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Val Kilmer Dies; Impact of Cell Phone Bans in Schools?; GOP Infighting Erupts Over Proxy Voting; Supreme Court Hears Planned Parenthood Case. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 02, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: The organization and one of its patients sued, saying the order violated a federal law that allows Medicaid recipients to get care from any qualified provider.

[11:30:08]

CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid joins us now.

So what is at stake in this case?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, this is not an abortion case specifically, but the issue looms large here because the question is whether states can pull Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood clinics.

Now, Medicaid cannot be used for abortions, but what they're specifically focused on here are two clinics in the state of South Carolina that provided a lot of different health care services. We're talking about everything from cholesterol screenings to blood pressure to diabetes, and it specifically catered towards lower-income folks in South Carolina.

But the governor pulled funding for Planned Parenthood because one of the services that it provides, again, not covered by Medicaid, is, of course, abortion. Now, the lower courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, saying that Medicaid recipients can go to any qualified provider.

But it's been a pretty hot bench today. I have been listening to the arguments. The justices have a lot of questions, and the biggest impact that this could have is, if the state of South Carolina prevails, you know that conservative governors in other states are likely to follow suit.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: How soon do you think we could get a decision?

REID: This is going to be one of the bigger cases this term. So I would expect that this decision would likely come in June, but it could also be a decision a technicality, which is, who has the right to sue?

Because several of the conservative justices have not recognized an individual's right to sue in cases like this. There's another way where you would go to the health and human services secretary, try to rescind all Medicaid funding for the state of South Carolina.

So, this could ultimately be decided on a technicality, but certainly one to watch.

BROWN: All right, Paula Reid, thanks so much.

BLITZER: Excellent reporting, as usual.

New this morning, a rare moment of bipartisanship in the House. Nine GOP members led by new mom Representative Anna Paulina Luna joined Democrats in tanking a procedural vote that would have blocked remote voting for new parents in Congress.

And it's a major setback for the House speaker, Mike Johnson, who responded by halting all work in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Let's go live to CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox right now.

Lauren, this drama has paralyzed the House right now and ignited a war of words with the GOP. What more can you tell us?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I mean, I am standing just steps from the House floor.

And a lot of the lawmakers were sent home basically because they cannot move on to any additional work because leadership wanted to block a discharge petition from coming forward that would have allowed a vote finally on this question of proxy voting.

Now, in order to try to even block that piece of this debate, basically, leadership tried to put forward a rule to nullify that resolution. So there's been a huge question right now around what happens next.

Essentially, this doesn't allow for proxy voting at this point. All leadership was trying to do is keep this question from even coming to the floor. But there were eight Republicans who joined with Anna Paulina Luna yesterday in blocking leadership's efforts. This morning, the House speaker met with members of the House Rules Committee to try to chart a course forward, because there's a huge question of how do they deal with this next week, when lawmakers are set to return to Washington.

There is discussion perhaps of including another effort to block this resolution from coming forward as part of the broader budget debate next week. That still has not been decided yet, but that just gives you a sense of how hard leadership is digging in. The speaker says that he does respect new parents, but he does not believe that proxy voting is constitutional.

Meanwhile, Anna Paulina Luna is arguing this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): That it's important to have family voices in Washington, but it's also equally important to ensure that female representatives are given a platform and that we can still vote. I mean, you can't help childbirth. It's a very natural thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And this question of what new parents do has come up repeatedly in Washington.

You know, the House of Representatives skews a lot younger than the United States Senate. And, already, you had Brittany Pettersen, who is a new mom who had to fly her newborn to Washington for a couple of key votes over the course of the last several months.

That just gives you a sense of what the question at stake is here right now for new parents in Washington -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Lauren Fox up on the Hill for us, thanks very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, Wolf, just ahead: Democrats and Republicans, while we know they may not agree on much these days, but one issue seems to be garnering bipartisan support across the country, banning or at least severely restricting cell phone use during the school day.

And, recently, I visited a Virginia high school that did just that, and the results, pretty surprising -- my in-depth report up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:35]

BROWN: Time now for a SITUATION ROOM special report.

A generation that grew up with cell phones is starting to see their unfettered access limited in the place they spend most of their daytime, school. Cell phone bans are becoming increasingly popular. And, this week, New York became the latest state to move towards banning phones in schools. The trend is a rare moment in bipartisanship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: The states that are doing this have found that it is a much healthier environment when kids are not using cell phones at schools.

[11:40:05]

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Is it any surprise that the rise in smartphone usage has coincided with a growing youth mental health crisis?

GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): Kids talked to us about the relief that they felt when they no longer had a device buzzing in their pocket every 15 seconds, and parents told us that their kids felt more relaxed and focused in class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Last July, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, signed an executive order to establish cell phone-free education by January of this year.

So to get a better understanding of what that ban looks like in practice, I caught up with students and a teacher at a Northern Virginia high school where the ban has been in place since last September.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Raise your hand if you're a fan of this new phone-free policy at the school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's complicated.

BROWN (voice-over): This Virginia high school looks like any other during passing periods, but notice one thing's missing.

ALEX HEATON, JUNIOR, WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL: I remember, the first day, I was sitting in physics. My phone was locked up in my back, and I kept reaching for it, but I couldn't. And the only thing I can do was sit on my computer and listen.

BROWN: Wakefield High is a guinea pig of sorts. Students are expected to store their phones in this magnetic locking pouch throughout the day. At first, there was resistance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were putting dents and holes in the wall. Like, there are tables we had to, like, get fixed.

LUCAS LOPEZ, JUNIOR, WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL: Right after we got them, when I walked in the cafeteria, all you hear is just like the banging.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bang. Like, it sounded like gunshots.

BROWN: Greg Cabana, a government teacher at Wakefield, noticed it too.

GREG CABANA, GOVERNMENT TEACHER, WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL: The fact that they're banging pouches around the cafeteria trying to unlock their phone, this is proving our point right here of how meaningful and how powerful that phone is.

BROWN: Cabana has been advocating for stricter regulations on phones for years after feeling like his role as an educator was secondary to being the phone police.

CABANA: As a teacher, it was just daily judgment calls: "Put your phone away. Put your phone away." Should I say something to the student? Should I keep on teaching? Should I talk to them in the hallway? Is it worth it?

BROWN: It may be too soon to fully understand the impact of phones on academic performance, especially talking to this group of high- performing students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it depends on who you were before the phone policy.

BROWN: But other benefits inside the classroom are clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even just picking it up for a small time can take away from, like, your learning experience.

CABANA: It's not a small improvement. It is a dramatic improvement back to engaging, fun teaching with student interaction.

BROWN: The 2023 surgeon general's report says up to 95 percent of kids 13 to 17 use social media.

Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy even called for tobacco-style warning labels on social media platforms, saying they're associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: The data also shows, when kids are spending more than three hours on average, that they face nearly double the risk, increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

BROWN: But a recent CDC study found about 50 percent of teenagers between ages 12 and 17 had four or more hours of daily screen time.

LOPEZ: I definitely prefer having it, but, I mean, I get more work done at the end of the day.

BROWN (on camera): Do you realize -- did it make you realize you have an emotional attachment to it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.

LOPEZ: I think I knew that before, and I was just kind of avoiding that fact.

BROWN: You were avoiding that fact before, but now it's, like, in your face, real.

LOPEZ: Oh, yes. Now I know I'm addicted.

JAM'HARIE PRICE, JUNIOR, WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL: Every day, I go straight to my phone when I get home. Don't even think about the homework.

BROWN (voice-over): But when he's in the walls of Wakefield, he's opening up in other ways.

PRICE: I feel like I connect with more people and, like, have better conversations than I could have had with the phone. BROWN: Student Karen Mines says it's led to a new kind of engagement.

KAREN MINES, SENIOR, WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL: Even just, like, at lunch, you, like, talk to each other. You know, like, people bring games to class, and that's something I had never experienced.

BROWN (on camera): You never experienced that kind of engagement?

MINES: Well, it was just like -- and maybe not since kindergarten, maybe not since preschool.

BROWN (voice-over): And the students and teachers here say less isolation has meant less interpersonal conflict.

MINES: There were a lot less fights. I haven't seen any this year.

BROWN: The movement to restrict cell phones in classrooms is growing, with nine states having already passed a ban or restricted cell phone use in schools.

And 15 states, plus the District of Columbia, have introduced legislation to do the same. But not every educator is on board, including Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, a former public school principal in New York.

BRANDON CARDET-HERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT, MRS WORDSMITH: We have to teach digital literacy skills. Like, kids need to know how to use social media. And by an outright ban of smartphones in schools, we are not getting any closer to teaching those skills.

BROWN: He also worries that low-income students relying on the school for access to reliable Wi-Fi are being forgotten in the discussion.

CARDET-HERNANDEZ: Kids who are already the most vulnerable and the most under-resourced schools who are already experiencing skill gaps, those are the kids who are going to be the most harmed.

[11:45:00]

BROWN: There's also a very real concern about what happens during an emergency.

HEATON: I know one of the biggest things that people are worried about was if there's, like, a lockdown and, like, there's someone in the school and you need to text your parents, and then all the parents would be going crazy because they can't text their kids. They don't know if they're OK.

BROWN: Cabana points out that he thinks phones can do more harm than good in those situations.

CABANA: Misinformation could be put out on phones, incorrect rumors, perhaps panicking when there shouldn't be. That would just be a hindrance to keeping students safe.

BROWN: So while the jury's still out if this group would recommend a ban in other schools, one thing is clear: Unplugging for them means a nuisance of freedom.

HEATON: That's the part I really love most, just, like, honestly, the weight that's kind of been lifted off my shoulders. There's freedom taken from us, but we have, like, gained another freedom, I guess, like a mental freedom. So I really appreciate that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I love that moment in the end of that reaction.

And I asked them, Wolf, about laptops. You know, hey, you can have laptops. Has that changed anything? And, basically, they said it's not the same as having the phone, that they use their laptop more for educational purposes. They can't scroll on there like they can on their phones and that kind of thing.

And, as you well know, Wolf, kids can be crafty. So they did admit that sometimes they might put a burner phone in there or find work- arounds, but bottom line is phones just aren't part of the school culture there.

And you just heard what the students said. They begrudgingly sort of admitted, like, yes, it's actually been a good thing. It's given me that mental freedom.

And I know you're a grandfather. What do you think about this?

BLITZER: I think that, when I was a kid growing up in beautiful Buffalo, New York, in Western New York, we didn't have cell phones, obviously. I don't think you had cell phones either....

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: No.

BLITZER: ... when you were growing. We got a good education. We had a lot of friends. We did a lot of great things. We didn't need a cell phone.

And I think these kids nowadays can live in school without a cell phone. When they get home, they can have their cell phone, if their parents want them to.

BROWN: Yes.

And, look, I understand the concern about not reaching your child if there is an emergency, if something happens, if there's a lockdown. And that was something that we discussed at length. You heard sort of the different sides of that.

But my kids are too young to have a phone. They're in school, pre-K, first grade. So if there is something, I can't reach them, and that's not sort of the way it was when I was in school as well. And what really stuck out to me was the anxiety part of this and the social engagement part.

One of the students said, look, I definitely feel better. I don't have as much anxiety. It's not a cure-all for anxiety, but I certainly am not spending my days at school scrolling through Instagram seeing what everyone else is doing.

And also just learning how to reengage was interesting to me, that some of them admitted, look, I forgot how to engage face-to-face with my peers.

BLITZER: Right.

BROWN: We had to sort of relearn or learn that skill for the first time, how to be social.

And you heard there they're bringing games. They're much more engaged. So it was -- it was really enlightening to do this.

BLITZER: And it's really important you did this story, because it's an emerging issue out there, I know, for a lot of parents and kids, so I'm glad you did it.

BROWN: It's a big talker. That's for sure.

Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we will be right back, a lot more news coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:52:52]

BROWN: Well, we have some sad news out of Hollywood, as veteran actor Val Kilmer has died.

His daughter, Mercedes, said that he died from pneumonia yesterday in Los Angeles. Kilmer was 65.

BLITZER: His career spanned five decades and was highlighted by his iconic portrayals of the Dark Knight in "Batman Forever," Jim Morrison in "The Doors," Doc Holliday in "Tombstone," and, of course, Iceman in "Top Gun."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAL KILMER, ACTOR: You guys really are cowboys.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: What's your problem, Kazansky?

KILMER: You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, for more, we're joined up by CNN entertainment reporter Lisa France.

Lisa, walk us through Kilmer's legacy. How will this Hollywood icon be remembered?

LISA FRANCE, CNN SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning, Wolf and Pamela.

He has a very complex legacy, because he had such a wide range when it came to his career. You mentioned some of the highlights, but everything from "Heat" to "Tombstone." He was an incredible actor who was beloved.

Yet, at the same time, he also was viewed as not being the easiest person to work with. As a matter of fact, the director of "Batman Forever," Joel Schumacher, famously referred to him as difficult and childish when he worked with him on that famous Batman film. I think we have a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KILMER: You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman, not because I have to be, no, because I choose to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCE: That, of course, is one of the roles that he will most be remembered for, Pamela and Wolf.

And, also, people are talking about how he was such an incredible artist as well. He was selling paintings right up to shortly before he passed away. And one of the last memories we have of him on social media, believe it or not, he donned a Batman-like mask while he was joined with an artist, and they were discussing Batman art, is -- it's part of that posting.

[11:55:00]

And so the Batman legacy is definitely huge with him, but also just for being one of the best actors of our generation. That's how Val Kilmer will be remembered.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Yes, our deepest, deepest condolences to his family, Lisa.

And, as we say, may his memory be a blessing.

FRANCE: Yes, absolutely.

BROWN: Yes, he's really an icon. I didn't realize he was an artist.

BLITZER: Very -- an amazing, amazing artist.

BROWN: An artist in many ways, not just on the screen.

BLITZER: Yes. And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You

can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.

We'll see you back here tomorrow and every weekday morning for our expanded two-hour SITUATION ROOM. That starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is next, right after a short break.