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tv   Don Lemon Tonight  CNN  June 3, 2021 12:00am-1:00am PDT

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it would be cool to ride a horse on the moon.
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cnn learning tonight the former president is more obsessed than ever with the 2020 election. advisers saying trump is listening to those around him who are the crazies at the bottom of the barrel. at the same time, sources telling cnn there's growing concern among law enforcement officials over heightened chatter on right wing social media platforms about overturning the results of the election. they fear it could lead to more violence. we have a special report. meanwhile, president joe biden meeting today with republican senators who are leading negotiations on infrastructure as the talks reach a critical point. more than the infrastructure bill is at stake here. we're talking about the president, excuse me, his entire governing philosophy. i want to bring in cnn political
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commentator and the man who was press secretary for hillary clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. i still want to call him vice president sometimes because i called him vice president so much for eight years. but now he is the president. so my apologies to the united states. good evening, gentlemen. charlie, cnn has new reporting that the former president is more obsessed than ever with the 2020 election. according to one adviser, he is listening to the bottom of the bottom of the crazies in the barrel. what does that say to you about his state of mind right now? it's hard to believe, but you know it's true. >> clearly he's delusional. no serious person could possibly think that donald trump is going to be reinstated as he said in august. we're just moving on into the twilight zone here. there is no basis in truth or fact what the former president is saying. and i think most people, i would argue that virtually every member of congress knows that's
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insane, what he's talking about. it seems like he's just down there talking to his friends at this country club. and i'm not sure who is listening to him other than his most devoted followers. it is this nonsense and i think more republican members need to call this kind of stuff out, because that's part of the reason high the base is believing a lot of this nonsense, because they're not hearing an alternative point of view. >> you know, brian, this falls in line with "the new york times" reporting that the former guy is telling people he expects to be reinstated by august. we all know, there is no mechanism for that to actually happen. but how worried are you that people are going to listen to it, and look, people listen to it, listened to it, and then we had january 6. that's my concern here. people want to believe the bs, i think it is quite dangerous. >> yeah, and don, we're still seeing that national republicans are still very much viewing themselves as wanting to appeal to trump voters and doing this
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as donald trump's party. the republican party today even in the aftermath of donald trump's defeat in the election last fall is not moved back to the party that mr. dent belonged to when he joined congress. you're seeing republican candidates running in open primaries in states like ohio where there is an open seat because of ron portman's retirement. they're tripping themselves, trying to be in the trump lane. and i think that's all the more reason we can't expect the current republican leadership will be willing to strike any deals with joe biden. you heard last month mitch mcconnell say to reporters in his home state of kentucky that his goal, his number one goal, he reacted to the news about liz cheney by saying his number one goal is blocking joe biden on everything that he does. it's the same thing he said in 2009 about president obama. i just hope that the biden administration heard that and they don't extend these negotiations on this critical infrastructure package for very much longer. >> well, listen, speaking of
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that, i just spoke to officer michael fanone and asked about mitch mcconnell getting gop senators to block the january 6 commission as a favor to him. this is his response. then we'll talk about it. >> i, well, i was absolutely sickened. here i am, escorting the mother of a dead policeman while she and myself advocate for the formation of a commission to investigate the circumstances which resulted in her son's death. and you have, you know, a leader on capitol hill who is making phone calls, asking for personal favors, and doling out political capital to push for a no vote on that commission. absolutely disgraceful.
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>> charlie, what mcconnell did, was that a slap in the face to these officers? >> i completely disagree with whau senator mcconnell did here. to seek a personal favor on a vote like this is just wrong. members would ask me for a personal favor but it usually had to do with something in their district. would you vote for my amendment because it will impact my district in this way. i understand that. one should never ask a personal favor on a matter of conscience or consequential policy where they have strong views. i think this is a black mark for republicans that they failed to adopt this bipartisan independent commission. i think that would be the best way to find truth rather than what will happen now. more likely a select committee that will be very partisan in nature. and they're still going to have to talk about this issue. republicans won't be able to avoid talking about january 6th going forward.
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i think their calculation, there is no independent commission, we can move on. but that's not what's going to happen. >> brian, i also asked officer fanone what he thinks about efforts to restrict voting rights. this is what he told me. >> a little outside my wheel house. but hell, i'm an american so i'll chime in. i think it took us a long time to get to a place in the country where we respected the ideal that one man, one vote. the idea that you would want to restrict anybody's ability to live that or to cast that vote is the most un-american thing imaginable. >> this is what it is all about. it doesn't get more american than this, right? >> right. and these two issues are connected. because one of the big reasons you're seeing this wave of over 400 voter suppression bills introduced in states across the country is in support of the big
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lie. it is in response to donald trump's theory that the election was stolen. that he should have won the election. that voter fraud was committed in a massive way. so the conspiracy theories in the minds of those insurrectionists on january 6th is the very same thinking propelling all these voter suppression measures in the states. that's why when liz cheney made her media tour after she was ousted from the republican leadership and she was asked for her position now on these voter suppression bills. and she acted like these were two different issues. they're not. they're fully connected. that's why democrats need to see this through. not just in the form of making sure a commission gets stood up, but making sure that time is spent on the senate floor taking up this measure for the people act that chuck schumer says will be voted on the last week of june, the john lewis voting rights act. these are critical measures and this delay negotiation around the infrastructure package is creating a choke point where all other business including these voting rights bills are behind
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it in the queue. the longer these negotiations drag out on infrastructure, the less likely we are to have the needed debate around these voting rights measures. >> let's talk about that. you're calling for the end of the filibuster or making changes to it. progressives, they want it gone. moderate, joe manchin, kyrsten sinema, they don't want to touch it. this is kyrsten sinema. >> the idea of the filibuster was created by those in the united states senate to create comity and to encourage senators to work together. to those who say we must make a choice between the filibuster and x, i say this is a false choice. the reality is that when you have a system that's not working effectively, and i would think that most would agree that the senate is not a particularly well oiled machine, right? the way to fix that is to change your behavior. not to change the rules but to change the behavior.
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>> okay, brian, the filibuster has been used for a lot of things. i think maybe she should research the history of the filibuster. but change their behavior? how is that possible when republicans are using the filibuster to exercise minority rule and block an investigation into an attack on our democracy? >> with all due respect to sinema, she got it completely wrong on the filibuster there. she was standing next to john cornyn when she was delivering that and i think the visual to standing next to one of the top republicans in the senate, this gibberish about the filibuster and paying bromides to bipartisanship is sort of posturing right now to seem like a reasonable centrist figure in her home state of arizona, which is all well and good. right now this discussion is happen manage the abstract, don. we've really only had one effort so far, one major bill in the senate that has been derailed by the filibuster.
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it was the vote on the commission. what we need is a ramp-up. like the for the people act, the voting rights act to come up in quick succession so that a narrative takes shape about the consistent and repeated obstruction of measures taken. and i think chuck schumer knows that. that is why he's teeing up the for the people bill this month. all these measures need to come up in rapid succession so that it's clear that one side is aligned in support of these proposal. and but for the filibuster, they'd be passing. the block vote on the commission was the first step, but they really need to lay a few more bricks to be able to lay a case with the public and quite frankly to build their own resolve. i think when those actual measures come up and this debate is not theoretical anymore, this will be an indefensible position for kyrsten sinema and joe manchin to be taking. >> brian, charlie, thank you very much. i appreciate it. so tonight sources are
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telling cnn there's growing concern among law enforcement officials over heightened chatter on right wing social media platforms about overturning the result of the 2020 election. the question that i asked him. was he concerned about violence? or something similar to what happened january 6. they fear could it lead to more violence. here is cnn's donie o'sullivan. >> i'm saying before 2022, something has to be done. >> former president trump may have been banned from sites like facebook and twitter, but in interviews with right wing media where he continues to repeat the big lie are giving some of his supporters false hope that the 2020 election could still be overturned. >> stay tuned for arizona. a lot of people are watching arizona. we need two states. >> the former president pointing to a highly criticized republican-led audit in arizona as one way to overturn the election. >> it will be a very interesting time in our country. a very interesting time. you understand what that means.
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it will be, you know, how do you govern when you lost? how do you govern when you lost? >> on the social media platform, comments like these are sparking excitement among supporters. trump knows what happened. biden administration will be removed. we the people will take action. he just told us things are about to get very ugly all over america. these thugs are not going to take this news very well. be prepared. telegram has become popular among some trump supporters and qanon followers since facebook began to crack down more on misinformation. >> telegram is both an encrypted chat app and something of a social network. it's been around for years. more recently, maga, qanon and others have gravitated toward this as a platform moving toward this as they move away from facebook and other major platforms like twitter. >> and there is very little rules on telegram, right?
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>> telegram is built around trying to resist monitoring and censorship, which means many groups gravitate towards it for those very reasons. >> there are groups on telegram with tens of thousands of members dedicated to the qanon conspiracy theory, and the platform is now a source of concern among law enforcement who fear in the wake of january 6 it could incite further violence. three congressional sources tell cnn's jamie began gel. >> a lot of the success of the country is going to have to, is really going to have to do with immediacy. by the time we get to 2022, they're going to have everything done. the way they're putting things through congress. mcconnell can't stop anybody. he can't stop anybody. if something doesn't happen fast. this is before '22. >> reporter: the reaction on telegram, he doesn't have to wait until 2024, people. he's coming back this year. everything will be reversed. says one user, it's a great day when we start seeing evidence of
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the plan coming together. he just told us it won't be long now, says another. and last weekend when trump's former national security adviser michael flynn appeared to suggest there should be a military coup here in the united states, one prominent qanon peddler who has more than 70,000 followers on telegram said general flynn says the quiet part out loud. flynn later denied he had suggested a coup. >> it is very concerning for people who track isis to watch the growth and excitement around telegram in the far and extreme right. because a lot of us ask this question, oh, no, are we back in a situation where this is going to be a really difficult problem to address? >> the former republican congressman denver riggleman who has a background in military and the intelligence says he fears conversations happening online now could lead to future violence. >> you're saying this same thing that happened over years and years with foreign terrorist organizations. the same time of methodology. all the things you see, radicalized people.
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based on the fact that this is a war between good and evil. if there is a war between good and evil and there is no middle ground, you're willing to do thing others aren't to make sure that you win. that is when you see radicalized violence. >> and telegram did not respond to cnn's request for comments. and our colleague speaking to law enforcement officials said the concerns, they're not just all about telegram. there is concern about chatter across the internet. and one final point, not to be overly alarmist, qanon, those forums, we see them believe in bs all the time. they talked on inauguration day martial law would be declared and biden wouldn't be inaugurated. they thought he would come back march 4th. neither of those theories were endorsed by trump. we're seeing trump talking about coming back in the summer. he's talking about the arizona you had a and it that being the first domino to fall. stars are aligning in a way similar to how they began to
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align in the weeks and months leading to january 6th as we go into the summer and i think that's particularly concerning. >> absolutely. donie, thank you so much. i appreciate it. i want to bring in cnn terrorism analyst mr. phillip mudd. phil, thank you. i'm sure you listened. just with enthusiasm with that. i'm fascinated by his reporting. >> when you their former president keeping up the big lie, saying things like, before 2022, something needs to be done. do you worry there could be more violence like we saw on january 6th? >> i'm glad i'm not in the business anymore. yes, i would. let's go forward to say a couple of years to the midterms. and think about the contested elections in a place like georgia. let's make yourself an investigator for a second, don. assume this is a really conservative estimate, assume that 1/10 of 1% of americans really believe what the president says and think maybe, sort of maybe protests and violence might be okay. that's hundreds of thousands of people, don. they're going on telegram.
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as you just heard reported. that's a problem for investigators. a lot of that is encrypted. let me give you one more fact. if you go after post january 6th, anybody with a brain will read the newspapers if they're sympathetic to the president and say what were the mistakes of january 6 organizers and how do i avoid that on telegram? you have the potential for a tinder box in 2022 and people who can use encrypted communications and learn from january 6th. i don't want to be in the business anymore. i'm glad i'm on cnn. actually, not really. >> you said that with the head and everything. >> when trump is saying, everything will be reversed, or they see signs of a plan coming together. what is the best way to push back? >> there is only one way to do that. leadership. if you encourage people to believe the election was stolen, go back seven years. if someone told you, there will
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be a huge conspiracy that says an election was stolen and millions of americans, tens of millions of americans would believe this including a significant percentage of one of the major parties, you would have said, is this like hollywood? what is that? you have to have leadership say no. because what we're realizing, even in the age of social media, is that leadership has the power to persuade people to say no. right now leadership is persuading people to say yes, this happened. and people, believe it or not, are buying it. i personally as a homegrown american, i can't believe this. but people buy it. >> phil mudd, i'm with you again. >> thanks. >> i appreciate it. i'll see you soon. >> so this story out of florida. deputies in florida under fire from intruders who broke into a house. those intruders a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. the boy reportedly telling detectives that he knew they were police and he wanted to
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okay. i want you guys to watch this story, because the epidemic of gun violence so out of control in america. now children, and i mean children are armed. deputies in volusia county, florida, involved in a shootout last night with a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. you heard that right. the sheriff says the children fled a group home, broke into a house, came upon a stash of guns, opened fire on the deputies. the girl was shot in the abdomen. the boy was not hurt. the sheriff, well, he is angry. >> i don't know what to say. where have we gone wrong that 12-year-olds and 14-year-olds
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think it is okay to take on law enforcement? what the hell is the department of juvenile justice doing sending these kids to places that can't handle them? we talk about juvenile justice reform? deputies did everything they could tonight to de-escalate and they almost lost their lives to a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. >> i want to bring in now cnn law enforcement analyst charles ramsey who ran the police department in washington, d.c. and philadelphia. chief, good evening to you. >> good evening. >> we both know him from the philadelphia police department, great guy. >> right. >> i don't know if i ever saw him the entire i was in philly working with him, if i ever saw him like that, but he is rightfully furious about the situation that his officers face. these teenagers broke into a house. found three guns including an ak-47. 200 rounds of ammo.
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this could have been a much bigger disaster. >> it could have been a huge disaster on so many levels. you know, the sheriff is absolutely right. and i understand his frustration. not just with this case, but just crime in general that is going in the wrong direction across the country. have a difficult time recruiting officers. and so forth. everything is kind of building up. mike chitwood is a very, very capable leader. i know him from philly. one heck of a police officer and his dad as well. >> chief, the tensions are so high in this video. police having to choose between defending their own lives while being shot at by two teenagers. listen to this. >> let's just hold off, take our time. >> 10-4. they're shooting at me. hold it. hold the air. don't make me do this.
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don't do this. >> look, this overhead video, you can see the shots being fired. what is going on in these officers' minds? and the split seconds this is all happening. >> i mean, the stress is incredible. you can hear the officer. he is under fire. he is very calm on the radio. he also knows, listen, this is a situation where i may have to shoot someone and you can hear him say, look, please don't make me do this. don't make me do this. it is a highly stressful situation these officers found themselves in. and even though it is a shame the young lady was shot, what else are you going to do? they're between a rock and a hard place. bullets will kill fired from a 14-year-old or a 40-year-old. and so, what do you do? it does get back into this whole issue of accountability. i mean, parents, juvenile justice, all these people and
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places that are supposed to secure these kids. and they fail. i mean, they committed a burglary. that's how it started. they broke into a house. they find guns. they know it is police there. and they think they're in a video game. grand theft auto. and they start firing. just lucky some innocent bystander wasn't struck. >> chief ramsey, i always appreciate your perspective. thank you. i thank you. >> get a vaccine, get a beer, get a donut, get a lottery ticket, get a gun. yep, a gun. the incentive states are giving to get people vaccinated. i don't know, are they working? next. isn't it disappointing when your plug-in fades? once that freshness goes away, you're left thinking, “okay....now what?” febreze fade defy plug works differently. it's the first plug-in with built-in technology... to digitally control how much scent is released...
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president biden pushing americans to get their
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covid vaccination, launching the national month of action to get at least one covid shot into the arms of 70% of adults by july 4th. state governments offering all sorts of incentives. in west virginia, the vaccine lottery offering everything from scholarships to guns. >> we're going to give away two full four-year scholarships, two brand new custom outfitted trucks. 25 weekend getaways to our state parks. five lifetime hunting and fishing licenses. five custom hunting rifles and five custom hunting shotguns. and also on father's day, we're going to make one of you a millionaire. >> can i go to west virginia? i mean, i'll take vaccine again. let's discuss with cnn medical
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analyst dr. jonathan reiner. i'm fully vaccinated but if i had the chance to win that, maybe i'd do it. governments around the country trying to bribe constituents to take the vaccine that could save their lives. cash, vacations, beer, guns, do you think this is going to help biden reach the goal of at least one covid shot in the arms of 70% of adults by july 4th? >> i hope so. on the one hand, i'm embarrassed the united states has to resort to this. we take our democracy for granted. we take our affluence for granted. now we're taking our brilliant science for granted. i never thought we would have to bribe people to take a vaccine that will literally save their life and save the life of their grandmother or their mother, but here we are. i think governor justice has actually done a good job in his state with promoting vaccines. look, if this is what it takes,
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raffling off a gun, are we going to call it the gunshot lottery or the shotgun lottery? it is all good. i think the president will get there. we have to vaccinate about 17 million more people between now and july 4th. we're getting about 600 shots into new arms every day. and the math works out. so right around the 1st of july we'll get to 70% of adults in the united states vaccinated. and that's a big number. because above that number, what we've seen in places like the u.k. and israel, deaths fall to almost zero. >> wow. look, apparently the governor knows his constituents, right? you said he's had great success with getting things under control in west virginia. this is jim justice we're talking about in the push to get people vaccinated. let's listen. >> if you just step back and think, why in the world would you have to give away something to get somebody vaccinated? well, unfortunately, at this
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it's the way of the world in a lot of situations. the faster we get them across the finish line, the more lives we save. >> so you know, i hear on the streets, the barber shop, wherever i go, these nonsense i reasons why people don't want to get the vaccine. what is the resistance about getting this vaccine? >> well, it's different for different communities. in some communities, people are concerned about the safety of the vaccine. i've heard people wonder, even though these vaccines are absolutely free, i've heard people wonder about the cost. in other communities, people think the whole pandemic has been a hoax or they're young and strong and the virus can't hurt them. so we need to basically bring different messages, all true, to different communities. reach out to them in whatever means we can. look, 15% of the united states
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is under the age of 12. so that means we have 85% of the country left to vaccinate and to get to what we're calling community immunity, we need between 70 and 75% of the population vaccinated. if we want the country vaccinated and immune relatively immune by fall, we need to get to everyone. i'm with governor justice on this. >> i have a quick question. 15 to 20 seconds, if you will. i have to ask you, we've got a pandemic. also an epidemic of gun violence from a public health perspective, is it a good idea to be giving guns away for vaccines? >> no. i hear what you're saying and i wouldn't be happy if one of the inducements would be a truckload of cigarettes. that would seem to be counter to public health. i hear what you're saying, don, but i do want to get shots into arms. >> and if it's a responsible gunowner that hopefully receives those guns.
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thank you very much. i appreciate it. not just marjorie taylor greene. conspiracies are popping up all across the country, and some of them are actually doing well in their races.
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honestly, i thought i was getting my floors cleaned. then i learned, my mop could be loaded with bacteria. that means i gotta clean my mop too? ugh. so i got a swiffer wetjet to get a cleaner, clean! i stick on a fresh pad. boom! it's ready to go. the spray breaks down dirt. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. unlike my mop that can spread it around.
12:42 am
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it is alarming that there are members of the united states congress spouting the dangerous qanon conspiracy theory. but it doesn't stop there. candidates who embrace the qanon tenets also running for and winning local state and national races around the country. but there's encouraging news. some americans are pushing back. more from cnn's sara sidner.
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>> i'll keep speaking on q. i'll keep speaking on the truth. >> from the world champion world fighter -- turned mayor pro tem. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> to a school board member with a curious take on climate science. >> this adherence that you have to believe scientists is more of like a religious cult. >> to a state representative pushing a deep state conspiracy. >> there are a lot of people involved in a pedophile network and the distribution of children. >> qanon conspiracy embracing candidates are now making head way in local, state and national races across america. are there more candidates or fewer candidates that have latched on to the qanon conspiracy theorys? >> there's a higher rate of candidates embracing qanon and its tenets now than there was last cycle. at least at this point. >> reporter: angelo corazon with the liberal watchdog group media
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matters tracking political clout. he says their research shows the january 6th insurrection didn't kill the q conspiracy. it's emboldened it by broadening the movement. so far the group says for the 2022 races, 19 congressional candidates, 18 of whom are republicans, have shown support for qanon conspiracies. >> we're at the beginning of this. not the end. a large reason why it has such political power is not just because qanon adherents, they are very energized. they're a good go-to for politics. but they donate. they give money. >> reporter: qanon's core outlandish tenet is president trump is the chosen one to save america from a shadowy group of politician, media members and hollywood stars who run a worldwide sex trafficking ring so they can drink the children's blood for energy. >> so the real threat of all of this isn't so much that it is some wacky ideas. it is that it is a call to arms. >> case in point, listen to arizona state representative mark finchum. >> there are a lot of people
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involved in a pedophile network and the distribution of children. and unfortunately, there is a whole lot of elected officials involved in that. >> i shouldn't be shocked at that, but that is shocking. >> the conservative news anchor may not have challenged him but some of his constituents have. they were also shocked by this tweet he sent on january 6th while he was outside the capitol showing support for the big lie, the claim the 2020 election was stolen from trump. unlike hundreds of others, he said he never entered the building. >> i remember calling my mom, a salvadoran immigrant. isn't that why you left? she was like, of course. this isn't supposed to happen in the united states of america. >> and a young republican joining forces to help recall finchum. >> we have a tunnel of people who need help. need laws passed and he is out there focusing on conspiracy theories which is honestly disgusting.
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>> but finchem is undeterred. he is now running to become arizona's top election official, the secretary of state. some voters are all for it. >> the term "conspiracy theory" is used to ridicule some good ideas. >> others dead set against it. some somebody like mark finchem being in charge of elections, holding a seat like secretary of state is one of the most dangerous things that could happen to democracy. >> we wanted to give finchum a chance on to explain his beliefs but our calls and emails weren't returned. so we waited outside the state house. mr. finchum, can you tell me whether or not you believe in qanon conspiracy theories? >> day one, he dodged us. day two, we waited for 12 hours. >> he's one of the last cars in the parking lot. now the security for the legislature is now driving finchem's car away. >> 2,000 miles away in the small
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michigan town of grand blanc, a first time school board member is under fire for social media posts saying things like qanon confirmed by trump. and they can delete our social media. but they'll never break our spirit or stop what is coming. god wins. posted over a flaming q with we the people are pissed off emblazoned over it. >> i think she was elected because she refused to genuinely expose what she believes in. >> as a high school student and first time voter, lucas hartwell did his homework and discovered her now deleted post. >> if we cannot have an education system who care about the truth, what is education? it is hard to follow what she really does believe. it is hard to separate truth from fiction. >> and he others want her to resign. some of his high school friends and their parents support her 100%. >> she is a conservative. so they're attacking her. >> you think this is purely along political lines. not having anything to do with qanon.
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>> exactly. >> well, i think personally, qanon, parts of it are real. people say it's just a conspiracy. some of it's pretty real. some of it is ridiculous obviously but i think it is a real thing we should be concerned about. >> they're saying pedophilia. do you believe that? >> yes, i do. i think there's some pedophilia going on. >> we wanted to ask her what she believed. she did not respond to our request for an interview but she was at the school board meeting. >> do you believe in the qanon theories you've posted? >> no. all i've posted, i posted where we go, when we go. basically, they're complaining about a false narrative and i think it is the false narrative to try to cancel trump supporters. >> you have a big q that was burning on fire that says we are pissed. was that something you believed in when you posted it? >> i don't remember that tweet. >> there are several others.
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there are also things about science that you don't believe in human cause of climate change. is that also true? >> i believe that science is a method and it is not a belief system. and that this adherence that you have to believe scientists is more of like a religious cult. >> you don't mask the help. you mask the sick. >> in huntington beach, california, it is the science surrounding covid that has been called a conspiracy by the man elected pro tem. >> are you thinking covid-19 was a little conspiracy theory? >> 100%. >> that's former ufc champion tito ortiz. a trump supporter, ortiz is like many of the candidates we followed, getting widespread support for being a political disrupter. >> he seemed to be to be somebody who i thought might mix things up for us and change things around. i knew that he was a conservative voice and i prefer that, personally.
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>> i'm not wearing a mask. >> he is mixing things up by spending lots of time spewing and posting conspiracy theories. >> say it right, pandemic. >> and less time dealing in policy and council business. his critics, both democrats and republicans say. >> the first day he was sworn in, he referred to the pandemic as a plan-demic. and that sort of set the tone. >> plan-demic. the conspiracy theory that the government planned the current pandemic. he also refused to wear a mask at council meetings at the height of the deadly pandemic in california. nor did he want his children to wear masks to school. >> the boys are not going to be wearing their masks today. let's see what they say. >> he started pushing conspiracies. i mean, really outlandish accusations. that you can, kids were being abused by our public school system just because we were mandating that kids wear masks in school, to attend school.
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>> it all came to a head just this week at the first in-person council meeting since january. >> on day one, i was sworn in and hostility and judgment. >> reporter: after just five months on the city council, tito ortiz resigned, effective immediately. >> as of recently the attacks i've been seeing i now fear for my safety is in danger. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn, huntington beach, california. >> sara sidner, thank you very much. brood x is here. swarms of cicadas coming out this year, and the fda is feeling the need to warn people about eating them. why is that? stay with us. isn't it disappointing when your plug-in fades? once that freshness goes away, you're left thinking, “okay....now what?” febreze fade defy plug works differently. it's the first plug-in with built-in technology...
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billions of cicadas have been swarming around for weeks, and if you are in the d.c. area, they're likely everywhere you turn. i thought the ugly critters were just a pain. but apparently, some think of them as a gourmet treat. there are recipes popping up for cicada cookies. others are putting them in tacos or wrapping them in rice-like sushi. but the fda has a warning. they tweeted it today. yep. we have to say it. don't eat cicadas, if you are allergic to seafood, as these insects share a family relationship to shrimp and lobster. there you have it. some news, you can use. thanks for watching. our coverage continues.
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♪ live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom," a deal that could dramatically change israel's political future. opposition leaders agree to form a coalition government paving the way for benjamin netanyahu's exit. plus it's what much of the world has been waiting for, joe biden will announce his plan to

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