diane gallagher is in texas. walk us what this means for voters in texas today. >> reporter: alisyn, victor, i think texas has some of the strictest voting laws in the country, so any additional restrictions will make things that much harder for some people in the state to vote. we're talking about dozens of different bills here, but what are many people paying attention to the election overhaul bills? sometime this afternoon and likely late into the night, we're talking about a whole host of changes but the focus here is on some of the powers that it gives the state and also those partisan poll watchers, activist worry that this is going to amount to basically voter intimidation legalized in the state of texas. it also adds different criminal penalties for voters and election officials throughout the process, for example, if an election official sends an unsolicited ballot application, that would be a felony. and then voter assistance, there's a whole host of other changes included with the bill, and there were

diane gallagher has the story of how he's bridging the gap between law enforcement and the hispanic communityrols the streets of charlotte with one goal in mind, changing the way the community perceives law enforcement. along the way he greets familiar faces, while also meeting new ones. but for after jimenez the outreach also extends to the airways, a tool proving to be even more effective during a pandemic, and he hosts a weekly show towards the hispanic community in charlotte discussing topics like crime prevention, road safety and -- >> i give out information, and it's truthful information that comes from the source. i answer questions and clear out misconceptions that people have. >> one of the misconceptions is that people believing his police department works with immigration. but bridging the gap is paying off. >> i have received very, very positive feedback from the community. people are very happy that they have a latino officer who speaks their language and who knows our culture. >> jimenez, a law enforcement veteran also volunteers at a local food bank feeding hundreds of families

cnn's diane gallagher joins us live. e, walk us through how this audit is going to work. >> reporter: jake, there's still details we don't have because the plaintiffs in this case have until the 28th of may to submit their proposal to the judge about exactly the way that they want to go about this audit. now the judge has said already there are certain city lakesed that he plans to enact like making sure that the ballots remain in the custody of fulton county, but there is a likelihood that we're going to see them examining and scanning the ballots although the plaintiffs and whomever they choose to bring in to assist with this audit are not going to be able to handle the actual absentee ballots themselves. we're talking around about 147 n.o.w. absentee ballots in fulton county, and as you mentioned there's already been audits there. gabriel sterling with the secretary of state's office and a republican noted they spent thousands of hours investigating the exact claims that are contained in this lawsuit. a democrat who is

. >> cnn's diane gallagher is live in austin. if you would, diane, tell us what all the outrage is all about over this bill. >> reporter: pamela, i just want to sort of give this here. the sponsor of this bill, state senator brian yews, a republican here in texas, i asked him about president biden's statement. he just texted me back, he said, it sound like president biden is reading right-wing talking points on sb-7. we would all be better off if the president cared as much about the southern border as he does texas elections. now, look, texas is already one of the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to voting. and this particular bit of legislation, this election overhaul bill adds new restrictions, new requirements, new criminal and civil penalties to the voting process. and we're talking about just about everybody affected here. voters, election officials, volunteers, those get out the vote groups who work on voter registration. now, there were a lot of elements from past versions that made headlines, and many o

diane gallagher has the details. >> reporter: lawmakers in the state of texas are one step closer tohere following in the footsteps of more than a dozen other u.s. states that have added new laws that make it a little bit harder for some people to vote. now, here in the state of texas this legislation, senate bill 7, still would require final approval by the house and senate before it could go to the desk of the governor. the legislation adds new restrictions and requirements as well as criminal and civil penalties to the voting process. and it really would impact just about everybody, voters and election officials as well as volunteers and voting rights groups especially those that focus on registering people to vote. again, the governor has indicated that he plans to sign this if it gets to his desk. u.s. president joe biden on saturday called the legislation un-american and wrong. now, the last day of the legislative session in texas is monday, may 31st. the two chambers here have until sunday night at midnight to get it approve. diane gallagher, cnn, austin, texas. >>> marjorie t

. >> for more now let's bring in cnn's diane gallagher.opments in arizona tying a well-known conspiracy theorist to this, as alisyn put it so well, so-called audit. what more can you tell us? >> so erica, a trump-supporting fund-raising organization launched by a nonprofit run by the former ceo of overstock appears to be organizing staffing for that part sap senate run audit. now patrick bird is a very well-known trump supporter, a he has amplified the former president's big lie that the 2020 election was somehow rigged against him. now here's sort of how it seems there's some involvement. for several weeks now the arizona audit's page has said that there are no staffing positions for volunteers. well, now it redirects to f fundtheaudit.com, the organization's fund-raising patriot missile and there's an application noting that the senate will do a criminal background check and check social security background and then's a list of questions that you have to fill out with answers like did you live in maricopa county for the past ten years an

joining me now, diane gallagher and arnett saenz. diane, what happens next? it sounds like this bill is on its way to being signed? >> let's start with that, what happens next. in a few hours, the texas state house will likely begin debate on senate bill 7. i can tell you i am a little tired today because i was up until after 7:00 a.m. eastern watching the senate debate before they voted along party lines to approve this final election of this election overhaul bill. and you mentioned texas already has some of the strictest election laws in the entire country. this particular bit of legislation will add new restrictions, new regulations. it adds new criminal and civil penalties to the voting process. for example, it makes it a crime to send an unsolicited mail-in application for a public official. it prohibits overnight and sunday morning voting. it expands access to those partisan pole watchers. it stops drive lou voting and it allows judges to more easily overturn election realities by lowering the burden of proof. now, that's just sort the tip of the icebe

cnn's diane gallagher joining us now live from austin. in this bill and what would happen. >> so, jessica, the final text of this bill has still not been published, even though it's been filed. we did obtain a final draft. we haven't had a chance to compare them, but in that draft there are new regulations, restrictions and criminal penalties added throughout the voting process here in texas. and it's important to point out texas already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. now, some of the items in earlier versions that got a lot of attention were the idea of making all voting hours uniform. that is seen as a target against harris county, the most populous county where houston is, one of the most diverse places in the united states. this would eliminate 24-hour voting, eliminate drive-thru voting, elements that are with used to help during pandemic voting but also saw record turnout. there would also be enhanced criminal penalties and it would eliminate some of the tactics voting rights used to get out the vote. a

diane gallagher is following the details here. i mean, we saw it in a. no basis.continues and creates a lot of political talking points. so how exactly will these ballots be reviewed? by whom? >> yeah. and so, jim, we're kind of still waiting for more information on how the audit is going to be conducted. now the plaintiffs in this case say they're going deliver their proposal to the judge before may typicalth. we should learn more this week. there's going to be one key difference between this audit and the so-called audit happening in arizona. that is that the judge has said that due to federal and state law, the ballots have to be remain in the custody of fulton county. so it's likely going to involve copying and scanning and taking those copies to their own authors, their own experts who will then look at the ballots. now this was one of more than two dozen lawsuits filed in the state of georgia after the former president, donald trump, lost the state in the election. even the president, the former president has continued to say the election was rigged. he actu

. >> absolutely, diane gallagher, thanks for all the hard work spending hours and hours covering that process in texas. just incredible to watch. >>> the elections bill is just one piece of the puzzle in texas. here is cnn's ed lavendera with the bigger political picture. >> and i move adoption. >> as the clock struck midnight wednesday inside the texas capital, this group of democratic state representatives celebrated the end of a day-long effort to kill a number of republican bills. but it was one of the few moments you will find a democrat smiling in texas these days. >> we've really been just steam rolls. >> reporter: texas law make remembers wrapping up a legislative session and donna howard says she's surprised even by texas standards by the red meat agenda push by texas republicans in the months since the election. >> i think it has a lot to do with what happened in the last election. there is some bitterness there, and that they want to see some of the democrats squirm. >> reporter: remember all that talk about democrats turning texas blue in 2020? republicans crushed those dr

let's go to cnn's diane gallagher in austin, texas.hese companies are on a list of 50 buses and associations urging texas lawmakers to oppose these new voting restrictions. they don't say they are targeting republican legislator, but it seems like that's who they are talking to. >> well, i mean, the republican lawmakers in texas are the only ones proposing and voting for these bills so it seems pretty clear who this is directed at. a difference between what we saw happen with businesses in georgia and what's happening here in texas is they are getting their word out. they are speaking out before final votes are taken and any of these dozens of bills can be signed into law, including these election overhaul proposals, one of which is getting debate on the house floor here in austin tomorrow. now, we're talking about a whole host of changes here including increasing criminal penalties for voters and election officials for different parts of the process like sending out ballot applications to people unsolicited, empowering partisan poll w

diane gallagher is "outfront." >> reporter: in the latest spectacle in the saga of unfounded outragethe 2020 election results, governor ron desantis casting shade on the political process in the sunshine state. >> it was on national tv. it wasn't secret. >> reporter: local media shut out, calling it a fox news exclusive. >> right now, i have what we think is the strongest election integrity measures in the country. >> reporter: as he signed a bill into law that voting rights advocates say will make it harder for people to cast their ballot. within minutes, the state was sued overallegations that parts of the law are unconstitutional. florida is following a national trend, as republicans introduce restrictive voting legislation that are aimed at restoring confidence in elections. confidence eroded by the former president's claims of fraud in the 2020 vote. as of march 24, they have tracked 361 bills in 47 states that would restrict voting access in some way so far this year. in states like montana, kansas, iowa and georgia, those bills are already law. advocates fear that texas may be

gallagher, thanks so much. >>> so let's pick up where diane just left off. we have a republican strategist here. so doug abbott thinks this is important enough to call a special session, something one of the democrats in the texas house pointed out last night is something he chose not to do in the wake of hurricane harvey, following mass shootings like el paso or a special session about covid-19. what do you make of it? >> look, obviously we're seeing this as diane pointed out earlier, she's going state to state because we're seeing these efforts happen from republicans throughout the country and i will say, you know, as a republican i don't support the texas bill and i would urge texas republicans don't be like arizona republicans, which clearly they're trying to set the stage to do. we've seen these kinds of tactics before both from republicans and democrats. democrats very famously fled the state of texas, drove to oklahoma to avoid voting. here in washington as you know, poppy, we are having a long conversation about the filibuster, what it means, does it exist. this is a de facto filibuster

dianne gallagher is in austin for us, covering the developments. and diane, the texas house now has a deadline to pass this bill by midnight tonight. where do things stand? >> that's right, jessica. i can tell you, i'm pretty tired right now. it ended that debate, that vote was taken by the senate along party lines. just after 7:00 a.m. eastern. like you said, more than 7 1/2 hours of debate on senate bill 7. the house will take it up sometime, according to the calendar, after 6:40 p.m. eastern time this evening and they have until midnight to vote on it, or it cannot become law. now, we talk about what is in this bill. there are, of course, those similarities to states that we've seen. but texas has already started from a position of having extremely restrictive election laws to begin with. so this makes things even more restrictive by adding more regulations and more civil and criminal penalties to the process. like making it a crime to send un un solicited mail-in ballot applications. it also codifies the hours of early voting so it eliminates the ability

gallagher with the latest. thank you. >>> joining me now democratic texas state senator beverley powell. good to have you with us. as diane just noted a lot of activity in her words under cover of darkness saturday night. you were there, can you just walk us through -- we are talking about late on a saturday night over a holiday weekend. there are a lot of questions about the timing there. can you take us into the chamber and just walk us through what happened in those hours? >> absolutely. erica, thank you for having me today. it's a pleasure to be here with you. yes, absolutely it was dark of night kind of collaboration over this bill and we began deliberation of this bill, i think, at 10:30 in the evening on saturday night and deliberated on it until 6:00 the next morning. you know, that doesn't allow for time for the public to know what you're about to do. we've done a number of these bills this session that have been deliberated throughout the middle of the night. we've had 3:00 in the morning sessions, 4:00 in the morning sessions and this one that lasted until about 6:15 in the morning. and then, again, last night