Return to Transcripts main page

Cuomo Prime Time

Schwarzenegger Speaks Out On The Climate Crisis, Urges Activists To Target Pollution: "We Can Terminate It"; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Slapped With 12-Hour Twitter Ban For Vaccine Tweets; Neil DeGrasse Tyson On Bezos' Mission To Space. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired July 19, 2021 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:00]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Luke Prokop wrote on his Twitter feed that quote, "From a young age I have dreamed of being an NHL player, and I believe that living my authentic life will allow me to bring my whole self to the rink and improve my chances of fulfilling my dreams."

He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the League's Nashville Predators last year. He's been playing for a developmental league - league team in Calgary.

We wish him the best, and applaud his courage.

The news continues. Let's hand it over to Chris for "CUOMO PRIME TIME." Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: All right, Coop, appreciate you. Good luck where you are.

I am Chris Cuomo. Welcome to PRIME TIME.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is here tonight, a Republican former governor, who redefined politics, when he became governor in a recall election.

Then, Arnold was seen as maybe not conservative enough. Now, he is a holdout for the good old days of conservativism, about being about something else, as a Republican, than just Trump.

We'll talk to him about the state of play.

And on our watch, we have more proof of the GOP troubles, and they are troubles for all of us, because they are keeping anything from getting done, because opposition is enough of a position, in the party right now.

Trump's wingman in Congress, Kevin McCarthy, gifted the ability to put people on the January 6th committee, by the Democrats, and he just named his picks.

And, as expected, three out of the five, including Jim Jordan, are among those who voted to overturn the 2020 election results, in Arizona and Pennsylvania. So the "Big Lie," once again, gets a seat at the table, in fact, at least three of them. Meanwhile, Trump could be saving lives in MAGA-world this very moment, merely by stating some basic truths about the vaccination. Instead, "Big Lie," even about the vaccine, BS about the election, BS about vaccines, just to attack Biden, just to help himself.

Trump says "People are refusing to take the vaccine because they don't trust his Administration." They've taken the vaccine more under his administration than they did under yours, mostly because of timing.

Trump says "They don't trust the election results." I wonder why!

"And they certainly don't trust the Fake News," well there are plenty of reasons for that, and you're certainly one of them, "which is refusing to tell the Truth."

Look, I can't speak for anybody else. I will never, ever allow scrutiny, criticism, being given a hard time, even threats to being able to do the job, affect whether or not I ever get on bended knee, like way too many people have, in the media, and in politics, for Trump to like them.

He's lying to you about the election. They've never shown you any proof of any of these suggestions. And you need to know that.

The BS about this country, about the election that he lost, more than eight months ago, and now, to be playing with the vaccine, as these people, who are unstable, on the Right, are trying to stir the stew of lies that led to a needless summer surge of COVID cases, we are up 145 percent from two weeks ago.

And if you don't think part of that is because, once again, our deep denial made ourselves sick, this time about the vaccine, you're kidding yourself. Hospitalizations, deaths are up. But so are breakthrough cases.

And we need to talk about what that means. There are too many people, who think that if you get the vaccine, you can't get sick. It's not the truth. So what is the truth? We'll talk about it, all right?

And look, we know the reality of variants is going to be something we're going to have to deal with. And who knows that already? The stock market. Worst performance of the year off more than 700 points, why? The Delta variant. It's going to affect travel. It's going to affect the ability to go out. They're worried.

The ex-president, he doesn't care. He may even try to gloat, if that happens, because it's not on his watch. But today's plunge, it's in context now. Last time, it was this bad, Trump was in charge. In fact, the Dow tanked by more than 1,000 points eight times last year, mostly in March.

You know why? Because Wall Street knew that he was not up to the task of the pandemic. Wall Street knew he was lying. And they knew the reality, because they pay people to know the reality, so they can place their bets. And Trump knows that. But what he cares about right now is selling you the fakery that

denies the bloody and deadly attempted coup, he incited, on January 6th.

And today, the first of his minions, convicted of a felony, for storming the Capitol, learned his fate, eight months in prison, because he wasn't violent. Those who were, better hope they can cut plea deals. Trump is not worrying about that.

In the new tell-all "I Alone Can Fix It," Trump says "Many, many people have told me that was a loving crowd. It was too bad, it was too bad that they did that." He'll never take responsibility for anything that he doesn't think is good for him. Know that!

[21:05:00]

So, let's bring in former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It's good to see you, Gov.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: It's great to see you. Thank you for having me.

CUOMO: You're looking well. I'm following your workouts, and you, on the bike, in Instagram. You're an inspiration to people.

And now, it's crossing over once again, from fitness, in terms of fitness to lead. What do you think, as a Republican, seeing who McCarthy picked to be on that commission today?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I didn't expect that question out of the gate, to be honest with you.

Because I said to myself, the way I know Chris, and the pictures that I see out there, all pumped up, and greased up, and all that stuff, I say, "He's going to ask me how does he get a better six-pack? Well, how does he build up his guns better? How can he compete in the Arnold Classic Bodybuilding championships, in Columbus, Ohio," or something, like that--

CUOMO: 50-plus!

SCHWARZENEGGER: --I thought that you're going to ask me.

CUOMO: 50-plus category, Gov.

SCHWARZENEGGER: But never mind--

CUOMO: 50-plus category! Give me a little something.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well I don't want to really, to be honest with you, get involved in this political stuff, because I'm very good, in just keeping focused on the goals. And the goals are my environmental goals, to make this a cleaner world, and to make it a safer world, and to go and get rid of pollution? That's what I'm fighting. And, right now, the immediate danger is, of course, the Coronavirus. As you said so eloquently earlier, it is under rise. And I think it is very important that we communicate as effectively as possible. Because I think that the communication is the key to all of this, if it is a Coronavirus issue, or if it is the environmental issue.

I think by just calling people that are not getting vaccinated "Idiots," or "Losers," or "They're stuck in the past," or "They're not believing in the science," and all this stuff, I don't believe in that, because I think that's not the way we win them over.

I think what we have to do is we have to just figure out various different ways, and maybe study what other countries do, in order to get a higher rate of vaccinations, going over stuff.

And the same is also with the environmental issue. I think we should not attack the other side. I think that we should kind of figure out how to communicate better, to bring them in. That is what the key thing here is.

And this goes back to my bodybuilding days. As long as we always said "Bodybuilding," no one was interested. But as soon as we started talking about weight resistance training, and progressive weight resistance training, everyone said, "Oh! That sounds really interesting." And we started switching the communication.

And I think the same thing is with all of those subjects. It's communication, communication, communication.

CUOMO: All right, so let's talk about that. We have some time tonight. And I appreciate you giving us the time.

Let's start first of all with what we're getting wrong in the messaging level, when it comes to making ourselves healthier, with Coronavirus.

I hear you about saying "Don't denigrate people who are worried about taking it."

But what about the group where it's political for them, where they believe they are showing strength, by not taking the vaccine, because the vaccine is a function of some bad political game for them? What do you say to them?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, Chris, people today make everything political. And I think that we should not play along with that. I think we should step out of that.

Because, I tell you, when I at one time announced that I am going to eat less meat, because the doctor told me that it is healthier, to eat more kind of vegan type of, vegetarian type of, foods, they said, "Oh, you're becoming a girly man now, Arnold." I mean, "You're becoming more Democrat, a liberal," and stuff like that. So, I think that we just - we just have to not answer that.

And I think the key thing is that we just keep communicating the right way, and to just let the people know, that look, vaccination is good. I think it is very important that everyone gets vaccinated. I understand that you don't believe in it. But maybe there's something that we can convince you to believe in it.

And I think it doesn't have that much to do with the fact that we - they don't believe in the science. A lot of times it has to do also with the fact that they don't believe in government.

And there is a reason for that, because let's be honest, I mean, government has screwed up so many things in the past, that they feel like this is one of the many screw-ups. "I don't trust it." So, there's a distrust in government.

CUOMO: What do you say when people come forward and say to you, "Hey, what do you think about our democracy? Do you think that we can trust the elections anymore?" I mean, that has also suffered because of messaging. What do you say to people?

I mean, you've spoken about this. People should know your history by now. But coming from Austria, and your embrace of democracy, and the opportunities, and the ability to have free and fair elections, the ability to become part of them yourself, were all part of your dream, that make you a unique part of the - of the American experience.

Now, that's being questioned about whether people can trust. What do you say?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I made it very clear, since the election that I believe in the election, and I believe that everyone should go out and vote.

[21:10:00]

I think that it was a fair election. And President Biden is the president. And it's end of story. And that's the way the chips fell, whatever the reasons are for that, but that's the way the chips fell.

And I think that we should now support the president 100 percent, and do everything that we can, in order to make him successful, because if he is successful, the nation is successful, and we can move forward.

There's a lot of issues that need to be addressed right now, rather than worrying about the election, or any of the results, and going back and going over that whole thing over and over.

I think we should really look at how do we stay the number one country in the world, because I'm concerned that we're going to lose our competitive edge, if we keep fighting, doing the infighting, Blacks against Whites, and Whites against Asians, and Blacks against Asians, and Hispanics against this, and Democrats against Republicans, there's so much infighting going on.

I think what we should do is really concentrate on making this a fair country and a great country, fair country, meaning there is equality, equality in voting, equality in opportunities, so that no matter what race you're from, or what religion you're from, that you can be successful, in America.

I had the joy of, of really enjoying this great success, in America, because of America. And I want everyone to have that same chance.

CUOMO: Where do you think the country is now, in terms of your experience here, and seeing where we are, with the level of dialog, and level of commitment, to the national cause?

SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that it is very important that we stay focused, and not do this little kind of this arguments and attacking each other.

I think it is extremely important that we think of the big picture. I mean, there is world powers out there, China, for instance. They keep marching forward, according to their 100-year plan. They don't stop. They keep marching. And they've been online, and they have been successful, so far, because of that. And I think we have to do the same thing.

We have to create a vision together, Democrats and Republicans, and say "This is where we want to be with energy. This is where we want to be with immigration. This is where we want to be with getting rid of the debt, the national debt. This is where we want to be with growth of the economy, and with the environment," and all of those kind of issues.

We got to come together, and fight those battles together, because that's when we are the most successful.

CUOMO: So, let's do this. Let's take a break.

When we come back, let's talk about how you get people on the page, of wanting to listen, to anything about the environment, and then what is the messaging that former governor Schwarzenegger believes would improve on the current state of plays.

He's got ideas. He gave a big speech in - on the international stage, recently, about it. It was very well-received, about his ideas, about messaging. Message matters.

The governor will be with us, right after this. And I am going to get some tips. It's time to step up my game. Next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: JULY 1.

SCHWARZENEGGER: If pollution created by humans, then we can solve it. Humans can solve it. We can kill it. We can terminate it.

The coal is collapsing, as we speak. 12 years ago, 45 percent of U.S. electricity was generated by burning coal. Now it is below 24 percent, and falling fast. The only one that tried to bring coal back was Donald Trump. But he's also falling fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: I don't know about the last part.

But I'll tell you the - what? Schwarzenegger's speech is worth a listen. You can find it online. It's like 23 minutes, 25 minutes. And it was very interesting that he didn't change the issues. He changed the message.

And the former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is back with us now.

Just to correct the record, I am never greased up. You will see sweat. But I am never wearing any kind of oil or anything like that, when I work out. Governor suggested otherwise.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Understood.

CUOMO: Nothing but respect. Not true!

SCHWARZENEGGER: It's OK. You can deny it. It's fine. I mean, they - he only can talk about it privately, about what kind of oil he used and all that stuff. It was coconut oil, I was told. But anyway, let's forget about it.

CUOMO: It's not. It's not. I only fry with coconut oil.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Let's speak--

CUOMO: So, when we - when we look at the current challenge we have, COVID was just about taking a vaccine, just putting on a mask. And we were easily distracted from it, easily dissuaded that this is about science, and made ourselves sick.

If we couldn't do that, how do we take on the more subtle and more demanding challenges of climate change?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think that first of all, as a whole, I think that the community did really a great job with communicating.

Because unlike with environmental, this too, which is that they present so many problems, about the - about the fish dying, and about the sea level rising, and the polar bear is dying, and the icebergs are melting, and that people don't know anymore, "Well wait a minute. Is this - there's so many problems? Or is this one problem? How do we address it?" and all this stuff.

And I think that with the - with the vaccine, or I should say, with the Coronavirus, they said very simply "Wash your hands. Wear a mask. And do social distancing. And then get the vaccine, when it comes - it becomes available."

So, this was a simple message. If they will do that, in environmental movement, we will be much further along in this. The reason why I'm saying that is because people are confused.

They don't know what the hell they're talking about, when they say "Climate change." They don't know what they mean, when they say "Carbon neutral," or any of this kind of stuff. We know it. It's kind of environmentalists talking to environmentalists.

And what I'm saying is we should communicate differently. We have tried this for so long now, this kind of message of alarm, and "The world is going to come to an end. And this is an existential threat," and all the stuff, we have heard all of that.

[21:20:00]

But we have to have solutions rather than just threats, and scaring people. And this is exactly what we did, in California. In California, we solved the environmental issues, by communicating different. We didn't talk about climate change. We talked about pollution.

We made it very simple. I said, "Pollution kills people. Pollution will create health care problems. It will go and create asthma, amongst the children in the Central Valley," and stuff like that. And that scared people. And that's what tilted everything.

And even when the oil and coal companies tried to derail us, we were successful, because we communicated the right way. We didn't use the polar bears. We didn't use the rising sea levels, or any of this. We talked about pollution.

And this is what I'm trying to convince the environmentalists - environmentalists in the community that they should, after 40 years of miscommunicating, they should communicate the right way, and not to villainize the other side, and scare the other side, but to actually bring them in with good communication and with good dialog.

CUOMO: So, if we look at the numbers, we've seen that something has changed recently.

If you put up the Gallup poll line graph?

So, you see that the - since the 90s, the Democrats have been getting more concerned that global warming will pose a serious threat. And the most common thing you see in the media is "Global warming is not a future problem. It's a current problem."

You saw Republicans moving that way, but with a gap. But then since 20 - between 2008, and now, they've gone in the opposite direction. Why do you think that is?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think the key thing is, is that we have to communicate in the best way, and to show people that you can protect the environment, and the economy at the same time.

There is no place that is a more perfect example of that, in California. I mean, think about it in California. We have passed the strictest environmental laws in the nation. This was in 2006, with AB 32, and then the Renewable Standard, to go up to 50 percent, and all of those kind of things.

And everyone said that we're going to kill jobs, and the economy is going to go down, you're going to lose revenues, and the business is going to move out of the state, and all of this stuff.

Now move forward to now. Now, we have the fastest growing economy. We are number one in the nation. Not only number one in the nation, with a $3.1 trillion GDP, but we are the fifth largest economy in the world.

In the world, only China, Japan, the United States, and Germany is bigger than California. And this is with the strictest environmental laws. So, this is what people should look at. This is what the federal government should look at it.

And then - forget about the Green New Deal, and all of those kind of things. Study California. We are the perfect example. Think about it that we had just since last year, to this year, we had a growth rate, in the green energy sector, by 35 percent. This is the highest growth rate of jobs, anywhere in the world.

CUOMO: But--

SCHWARZENEGGER: So, this is record-breaking things. And we are number one in economy. We are number one with our GDP. We are number one with our employment, with the manufacturing jobs, with tourism, with agriculture.

With all of these things, we are number one with the strictest environmental laws. So, we are the perfect example that we can protect, and bring together the two Es, environment and economy, protect both at the same time.

CUOMO: But people will look - it's not a "But". But people look at the United States right now, and they see 80 large wildfires, in 13 states, largest one is in Oregon.

In California, you've had worse and worse fires, it seems each year. Right now, you have up around Lake Tahoe, they had to evacuate, and that they believe that the wildfires are being fueled in a way that we haven't seen before that they're larger and spreading faster.

So, isn't California, while you're finding some solutions, isn't it also proof of the problem?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well there is 13 states that have wildfires right now, all over, and over more 1 million acres have burned. You're absolutely correct. It is because of climate change, because our temperatures are rising, and all this kind of stuff.

But you can overwhelm people with this information, talk about climate change, we got to get down again to the reality, and this is what creates that. It's pollution. So, let's go and try to kill pollution. That is the key thing.

And that's what we have to communicate to the people, and also suggest to the people how they can become part of the movement. Because remember, government is not going to solve this problem alone.

Government has never solved any of those big problems alone. I mean, if you think about the Civil Rights movement, if you think about the Indian independence movement, the Suffrage movement, the Anti- Apartheid Movement, all of those kind of things were done by people, people power.

They make this mistake that they go to the COP 21, and 22, 23, wherever, and all those COP conferences, and they think that government is going to solve this problem. They can't solve this problem alone.

This is why I say, "For 40 years, you've been doing this now. Let's try something different. Please!" Try something different. We have done in California.

[21:25:00]

We just communicate better, and get everyone involved, in this movement, and tell people what they need to do, that they have to have a smart meter, that they should get as the next car, maybe an electric-powered car, or a hydrogen car, or a hybrid car, or something like that, or not to buy foreign goods.

Because every time you buy a foreign good, that you go, and you put it on the ship, and you have to ship it. And the 15 largest container ships in the world pollute more than all of the cars in the world.

So, people should know they want to be - if they want to be part of the solution, stop all of this stuff. Do the right thing. Everyone can participate, and everyone can be part of this movement. And this is what I'm trying to tell people. Make the people become part of the movement, and not rely totally on the government.

CUOMO: I'm not going to waste my opportunity having you with me. It's tough to get you on the show. You talk about trying new things. We got to talk a little bit about fitness.

50-plus fitness, my new thing is that I do full-body all the time now. I've been watching your workouts. What do you think of the idea of instead of splitting up the workouts, doing full-body now? I do legs pretty much every time though. I'm big on the legs.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think that it's a fantastic idea to do the whole body. I think that whatever you do, you're doing right, because you look really fantastic. I mean, I have to tell you. I saw some pictures of you, over this last year. And I think you're doing really great work.

And I just want to add something here, which is very important. When you talk about fitness, when I became the Chairman of the President's Council on physical fitness and sports, you know who was one of the first governors that invited me?

It was your father. He didn't care, when you talk about politics, he didn't care that I was a Republican. He didn't care that I was campaigning for Bush. He didn't care about any of that.

He invited me to come up, and to meet with his health care experts and with his education experts. And we had a wonderful press conference after that, and promoted health and fitness for youngsters, in New York State, and all over the country. So, that's the kind of a dad your dad was.

And I will always appreciate that, because then other Democratic governors invited me after that. This is how I was able to cover all 50 states, in promoting health and fitness. So, I just want you to know that he was a wonderful man that I really appreciated his great work.

CUOMO: He was - had tons of respect for your story, Governor, about where you came from, and what drove you, and how you used your opportunity here. He was a big fan. And much later in life, he got into weightlifting. He made fun of me for so many years, about it.

But I respect you, and I appreciate you.

No grease! Never had any grease! Wasn't coconut oil! If I'm using coconut oil, it's in my--

SCHWARZENEGGER: Man, did I--

CUOMO: --or it's in on the pan.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: You see? I'm going to hear about it. I'm going to--

SCHWARZENEGGER: OK.

CUOMO: I can talk to you about it.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHWARZENEGGER: I also liked that little posing trunks that you're wearing sometimes.

CUOMO: Well listen?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Secretly.

CUOMO: I do - I do like a tight-fitting garment. I think it helps. I think it accentuates the quads. And you need that at my age, because I'm dealing with--

SCHWARZENEGGER: Bravo! Bravo!

CUOMO: Governor, you are a - look, to me, as a fitness person, I love your example. And I appreciate you keeping us all in the game.

And you are right about messaging. And the proof is we haven't gotten anywhere near where we need to be as a people. So, the messaging is obviously not getting it done.

Governor Schwarzenegger, people can go to the "Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative." They can watch the speech that you gave about this. And you'll be talking about it a lot. And you're always welcome here. Be well.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you, Chris. Bye-bye.

CUOMO: All right. So, it's good to have him. Obviously rare opportunity.

Stuff about the oils is not true! I'm just telling you right now. I may look like I have it on, but it's just sweat, all right? It's a matter of fact. Let's just put that to the side.

Republicans, like Governor Schwarzenegger, they are speaking up. But it's hard, because misinformation is winning, and not just when it comes to the environment, but on the front lines of nuttiness.

Right now, that cuts straight through Arizona. Trump is now demanding web routers to be handed over. He doesn't know what he's talking about. But I'm telling you, it's going to resonate.

Let's bring in someone, who talks to Trump voters every day. I guarantee you he's going to start hearing about routers. Now, what do we see about the state of play? And what do we see about how Right and Left can get to a place of being reasonable?

Broomhead, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Simply stated, our problem is, is that we have become addicted to information that makes us worse. Think about it. Think about the Fraudit in Arizona, OK?

The Cyber Ninja, who has this outfit, has no business doing anything like this. They never had before. And the guy at the head of it is a known malefactor, when it comes to conspiracies.

They throw out a number. "74,000 questionable mail-in ballots!" out into the ether. What about that number? It's garbage. The number alone though, is enough to get Trumpers riled up.

So, what's the truth? Where did 74,000 come from? It comes from comparing two lists, one for ballots requested, and one for ballots submitted. So what's the discrepancy? Where's the 74,000?

74,000 people voted early over a weekend. But their ballot submissions were not updated in the count, until Monday, when the clerks returned to work. "Is that really it? Is that all of it?" Yes. "Who says so?" The Republicans in Arizona say so, your people, if you're in that party.

So, that's the truth. But it doesn't matter, why, because the misinformation is intoxicating, because it fuels what people want to be true. There's a problem. And that's why they need these people to fix it. That's just not reasonable.

Mike Broomhead is a conservative, and the host of "The Mike Broomhead Show" on KTAR Radio, big in Arizona. He wanted to see a count because he thought the count would fix it. It's made it worse. He's against the count. He's getting his ass kicked, as a result, by his own people.

Over his shoulder is his brother, who died serving our country in Iraq. That's why the picture is there.

Mike, once again, thank you for being with us.

"74,000, brother," they're filling up your airwaves. "74,000! Explain that, Broomhead. Stop giving these Lefties currency. Own the truth, brother!"

[21:35:00]

MIKE BROOMHEAD, HOST, THE MIKE BROOMHEAD SHOW ON KTAR RADIO: Yes, you have - you hit the nail, on the head. The count here was about people that voted early. And that was the - that's where that discrepancy came in.

There are a lot of things that have been very - fairly easily explained. And people are not listening to the explanation. So, that's been kind of the problem. When you throw out numbers, and then people give you a reasonable explanation, you got to take the explanation. If you don't, then I think you're part of the problem.

CUOMO: "No. I don't trust you, Broomhead. Because you've been bought off. Must be something. Somebody will give me some notion about it. But you've changed. Because the Cyber Ninja guy, he's us. And he went in there. He's a

good American. And he was concerned about this. And 74,000, it's a huge number. And that's not all it was. That's not all it was. I heard that's not all it is."

What do you do with that?

BROOMHEAD: Well, again, you must be reading my Twitter account.

What you have to do is consider this - is I understand the passion, and I don't want to buy into the fight. So, instead of arguing with people, and fighting, I try to be reasonable and tell them, "Here's where the numbers came from."

If there's anomalies, if there were things done wrong, I will say it on my show. We haven't seen a report. We haven't seen any of that. But I've talked to people at the county.

And when they talk about the numbers that have been given, they have an explanation for the numbers that have been given. So, you have to take the explanation, or you're just a part of wanting to scream and yell, and you're not a part of the solution.

CUOMO: But Trump says "Why won't the RINO Maricopa County Board of Supervisors give us the routers?"

"We need the routers, brother. That's the secret. The routers, just like we needed the piece of equipment for Hillary Clinton, if we could have just gotten the server. Now we need the router. Just like Biden's laptop. It's another piece of equipment that holds all the secrets, Broomhead."

BROOMHEAD: Well, let me - let me go a little bit Republican on you with that analogy. First of all, nobody in Maricopa County has destroyed the routers. They still exist. But I will agree with you on this. And here's the router conversation.

The routers were part of what the State Senate wanted. Our Sheriff, who was a Democrat, and our county attorney, who was a Republican, both of their offices' IT people have said, "If the routers are given over to people, they could subject the county and all of the county's business could be subjected to hackers."

So, what the county did was they sent the routers out to verify that they were never connected to those machines, so the servers for the voting machines were never connected to the internet. They verified that already, four of the people with the audit, but they're still screaming about the servers.

It's about internet safety, coming from both a Republican and a Democrat. Again, when you hear the explanation, it's reasonable, but you have to be willing to listen to the explanation.

CUOMO: Left and Right has to become reasonable. Mike Broomhead, you're always welcome on this show. There'll be places where you have problems with things. I welcome that. You're right, Hillary Clinton, her people destroying those things, that was a problem for her that never went away, because it substantiated the concern. But that's in the rearview mirror. And now here we are. And once again, it's being used to make people angry.

You're here to have the conversation, and you are welcome. Be well, my brother.

BROOMHEAD: Thank you, man. Thanks for having me again.

CUOMO: All right, be well.

All right, so hear me on this. Nearly all the problems that we're having now, with COVID, and yes, yes, I'm spooked, OK? I know. I was good. Let's get back to life. I wanted to be back to life.

I did not anticipate us getting to herd immunity with the vaccine. I didn't. I didn't think it was going to happen.

I didn't think though the variant would be picking up the way it is, this fast, during the summer. I expected this in the fall. Why? That's what I was told by the big brains, OK? But now the unvaccinated are making themselves sick, and they're making other people sick.

The breakthrough cases, how can people get sick when they get the vaccine? How are Olympians getting it? How are all these Democrats from Texas, getting it? We are being hit over the head right now by not understanding what it means to get vaccinated.

Let's do this. Let's take a breath. Let's bring in someone, who knows, who is at a major university in Tennessee, where they're getting crushed on the vaccine. And let's talk about what the vaccine means, and doesn't, and where we're headed, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: All right, we have news on our watch that we have to deal with, and it's actually the perfect time, because we have somebody to come in.

Let's bring in Dr. William Schaffner. He is professor of the Division of Infectious Diseases, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which is in Tennessee, which is having a real problem with getting people vaccinated right now.

Doc, we just got a piece of information that congressmember, Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom I refer to on this show, as the QAnon kook, because I give those people no respect, I don't care if she's in Congress, she was just suspended from Twitter for 12 hours, for saying - Vaughn, my Senior Producer, give - what did she say?

For saying the virus is non-dangerous for non-obese people, and people under 65. Twitter - and called it human experimentation, to use the vaccine on anybody else.

Twitter suspended her for 12 hours. You're not in the business of judging Twitter. Judge the information that she put out.

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Chris, it's awful information.

I'd like to bring her to our intensive care unit, and show you plenty of people, who are younger than age 65 and unvaccinated. Those are the people, who are being admitted today.

It's rare, very rare, to have a vaccinated person require admission to the hospital today, for a COVID-related illness. It's all unvaccinated people.

And the vaccine works and it's safe. And it's just a matter of time before the FDA gives it its full approval. And we can take that issue off the table. It's not experimental.

CUOMO: But--

[21:45:00]

SCHAFFNER: We've given it to 186 million people in the United States.

CUOMO: Well, part of that is it hasn't gotten FDA approval.

SCHAFFNER: Yes.

CUOMO: And that's a little bit of semantics from the scientific perspective. But it matters. And I don't know what the Biden administration isn't pushing it faster.

But here's why you're losing Schaffner. You're losing. You're losing the messaging battle. And here's why.

You have the McConnell's - McConnell says, "Hey, I'm pro-vaccine," but he's quiet about people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the senators on own side, like Cruz and Paul.

Marco Rubio, he got the vaccine. He is pro-vaccine. But he's quiet. I was actually wrong the other night. I threw him in the group of Paul and Cruz, who are trying to make some hay over beating the vaccine. He doesn't do that. That was unfair. But he doesn't say anything out about it either, which is a part of

the problem, because, you are losing Schaffner, because they say "Look at the breakthrough cases. Look, I thought the vaccine worked. Look at the breakthrough cases. Look at the Olympians. Look at the Democrats from Texas, they're all getting sick. This vaccine doesn't work."

What do you say?

SCHAFFNER: Well, I say first of all, these people are not getting sick. They're having infections, for sure.

The vaccine is keeping people out of the hospital. That's what it was designed to do. It's also reducing the risk - reducing the risk of being infected. And we're finding some people who yes, even after they've been vaccinated, can still get an infection. But that's not getting sick.

The vaccines were designed to keep us out of the hospital. The vaccines aren't perfect. But we did get a bonus that they're driving down infection rates also, but they're not perfect.

And we're going to find some people, although they're vaccinated, still acquire the virus, but they don't get symptoms. Now, that's still a success, in my book, if you don't get into the hospital, and have to be admitted to the intensive care unit.

CUOMO: The one change that I know we'll agree on, the CDC needs to start tracking the breakthrough infections, even if they don't lead to hospitalizations.

Because you're going to start seeing apples-to-apples, people who are vaccinated, and how they deal with the variant, and people who are unvaccinated, and how they deal with the variant. And that's going to be very important data.

Dr. Schaffner?

SCHAFFNER: Yes.

CUOMO: Thank you for setting us straight. Appreciate you. Stay well.

SCHAFFNER: Sure, you too.

CUOMO: All right, he conquered cyberspace. Jeff Bezos did. Now he's trying to reach the outer limits of space itself.

Is he? I don't buy it. I don't even get all the fanfare. So, I had to find somebody who would come in and join the hate parade with me. Neil deGrasse Tyson. You don't get any smarter. Look at his background. Guy's all about space.

So, let's talk about what the hype is here, and what is the use of what we're seeing happen, with this kind of pay-for-play, in space, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Jeff Bezos is going to ride a rocket for 11 minutes, more than 2,000 miles an hour, almost getting to space.

And I know we keep saying "Space," but he's not really going to space. Doesn't that matter? "Oh, it's semantics." Not really! You're going to space in that priapic rocket.

He's scheduled, to take-off, tomorrow morning, on a rocket designed by the company he founded, in 2000, Blue Origin. His trip is going to come nine days after Branson's flight, which wasn't really that, you know, I mean, you know, it's cool. But is this space travel, you know?

We've got one of the biggest brains to help us on this, Neil deGrasse Tyson. First of all, his newest book is "Cosmic Queries."

And I'm just happy to see you, brother. I'm always grateful you're in my life. I'm grateful for what you're doing to us. You look like you have - circling the cosmos right now with what you got behind us.

So, what's your take on this?

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST, DIRECTOR, HAYDEN PLANETARIUM: So, a couple things.

As an astrophysicist, I carry a different personal definition of space than most people, who would talk about going into space. So - but I don't want to sort of - that to spoil the celebration, all right?

So, Branson, and Bezos, the billionaires on the block, they're trying to open up a new marketplace, space tourism. Nobody was doing that before.

So yes, there is some claims of going into space. And there are rules. There are elevation rules about that, that Bezos is satisfying.

It's the 62-mile limit, a 100 kilometers. It comes out even in kilometers. And that's the height, above which there's not enough atmosphere between you, and the stars, for it to glow in daylight. So, in other words--

CUOMO: But he's not going into orbit.

DEGRASSE TYSON: --in a blue sky, and then the blue sky disappears, and you see stars. So, that's an--

CUOMO: Right. But he's not going into orbit.

DEGRASSE TYSON: --operational definition of space.

CUOMO: But he's not going into orbit.

DEGRASSE TYSON: No, correct. So, we have an operational definition of space. And the claim is, if you get that high up, you get your wings, your astronaut wings, not that wings work in the vacuum of space, however, but we'll let that one go.

Next level would be going into orbit. And when you're in orbit, you're in continuous free-fall towards Earth, so that everyone in orbit, at all times, is weightless, whereas, on these suborbital flights, they are only weightless, for the time, from when they shut off their rockets, until they fall far enough for the atmosphere, to start slowing them down. Then, they begin to feel sort of G-forces of that. And it's only a couple of minutes. So, these are levels of space travel, yes.

And a point I made on Twitter, in the last couple of days, is if you take a schoolroom globe, of the Earth, and ask "Well, where is Mars?" It's a mile away.

Where's the moon? 30 feet away.

Where's the International Space Station? It's orbiting three-eighths of an inch above the surface.

[21:55:00]

Where is Bezos and Branson? They are just less than an eighth of an inch above the surface of that globe. So, what matters here is no one is doing what they're doing.

So, I don't have a problem with it, provided the future of that exercise is that space tourism gets democratized. It gets cheap enough, so you could save up a few vacation dollars, and then go up yourself. Then, there would be a whole new marketplace.

CUOMO: I think you're right. I think it's all about where it leads us. And they have the money. And pioneers often do.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, I got to tell you, you're pretty spooky, coming through with this background today, because part of you kept disappearing. It was just your hands. It was just your head. But look, I'll take any part of you I can get.

Thank you for being what you always are. You're just so smart, and you make it relatable, and you help us understand what actually matters in this situation.

Be well, brother, I'll see you soon, I hope.

DEGRASSE TYSON: Good to see you again. Thanks, Chris. CUOMO: Neil deGrasse Tyson, he's smart!

All right, we're going to be right back with the handoff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)