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Don Lemon Tonight

CNN's First Interview With Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield As U.S. Assumes Presidency Of Security Council; Multiple Nominees For Biden's Cabinet Face Opposition On Capitol Hill; Trump Teases 2024 Presidential Run In Speech To Conservatives; GOP Rising Star's Past Is Not What It Seems; Analysis Finds Over 250 Bills To Restrict Voting Access Introduced After Trump Election Defeat; New York Governor Faces New Allegation That Threaten His Political Future; J&J's Single-Dose Vaccine On The Way. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 01, 2021 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (on camera): At the same time, we know that there are areas where we can and should work with the Russians, whether it's on trying to find a way forward on -- on climate change, bringing them to the table, as I hope to do during my month's presidency, finding a solution to opening up the humanitarian corridors in Syria.

And while we do have differences -- and sometimes those differences are difficult to bridge, you still have to have diplomacy. You still have to work with people you might not agree with. You have to work with people you don't like. You have to work with people who are working against your interests to try to bring them around. If you don't talk to them, you end up in the same place. And you never achieve anything.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): So, you mentioned Syria. Last week the U.S. carried out airstrikes in Syria, targeting Iranian backed militias in response to attacks on American forces in that region. Are diplomats at the U.N. questioning whether this was justified?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: I don't think so. And we made clear why we felt this was necessary. Americans were being attacked. Our interests were being attacked. Our allies were being attacked. And this was a defensive action to stop those attacks from happening.

LEMON: Yeah. So -- as you mentioned you are the president, right. You're officially the president of the U.N. Security Council for this month. North Korea is still developing a nuclear program. What are you going to do about it?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: We're going to continue to try to find solutions to the North Korea problem. We see them as a strategic threat to our interests. They are a strategic threat to the interests of our allies, and more broadly to the American people. And we will work to try to prevent them from moving forward with their nuclear programs, but also try to work with our -- with our partners. So in my first three days in New York I met with all the members of

the Security Council, many of those members are neighbors to North Korea. And we talked about what kinds of strategies we might develop to address these issues. But I made clear that it's -- it's a priority for the U.S. And I wanted to deal with it as a member of the Security Council.

LEMON: Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. I want to talk to you about that. His fiancee released a statement today and it says this in part. It is essential that the Saudi crown prince who ordered the brutal murder of a blameless and innocent person should be punished without delay.

This will not only bring the justice we had been seeking for Jamal but it could also prevent similar acts recurring in the future. What's your response to her and to those who say that the Biden administration is giving a murderer a pass?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: That is not the case. I think our positions have been clear. The relationship with Saudi Arabia is not going to be the same. It has changed significantly. And President Biden has made clear that we will hold those people accountable. And you've seen some actions that we have taken.

The president announced that we would release our report. And he has done that. We've taken some actions against those who are involved in terms of visa bans, sanctions as well. And we have changed our approach to Saudi Arabia. The president decided early on that we were going to stop supporting the Saudi actions in Yemen.

And we made a decision that we would become actively involved in finding a solution. So things have changed. So that no country will ever be able to do what the Saudi government is accused of doing and get away with it in the future.

LEMON: OK. But there are -- people want to see something stronger happen, right. They will say well this is essentially no different than what the Trump administration did. And that you are -- that the Biden administration is letting the crown prince and his family off the hook for the death of an American. A journalist who is --

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: The Biden administration has been in power less than -- well about two months, not even two months. March 20th would be two months. And we have taken strong actions already. And those actions have been taken in public. And those actions will continue to be strengthened over the coming months.

I think that anyone who has any doubt that the president is not serious just needs to look at what he has done in the short period of time that we have been in the administration. And there is more to come.

LEMON: And we will be watching. Ambassador, thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining me.

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, thank you so much. And I wish you a happy birthday. And I know you have a new book coming out. I can't wait to read it. I look forward to seeing all the stories of your life in Baker, Louisiana.

LEMON: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

[23:05:00]

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Now, I want to bring in CNN political analyst, Astead Herndon and former White House Trump White House communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. Gentlemen thank you for coming on. I appreciate this and to give us some analysis.

Astead, as I just mentioned with the ambassador, some of President Bidens nominees facing a lot resistance from Republicans, they are being painted as extreme or as radical. I want you to take a listen to this. This is about Holland and Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): I am troubled by many of Representative Holland's views, views that many in my home state of Wyoming would consider as radical.

UNKNOWN: Biden promised unity. But this is a dangerous appointee at a dangerous time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): What is this all about Astead?

ASTEAD HERNDON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES (on camera): Yes, I mean, this extends further back than this nomination. I think about the midterm candidates of color. I think about the Senate candidates of color. This has been a kind of through-line between what we know. This is a Republican Party that has oriented around painting all Democrats as radical.

But we know that that overlaps with both issues of race and identity of gender. And that that is the kind of core of what -- of the attacks on Democrats have been. And so we have a Republican Party that frankly is one that is telling Democrats that if they nominate someone who is a barrier breaker, who is someone who pushes those boundaries and kind of is the first of their name, that that it's easier to paint them as a radical.

Those words overlap with things that we know to be bigoted, the things that we know to be not in Congress with the kind of history of their own experiences and their own power. And so I feel like it is important for us to make clear that these are attacks that are coming from a party that has decided to paint every Democrat as radical but especially those who are women, who are people of color and who experience those harms on a different scale. LEMON: So, Anthony let's talk a little bit more about that. Let's dig

in on what Astead just said. The GOP playbook has been a describe Democrats as radical to (inaudible) them. The problem is no one believes President Biden is radical. It just won't stick.

ANTONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, FOUNDER/ MANAGING PARTNER, SKY BRIDGE CAPITAL (on camera): Well, they couldn't sell the Biden is your dictator merchandise even at CPAC because no one can buy that stuff or even believes it. But I think Astead is on to something that he wants to explain what they are doing.

It's become a White Christian Nationalist Party. And so that is all signaling to their supporters, that's signaling to their donors that they're going to block women and they are going to block minorities.

And they are going to champion in the stuff that they think that's going to get them up re-elected. Remember, Lindsey Graham said it, we're going with Trump plus. So that means they're going to dig up as many people as they possibly can inside their base. You know, remember in the old days, Don, if you were trying to expand your electorate you would seek independence or right-leaning Democrats but not these guys.

They want to go very hard core into the white Christian nationalism. And they believe that they can get that 74 million number up to 83 million and then beat the 81 million. And that's the move. And that's the signal that they are sending right now.

And so Astead is right. But I just want to explain what they're doing. And what the logical sequence is behind it. I mean it's disgusting but I just want to explain it so that we can combat it better.

LEMON: Got it. Astead, GOP Senator Josh Hawley has oppose every single one of Biden's nominee despite telling CNN he takes the nominees one at a time. That's not generally how this works. So, what is he doing?

HERNDON: I mean, he's (inaudible). I mean, we know very clearly that there is a bunch of Senators, particularly those who are looking towards 2024 and saying how do I position myself for that Trump wing? And so there is a calculation from some of those Senators to say, hey, I'm going to oppose Biden at every front.

I think that is an outgrowth of a larger GOP kind of mantra. You had Mitch McConnell position himself in the Obama era as someone who is going to oppose Barack Obama at every front. Make him a one-term president. You can go even further than that to the Newt Gingrich of the 90s to say that that has been the kind of mantra of the GOP for the last 20 years.

But I think this is a strategy for folks who are looking ahead to say what is the post Trump Republican Party? The funny thing is they are not post Trump. Even if for the Hawley's and the Cruz's and others who have kind of looked towards 2024. At the same time this is a Party that is so tied to the former president that even at CPAC they are pledging to say that they would support him if he runs in 2024. This is a Party that is not wrestling with Trumpism but is devoted to

it. And so all those other folks are trying to play catch-up to kind of reach up to that game. But we know who the embodiment of it is the former president. And whether he runs or decides to run is the foremost and only important question for the 2024 primary.

LEMON: Listen, while all of this is happening, which you know many see as admirable, Anthony, President Biden is just pushing ahead with what he needs to do and Democrats are pushing ahead with the COVID relief bill.

[23:10:10]

They're going to need every -- he's going to need every Democrat onboard, right. So how is it going to look if Biden passes a bill that the majority of Americans want and every single Republican votes against?

SCARAMUCCI: Again, they're not worried about that. And Astead is on to something again about Donald Trump. That they secretly do not want Donald Trump to run again. Because they see him as old and tired. They're actually trying to turn the political Rubik's cube, Don, to a stronger version of Trump.

LEMON: They're trying to out Trump or somebody --

SCARAMUCCI: Yes. They see Hawley or DeSantis as having a higher I.Q. and more energy. Let's use Trump words. Trump right now to them is low I.Q. and low energy. And so they are paying him lip service right now, because they think it's going to make them money and raise them money.

But that's their M.O. They are voting against the stimulus package. They want to be the Party of no so that they can try to build this coalition. And they think they can dig out more voters from their base. They need to dig deep into their base and bring out the turnout.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Anthony let me ask you, because you said, you were just doing the analysis. And I understand that. Do you think it will work? And you were right on about many things that happened during the previous election in 2016.

SCARAMUCCI: Yes.

LEMON: Do you think this will work? And 2020 as a matter of fact I should say.

SCARAMUCCI: The smarter version of Trump I am worried about. But I don't think it will work. I would love to see Trump as the nominee. After watching that speech over the weekend, is ort of wanted him as the nominee. I think he is a great unifying figure. He just so happens to be unifying all of us against him. And he has never gotten above 49 percent, Don.

So, no, I do not think it will work. But we better explain it to as many normal people as possible so they understand what they're doing so we can undermine it.

LEMON: Got it, out of time. Thank you, gentlemen, I appreciate it. I'll see you soon.

SCARAMUCCI: Happy birthday, man.

LEMON: Thank you very much. Thanks so much.

He is a rising star of the GOP but Madison Cawthorn's past is not exactly what it seems. The story is full of inaccuracies and accusations. CNN's investigation next.

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[23:15:00]

LEMON (on camera): Tonight, there is new scrutiny on Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. At 25 years old he is the youngest member of Congress. But some women he went to college with have lodged allegations of sexual harassment. And that's not all. Here is CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): If we don't start fighting for our country, then who will.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He is considered a rising star in the Republican Party. But Congressman Madison Cawthorn's past in the political persona he has cultivated is littered with inaccuracies and dark allegations.

CAWTHORN: I welcome increased scrutiny, because, you know, I don't have anything to hide.

SERFATY: Cawthorn faced numerous allegations of sexual harassment while attending Patrick Henry College in Virginia just four years ago. Accusations Cawthorn has denied.

CAITLIN COULTER, ATTENDED PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE WITH CAWTHORN: His M.O. was to take vulnerable women out on these rides with him in the car and to make advances.

SERFATY: Caitlin Coulter went to school with Cawthorn and says she was taken on what he called a fun drive. According to Coulter, Cawthorn ask asked her about her purity ring and her sexual experiences. Coulter said she felt something was off and shutdown the conversation.

COULTER: He got really upset and he whips the car around and started going back to campus at 70, 80 miles an hour. One-lane roads and it was -- it was really scary.

SERFATY: CNN spoke to two other women who went to school with Cawthorn, both of them also mentioning his invitations of the so- called fun drives and that turning him down would result in more unwanted attention. There was a lot of sexual innuendo Lee Petri told CNN it got really uncomfortable walking to and from class. He would yell out are you ready to take that fun drive today. That pestering continued. That attention was not what I wanted.

More than 150 people from the college signed on to a letter last year blasting what they said was Cawthorn's predatory behavior and urge voters in his district to reject his candidacy. In a statement provided to BuzzFeed during the campaign, Cawthorn said I have never done anything sexually inappropriate in my life. Meantime fresh questions about his own account of the car accident that left him wheelchair bound in 2014.

In a 2017 speech Cawthorn claimed that he was left for dead after he and a friend were in that 2014 car accident and his friend abandoned him at the scene.

CAWTHORN: He was my brother and my best friend. He -- he leaves me in a car to die in a fiery tomb.

SERFATY: But CNN obtained the accident report which shows that Cawthorn was not declared dead. His injuries were listed as incapacitating. Bradley Ledford, Cawthorn's friend and the driver of the car telling the Washington Post that Cawthorn's accounting of the accident was not true. Cawthorn's own parents undercutting their son's story too saying the driver of the car rescued him.

UNKNOWN: He wasn't scared to run from the fire. He pulled Madison out of the car because he was unconscious.

SERFATY: That accident went on to be the core part of the narrative Cawthorn weaved about himself as he ran for Congress.

CAWTHORN: I know something about adversity. At 18 years old I was in a horrific car accident that's left me paralyzed from the waist down.

SERFATY: His campaign website claiming that he was nominated to the prestigious U.S. Naval academy but his plans were derailed by the car accident. But in this 2017 deposition related to the accident, obtained by CNN, Cawthorn admitted that he was rejected by the academy before the accident.

The details of Cawthorn's background part of a Washington Post investigation into the freshman lawmaker who at 25 years old is the youngest member of Congress.

[23:20:04]

MICHAEL KRANISH, WASHINGTON POST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: There were a lot of false statements that there were baseless allegations made. There is no question that he is trying to take that page from the Trump playbook.

SERFATY: Those false statements include Cawthorn's baseless claims of election fraud which he spread during his remarks at the January 6th rally on the national mall, the same day rioters stormed the Capitol, and has pushed in the aftermath of the insurrection.

CAWTHORN: We do have concrete evidence that there were ballot drop boxes inside of Wisconsin. I don't have (inaudible).

SERFATY (on camera): And the spokesperson for Congressman Cawthorn tells me tonight that they believe that all of these questions had been asked and answered over the course of the campaign noting that he went on to win by more than 12 percentage points over his opponent. But notably, Don, they did not make the Congressman available for an interview for this piece. Don.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Joining me now is Washington Post investigative reporter Michael Kranish, who looked into Cawthorn's background. He is also co-author of Trump revealed.

Michael, thank you so much for joining this evening. As someone just told us, you investigated in the Post. Congressman Cawthorn, he is not the first politician to embellish his life story. Certainly won't be the last. But what stands out to you about his false stories?

MICHAEL KRANISH, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST (on camera): Well what stands out is that he is at 25 the youngest member of Congress. That's the minimum age to be elected to the U.S. House. His background, his resume by any estimation is pretty short. He has one semester in college. Which he had said in a deposition he got mostly Ds. He worked part time for former Congressman Mark Meadows and he said that he had just begun a business in real estate investment.

So, he had a pretty short resume. Most members of Congress have gone to college. But if they hadn't they have some kind of a career. So obviously at 25 he ran when he was almost 24 years old. That's a very young age. And we looked at his background as the report just said on CNN, you know there was a lot of things in his background that you know, quite bluntly were false.

He made a lot of baseless allegations about voter fraud. I mean, it was a lot of things that you heard from the Trump playbook. But there were things about his personal story that he had told when he was -- then one semester at college that turned out to be just not true. He had said that he had been quote declared dead, unquote on the scene of the accident which was caused by his very good friend who drove the car.

He said that his friend abandoned him and fled into the woods. I interviewed that friend and the friend told me on the record that in fact he pulled Cawthorn out of the car with a help of a bystander.

LEMON: And his family -- his parents actually backed up that story as well in Sunlen's report. But listen, I got to tell you. I got to ask you about, there's 150 people signed that college letter about his predatory behavior as someone reported in her story, all before he was elected. Was any of this reported before he became a national figure?

KRANISH: Well, there was reporting during the campaign. A lot of the reporting came after the runoff. So when he won the runoff against a candidate who was portrayed as a never Trumper, she said she wasn't a never Trumper. I go into detail on this in the story. There was $500,000 spent by the public action committee that helped Madison Cawthorn win that runoff. And there was a lot more focused on who is this person who basically beat a person who had been endorsed by Trump.

Trump then immediately endorsed him to be clear. A very important point came during the campaign at the Republican primary and runoff when it was revealed by a local news organization (Inaudible) watchdog that accredited my report, which said that in a deposition, Cawthorn had said that he was rejected by the naval academy before this accident.

But in his campaign ad, on his campaign website, he had said that the accident derailed his plans to go to the naval academy. So, it's a complete contradiction. And so it's a false statement that was on his website and on the campaign ad and that he made on a speech at Patrick Henry College. So, a lot of voters, they didn't know that during the Republican primary. It was revealed during the general but he still won the general election.

LEMON: Michael Cawthorn denied an interview request with the Post but his press secretary did respond and what did he say.

KRANISH: The press secretary said as he told your reporters as well that these matters were discussed during the campaign and Cawthorn won. Of course, there's a lot of things that happened for example after the campaign. For example, Cawthorn speaking at the same January 6th rally that Donald Trump spoke and which incited the crowd to go storm the Capitol. So, it doesn't answer a lot of questions.

I sent a list of questions to the Congressman's office. Most of them they didn't answer. He didn't deny that he had ever done anything wrong as far as the allegation of being a predator. As was alleged in the open letter from the alumni of Patrick Henry College. So that was the main thing that they denied.

LEMON (on camera): He did speak at CPAC. I want you to listen to some of what he said.

[23:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAWTHORN: I need reinforcements in Washington, D.C. The Democrats -- my opponents and adversaries on the other side are brutal and vicious. And they are trying to take away all of our rights. And they are playing for keeps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): That could have come straight from, you know, the mouth of Donald Trump, what he said there. And I'm guessing that's the whole point, Michael.

KRANISH: Yes, I mean during the campaign he said he was going to be the most pro Trump member of Congress. He said -- and here it is again, someone who is 25 years old, he's got elected and he was going to drag the Republican establishment kicking and screaming back to the constitution. It's not the kind of thing that you typically say when you are just elected to Congress and trying to make headway in your own party. But you know, that is basically what he did.

You definitely can see -- he was 21 years old when Trump took office. And now he is 25. So he basically spent that part of his adulthood during the Trump administration, so that is a big influence on him.

He saw Trump was successful during the first campaign and in his eyes during the presidency. And he sought to emulate that. And he used a lot of his saying type of tactics and phraseology when he ran for Congress and now is a Congressman.

LEMON: Michael it's a fascinating report and we appreciate you joining us. Michael Kranish, thank you so much.

KRANISH: Thanks, Don. Thanks for having me.

LEMON (on camera): Well, he says Jim Crow isn't dead and a bill passed today in Georgia could be proof of that. Dan Rather explains next.

Plus, accusations of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: We need a full investigation. We need the whole truth of what happened. We need to make sure it never happens again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

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LEMON: Voting rights are under attack all across the country. Today, Georgia's House of Representatives passing a bill aimed at restricting access to mail-in voting and making election laws tougher.

The bill would limit the locations and hours for ballot drop boxes, require voters to provide a copy of their identification when voting absentee, limit weekend early voting days and even criminalize giving food or drinks to voters while they wait in line.

State legislatures in 43 states have introduced over 250 bills to restrict voting access. That is according to an analysis done by NYU's Brennan Center for Justice.

Well, my next guest says these attempts to roll back voting rights are the dark heritage of Jim Crow. Joining me now, legendary journalist Dan Rather, the author of the Subset newsletter "Steady," "Steady," and he is steady, and he joins us now. Thank you, Dan. Good to see you. And very well put, what you said about this. And let's discuss. You said it, Jim Crow is not dead. All these attempts to make voting harder all across this country just prove it. It shows it. Talk about these harm -- how harmful this is for our democracy, please.

DAN RATHER, AUTHOR, JOURNALIST: Well, first of all, Don, happy birthday to you.

LEMON: Thank you.

RATHER: I want to join others in wishing the very best returns of the day. And I recognize you are not 60. You're not anywhere near 60 years old.

(LAUGHTER)

RATHER: I know that. I understand that. But, you know, I wrote this article that Jim Crow is not dead because, you know, I'm of a generation of Americans that experienced Jim Crow when it was at its height or near its height, 1930s, 1940s into the 1950s.

There are a lot of people who say, well, Jim Crow is now dead in the country because the superstructure, the architecture of Jim Crow in many ways has been dismantled over the years. There were things you used to could do in the way of outright segregation, discrimination you can't do now.

However, with these laws that are designed to restrict the number of people who can vote, voter suppression laws, which go under the title of the anti-fraud or integrity and all of that is faulty, what they are at base is a version of Jim Crow, and we should call it that in the same way that for a long-time journalists and others wouldn't call a lie a lie.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

RATHER: But more recent years, when someone tells a demonstrable lie it's called a lie in politics and elsewhere, that one reason I wrote this article was to say we should call this what it is.

These efforts to restrict the access of votes, the options of votes, the outreach for votes, they go into various aliases but they are Jim Crow laws that are being sought. You said it, some 206 laws --

LEMON: Yeah.

RATHER: -- 28 or 35 states have been proposed to again limit the number of people who vote. And Don, you know, let's again see the reality of this. This is really a sad story --

LEMON: Yeah.

RATHER: -- because it's basically surrender by one party, a surrender by that party to the belief that they can no longer win. They can't be assured in their own mind. They can't win on their ideas, on their policies, even on the character and personalities of their candidates that they now believe that so deeply that they are trying to compete by silencing large swaths of the American voting policy.

LEMON: Yeah.

RATHER: The public. Now, that's something, but it's not a democracy. And what this whole thing is just to bring it around.

[23:35:01]

RATHER: What we need to recognize is Jim Crow is still alive and in many ways, well in these voter restriction laws. And as long as that's the case, he will haunt us and he will harm us.

LEMON: Oh, I think you're right. And they're doubling down on -- on suppression because the manor that they're selling, people aren't buying it. They were selling better stuff, right? Then the majority of the people in America would be buying what they are selling, and they simply are not.

Dan, tomorrow, the Supreme Court is going to hear arguments in two voting rights cases on whether Arizona's voting restrictions violate the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of voting rights often in the past. But with a strong 6-3 conservative majority now, do you think that may change?

RATHER: I simply don't know. You know, Don, you and I talked about this before. I hope I'm pretty good when I talk about what has happened, reporting something has happened or what is happening. But when it comes to making predictions, I'm no good at it.

I do say that this is, again, a very important set of decisions the Supreme Court has to make and it's fair to speculate with the court stacked as it is now by appointees that -- who favor what is called the conservative ideology.

It's an interesting time. We will see how the Supreme Court rules. But as you and I have said to each other again in another context, the Supreme Court, even this Supreme Court, maybe especially this Supreme Court is full of surprises. So let's wait and see what they come up with.

But whatever the Supreme Court says, I think we can be assured at least for the short-term that many in the Republican Party and particularly the Republican Party leadership are going to keep proposing ways to suppress the vote. And as I say, this is so sad. You know, it has to do with fear, fear of losing power --

LEMON: Um-hum.

RATHER: -- that many people in the white community if we can call it that or simply afraid of losing power, and they want to hold on to power. You know, in this last election, Don, you reported it many times, we had a remarkable fair and complete election in 2020 in which record numbers of people turned out to vote on both sides of the political divide. This is something we should be celebrating and building on.

LEMON: Um-hum.

RATHER: Bun instead of that, you have these people who are reverting to Jim Crow or afraid to have that happen. They are afraid to have more access, more options, and more outreach.

LEMON: Yeah. Dan Rather, telling it like it is as usual. Thank you, Dan. Be well.

RATHER: Thank you. Be well, my friend. Happy birthday.

LEMON: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

So, another woman is accusing New York's governor of sexual harassment. That's next. And ahead, the CDC's director is now warning about coronavirus variants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo facing political and potential legal trouble. The state's attorney general will formally begin an independent investigation into two allegations of sexual harassment.

The governor releasing a statement this weekend saying he was truly sorry for anyone who -- quote -- "misinterpreted his remarks as unwanted flirtation." He is also facing a probe over the handling of the nursing home COVID death data.

And joining me now to discuss all of this is former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and CNN political commentator Errol Louis. Thank you so much for joining.

Anne, we are going to start with you. Multiple accusers of formal inquiry, you have a lot of experience conducting investigations into sexual harassment. What should we watch for as this all unfolds here?

ANNE MILGRAM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good evening, Don. Thanks for having me. So, I think there are a number of pieces that are going to sort of come next. The first is we'll watch to see the A.G. appoint an outside law firm. She won't do this in her office. She will have outside lawyers who she retains to basically do this.

And then they'll probably start making up a witness list, deciding who they need to speak to. They can issue subpoenas, which I think is really important. Unlike a lot of internal investigations, the A.G. has subpoena authority so they could get e-mails or text messages or documents. They can also compel witnesses to come forward.

And that's what the heart of an investigation will be, where they figure out what happened, when did it happen, was there, you know, inappropriate, unwelcome sexual harassment that took place. And then they'll also, you know, potentially try to interview the governor and get his version of what took place.

LEMON: So, Errol, Representative Kathleen Rice, a New York Democrat, is calling for his resignation tonight. He was already under fire for his handling of the nursing home scandal and accused of bullying and threatening other Democrats. How much trouble is Governor Cuomo in?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He is in a certain kind of political trouble, Don, because there are a number of people who are not friends of his politically, and Kathleen Rice falls in that category who are using this moment to maybe exact a little bit of revenge.

The mayor of New York City is another one. Just earlier tonight, as a matter of fact, he said he could foresee a scenario in which the governor would have to step down.

[23:45:01]

LOUIS: There are others who are saying, yes, he should step down. But almost without exception, these are people who really had some beef, if -- for a lack of a better word with the governor. So, some of this is political payback that's going on.

What we don't have, though, is a clear view, a neutral view and objective view of what actually happened. In many of these cases, there really are only a couple of people in the room. So, it will take a full investigation to figure out what was said, what was meant, how it was interpreted, and whether or not any laws were broken.

LEMON: Listen. This is what Democrats are discussing now and people who are paying attention on the liberal side, the Democrats ditched Senator Al Franken, Errol, when he faced accusations. Many later said that they regretted forcing him out. Do you think that's a factor here? Does that play into this for Democrats?

LOUIS: There's a bit of a factor to the extent that in the Al Franken case, one of the first people who come out against him was Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, our junior senator here in New York. And so she is calling for an investigation and kind of holding her tongue.

She got a lot of blowback and arguably helped doom her presidential campaign, the fact that a lot of people remember that. She came out early. She came out strongly. And the facts weren't necessarily in place when she drew a conclusion. I think she is going to be a little bit more cautious this time. And there are a number of other Democrats, I think, who are going to do the same.

Andrew Cuomo is one of the most powerful Democrats in the country. He is the head of the National Governors Association. He is the longest serving governor anywhere in the country. He is the dean of the governors. He is not somebody that you just on a couple of accusations would say should vanish from the political scene.

And let's keep in mind we're in the middle of a pandemic. The state government needs to perform at a high rate of efficiency and effectiveness. And this is a very bad time, I think, to let politics get in the way of the core functions that really do have to be done well right now.

LEMON: Thank you both. I appreciate your time. We'll see you soon.

She says we're not out of the woods yet. The CDC director straight talk, warning for people relaxing a little too much on the COVID precautions.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID vaccines are on their way to communities all across this country and could be in Americans' arms within hours.

Joining me now is Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He is the director of the Cardiac Catheterization Program at George Washington University Hospital and is often the highlight of my evening when he brings good news and hopefully this will be.

Doctor, thanks for joining us. So, Americans could be getting these J&J, Johnson & Johnson shots, these shots, as early as tomorrow, 20 million doses promised by the end of the month. The vaccine doesn't need to be kept in special freezers. Just one dose, as we said. Do you think that this vaccine in particular will really drive numbers down?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, DIRECTOR OF CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PROGRAM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I do.

LEMON: Oh, good. So you're the highlight of my evening. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

REINER: Or have a good night.

LEMON: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

REINER: So this is a big deal. It's a very effective vaccine. Just as effective in presenting death and hospitalization as the two MRNA vaccines. But it's much more efficient vaccine to use since it's one and done. You just need one shot.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

REINER: So, we'll see tomorrow, essentially, somewhere between three to four million doses delivered to the states. That's like getting six to eight million more doses.

This is going to increase our vaccine supply this week by about 30 percent. We're giving about 1.8 million vaccines per day. This is going to significantly boost that. We're going to have enough vaccine to really get the job done. Now we have to focus on the last mile, on getting the shots into arms. This is really good news. And it comes at a time where still numbers are dropping.

I know Dr. Walensky sounded a very important note of caution today about not letting our guard down, because there is little wobble in the data last week where last week the number of cases had increased by about two percent compared to the week prior. But over the last five days, cases have started to drop again, day after day after day, and hospitalizations continue to plummet, as do deaths.

So I still think, even though we're not out of the woods, I still think we can now see the clearing.

LEMON: Doctor, Trump advisers are telling CNN that the former president and first lady received a COVID-19 vaccine in January before leaving the White House. Why wouldn't they do it publicly, if not for public health purposes? He could have had some (INAUDIBLE) there.

REINER: He should have taken the victory lap. Look, we see what happened. We've seen what happens when politics have entered into mask wearing. And we're split in this country on party lines as it comes to vaccine hesitancy. Only 51 percent of Republicans say that if a vaccine was available for them right now, they would take it, compared to 91 percent of Democrats. And we need to bridge that gap.

And seeing the president and first lady, the former president and first lady get a shot, would have really gone a long way to do that. All I can think of is that he's so vain, he didn't want to roll up his sleeve or perhaps he didn't want to alienate the anti-vaxxer or pandemic deniers in his base.

[23:55:03]

REINER: There is no other way to account for that kind of crazy behavior. Why the president of the United States would get vaccinated in secret? It's just strange, strange behavior.

LEMON: Yeah. Doctor, thank you so much. I'll see you soon.

REINER: Happy birthday, Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Doctor.

And thank you for watching, everyone. Thank you for all the greetings. I can't respond to all of them, but I really appreciate them. Thank you. Enjoy your time and your loved ones. Hug them closely. Our coverage continues.

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