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The Lead with Jake Tapper

COVID Spring Break; Two Men Charged With Assaulting Capitol Hill Officer; Will Andrew Cuomo Resign?; Generation of Syrian Children Scarred by 10 Years of War. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired March 15, 2021 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:31:28]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our politics lead today: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says that the scandals surrounding Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are -- quote -- "making it harder to get things done" -- unquote.

The vast majority of New York's congressional leadership now calling for Cuomo to resign. But, according to a new Siena College poll, 50 percent of New Yorkers do not think Governor Cuomo should step down; 35 percent say he should resign immediately.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins me now.

And, Brynn, Governor Cuomo now has yet another scandal to deal with involving his vaccine czar?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake.

This reporting coming from "The Washington Post" is concerning Larry Schwartz, as you mentioned, is the state's vaccine czar. He's also a longtime friend and adviser of Governor Cuomo. And this reporting is that Schwartz made phone calls to a number of county executives across the state sort of getting a feel for how their loyalties lie with the governor amid all these allegations and investigations that he's currently facing.

And in those same conversations, the reporting is, he was also talking about vaccine distribution. Now, it bothered one county executive so much that he actually filed a notice of impending ethics complaint with the New York attorney general's office.

Now, CNN is still working to fully report this, but we did get a statement from Governor Cuomo's office, his legal counsel, which, in part -- I will read it to you -- it says: "Any suggestion that Larry acted in any way unethically or in any way other than in the best interests of the New Yorkers that he selflessly serves is patently false."

And we also know that Schwartz released a statement to "The New York Times" saying that what's being reported is just simply not true. But, yes, as you mentioned, Jake, another controversy in front of the governor. TAPPER: Yes, it sure looks shady.

Meanwhile, you have some new reporting about Charlotte Bennett, who was one of Cuomo's accusers, meeting with the state investigators. What can you tell us?

GINGRAS: Yes, this tells us, Jake, that this New York attorney general's investigation into all these sexual harassment allegations, well, it just took a big step forward. That meeting happened over Zoom today, as we understand from Charlotte Bennett's attorney, Debra Katz.

It lasted for four hours, again, over Zoom. And she also provided more than 120 pieces of documents to investigators to corroborate what she says are sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo.

And I just want to mention quickly: "She also says that she provided detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment the governor fostered in both his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention."

So, it was very interesting details in the -- part of the investigation, but, like I said, it's a big step forward for that particular investigation -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Brynn Gingras staying on top of this investigation, as always.

Thanks so much.

Coming up, in the national lead, two men are now in custody charged with assaulting Brian Sicknick. That's the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after the January 6 riots. Federal authorities say images from police body cameras show the two men spray a toxic chemical aimed at three officers, including Officer Sicknick.

I want to bring in CNN's Jessica Schneider.

And, Jessica, there are other images, we're told, that help investigators build their case against these two.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right.

So, this criminal complaint Jake, it goes step by step. And it uses surveillance video clips and body camera snapshots to really lay out how these two men allegedly attacked these officers. Notably though, they are not charged with killing Officer Sicknick.

At this point, they're charged with working together to plan and assault at least three officers who were guarding the Capitol grounds that day. That includes Officer Sicknick, who, of course, died one day later.

[16:35:03]

So, investigators say one body camera photo, it shows 32-year-old Julian Khater -- he's in a Trump hat there -- 39-year-old George Tanios in the red hat. They say they're beginning to talk there about chemical spray. And Khater takes the can. It's in his right hand.

Then there's body camera footage of this shot, Khater in the top right corner. Investigators say it shows him holding a canister and then spraying it in the direction of several police officers, including Officer Sicknick. So, Sicknick and two others are struck with the chemicals. They retreat from the line.

And you can see them bent over there. They're holding their hands over their faces. So the criminal complaint reveals that all of these officers, they were temporarily blinded. One officer even had scabbing under her eye that lasted for weeks.

Of course, we know Sicknick was also injured. We know that he later collapsed in his office. He was admitted to the hospital. And he died a day later, but still no official cause of death.

And late-breaking this afternoon, we actually just got this mug shot of George Tanios. Right now, both men are in cost custody. And, Jake, they did have their court appearances today. They will be held until a future court date.

TAPPER: And we still don't have a cause of death for Officer Sicknick.

And, as you note, these two men have not been charged with Sicknick's murder. Could that change?

SCHNEIDER: It could change, because, of course, early on, we were told that this was a federal murder probe. But that could be part of this continued investigation.

The charges right now against these two men are for assault and conspiracy, among others. But, Jake, of course, it's always possible that additional charges could be added, especially if it's determined definitively how Officer Sicknick died, something we don't yet know -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Jessica Schneider, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

This is not from before the pandemic. The biggest trend for spring break may be going maskless on the beach and in the clubs. What might that mean for the pandemic and for the variants now spreading in the U.S.?

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: We're back with our health lead now.

The U.S. average of daily new coronavirus cases is down 10 percent from this time last week. The number of deaths from the virus is down 20 percent just in the last week, and one in five Americans is now at least partially vaccinated against the virus. That's the good news.

The bad news, there are also new concerns over spring break, as CNN's Nick Watt reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a split-screen of our current situation, on the right, a record high 3.2 million vaccine doses in arms reported Saturday, but on the left, that's Miami Beach on Saturday.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We have seen footage of people enjoying spring break festivities maskless. This is all in the context of still 50,000 cases per day.

WATT: Back to the good news, more than one in five Americans have now received at least one shot.

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER FOR COVID RESPONSE: We are accelerating vaccinations in anticipation of meeting the president's goal of being ready to be -- open up all vaccinations to all adults by May 1, at the latest.

WATT: Today, in every single state and D.C., teachers can get vaccinated. Meantime, a new study suggests that if kids and teachers all mask up, then whether it's six feet or just three of social distance, it doesn't make any difference.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: The CDC is very well aware that data are accumulating making it look more like three feet are OK under certain circumstances.

WATT: Which would make it much easier for more schools to reopen. Expect an update to the CDC's guidelines soon.

FAUCI: It won't be very long, I promise you.

WATT: Meanwhile, college kids at Duke now in a seven-day lockdown after 180 confirmed cases last week driven by parties, say college officials, who warn, if this feels serious, it's because it is.

These past four days, the busiest air travel since this pandemic began. Wednesday is:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saint Patrick's Day!

WATT: And, of course, there's this:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Spring break!

WATT: But with more contagious variants circulating, sobering tales from Europe for those South Florida throngs. Take Italy, where case counts are climbing once more, and fast. Why Europe? WALENSKY: They simply took their eye off the ball. I'm pleading with

you for the sake of our nation's health. These should be warning signs for all of us.

WATT: Meanwhile, today, Italy, France, Spain and Germany temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine while authorities investigate some safety concerns.

AstraZeneca says there is no evidence their vaccine might cause blood clots. It's not yet authorized here in the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, one thing driving that surge in the -- in Europe right now is that new variant first discovered in the U.K., more contagious, more deadly.

And, today, the CDC confirmed they say that variant will be dominant here in the U.S. within the next few weeks -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Nick, thanks so much.

Coming up: They are the innocent -- a CNN exclusive, inside Syria, talking to the children who know nothing but war.

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TAPPER: In our world lead today, ten years of the Syrian civil war which is still raging on, ten years. In March 2011, Syrians tried to follow other Arab nations and call out their oppressive government, prompting Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad to try to put the protests down, and now ten years later, more than 400,000 Syrians have been killed, many at the orders of Assad.

CNN's Arwa Damon returned to Syria and she talked to some of the youngest victims in this war in a CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do I do? Use a bucket of water, a blanket? I tried using my hands like this to put out the flames, I couldn't.

Amar's son's body was a ball of fire. Sultan was playing on his bike when a rocket blew up fuel canisters nearby.

SULTAN, BURNED IN AIRSTRIKE (translated): My belly was on fire. My belly looked like all the flesh came out of it. My belly and my back.

DAMON: An ambulance brought sultan to Turkey. He and his mother have been there ever since.

This is the last photo of Sultan before the air strike.

[16:50:01]

No, you are not ugly. You are beautiful, Amar constantly tells him.

Sultan has an utterly disarming smile with eyes that fluctuate between sparkling like a 10-year-old should and darkened as his past sets in.

He has these nightmares where he's on fire, his whole body is on fire, even his eyes are on fire and he wakes up screaming, screaming for his mother to -- to put out the flames.

Sultan is as old as Syria's war itself, a life that carries the emotional and physical scars of a nation. When he was 5, his baby brother was killed in a bombing.

AMAR, MOTHER OF WOUNDED CHILD (translated): The neighbors removed the glass. They pulled him out, his neck was slit.

DAMON: When Sultan was 6, his father died in a strike on the market.

AMAR: I saw so many children die in front of me. I couldn't save even one.

DAMON: This is where sultan was born into unimaginable violence where he lost so much, a gray dusty town of smothered childhood laughter stolen by war.

Renad's family did not know that mines were daisy chained along the wall of their home. Her grandfather shows us where the first one went off.

She was swinging off the door with her siblings and all of a sudden there was a huge explosion from a mine right there.

She lost her left leg under the knee.

She has a prosthetic now.

She says her father disappeared a decade ago at the start of Syria's war.

She tells us he was blindfolded, and she was thrown to the ground in a forest.

RENAD, WOUNDED IN BOMBING (translated): There were people passing by who heard me crying.

DAMON: It's the longest sentence she speaks. Mostly she gives up-word answers or falls silent. Her grandfather says he feels like she's just gone blank.

She doesn't dream of a life without war because she can't even imagine it.

It's been over a year since we were last here covering Russia and the Syrian regime's most intense assault on what remained a rebel-held territory. There's been a cease-fire in place since then that has been relatively speaking holding.

COVID-19 peaked here late last year and now, ICU beds are mostly empty.

It's all sandbagged underneath here just in case there's more bombing that resumes.

This is a pediatric hospital, one of the few that remains intact.

Said (ph) is two and a half months old and severely underweight.

They have seen a threefold increase in malnutrition cases in this clinic alone for a number of reasons.

Years of bombings and displacement leading to greater poverty and then further fueled by COVID-19 border closures and humanitarian aid slowing down.

We pass ramshackle camps. With each bombardment, more of them blotted the countryside, a decade, for so many, a lifetime of compounded trauma. The past permeates everything. For most, there's not a month, a week that goes by that isn't the anniversary of the death of someone they loved.

Perhaps all that is left to save are the shreds of innocence of a scarred generation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Just absolutely heartbreaking.

Arwa joins me now live from Syria.

First of all, thank you for filing that -- that moving and brave report. So, sadly, war might be normal to these children. They have known nothing but, but are their parents do, they have any hope that the violence will end at some point?

DAMON: They do, Jake in the sense that one really can't live without hope but then again hope is such a cruel beast, and Syrians have seen that hope crushed over and over again.

The adults here, those children's parents, they can't even begin to come to terms with what it is that they have been through. The kids most certainly can't even begin to wrap their minds around it or cope with this tornado of emotions that they are going through and one of the many aspects that has been very painful for the population that we've been speaking to has been what they feel like is this ongoing indifference and apathy.

You know, a few years ago when we would come in, we would get swarmed by people saying things like why doesn't the world care? Aren't they watching what's happening? How can they allow this to happen?

They don't even bother asking us those questions anymore because even though they have had a voice for the last decade, their voice hasn't mattered.

[16:55:05]

The numbers of dead and displaced haven't mattered because, Jake, when it comes to the lives of the innocent in this country, they are negated because bigger geopolitical games are at play.

TAPPER: All right. Arwa Damon, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

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TAPPER: Lastly from us today, 535,000 people have died from coronavirus in the U.S. and today, we'd like to take the time to remember just one. Her name was Ruth Sanders.

She was an award-winning high school science teacher in Georgia. She taught for almost 40 years. She was affectionately known as mother physics. She loved telling people about the time she ran into Albert Einstein in a Princeton lab. She died just two weeks shy of her 90th birthday.

May her memory be a blessing.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

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