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Study: 30% of Long-Haulers Report Symptoms Lasting 9 Months; Flyin' Ted: The Complete Autopsy of Cruz's Jet Plane Adventure; NASA Shows New Pictures of Mars from Rover. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired February 19, 2021 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: But why do some people develop and others don't? Is that the psychological and physical stress of being diagnosed?
Could it be that even previously healthy people have existing conditions unmasked before this virus? They didn't know about it, their preexisting conditions, until they actually got diagnosed. We don't know.
But if you start to think about the numbers, Brianna, tens of millions of people who have been confirmed with the infection in this country, and 30 percent have symptoms at least nine months, you're starting to talk about a lot of people and a significant impact on our health care system.
That's something we'll be thinking about and having to figure out going forward.
If you even go back and look at SARS, Brianna, back in 2003, there was data showing a significant number of people had symptoms going at least 18 months after that.
So there's a lot to learn, still, but this is a little glimpse of what we know so far -- Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Sanjay, thank you so much.
Two women tried to get their second COVID-19 vaccine by dressing up as grannies in Florida. We'll tell you what tipped off police.
And from blaming it on his kids to admitting he lied, we roll the tape on Ted Cruz's Trip to Cancun as Texans freeze.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:05]
KEILAR: In the newest installment of National Lampoon's "Winter Vacation," Senator Ted Cruz wanted to get there fast and then take it slow. Leaving on a jet plane, making like space jam by believing he could fly.
But now that this sloop John Dee adventure has come to an end for this newest beach boy, it's time for the autopsy.
Let's begin here. A historic crisis engulfs the state of Texas. It leaves millions without power, heat and water in frigid temperatures. In fact, five days later, many are still suffering.
Senator Ted Cruz back home in Texas while the Senate is in recess, with no power and no heat himself, decides it's a good time to take a trip.
He packs for the times. His wife books seats on a flight and a room at the Ritz. They grab their passports and off they go.
His office calls up local police in the middle of a crisis to use their resources to get an escort to make sure Cruz gets through the airport.
He arrives, no incognito, no baseball hat, no sunglasses, same mask that he's been known to wear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): As I was heading down there, you know, I started to have second thoughts almost immediately, because the crisis here in Texas, you need to be here on the ground.
As I said, really, from the moment I sat on the plane, I began to really second-guessing that decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Second thoughts once he was on the plane? Which was, coincidentally, around the time it probably became clear to Cruz that phones were pointed at him inside the plane and had been in the airport. In other words, when he got caught.
How gnawing were those second thoughts? Not very, apparently.
After social media exposed his getaway, several hours of silence from Cruz land. His office ignored CNN's calls along with those of most other news organizations.
We first confirmed his voyage through people familiar with his itinerary.
Then the police confirmed it, saying that Cruz's office requested their resources during this crisis to help get Texas' traveling man through the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think it's a little tone deaf. And sometimes you got to teach your kids the word no. And this probably would have been a good time to tell your kids no. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Then finally, Cruz's first response to the firestorm, a statement that read, in part, quote, "With schools 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."
Yes, he blamed his kids. Ice cold as a Texas snowstorm. And planning a vacation because their kids tell them to with 24 hours' notice in the middle of a pandemic?
I mean, damn, if that was the way things really worked, a lot of American families would have been to the North Pole by now.
There's also just the irony of Ted Cruz, of all people, fleeing to Mexico with his family because conditions are apparently better across the border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: These are hardened, cold criminals. These are trans-national, global, criminal cartels. And they are vicious, violent murderers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But Cruz's initial statement is just the beginning of his storytelling. He hops a plane back and explains it this way first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: My girls wanted to take a trip with their friends and, frankly, get somewhere where it was warmer, and Heidi and I agreed. I took them. I flew down with them last night and I just flew back today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He goes full Gilligan, insisting it was just a three-hour tour.
Many observers on social media pointed out that, for a quick trip, that's quite the suitcase. How much room can one pair of underwear and a toothbrush and a clean shirt really take up?
[13:40:57]
Alas, Cruz's fairy tale about just being a good parent would not hold up for long. Hours later, "The New York Times" publishes a group text with Cruz's wife.
Heidi Cruz invites some friends on a Cancun getaway, travel-agent style, room, board, flight number. "The family is freezing," all caps, she declares.
But the savage part is that someone on this group text leaked it. And you thought blaming the kids for the escape to Mexico was ice cold. All of that brings us to the part where the jig is up. So Cruz holds
an impromptu news conference trying to clarify.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: The plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family. That was the plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Then he went on a mea-culpa tour, running for cover with a strategic stop by the mother ship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX HOST, "HANNITY": You went and you took your daughters to Cancun and you came back. I think you can be the father and be the Senator of Texas all at the same time and make a round trip, quick drop-off trip, and come home.
CRUZ: Well, Sean, that's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Quick drop-off trip. Even Cruz fact-checked Hannity on that B.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: So last night, I flew down with them to the beach and then I flew back this afternoon. I'd initially planned to stay through the weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: You know, as if this weren't bad enough, tone deaf enough, Cruz has a history of calling out others for their extra extracurricular activities.
When Democrats violated their own COVID health guidelines, including the mayor of Austin, a Democrat, who went to Cabo while advising people not to travel during the pandemic, there was Cruz slamming the mayor as a hypocrite.
The mayor did apologize, but Cruz took aim. He said, quote, "Hypocrites, complete and utter hypocrites. And don't forget Mayor Adler, who took a privet jet with eight people to Cabo, and while in Cabo, recorded a video telling Austinites to 'stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax.'"
In 2017, then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called Cruz a hypocrite for requesting federal aid after Hurricane Harvey.
Why is that? Well, it's because Cruz voted against an aid package for New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy because it was filled with pork, he said, for unrelated projects. Cruz -- and you can't make this up -- told Christie to, quote, "go back to the beach," referencing, of course, the infamous moment when Christie closed a state beach when the government shut down only to sunbathe on it himself.
Another example during a speech in 2015 blasting the Obama administration for inaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: If only the terrorist attacked a golf course.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: That might actually get the White House's attention. Holy cow!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A month before that, when he was criticizing Obama over a border crisis, Cruz went on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: This is an absentee president. He is not focused on the people who are hurting.
He's going to two major fundraisers where he wants to be with wealthy Democratic donors, but apparently, he doesn't have time to actually go and see the border. He doesn't have time to go see the children who are suffering because of his failed policies.
Earlier, he was playing pool. 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)
KEILAR: Well, now, Cruz is playing uniter, telling everyone to rise above the drama that he singlehandedly caused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: You're allowed to disagree with someone politically. I wish that more of the angry left, more of the people that scream and yell and are filled with hatred, I wish they would learn to just treat people with civility and respect.
The angry haters screaming "resign," we're at a very divided place in our country where people are screaming vitriol and hate. And you know what? I think that is a sad sign of where we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Screaming "resign." Not only does Cruz have a stamped passport, he also has a very short memory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: It is my belief that Secretary Kerry has proven himself unsuitable for the position he holds.
John Kerry should offer President Obama his resignation. And the president should accept it.
MEGYN KELLY, FORMER FOX NWS HOST: You think President Obama should ask for Eric Holder's resignation?
CRUZ: Yes. Absolutely.
Loretta Lynch should resign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But Cruz wouldn't be Cruz without jabbing the press for his own sabbatical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: You know, Sean, candidly, I've got to the press is obsessed with optics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The press is obsessed with optics, Senator. OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-Am. I do not like green eggs and ham.
As we defend our Constitution --
(CHEERING)
CRUZ: -- as we defend our freedoms.
(CHEERING)
[13:45:02]
CRUZ: And we will not go quietly into the night.
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am joined here by the man himself, Senator Cruz.
Senator, busy day?
CRUZ: Pretty much business as usual.
(LAUGHTER) (SHOUTING)
CRUZ: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
Donald, you're a sniveling coward. And leave Heidi the hell alone.
I'm here campaigning for Donald Trump.
I'm getting ready to get on a gigantic airplane that has Donald Trump's name painted on the side of it.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: On Monday of this week, I voted for Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Cruz's bonus journey is hard to defend. It's easy for both sides of the aisle to dunk on Cruz. And even he knows that, as illustrated by his mea-culpa tour in which he avoids blaming the libs.
But right-wing defenders surely tried, doing more twists than Chubby Checker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN SHAPIRO, HOST, "THE BEN SHAPIRO SHOW": It's not a real-time crisis that Ted Cruz, the Senator from Texas, can do anything about.
Did they expect Ted to go there with, like, a blow torch and start defrosting all of the pipelines?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Another one is a Trump pardon recipient echoed this but more creatively.
Quote, "What would Ted Cruz do if he were here in Texas? I'm hard press to say, if he is in Cancun, that means he's not using up valuable resources of energy, food and water that can now be used by someone else. This is probably the best thing he could do for the state right now."
Ah, he's actually helping people by jetting to Cancun during a historic crisis event. I mean, it makes sense, right?
Oh. Except he did use resources. He called the cops to escort him to the boarding gate.
But what's worse is they're indirectly suggesting that Cruz, one of the two Senators who rep the state, has zero power, that he couldn't think outside the box to help the people he serves in any way he could.
And therein, lies the tragedy, the real tragedy here. A member of Congress, someone who is in power, who is not even from
Texas, found a creative way to help. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. She raised $1 million for Texans this week even though she's from New York. More than 1,700 miles away from Flyin' Ted, who flew the coop.
Beto O'Rourke, who lost to Ted Cruz and is not an elected official anymore, ran a phone bank to get more information out to seniors to try to help them get the resources they need.
It's certainly something that Ted Cruz could have done, because almost every photo taken of him during this controversy, he is looking at his phone.
But was he monitoring the fallout from the Texas deep freeze, or was he monitoring the upgrade list?
Ahead, a former top aide to former Vice President Mike Pence is speaking out. Did he just confirm that Donald Trump dragged his feet in getting help to the capitol during last month's riots?
And just in, fascinating new pictures of the red planet taken by NASA's newly landed rover. What is next for this mission on Mars?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:52:33]
KEILAR: This just in, new pictures from NASA's latest Mars mission. The rover called "Perseverance," dubbed "Perseverance," has been on Mars now for less than 24 hours but it's been really busy, beaming back images of the red planet.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. And CNN aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien, also joins us.
Ah! This is my favorite, to have you guys here talking about this.
Stephanie, tell us about these new pictures and what NASA scientists are saying about the new mission?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First of all, Brianna, as you might have expected, they're still riding high. One of the scientists I talked to said they don't even need sleep right now.
This is an actual life-size model of what is affectionately known as "Percy," is up there on Mars now that they were able to create. And right here in the front, you can see up here, this is where they have some cameras.
We're getting these new images we're going to show to you on the screen right now.
They say they've been able to take pictures and they're in high definition. And the other really cool thing is that there's audio involved now, too. We're going to get sound and video that will come back. That's probably next week.
But these new images, getting to see what we're seeing in a new way. And there's so much new technology involved here.
I know I'm walking away from the rover slowly, but one of the new things on there's a helicopter that will, in a short time, be flying up there in space.
What's really noteworthy about this little contraption, the first time a helicopter is flying on another planet, but also the atmosphere on Mars is so thin.
And so I spoke to Robert Hubb -- he's the deputy mission manager -- about what this means to entail to get this machine up and's going. Take a's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT HOGG, "PERSEVERANCE" DEPUTY MISSION MANAGER: When I talk, I say, blow your face with your hand. OK. You would feel one one- hundredth of what you feel. That's how much atmosphere there's on Mars.
And yet, we've built a machine that can fly in that atmosphere and control itself autonomously and take images and then land again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: Which is amazing.
The other thing noteworthy, right here, this is where they'll take samples of the ground there on Mars, and then storing them away in titanium, that will later be picked up and brought back to earth.
So we can eventually see what this means for humanity, to actually get to Mars, and learning more about what the planet is, and whether or not there was actually ever life there on the planet -- Brianna?
KEILAR: I can see you're jealous of her toys there, Miles. What do you see coming out of this mission?
[13:54:59]
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: I wish I was there with Stephanie, for sure.
First of all, what a great day they had yesterday. Let's not let the moment pass where we don't celebrate that team that pulled off that amazing five-for-five rover landings on the surface of Mars.
We're getting a few images in. The most stunning one being that shot of perseverance, shot from its back shell before it separated, only about six feet from landing. That's quite an image. We're going to get a lot more of that kind of imagery over the
weekend. So I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to have my popcorn out for Monday's briefing.
KEILAR: I know you are.
Miles, thank you so much.
Thank you, Stephanie, for the tour as well.
Next, we'll take you to the crisis in Texas. The power is back on for millions but now Texans dealing with another situation, and that is dirty water or no water at all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's the top of the hour. I'm Brianna Keilar.
The days-long disaster in Texas is sending millions on the search for clean water. This is just one of the long lines for water in the state. More than half of Texas right now is under a boil-water advisory.
[13:59:57]
And new numbers have just come in. Officials say more than 14 million Texans are being impacted by disruptions to their water after that winter storm and the bitter cold overwhelmed the Texas power grid.
