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Don Lemon Tonight
Governor Greg Abbott's Blame Game; Texans Disappointed With Local Leaders; GOP Pointing Fingers To Democrats; ERCOT Wants To Restore Power ASAP In Texas; Power Outages Disrupt Vaccinations; Biden Says Republicans Are Making A Big Mistake; U.S. Bracing For Another Storm. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired February 17, 2021 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST (on camera): Help the Red Cross, watch, wait. But no, it's about politics. This is what's going to happen with the Green New Deal. Where did that come from? You know it's not accurate, but why even make the point in this context? It's all related. We are addicted to the animus. And it's not going to be easy to stop.
"CNN TONIGHT," the big show with the big star, D. Lemon now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: You are absolutely right. I was -- I was speaking to a friend in Texas just moments ago before I came on and she said that she and her kids, her dog, her husband, they're hunkered down by the fireplace. They haven't had any water. They don't have -- no running water, no electricity.
They're charging their cell phones, they have to go out in their car, start the car, warm up a little bit, charge the cell phones, and then go back in the house. And the first thing I said, well, what's going on? Isn't it the wind turbines? She goes, there's not -- it's not the wind turbines.
She said, and again, Texas resident in Houston, it's Greg Abbott. They failed. That's what she said. And she gets so frustrated when she hears from conservatives saying, well, it's the wind turbines and green energy. And it's not that at all. We know what it is, coal, natural gas. That stuff froze. And it froze because they didn't take care of it. They didn't winterize it. It was up to the states.
And so, them -- him trying to cast the blame on the Green New Deal and the squad and all that stuff, it's just absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing.
CUOMO: Even in a crisis.
LEMON: Can you believe it?
CUOMO: I'm telling you. Today -- yesterday was Fat Tuesday. Today is Ash Wednesday. You know, hence this. The reason it's so good, I did it. The priest wanted to put it on our head because they don't want to touch anybody right now --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- or you could get your own little packet and do it yourself.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Well, you know, I'm not Catholic but I went to Catholic school. My fiance is a Catholic. So, I usually go, it's first I have it. But I used to get it and I come away with the big smudge and it just looks like someone knocked me on the head.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: I was at the church right around from your house. You know what? And I got hit on the way out. On the way out this couple stopped me, older couple --
LEMON: They got you.
CUOMO: -- and they said, you know, what is it with you? Why did you hate him like this? Why do you hate him?
LEMON: Gees.
CUOMO: You know, you're a white guy and why is he treated like all white people are terrible? And I'll tell you I was worried about making the show. I said you know what? I can't walk away from this conversation.
These people live in my community. And I just had to explain to them, it took maybe five minutes, where they realized that's not who I am, that's not what we're about, that's not what we're doing. And they've never even heard anything but that about me. And that's what it all is.
Abbott is playing to advantage because that's what is working there. People are attacking old Asian-Americans -- first of all, where is just your sense of pride in yourself?
LEMON: Decency.
CUOMO: As a young guy you run up and push an old guy? You think that that gives you hype, that makes you something? I mean, what a crisis in confidence in who we are that we are relying on this kind of enmity. I just -- I've never seen this here in our lifetime. This is '60s stuff.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Fifties, '60s. The extension of Jim Crow. And here it is again.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Here it is again.
LEMON: Well, you know, I thought the insurrection on January 6th would change things. It did for some people. I think it did for a lot of people who are in law enforcement. Because I have a lot of police officers saying hey, you know, the stuff that I've heard about you from conservative media, I thought that you hated cops.
You handled that story so beautifully and our men and women in uniform. I said no, I don't hate police officers. I just have to report the news. I don't hate Donald Trump. I just have to report the news. I don't hate Republicans. I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I don't hate either party. But I have to report on the lies.
And right now, there is one party who is responsible for the bulk of the lies in this country. There's politics as usual, and we're used to that, Democrats and Republicans fighting ideology. But there is something very toxic going on, on the right. And I'm not exactly sure how you correct that.
And I will say it over and over until people hear it and until it's fixed. That you cannot expect -- if you want Democrats to meet you in the middle or come to your side, then you must be living in reality. And if you want me or anyone who's any minority or any part -- anyone who is part of an underserved community in this society, if you want them to meet you somewhere in the middle or whatever it is, then you have got to embrace that group.
And you can't say, well, these people shouldn't exist, these people shouldn't have the same rights as I do, these people should not be able to get married. These people should not be able to get a cake. These people should not be able to do this, these people should not be able to kneel, when we accept the people who beat up cops with blue lives matter flags and American flags.
CUOMO: Dave Chappelle --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: We can't do that.
CUOMO: Dave Chappelle --
LEMON: You can't do that.
CUOMO: -- said very succinctly the other day, did you see January 6th? Did you see that mob --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- that told Colin Kaepernick he couldn't take a knee before a football game, attack the capitol? And believe that they were right to do so.
[22:05:03]
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: That is the sense of mindless division. And it is spreading. But here's the opportunity. Most people are not this way --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- and most people think the rest of what's going on is crazy and they want to be heard.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: There's another opportunity here. Those people in Texas right now who are struggling, who's hearing them? Who's helping them? Who's speaking to them? That's the mission of leadership. Let's see who sees that --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: And that's our mission. And that's what I'm going to do. But listen, most people are not this way. I think you have a right -- if you guys could fix my prompter, please, I would appreciate it because my eyes are -- they still have yours -- you have young eyes. You can read that small type. I can't.
CUOMO: I did before I saw your suit. Now my eyes -- I don't know what's going on.
LEMON: So, but I think most people, yes, maybe most people aren't that way. But even if you don't believe you are that way, even if you don't believe you're that way, you still should examine yourself because you've lived in America. And America has taught you certain things and much of it is not true, whether you want to believe it or not.
And there are certain people in this society who have an ease that other people don't. And it is time for you to accept other people and to hear other voices and not just to live in your bubble. You said you were in my neighborhood, in my community.
CUOMO: I was.
LEMON: There aren't a whole lot of folks who look like me in my community in certain parts.
CUOMO: Used to be.
LEMON: They used to be. But what happened?
CUOMO: Gentrification.
LEMON: There you go. Same thing in Harlem.
CUOMO: Moved out.
LEMON: When I moved to Harlem years ago, there were -- I mean, gentrification was starting. But now many of my neighbors if not most of them are Caucasian. And the black folks and the Hispanic folks can't afford to live there anymore. So, you know.
CUOMO: But you can reach out to people. They don't have to be living on your block.
LEMON: Amen.
CUOMO: I mean, especially for me to get yelled at with somebody with this on their head, you know, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, what unites, everybody who has this on your head, you are flawed, we are weak --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- and we are desperate for salvation and one man did that for us through grace. Forgiveness we didn't deserve. We should practice it.
LEMON: So, for Lent, I would say for people even if you're not Catholic, if you want to give up something, give up thinking that you know everything. And if you want to -- I think people should start instead of giving up something they should take on something. They should add --
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: -- understanding. Add listening.
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: Add shutting your mouth.
CUOMO: Lent isn't diet time. Do more for others.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: So, it's not -- do more. Try doing something different. So instead of saying, well, listen, I am -- I believe everything that Trump says I'm going to do, maybe for the 40 days you -- you suspend your belief and think like, well, maybe there's something else.
CUOMO: Be open.
LEMON: Maybe I'm believing wrong. Be open.
CUOMO: I love it.
LEMON: I've got to go.
CUOMO: I love you, D. Lemon.
LEMON: I sign of the cross for you.
CUOMO: Thank you very much for the blessing.
LEMON (on camera): Love you too, brother. I'll see you later. So, all that said, Texas, man.
This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.
Yes, we're in a crisis right now and it is our breaking news. That crisis is in Texas and the crisis is deepening, millions and millions of people without power right now. They have no heat. They have no water. They're facing another freezing cold night of record low temperature. It's dire. It's serious, the situation there.
Many going without power since Sunday. Imagine that. In some cases, they're burning household items just to stay warm. Some people I'm told taking their wooden fences in their yards and throwing them on the backyard barbecue grill to stay warm or in the fireplace in their homes. Just to stay warm.
Some have even gotten sick. They've even died from carbon monoxide poisoning. People are being forced into community warming centers if they're available, wherever they're available. And there is no good timeline when those power systems will be back on line. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Every source of power the state of Texas has access to has been compromised because of the over-cold temperature or because of equipment failures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): So. Governor Greg Abbott warning Texans tonight that temperatures won't rise above freezing across much of Texas until Saturday at the earliest. Water pipes freezing in many homes, are bursting, sending water cascading into already frozen homes, only adding to that misery. Disruptions in water service across Texas are affecting nearly 12 million people.
[22:10:00]
Texans are suffering right now. And they're suffering due to a massive failure of the power grid that was not designed to withstand this kind of weather at all. And there appears to be plenty of blame to go around. We're going to have more on that in a moment. So, make sure you stay tuned for that.
But people are freezing because there are problems across the board. The governor admitted that today. But not before going on Sean Hannity last night and saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBOTT: This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America. Our wind and our solar they got shut down and they were collectively more than 10 percent of our power grid.
And that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power in a statewide basis. It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas as well as other states, to make sure that we were -- we'll be able to heat our homes in the wintertime and cool our homes in the summertime.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON (on camera): OK, so he told on himself right there. Ten percent.
Come on, man. Ten percent. Usually, they use the wind turbines just so you know is when there is a crush on the power system. Usually in summer when there are heat waves.
So, he's making stuff up as he goes along to try to shift the blame and also capitalizing on division in this country. So, what is failing right now? What is failing right now is the majority of the power source. And that power comes from what? Oil and gas. Weatherizing this equipment is voluntary in Texas. And guess what they didn't choose that option.
Only in 2021 could we be told that in a state rich in energy -- this is Texas, right? Oil country. That the root of the problem is wind or solar and some people are just eating it up buying it. But it is a lie. Wind turbines not the problem. The Green New Deal, not the problem. The real problem is right in front of their eyes.
The agency that runs most of the power grid in Texas reports that the natural gas and coal generate more than half of the state's power. Wind power is minuscule compared to that. And yet the governor is making this massive and very dangerous and deadly outage all about politics.
Fossil fuel is necessary to heat homes. So, Governor Abbott, where is the fuel to heat homes all across Texas? Where is it? Where is it? Where's the fuel to keep gas stations up and running, Governor Abbott? Instead of politicizing it on conservative TV. Where is it? Or to keep food and household supplies on supermarket shelves. Where is it? Because a lot of those shelves are empty right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRICIA LANCASTER, DALLAS RESIDENT: We knew for a week that this was coming. Why weren't we ready? Our house is 32 degrees inside.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
LANCASTER: We're worried about the pipes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Why weren't you ready? Even let's just say you're right about the wind turbines, and you're not. But shouldn't you have been ready? The mayor of Austin like so many local officials worried about the people in his city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D) AUSTIN, TEXAS: I'm in a community right now that is scared and frustrated, confused, angry, and I am too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): But Governor Abbott's not taking responsibility. Aside from blaming the Green New Deal initiative, he's also blaming the manager of the state's largest power grid, ERCOT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBOTT: ERCOT stands for Electric Reliability Council of Texas. And they showed that they were not reliable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): OK. So, here's what President Harry Truman famously said, that the buck stops here. In other words, on his desk. Greg Abbott is not familiar with that saying. Maybe he and his administration should have kept on top of ERCOT to make sure that the grid would withstand winter storms and the blast of arctic air across most of the state. Maybe so, right? Governor. Buck stops with him.
It could not. And now millions of people are suffering in freezing temperatures. No relief in sight. For days. The other major problem in getting heat to the people of Texas, most of the state's power grid is not connected to the national grid.
Republican lawmakers made that decision over the last few decades to keep federal regulators at bay. That's why they did it. So, they didn't want to regulate it, didn't want regulation. Don't want nobody telling them what to do.
[22:14:57]
Now it sure looks like oversight was needed there, right? Sometimes you don't know more than the generals or the experts. But former Texas Governor Rick Perry had the audacity to say this. Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.
Senator Ted Cruz and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick might want to rethink some shade that they threw California's way when it experienced massive blackouts due to a heat wave last summer.
Patrick tweeting this. This is what happens when Democrats are left in charge, why California's liberal climate policies are causing electricity blackouts. Cruz tweeting, California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization -- of civilizations like having reliable electricity. Democrats want to make California's failed energy policy the standard nationwide. Hope you don't like air- conditioning.
Disgraceful remarks when people are suffering. About the problem in Texas? A Texan (Ph) Cruz Tweeting, I've got no defense. A blizzard strikes Texas and our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe.
Really? That's the best you can come up with? Only thing right in that tweet is there is no defense for this. There's no power. There's no gas. There's no heat. There's no running water. Can you imagine? This is America. Millions of people in a life-threatening situation. We're live in Dallas. We're live in Houston. We got you on this one. Next.
[22:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): So, we have more now on the widespread emergency in Texas. As I said, we got you here. Because this is -- look at that. This is outrageous. This is the United States of America. People should not have to deal with this, a winter storm, brutally cold temperatures knocking out power all across that state.
More than two million people without power tonight while people are forced to huddle together under blankets, burn household objects to heat their homes. Firm answers from state leaders on when power will be restored hard to get.
I want to go to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He is in Dallas. This is a catastrophe, Ed. Again, as I was telling Chris, I was speaking to one of my friends tonight. She has no water, no power. She said they're rolling water and rolling power. She hasn't gotten any information.
I understand that you have got some new information. And I hope that some people in Texas hey are watching us on their phones or if they happen to have power. Give us that information so they'll know what's going on.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, the organization you've been talking about, ERCOT, which is the semi-private agency that oversees the state power grid system, they're saying tonight that they're hoping that by tomorrow morning they will have enough power back on line that they can resume the rolling outages, which is what's supposed to have started -- been happening since Sunday -- early -- late Sunday night into early Monday morning.
I mean, this is a little bit to essentially spread the pain of all of this across more people. They're saying that those rolling outages could resume by some point tomorrow morning because that has not been what has happened here in the last three days. It's really been just extended period of outages, of power outages where you see some people who have been without power 36 hours. So that is supposed to start tomorrow morning. Again, we'll see what we wake up to, Don.
LEMON: And just imagine, your pipes burst. Right? And then you've got running water and your house is just freezing and there's nothing you can do. There's no -- you don't have any heat to -- your house is just ice. As we're looking at the picture now, this woman's house is just straight up ice. Texas generates, Ed -- here's the thing. Go on. Go on. Sorry.
LAVANDERA: No, no, I was just saying that's the ultimate misery. And real quickly I just wanted to say that this I think is a problem that we're going to see even in a more profound way tomorrow, because the fact is that there are some parts in the southern part of the state where temperatures are starting to get above freezing but we're still in the most parts of the state maybe a day or two away from seeing temperatures rising above the freezing level.
LEMON: Wow. LAVANDERA: So that water issue is going to be a bigger problem that we'll hear more about tomorrow and the next day I suspect because, you know, a great deal of damage is going to come from that.
LEMON: I just want to put this up before we get to the chief, Ed. Let's put up this chart that we have for our audience. It shows the source of the power in Texas. Do we have that? There it is.
So, this is the source of the power in Texas according to ERCOT, which is the power grid, 40 percent of the power from natural gas; from wind is 18 percent -- sorry -- from wind 18 percent; coal, 11 percent; from nuclear, 8 percent.
Listen, the governor is talking about all of this, you know, well, it's wind and it's that. It's not. It's natural gas and it's coal and it's the other things. And wind makes up a small percentage. I'm -- 23 percent here. I'm hearing it's actually even -- maybe even lower than that, Ed.
LAVANDERA: Well, the fact of the matter is that the state power grid officials are saying that if you look at the amount of power -- the power that has been knocked off line in the last three days, about 60 percent of what has been knocked off line, the missing power, if you will, comes from oil and gas reserves, and/or from sources. And about 40 percent from solar and wind sources.
So, look, this is -- this shouldn't be a very political situation. The facts are is that there are problems across the board. The majority of the issues right now are coming from oil and gas power generators. And that's the fact of the matter.
[22:24:58]
How it got turned into that this was all caused by frozen wind turbines and that sort of thing is beyond me. But, you know, if you look at the facts, and that's what we're trying to look at here, it really has -- you know, there are problems across the board. But the majority of those problems are coming from oil and gas-powered generators at this point.
LEMON: Yes.
LAVANDERA: And that's according to the state power grid officials.
LEMON: Ed, thank you. It's coming from the same -- you know, the election was stolen and rigged crowd. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
So, joining me now is Art Acevedo, he is chief of the Houston Police Department. Chief, so happy to have you on. Thank you so much.
Listen, it's a terrible situation there. Officials are warning residents that it could be days until power is restored. You heard Ed's report, they're trying to get it fast, maybe back tomorrow, hopefully. But things aren't expected to get any better, get above 40 degrees until Friday. What's the latest? What's happening in Houston right now?
ART ACEVEDO, CHIEF, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, you know, unfortunately we continue to have power outages here in Houston. And tonight, we had rained a lot of the day today. A big part of the day today. Cold, freezing rain. We expect our highways will start freezing tonight probably at about one in the morning, we should hit about 32, 31 degrees. So, we expect more freezing.
And sadly, we have -- this is a working-class city. It's a city that is comprised of just really hard-working, middle-class people. They're hurting. And I think they're hurting because our state leaders that quite frankly half the time are busy meddling in local governments, more interested in running local governments than to do what they're supposed to do, which is keep the lights on.
LEMON: Right.
ACEVEDO: They have failed. They failed their constituents. They failed the state. And I don't see anything changing for the next two to three days. That should have us all worried because we won't have a break, a true break until late Friday here in Houston. We're going to have some more freezing temperatures tomorrow night as the forecast stands right now.
LEMON: You ask any politician, especially a mayor, in a big city in the Midwest or in the northeast or wherever that gets snow, you don't plow the streets you're not going to be mayor next time. That's how it works.
So, people are dying of carbon monoxide poisoning trying to stay warm in their cars without ventilation and car accidents on icy roads. They're desperate. How are you getting this message out and warning that it's dangerous when there is no power?
ACEVEDO: Well, we've been fortunate that Mayor Turner has done a great job at the local level of actually opening up warming centers. Our churches have come up to help us. Our private sectors come up to help us. And so, we've been using a lot of social media. Thank goodness for iPhones.
Neighbors have been helping neighbors as power on one side of the street can be on, the other side it's not. And so what Houstonians do is whether it's hurricane Harvey or whatever we face we come together. We're very fortunate that in America's fourth largest city we've only had one traffic collision. And that's because people trust their local leaders. When we told folks to stay off the highways, they did.
But sadly, we've had several deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. We had a small child, a girl and her mother, another young boy is in critical condition. And so, you know, it's -- it could have been a lot worse if people had not heeded the warnings. But I think the emotional capital that we have built as a community of trusting one another is paying dividends once again, as it does every time we deal with a natural disaster here in Houston.
LEMON: Trusting one another and also helping your neighbors. Check on your neighbors, make sure you're all OK.
ACEVEDO: Yes.
LEMON: Chief, I've got to ask you about minority communities, often the hardest hit in emergency situations like this. They don't have the resources to deal with it. Is that happening in Houston? And what's being done to help low-income neighborhoods of all ethnicities?
ACEVEDO: Well, you know, we've got -- we're led by a guy that was raised by a mom after they -- by herself after he lost his dad with 10 brothers and sisters at a young age. And so, he's very sensitive to this community. So, I can tell you that our city has set up the warming centers. We've got bus service to get people to these centers.
And now because of the disruption of the water as a result of this storm we're actually preparing to distribute water across the city. And so, it really is an all hands-on deck approach to help the community. But at the end of the day what's great about this city, this big melting pot, the most diverse big city in the country, is that we're showing that when the going gets tough Houstonians come together.
And despite the failure of the state government to prepare for a worst-case scenario they decide to go it on their own. And when you're on your own, guess what, you've got to accept the challenges and you have to accept the consequences of the things we experience. Now we've got to see what the lessons are learned because we can't afford to have this again.
[22:30:05]
LEMON: Chief, thank you so much. I've got to tell you this, chief. I'm so glad that you come on. Every time you come on when there's an emergency or something, something happened, you always come on and you're very candid with the American people.
ACEVEDO: Yes.
LEMON: And I really appreciate that. And I've got to tell you, I can't tell you how many personal messages I've gotten and also on social media for people who are saying my 80-year-old parents haven't had electricity for three days. My mom is there, we haven't had electricity, this reminds me of when I lived in Puerto Rico and I moved to Texas and now it's the same situation. We don't have power, we don't have water, what is going on?
Thanks for telling the truth about this. This is -- they should have been prepared. And I think that you're right on. What happened to the preparation, chief?
ACEVEDO: Well, life is about choices. And like -- and I think governance is about leadership. And we focus a lot on political theater in this state, as you can imagine. We make decisions. We talk about secession one minute. I don't think it will work out very well if you look at -- if you judge by how we're doing right now. Look at El Paso. El Paso has decided not to go it alone. They've
decided to be part of a national grid. And El Paso is doing just fine. When we, our state leaders decide to do things on their own because they can do it better, then those state leaders better make sure that they are always prepared for a worst-case scenario.
And at the end of the day when you deregulate and you don't winterize to save money, this is what happens. And you know what I love about Texans is that they appreciate straight talk, they appreciate the truth, they recognize when they hear it, and regardless of what people think, people don't want -- they don't want shortcuts when it comes to their safety.
And providing electricity and power is really critical to the lifeline of Texans and to the American people and all people around the world. And when that's the commodity and that's what you're dealing with, we need to make sure we don't take shortcuts because now we're suffering the consequences.
And my heart goes out to all the folks. We've been doing well. I got an e-mail from a gentleman in Peru, 90-year-old grandfather. They couldn't find him. So, we went on a mission to find him and thank God we were able to make sure he is in good shape.
And that's what our men and women in blue here are doing, we're out and about helping our community, transporting people, checking on homes. And now we're checking across the city to make sure that as we see water coming out from broken pipes that we can get them turned off because we need to get the water up and running which some of it's up now. Thanks to the hard work of our Public Works Department. Hopefully the rest of it will be up tomorrow.
LEMON: Well, chief, God bless you and the folks who are helping out.
ACEVEDO: Thank you.
LEMON: And thank you. We really appreciate it.
ACEVEDO: Thank you.
LEMON: So, if you're watching -- Chief Acevedo in Houston. If you're watching and you have loved ones, relatives, friends, whatever in Texas, we've got you. We're going to keep you informed. And if you happen to be in Texas watching us online or you have power, we're not going to stop covering this story until we get some answers for you.
So, we want your feedback. We want to know what you need, what's happening in Texas. And we're going to carry that information for you. OK?
So, this is happening. We cannot forget in the middle of a pandemic. Mass vaccination sites are shut down because of this. Shipments are delayed because of this. The weather is wreaking havoc on getting shots in arms. There's going to be a long-term effect. And we'll talk about that next.
[22:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): We must remember we're in the middle of a pandemic and in this harsh winter weather hurting the progress of coronavirus vaccinations all across the country. Mass vaccination sites closing in several states including Texas. And states are far -- and states as far away as New York are complaining of delays in vaccine deliveries.
Let's discuss now. Vaccine scientist and dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor, Dr. Peter Hotez. Doctor, so good to have you on. Again, I mean, the middle of a pandemic. The freezing weather is having a huge effect on these vaccinations. Including in Houston where you are. All vaccination sites shut down there. How far behind is this going to put Texas and the country, as a matter of fact?
PETER HOTEZ, VACCINE SCIENTIST: Yes, Don, the original hope was it was just going to be a day or so and that's what we originally thought. But this is going on and on as days go on without power. And that's a real concern. So, you know, the urgency of course is that we're trying to race ahead of the new United Kingdom variant, the B-117 variant. That's going to start to accelerate in March and April.
And so, we're trying to get as many Americans vaccinated and Texans vaccinated ahead of that variant because we know it's much more transmissible and the mortality rate is going to start going up. So, we're in a race against time. This is a terrible time to have this kind of delay.
LEMON: These power outages impacting the actual vaccines themselves since they are so temperature sensitive and they need to be kept in deep freezes, is that correct?
HOTEZ: Yes, and also delays in shipments as well because people -- you know, they don't want to ship to sites where they think you might not be able to maintain specific temperatures. They're pretty fragile, these new mRNA technology vaccines. They're kind of fussy in terms of their temperature requirements.
So, it's unfortunate that the logistics of the first vaccines out of Operation Warp Speed are the most complicated. But that is the reality. So hopefully, we can get back online pretty soon.
LEMON: Yes, I think I said deep freeze. I meant freezers obviously. It could delay up to two weeks. What's the effect? The deliveries.
HOTEZ: Well, hopefully it won't be two weeks because if it is then we're really going to lose a lot of ground. We were just starting to get up to a point where we were getting a significant number of people vaccinated. We just hit five million Texans. And we really have to accelerate at a much faster rate.
Remember where we want to go. We need to get to three million Americans a day in order to get ahead of these variants. And we're only at about 1.5 million Americans a day. So, any delays the timing could not be worse. [22:40:06]
LEMON: Dr. Hotez, I always appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
HOTEZ: Thanks so much, Don.
LEMON: Biden says Republicans are making a mistake. We're going to tell you why. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): So, President Biden making a pitch for his $1.9 trillion stimulus package, saying the American public is on his side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I learned based on the polling data they want everything that's in the plan. Not a joke. Everything that's in the plan. I -- the fact is that I'd like to -- I ask a rhetorical question. Those who oppose the plan, what don't they like? What particular program don't they like?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:44:56]
LEMON (on camera): So, our political director, Mr. David Chalian is here. And our senior political correspondent Ms. Abby Phillip joins us as well. She's now the anchor of Inside Politics Sunday morning. So good to see both of you. Thanks for joining.
David, I'm going to start with you. President Biden is sounding pretty confident about that massive stimulus rescue plan. The way he sees it, voters are on his side, Republicans are making a mistake.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, this comports with what we've been hearing from White House advisers for a couple weeks now, which is to not only think about the support for this bill in terms of the votes it's going to get in Congress but to take the support that it has broadly with the American people and most of the components are pretty popular, and then take that to Congress and try to apply some pressure.
Mike Donilon, the senior adviser to the president, had a memo that was issued to the senior White House staff, and conveniently of course leaked to the press because they want (AUDIO GAP) -- they want to flip the script a little bit and say Republicans should start thinking about whether or not it may cause them some political peril at the end of the day by being against a bill that is going to get direct stimulus money into people's pockets, that's going to help vaccinations roll out more smoothly, that's going to help get schools open safely.
All of those popular things, Don. And so, I don't think we're going to see a groundswell of Republicans joining on to this $1.9 trillion bill. But I don't think it is out of the question yet, Don, especially on the House side. That some Republicans in vulnerable districts may think they should be on this bill that's getting help out to the American people.
LEMON: Abby, let's talk a little more because President Biden, he's talking about getting back to normal by Christmas. You heard him in the town hall last night. That's still a long way off. And people are exhausted. They want to see their lives improving as soon as possible. Is he setting a far-off goal, you know, after all this is -- you know, overpromise, I think? What is it, overpromise, underdeliver is the saying?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Under-promise --
LEMON: Yes. Under-promise, overdeliver.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Under-promise, overdeliver.
LEMON: Right, right, right.
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, it's something that -- this is not the first time that you've seen them seeming to do that. They did the same thing on their vaccine goals, saying they wanted 100 million doses in 100 days, which was something that they would easily have done.
If they kept up the pace that they started with at a million doses per day. And now you're seeing it with the end goal of when, you know, quote, unquote, "back to normal will happen." I mean, I think it's notable. I was just looking this up. Even before Biden was inaugurated Dr. Fauci was saying back to normal by the fall, by late fall, you know, by the end of 2021.
So that's not exactly an ambitious goal. It was one that was set even before Biden became president. And you have to wonder if they're worried that if they don't meet those goals, they'll be held responsible. But I also think maybe they could be -- they should be worried about somebody else too, which is that Americans want to see results. They want to know that they elected a new administration that's actually going to move the ball forward --
LEMON: Right.
PHILLIP: -- in a more aggressive manner. So, if you don't give them something, I think you may risk people just saying, well, what's even the point of doing all of this stuff? What are we getting out of this new administration? I think that's the risk here for the Biden administration in making these sort of lowball promises in an effort to try to exceed them at the end of the day.
LEMON: Yes. But also, David, folks as well saying listen, we heard a month ago or four weeks ago, whenever he was elected, that we were going to move this and get this done quickly; and then three weeks, we're going to move and then get it; and then two weeks; and now a week. You know, one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks in. And they keep saying the same thing but nothing is happening. And people want this -- they want the money. They want help.
So, when is he going to deliver on it? Especially saying most of the people, polls show, in America want everything that's in the bill. Why not just get it done?
CHALIAN: Well, they're moving through Congress, right? I mean, that's no easy task. And as you know, they've started the process to be able to do this with Democratic votes alone. You're going to see the House vote on this bill next week, probably by the end of the week according to Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, and then it will be over to the Senate, where he has to keep every single Democrat on board, the president does.
There's no margin for error if indeed it's going to pass with just Democratic votes in the Senate. His goal, circle the calendar, March 14th. That (AUDIO GAP) and that is when the administration has said they --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: We lost David's shot -- there he is. We lost you for a moment.
CHALIAN: And March 14th -- circle March 14th on your calendar. That's when federal unemployment benefits run out, Don. And that's -- or some of them. And that's when joe Biden wants to sign this bill into law. So, he's got a few weeks here to get this done. It's a huge piece of legislation. And he wants to meet that March 14th deadline.
[22:49:59]
LEMON: Abby, I've got 20 seconds here. He's got to get this done. If he doesn't, then it doesn't portend well for the rest of his agenda.
PHILLIP: No, not at all. I mean, they took an all or nothing approach with this trying to do as much as they can, the biggest bill possible. So, if this doesn't go through, it's not to say that nothing will happen, but it's just is a bad omen for this very narrowly divided government. It seems to -- it would seem to suggest that Biden probably does need to actually practically work in a bipartisan fashion. Not necessarily just relying --
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIP: -- on public opinion to get him to the bipartisanship part of this.
LEMON: Thank you both. David, you broke up for a little bit but I'm sure I think our viewers got what you were talking about. Thank you, guys.
(CROSSTALK)
CHALIAN: A little bit.
LEMON: No, that's right. It's that your fault. Thank you very much. I'll see you both soon. Temperatures dropping to life threatening levels in Texas as millions
are still without heat and another storm moving across the country. We've got the latest forecast for you.
[22:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): Millions without power throughout Texas. Families huddling in homes, or cars without heat. Dealing with burst pipes, no water, gas shortages, temperatures are dipping even further.
CNN's meteorologist Derek van Dam is here with the forecast for us. Derek, how cold will it get?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, Don, let's get to the brass tacks because this is a long duration record-breaking cold snap from the upper Midwest all the way to the Gulf Coast where temperatures have plunged well below freezing. In fact, into the teens near Galveston, Texas, that is incredible.
Think about Texas alone here. One of the largest states in both size and in population within in the United States. So, this largest expanse with a long duration. Cold spell like this means energy supply disruptions, COVID vaccine disruptions, water supply issues are now becoming a concern as well.
So, we're watching this economical and humanitarian challenge just unfold right before our eyes. Two point seven million customers without power across the U.S. at the moment. But focusing in on Texas, we're talking about 12 million Texans impacted without power at the moment.
And you think about this. Water pumps need electricity to actually run and function, not to mention the burst pipes because of the freezing temperatures. So, 141 of the 254 counties in Texas impacting -- impacted by water supply issues at the moment.
We're talking about temperatures 30 to 40 degrees colder than where they should be this time of year. It is brutally cold from Dallas all the way to Houston. There is some relief in sight. You can see the temperatures warm but that means there's going to be that thawing of the pipes within Texas. So burst water pipes will be a concern. This storm is moving across the northeast. Head ups, ice storm across the mid-Atlantic today and tomorrow. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: My goodness. Derek, we'll be watching. Thank you very much. We appreciate that.
Millions in Texas without power for days on end. I'm going to speak with a mother of four in a dire situation. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
