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Interview with Abilene Fire Department Chief Cande Flores; United States Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement Today; Many Election Officials Leaving Jobs Over 2020 Election Fallout. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 19, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Most of the power has returned, but it's not clear when the same can be said of running water in people's homes, and clean water in people's homes.

The state capital alone lost a whopping 325 million gallons from pipes that burst, damaging countless homes. And shelter and clean water, these of course are just some of the basics of life that Texans are struggling to find in the most energy-rich state in the nation, about to face another night of record low temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got down all of the blankets out of the attic that like, for -- everything, extra blanket we had, and we all piled on the couch and just slept on the couch, and depended on body heat. And that's probably what we'll do tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: I'm out of candles, you know, for a little bit of light. Can't charge batteries. You know, we've got flashlights, we can't recharge the batteries. There's no propane in the area to be found, we drove for over an hour the other day, looking for propane. There is none in the area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: No water, it's real bad. And I have a seven- year-old, and it's like, it's tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to go now to Dallas and CNN's Ed Lavandera. The organization, Ed, that manages Texas' power grid, ERCOT, just held a long news conference, and its CEO was repeatedly asked about ERCOT's accountability in all of this. What can you tell us?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have been saying throughout, especially the last two days, as the governor of Texas has unleashed a barrage of criticism at that organization for what he says is a failure, an epic failure here in this state.

But ERCOT officials -- and that is the name of the agency that runs the state power grid system -- they say that they did what they had to do to protect a much large catastrophe, those officials saying that they were seconds if not just a couple of minutes away from a total collapse across the grid.

So that is a political fight that will continue to play out in this state in the coming days and weeks. State lawmakers are in session in Austin, so obviously this is something that is going to continue to play out.

But the more pressing matter at hand right now, Brianna, is just where we are in terms of getting out of this crisis. And the good news is, is that those state power grid officials are also saying that emergency operations have ceased, that everything from a power plant perspective is back to normal.

However, there are still about 180,000 people or households without power here across Texas. But that has more to do with damage inflicted by this winter storm, so it's going to take utility crews some time to get all of those issues repaired.

And as you alluded to at the top here, it is the water situation that continues to be a growing source of frustration for many people. About 16 million people across the state, impacted by water issues and water disruptions; 161 of the 254 counties in this state are suffering water disruption. So that is something that is going to take some time to repair as well.

But the good news is, Brianna, is that you can actually, when you drive around, when you walk around neighborhoods, you can hear the drip-drip of ice and snow beginning to melt, warmer temperatures expected this weekend. So that should put an end to this long week of Texas freeze, but the headaches aren't going away just yet -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, a long road to recovery. Ed Lavandera, live for us from Dallas, thank you.

Not all of the weather stories out of Texas are of survival. At least 15 people have died in Texas from the severe conditions there. One fire chief in the city of Abilene discovered a victim frozen to death in bed, despite being under multiple blankets, and the man's wife was found in a recliner. Crews had to take her to the hospital.

Joining me now is the chief of the Abilene Fire Department, Cande Flores.

Chief, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. It sounds like you guys have seen the worst of the worst there. Tell us about this couple, and how long you think they had been in the cold before you found them.

CANDE FLORES, CHIEF, ABILENE FIRE DEPARTMENT: It was a little unclear as to exactly how long they were in there. Approximately 24 hours earlier, there was a person that had been taking them meals and they had seen the couple, had tried to talk them into going to a warming center and they had been reluctant to leave their home. And so it was 24 hours later, she went back to take them food and found the husband deceased in bed.

KEILAR: And what was it like, how cold was it in that house? FLORES: According to our crews, it was about the same temperature, it

was about 12 degrees at the time outside. It was about the same temperature inside the home.

KEILAR: Can you tell us other situations that you're finding?

FLORES: So we've had a total of four deaths now. Earlier today, we had a situation where an elderly female walked out of her home, and she was found in her backyard, deceased, and that was directly related to the weather conditions.

[14:05:02]

We've had two others that are possibly related. One we know of for sure, that was a gentleman who was sleeping outside. He spent the night in the weather, and those conditions led to his demise. And then a second that actually would be a fourth, who has also been possibly related. So a total of four in Abilene, and then an additional three in our county.

KEILAR: How is the homeless community in Abilene faring?

FLORES: They're faring pretty well. We've opened up several warming centers throughout the city, and they're taking advantage of those. So we are seeing most of that population inside of those warming centers, getting good meals, getting blankets and the accommodations they need. So that hasn't been a big issue besides this one individual who we found on Monday.

KEILAR: Look, I know your first responders are professionals, they're tough, they deal with catastrophes and a lot of you may be facing the same challenges at home, but how are you and your crews doing? How have their homes been damaged, how are they managing to work while also dealing with what's happening with their families?

FLORES: Any time there's any type of a natural disaster, I mean, that's something you just have to deal with. And we've all pulled together as a crew and a group, and taking care of each other. Our stations have gone down at different times without electricity, without water. We've relied on generator power, we've relied on bottled water to get us through.

And right now, we're in really good shape. The community has also stepped up to help us by bringing food and water bottles to our station, so as a whole, our crews are doing well. I mean, they're made for this type of disaster, unfortunately, and they're used to seeing people in their worst moments, and this is one of those times. And we're doing what we can to help out, and I think our guys are doing a stellar job at this point.

KEILAR: Thank you to you, and to thank you to them as well for your service, Chief Flores, we really appreciate it.

FLORES: Thank you.

KEILAR: President Biden, a short time ago, giving his first major address on the global stage as president, reassuring world leaders and U.S. allies that after four years of Trump, the U.S. will earn back our, quote, "position of trusted leadership." Biden also committing to being tough on China and Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Competition with China's going to be stiff. That's what I expect, and that's what I welcome. Because I believe in the global system, Europe and the United States, together with our allies.

This is also how we're going to be able to meet the threat from Russia. A criminal attacks our democracies and weaponizes corruption to try to undermine our system of governance. Russian leaders want people to think that our system is more corrupt, or as corrupt as theirs. But the world knows that isn't true.

We have to work together to strengthen and reform the World Health Organization. We need a U.N. system focused on biological threats that can move quickly to trigger action. Similarly, we can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change. This is a global existential crisis, and we'll all suffer, we'll all suffer the consequences if we fail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Biden signed the paperwork on his first day in office to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. It became official today as he announced plans to hold a leaders' summit on the issue, and it's clear that Biden's global approach is being welcomed back by many world leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINSTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: As you've seen and heard earlier, America is unreservedly back as the leader of the free world, and that is a fantastic thing. And it's vital for our American friends to know that their allies on this side of the Atlantic are willing and able to share the risks and the burdens of addressing the world's toughest problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: President Biden also expected to speak next hour on the COVID vaccine rollout. And in a matter of minutes, we'll see him as he visits Pfizer's manufacturing site in Michigan. This is the same facility where some of the first vaccines rolled out in December, after receiving emergency use authorization.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is in Portage, Michigan. And let's go back to that comment, Jeff, by Boris Johnson. It seems pretty significant at this point in time from him, having dealt, obviously, for years with Trump.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, no question about it. We are hearing the British prime minister talking in words that almost could have been talking about President Trump. I mean, he clearly was praising President Biden there in a way that, you know, he might have been talking about his old friend Donald Trump.

[14:10:07]

But clearly a sign that the president's speech this morning to the G7, saying America is back and knowing that he has to earn the respect of the rest of the world, has to earn the respect of, really, the damages to alliances that have been frayed over the last four years. So certainly remarkable words there from Boris Johnson.

But as President Biden arrives here in Portage, just outside of Kalamazoo -- he just stepped off Air Force One a few moments ago -- he is going to be inside this Pfizer facility right behind me here. And it is the very place, as you said, Brianna, where those high hopes were seen on December 13th, as the vials were boxed up and rolled out the door for the first vaccinations.

Now of course, there have been some bumps in the road along the way here, so President Biden wants to come and see this firsthand, to see where these vaccinations and vials are packaged and made.

This is something that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, on the way here to Michigan, was talking to reporters. She said it is a focus of President Biden's to try and ramp up vaccinations, so here alone for Pfizer, there will be 120 million more doses by the end of March, and 200 million by the end of May. That is a goal at least.

But there have been some bumps in the roads on getting the supply out to places across the country. Of course, the storm has caused a lot of those delays as well, but we are going to hear from President Biden in the next hour here, talking directly about how he wants to speed up vaccination supply.

This of course now is something that was found under the Trump administration. The vaccines rolled out during the Trump administration, but now the Biden administration owns all of this and they are trying to get a handle on getting the country vaccinated -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it will be one of the biggest tests of his presidency. Jeff Zeleny, live for us from Michigan, thank you so much.

Next, a pattern across the country of election officials being forced out or resigning in the wake of President Trump's election lies.

Plus, Senator Lindsey Graham, the latest to announce a trip to Mar-a- Lago as the former president continues to fuel a civil war in the Republican Party.

And the attorney general of South Dakota facing only misdemeanor charges after he hit and killed a man walking next to the highway. I'll get reaction from the victim's family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:37]

KEILAR: New signs that the bitter fallout from the 2020 election season, that it's not over. Several high-profile election officials have now either lost or left their jobs in the wake of President Trump's big lie that the election was rigged, and experts are warning more may quit. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash is following all of this for us.

Dana, tell us where this is happening.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's so interesting because, Bri, you and I have covered politics for a few years, and we know that these local officials barely are known locally, never mind on a national and even international stage. That changed dramatically, and for some of them it's meaning that they're leaving their jobs.

You see, let's start with Connie Lawson. She is, as you see, the Indiana secretary of state. She resigned on Monday, saying bluntly, 2020 took a toll on me.

And then there is Richard Barron, he is -- or was -- a 21-year veteran elections director in Fulton County, Georgia. He also was voted out of his job, and the reason that they gave in that county is because they needed to modernize. But he was also very critical of things that went on with the attacks on the election system.

Kathy Boockvar, you saw her so much on television throughout the 2020 cycle. She also left her job in February. She did it for a different reason, not because of the scrutiny on the elections there but because there was a mistake in not putting a change in the constitution on the ballot in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And lastly, this is maybe the most -- in addition to Indiana, the most specific to the 2020 election lie. And you see it's Aaron Van Langevelde. He was the Republican who voted in Michigan to accept the fact that the 16 electoral votes in Michigan went for Joe Biden and not Donald Trump, and he was not reconfirmed to be on that board.

And so you see all of this fallout. And our colleague Fredreka Schouten has a great piece on CNN.com, talking about the fact that potentially a quarter of election officials are now planning to retire before 2024, the next presidential cycle.

KEILAR: Yes. I mean, they had a tough, tough year, right? It's -- you understand --

BASH: Yes, never mind the President Trump situation, but COVID --

KEILAR: Yes, that's right.

BASH: -- getting things done in a pandemic.

KEILAR: It was a tough year for them.

And you also, Dana, have some reporting on Lindsey Graham. The senator is paying a special visit to Florida this weekend, we hear?

BASH: That's right. He's just the latest to go down to Florida, to talk to President Trump. Now, the two of them got together a lot when the president -- the former president was in the White House, golfing and things like that. We expect them to do that again.

But he's going, I'm told, with a very specific mission, and that is to be constructive with regard to the very real fight between the former president and Mitch McConnell. And the way he wants to be constructive is looking ahead to 2022. And the real concern that -- right now, 50- 50 Senate, it would be very easy for Republicans to take control, but also very easy to give up that opportunity.

I'm just going to show you a couple of examples of some concerns Republicans have, starting with Arizona. Kelli Ward, you know, Brianna, the former president loves Kelli Ward but she is not somebody who -- she's a real conservative, and not somebody who many Republicans here in Washington think could win statewide because Mark Kelly, who's now the sitting Democrat, has to run again for a full term.

[14:20:14]

A lot of Republicans are trying to convince the current governor, Doug Ducey, to run. He says he doesn't want to run, he told me that a couple of weeks ago. But they're thinking maybe if the former president were to pull back on his criticism of Doug Ducey, also about 2020 election, maybe they could convince him. But the concern, obviously, is about Kelli Ward.

Now let's look at Georgia, another very, very important state for the 2022 Senate elections. Marjorie Taylor Greene, now a congresswoman, there's concern that she could jump into the race for Senate. David Perdue, who's now a former senator, Republican, has already said he wants to challenge Raphael Warnock, who's the brand-new Democrat there.

The concern is that if President Trump, the former president, at all signals that he's fine with Marjorie Taylor Greene, that could throw the whole thing up in the air and it could make a Republican primary very, very difficult. And if she won, they think -- Republicans here in Washington think almost impossible to beat Raphael Warnock.

So those are just some examples of why Lindsey Graham and others are trying so hard to convince the former president to be on the right side of the party, the big picture, when it comes to trying to get the Senate back in 2022.

KEILAR: Yes, we'll have to see if Lindsey Graham can do it. I haven't seen anyone really do it yet, so that would be quite the accomplishment. Dana Bash --

BASH: Mixed results, is probably the best way to say it.

KEILAR: Mixed results. Dana Bash, yes, no real consistent results of getting him to do that. Dana, that was great, thank you so much for walking us through that --

BASH: Thanks, Bri.

KEILAR: -- we appreciate it.

You can catch Dana, of course, on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, and we will certainly be watching.

Next, the Manhattan D.A. hires a white-collar crime expert as the investigation into Donald Trump's finances move forward. What that might mean for the former president.

Plus, Pfizer announces how effective its vaccine may be after only one shot, as we are moments away from President Biden's tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:57]

KEILAR: Capitol Police are now telling lawmakers that the razor wire fence surrounding the Capitol should remain in place until at least September due to lingering concerns about threats to members of Congress.

This, developing as we learn new details about former Vice President Mike Pence's actions on the day of the Capitol insurrection when he was evacuated to safety just one minute before the rioters reached the Senate floor.

In a new interview, Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short appears to suggest it was the vice president who helped deploy the National Guard to the Capitol, and not former President Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I saw the vice president exert enormous leadership by quickly calling Senator McConnell and Leader McCarthy and Pelosi and Schumer to make sure they were safe and OK. And then quickly move forward to how can we get back to finishing the work of the American people.

And in those moments, he -- the frustration that he first heard was the sense that National Guard was a little bit slower in getting there than leadership wanted. So the vice president offered to call Secretary Miller and General Milley, which he did, and they assured him that, look, we're moving as quickly as we can.

He conveyed that back to leadership, they reconvened, had several calls. At some point there was a concern that it may take a few days to reconvene. And at that point, he asked me to call the chief of police for the U.S. Capitol to come and meet with us, because there were concerns that there could have been explosive devices, other things left behind, and it would take a long time to actually clear the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: CNN's Jim Acosta is with us now. This is pretty significant, what we're hearing from Marc Short -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: I really think it is, Brianna, because you know, we have not heard a whole lot from Penceworld since January 6th. The vice president -- former vice president has kept a low profile, as you know, Brianna, ever since the riot up on Capitol Hill.

And to see Marc Short, who is one of his most trusted advisers, out there on the airwaves, talking about this? It's interesting. It does sound as though Short is confirming some of the reporting that we heard at that time, that essentially President Trump, then-President Trump was pretty slow in getting the National Guard mobilized.

It was not moving fast enough, obviously, for the leadership up on Capitol Hill, and that Vice President Pence, at that point, intervened and was calling the acting defense secretary, talking to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to make sure that the National Guard was being mobilized and deployed.

The other thing that is interesting, Brianna, from that interview -- and Short gets into this -- is he talks about this relationship between Trump and Pence, and he talks about how Trump was, yes, disappointed in Mike Pence for not going along with his plot to overturn the outcome of the election.

But Short goes on to say in this interview that he believes that Trump was getting bad advice, as he called it, from not only people coming in from the outside, but also senior advisers. I think he didn't' mention any names, but he seems to be pointing the finger at the former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

[14:29:50]

And so it's interesting to hear Marc Short talk about all of this. Obviously there were a lot of, you know, tough feelings inside Penceworld because they felt -- and we reported this at the time, Brianna -- that, you know, they felt that Trump did not reach out quickly enough to Mike Pence to make sure that he and his family were OK.