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Don Lemon Tonight
Senator Ted Cruz on Vacation Amid Crisis; Millions of Texans Still Without Power and Water; Harris County Badly Needed Water; Families Stick Together in Times of Crisis; Single Dose Vaccine Not a Wise Idea; Nikki Haley Snubbed by His Former Boss. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired February 18, 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: Those men and women figured out how to get something going all the way 300 million miles across our galaxy, the Milky Way, our solar system to mars. And it took just as long for our Congress to figure out how to get a relief bill done. We can do better than that.
We don't even know what we don't know yet. We're going to be watching for pictures from the Rover. It's looking for life, you know, signs that life were there. Amazing. Imagine if they find out there was, and that teaches them about why it expired, and we can learn lessons maybe about life here for us in the present and how to preserve it. It's just amazing.
Let's go to the big show CNN Tonight with a space cadet all his own, Don Lemon.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: You know who should have taken that trip to Mars?
CUOMO: Cruz?
LEMON: It would have been a better trip for him to take. It took just as long for him hop back on that plane and get back here. I mean, Chris, come on.
CUOMO: Hey, you want to hear a totally different take?
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Why not? In our current climate, you know his -- you know the right is going to believe him. You know he's going to go on. He's going to say, I was going to work from home. And how dare they? They don't care about anything and they are worst, the media is the worst, and he is going to get a pass.
LEMON: Yes. I should show you my text messages from last night because this started breaking and we were trying to get it confirmed during the 11 o'clock show last night. And I said, he's going to say I escorted my family there and I make sure they were safe, and then I came back. Then, boom, that's what happened. But it didn't pan out.
(CROSSTALK) CUOMO: Even if he was telling the truth --
LEMON: He's not telling the truth.
CUOMO: But even if he were. And look, see, this is the problem with where we are that you know he's not telling the truth. He knows you know --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: He knows he's not telling --
CUOMO: Of course, he knows he's not telling the truth. But he knows that you know.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: And as long as he does it with a straight face and he keeps telling the same story, I'll tell you what the headline was for me on that. You know how I am about the family I choose, right?
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: How much I love you and what the bond means. Can you imagine people who you are close enough to invite on vacation going bad on you and leaking your texts --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- to the media?
LEMON: Yes. Yes. Well, I can imagine that because --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: He's got to rethink the circle of trust.
LEMON: People were trying to send them to me, so I can't imagine. I mean, it's -- listen, you have -- OK. So, you have Ted Cruz, his wife, according to the New York Times -- I'll say that -- trying to get members of this really rich neighborhood in Texas, in Houston, to go on a vacation, which they later blamed on their kids. You see it there on the text messages. We're having trouble. Our house is freezing, what have you. Hey, we're going to go down to Mexico. We're going to go to Cancun, and the hotel rooms are this, whatever, again, according to that reporting and then to turn around and blame the kids.
CUOMO: Well, he went to Cancun.
LEMON: OK. Fine. He went to Cancun. His wife, an accomplished woman, can't travel with the kids by herself? You're going to go and -- first, overnight trip, trying to pretend that that wouldn't -- that didn't work with a big you know what bag as that. That was a big bag for overnight. I don't have that bag for a weekend. I don't have that much clothes for a week when I'm going to the beach. And yes, and then people found out it was going to be Sunday. I mean,
there's so much wrong with that. Yes, he's not a local official, but he has pull in Washington. He can move people. He can get to people. He can get to the right people. He can get resources.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: He can show he cares.
LEMON: He can show he cares.
CUOMO: That's all. That's all.
LEMON: he can go out and deliver water. Yes.
CUOMO: Look, he's gone after people for doing the same thing.
LEMON: And I got -- I'll lay it all out for you coming up.
CUOMO: Right. But I do have to say though. You know I got yelled at by the team tonight because I was like, I don't really want to give this that much time. Why? Because Texas is in so much trouble. They're in a world of fire and ice there. Now we showed San Antonio, this apartment complex coming down because they don't have water to fight it. And this guy is just --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: It's a hypocrisy.
CUOMO: -- an example. But it's an example of the obvious.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Here's what my problem is. I'm telling, you Don, look on social media. If you're on the right, what's the big deal, and then a comma, and then they come right at you. And on the left, they want Cruz out. There's such myopia. If the person i's on your team, you have one feeling.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: If they're on the other team, it's -- you know, it's Thunderdome.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: And I just don't know where it gets us.
LEMON: For me, it's -- for me, it's don't be a hypocrite because he criticized -- remember the mayor of Austin. He criticized the governor of California. Basically saying -- and he said the guy -- remember the mayor of Austin who went to Cabo because his daughter was getting married?
CUOMO: Sure. LEMON: Well, if you're using Ted Cruz's rationale, wasn't that guy
trying to be a dad as well?
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: To get his daughter married? I mean, I'm just saying.
CUOMO: The rule for thee but not for me.
LEMON: Yes. All right.
CUOMO: Look, we know all the hypocrisy stuff. I'm just saying it's so obvious, and then he goes on the mothership tonight and he gets a pass.
LEMON: I've got that for you too. You're going to hear from me.
CUOMO: You got it all, D. Lemon.
LEMON: I got it all.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: I'll be watching because I love you.
LEMON: Just remember, people. Remember, Chris, when I called you, and I said, Chris, I can't go on my vacation for Thanksgiving. The election is over. Why? Because there was a travel advisory, right? I didn't go. There's a travel advisory --
(CROSSTALK)
[22:05:01]
CUOMO: You're not a senator yet, though.
LEMON: Yes. But still --
CUOMO: This guy took an oath to be there for the people.
LEMON: Yes, you're right. I love you. See you later.
CUOMO: I love you.
LEMON: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon.
So, we're going to get to our breaking news because people are still in dire straits. The situation is improving but it's going to be a long haul for the folks in Texas.
More than 300,000 people are still in the dark, and they're freezing tonight in Texas after some of the coldest weather in decades knocked out many of the state's power plants. But now some 13 million Texans are running out of water. Can you imagine? Houston, Austin, San Antonio warning residents to boil their water. Hospitals, fire departments running low. The Department of Health and Human Services declaring a public health
emergency in Texas. And in the middle of all this, there's Senator Ted Cruz and his really, really bad decision to take a trip to Cancun in the middle of a disaster in his home state of Texas. Stopping by Sean Hannity's show tonight to get a pat on the back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS: I think you can be a father and be the senator of Texas all at the same time and make a round trip, quick drop-off trip and come home.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Well, Sean, that's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. But his story is unraveling tonight as he admits. It was never supposed to be a one-day trip to drop off his daughters. That was a lie. You really just have to watch it. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: We left yesterday. The plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family. That was the plan. I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family. That's something Texans have been doing across the state.
But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously of fighting for the state of Texas and frankly leaving when so many Texans were hurting didn't feel right, and so I -- I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight I could take.
I couldn't take a morning flight because the current restrictions require a COVID test. So, I had to get a COVID test this morning before I could get on a flight back. So, I took the first flight I could get after getting the COVID test and testing negative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Maybe lying Ted -- that was maybe the right moniker for him. So, he admits it was never supposed to be a one-day trip. He admits he realized it was a bad day right around the time people started taking pictures of him and shooting videos.
And his excuse for not getting on the very next flight was that he had to take a COVID test, which is kind of what's going to happen when you take a vacation in the middle of a pandemic with your kids and your wife during the middle of a pandemic. Good fathering. Good parenting. Come on now.
The senator slinking back to Texas tonight, you see him here. He's on board his flight in this exclusive video from a passenger who asked to remain anonymous. And here he is getting off the flight with a police escort. By the way, if Cruz wasn't traveling, those officers might have been
assigned to help people in the community who really need it, except they're escorting him to and from and through the airport.
A source telling CNN that some senior aides didn't even know the senator flew down to Mexico with his family until the pictures turned up on social media. But the texts from the senator's wife, Heidi, well, they tell a different story.
The New York Times is reporting that she texted friends and neighbors just yesterday saying this. Their house was, quote, "freezing" and suggesting a getaway until Sunday at the Ritz-Carlton, where they stayed many times. I'll tell you why I'm pointing that out, the Ritz- Carlton, why I said it that way, noting that the room rate was $309 a night and saying there's good security.
And on top of that, now Ted Cruz has blown up his explanation that the trip was just about being a good dad, and I quote here. "With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon."
[22:10:00]
Sure. What good dad wouldn't drop his kids off at a beach in Mexico in the middle of a pandemic while the people he represents are freezing in their homes and lining up for food and water? What dad wouldn't do that?
Come on. There are people all over Texas, hundreds of thousands of them, who would love to take their kids someplace warm. On this show tonight, we have two families with eight children between them who would have loved to have gotten them someplace warm as quickly as possible, someplace safe, someplace where they have drinkable water, a bathroom that they can use, heat.
Instead, hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in very dangerous conditions, and their elected leaders are talking out of both sides of their mouths, like when Ted Cruz said this. This was just Monday.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
CRUZ: Don't risk it. Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids.
(END VOICE CLIP)
LEMON: I mean you can't even -- Ted Cruz, who says stay at home and hug your kids. I want you to meet Ted Cruz. Will you meet Ted Cruz, who flies his daughters to Mexico. Not a good look. Kind of what the -- what's the word I'm looking for? Hypocritical. Kind of like the hypocrisy the senator was so about when it was a Democrat, Austin Mayor Steve Adler went to Mexico in December after hosting his daughter's wedding. He criticized the mayor of Austin for going to Mexico. But then Ted Cruz goes to Mexico. While the CDC says travelers should avoid all travel to Mexico. He's
an elected official. Avoid all travel to Mexico, senator elected by the people.
CNN's K-File dug up a bunch more examples of Ted Cruz's do as I say, not as I do attitude toward other politicians taking vacations, telling then-Governor Chris Christie to go back to the beach after the outrage over Christie's trip to a closed state beach with his family while New Jersey's government was shut down, criticizing former President Barack Obama for spending what he thought was too much time on the golf course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: If only the terrorists attacked a golf course.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: That might actually get the White House's attention. Holy cow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I mean, how dare he play not even as much golf as Donald Trump in eight years as Donald Trump played in four. Wow. How dare he? I wonder why he criticized him. Criticizing the former president for playing pool.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Apparently playing a game of pool is a higher priority for this president than it would be to go and see the humanitarian crisis he's created.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You forget there's always videotape or a tweet. And there's more. Ted Cruz accusing the then-president of not being focused on people who are hurting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: He is not focused on the people who are hurting, who are paying the cost for his failed policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's like looking in a mirror, isn't it? And then there's Ted Cruz, the martyr, who says, let's not take any recesses. Let's work every day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: It's crazy that we'd be taking a recess. There are a bunch of us, myself included, that have been urging leadership back from January, let's not take any recesses. Let's work -- let's work every day. Let's work weekends. Let's work till we get the job done. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Maybe that doesn't mean during a crisis in your state where people are freezing with no electricity and water. So, I mean, he didn't specifically say that, so -- well, not every day, I guess. You know, not while it's freezing in Texas and balmy in Cancun.
Like I said, do as I say, not as I do. People in trouble rely on their elected officials to help, to be there on the ground when disaster strikes. And Ted Cruz used to know that, or at least he seemed to in this campaign ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[22:15:00]
UNKNOWN: When disaster struck, Texans came together, helping each other. Everyone doing their part, like Ted Cruz, who brought home billions in disaster relief and passed emergency tax relief for those hit by hurricane Harvey.
UNKNOWN: No official, state, or federal has been more involved in the recovery of Galveston County than Senator Ted Cruz.
UNKNOWN: When the hurricane hit, you stood up for Texas, and Ted Cruz stood up for you.
CRUZ: I'm Ted Cruz, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So much empathy. A man of the people. You know what standing up for the people of Texas? How about being there alongside them, senator? Helping to get water to desperate Texans, like these folks in Houston lining up for water from a park spigot.
How about helping local governments coordinate with each other, working to get more resources from Washington? You know Washington very well. That's where you are. That's where you work. You can help. You know a few people there. You know, do the kind of things that Ted Cruz was elected to do.
Yes, a U.S. senator who represents Texas, and the people of Texas have a right to expect you to have their backs. I want everyone to remember that this is a man who loves calling out elites and libs. That's why I said I'll tell you why it was a Ritz-Carlton or whatever. Elites. Elites.
So, I guess flying off to Mexico to go to the Ritz-Carlton while everybody suffering, that's not elite. Did the elites make you do it? Maybe it was the squad. I don't know. But those text messages from the New York Times show Heidi Cruz trying to get their neighborhoods from one of the richest neighborhoods in Houston to go to a country the CDC says travelers should avoid.
Talk about America first. Did they go to Miami? Did they go to Fort Lauderdale? Did they go to the Keys? Did they go visit Mar-a-Lago? Nope. Not America first. Mexico. We all know that we're in the middle of a pandemic. Why are they even traveling at all and then trying to blame it on their kids? You call that being a good dad? It's not what I call being a good dad. It's infuriating. It's hypocritical.
Again, Maya Angelou said it. When people show you who they are, believe them. We shouldn't forget in all of this, though, it's really about hundreds of thousands of people who are freezing in their own homes with no power, pipes broken, 13 million running out of water, people lining up in a park to get water. How long will all of this go on? We're live in Texas for you. That's next.
[22:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Another night of freezing temperatures in Texas. Hundreds of thousands of people still without power. They're bonding up, trying to stay war. Some Texans without power since Sunday. The misery gets worse, though. Millions either don't have water or they have to boil it before using it. And some of them using snow as well, boiling snow just to be able to flush their toilets.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us live tonight in Dallas. Ed, good evening to you. Thanks for joining. Hundreds of thousands of people still remain without power. More than 13 million are dealing with water disruptions. This crisis is far from over. Give us the latest, please.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is far from over, but it has really changed dramatically since we last talked to you last night, Don. So, remember last night we were at about 1.8 million households without power. That has dropped to under 350,000, probably around the 300,000 mark at this point. So that is an improvement.
And officials with the state power grid system say that none of the outages that remain is being caused by problems at power plants across the state. However, that means it might take a little bit longer to get those homes back online because we're talking about power line damage, the physical damage left by the winter storm.
And as you alluded to, the water issue is really a problem all across the state. Some 13.2 million people affected by water issues across the state. That's half the population of Texas. So, it's hundreds and hundreds of water systems across the state affected by water pressure issues. You can see plumbers driving around all over the state as they scramble to fix these situations in every corner of the state, Don.
LEMON: Ed Lavandera on the story for us. Ed, we appreciate your reporting. Be safe out there. I want to bring in now Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Texas. Judge, thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining us. How are you doing there?
LINA HIDALGO, JUDGE, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: Thank you. We are cautiously optimistic. You know, millions of folks here in Harris County are home to Houston and 33 other cities. And many spent four nights without energy, without power, without water, just incredibly difficult circumstances, including many of our emergency managers and emergency workers' families here.
Now as your correspondent mentioned, we have gotten the bulk of the power back, but the cascading effects of that power loss and lack of preparation on behalf of the state electric grid manager is -- has shown itself.
LEMON: Yes.
HIDALGO: Particularly on the water issue.
[22:25:01]
LEMON: Well, let's -- let's -- I want to talk about that because there is a hard freeze warning in Houston tonight, judge. Millions of people across Texas are under a boil-water advisory. Are you worried more people could die?
HIDALGO: You know, we've been so busy responding to the emergency and the crises within the crisis that we haven't had a completely accurate count of the deaths. But I received an update just very recently upping the number of deaths from hypothermia. I think that's a -- you know, certainly an undercount. It's possible to see more impacts. It's definitely very tragic. It's possible that the power will be back out somewhat.
But the recovery, the water issues, getting water pressure back to our hospitals, getting people back up to speed after all -- so much suffering, those impacts are going to be felt for a few days.
LEMON: Yes.
HIDALGO: It's been a very traumatic crisis for folks.
LEMON: Yes, you're still in the middle of it. It takes some time to assess really just how much damage and what the human toll and the health toll and the toll in lives that could come out of situations like this.
I want you to check out this video. People lining up in Houston to get water out of a spigot in a park. This is the United States of America. How is this acceptable, judge?
HIDALGO: It's not. It's absolutely not acceptable, and it's not acceptable to the community. And we -- we're going to need answers after this. It doesn't make sense that a state in this country is not able to prepare for tough weather that we knew was coming, for tough weather the energy infrastructure elsewhere can sustain.
And so, we need to figure out what went wrong in the way that the Texas energy grid is run. Who ultimately created that legislation, that setup, and what's going to be done to change it? But right now, there's a lot of work to do in response and in recovery.
LEMON: Listen, you need help from wherever you can get it whether it's local, state, or federal officials. What was your immediate reaction when you heard that Senator Ted Cruz flew off to Cancun with his family while the people he represents suffered?
HIDALGO: I obviously saw the news story with everyone else. I don't want to comment on it. I just don't have room for politics in my head right now. I've still got a lot of people struggling just to be able to find drinking water. I've still got hospitals that I'm fighting to bring back online, first responders who haven't been home in many nights and have struggled to keep in touch with their families.
LEMON: Yes.
HIDALGO: But of course, you know, I -- I watched it.
LEMON: And what you said right there says plenty without commenting on the politics of it. There are lots of people hurting. Thank you, judge. I appreciate you joining us. Best of luck to you. Please come back and update us.
HIDALGO: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
They lost power. They lost heat. They lost water. And they resorted to burning the baseboards of their home to stay warm. Just one example of what people are dealing with. I'm going to talk to a Texas family weathering the storm. There they are live, right after this.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, the people across Texas are struggling now for nearly a week, not only to keep their families warm but to have enough to eat and clean water to drink. Tough on parents but extra tough on the children, confused about what's been happening so far for so many days.
So, John Mays and Jon Milton Blackburn are trying to keep it together for their three children during this crisis, OK? They join me now to talk about their family's experience, and what a cute family they are. Thank you so much for joining us.
John, you and your husband, three kids we see there. Since Sunday, you've had no heat. You've had no water. Your pipes burst. I see the electricity is back on now finally. Tell me what this whole ordeal has been like for your family.
JOHN MAYS, LOST POWER DUE TO TEXAS STORMS: Well, it was -- it's been kind of stressful. On Sunday night when the power started flickering, there was a little bit of concern there. But by the time Monday rolled around, around 9 in the morning, the power went off, and it didn't come back on. And it started getting later in the day, and the house started getting colder.
We started getting concerned, and by nightfall, we had to clean out the fireplace, which I don't think we've used in years, and made a little warm room in the middle of our house trying to stay warm. LEMON: So, you tried to stick it out in the house, I am told. So, you
stayed warm. I saw some pictures there. Did you -- did you rip cabinet doors off, and did you use actual -- the actual baseboards, the floorboards of your -- what did you use?
MAYS: The baseboards of the house. They were easy to get to. You could break them easy, so we didn't need any special tools. You know, we just had to stay warm. It was either that, or we were going to go after the dining room table, next, you know. We just didn't know what else to do, so that was the best we could come up with for the night. But we're thankful we made it through. We kept ourselves warm. We stayed together as a family.
LEMON: Did you -- so the pipes burst in the walls, is that correct?
MAYS: Yes, they did. And luckily it was -- we heard it, and as soon as we heard the water gushing, I keep a water key in the front closet. So, I ran out and turned off the water at the street. But after we had no power and no water, the house was cold, and we'd already burned through everything we had, we drove up to our church and stayed in the gymnasium.
LEMON: Yes.
MAYS: And luckily, they had power up there.
[22:35:01]
LEMON: OK. So, both of you are John, J-o-h-n and J-o-n. So, J-o-h-n, let J-o-n do some of the talking over there.
MAYS: Yes.
LEMON: So, the final straw, you said, listen, I got to get my kids out of here and you went to a shelter.
JON MILTON BLACKBURN, LOST POWER DUE TO TEXAS STORMS: Yes. Right. So the main thing -- the night before -- you know, we had to make everything positive for them because it's like the night before when we were here on Monday night and it was cold and we had our house basically burning in the fireplace in front of us, she was holding my hands because she was scared at that point. Because once it got dark, that's when it started getting real for
them.
So, once we got to the church, we kind of just had to keep letting them know we've got to pray for other people. We had to -- and we were contacting people while we were there. You know, hey, we're here. If you need to, come here, and we'll stick this out together. And we just made things fun for the kids so they didn't stress out.
I mean I'm a person that when I'm faced with challenges, I put comedy in a lot of things. So, without them knowing, we played out the little -- the shining, you know, in the gymnasium. So, I have a video riding around on a bicycle and her acting like one of the crazy twins. I mean, just fun stuff for all of us just to kind to get through it. LEMON: So, you're holding -- Josie is with you. Josiah is with the
other John, and Aidan is in the back in the middle. Did your dads make -- were you scared? Did your dads make you feel safe?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
LEMON: Yes, to what?
BLACKBURN: Yes, to what? Yes, were you scared, or did we make you feel safe?
UNKNOWN: Yes, we were scared.
LEMON: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
LEMON: Well, you guys, how worried - Aidan, how worried were you guys?
UNKNOWN: How worried were we?
LEMON: Yes, because it had to be cold.
UNKNOWN: Yes. It was freezing. We were really worried that the lights wouldn't come back on and the heater and the A.C. and stuff. And when the water pipe burst, we were worried that it wouldn't be able to work out, and we wouldn't be able to have any water.
LEMON: Yes.
BLACKBURN: We had to boil snow.
MAYS: Yes.
LEMON: You had to boil snow?
BLACKBURN: And filled up the bathtub with snow. We just had snow coming in the house everywhere that we could --
LEMON: Yes.
BLACKBURN: -- and melting it and filtering it and doing all we could. We were very fortunate we had a neighbor bring us some water as well, but we just had to keep things moving ahead because we didn't know what was going to happen.
LEMON: So, let's talk about -- anything you want to say, Josie or Josiah because Aidan got to do all the talking.
MAYS: You want to say something?
UNKNOWN: No?
MAYS: Go say then.
LEMON: No? OK. Listen, John, John Mays -- MAYS: Yes.
LEMON: -- you say that Texas leadership must change, that your state government has failed -- has failed you and Governor Abbott because he first blamed the power outages on wind and solar energy. Now he says that he takes responsibility. What's your reaction?
MAYS: I'm glad that he's taking responsibility. It was frustrating. I can tell you when we're sitting in the cold in the dark and you don't have any water and you're burning your house, you feel kind of abandoned and left out, and that's what I was feeling.
I can tell you in turn, though, I've been very grateful. Our local community here and the mayor of Carrollton was quick to open up warming centers and communicate to all the people here locally in our community and all of our friends and family have reached out to us. And we've reached out to them too. We've all pulled together and helped each other.
I mean, if anything, this has been such a wonderful learning lesson for us on how important community is and how important it is to stay together as a community.
LEMON: But you still need water, right? You still have no water?
BLACKBURN: I was able to --
MAYS: Thank goodness I had a handy dad that taught me well, and I was able to cut the wall open and find the burst pipe. We tore down quite a bit of sheetrock, but we finally found it, and we cut the pipe and capped it. So at least we could have some water tonight. So, we're very grateful.
LEMON: So, you tore into your walls and you tore into the baseboards, so you guys got a lot -- you got a lot of repairing to do. You got a lot of handywork.
BLACKBURN: Yes, there's a lot of repairing to do.
LEMON: Thank you, John. Thank you, Jon. Thank you, Aidan, Josiah, and Josie. You guys be well. I'm glad that you're safe and looking out for each other in the community. That's the way it should be. You're good examples.
BLACKBURN: Yes.
LEMON: Be well.
MAYS: Thank you.
LEMON: Absolutely.
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
LEMON: Bye. Bye.
UNKNOWN: Bye.
LEMON: So, listen, we have some breaking news on the Pfizer vaccine that you'll want to know. One dose may be enough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So right now, we need two doses of the coronavirus vaccines to be effective, but there's promising new research about the Pfizer vaccine.
Let's discuss with William Haseltine, the former professor at Harvard Medical School. Thank you so much. It's good to see you, sir. Also, by the way, he's the author of "Variants: The Shape Shifting Challenge of COVID-19." Again, so good to see you after introducing your book.
WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Good to be with you.
LEMON: So, there's a new study out, it's out of Israel, it's published in The Lancet Medical Journal. And it found that the Pfizer vaccine, 85 percent effective after the first dose. They looked at 7,000 health care workers who got the vaccine. So, tell us what this means. Good news?
HASELTINE: Not necessarily. I'm -- you know, we've seen hope versus reality many times. Our government, our government experts don't recommend one dose only. The company doesn't recommend one dose only, and I personally would say it's taking a risk.
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We know these variants are ready to pounce, and it does protect -- one dose -- for a while, but it doesn't give you full protection, and it may not last very long. And the moment it weakens, a variant can come in and get you.
I don't think we should keep putting hope against reality when we know that we've kept on doing that and we have 500,000 dead Americans to show for it. So, I'm not a big fan of one dose.
LEMON: Yes. So, the White House says that weather is causing delays in vaccine shipments and deliveries, and the country is seeing a small dip in the average number of doses getting into arms. Do you think that we'll be able to make up lost ground that happened over the last week or so?
HASELTINE: You know, this administration seems committed to getting as much vaccine into people's arms as the industry can make, and they're helping do that by supporting the local government with federal resources. The more we can do that, the better things will go. And I think by the time the first 100 days is over, we'll exceed the goal that has been set. I'd like to see and we'd all like to see a lot more, but I think that they can make up for lost time.
LEMON: So, Professor Haseltine, if someone is having trouble getting their second dose because of these delays, is it OK if a few extra days go by, or do they have to start all over?
HASELTINE: No. A few extra days is fine. And even -- you know, you can wait a long time. It's that period between the two doses, the longer you go before you get your second dose, the immunity you have starts to decline. It may never be what it should be, and it declines somewhat. And that's where the variants can come in and take advantage.
We know that we're in the midst of a wave of variants. There are five variants at least and probably more in this country spreading, and we know how fast they can spread. In Great Britain, they were a small fraction of the viruses at the beginning of the year, and they're almost all the viruses today. It can spread very fast. And they're more dangerous. They are more lethal. They spread more rapidly.
And we've just learned something else. That one of the reasons for that, at least for the British variant, is it lasts twice as long in your body. It gives you twice the chance of getting sick and twice the chance of spreading it. So, these variants are nothing to fool with. This virus is a dangerous, wild beast, and you give it a chance, it will get you. And so that's why I think we've got to be really careful with a one-dose strategy.
LEMON: Professor Haseltine, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
HASELTINE: You're welcome. Thank you. And thanks for that great show just before me.
LEMON: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. We'll see you soon. Be safe.
A top Republican paying a visit to the former president in Florida as he snubs another. We're going to tell you who's who, next.
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LEMON: So, the former ambassador to the U.N. and possible 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley learning the hard way what happens when you cross Donald Trump.
CNN learning that the former president snubbed Haley's Mar-a-Lago meeting request. The two haven't spoken since she said that she was disgusted by Trump's actions during the insurrection. She claimed in a Wall Street op-ed yesterday that praising Trump's record and criticizing his conduct is not having it both ways.
So, joining me now is CNN senior political analyst John Avlon who can hopefully explain this logic to me. John, thank you so much. So, good evening.
So, Nikki Haley, like so many other Republicans, trying to have it both ways, despite what she says. Is that -- is that never going to work with Trump? JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST & ANCHOR: Not with this cat.
I mean, and Nikki Haley is seeing that, right, where other, you know, representatives like Steve Scalise are going to kiss the ring, if you've criticized Donald Trump, he'll freeze you out. Because you're either with him or against him. There's no reasoning. And against the backdrop of an attack on the capitol this shouldn't be a tough call.
Rational human being who's a Trump supporter would say I support what he did in terms of policy but I condemn what he did to run inciting an insurrection. But that's not big enough. You've got to buy into his big lie even now, which is B.S.
LEMON: So, Haley yesterday tried to patch things up by blaming the media for the GOP divide in her op-ed.
AVLON: Yes.
LEMON: But the divide, listen, the divide is real. Number two House Republican Steve Scalise met with Trump yesterday with someone close to Senator Mitch McConnell says that he will never bend the knee. GOP is full on identity crisis right now.
AVLON: It is, and they're choosing sides in this GOP civil war. It's stunning to see senators like Ron Johnson take a whack at McConnell. Look, you know, the fact that the state parties are, you know, censuring senators and congressmen who had the courage to stand up and condemn an insurrection doesn't surprise me. But to see senators turn on people when they realize that this is a choice between truth and lies. This should not be a tough call.
And if you're proactively choosing to still suck up to the big lie then you're clearly part of the problem and you're on the wrong side of history, even if you're looking for a short-term bump from the donor class, it's ridiculous.
LEMON: John, Republican lawmakers in Georgia trying to push an election bill that would limit absentee voting, ban early voting on Sundays, which is a huge voting day for black Americans who attend souls to the poll's events. Is this a blatant attempt to suppress the black vote?
AVLON: Yes. Look, you know the history of rolling back voting rights and restricting access, particularly in the south, this isn't a tough call but it's part of the GOP legislature. Look, you know, the Republican elected officials down there who run the elections said this was a clean election, but this is what's known as conspiracy boot strapping.
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This whole, the big lie of election fraud is used as a pretext to push election voting restrictions. That are really about make it easier for Republicans to win in a state that's trending purple. The head of the Gwinnett County GOP gave the ghost away a couple of weeks ago when she said, look, if we don't change these laws, we're not going to have a shot at winning. But at the end of the day these draws are really ugly legacy of racism and rolling back voting rights in the south in particular. They're trying to ram through this bill, this is nothing but suppression.
LEMON: Where is the bill right now?
AVLON: Well, they're going to try to apparently push it through in a session tomorrow. We'll see if they succeed in it. But that's one of the things they'll do, they put in a 48-page bill and try to ram it through. But all you need to know as if they're trying to make early voting not on -- not applicable on Sundays, that's a direct shot at souls to the polls. You don't need to know a ton more than that.
LEMON: John Avlon, I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Be safe out there. We got a lot of snow today in New York. Thank you.
AVLON: That's it.
LEMON: One hundred million from the south to the East Coast at risk for a deadly winter storm. We're live in Texas where millions are facing a water crisis on top of a power crisis. Stay with us.
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