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CNN This Morning

Trump Handily Nets Triple Victory In MO, ID, MI; Biden Prepares For High-Stakes State Of The Union Address; New Polls Show Some Voters Doubt Biden's Leadership, Favor Trump; U.S. Conducts First Aid Airdrops Into Gaza; U.S. Official: Israel "Basically Accepted" Ceasefire Deal; Two Babies Among 10 Killed After Russian Drone Strike In Odesa; Firefighters Battling "Monster" Wildfire Amid Heat, Winds; Despite Heat And Wind, Firefighters Are Fighting "Monster" Wildfire; Over 1M Acres Affected By Smokehouse Creek Fire; Towns In Panhandle In Danger From Texas Fire, Forcing Evacuations; Cyberattack Hits Health Providers; Insurance Giant's Cyberattack Delays Prescription Fillings And Invoicing; Health Data Breaches Will Impact Almost 1 In 3 Americans By 2023; Florida School Book Bans. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired March 03, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:01]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Good morning to you. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, March 3rd. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: And I'm Danny Freeman. Victor Blackwell and Amara Walker are off this morning.

We begin with Donald Trump racking up more GOP primary wins. But Nikki Haley, she isn't backing down. We'll have more on her strategy heading into Super Tuesday coming up.

DEAN: Also, the U.S. carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza. President Biden saying there is more to come. We're live in the region with more on the relief efforts and where the ceasefire talks stand right now.

FREEMAN: Plus, a major cyberattack has nearly crippled health care businesses across the country, with some saying they may have to close their doors. The impacts and what's being done to get them back up and running.

DEAN: It will be another day of dangerous fire conditions across Texas. We are live in Texas as firefighters there work to get the fires under control and as residents begin rebuilding.

We are about to see a critical week play out on Capitol Hill and beyond. Super Tuesday, of course, just a couple of days away. And then on Thursday, President Biden will deliver his highly anticipated State of the Union address. He's currently at Camp David with key advisers preparing that speech.

FREEMAN: Now, he'll addressed the nation hours before another partial government shutdown deadline. You're taking a live look at Capitol Hill right now. Now, Congress passed a stopgap measure last week, but it only funded the government through March 8th. However, the good news is, it's looking more and more likely we will avoid a shutdown as congressional leaders announced a package of full year bills will be enacted before that Thursday deadline.

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is celebrating a triple victory over his lone remaining GOP opponent Nikki Haley. The former president handily won caucuses in Missouri and Idaho and all possible delegates in Michigan on Saturday.

DEAN: And just to remind us all, it's 1,215 delegates. That's what's needed to clinch the Republican nomination. Trump now stands at 247. And with Super Tuesday just days away, that's when voters in 16 states and one U.S. territory will weigh in on the primaries and also some congressional races.

And despite getting just a fraction of those Republican delegates, Nikki Haley is staying in the race. At a Saturday rally, she made this pitch to voters, referencing a new New York Times poll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Another poll came out saying that they're talking about is Donald Trump's weak spot. I defeat Joe Biden by 10 points. The issue with all of this is, you win by that much? That's bigger than the presidency. That's House. That's Senate. That's governorship. That's school boards. That's finally turning our country around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Nikki Haley also took the chance to criticize President Biden and Trump both for policies and their jabs at each other's supporters. But all eyes will be on President Biden this week on Thursday for the State of the Union address. It's his chance really to showcase what he's done and try to convince voters to give him another term in office.

DEAN: The president is spending the weekend with his advisers to craft and rehearse that speech. CNN's Camila DeChalus is in New York. What are we likely to hear from the president? It's a big week for him.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Jessica. Danny. The stakes are very high for President Biden at this time. We know that he wants to use the State of the Union address to as an opportunity to directly speak to the American people and make the strong argument on why they should support his reelection efforts.

At this point in time, we know that he's going to use this address to just talk about his administration's accomplishments, talk about the economy and what he's done, and he will likely try to paint this stark contrast between himself and the Republican Party and even former President Donald Trump himself.

Now, we've seen this play out time and time again on the campaign trail, where Biden has really used those moments to talk about his former predecessor and just try to paint the stark picture of what a second term under Trump would look like and make the argument of why Biden is better suited for this role.

So we could see that he could potentially do this again, knowing that this is one of the last big televised events that he will participate in, where he can directly appeal to the American people before the November elections. Jessica, Danny?

FREEMAN: Camila, thank you very much for that report.

All right, to discuss this all more with me is White House Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and CNN Political Analyst Laura Barron- Lopez. OK, so let's start with this New York Times/Siena College poll that we're going to be talking about a lot this week, I can only imagine.

It, of course, says that Biden is losing to Trump now in the general election, that Trump has basically never looked stronger head to head, and that it all stems from Biden's sinking popularity. I guess, Laura, from your perspective, is this poll as bad as it seems for the incumbent?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's certainly not good, Danny. But one thing that the president's campaign keeps telling us is that there is still a lot of time between now and November. And their theory of the case is essentially that right now voters aren't paying attention as much.

[07:05:11]

Some voters are still holding on to the hope that maybe Nikki Haley will prevail and that they feel as though once it becomes crystal clear that it's going to be a rematch between Donald Trump and President Biden that they can start healing voters back towards them.

One of the bright spots for them, which there weren't many in that New York Times/Siena poll, was among voters who disliked both candidates. 19 percent of voters who disliked both candidates, and they were breaking for Biden and in past election cycles. Voters who don't like both candidates, whoever wins those ends up in the past two presidentials winning the presidential election.

FREEMAN: Well, let's talk about then the messaging challenges going into this week. The State of the Union, obviously on Thursday, and the White House will have these polls on their mind, I'm sure. What do you think President Biden needs to do to address these concerns in his speech?

BARRON-LOPEZ: So the president is clearly going to be talking about a lot of his past accomplishments, infrastructure, the Chips and Science Act, things that he's done to lower prescription health care costs, some of which voters haven't felt yet.

But when I talk to Democrats, what they really want him to focus on are addressing the lack of enthusiasm among young voters, among key elements of his base. And so I think you're going to hear the president talk a lot about reproductive health care rights because that's an issue. It animates Democrats that could help him win some of those suburban voters that he really needs that helped him prevail in the last election cycle.

And then I think, you know, you hear more and more. A lot of Democrats say that they want him to more forcefully address the Israel-Hamas conflict that they want him to talk about Gaza more. And that they feel as though he really needs to potentially shift policy there because you're seeing time and time again, whether it's young voters or Muslim and Arab voters, really be upset with him and say that they may very well not vote for him come November. And we saw a taste of that in Michigan with the uncommitted vote.

FREEMAN: Yes, Michigan's certainly a canary in a coal mine potentially for the Democratic prospects come November. I want to switch over to the GOP side. Former President Trump, he scooped up a few more caucus victories over the weekend. He got Missouri and Idaho and then the delegates in Michigan.

Laura, is Nikki Haley still going to be a candidate on Wednesday morning?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, she says that she is going to, you know, see it through Super Tuesday. But on Wednesday morning, you know, she hasn't really forecasted what she was going to do beyond that. So, I mean, I think that all of us are expecting former President Trump to really carry the states on Super Tuesday and solidify the fact that he is the likely nominee.

Now, Nikki Haley has a lot of donors that have still stayed behind her but, you know, there's a lot of questions about why she's been staying in it this long, because her pathway to win the nomination, the math just isn't there.

FREEMAN: Laura, I know you've done some specific reporting on this border split screen that we saw at the end of last week between Biden and Trump. I'm curious, your perspective, do you think there is any way that Biden can actually outflank the former president on immigration?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, we've seen the president try to do that. I mean, I was there in Brownsville when he went down this past week along the U.S.-Mexico border, and he is really trying to make clear to the American public that he was willing to sign this Senate border deal, which was one of the most restrictive immigration bills that we've seen Republicans and Democrats come to an agreement on.

And that it was ultimately killed because Donald Trump and House Republicans opposed it. And so he's really been trying to hammer that point to make clear to the American public that he's willing to negotiate on this. I think that we may very well see an executive action from him where he tries to narrow who can claim asylum, which would be a massive change in asylum laws in the United States.

And so it's certainly something that he is going to be moving more towards the middle on. To the dismay of some, you know, of his progressive supporters because they wanted to see Democrats provide some type of pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and to approach the border in a more humanitarian way. And we've seen President Biden actually move a bit more towards his predecessor's policies in that area.

FREEMAN: Yes, I think that's a good point. I think that also we probably can expect to see more border split screens as we get closer to November.

Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

DEAN: Health care providers across the U.S. have been targeted in a major cyberattack and now patients are having trouble getting medicine. Doctors are having trouble getting paid. We're going to take a look at that threat coming up.

Plus, two people are dead and countless cattle and structures are destroyed in the worst fire in Texas's history. It continues to tear through the panhandle this morning and conditions are about to get even worse.

[07:10:11]

Plus, American planes now dropping potentially lifesaving humanitarian aid and de Gaza. We have the latest on the situation there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The first U.S. airdrop of aid is now on the ground and Gaza. Three American C-130 aircraft dropped 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline.

[07:15:07]

President Biden saying Saturday the amount of aid flowing into Gaza was, quote, not nearly enough, and that the U.S. would insist that Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza.

FREEMAN: Plus, sources say ceasefire talks are expected to resume today in Cairo. A U.S. official tells CNN that Israel has, quote, basically accepted a six-week ceasefire and hostage release proposal in Gaza. It's now up to Hamas to agree to the deal.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us. Jeremy, tell us what is the latest on these ceasefire talks?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, there's only a week before the start of the Muslim month of Ramadan, and that is effectively the deadline for some kind of a deal to come out here. And so it's heartening, obviously, to see that these talks appear to be resuming. A Hamas delegation arriving in Cairo today, according to Hamas official and the United States saying that Israel has basically accepted a six-week ceasefire in principle and that there is a framework deal on the table.

What appears to be missing for now is Hamas's response to that framework deal, including to some of the key elements included in it. Israel is still waiting for Hamas to produce a list of the hostages that it would release under this deal, and also waiting for Hamas to determine the number of Palestinian prisoners that they will be demanding, effectively, their counterproposal to what is listed in this framework.

U.S. officials say that they believe that the talks are on track that they are progressing and that there's no indication that that event on Thursday where we saw more than 100 Palestinians killed while they were trying to gather aid on Thursday, no indication that that incident has derailed the talks altogether.

We also know that Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet, is headed to Washington tomorrow to speak with the Vice President. So there are talks, there is a lot of movement here, but again, a very short timeline to actually get this ceasefire deal done.

Amid all of this, though, we know that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is still extremely dire, and the United States is stepping up its efforts to try and provide aid to Gaza, dropping in 66 bundles of aid yesterday into Gaza, of which there were about 38,000 meals included in those bundles.

But these airdrops are extremely costly, they are extremely inefficient, and so what really needs to happen is more aid needs to be allowed to flow in on the ground with trucks. And that's a point that President Biden has made in the last few days as he urged Israel to allow more aid trucks into Gaza. And, in particular, we know that northern Gaza is where the need is most acute.

While there does appear to be some more aid getting into Gaza, there are also still continued airstrikes. The Israeli military pounding the Gaza strip over the weekend. More than 90 -- at least 90 people were told were killed in the last 24 hours. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli military for its part said that it killed 30 militants in the last 24 hours before this morning.

So this war very much continuing the humanitarian situation, growing more dire. And timeline very short to be able to reach that ceasefire deal that would provide much needed aid into Gaza as well as the release of dozens of Israeli hostages.

DEAN: All right, Jeremy Diamond on the ground for us in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much for that updated reporting.

And joining us now to talk more about this, CNN Military Analyst, Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. Good morning to you, bright and early on this Sunday. Let's talk first about this potential ceasefire deal that they might have. Negotiators hoping to have that deal in place by the start of Ramadan in roughly a week, but now they've got to wait on Hamas to agree. How likely do you think this is?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, good morning, first of all, Jessica. And, truthfully, I'm not very optimistic about this, although I'm very hopeful that the ceasefire and the potential for more aid to get in as well as the risk lease of the hostages is high on one side. You have to consider that Hamas's strategy is focused on time.

They actually want to drag this out. They want to give hope to the west, to those who are hoping their hostages will come home. But, truthfully, their desire is to ratchet this out as long as possible, to cause more embarrassment to Israel. That's part of their strategic policy.

So, whereas, I think having Hamas go to Egypt to continue the negotiations, it's not going to bode well. They're going to ask for more. They are going to drag out the time. Their initial requirement was for 15,000 Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisoners. I don't think Israel is going to agree to that.

DEAN: Yes. And they are hoping to get this deal by the start of Ramadan. Help people understand why that's kind of a marker here.

[07:20:01]

HERTLING: Yes, it's a marker to summon and Ramadan starts the evening between the 10th and the 11th anticipated. It's when the full moon is first observed in Mecca. So it is probably going to be on the 10th of March. The desire to have that deal in place before the start of Ramadan, it's like getting people home for Christmas in the Christian cult.

They want the ceasefire by that time. They want their prisoners released from the Israeli jails. And they want a reunion of sorts of the families within Palestine of those who have been kept in Israeli prisons. So that's a critical piece. It is the highest religious holiday, and it is a time for renewal within the Muslim religion.

And truthfully, Jessica, having spent a lot of time in the Middle East, I know Ramadan was always a driving force for military action. Once Ramadan hits, the Muslims do not want to fight during that period. They want to observe their religious traditions.

DEAN: And I want to also talk about this airdrop of aid. The White House has been calling this first airdrop of aid into Gaza a success. That they promised more. Do you agree that this was successful? And why do you think now was the time that they decided to start doing this?

HERTLING: Well, a couple of things. I'll point out first in comment to what Jeremy Diamond just said. As you see those parachutes landing on the film that you're showing right now, those are all geared by GPS markers. So they are very precise in terms of where they land. The U.S. Air Force is masterful at this. I've done airdrops before. They can get the supplies and equipment and in this case, the humanitarian ease relief exactly where they wanted to land. By doing that, it takes away the capability for Hamas to co-op that aid, to bring it to their terrorists as opposed to getting to the Palestinian people.

The other thing that's important is, it eliminates the requirement for a transloading or a release of the aid after it's driven up the one- lone highway within Gaza that goes north to south that can be interrupted by what we saw the other day with people rushing the trucks co-opting the aid, trying to get as much as they can.

So it is not as effective in terms of size. As Jeremy said, 38,000 meals, but it is extremely effective in getting aid to where it needs to be. And that's to the people and not to the terrorists. And it avoids the kind of crush on the trucks and the delivery methods and the transload areas that we saw before on Friday.

DEAN: And before I let you go, I do want to turn to Ukraine for a moment, because we did see these civilians killed in a drone attack on a residential apartment building in Odesa over the weekend. This as that aid remains stalled in the House after passing in bipartisan fashion out of the Senate. Do you expect to see more of these types of things as that aid remains stalled? And what do you see the state of play is there right now?

HERTLING: Yes. Unfortunately, I do see many more instances of this. Throughout this war, Jessica, we've seen Russian criminally attack Ukrainian populations. They have used civilians as targets to try and persuade the Ukrainian government to do something they don't want to do.

But in this case, what you're seeing is more of the same, and we're going to see a lot more of this because of the disruptions of the supply chains from the Western countries, especially the United States, as the GOP talks over this to get needed air defense missiles, counter artillery ammunition and the likes to help Ukraine continued to defend not only their military, but their population.

And, unfortunately, when that supply chain is interrupted, you're going to see more success of Russia conducting these criminal acts, which they've been doing since the start of the war.

DEAN: Yes. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, up bright and early with us, thanks so much. It's good to see you.

HERTLING: Thank you, Jessica. Same here.

FREEMAN: All right. Coming up in a moment, a massive wildfire ravaging the Texas panhandle keeps growing. Now, weather conditions could make things much worse. We'll have the latest on the devastation still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:28:44]

DEAN: The biggest fire Texas has ever seen could get even worse today as strong winds, heat and dry conditions continue to fuel the wildfires charring the panhandle. One survivor says she barely escaped from the flames.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACY MCFALL, WINDY DEUCE FIRE SURVIVOR: It wasn't seconds and it was at my back door and I was trying to get dog kennels and I couldn't -- I had to leave and then I had to drive through fire to get out of there. I was going to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And since it erupted nearly a week ago, the biggest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, has killed two people, destroyed hundreds of structures, killed livestock, and burned over 1 million acres. For more on this, we have CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. He joins us live from Fritch, Texas. Ivan, just tell us what are you seeing this morning? It looks, frankly, very troubling behind you.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danny, Jessica, you can see some of that destruction behind me. So far this morning, though, we're experiencing exactly what officials were warning us about -- very dry conditions, strong winds as well. Part of the reason why we're still in that red flag warning.

But taking a look more here, this used to be a shed, a wooden shed. You can see the foundation of this right here at the bottom and really just pieces that we're trying to make out here. People are beginning to try and clean up some of their properties on what we've seen since yesterday, really that long road toward the rebuilding process.

[07:30:09]

Now, the Smokehouse Creek fire is still 15 percent contained officials with the Texas A&M Forest Service say that because the Panhandle area saw a lot of rain during the winter, there's a lot more grass, which they consider fuel to burn. They hope that after this weekend they can really make some progress when it comes to containment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON NEDLO, SPOKESPERSON, TEXAS A&M FOREST SERVICE: This weekend has put us back into red flag warnings and fire weather with strong winds, low relative humidity, and active fire on the ground. So, we're really trying to get through this weekend. There's the potential for a large fire growth again through Sunday night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: Now, in terms of how this fire started, officials say it's still under investigation. One thing that is promising, though, is we're seeing light return to a lot of homes, especially on the roads. A lot of street lights are now back on. So, a lot of the work of power restoration that's been going on for days now, we're seeing parts of that now come back online. That's crucial because more than 120 lines of -- line were burnt throughout the process of this fire. Danny, Jessica.

DEAN: Ivan, just so much devastation there behind you. And I know, too, on the economy and the cattle industry. We're certainly thinking of all those people in Texas. Thanks so much for that reporting.

FREEMAN: And glad power is coming back too as well.

All right, for more on this we have CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, what can we expect this morning with the wildfires and the weather conditions in the Panhandle?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So unfortunately, weather conditions still today are not exactly going to be ideal, but we will finally start to see some improvement as we head into this week. You've still got the red flag warnings, not just in Texas, but a lot of the surrounding states as well, where they're also going to be experiencing very dry conditions.

These are the three main fires here that we are keeping a close eye on. Those containment numbers did go up as we headed into the weekend, but we would still like to see them jump up a little bit more, especially knowing that the weather conditions today are not going to be ideal. You're still looking at very strong winds, those very hot temperatures and also dry air. Again, not just for Texas, although that is a big concern there.

But any of these areas really have the potential for some of those new fires to spark as we go through the day to day. Those winds are going to slowly start to take back up around 20 to 30 miles per hour. It could even have some gusts around 40. And I know 20 to 30 miles per hour may not sound like much but it is enough to take those embers and continue to spread them.

Another area where we're continuing to see winds, not just here in Texas and Oklahoma, but also out to the west. The difference here is those winds are taking snow that's on the ground and reducing visibility down to pretty much zero in some locations. You've got rain closer to the coast and very heavy snow here through the Sierras, that is expected to continue through today.

We will start to see things taper back off a little bit Monday and Tuesday, but there is still snow in the forecast at least until we get later into the week. You can see that next round there, bringing additional moisture on Tuesday. Finally, things will start to dry back out for these areas once we get to Wednesday and especially Thursday of this week.

DEAN: I know people are looking forward to that. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

Well, this weekend, fallout from a cyberattack on a major health insurance I.T. giant. And now, healthcare providers are losing millions of dollars a day, prescriptions and billing have all been disrupted. We're going to go in depth on this cyberattack and what it means for you. It's next on "CNN This Morning".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:38:11]

FREEMAN: This morning, health care professionals in several states tells CNN they're still dealing with the fallout from a major cyberattack. Now, the hack disrupted insurance processing at pharmacies across the country a little over a week ago. It targeted Change Healthcare, that's a unit of health insurance I.T. giant UnitedHealth, which processes prescriptions and billing for tens of thousands of pharmacies nationwide.

For more on this, we have Molly Smith, Group Vice President for the policy -- Policy, rather at the American Hospital Association. And Amit Yoran, chairman and CEO of Tenable and the former director of U.S. cyber security at the Department of Homeland Security.

Molly, I want to start with you on this really incredible story. What are the impacts your systems are seeing right now?

MOLLY SMITH, GROUP VICE PRESIDENT FOR POLICY, AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Yes, absolutely. First, thank you so much for having us. This is just an unprecedented attack on the entire U.S. healthcare system. And what our members, hospitals, and many of the doctors, nurses and clinicians that are working in them are experiencing is that it is hard for patients to make appointments, to get prescriptions.

It's hard for hospitals and doctors to actually check and make sure that their patients have insurance coverage and then be able to know how much they may need to pay for the services that they're getting. And then on -- for hospitals and doctors in terms of their cash flow, they are really hampered from being able to send bills to health insurers and then have those health insurers pay them back.

So, while the impact really varies depending on how much a hospital or doctor's office works with Change Healthcare, all 6,000 hospitals and many, many, many thousands of provider practices are really feeling the pain of the crunch in their cash flow, which makes it hard for them to make payroll, to buy the medical supplies that they need. So, really this is just an unprecedented challenge that we are experiencing.

[07:40:00]

FREEMAN: Amit, can I ask you, do we have any idea who is responsible for this cyberattack?

AMIT YORAN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, TENABLE: We do. It's currently believed that an organization known as BlackCat, a group of hackers -- Russian speaking hackers is the group behind us. And that's the same group that we saw just a short while ago, going after and disabling systems in MGM and disrupting their operations.

FREEMAN: Amit, following up on that, what are the long-term effects of a cyberattack like this? And how long does it usually take to, I mean, clean up the mess after it's already been done?

YORAN: Yes, well, it could take, and as we've seen in -- and as we're seeing in this case, as we've seen in many other cases, if you don't have your systems properly protected, if you aren't prepared for these types of attacks, it could take, and it is taking weeks.

It's believed that, BlackCat has had access to Change systems for over two weeks now, and the disruption continues and -- continues to get worse for those patients, for those pharmacies that are unable to get health care insurance coverage for critical medication. And by the way, that includes pharmacies for the American military hospitals around the world.

FREEMAN: Molly, let's talk a little bit more about that. There are things, as I understand it, healthcare professionals are doing to help offset the impact of this hack so patients are able to get the care they need. Tell us more about that if you wouldn't mind.

SMITH: Yes, absolutely. Hospitals and doctors, they are committed to continuing to provide care to patients. They will do everything that they can to mitigate the delays and impact on patients. However, it -- what they're having to do is a lot of manual workarounds to these technologies that are now no longer available. So just -- take for example, you go to your doctor's office and you hand over your card, and your doctor's office, their computer is able to very quickly, in real time, talk to the health insurer's computer and say whether or not they are covered for the service, whether it can be scheduled. That's not happening in many instances right now.

So, that individual who takes your card is either having to pick up the phone and call the health insurer, and I think a lot of us know what that can be like, or they're having to manually go into a computer system and type everything in and wait for a response on the other side. It's just hugely burdensome and frankly a big strain on our workforce when we're already facing unprecedented workforce challenges.

FREEMAN: Yes -- I mean, truly, I cannot even imagine that.

Amit, I wanted your perspective on something. Because this stat, really, it both surprised me and didn't just because I feel like we keep hearing about this. I understand nearly one in three Americans were affected by a health data breach specifically last year. And we're increasingly seeing places like hospitals and local governments becoming prime targets for hackers. Can you just shed some light, why is that?

YORAN: Yes, I think the characterization that this is unprecedented and massive and have massive ripple effects, I think those are both true. I think it is also true that these types of incidents are highly predictable. We know the hackers that are out there, the organizations that run these ransomware gangs, they're after big payouts. And if you're operating critical system, whether it's in health care, whether it's in government, whether it's in entertainment or critical infrastructure. We saw with Colonial Pipeline. If you're operating critical systems, there is a strong potential that you're willing to pay significant dollars in ransom to get your systems back and online efficiently. And these organizations need to play closer attention to their cyber security. They need to be much more proactive assessing where they have problems and fixing those problems before the ransomware gangs take advantage of them.

FREEMAN: Amit, one last thing just before we go. Can you -- I understand what you're saying that the individual organizations need to do, but can you give us an idea of what's being done on the federal level to help prevent some of these cyberattacks, especially if they're coming from outside the country?

YORAN: Sure. Well, it's important to note that a lot of these attacks are coming from places which do not have cooperative law enforcement agreements with the U.S. China, North Korea, Iran, Russia. And so, there's work that can be done through law enforcement, federal law enforcement, FBI and others, but it's limited.

We're seeing a lot of great work happen from the intelligence community from SISA, in particular within the DHS, which is telling organizations which vulnerabilities out there are being taken advantage of by these hackers, by these ransomware groups.

And so, the government's doing a lot, but it's really incumbent upon every organization to exercise due diligence with their systems, not operating negligently, make sure they're cleaning up these problems before they get taken advantage of. And I think this is a great example of that.

FREEMAN: Molly Smith, Amit Yoran, thank you both for waking up and for discussing a very important issue. I really appreciate your time.

SMITH: Thank you.

YORAN: Thanks for having me.

[07:45:00]

DEAN: A Florida resident is using the state's decency laws to get books banned at local schools. Coming up, why some people say these book challenges are going too far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Some school librarians in Florida are now drawing pants and shirts on nude book characters just to keep children's storybooks on the shelves.

FREEMAN: But as more parents push back on material they consider inappropriate, even Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, admits the law he championed on banning books is being taken a little too far. CNN's Carlos Suarez reports.

[07:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a school district meeting in Indian River County, Florida.

JENNIFER PIPPIN, CHAIRPERSON, MOMS FOR LIBERTY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY CHAPTER: Throughout this entire book, there is pictures of people having sex and they're nude. It says --

SUAREZ (voice-over): Jennifer Pippin read from a book, she says, doesn't belong in public schools. Her objection was the only item before a committee of parents and educators who will decide whether the book is removed. No one spoke in favor of keeping the book. The committee decides in April. A prolific book challenger, Pippin heads the county's conservative parental rights group, Moms for Liberty. She knows the process well.

PIPPIN: We need to remove these materials because they are prohibited per all the laws and statutes.

SUAREZ: How many total number of books have you challenged yourself?

PIPPIN: Myself here in Indian River County, 242.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Out of these, a couple of titles stand out. The literary classic, "In the Night Kitchen", by Maurice Sendak. And a newer book, "Unicorns Are the Worst", about a grumpy goblin, both have illustrations of characters without clothes. Pippin challenged both books under a Florida education law which allows for the removal of a public school library book that depicts or describes sexual conduct.

In her formal objection, Pippin said the images were pornographic. But in our interview, she walked back that claim.

SUAREZ: What's pornographic about them?

PIPPIN: So, they're not pornographic. They contain nudity.

SUAREZ (voice-over): But nudity alone is not harmful to minors. According to Florida law, the content would have to appeal to a prurient interest, be patently offensive, or without literary or artistic value.

SUAREZ: And I keep going back to nudity that is harmful to children. And so, a goblin's backside on the face of it, to me, doesn't seem like it is harmful to children.

PIPPIN: Absolutely. So, again, you and I can agree on that, but some other parents may not agree.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Pippin told the district to remove the books or draw on clothing using permanent markers to cover up the nudity. So, school librarians drew shorts, overalls, and shirts on the illustrations.

SUAREZ: To see these drawings, you think that genuinely could adversely affect a child who otherwise may not know what the backside of a goblin looks like or ever thought?

PIPPIN: Sure, so if a child is possibly maybe being raped by an adult and, you know, maybe the -- seeing the nudity in itself, maybe just not the backside, but seeing something nude could, you know, be detrimental to them.

SUAREZ (voice-over): From her home office in Orlando, Stephana Ferrell couldn't believe it. She's part of the Florida Freedom to Read project, an organization that tracks thousands of books being challenged in the state.

STEPHANA FERRELL, CO-FOUNDER, FLORIDA FREEDOM TO READ PROJECT: I have an eight-year-old. As soon as we heard that "Unicorns Are the Worst", had a drawing -- was getting drawn on my son wanted to read it. And so, we read through the book and he said to me, mom, she took out the funny part. Why would they do that?

SUAREZ (voice-over): Ferrell said covering up the images is censorship. The publisher of "Unicorns Are the Worst" agrees. Telling CNN, "There should be no place for this type of literary vandalism in our schools and libraries."

FERRELL: These things are happening because the law is broad and the rules are punitive, and people are scared. And we're -- we've lost track of good judgment and common sense.

SUAREZ (voice-over): School libraries across Florida have removed mor than 1,400 titles during the 2022 2023 school year, according to writer advocacy group PEN America. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the law making all of this possible, now admits some book objections have gone too far. He wants state lawmakers to limit the challenges.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you're somebody who doesn't have a kid in school and you're going to object to 100 books, no, I don't think that that's appropriate.

SUAREZ: Under a proposal moving in the state legislature, school districts would be able to fine individuals 100 for a book challenge after they've unsuccessfully objected to five books. Lawmakers are also looking whether to limit challenges from people who don't have children at the school where the book is located. Jennifer Pippin told us she challenged, "Unicorns Are the Worst", the book with the naked goblin on behalf of a grandparent.

Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Carlos, thank you.

A Texas family has lost their home in the wildfires ripping through that state. Coming up, we speak to them about their heartbreaking situation. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:58:57]

DEAN: They called him the Sheriff of Wall Street until he was caught soliciting prostitutes.

FREEMAN: In tonight's "United States of Scandal", Jake Tapper takes you deep into Eliot Spitzer's rise to fame and fall from grace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIOT SPITZER, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: The change you seek. The reform you thirst for. The New York you dream of begins tonight.

BROOKE MASTERS, JOURNALIST, THE WASHINGTON POST (1989-2006): By the time Eliot Spitzer's running for governor in 2006, everyone expected him to win.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In 2006, New York had been stuck in a holding pattern for years, and Eliot Spitzer, that seemingly upright pillar of moral rectitude was just the candidate for them.

DAVID PATERSON, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, NEW YORK (2007-2008): Polls closed at 9:00 p.m. The election was called for Spitzer at 9:01 p.m.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our next governor of New York days, Eliot Spitzer.

TAPPER: Eliot Spitzer was elected governor with what percentage of the vote?

LLOYD CONSTANTINE, SENIOR ADVISOR TO GOVERNOR SPITZER (2007-2008): 60, almost 70 percent. It was 69 and a half.

TAPPER: It's insane.

CONSTANTINE: Yes.

TAPPER: Almost 70 percent of the vote?

CONSTANTINE: Yes, by far the greatest plurality in the history of New York. More than Franklin Roosevelt. More than Teddy Roosevelt. More than Mario Cuomo. More than anybody.

TAPPER (voice-over): But unlike his illustrious predecessor, Spitzer would only last one year in office.