's what's going on with this bill. You yourself, though, acknowledge, at least for the time being, there's a short term nature to what you did. Is passage inevitable?

MOODY: You know, the governor is always empowered under our Constitution, to bring us back, to put on a special session that has this issue, and maybe others. But at a certain point, you got to - you have to draw a line. And we got to decide what's right and what's wrong.

And what's wrong is taking away the access to the ballot box and all of us on the Democratic side of the aisle that chose this path, knew the consequences, and we're willing to risk.

BERMAN: I know you've been up all night, and you're mostly focused on what's going on in Texas. But when you say you use the tools at your disposal, what was available, Democrats in Texas, for better for worse, people can decide that on their own, did everything you could to stop this legislation.

Do you feel nationally, that Democrats are doing everything they can to stop legislation like this from passing around the country? I'm including President Biden in that. Do you think he's doing everything he can to stop stuff like this?

MOODY: Well, the President and the Vice President made very clear that this legislation was bad legislation. And we don't control what's happening in California, or Florida, or Virginia, or Georgia. We control as Texas Democrats, what's happening in Texas. And so when we did this, we did this for the voters that we represent in Texas.

And I hope the message is heard loud and clear outside of Texas, that the franchise is important. And sometimes it's OK to cause a little bit of good trouble.

BERMAN: You delayed as long as you could I guess what I'm asking you is nationally, do you think Democrats need to be willing to blow up the filibuster in the Senate in order to guarantee voting protections?

MOODY: I think we sent a very clear message. And - and I think that we did everything within our power within the confines of our rule to preserve the franchise, and I hope anyone, anywhere that cares about the right to vote will do anything and everything within their power to preserve the same.

BERMAN: Representative Joe Moody, as I said, I know you've been up all night. We appreciate you talking to us. Hope you get some sleep.

MOODY: Thank you very much.

KEILAR: On this Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. This morning, President Biden and Vice President Harris will attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

This holiday weekend looked very different last year, of course, when much of the country was locked down but this year, 37 million people are expected to hit the roads and the skies, a pandemic era high for travel and Pete Muntean is live at Reagan Washington National Airport, watching all of this. Have you seen anything? A lot of activity there, Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, the numbers really tell a story here as things really start to get back to normal. You know, the TSA screening to 1.9 million people at airports across the country on Friday. That is a new high of the pandemic and we will see if we hit the elusive 2 million passenger mark as people start to head home. A number we have not seen since March of 2020.

But the story, not just about air travel. AAA, as you mentioned, predicted - predicted 37 million people would travel 50 miles or more over this holiday weekend, those numbers not that far off from where we were in 2019 pre-pandemic, but those who are driving and the vast majority of people are driving this holiday weekend will see a seven year high in the national average for a gallon of gas.

Triple A now says it's $3.05 even higher out on the west coast so a lot of people really try to take advantage of this first maskless holiday but remember, mass still required on all public forms of transportation, planes, trains, buses, boats, and also urine terminals, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you for the update on that, John.

BERMAN: So this morning police are asking for the public's help in finding the gunman who opened fire at a Florida club early Sunday, killing at least two people and wounding at least 20 more. CNN's Natasha Chen live in Miami Dade County with the very latest on this, Natasha.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, police have actually moved the crime tape farther back from the scene than where were yesterday. This happened at a lounge straight back from where we're standing here in the parking lot of this strip mall essentially.

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This lounge was hosting a private show or concert and police say that people who were attending that were standing outside when this happened just after midnight, early Sunday morning. Police say a white Nissan Pathfinder pulled up. Three people got out of that car with assault rifles and handguns and started shooting indiscriminately at the crowd.

That's why police are calling this a targeted attack. Like you said, two people have died, more than 20 others wounded. They ended up in various hospitals in this area. We know at least two of the injured are in critical condition. And yesterday, we saw a lot of markings on the ground as investigators worked, seeing a lot of shell casings, canines brought in.

They've cleaned up a lot of that but there are still so many questions left unanswered. We did see a couple of families come to the scene yesterday, very upset. One knowing that their son and nephew had been wounded. Another family wondering if their loved one was among the two dead so we're waiting to see if some of those questions may be answered or victims' identities released at a 10am press conference hosted by the Miami Dade County mayor, the police director will also be there.

And now there is a rather large reward for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible. Miami businessmen Marcus Lemonis contributed $100,000 to this reward. ATF Miami added another $25,000 so now there will be $125,000 total for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible for this crime, John.

BERMAN: Natasha Chen, terrifying. Please keep us posted. Thank you very much. Brianna?

KEILAR: In addition to being Memorial Day, today is the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre when the area known as Black Wall Street was burned to the ground. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a bulletin warning that events associated with the anniversary could be targets for white supremacist, though there are no specific threats at this time.

The massacre destroyed the black enclave known as Greenwood in Tulsa. 35 city blocks burned to the ground. 10,000 black residents were left homeless and as many as 300 people were killed. President Biden is scheduled to travel to Tulsa tomorrow and to visit with survivors.

And the drumbeat is growing louder as another prominent Democrat tells President Biden forget the Republicans and kill the filibuster.

BERMAN: Plus just a huge story out of the Middle East. In Israel rivals teaming up to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former U.S. health official says it's common for viruses to escape labs. That's coming up.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): I am sick of playing the game of whack-a-mole with GOP members in Congress. You know every time we you know address one of their concerns, another one pops up. It's like playing whack-a- mole with Chuck E. Cheese growing up. We just can't continue to do that forever. We need to get answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Well, that was Congressman Jason Crow, who's one of the impeachment managers for Trump's second impeachment. He's strongly called there for an investigation into the Capitol insurrection with or without Republicans. Let's talk a little bit more about this now with our CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond.

OK, so what is this going to look like because I mean, I don't know if there's the possibility of a presidential commission. Right now, it seems like all signs point towards a congressional kind of committee.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems that way. There have been a few members of Congress who have called so far for a presidential commission, but the leadership, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, both of them seem to be - seem to say that everything is pointing in the direction of a House Select Committee.

And of course, there's a big difference between what a House Select Committee would be - would look like how its findings would be respected and viewed across the country versus this bipartisan commission that has failed because of this Republican filibuster. And that's because ultimately, any findings that would come out of this, even though it would be a commission, with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, the findings would be viewed through a partisan lens because it would be pushed by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And ultimately, we know sometimes you can have a majority report, you can have a minority report in these situations. And so ultimately, we are not going to get that kind of nonpartisan, investigative finding and also the bipartisan commission would have been staffed by national security experts appointed by both sides of the aisle.

That will be sorely missing no matter which path we move forward on now.

KEILAR: Now that's a very good point. The push right now to kill the filibuster is getting louder. Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, "Let's be clear. If 10 Republican senators cannot even vote for a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection, 10 Republican senators will not vote for any anything meaningful to improve the lives of the American people. We must abolish the filibuster and act now."

But you know, is that going to happen? Is that likely?

DIAMOND: It's unlikely. I mean, the White House still hasn't really shifted its position. We've heard President Biden before talk about making the filibuster more painful, requiring a talking filibuster where somebody or several members, several senators would have to actually hold the floor.

But there's no indication of a change in that position. There is certainly a growing call for this. And you have to think I mean, this is the first time that Republicans in this - in the Biden presidency have actually used the filibuster to block legislation officially and it is fitting that it would happen with this January 6 Commission and it tells you a lot about where the Republican Party currently stands.

And I do think Senator Sanders has a point there, if they're not going to vote for this, if only six Republican senators, seven if Pat Toomey had had shown up to vote are the only ones who are willing to actually cross the line here and say we need an independent finding into this, what else are they going to be willing to support?

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Now, that being said, on infrastructure, there's perhaps some more political upside to Republicans to trying to actually engage in a serious manner with that. But that being said, this was kind of an easy softball pitch, you know, you swing and you miss or you swing and you hit it out the park. And it's unclear why - well, it is clear, actually, why Republicans wouldn't go along with this.

You'd like to say it's unclear. But it's clear, it's the party of Trump, and they are not deviating from that. And they're thinking about short term politics, far more than they are about the long term consequences of that.

KEILAR: There are short term and long term consequences of getting rid of the filibuster. That's the thing that I think the White House is very aware of. You get rid of the filibuster, when you're in the minority, it's going to be incredibly painful and they know that. Let's listen to what Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary said about those infrastructure talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I think we are getting pretty close to a fish or cut bait moment. But I'll tell you that on the fishing side of things, the negotiations have been healthy. There's a lot of conversations going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: All right, when is that moment? This fish or cut bait moment?

DIAMOND: It was supposed to be today. It was supposed to be today, the White House--

KEILAR: It is always supposed to be before.

DIAMOND: The White House for months now has been saying by Memorial Day, we would like to see progress. And that is when we're going to have a clear sense of what the path is forward. Now they've started talking about Memorial Day week, which I hadn't heard of previously. But that's what they're talking about.

Now, listen, it is interesting that these two things are happening at the same time, right? Because President Biden ran on this promise of restoring bipartisanship in Washington. He talked early on in the campaign about the fact that he thought this fever was going to break among Republicans once Trump was out of office.

That clearly has not materialized and some of Biden's comments when you look back at them now. I mean, they seemed naive then, they seem even more naive now. But President Biden wants to try and keep pushing for this, at least for this next week, they are going to see how much closer they can get.

But when you think about, there's not only a trillion and a half dollars separating these two sides right now, but they haven't even gotten to the part of how do you pay for this and on that they're on completely different planets at this point. So we'll see what more can be done in a week.

KEILAR: All right. Well, it's clear the clock is ticking. So we'll see here in the coming days. Jeremy, thank you so much.

A huge political development unfolding in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as Prime Minister, it could be coming to an end. We are live in Jerusalem.

BERMAN: Plus a Boston Celtics fan arrested after throwing a water bottle that nearly hit Nets star Kyrie Irving in the head, stupid. The latest installment of fans behaving badly, next.

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BERMAN: Developing this morning, a potentially seismic upheaval in Israeli politics. Benjamin Netanyahu's run as the longest serving Israeli Prime Minister may be coming to an end, after the leader of a small Right wing party announced he is working toward forming an anti- Netanyahu coalition agreement. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us now live from Jerusalem and Hadas, you know, Netanyahu has been counted out before so I think everyone's looking over their shoulder saying is it real this time? Is it really going to happen?

But it seems like it might really happen this time. HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We may be heading towards the final few

days of Benjamin Netanyahu's run as Prime Minister. Naftali Bennett, the leader of that small Right wing party announcing last night, he will work with the opposition to try and form a new government.

Now if this coalition does come to be, it will be a unique unity government comprised of parties from across the political spectrum here, left to right. Now they don't see eye to eye on many issues. But one thing does unite them. They want Benjamin Netanyahu out of power.

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GOLD: Nearly 10 weeks after Israelis cast their ballots and a decisive primetime move from former defense minister Naftali Bennett.

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): It is now clearly proven there is no right wing government possible with Netanyahu at its head. It is either a fifth election or a unity government.

GOLD: Once close to the Prime Minister, now perhaps the man to sink Netanyahu's 12-year unbroken run as Israel's leader.

BENNETT (through translator): and he will do you'll I'm announcing today that I intend to act with all my strength to form a National Unity government together with my friend, Yair Lapid so that God will together we will rescue the country from this tailspin and we will get Israel back on track.

GOLD: Minutes later, Netanyahu lashed back.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): He is deceiving the public again. The same lies, the same hollow slogans about hatred and division. This from a man who is actually contributing to hatred and division, a man who was committing the deception of the century.

GOLD: Apparently no greater crime for Netanyahu than seeking to create a Left wing government, an accusation at which Bennett scoffed, given his own previous support for West bank annexation.

BENNETT (through translator): The Left is making difficult compromises when it bestows upon me the former leader of the Yesha Council, proponent of the land of Israel, the role of Prime Minister.

GOLD: Up to eight political parties would likely take part in any unity government. But sources close to coalition talks say the hard work has already been done. The position of Prime Minister is widely expected to rotate with Right wing Bennett going first and centrist Lapid second. An announcement could come in the next few days.

Then parliament has a week to give its approval. Even so in a country so long used to seeing Netanyahu in power few rule out the possibility of a further twist or two before the story finally resolves.

Now Israeli politics can change on a dime. So many people here are waiting for the votes to actually be counted in Parliament and the new government to actually be sworn in. But another important thing to keep in mind here is that Netanyahu.