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New Day

Texas Democrats Stage Walkout, Blocking Restrictive Voting Bill; Manhunt for Gunmen at Florida Concert, in Another Mass Shooting; The First Vaccinated Holiday, 37 Million Americans Set to Travel. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 31, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Rights to cause harm, these threatened harm to the players.

[07:00:04]

It really is astounding.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Unacceptable.

BERMAN: All right, Carolyn --

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: Completely.

BERMAN: -- thank you very much.

New Day continues right now.

KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this New Day.

A dramatic turn in the war on voting. Texas Democrats stage a walkout on a restrictive bill, but Democrats are vowing to fight back.

BERMAN: A manhunt is under way for the gunman who even opened fire at a rap concert in Florida and yet another shooting in America.

KEILAR: Plus, lawyers for D.C. Police admit for the first time that officers did use tear gas against protesters in Lafayette Square, blowing up a right-wing talking point.

BERMAN: And is it safe to travel? Can you visit unvaccinated kids? Is there a chance for an outbreak after Memorial Day? Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions.

KEILAR: Welcome and good morning to our here viewers in the United States and around the world. It is Monday, May 31st, Memorial Day here in America.

Voting rights in Texas preserved for now after Democrats staged a stunning walkout before a midnight deadline. The measure, one of the most restrictive in the country, would make it harder for Texans to vote by mail while empowering partisan poll watchers and making it easier to overturn election results. BERMAN: The Republican-backed legislation is not dead yet. Governor Greg Abbott says he will call a special election of the Texas legislature to restart the process as soon as tomorrow. Democrats are comparing the measure to Jim Crow laws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS TURNER (D), TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: An incredible result, and I never blinked in our collective opposition to the harmful vote suppression measures that Texas Republicans continue to push to try to disenfranchise our constituents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Texas Democrat Chris Turner. He engineered the walkout and will join us on New Day in the next hour.

Joining me now is Brianna Brown, the deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project. Brianna, thanks so much for being with us. What did this accomplish overnight and for how long?

BRIANNA BROWN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, TEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT: As an organizer with the Texas Organizing Project, this is a simple victory of organizing. What it says to me is like when we organize, we win. And there has been a beautiful and strategic network of progressives across Texas that have come together. We've taken out at full page ads and major newspapers across Texas. We've rallied outside of companies like AT&T, demanding that they take a stand. We've called the capitol with calls, emails, text, smoke signals, all with one message, to stop these voter suppression laws that are absolutely Jim and Jane Crow 2.0.

So what the Texas Democrats did yesterday? At 10:30 last night, the walkout that they did, gave us more time on the clock. This match is going into overtime.

BERMAN: It's going into overtime, but is it the result of the game? I really don't think it's a game, but you used the metaphor for there. Isn't the end result known?

BROWN: Well, that's what we thought with the regular session, right? We thought that these were going to sail through the Texas house and the Texas senate, and that didn't happen. What happened is that we organized and we're going to continue to organize.

And the analogy around a match, I understand that it goes to -- there are really distinct sides. One side is about shrinking the electorate. That is what the right-wing is doing across this country, and our side is about expanding the electorate making sure that our democracy is healthy as with maximum participation at the ballot box.

BERMAN: Let's up on the screen just so people know what we're talking about here, some of the things that were in this bill that is now on hold. SB-7 would ban unsolicited mail-in ballot applications, it would prohibit overnight and Sunday morning voting, it will require I.D. and signature-matching for mail-in ballots, stop drive-through voting. A lot of these measures, by the way, in place in Harris County, which saw a groundswell of new voters in the last election. It would expand access for partisan poll watchers, which means partisan poll watchers would have much more ability to get up close to the ballots there. And it would ease the judge's ability to overturn the election.

So, this bill does a lot in a state where voting is already restrictive, correct?

BROWN: Correct, absolutely. The innovations that you just mentioned that happened in Harris County, where Houston is, are innovations that expand the electorate, and their innovations that inspire people to go out and vote. There was a surge in students, folks who work late-night jobs, able to take advantage of 24-hour voting.

[07:05:02]

We fundamentally believe that our democracy is healthiest when people are going to go to the polls. And there's lots of avenues to do that.

As you mentioned, Texas is already one of the most -- one of the states that -- we have the most restrictive voting rights laws as it is. And what these new laws constituted was even a complete overhaul on already the restrictions that are on place.

BERMAN: You talked about what was done in Texas last night. You called it a victory for organizing. I talked to a Texas state rep who said, this shows that when we do everything we can, we can make a difference. Do you feel that national Democrats, including the president, are doing everything they can now to keep these measures from becoming law?

BROWN: Well, President Biden just came out not too long ago and made a statement in support of our efforts to continue to fight and calling out unequivocally what these laws are, that they are voter suppression. I think that it takes a groundswell at every level. I think from the national level to the state level, to the county level, to the city level, I think all of those measures are really effective and would encourage more voices to the crowd. I mean, that is, again, fundamental to organizing, as many voices that can be a chorus in unison help us bend history here in Texas.

BERMAN: Brianna Brown, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you very much.

BROWN: Thank you.

BERMAN: The reason I asked that question is because measures like this in Texas are being called a genuine five-alarm threat to democracy. And President Biden, some people are saying, isn't doing enough to stop it. That's what civil rights and voting rights groups are telling The Atlantic's Ron Brownstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): What we are experiencing since the election is the serious threat to the core underlying principles of American democracy, since at least the civil war.

And amid all of this, you've heard very, very little from Biden presenting this as a threat to democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now is CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman. She's a Washington Correspondent for The New York Times.

And, Maggie, I was asking Brianna Brown, is the president doing enough, because Ron Brownstein hits on something there, which a lot of Democrats were saying, which is President Biden needs to be out there saying, blow up the filibuster, President Biden needs to be out there every day fighting to stop these bills from becoming law in the different states.

I'm wondering what more could he realistically do at this point?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the idea, John, is that Biden could be, as you say, using essentially the power of the bully pulpit to talk more about what Democrats see these restrictive voting bills doing to democracy, what they see as something of an existential threat.

The Biden White House would argue that the way that Biden got elected and the way he was able to push through major legislation earlier this year through holding the House in the Senate was not making appeals like that, was trying to appeal to the whatever remaining political center there is among voters, and that to do other than that would be more partisan than he cares to be.

He did weigh in on the Texas bill in the last 48 hours. And I do think that that's worth noting because it was a surprise, I think, to a number of people that he said anything at all. I think the question is whether he will continue to do that in other state legislative battles about voting rights. But that is the argument that the Biden folks would make.

And, again, to your point, he can't control what states are going to do. He could use the power of his office to talk about it. And we will see if he does more of that in the coming months.

KEILAR: On Saturday -- I know you've seen the tweet, the vice president and, look, more likely someone in her office, I sort of doubt that she tweeted out a photo of herself and this message. But it said, enjoy the long weekend. And, look, that's a bad tweet because it doesn't talk about why there is this long weekend. It's for Memorial Day. It's for service members who have died. But, at the same time, Fox went crazy with this, Maggie.

HABERMAN: So, Brianna, I think that -- look, I agree with you. I think it was a strange tweet to put out something of the vice president. I don't think it was Memorial Day yet. I don't think it was potentially the only tweet that she was going to do, but I certainly understood why it raised some people's eyebrows. There's a big difference between raising people's eyebrows and treating this as if this is the outrage of the moment.

And I think that you have seen Fox News and a number of Republicans chasing essentially shiny objects, because whatever efforts they are doing to try to get at and lower the poll numbers of the Biden White House had not working. And so something like this just seems like chum in the water for their audiences.

They were very silent when former President Trump said anything that was remotely straying from the message of Memorial Day. They said nothing. I don't think I saw a whole lot in the last 24 hours about the fact that Mike Flynn, a former military general, endorsed the idea of a coup in the U.S.

[07:10:00]

So I think that until both are getting sort of an equal look, it's hard to treat this as a serious reaction.

BERMAN: One other thing that happened over the weekend, Maggie, which is interesting, Capitol Police have confirmed that tear gas was used on protesters around Lafayette Square Park last June, obviously, during those Black Lives Matter protests out there. Our reporters who were on the ground, there was no doubt among people who were there that tear gas was used, because they felt it and they experienced.

But to get this official confirmation after there were the denials, after, again, the right-wing was speaking out saying, oh, no, no, no, no, no tear gas, you think this is important and shouldn't be overlooked?

HABERMAN: I don't think it should be overlooked, John, because I think there was such an effort to try to discredit journalists who are talking about what they had experienced. There was a huge effort on Twitter. Kayleigh McEnany went to the briefing room podium and said there was no tear gas used. I think former President Trump said the same thing.

I think the refuge that people who were saying will take now is, well, we didn't say that was that section of law enforcement. It was park police that we were talking about. I don't that journalists were trying to make a distinction about uniform people were wearing. They were making the point that it was used. And there was, again, an effort to try to undermine and to minimize what was clear fallout from that event in Lafayette Square at that point that was growing negatively for the president.

KEILAR: What do you think, Maggie, about this debate where we're seeing about the Wuhan lab news, this discussion over the lab leak theory and just how politicized it's gotten?

HABERMAN: I think it has become, Brianna, one of those topics that is very hard to have a nuanced conversation with almost anyone about it. Look, I'm not a scientist. I have no idea what happened. I have no idea where this came from. I think that scientists rely too much on the stasis of a lack of information on a number of topics, not just the virus' origin. Early on when this happened, I think that there were a number of journalists who declined to ask questions, who were covering specifically the origins of this virus. And I think there was a Twitter group thing to try to push back on people who raise questions. But at the end of the day, I come back to the fact that there can be enough issues here to go around.

And when you have a president and you have secretary of state who say they have seen evidence and won't then share it, especially when one of them is saying something like the Kung Flu, you're not going to be given benefit of the doubt, you're not going to get given benefit of the doubt after four years of burning your own credibility. That's just the way this works.

There were people in that administration who did take this seriously early on. There was Peter Navarro. There was Matt Pottinger. There were a lot who were much more content to try to downplay, not just talking about where the virus might have come from but the threat itself.

It is important to study, Brianna, where it came from. I don't know that Biden and his administration are going to have answers in the 90 days or slightly less now than he set for the Intelligence Community to come back to him, but there are obviously still a number of outstanding questions about this.

BERMAN: It is interesting, right, that the actual -- what's actually happening in terms of the lab leak is the least politicized it's been. There does seem finally to be a sense that there need to be answers at an investigation, yet the discussion about it in some places is more political than ever. I guess that's how things go these days.

Maggie Haberman, great to see you, thanks so much.

KEILAR: This morning, a manhunt is under way to find those responsible for a mass shooting at a Florida club on Sunday that killed at least two people and wounded at least 20 more. This is just the latest of almost 20 mass shootings that have taken place in America over the past week.

And joining us now is Daniella Levine Cava. She is the mayor of Miami- Dade, Florida. Thank you so much, Mayor, for being with us. We are so sorry for what your community is going through here.

Can you just give us a sense of what is going on here with the search for these shooters? Because according to reports, I mean, we're talking about a few people here who were the perpetrators of this crime.

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D-MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL): Good morning, Brianna. And here are we are on Memorial Day when we should be mourning the fallen for service to our country. And instead, we're thinking about those who died for no reason at all. And it is truly tragic. We're doubling down, working across the cities, federal and the state authorities, all the clues and all the evidence being analyzed. We don't have any breaks right now but they're working hard. And we have instead now through a special initiative called a Peace and Prosperity Plan, and it will help us get to the root causes of violence, because we know certain neighborhoods are more affected than others, and we need to make sure that we have prevention and intervention strategies in place.

KEILAR: So then that's very interesting that you mention that. Obviously, you're looking at addressing this on a city level as we see a rise in gun violence. Do you have, and, look, I know you may not, but any sense what the motive could be? Because this was, what, a private concert that these gunmen opened fire on.

[07:15:01]

CAVA: Yes. Police believe it was a targeted shooting. They do not believe it was just a random hater. So, somebody was there with a particular purpose in mind for that audience, and they're exploring all the clues as to that and talking with the -- all of the people that were present, that they can. So they are really doing their job.

And in the future, we're investing resources and even more analysts because we need to monitor these things and get ahead. We need to solve this murder, we need bring these people to justice and we need to prevent the next one.

KEILAR: There were almost two dozen people who were wounded and there are still two victims still who are in the hospital. Can you give as an update on those two victims, Mayor?

CAVA: I know that many were superficial wounds and some were more serious, and we're praying for those in the hospital.

KEILAR: Okay. Mayor, thank you so much. We really, really appreciate you being with us, and we're thinking your community as you're going through this, Mayor Cava.

CAVA: Thank you, Brianna. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Americans across the country are celebrating the first largely mask-less holiday in more than a year, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers all of your coronavirus-related questions next.

BERMAN: More than a hundred U.S. diplomats and troops sickened by the so-called Havana syndrome. We'll talk to a former CIA agent who called the attack the most terrifying experience of his life.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: It is Memorial Day, and that means summer is unofficially under way. If you are vaccinated, it will be even more memorable because this will be the first holiday since the pandemic began that you can enjoy barbecues and family gatherings without worrying about masking up, getting us one step closer to a sense of normalcy. Joining us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, it feels like this is the first holiday of the rest of our lives here.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. I mean, it is very strange to think about this year compared to last year. In some ways it's very similar, and I'm going to tell you why in a second, but in some ways, it's vastly different. And as you point out, it really is almost completely based on your vaccination status. If you are unvaccinated, you're going to get many of the same messages you heard about a year ago in terms of your physical distancing, wearing a mask, all these sorts of things. If you're vaccinated, you feel very protected from getting sick, from becoming infected, and from potentially being contagious to other people.

Let me show you the graphic though. I think this is really interesting, number of new cases sort of on a daily basis. Last year at this time, this year roughly the same, really interesting, right around 24,000, 25,000. Obviously, it is the trajectory and inertia which is totally different. Last year at this time, it was going up. You see where it went ultimately. This year, the numbers are coming down.

KEILAR: And in a White House briefing last year, the CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, touched on that. She said if you're vaccinated, you're protected, you can enjoy Memorial Day. So what about the people who aren't yet fully vaccinated? Maybe they can't get vaccinated. Maybe they have small children. I'm in that category who are not eligible to get vaccinated. What are the risks? How should we approach this Memorial Day holiday?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, so I think for people who are unvaccinated, and my kids are sort of in that middle ground right now, Brianna, as well where they're not fully vaccinated, I think you still have to be careful. I mean, we're so close. You can see the trajectory of the numbers.

And let me just show you this map as well, the country, there are parts of the country where, obviously, viral transmission is much higher but only about one in ten people right now live in a part of the country where you have high viral transmission, starting to see a lot of yellows and blues on that map, which is good news.

But, overall, the guidance from vaccinated people remains the same. Think of it like this. Vaccinated people are not a risk to unvaccinated people. Unvaccinated people are not a risk to vaccinated people. It is really unvaccinated people being at risk to each other, that is the biggest concern. I have got to keep repeating that in my own head to think about this, but I think that makes a lot of sense.

BERMAN: But just as much of a risk as it's always been, just to be clear about that to unvaccinated. I think there are unvaccinated people running around and saying the world is a better place, the world is a better place. No, it's exactly the same for you if you're not vaccinated in terms of dealing with other unvaccinated people. Sanjay, we have some viewer questions there. There are people wondering is there a chance that there could be an outbreak after Memorial Day weekend.

GUPTA: I think it's a fair question. 15 months of dealing with this and seeing these spikes after big gatherings like this, yes, I think there is a chance that there may be a big spike. So, let's not be surprised by that. I think it will be a blunted spike because we do have so many more people who have now been vaccinated.

But as you just point out, there is still a very real risk of unvaccinated people spreading this, sort of prolonging this pandemic, if you will. I think we're still heading in a very good trajectory. At this point, it's just a question of how long does it continue to last.

KEILAR: And here is another question. Is it safe to travel? What about on public transportation?

GUPTA: Yes. There's a theme, right? So if you're vaccinated, I think it is much safer to travel. I mean, nothing is 100 percent but this is a good vaccine. One thing you should be aware of is that if it's public transportation, you are still going to be required to wear a mask. This is an ongoing discussion that the CDC is having, for example, at the aviation industry.

But the science doesn't change. The vaccines are good. You don't necessarily need to wear a mask indoors or outdoors. But there are lots of institutions, including public transportation that haven't yet caught up with that. So, don't throw away your masks even if you're been vaccinated. There's a chance you may still need them in situations like that.

And, frankly, you know what, I carry one around still. If people are wearing masks around me, I'll still throw on as a courtesy to them.

[07:25:04]

I know that -- I'm fully aware that that's a collision of science and philosophy. The science suggests that I don't have to do it. But just being a common decent person suggests that maybe I should.

KEILAR: It's unfortunate you have to assume someone is unvaccinated unless you know that they are. Sometimes I tell -- I actually tell people, just so you know, I'm fully vaccinated, and I watch them relax a little so that they know we're having a conversation even if we're outdoors or something. It just seems like people are relaxed with that.

This is a question for you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: And you've raised it.

KEILAR: Yes, exactly.

GUPTA: And you've raised the issue. Yes, I mean, you brought it up. So it does make people feel a bit more relaxed. KEILAR: So, someone asked this. They say, my vaccinated husband and I are in our late 70s and we plan to visit our daughter and grandchildren who are not vaccinated. Should we be concerned about visiting them?

GUPTA: They are very well protected against getting sick. My parents, I mean, they were hermits. They were really worried about becoming ill. They saw people around them getting ill. They're in that age range of late 70s. So, they still, at times, are just cautious, and I get this. It's going be a transition period.

But for the questioners here, you are really well protected. The only thing I would encourage you to do is encourage your relatives who you're going to visit to also get vaccinated certainly when they can.

BERMAN: We've done all the grandparents in the last ten days, that's how excited we are. It's time. It's time.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks for so much being with us this morning.

Coming up, brand-new reporting about President Biden's life outside the White House.

KEILAR: And if we are known for anything here on New Day, it is for our high story account about cicadas. So how is this one? Have you ever wondered what cicadas taste like?

BERMAN: I'm wondering right now.

KEILAR: I'm about to find out.

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