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Health Leaders Sound Alarm On Stalling Progress In Pandemic; Biden Meeting With Senate Democrats To Finalize COVID Relief Bill; A Third Woman Accuses New York Gov. Cuomo Of Sexual Harassment. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired March 02, 2021 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Hospitalizations have started to slow or level off. And there's renewed concern from the health officials about what you call long-haul COVID patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I fear that some people who have had these effects who are already three or four months out may not be on a path to get better in a few more months, and this could be something that becomes a chronic illness. And that's a kind of frightening thing to contemplate when you consider we know 28 million people in the United States have had COVID. If even one percent of them have chronic long-term consequences, that's a whole lot of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: At the same time, America's reopening has begun.
Elementary schools in Ohio, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland -- they started in-person classes this week. Philadelphia expected to follow New York and Chicago, bringing its youngest students back to classrooms next week. Now, Los Angeles schools are hoping to reopen elementary schools by mid-April.
CNN has reporters covering the pandemic from coast-to-coast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Nick Watt in Los Angeles where Monday was the first day teachers are eligible to get vaccines.
But how to get more kids back in school, the state of California is going to throw money at it. The governor announced $2 billion, basically, in incentives to schools to get at least T.K. through second grade opened by the end of the month and another $4.6 billion for reimaging the rest of the school year. That could include longer days and summer school. ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Erica Hill.
New Jersey expanding vaccine eligibility to educators and staff for pre-K through 12th grades beginning March 15th. Access also expanding on that date for public safety and migrant farmworkers, members of tribal communities, those experiencing homelessness, and people living in shelters.
Currently, teachers in 31 states and D.C. are eligible for the vaccine.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Alison Kosik.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are teaming up with supermarket chain Giant Eagle to host a multi-day COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Heinz Field. The grocer says the clinic will start today and run through March fifth with what it calls a significant number of appointments available each day. If more vaccine supply is made available the clinic will be extended and will offer additional appointments.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Kristen Holmes in Washington, D.C.
Another state is expanding its eligibility as to who can get the coronavirus vaccine. Now, according to the Ohio governor, they are slated to receive over 96,000 doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That means that they can expand their eligibility to individuals who have type 1 diabetes, work in law enforcement, those who are pregnant, among others. It also means anyone over 60, instead of 65, is now eligible to get the vaccine.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm Jean Casarez in New York.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is announcing he wants dancers, artists, and musicians of all kinds to take part in New York City's upcoming Open Culture initiative. Beginning spring and through the summer, there will be outdoor live performances on the streets, in parks, at upwards of 200 different locations around the city. He says they will be safe, there will be social distancing, and it will bring culture back to New York City.
Everything in New York, including Broadway, has been put on pause since the pandemic began.
BRIAN FUNG, CNN REPORTER (on camera): I'm Brian Fung in Washington.
Twitter says it will now label misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine. As public health officials urge Americans to get the vaccine, misleading claims about it are becoming a bigger problem. Twitter is pushing back by telling users when a tweet may contain vaccine misinformation and in some cases, the new system may block false claims from being retweeted.
According to the company, those who repeatedly share vaccine misinformation could find themselves temporarily suspended or permanently banned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Thanks to all of our reporters and correspondents for those.
Now, the president, who never missed a photo op, opted not to publicize his own vaccination. We now know the former president and his wife Melania were secretly vaccinated against coronavirus at the White House back in January. Now, this is a notable shift for Trump who spent a whole year downplaying the pandemic and dismissing public health measures. But in private, he and his wife were being vaccinated.
It's interesting. A lot of folks saying why? Why didn't he want the world to know, at least publically? Have that image that can be so important.
Was it he didn't want to alienate the anti-vaxxers who are part of his base? Was it he didn't want to appear weak in showing that he needed a vaccine? It's a big mystery this morning, Laura.
JARRETT: Well, it's so curious, especially considering his vice president had got it on camera --
[05:35:02]
ROMANS: Right.
JARRETT: -- his surgeon general got it on camera -- so many people in the administration. And now, it seems to me it's too late for the reporting to be that he got it done.
This is a president who is prone to conspiracy theories. Some of his supporters are prone to conspiracy theories. To find this out now, I don't know that it will help with the hesitancy -- the very real hesitancy among some Republican supporters.
ROMANS: When it came down to his own health and the health and his family, he got a vaccination --
JARRETT: He got it done.
ROMANS: -- but just quietly.
JARRETT: All right, moving now to this landmark legislation on the way. President Biden will sit down with Senate Democrats to finalize the details of the COVID relief bill.
CNN has learned the talks on Monday focused on lowering the federal unemployment benefit from $400 a week to $300. The idea here is to save money and extend the program through the end of the year.
But the overall $1.9 trillion price tag, not up for debate.
Let's go live to the White House and bring in Jasmine Wright. Jasmine, what more are you hearing from your sources about what went on in this meeting?
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Laura, we are getting to see, in real time, President Biden adopt this role of negotiator- in-chief, and that is despite the fact that these meetings are closed to the press.
Yesterday, as you said, he met with the Senate Democrats, including Jon Tester of Montana, who told reporters later that the president was listening. That they talked about, as you said, targeting some of the things included in this bill because we know that centrist Democrats are worried about that $1.9 trillion price tag -- that it's too large and are looking to come down for it.
Now, President Biden and White House press secretary Jen Psaki have repeatedly said that they are open to hearing suggestions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've reserved time in his schedule to ensure that he can be engaged, roll up his sleeves, and be personally involved in making phone calls, having more Zoom meetings, potentially having people here to the Oval Office to get this across the finish line. And I expect him to be very involved personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WRIGHT: Now, Jon Tester predicted that there could be some modest changes. But again, any changes that are made, they have to have the census of the entire Democratic caucus because we know that since this bill has no Republican support, they need all 50 votes from those Democrats to pass it. We know that they want to pass it quickly, so they need those 50 votes with Vice President Harris acting as the tiebreaker. So they need to stay united -- Laura.
JARRETT: So speaking of staying united Jasmine, you've got this push now from some progressives for the vice president to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, who says that the minimum wage issue isn't a budget issue, amazingly. And so, you can't use reconciliation -- it doesn't belong in the bill.
But forcing the minimum wage back in could actually create a whole new problem since the whole reason it was taken out -- you know, it didn't have the support of all Democrats.
WRIGHT: That's exactly right and that still remains the case.
Look, the idea here is that the Senate parliamentarian is not an elected official and just offers advice. And progressives say that because the stakes are so high and that Americans are so in need that the White House should do something that hasn't been done in decades and overrule the Senate parliamentarian's advice.
But the problem is, as you said, is that action needs 50 votes and they do not have 50 votes from Democratic senators. And I'm looking at senators like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. They have said that they would not support that. So if they would go ahead and do this it would take the bill likely.
The White House is ignoring those calls because of that reason. Instead, they are pivoting to a plan C, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday, looking on how to get some type of wage hike done down the line.
JARRETT: Jasmine Wright, thanks so much, as usual.
ROMANS: All right, 38 minutes past the hour.
Democrats determined to spend big to rescue the economy and address income inequality. Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to tax the ultra- wealthy to pay for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): This is a tax that hits only the top one-tenth of one percent. And, you know, we're talking a lot about fairness in our tax system. Adding two cents in a wealth tax means they're still getting a great deal. But it's time for them to pay a fair share and I am completely confident that this is a constitutionally responsible way to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Now, she's proposing an ultra-millionaire tax -- a two percent annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts between $50 million and $1 billion. Billionaires would face a three percent annual tax.
Now she has to convince Washington and her own party's Treasury secretary. Janet Yellen has said a wealth tax would be too, quote, "messy" to implement.
Senator Warren told CNN's Matt Egan she and Yellen -- they need to talk about implementation. She says once a wealth tax is put in place it would not be hard to monitor.
[05:40:02]
Her bill calls for increasing the IRS's budget to build up the agency's audit firepower and modernize its systems.
JARRETT: A third woman coming forward with a new allegation of sexual harassment against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Anna Ruch tells "The New York Times" she met the governor at a New York City wedding reception back in September 2019.
She says after a brief interaction, Gov. Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back. When she removed his hand she says the governor told her she seemed, quote, "aggressive" and placed his hands on her cheeks. That moment, you can see there, captured, she says, in this photo obtained by the "Times." Ruch says Cuomo asked her if he could kiss her and she pulled away as the governor drew closer.
ROMANS: CNN has reached out to Ruch but has not corroborated her allegations.
Reached by the "Times," a spokesman for Gov. Cuomo did not directly address her account, instead referring to the general apology the governor released on Sunday. In that apology, he said some of his interactions may have been insensitive and misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation, and he made others feel ways he never intended.
The state attorney general is now officially overseeing this investigation and will appoint a private lawyer to oversee it. That lawyer will have subpoena power.
JARRETT: Security failures at the U.S. Capitol will be the main focus today when FBI director Chris Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now, this will be Wray's first public testimony about those riots. The FBI's preparation leading up to January sixth, an intense issue under scrutiny.
Last week, the former Capitol Police chief told House lawmakers he never saw a critical FBI memo sent to his department the night before the insurrection -- one that explicitly warned of potential violence.
ROMANS: And a big change for tomorrow's hearing about that attack on the Capitol. The commanding general of the D.C. National Guard will now testify. Major General William Walker oversaw the Guard's very delayed response to the insurrection.
Last week, police and security officials appeared frustrated recounting the Defense Department's actions. Those officials also gave conflicting timelines for when the National Guard was first requested.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:46:26]
JARRETT: Welcome back.
The U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a major voting rights case today out of the battleground state of Arizona. Rules for voting by mail are on the table now and advocates fear the court's newly-cemented conservative majority will move to limit access to the polls.
Meantime, in Georgia, House Republicans passed a sweeping election bill Monday over the objections of Democrats there. The measure would impose more restrictions on absentee voting and cut back on weekend early-voting hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY ABRAMS (D), FORMER GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Not only are they going to disproportionately harm communities of color, when you break democracy you break it for everyone.
Republicans actually tend to use voting by mail more often in the state of Georgia. Last year, this 2020 election -- 2021 elections were the first time that Democrats actually outperformed Republicans in both absentee balloting and early voting. But that means in every election prior to that, since 2005 when Republicans instituted no excuses absentee balloting, it benefitted them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The Brennan Center for Justice says lawmakers in 43 states have now introduced at least 250 bills aimed at restricting voting access.
ROMANS: A state of emergency in Kentucky -- historic flooding after days of heavy rainfall. Flash floods have left homes and businesses underwater in Owsley County as the Kentucky River keeps rising there.
A bunch -- a batch of COVID-19 vaccines had to be rescued by boat after heavy rains threatened the power supply at a Kentucky health facility.
The National Weather Service says the river is expected to crest this week at 38 1/2 feet. That's 15 feet above flood stage.
JARRETT: Well, two weeks after a brutal cold snap brought the state of Texas to its knees, nearly 400,000 people still don't have clean drinking water. They remain under a boil water advisory because of safety concerns about busted pipes.
Neighbors, though, helping out neighbors. A local pastor who was without water herself is delivering water to those in need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR MARILYN DAVIS, DELIVERING WATER TO PEOPLE IN NEED: It's been very, very hard. I live in the apartment complex when we didn't have any water, so it's very difficult for us to make it with so many people in one place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Meantime, ERCOT, which operates the Texas power grid, says electricity retailers have failed to pay almost $2.5 billion they owe from the February blackout. Forty-eight percent of the state's generating plants went offline last month.
And more fallout from the storm here. The head of the Texas Public Utility Commission, which regulates electricity and water across Texas, has resigned.
ROMANS: Two Florida deputies are heroes after saving a 73-year-old woman from her sinking car. The sheriff's department releasing video of the rescue Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: Come on, ma'am. You're good. You unbuckled?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm unbuckled. SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: Come on, get out. Forget your purse. Let's go. Let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Wow. The two officers were able to pull this woman out of the submerged vehicle. They say she was driving too fast while trying to make a turn and went right into that pond.
The woman is OK. She was given a ticket for careless driving.
JARRETT: Wow, what a rescue there.
Well, Lady Gaga's dog walker speaking publicly for the first time since he was shot last week in Hollywood as the singer's two dogs were taken. Describing the attack and his recovery from a very close call with death, Ryan Fischer says he is humbled and grateful by the outpouring of support he's received.
The two stolen French bulldogs were found last Friday. Lady Gaga had offered a half-a-million-dollar reward to find them. The LAPD is still searching for two male suspects in their early 20s.
[05:50:03]
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Tuesday morning.
A trip to markets around the world shows Asian shares closed lower and Europe has opened higher this morning. A check on Wall Street futures this Tuesday morning shows a little bit of a decline, but not much.
Stocks started off the month strong as the bond markets took a breather there. Rising yields have been weighing on investors despite Fed chief Jerome Powell repeatedly saying the central bank isn't worried about inflation here as the economy recovers.
The Dow closed up almost two percent, more than 600 points. The S&P 500 had its best day since June. The Nasdaq finished up three percent. That's the best day since November.
But that disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street remains. Data shows 11 million renters and homeowners were significantly overdue on their payments at the end of 2020 -- 11 million. That puts them at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure or eviction. Black and Hispanic households were more than twice as likely to report being behind on their home payments than white households.
The CDC extended its eviction moratorium to the end of March. President Biden's relief plan would send roughly $19 billion to states to help low-income families stay in their homes.
United Airlines betting on a rebound in travel and says it has bought 25 Boeing 737 MAX jets, one of the largest orders of the plane since it was grounded in March 2019. United was the first airline to restart deliveries of the plane after the FAA approved it to fly again last November. United is currently using the 737 MAX on about 30 flights a day.
For the first time in almost a year, all of Apple's stores in the U.S. are open. That news pushing Apple's stock up five percent premarket. Apple closed all of its stores outside China last year, of course, as the pandemic swept across the world. All the stores are open in some way, with restrictions to keep employees and customers safe, of course. Stores in Texas were the last to open Monday after the devastating winter storms.
JARRETT: All right, Christine, you can fact-check this. Iowans love their breakfast pizza. Who doesn't? But the newest item on one menu in Des Moines has caused quite the controversy.
Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It starts like any other pizza, but then things start to get a little loopy.
TV AD: There's a fruity delight in every bite.
MOOS (voice-over): But is it a delight when it's Fruit Loops pizza? Fong's Pizza in Des Moines, Iowa bills it as a breakfast and dessert pizza --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Fruit Loops, obviously, bring the sweetness and the crunch.
MOOS (voice-over): -- but others call it a "crime against humanity," "an abomination to pizza everywhere." "That looks like something you'd see on a NYC sidewalk after the St. Patrick's Day parade."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seemed to really make some people angry.
MOOS (voice-over): "As an Italian, I am formally declaring war on Iowa."
Fong's Pizza actually dreamed up what they call Loopy Fruits pizza six years ago --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all sitting at a table and somebody goes well, what about Fruit Loops?
MOOS (voice-over): -- but it never quite took off. Now they're relaunching it, using cream cheese, then the Fruit Loops, sprinkled with a bit of mozzarella and drizzled with a sauce made from yogurt and sweet condensed milk.
TV AD: The color, the taste, the aroma.
MOOS (voice-over): The infamy.
The creators of Fruit Loops pizza are basking in the attention. Fruit Loops may never replace pepperoni, but to its makers --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's quite delicious.
MOOS (voice-over): -- to an impartial reporter from Axios.
LINH TA, REPORTER, AXIOS: It was all right. The -- it definitely reminded me of like when you were a kid and you just put like random things together.
MOOS (voice-over): Like in "The Princess Diaries" when a pizza topped with M&Ms arrived.
For 19 bucks you can get a large Loopy Fruits pizza.
TA: I ate about one slice of it. Yes, I gave it a good try.
MOOS (voice-over): One critic responded by quoting "The Godfather."
AL PACINO, ACTOR, "THE GODFATHER": Look how they massacred my boy.
MOOS (voice-over): RIP -- Rest in Pizza.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: OK, Christine, no shade to Iowa, but that looks disgusting.
ROMANS: Yes. I mean, Iowa not known for its culinary innovations outside of bacon and eggs.
JARRETT: That's -- this is searching for Italy, I'll tell you that.
ROMANS: I will say I spent a good time of my youth -- a good part of my youth working at a pizza place in Iowa and we just had, you know --
JARRETT: Plain.
ROMANS: -- pepperoni --
JARRETT: Yes, exactly.
ROMANS: -- double cheese. We had a taco pizza. Happy Joe's Leclaire, can I help you? That was my --
JARRETT: All right. I guess we're taking a pass on that one.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:59:20]
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden intensifying his efforts to push his signature COVID relief bill through Congress. WATT: This single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should change the landscape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll have 100 million by June.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This really eases the capacity to get the vaccine where it's needed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo trying to stem the fallout after a new sexual harassment allegation surfaced. Calls for an investigation coming from Cuomo's own party.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): If these investigations bear out, it really starts to call into question the leadership that we currently have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, March second, 6:00 here in New York.
And we begin with a new warning from the CDC director.
