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Derek Chauvin Trial Continues; Firefighter In Tears Testifying About George Floyd's Arrest; White House Says, Biden Believes Americans Deserve Better Info From World Health Organization On COVID Origins Than In New Report; Civil Rights Groups File Third Federal Lawsuit Challenging New Georgia Voting Law; New Video Inside Border Facility Shows Children Sleeping On Mats, Overcrowded Conditions. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 30, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. It's now the top of the hour.

We have been watching extremely dramatic, very powerful, emotional testimony in the murder trial of the former police officer Derek Chauvin.

The court just wrapped up for the day just a few moments ago -- you saw it live here on CNN -- after emotional firsthand accounts of George Floyd's arrest, one bystander declaring he believed he witnessed a murder, other witnesses describing in great detail Chauvin kneeling harder and harder on Floyd's neck, as the crowds were pleading, pleading for him to simply stop.

The defense repeatedly arguing that those crowds were a distraction, and they claimed a potential threat to Chauvin and other police officers.

A firefighter also took the stand, moved to tears, as we all saw, as she described how police would not let her check on Floyd's condition. This hour, I will get reaction from the lead attorney for the Floyd family, Ben Crump. He's standing by live.

But, first, let's go to CNN's Omar Jimenez. He's covering the Chauvin trial in Minneapolis for us.

Omar, this was extremely powerful, the accounts we heard from the witnesses on this day. They watched George Floyd's treatment by the police. They watched in shock, and they watched in horror.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

Court just got out a few moments ago. But this was the most emotional and contentious day of testimony we have seen yet in this trial. At one point, the judge even scolded the last witness called for the day for arguing with the lawyers during questioning.

The testimony that we heard over the course of today came from those who physically were as close to George Floyd as they were allowed to be on May 25, 2020, as he was laying down, paved -- pinned, I should say, to the pavement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER CAHILL, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA, JUDGE: Good morning, members of the jury.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The story of what happened May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis told today through the lens of eyewitnesses.

GENEVIEVE CLARA HANSEN, MINNEAPOLIS FIREFIGHTER: I had already assessed that he had an altered level of consciousness. What I needed to know is whether or not he had a pulse anymore.

Genevieve Hansen is an EMT, and was off duty on a walk when she ended up feet from George Floyd as he was pinned under the knee of Derek Chauvin, wanting to help with, at the very least, chest compressions.

MATTHEW FRANK, MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR: And when you couldn't do that, how did that make you feel?

HANSEN: Totally distressed.

FRANK: Were you frustrated?

HANSEN: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Donald Williams was standing right next to her.

DONALD WILLIAMS, WITNESS: I believed I witnessed a murder. After Floyd's seemingly unresponsive body was loaded into the ambulance that day, Williams called the police on the police he had just witnessed, in particular Derek Chauvin.

JIMENEZ: That 911 audio was played in court.

WILLIAMS: He just pretty much just killed this guy that wasn't resisting arrest.

JIMENEZ: Williams didn't feel he could talk to the officers at the scene.

FRANK: Did you, well, believe that they were involved?

WILLIAMS: Yes, totally.

JIMENEZ: But the most contentious exchange of the trial so far...

ERIC NELSON, ATTORNEY FOR DEREK CHAUVIN: Did you say that?

WILLIAMS: Is that what you heard?

JIMENEZ: ... was between Williams and Chauvin's attorney during cross- examination.

NELSON: You called him a bum at least 13 times. Those terms grew more and more angry. Would you agree with that?

WILLIAMS: They grew more and more pleading for life.

JIMENEZ: The defense emphasizing a point it made during opening statements, that the perceived threat from a growing crowd caused Chauvin to direct his attention away from Floyd's care.

The next witnesses appeared by audio only, since they were under 18 at the time of Floyd's death, including a 9-year-old and her now 18-year- old cousin, only identified as D.F. She's the one who filmed the now infamous cell phone video scene around the world.

D.F., WITNESS: I seen a man on the ground, and I see a cop kneeling down on him.

JIMENEZ: She was asked to identify Derek Chauvin in court.

JERRY BLACKWELL, MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR: Are able to tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury if you know who this man is? You can take your time.

D.F.: Yes. Yes.

JIMENEZ: She said she felt threatened by the police there, including Chauvin that day, a day she can't let go of, even close to a year later.

D.F.: When I look at George Floyd, I look at -- I look at my dad. I look at my brothers.

It's been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more, and not physically interacting. But it's like, it's not what I should have done. It's what he should have done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:05:18]

JIMENEZ: And a separate under agent on identified witness acknowledged she may have seen officers check for George Floyd's pulse multiple times, but doesn't think they found it.

We ended the day in the middle of the testimony from that EMT that you heard from. So, that's where we're expecting to pick things back up tomorrow when court gets back in session, all as part of trying to establish the record of what happened and why from those closest to what happened -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Truly dramatic testimony today. Omar, stay with us.

We're also getting new reaction to this, the second day of critical testimony in the trial of the former police officer Derek Chauvin. Jurors heard multiple, multiple witnesses describe what they saw. Let's talk to the lead attorney right now for the Floyd family, Ben

Crump, who's joining us.

Ben, thank you so much for joining us.

A difficult day for everyone watching this powerful, emotional testimony. First of all, what's your reaction? What did you make of the testimony we heard today from several witnesses who saw all this unfold firsthand?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF GEORGE FLOYD: Wolf, it was heart-wrenching, simply heart-wrenching.

We have all seen the video, but they saw up close and personal a human being tortured to death, with Derek Chauvin not offering him any consideration, any respect, any humanity.

I mean, what you heard from that little girl and Darnella and Mr. Williams and Ms. Hansen was their heart speaking. Anybody with a heart would have felt compelled to say something, to say, you can't do this.

But Derek Chauvin didn't seem to have a heart when he kept his knee on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. And the only question now that remains to most of us is, does America have a heart to make sure that there's justice for George Floyd?

BLITZER: And if you look at the video, you can't ignore the fact that the other police officers, Ben, who were there, they did basically nothing to stop him from kneeling for more than, what, nine minutes, almost 10 minutes on George Floyd's neck.

CRUMP: Exactly, Wolf. They aided and abetted in the crime, the fact that they did not follow their training, their professionalism to say, hey, our job is to protect life, not to take life. Our job is to help people, not to torture people.

But why wasn't that same level of professionalism and respect given to this unarmed black man who was face down in handcuffs, who was begging, Wolf, was begging, saying, "I can't breathe"? He begged for breath 28 time.

And that EMT worker, you heard her testimony, saying that we -- she could tell he had lost consciousness. She just wanted to know if he had a post. Could we try to save him?

BLITZER: Yes, Genevieve Clara Hansen, the Minneapolis firefighter, off-duty at the time, she specifically said there is a man being killed. She wanted -- she pleaded. She wanted to do something to help, but they wouldn't let her.

So far, we have heard from three witnesses -- and this is pretty amazing -- who actually called the police on the police. They made 911 calls, including, as you correctly point out, Donald Williams, who felt he had witnessed what he described as a murder.

So, what does that tell you, Ben? CRUMP: Well, it tells me that, a lot of times, marginalized people of

color, we don't know who to call when the police continue to engage in excessive use of force and brutality against us, because, certainly, George floor wasn't the only time that a black person has been tortured or brutalized in America by the police.

We just are fortunate that it was captured on video, so everybody wouldn't just accept the police narrative, that those bystanders had video to show this torture video that now has been seen over 50 million times on the Internet and probably more on television shows like yours.

[18:10:01]

And what it says to us is that the most watched video of an American citizen being killed by the police in history, will there be accountability?

BLITZER: As you were watching, we were watching, everyone was watching the witnesses today, they said that Chauvin, the former police officer, appeared to kneel harder and harder on George Floyd as people from the outside actually tried to intervene, that Chauvin refused to get off of George Floyd, even after that ambulance arrived.

Can the defense argue that Chauvin was still concerned for his own safety, when Floyd was totally unresponsive, what, for nearly four minutes at that point?

CRUMP: And, Wolf, that's why I continue to say when I hear a lot of analysts come on television and say, oh, this is a hard case, this is a difficult case, this murder case is not hard, when you watch that torture video of George Floyd, the fact that Derek Chauvin, I mean, put his hand in his pocket.

I mean, and Reverend Al and the family of George Floyd, we kneeled yesterday for a symbolic eight minutes and 46 seconds, what we thought was the amount of time that Derek Chauvin had his knee on Neil George Floyd's neck. And when we were down that, it became very challenging, and at times painful.

So, what that told us is that you had to be intentional in what you were doing. You can't hold that position unless you intended to. And I would pray -- if I was prosecuting the case, I would ask the jury in my summation, get on one knee, and let's time for nine minutes and 29 seconds, and tell me that that is not intent for you to stay in that position.

BLITZER: What did you think of the defense argument today that the bystanders who were watching, they were angry? They were threatening, they claimed. They were unruly. They said that was a distraction to the police officer.

What was your reaction when you heard that?

CRUMP: You know, it's amazing to me. I knew that they were going to attempt to assassinate the character of George Floyd, that they were going to say he had a trace amount of drugs in his system, that he had some health condition.

They were going to say everything led to his death, except Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck. But even I was shocked, Wolf, when they attempted to assassinate the character of the general public, the bystanders who were pleading for a dying man who was being tortured to death to be given some consideration by the very police officers who swore to protect and defend them, simply saying, take your knee off his neck.

And so that went even more than I thought. And I thought I had seen it all, Wolf. But for them to try to say the bystanders, the crowd is the reason why Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd is just ludicrous.

BLITZER: Yes. There was -- as you heard this off-duty Minneapolis firefighter, she was very powerful, Genevieve Clara Hansen.

She broke down at one point. She started to cry. You saw the tears coming down her face as she described actually being blocked from providing the medical care that she had been trained to provide.

So, how does the Floyd family cope with that type of very emotional, powerful testimony?

CRUMP: Well, obviously, they are heartbroken yet again at seeing the just utter disregard and lack of humanity and respect for George Floyd that were exhibited by those four police officers.

And, as Darnella, the young lady who filmed the video that went viral, how she is suffering from PTSD over the guilt of saying: I wish I could have did more.

And it's so unfair to people like Darnella and George Floyd's family to be suffering this post-traumatic stress disorder of watching this horrific terror that was exhibited upon George, and that the police officers continue to say, we did nothing wrong.

How could you? How can you still come and tell the public, tell America, tell the world, we did nothing wrong, when we kept our knee on his neck and literally killed this man? Where is the humanity?

Mr. Williams had humanity so much that, when he watched a fish suffocate and die for lack of oxygen, that he said he had to get out of the house and clear his head, get some air.

[18:15:02]

But then to watch a human being, Wolf, die from deprivation of oxygen right before your very eyes, it is something that will haunt them for the rest of their lives, as it has haunted all of America and all of the world who saw that video for the rest of our lives.

If you watched the George Floyd video, you will never be able to unsee that video.

BLITZER: Yes, but, as you correctly point out, Ben, it's one thing to watch the video, which we have all seen. Millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of people around the world have seen the video.

But it's another thing if you're a young person and you're physically on the scene, and you see what's going on. You can only imagine how powerful that is. My heart went out to all those young people who were testifying today, because it's going to stay with them forever.

They're going to keep asking: Maybe I could have done this. Maybe I could have been done that.

Let me ask you. What did you make of the defense attorney in this case actually grilling that off-duty firefighter? What does what she did or didn't do on that day have anything to do with Chauvin's guilt or innocence? What was your reaction to that kind of argument that was leveled?

CRUMP: You know, it was disgusting.

Their tactic -- as I learned in law school, if you don't have the facts on your side, then you try to do things to distract from the facts. I want to make you look here. I want to make you look there. I don't want you to focus in on the facts of what is right before our eyes.

And that's what they're attempting to do. And, Wolf, just to revisit your previous question, can you imagine the heartbreak of those young people, that 9-year-old baby, who witnessed this terror, this torture, and watching a man die, if this police officer is not held accountable?

What message would they send to -- what message would that send to her and the future generations about whether we value black life in America?

BLITZER: Let me get your thoughts also, while I have you, Ben, on the judge in this case, Peter Cahill.

He did have a rather tense moment at the very end. You saw it. We all saw today, when he actually admonished that firefighter for the way she was interacting with the defense attorney. What was your reaction to that?

You're an attorney.

CRUMP: Well, I think the court has a duty to maintain that everything is fair for both sides, and try to make sure that there's impartiality, and to do things appropriate to make sure that there's due process extended to everybody.

And so we respect that. However, the same way the court, the prosecutors, the defense, and the entire system would have treated George Floyd if the roles were reversed, then we expect that same thing to happen in this situation.

And what I see oftentimes, Wolf, where black people and marginalized people of color are charged or accused of crimes in America, there's a degree of righteous indignation when they start to argue why they should be convicted and held accountable.

Well, I pray that people who are watching this trial will say, we need to have righteous indignation and righteous anger at what Derek Chauvin did in killing an unarmed man. We cannot let this be the precedents of equal justice in America.

We have to stand up and say we're better than this, America. We cannot allow this to bring us down from our highest ideals that every American citizen should be afforded equality and justice.

BLITZER: Ben Crump is the lead attorney for the George Floyd family.

Ben, thanks so much for joining us. We're going to stay in very close touch with you throughout the course of this trial. Appreciate it very much.

And we're watching all of these developments. We're getting a lot more reaction. We have a panel of experts, our legal experts, our reporter on the scene. They will brief us on all the late-breaking developments in this truly dramatic day of testimony.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:39]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point, did you make a 911 call?

WILLIAMS: That is correct. I did call police on the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

And why did you do that?

WILLIAMS: Because I believe I witnessed a murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so you felt a need to call the police?

WILLIAMS: I felt the need to call the police on the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pretty dramatic testimony, powerful testimony from Donald Williams, who testified earlier today in this murder trial.

Let's get some insight right now from CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. He's a lawyer. Mary Moriarty, the former chief public defender in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Minneapolis is in Hennepin County. Ron Johnson, a former captain with the Missouri Highway State Patrol. And CNN's Omar Jimenez, he is on the scene, reporting all the late-breaking developments for us in Minneapolis.

Mary, let me start with you. The off-duty firefighter, she got rather emotional, as we all saw,

describing how she was blocked from giving first aid to George Floyd while he was there on the ground.

But the defense drilled down on the idea that the police officers were supposedly distracted by the small crowd that had gathered over there. Does that have any, any bearing at all in this case?

MARY MORIARTY, FORMER HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA, PUBLIC DEFENDER: I think having the video -- I know that the defense made that argument in statement.

But we saw various videos today filmed by different people from different angles. And it was pretty clear the bystanders were following the directions of the officer who kept telling them to stay on the sidewalk. They were yelling things, but they were desperate. They were begging the officers to give George Floyd help.

[18:25:18]

So, I don't think any of the videos help the defense argument that the bystanders were blocking or preventing the police officers from giving George Floyd any aid at all.

BLITZER: And, Bakari, there was that tense moment that we saw between the off-duty firefighter and the defense attorney, the lead defense attorney, Eric Nelson, who questioned her training, questioned her memory.

And then the judge issued a warning to her to answer the questions as asked. So, what does that mean, from your perspective? What does that mean for the prosecution?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean, what was happening in that moment -- and we have to be clear -- is that the witness was being impeached. She was being impeached, because the testimony she was giving in open court wasn't matching up with the testimony or the statements that she had given law enforcement a few days or weeks after the event occurred.

And so he was attempting to point out the fact that there was a misrepresentation and impeach the witness at that time. But you also saw -- and this is -- this is what happens in these cases. And this is what happens when cameras are in the courtroom and we're able to see this.

This is a very, very emotional moment. And people are passionate. And people -- I mean, you cannot imagine -- I mean, Wolf, we have to take a step back and think about the fact that this woman, regardless of what her job was, witnessed a man being murdered.

You have the -- you have a 9-year-old, you have a 17-year-old, you had these witnesses who were there who witnessed a man being murdered. And so you hear that passion in their voice. That passion is going to resonate with jurors. And what the defense is trying to do is point out any moment where they can where there's an inconsistent statement, where is a lie, for lack of a better term, and try to use that to damage the credibility of the witness on the stand.

And then the judge -- the judge will give the jury instructions at the end. And they will say, you have to weigh the credibility of each witness that came before you. And I just think -- I personally think that her passion and I personally think that her testimony is going to outweigh the impeachment. But that impeachment is still there, and something that the prosecution is going to have to deal with.

BLITZER: It was a very powerful testimony that she provided.

Captain Johnson, several of the witnesses felt -- they testified -- and they're all under oath -- that the former police officer Derek Chauvin, he kneeled harder, they said, harder and harder on George Floyd's neck when they tried to intervene.

How could that potentially shape this case, if at all?

RON JOHNSON, FORMER MISSOURI HIGHWAY STATE PATROL CAPTAIN: I think it has an impact. I think it shows intent.

As we watch these videos, it does appear that he's twisting when you look at the back of his foot. And so did the crowd make him angry? And so I think it does have an impact.

I think, when you listen to all the witnesses, they all kind of gave similar statements in a different way. And so, to me, that brings a little truth to what they saw.

BLITZER: The whole notion of that one witness, Donald Williams, Captain, suggesting that he had no choice but to call the police on the police -- you heard what he said -- how does that build this case for the prosecution?

JOHNSON: Well, I would say that was powerful.

He said it, also the dispatcher, the firefighter. And I think it shows that, at that moment, the police officers that were on the scene, all of them, they had no faith in speaking with them and no faith in reporting what they had saw.

And so I think they called the power that they saw was there and called the authority. And so I think we haven't seen that in our country. And I saw -- I think we saw it from the dispatcher. And so I think it is powerful, that these people thought, we're going to step over that normal line, and go above what is expected and call the police on the police.

And so we haven't seen that. But I think it's powerful. And I think, hopefully, that is a changing moment in our country.

BLITZER: You know the law, Mary Moriarty, in Hennepin County. What did you make of the decision to hear from minors today, one as

young as only 9 years old, who were clearly so impacted, so affected by what they saw?

MORIARTY: My guess is, one of the reasons that the state called all those youthful witnesses is that they have made a motion for an aggravated sentence. And you need the jury to find the aggravating factors. And that would be the presence of minors.

So, for instance, the 9-year-old who wore the green shirt that said "Love" on it, she didn't have a lot to offer, but serving -- her presence there talking about what this meant to her, as well as the other youthful witnesses, was really compelling.

And if Chauvin is convicted, the state will be asking for an aggravated sentence. And you can bet that the state is going to talk about the impact that this had on each one of these witnesses.

[18:30:04]

BLITZER: You know, Bakari, how effectively do you believe the prosecution has been in using these different video angles to try to backup the testimony?

SELLERS: I mean, this prosecution has been very, very effective, Wolf. And the main reason they have, and I'm going keep at going this throughout, is when you go and you give an opening statement, the number one thing you have to do for a jury is you have to actually show the jury and repeat those things and show them what you talked about in your opening. And they have laid a case out and each witness has gone back to that opening and shown what the prosecution laid out to be true.

And this is going to come down to the fact that, one, you had a number of people who felt like they had to call the police on the police. That is very powerful. And, two, you had all of these people, from the firefighter to the witnesses who were there, who had more compassion for George Floyd than Derek Chauvin did.

And the defense is going to throw everything against the wall. It's going to be infuriating at times for many people watching. They're going to call people liars. They're going to empty the clip. But at the end of the day this prosecution is sticking to their narrative and they are going to attempt and it's going to be a very difficult challenge. But they're going to attempt to find Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in this and they're laying that case out perfectly. But, again, we're only two days in.

BLITZER: Two days in, Omar, very powerful testimony, yesterday, extremely powerful, very emotional testimony today. Walk us through what we can anticipate tomorrow and in the days to come.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, tomorrow and the days to come, we're going to see a lot of what we saw today in regards to the story of what happened may 25th, 2020, is being told by eyewitnesses, those in many cases who were literal feet from George Floyd as he was pinned to the pavement under the knee of Derek Chauvin. And when you get take that moment and translate it to testimony, you get what we saw today. The most emotional and contentious day of testimony we have seen yet.

So as you bring more those eyewitnesses to the stand, that is more of what you can expect. That EMT that was interviewed or that testified over the court as of today, that was where things ended. So things will pick back up with her tomorrow.

And as you mentioned and before coming to the segment, the judge even had to scold her at one point saying not to argue with the lawyers while questioning, and that was only because of the nature of the back and forth and, again, how contentious this issue was, how passionate she was about wanting to be able to help and get in there but not being able to.

And so I think we can expect more of that as we continue on to this in the main goal -- in pursuit of the main goal I should say, of setting the record straight for what exactly happened that day and why.

BLITZER: Yes, that firefighter, Genevieve Clara Hanson, she said that there was a man being killed. That's what she saw. They had just killed somebody and totally understandable that she became very, very emotional in recounting what she was an eyewitness to seeing.

All right, everybody stand by. We're going to have a lot more on this.

Also coming up, the White House says Americans deserve better information than they just got from the World Health Organization about the origins of the pandemic.

And there's new video inside a border facility overcrowded with thousands of mostly young migrants. How are their living conditions unfolding tonight?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: Tonight, as the Biden administration fights against the new COVID-19 surge, it's expressing concerns about a World Health Organization report on the origins of the virus.

Let's go to our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, she's got all the late-breaking development. So, Kaitlan, many questions about how the pandemic started, they remain totally unanswered tonight.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they do, Wolf. And a lot of where those unanswered questions, why is this new report from the World Health Organization that was supposed to be determining the origins of the coronavirus and how it started spreading, not just here in the U.S., but, of course, around the world at the beginning, and the White House says they believe China hampered that investigation is the reason it's unclear what the answers to all of those questions are. Instead, they are calling on them to be more transparent here at the White House tonight and saying that right now, what they've provided the world with is a partial and incomplete picture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice over): Tonight, the White House is raising concerns about a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization that failed to conclude when, where or how COVID-19 started spreading.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It lacks crucial data, information. It lacks access, it lacks transparency.

COLLINS: Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying Americans deserve more after China refused to share raw data about early cases with investigators.

PSAKI: I think he believes that the American people, the global community, the medical experts, the doctors, all of the people who have been working to save lives, the families who have lost loved ones, all deserve greater transparency.

COLLINS: In a statement alongside 13 other countries, the U.S. expressed, quote, shared concern that the report was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete original data and samples. The report dismissed the possibility that the virus was the result of a lab accident. But the organization's own chief questioned that, saying the theory needs further investigation because, quote, I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough.

In the U.S., top health officials are sounding the alarm about being too optimistic tonight amid a potential fourth surge.

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: We take our guard down, this is what's going to happen. We don't understand this virus as well as people pretend to.

[18:40:02]

COLLINS: In the last two weeks, at least 27 states have seen a rise in new cases as deaths nationwide have hovered around a thousand per day. Michigan is leading the U.S. in new cases with over a 50 percent rise in the last seven days. With new coronavirus cases on the upswing, the CDC director repeated this warning during a call with the nation's governors today.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I'm scared.

COLLINS: Despite Dr. Walensky's pleas to stay vigilant, some states are moving ahead with plans to reopen or relax restrictions as the U.S. accelerates the pace of vaccinations.

SLAVITT: Their job is to speak the truth even if people don't like it.

COLLINS: At least two southern states, Alabama and Arkansas, will drop mask mandates in the coming days even after President Biden urged them not to.

BIDEN: Please. This is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down.

SLAVITT: To me, a mask feels like a very small price to pay to protect people's lives, to save people's lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (on camera): Now, Wolf, there's also about two dozen countries in addition to the European Union and the World Health Organization that are wanting to form some kind of international treaty to basically have a better preparedness for the next pandemic if one comes.

And, of course, health experts have said that is potentially likely. But right now, the Biden administration says the U.S. does not plan to enter into those talks or those negotiations because they said they do not believe the timing right now is appropriate.

BLITZER: Kaitlan, thank you very much, Kaitlan Collins reporting from the White House.

So let's discuss with Dr. Celine Gounder, an Infectious Disease Specialist and Epidemiologist, she's also a CNN Medical Analyst. Dr. Gounder, thanks so much for joining us.

As you know, the CDC director says that she fears what she describes as impending doom if states don't stop lifting public health measures. As an average of nearly a thousand Americans continue to die from this virus every day, that's the average over the past week, do you share her concern?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Wolf, there are a couple of patterns we've seen over the course of this pandemic, one of which is when you see a plateau in cases, and we had been plateaued at somewhere around 50,000 to 60,000 new cases per day for several weeks, every time we've had plateau like that, that is followed by a surge.

We're now up to over 70,000, 75,000 cases per day. And then very time you have an increase in travel, whether that was the 4th of July or Thanksgiving or the winter holidays, where you have people mixing across households, that has also led to a surge.

And so it's really not surprising that we're seeing this, but there's another wrench that has been thrown in all of this, which is the rise of these new, more infectious variants which are also more virulent, more likely to cause severe disease, more deadly. And we're seeing those infectious variants spread into younger Americans now, people below the age of 65, and that's really concerning.

BLITZER: As more and more Americans, Dr. Gounder, are getting vaccinated with these truly highly effective shots, explain why it's still not time to lift mask mandates, remove restrictions, because a lot of folks out there think it's over.

GOUNDER: Imagine that your vaccination is sort of like wearing a raincoat and you have an umbrella. That works really well when you're in a regular rainstorm but that's not going to work so well in a hurricane. We're still in a hurricane where the protection you get from the vaccine excellent but it's still not 100 percent. And so we really do need to bring down that community transmission before we can relax on wearing those masks.

BLITZER: Yes, it's not hard to wear a mask. Simply wear a mask. It will save lives. Dr. Gounder, thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up, a third, yes, a third lawsuit against Georgia's restrictive new voting law has just been filed in federal court. The suit alleges that the rules will make it harder for voters to cast their ballots, especially people of color. I'll speak with one of the key figures behind the latest legal challenge.

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BLITZER: The legal challenges to Georgia's new voting laws are mounting tonight. Civil rights groups have found a third lawsuit since the law was signed in legislation last week.

We're joined now by Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director general -- director council, I should say, of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Sherrilyn, thanks so much for joining us.

You've joined with these other civil rights groups in this effort. What provisions of this new law in Georgia are you specifically taking issue with?

SHERRILYN IFILL, PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR-COUNSEL, NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: Well, thank you so much, Wolf, for having me on. Yes, this suit was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

We bring claims challenging this law saying that it violates the First Amendment rights of their clients, but also that it constitutes intentional discrimination targeted at black voters in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the constitution.

This is an omnibus voter suppression law. Many people know some of the most issues (ph). The fact that it criminalizes the provision of food and drink or even offering food or drink to people standing online voting, anyone within 25 feet of a voter standing in line.

[18:50:01]

Many of the groups that we represent are civic groups that provide that kind of support.

We know that African-Americans in communities around the country, but specifically in Georgia, face longer wait times for voting precisely because of voter suppression, hours and hours in the primary election in temperatures that approach 90 degrees. This law would criminalize those who attempt to exercise their First Amendment rights to try and provide provision and refreshment to people standing in line. But it also has a number of other provisions that are tremendously onerous. Onerous provisions on absentee voting. On how to request an absentee ballot. On how to cast an absentee ballot, requiring now that if you vote out of precinct, that ballot is invalidated and cannot be counted. That is a change in the Georgia law. It also restricts, further restricts early voting.

It allows challenges to any voter to -- that challenges their legitimacy --

BLITZER: So --

IFILL: -- to participate in the political process.

It is open season on voting and it is all done, Wolf, with no record that substantiates the need for this draconian.

BLITZER: So, Sherrilyn, how confident are you in this case?

IFILL: Well, this bill is such an overreach that while I am normally quite sober, I feel very strongly that if we have a chance to get to trial, we will prevail in this case. We actually were very involved over the course of the weeks that these bills were going back and forth.

So we are intimately aware of how these measures were rammed through, of how no record was created to support them, of how bills were drafted at 11:00 at night, with 90 pages, and then hearings were held at 7:00 in the morning.

So, we saw testimony from people who are representing the disabled community that insisting that drop boxes no longer can be outside but must be inside election offices and under 24-hour surveillance by law enforcement or security guards, how that negatively affects disabled voters. We saw all of this, and yet this law passed anyway.

And so, if we have a chance to lay this all out to a fair-minded judge, I have no doubt that we will prevail in this case. This is a shameful moment, Wolf, that harkens back to the days before the civil rights movement. And we've got to call it what it is. This is racial voter suppression.

You've heard the words Jim Crow. We don't enjoy saying it, but it is what it is. And we are determined to challenge the provisions of this law going in effect.

BLITZER: Pretty strong words from Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Sherrilyn, thanks so much for joining us. We'll continue this conversation for sure down the road. Appreciate it very much.

Just ahead, we are also getting a rare glimpse into an overcrowded migrant facility at the U.S. border with Mexico. We're going to show you what's happening inside.

Stand by.

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BLITZER: Tonight, we have new video inside an overcrowded border facility housing more than 4,000 migrants, most of them who are unaccompanied children.

CNN's Rosa Flores is near the facility at Donna, Texas, for us.

Rosa, so what does the video tell us about the conditions inside?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, it really shows the overcrowded conditions. According to Border Patrol, capacity at this facility during a pandemic is 250, and right now, there are 4,100 migrants inside this facility, 3,400 of them are children, about 2,000 of them have been at the facility for more than 72 hours. That is way over the legal limit.

Thirty-nine of them children have been there for more than 15 days. That is way over the 72 hour limit. But take a look at this video and you'll see the processing area. Also the pods were these children and families sleep. If you take a look closely, you'll see that the pods are divided by clear plastic sheeting. You'll see that some of the migrants are sleeping on thin mats on the floor, very close together on the floor, wrapped in Mylar blankets.

There's also a play pen area. This is for very, very young children who crossed the border unaccompanied by themselves. According to Border Patrol, these children not only play there, they sleep there because they are too young to be placed in some of the other pods.

Now, you've got to think about this in this context. Once these children enter this facility, they do not see the light of the day. There's no going outside to play until they leave the facility and enter a HHS facility, with Health and Human Services.

Now, according to Border Patrol, 1,200 of those children and they showed cameras, a wall of cabinets filled with their files, they are ready to be moved out to HHS shelters, but according to Customs and Border Protection, there is no room at HHS shelters for them, so they have to stay in these crowded facilities into they make room for them at HHS.

We asked HHS asked about this and they tell us that they are working aggressively to increase the number of beds space. That's why you see the facility behind me under construction, because that, Wolf, is designed to increase the number of beds. It's at the same location as that overcrowded facility. Again, this is as the Biden administration grapples with a number of migrants crossing the border, the number cross increasing.

Wolf, we're following here from the border. Back to you.

BLITZER: Well, thank you so much, Rosa. You're doing excellent, excellent coverage for us. And I know you've been there for several days, a few weeks in fact. You're all over this important story we're watching. Heartbreaking to see those little kids in those conditions.

Rosa Flores on the scene for us, thanks very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.