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U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn and FBI Scrutinizing Cuomo Administration's Handling of Nursing Home Death Data; Parents Face Confusion About When Schools Can Reopen; White House Unveils Sweeping Immigration Reform Bill. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 18, 2021 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A striking reality today. The governors of three of the biggest states in the country, they're all in trouble, facing mounting pressure over three very different controversies and scandals.

In New York, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn are now investigating how Andrew Cuomo's administration handled COVID deaths in the state's nursing homes. CNN is reporting and also reporting a New York lawmaker said that the governor threatened to destroy him and his career in a phone call about the scandal. The governor denies that allegation.

Let me bring in CNN's M.J. Lee who -- she's the reporter who broke this story. M.J., what can you tell us about the call and where this is headed?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, you'll recall that a top aide to Governor Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa, told state lawmakers in a private virtual meeting that the state had delayed sharing with the legislature the full scope of COVID related deaths of nursing homes residents because of concerns about a potential federal investigation.

Now, New York Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim was on that call. And what he told CNN is that, last week, after the New York Post first broke this story about that call, Cuomo called him and wanted him to put out a new statement. He said that Cuomo threatened to destroy him. Here is a little more of what he said on our air last night.

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RON KIM (D) NEW YORK ASSEMBLYMAN: The governor called for about ten minutes and it seemed like one hour, berating, yelling and threatening that I have to issue a statement to -- that invalidated what I heard. He asked me to lie to cover up for his staff and this was done in front of my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEE: We also spoke with Kim's wife, who said that she overheard parts of that angry phone call and that her husband told her afterwards that Governor Cuomo have threatened to destroy his life.

[11:35:00]

We've also spoken with other New York legislators who would not go on record like Kim did who said that they were also aware of Cuomo making threats of political retaliation to lawmakers who would not stand by him.

BOLDUAN: So, M.J., what is the response from Cuomo's office?

LEE: Well, Kate, CNN first reached out to Cuomo's office for comment on Tuesday and initially in the written statement, they didn't directly respond to or deny Kim's allegations of threats. They also didn't deny the allegations of threats from other legislatures but instead accused them of making threats of their own.

But then they sent another statement from a senior adviser saying, in part, quote, Kim's assertion that the governor said he would destroy him is false. The governor has three witnesses to the conversation, the operable words were two the effect of, I am from Queens too and people still expect honor and integrity in politics.

Now, this adviser said that Kim told Cuomo that he would put out a new statement, something that Kim denies, and Cuomo himself, as you saw yesterday in a press conference call, said that he and Kim had had a long and hostile relationship and accused him of having political animus going back years.

Kim has been one of the most outspoken critics of the nursing home scandal. His uncle has presume to have died from COVID in a nursing homes and he is now calling for Cuomo to be striped of some of these expanded executive powers that he has had since the pandemic started, Kate.

BOLDUAN: M.J., thank you so much for bringing us that reporting.

Coming up for us, officials in Los Angeles County, they are giving the all clear to reopen elementary schools for in-person classes. The superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District says it is not happening. He joins me next.

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[11:40:00]

BOLDUAN: If you are confused about when schools can and should safely reopen, you are not alone. Parents and teachers across the country are understandably frustrated. And the series of clarifications and, frankly, mixed messages coming from the Biden administration has not helped. And it is happening not just on the federal level but also on the local level.

One example right now is Los Angeles County, California. The good news of COVID cases trending downward has led county health officials to say that elementary schools can reopen for in-person learning there. But most will not.

Joining me right now to talk through this and explain why is the superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District, Austin Beutner back with me. Thanks for coming back in.

AUSTIN BEUTNER, SUPERINTENDENT, LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Kate, thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: I appreciate it. The county said it is safe enough to reopen elementary. You have laid out the upgraded ventilation systems and the appropriate testing procedures. You've worked so hard to get in place that are in place for your district. So why are you not reopening for elementary students?

BEUTNER: Well, the CDC told us in the new director is a brilliant researcher, brilliant scientists, but it doesn't speak in sound bites. She said focus on three things. The first is mitigation in schools, which, as you've said, we've already done. The second is look at the community spread of the virus and the third is the role vaccinations play.

And let's just look at the role of the community spread. Los Angeles County spread across 4,000 miles, included communities, like La Canada, with very, very low case counts, average household incomes of $200,000. That is not the communities we serve, which are 85 percent living in poverty. 85 percent black and Latino have been most impacted by this virus where case counts are 15 to 20 times higher and household incomes are ten times lower.

The most impacted communities are the ones that we serve, which is where the role of the vaccination to complete the picture, because in the communities that we serve, Long Beach already has vaccinated all of its K through 5 educators. Hillsborough County, Northern California, adjacent to a wealthy suburb of San Francisco, a quarter million dollars household income, virtually no COVID, they're vaccinating all of their educators in schools, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom teachers.

We need to do the same in Los Angeles and they need to be doing everything the CDC says to reopen school classrooms in the safest way possible, all three, not just one.

BOLDUAN: Let me play for you on the issue of community spread and case counts. I spoke with one expert earlier this week and he is the director of Harvard's Healthy Buildings Program. He studied the safety in schools extensively. Let me play for you what he said.

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JOSEPH ALLEN, DIRECTOR OF HEALTHY BUILDINGS PROGRAM, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The community spread metrics are not good predictors of what is happening in the school. You can have a school open safely even if community spread is high if you have good infection control measures in place. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Have you considered this? You have good control measures in place.

BEUTNER: We have fantastic control measures in place and community spread, as the CDC tells us, is part of the picture. If our case counts are 15 times higher than more affluent community, which is also in the average, we need to take that into context.

And this is all about risk mitigation. It is not about open schools in any way possible, it is open schools the safest way possible, which is why vaccinations for those who work in schools can and need to be made part of the picture immediately.

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BOLDUAN: So, let's talk about vaccines then. You've talked about the CDC director, she said really clearly, as well as the head of the second largest teachers union in the country, Randi Weingarten was on this show, both of them saying that the science said that vaccinating teachers is not a prerequisite to reopening if other measures are in place. Do you disagree with that, Austin?

BEUTNER: I think you're looking at it half full or half empty. If you can, why wouldn't we? Long Beach, right next door to Los Angeles Unified, they vaccinated all of their elementary school educators and staff. Hillsborough, Northern California, one of the more affluent communities in all of California, are vaccinating all of their school staff.

My point since we're serving the hardest hit communities, why aren't we taking care of them first? Why aren't we vaccinating them today? It would take less than 1 percent of the doses come into the state of California over the next few weeks to reopen all of our elementary school classrooms, offered in-person instruction for a quarter million kids with half a million family members and then half after recovery, we should be vaccinating those who work in schools.

BOLDUAN: Have you heard from the state? Have you heard from the county about if this is possible?

BEUTNER: We continue to hear, frankly, excuses. Again, 1 percent of the doses of vaccine coming into the state of California over the next two weeks to reopen schools in the second largest school district in the country, this sounds like something we really have to do (ph).

BOLDUAN: One thing that is a question is, if vaccines for teachers and school workers are the final step, and let's say they would become available, you've talked about, I think, 25,000, do you know that all 25,000 would want to get the shot?

BEUTNER: We'll make that available. I think the importance is to allow choice for those so that they can protect themselves as best as possible. And we've already committed to reopen schools as soon as all three pieces are in place. If we get on with the vaccination, we'll have children back in schools as soon as possible and in the safest way possible.

BOLDUAN: It is not easy, if it was, it wouldn't be where we are as a country. It is complex and I know there is urgency on your part. There is certainly urgency on the part of all of the families, especially some of the families -- you've told me their stories about these children who desperately want to be back in school. We'll stay back in touch. Thanks for coming on.

BEUTNER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, the Biden administration is announcing a sweeping immigration reform bill today. Can president pull off what so many presidents have proved incapable of doing in the past, passing comprehensive immigration reform?

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, the White House is rolling out a sweeping immigration reform bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants already living in the United States.

Comprehensive immigration reform is something many presidents have tried and, of course, failed to get done. The Biden White House out of the gate seems to be acknowledging this very tough road ahead as it is making this big announcement.

Joining me right now is CNN's Jeremy Diamond live at the White House for us. Jeremy, what are you hearing about this plan and how real they think its chances are?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kate, President Biden came into office, and right then and there on inauguration day, he released a framework for what he hoped to see as comprehensive immigration reform that he was putting forward.

Today, we are seeing that actual piece of legislation built off of that framework introduced in Congress by the president's allies in the House of Representatives, and then next week it will be introduced in the Senate.

At the core of this immigration plan is an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already here in the United States. And then a faster track for some of those undocumented immigrants, including those individuals who came to the U.S. illegally as children and were brought by their parents. It will also make some changes to U.S. law, changing some of the language around illegal immigration, referring to non-citizens, not as aliens but simply as non-citizens.

And then you're also going to see some efforts on the legal immigration front, making it easier for spouses and children of permanent residents here in the United States to actually come and immigrate to the U.S. well. And, again, this is just the introduction of this piece of legislation. What you're really seeing here is an effort by the president to kind of set a marker here for what he would like to see in this immigration reform plan.

This White House is very clear-eyed about the fact that the politics here are very tough and the numbers are stacked against them, particularly when you look in the Senate with the narrowest of narrow majorities there with 50 Democrats, 50 Republicans.

There are long odds that they're actually going to get ten Republicans to sign on board for a plan like this. And that is why we saw President Biden earlier this week acknowledging that perhaps some of this would have to be broken up into pieces, and that may very well be what ends up happening here.

BOLDUAN: And Biden is also getting some outside support to boost his policy agenda, Jeremy. What are you hearing about that?

DIAMOND: That's right. The president is getting some backing from outside advisers, outside allies. A group of Democratic strategists, with the blessing of the White House, are forming a non-profit group called Building Back Together.

This is a group that is expected to help coordinate some of the pro- Biden messaging on the outside and really provide some air cover in the form of T.V. ads and other ads to bolster the president's agenda, including this upcoming coronavirus relief package that he's pushing through Congress.

[11:55:02]

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Jeremy, good to see you.

We also have this just coming into CNN right now. Ivanka Trump is indicating that she is not likely to jump into politics, well, at least, the Florida Senate race, that has long been rumored, at least for now. A spokesperson for Senator Marco Rubio is telling CNN's Manu Raju that Ivanka Trump contacted Rubio a few weeks ago to offer her support for his re-election bid, saying that she would not challenge Rubio in next year's Senate primary in Florida. In fact, the two are planning to do an event together around tax day to promote a childcare tax credit. Stand by to stand by on that one.

Coming up for us still, much more on the dire situation in Texas as hundreds of thousands of people remain without power.

We'll be right back.

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