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New Day
Millions Still Without Water in Texas; U.S. Surpasses Unfathomable Death Toll; First Hearings on Insurrection This Week; Deion Sanders Robbed During Coaching Debut. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired February 22, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:35]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, nearly a third of all Texans still don't have safe drinking water.
CNN's Natasha Chen live in Houston with the latest.
The power largely back, but the ripple effects of the bad weather and the mismanagement still being felt, Natasha.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, most people do have their power back, but right now the issue is water. More than 8 million Texans right now are experiencing a disruption in their water service.
There is some improvement. For example, 250 boil water notices have been lifted as of Sunday, but that still doesn't mean that people are in the clear. They still need bottled water, which is why we've seen several mass distribution sites to give people pallets of water. We're at a church that's going to start food and water distribution later this morning.
And we met some folks who are dealing with busted pipes, no running water at home, yet they still came out to volunteer at one of those events, telling me that all they can do right now is help other people who are in the same boat.
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NOLA WILLIAMS, HOUSTON RESIDENT: Texans help one another. And so it doesn't matter what's going on in your life, someone may be worse than you are, so you just step up and you help where you can. So here was what -- here was my opportunity to help.
CHEN: What would you have said if somebody told you, you were going to go through a hard freeze and a winter storm?
WILLIAMS: Haaaaaaa! That would have been it. I would have just laughed like, no way, that doesn't happen here, ever!
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHEN: And you can tell the surprise in her voice with just how unexpected some of this experience was for a lot of people.
Another thing that was unexpected, some folks got enormous energy bills and now there's discussion about what to do about that. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said yesterday that the public utility commission called an emergency meeting Sunday. They issued a moratorium on disconnection of service due to nonpayment. They also restricted electric providers from sending invoices right now to buy some time to address those huge bills.
At the same time, you've got Republican Congressman Michael McCaul saying that federal emergency funds can be used by individuals to pay those bills. You've got other people like Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner saying the state of Texas should be footing those bills.
Meanwhile, the White House says President Biden is eager to visit Texas, but he wants to do it at an appropriate time that would not hinder the recovery, John.
BERMAN: Yes, the system is designed to have the bills be huge like this in situations.
[06:35:00]
I mean they have to address the system that has been in place for a few years in Texas. That clearly needs to happen.
Natasha, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
CHEN: Thanks.
BERMAN: For more information about how you can help Texas victims, go to cnn.com/impact.
So the U.S. on the verge of surpassing 500,000 lives lost to coronavirus. This as Dr. Anthony Fauci tells us how long we might have to wear masks. That's next.
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BERMAN: This morning, the United States on the verge of surpassing 500,000 coronavirus deaths. Just a staggering number. That's more American deaths than in any war besides the Civil War. The president and vice president will honor the lives lost in a ceremony tonight.
Joining us now is Dr. Peter Hotez. He is the co-director of the center for vaccine development at Texas Children's Hospital and the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Professor Hotez, it's staggering, right? It is just staggering to think that we've lost 500,000 Americans to this plague in the last year.
[06:40:03] It's been almost one year exactly. That's the bad news and it's awful news.
Where do you feel like we are headed at this point, though? We are watching the daily death toll reduce every day. Hospitalizations go down every day. The case load goes down every day. What do you see?
DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL AND DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, you know, the -- some of the projections indicate that we're still going to be in this for a while. That possibly getting up to 600,000 to 650,000 deaths by the end of May, early June. So that's -- that's really awful news.
You know, this 500,000 number is a time for such deep sorrow for the country. And I remember having this conversation with you when we got to 200,000 deaths and 300,000. It continues to climb. And it happened in part because of the virus and the fact that there's so much asymptomatic transmission that makes it hard to contain.
But the reality is, we got here because of a refusal by the United States government last year to implement a federal plan under the Trump administration, insisting the states had to be in the lead when everyone knew that was going to fail catastrophically, and it did. And then, of course, came that awful disinformation campaign that caused so many Americans to show their political allegiance by being defiant of masks and social distancing. And we never had to get to that 500,000 place.
So now the numbers are going down. That's potentially really positive news. It is positive news. But I am worried about this variant, the B117 variant from the United Kingdom. It's now about 10 to 15 percent of the cases in Florida, going up in southern California. If that takes over, the numbers are going to start to spiral up again. And there's no end to what the death toll will look like unless we can vaccinate ahead of it.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we can also, as we know, as we're waiting for those vaccines, as you have said, as so many experts have, we need to continue doing what we know works, which includes wearing masks.
You know, Dana Bash asked Dr. Fauci specifically, how long is that going to last? Here's what he had to say over the weekend.
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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Americans will still be wearing masks, for example, in 2022?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You know, I think it is possible that that's the case.
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HILL: So masks into 2022. How do you get the message out there to encourage Americans to stay the course?
HOTEZ: Well, before we get to that, remember, there's a few unknowns here. First of all, there is some good news -- really good news on the horizon coming out of Israel and it has not been peer reviewed. But it is showing that widespread vaccination, in this case, they're using the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, is slowing or even halting PRC-positive cases, meaning asymptomatic transmission. And if that holds up, what it means is that if we can be diligent in vaccinating the American people, we potentially could interrupt transmission by the fall, in which case we may not have to be -- wear masks all the time. I think that's a really important glimmer of hope.
The alternative view on that is -- and it's not mutually incompatible, is, you know, we've got the models coming out of Harvard and Mark Lipsitch showing that we'll see annual peaks in the winter, very much -- maybe not as bad as what we saw in January of this year, but we did see regular peaks. So it may be a scenario in 2022 where we don't have to wear masks all the time but just these periods of peak transmission.
So there's still a lot of unknowns. But, for now, until we have all that information, we have to press hard and keep wearing masks and do that social distancing, especially until we can vaccinate fully the American people. But I have a lot of optimism that life is going to get so much better for this country by the fall. It's going to be an issue of how much transmission, how many deaths are going to happen between now and then, until we can fully vaccinate the American people.
HILL: Dr. Peter Hotez, appreciate it. Thank you.
HOTEZ: Thank you.
HILL: And join Jake Tapper this evening for a special presentation. "We Remember 500,000," a national memorial service for COVID-19. That's tonight at 11:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Congress holding its first hearings on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this week. Who will testify? Those details, next.
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[06:48:38]
HILL: Developing overnight, huge demonstrations across Myanmar against the military coup. And this comes in the face of a warning from the military junta that protesters will, quote, suffer loss of life. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken responding on Twitter, vowing firm action against those who perpetrate violence. Activists have called for an historic strike after a violent weekend in which two people were killed when police opened fire on protesters.
BERMAN: Tomorrow, the first congressional hearings on the security failures in the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol.
CNN's Whitney Wild live in Washington with a preview. Whitney.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, these are critically important hearings. These are really the first open hearings where we will hear from accountability from the people who were instrumental in the planning and the response that day.
First up, Tuesday, a very big day. Two Senate committees joining together to have this open hearing. Here's who's invited. Metro Police Chief Robert Contee, former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, and former Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police Steven Sund. Those last three, I cannot stress enough how important their testimonies are, John, because they were the three who were instrumental in almost complete control in deciding how the preparation was going to go the day of the insurrection.
Later in the week we also expect to hear from now Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman.
[06:50:00]
She is expected to testify in the House in an open hearing. She will also very likely feel the heat from lawmakers as they try to hold -- throughout the week hold these leaders accountable, John.
BERMAN: Whitney Wild, thank you very much.
We're going to have Amy Klobuchar on shortly. She will help chair these hearings and let us know what we expect to learn.
So, Ted Cruz and Andrew Cuomo have one thing in common. They both made an appearance of sorts on "Saturday Night Live." If you missed it, we have it, next.
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HILL: Deion Sanders says he was robbed while getting his first win as a college coach.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."
[06:55:00]
Andy, good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Yes, good morning, Erica.
So Deion Sanders is in his first season coaching in college there at Jackson State and they had their season pushed to the spring due to COVID. And Deion's Tigers, a successful first game. They beat Edwards Waters College 53-0 in their season opener. But Deion not in the mood to celebrate after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEION SANDERS, JACKSON STATE HEAD COACH: I have mixed emotions. We won. The kids played really well. But while the game was going on, somebody came in and stole every darned thing I had in the locker room, in the coach's office. Yes, credit card, wallet, watches. Thank God I had on my necklaces. How?
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SCHOLES: Now, the items were later recovered. The school saying they were misplaced, not stolen. But Deion lashing out at that on Twitter and saying, whoever putting out the lie that my belongings wasn't stolen is lying. My belongings were taken out of a zipped bag in my office and more items were taken as well from my office. We have retrieved them since being reported. My staff member witnessed the crime.
All right, in lighter news, Patrick Mahomes is now officially a dad. The Chief star and his fiance Brittaney welcoming their first daughter over weekend. Her name is Sterling. Brittaney wearing a necklace with that name in a social media post. So, Erica and John, congrats to the happy couple. I'm sure it's going to be a busy off-season there in the Mahomes household.
BERMAN: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Get used to no sleep. Congratulations to both of them. What wonderful news.
Thanks, Andy.
So, Andrew Cuomo and Ted Cruz in the spotlight. Here are your "Late Night Laughs."
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Texas is going through a huge crisis right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. It's real bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you literally abandoned it and flew to Cancun for a family vacah (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. And now I'm in a little bit of hot water, which I'm told is a thing no one in Texas has.
Oh, yes, the whole trip was the girl's idea. They love Cancun. There's so much for kids to do. The topless beach, shots at Snore (ph) Frog (ph), swimming with sick dolphins. They love it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what happened with the nursing homes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the people who died in the nursing homes were not counted as nursing home deaths, they were counted as hospital deaths, which is basically what happens at Disney World, OK? The people die and they move the bodies. They say, oh, I guess Brenda died in the parking lot, not on the Teacups! So, you know, we just did the Disney thing, all right? So, are we done here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're both strong, misunderstood men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not associate yourself with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not the same.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am a man. You are a clown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I accept that. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you mess with me, I will send you to a clown hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Honestly, that sounds fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you die, I will not count your body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nor should you.
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HILL: (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: So Pete Davidson is like dead-on.
HILL: He is so -- when I watched that last night, I have to say, I could not believe how good he was as Andrew Cuomo.
BERMAN: Oh --
HILL: I think he's found yet another role for himself.
BERMAN: Look, when you see something like that, if you're a politician, you go, oh, no, when they get you that well.
HILL: Yes.
BERMAN: Oh, no, because it's never going to stop.
HILL: No, it is not.
BERMAN: All right, NEW DAY continues right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, our craft just experienced engine failure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FAA has ordered emergency inspections and United Airlines says it's removing all of its Boeing 777 200s with the Pratt & Whitney engines from service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question is, how do you properly inspect these fan blades?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The aid that is desperately needed by millions of Americans just weeks away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This $15 minimum wage increase would mean 30 million Americans would get a raise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Merrick Garland will be in the hot seat for his confirmation hearing up on Capitol Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very significant set of steps back to normality in the Justice Department.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill in this morning.
Nice to have you here.
HILL: Good to see you, my friend.
BERMAN: You just watched Pete Davidson do a dead-on Andrew Cuomo.
HILL: You're still laughing, aren't you?
BERMAN: I'm still laughing because it's perfect.
HILL: It was really good. I --
BERMAN: It was -- really good and really tough for Andrew Cuomo.
HILL: You didn't believe me at first, did you, about how good he was?
BERMAN: No, I will never doubt you again. Erica -- she tells me, oh, Pete Davidson is really good at Andrew Cuomo. You're right.
OK, breaking overnight, Boeing telling airlines to stop flying 777 jets that had the same engine as the flight that suffered a catastrophic failure over the weekend. United Airlines has temporarily removed all 24 planes with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines from its fleet. Japan and South Korea's Asiana Airlines have done the same.
This comes after the engine of a United plane that was carrying 241 people, the engine exploded Saturday shortly after takeoff. You can see the pictures here. The jet landed safely, but not before it scattered debris over the Denver area.
[06:59:59]
Look at this.
