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Millions Without Water In Texas After Deadly Storms; Biden Approves Disaster Declaration For Texas; Pfizer Submits New Data To Show Its COVID-19 Vaccine Can Be Stored At Warmer Temperature; NY Gov. Cuomo Blames "Misinformation" For Nursing Home Scandal As His Personal Behavior Is Scrutinized; Interview With State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-NY); Prince Charles Visits Ailing Prince Philip At Hospital; Prince Harry & Meghan Are Officially Done As Working Royals. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired February 20, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:45]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, we begin this hour in Texas where temperatures and tempers are rising, snow and ice is melting with a new crisis limited water. Right now nearly half of the Texas population is under a boil water advisory after frigid temperatures crippled the power grid, frozen burst water pipes.

Thousands of people are waiting in long lines trying to get their hands now on bottled water. In San Antonio overnight, firefighters were unable to use frozen fire hydrants and were forced to find water elsewhere as they battled a fire at a Hilton Garden in. The storms have also created a backlog of coronavirus vaccines. The White House saying six million doses have been unable to be distributed because of the weather.

And this morning President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Texas, freeing up federal resources to help in that hard hit state. CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Austin, Texas. So Omar, what is the situation there?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the good news to start off is these are the warmest temperatures we have seen all week. And we are on the other side of what should be the last night of freezing temperatures this week. So, for the first time Texans are getting the chance to play offense in taking care of themselves. So, they are hitting the stores trying to scavenge for what is left stocked up in these grocery stores.

In many cases, people had to throw away the food they stocked up on because they lost power over the course of this week. So, again, people are trying to inch back towards some sense of normalcy. And I'll start with the good news. And that comes down to electricity, as at least here in Austin 97 percent of the power has been restored. And when you look across the State of Texas, for the first time we're under 100,000 power outages. When at one point during this week, we were well over three million. Now the next frontier though, here's where we get to the bad news is water. A lot of people still do not have water in this state. More than 15 million people have had their water disrupted in one way or another but progress inch by inch is being made in places across the state including in tech -- in Houston, excuse me, where Mayor Sylvester Turner says they're making headway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D), HOUSTON, TX: The system across the board has now normalized itself. You know, a couple of days ago, the water pressure, for example, was around averaging 29. And then on yesterday we said between 32 and 34, 35. You want to be 35 and above across the entire system. But today, because of the efforts of Public Works, Director Kara Haddock and her team, we above 50 PSI, above 50. So, you --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And here and the Texas State Capitol, we're a little bit over halfway to getting to the minimum water pressure necessary to pump water out throughout the city, as we understand from water officials here. They're optimistic they could get it back by the end of this weekend. But as you mentioned before coming to me with President Biden approving this major disaster declaration, individuals now be able to request federal assistance, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Omar, thank you so much for that. So, as local and state leaders in Texas grapple with this situation, some are simply fed up with the response from state and federal officials. I spoke with one Texas Mayor this morning who had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LARRY WALLACE, MANOR, TX: Honestly, I've lost all faith in senior leadership. They have proven time and time again over the last 12 months. And for us having three declared disasters. COVID which was the first national that went across all states. The threat on violence that Governor Abbott declared here and renewed it back in January and then now the inclement weather.

I have only heard from council members and fellow mayors that I've built relationships with around here. My county commissioner and our brand new county judge. Everybody else is a last hope. I'm just going to be frank with it. And that's how everybody feels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lots of frustration and still, at least in that city still waiting for some big answers. Joining me now to discuss is Dr. David Callaway, the chief of disaster medicine for Atrium Health and he's also the chief medical officer for Team Rubicon. Doctor, good to see you.

[13:05:11] DR. DAVID CALLAWAY, CHIEF OF DISASTER MEDICINE, ATRIUM HEALTH: Hey, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, we've got thousands of Texans who have no water, they're still dealing with power outages. What kind of concerns you the most in these dire situations?

CALLAWAY: Well, I think that one initial story is just to look at the individual heroism that's going on with, you know, some of our volunteers from Team Rubicon, pivoting from vaccinations to warming stations and water distribution. And then my good friend, Dr. Jason Pickett in Austin where you guys are just reporting from, he and the Travis County EMS team, you know, responding to 500 percent more calls going out to homes, providing hospital level care in these houses.

I mean, this is tremendous. But heroism isn't a strategy. And it's great to see, but we need to start thinking about reinvesting in our infrastructure, the energy infrastructure, the hospitals. And what worries me is we're getting another lesson, like we learned from COVID about the impact of disparities in care and how we need to fundamentally reshape, how we deliver care in crisis.

WHITFIELD: Right. So, like that mayor was talking about in Manor, I mean, yes, heroic deeds, but also huge disparities. So, you know, we've got the midst of -- in the midst of this pandemic, there is a lot of suffering. And now you've got this near collapse, Texas power grid, also revealing a lack of cohesive planning for disasters. What are you hoping that officials might learn from this so as to prepare for the next, you know, calamity?

CALLAWAY: Well, one of the things we've learned in Charlotte, we've been pretty fortunate over the last year is this power of novel public private partnerships. So, when we look at expanding testing for coronavirus or distributing mass or, you know, our pretty successful mass vaccination programs, we partnered with a bunch of companies and partners outside of the health sector.

So Honeywell, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, the Panthers, these are the type of partners we need to bring in to help work with state and local government in order to really get solutions. And we need to let teams lead. So, I understand the frustration of the mayor who is just on, because there are a lot of people who are used to managing in blue sky days, but not leading in crisis.

And we have moments like we do right now. Leadership is important, they need to be present, they need to be transparent, and they need to be bold, and they need to let their teams actually do the work and help our communities get through this.

WHITFIELD: And aside from government or leadership, what about for individual families? What are you hoping they might learn or glean from this in terms of preparedness or response? I mean, you know, trying as best to control what they can or respond to what they can on their level, from household to household.

CALLAWAY: Yes. Frederica, it's really hard. In modern society, we're very dependent on technology. And we're very dependent on just in time resources, we expect to be able to go to the grocery store at any time and get food. And so, this is a challenge, we built a comfortable society. And so, what individuals need to do is recognize that, in general, that's great. But you need to be prepared, and you need to be responsible for your own safety as much as you can.

So, having water, having backup batteries, a generator, if you can, knowing where your family members are, so you can support them. But as much as individual preparedness is important, we need to recognize that there is a huge swath of society that just can't do that.

WHITFIELD: Right.

CALLAWAY: They're working two or three shifts. You know, they have multigenerational families, they may not have the resources. So, this is where government and the private sector needs to come in and recognize that we know what the problems are. We just need to help people get the solutions.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a giant web. So, back to coronavirus and this vaccine and now Pfizer is now saying that it's -- it has submitted new data to the FDA that shows its coronavirus vaccine can be stormed -- stored rather at warmer temperatures, we're talking about now minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the minus 112 as in ultra-cold freezers. Do you see that this is going to make a big difference in reaching people?

CALLAWAY: I think it makes a difference. We already knew that we had a five-day window and now we may have up to a two-week window and some of the refrigeration changes. I mean, I -- again, I think the most important factor is we need to get vaccines into the hands of people who can deliver effectively and efficiently but also can make sure that there's equitable distribution.

And so, whether it's being able to administer the second vaccine at six or eight weeks, which I know is debated right now whether it's in increased flexibility in the storage, all of these things make our operational life easier. But the key is people need to want the vaccine. So, we need to overcome hesitancy. Distributors need to be able to get the vaccine. So, we need in our hands, and then we need to execute with speed.

[13:10:06]

CALLAWAY: And I think we can't do it. I think, you know, what we've seen is, you know, we now have blueprint, partners are coming together, we're ramping up distribution, and we're getting into the right people, and we're using data to help drive us so we made sure people are getting vaccinated.

WHITFIELD: Yes. This is -- this is all now helped accelerate the conversations about schools. You know, the CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky now says given the right precautions, schools may open classrooms no matter how much virus is spreading in the community. Has the Biden administration school reopening guidance been clear enough or is it bringing more clarity? CALLAWAY: I think the CDC's updated guidance is great. And we need to remember that the CDC gives guidance. They don't mandate operations. But what I would say is, it's pretty clear what needs to be done for schools to be opened safely. People need to wear masks. You need to be able to physically distance students. It's great if you can do testing and quarantine and if there are positive cases. And then vaccinations certainly help.

But I think that they're not required to open school safely. But anything we can layer on is important. And I think it is critical. Again, going back to the disparity issue. It is critical that we get elementary, pre-K kids into school so that they are not falling behind and so that their parents can get to work and help our economy recover.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. David Callaway, good to see you. Thank you so much.

CALLAWAY: Thanks, Fredricka. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. More now on our severe weather. So, when can the folks in Texas get some relief from this devastating winter cold? Meteorologists Allison Chinchar is in the CNN weather center. Allison, good to see you. What's happening?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Fred, there's light at the end of the tunnel. And I think that's the main focus. It's been a very cold tunnel. But we are starting to see those temperatures headed in the right direction. But look at this, the past week, we had over 3,000 record cold temperatures that were broken. 79 of them were all time records, meaning they broken for any day or any period throughout the year.

Now we're starting to see those temperatures get warmer, this is high temperatures expected for today. 50 for Dallas, almost 60 in Houston. So again, they're headed in the right direction. But here's one thing I would like to note. Some of these areas are still going to hit below freezing again tonight. So, all of that melting today is likely going to have some refreeze overnight.

So, that's going to be an impact for places like Amarillo, Oklahoma City, and even Little Rock. But that's just one of the impacts that we're still kind of concerned about. That ice and snow potentially refreezing overnight tonight after it melts today.

But also falling ice and snow. Those icicles that are on your roof, the ones hanging off of street signs over bridges and highways and such. You have to be careful and cautious around those because as it melts, those are going to start to come off as well.

So, do keep that in mind. And also pipes that may have been damaged over the last few days of the extreme cold temperatures. They don't always burst right away, it can be a delayed effect.

So keep that in mind. You may still have some of that in the coming days. Here's a look though, because at least the temperatures are headed in the right direction. Again, Dallas getting to almost near 60 by the time we get to Monday.

Houston getting into the 70s as we go through the next couple of days. And even Little Rock and Oklahoma City getting back into those low to mid 50s. So, again the main focus here, Fred, is that we're headed in the right direction. It's still going to take time to clean up but at least the weather looks like it will cooperate a little bit more in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: A glassful there. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. All right. Coming up, six million coronavirus, doses delayed because of all that severe weather however. So what is being done to speed up the distribution process.

And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo facing more backlash for his handling of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes. I'll talk live with a state senator who wrote the bill which would strip the governor of his emergency powers.

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[13:18:04]

WHITFIELD: All right. More than 59 million coronavirus vaccine doses have now been administered in the U.S. according to the last -- the latest data rather from the CDC. This as the White House works just surge vaccine shipments after severe winter forced delays in several states over recent days. CNN's Athena Jones joining me now from New York. So Athena, what are you learning?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Well, first, let's break down that 59 million number. Over 41 million people have received at least one shot and over 17 million are fully vaccinated, so the numbers are rising steadily. But we also know as you mentioned, that bad weather led to a huge backlog. Some six million doses of a backlog. The White House saying that all 50 states were impacted.

In some cases, it was workers who were snowed in, they couldn't make it into work to ship and package and ship the vaccines and other cases. Over 2000 vaccine vaccination sites couldn't receive the vaccine in some cases because of power outages. The White House is working to fix. Advisor Andy Slavitt who is a senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team was talking about that. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR FOR THE COVID RESPONSE TEAM: Starting tomorrow, Saturday, we're going to be shipping more doses than then states have ever received before because we're going to be shipping this week's doses and next week's doses. We know this means for all the governors and other states that have said we want more vaccines that they're going to have to be ready, they're going to have to make more appointments, they're going to have to extend their hours. And we're really hoping everybody pulls together.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES: So, if those millions of doses, I really do get out that's going to be music to the ears of officials in places like New York who have been clamoring for more vaccines for places like the Javits Center where I am right now, one of several mass vaccination sites here in the city, where the issue really is lack of supply. Overall, though, I should say that we should point out that the overall picture is certainly getting better.

We're approaching an average of 70,000 new cases a day, that's still a high number. But remember, just a few months ago, we were looking at 200,000 cases a day on some days.

[13:20:07]

JONES: So, we're now seeing the steepest decline in new cases since the pandemic began down almost 30 percent week over week. So, things are looking up, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones in New York, thank you so much. Up next, America is back. President Biden on the world stage rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and restarting nuclear talks with Iran.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Joe Biden has delivered his first major speech as president to world leaders at the G7 conference and is making a promise that, I'm quoting him, "America is back."

[13:25:07]

WHITFIELD: The President reassuring our allies that after four years of Donald Trump things could be quite different. In a major policy change from the Trump administration. The U.S. has now rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and Biden says his administration is now ready to talk to Iran about a nuclear deal. And on top of that, Biden is pledging billions for the global vaccine effort. Here now is Nic Robertson.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the big headline from the G7 a commitment to get COVID vaccines to the poorer nations to speed the development and deployment of the vaccines to increase manufacturing capacity of vaccines and to share more information about variants of COVID-19 that can potentially, potentially be more deadly or more infectious.

So, that was a priority committing more money so that those vaccines can get to those poorer nations. $7.5 billion committed, President Biden came with his own money as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must cooperate if we're going to defeat COVID-19 everywhere. My first presidential massive security memorandum focused on surging health and humanitarian responses to defeat COVID-19. And to better prevent and prepare for the next pandemic. Today, I'm announcing the United States is making a $2 billion pledge to COVAX with the promise of an additional $2 billion to urge others to step up as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And the G7 not the only event of the day, the Munich Security Conference, virtual as well, President Biden speaking there, talking about an inflection point in history where you can go with democracies or you can go with autocracies. He says that he wants to work with other Democratic nations to develop diplomatic plans to work together to hold China to account to hold Russia to account.

He said the United States is back, back on the world stage, wants to earn its place back in a leadership role welcomed by Boris Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: 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)

ROBERTSON: Well, Angela Merkel also offering her support, saying it's important to get a joint transatlantic plan of how to deal with China, of how to deal with Russia. Emmanuel Macron, the French President say look, we agree on all those shared values, those shared interests, sometimes their priorities might be a bit different, he said, but we can work together. That's the very clear message emerging at the end of the Munich Security Conference.

The message also for President Biden is not all European nations are perhaps going to go along with him as easily as perhaps he would like specifically on China and Russia too. So, not plain sailing but the United States, President Joe Biden back on the world stage leading as he wants to. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

WHITFIELD: All right. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration is being investigated for its handling of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. The State's Attorney General saying those deaths were under counted by as much as 50 percent. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:43]

WHITFIELD: Facing a deepening crisis, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo now blaming, in part, misinformation as outrage grows over allegations his administration covered up the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

And even some fellow Democrats are joining calls for a full investigation into Governor Cuomo's handling of the crisis.

As Brian Todd reports, the scandal has also led to questions about the governor's personal behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew Cuomo's latest political battle has gotten intensely personal, with new accusations of intimidation against the New York governor.

GOV. BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: That's classic. A lot of people in New York State have received those phone calls.

The bullying is nothing new. The threats, the belittling, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment. Many, many times, I've heard and I know a lot of other people in the state have heard that.

TODD: In comments to NBC by Mayor Bill De Blasio, who has a longstanding contentious with Governor Cuomo, referred to a call Cuomo made recently to New York Assemblyman Ron Kim.

Kim, who has criticized Cuomo over a controversy involving nursing home deaths from COVID, says Cuomo threatened to destroy his career.

ASSEMBLYMAN RON KIM (D-NY): The berating, yelling and threatening that I have to issue a statement 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. He called me. My wife was next -- right next to me. I was right about to bathe my kids. And it really just put my family and my wife into shock and trauma.

TODD: Cuomo's office tells CNN Kim is lying about the conversation, that there was never a threat to destroy anyone.

Cuomo and his aides say Kim's acquisitions stem from their history.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I've had a -- my office, more than me, has had a long and hostile relationship with Assemblyman Ron Kim.

TODD: This New York-style political brawl stems from backlash Cuomo was getting over his handling of the pandemic.

A law enforcement official tells CNN the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn and the FBI are looking at the handling of data surrounding COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in New York.

[13:35:06]

This comes after a top aide to Governor Cuomo admitted to state lawmakers that his administration delayed the release of that nursing home information because they were concerned the Trump administration would turn it into a political football.

It's not clear whether federal investigators are looking at Cuomo himself.

Cuomo's office says it's cooperating with the Justice Department and Cuomo addressed the crisis this week.

CUOMO: These decisions are not political decisions. They're all made on the best information the medical professionals have at the time.

TODD: A far cry from those dark early days of America's battle with coronavirus when Cuomo was looked on as a true national leader --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you guys need a hand?

TODD: -- at a time few others were.

One analyst says Cuomo still enjoys high favorability ratings for his handling of the pandemic. But --

JON CAMPBELL, "USA TODAY" NETWORK'S NEW STATE TEAM: This is certainly among the biggest political crises the governor has faced since he's come into office, if not the biggest. The difference here is the attention that he's getting.

TODD: Asked by CNN to comment on Mayor De Blasio's remark he's a bully, Governor Cuomo's office didn't respond specifically to. But send us an email calling Assemblyman Ron Kim, quote, "unscrupulous."

Meanwhile, some New York lawmakers are calling for Cuomo to be stripped of his expanded emergency powers.

In Washington, some Republican Senators are calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the nursing home controversy.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So the letter Brian Todd mentioned is from a handful of legislators who said, in their open letter to colleagues, that stripping the governor of his emergency powers was, I'm quoting now, "A necessary first step in beginning the right -- to right the criminal wrongdoings of his -- of this governor and his administration."

So with me now is Alessandra Biaggi, a Democratic state Senator from New York, and also the chair of THE Ethics and Internal Governance Committee in the state Senate.

She did not sign the letter but did sponsor the bill that would strip Governor Cuomo of his emergency powers.

State Senator Biaggi, did I get that right?

STATE SEN. ALESSANDRA BIAGGI (D-NY): That's correct.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what a difference six to eight months, you know, has made now. So much praise was heaped on Governor Cuomo for his handling and transparency and communicating with New Yorkers and really the world about COVID and now this kind of collective criticism, including, you know, what were once political allies. So are you -- were you among those heaping praise? And if so, or even

if not, what was the breaking point for you?

BIAGGI: Well, I think that just to begin here, in the very beginning of the pandemic I think it's fair to say that there are things, and throughout some of the pandemic, there are things that the governor has done well and then there are things the governor has not done well.

And I think that the nursing home scandal and the undercounting and then the misleading of the public in terms of the numbers of deaths in nursing homes has been one of the things that the governor has not done well.

And so, yes, I was one of the people who felt that it was great to have somebody consistently share information on a regular basis, not only with New Yorkers, but with the entire country, at a time when we had a president who was really not interested in doing that. However, this is one of those examples of the governor's inability,

frankly, just to be accountable to the public. And also just to be transparent about numbers.

Because in every disaster that has happened historically one of the things that people ask, whether it's a tornado, a pandemic, a hurricane, is how many people have died.

And specifically why we're asking about the numbers in nursing homes is because we know that that has been the most vulnerable population identified since the beginning of this pandemic.

We did not believe this was an inquiry that was unreasonable and so the fact that the numbers were withheld.

And then now we're in this moment where we have a political scandal on our hands in New York, it's just really disappointing.

WHITFIELD: So it wasn't enough for you to hear from him, that, yes there was misinformation and that, from his office, there was this admission that, at the time, there was a reluctance to release all the information out of fear that the Trump administration would use it against the New York governor, or New Yorkers as a whole.

That's not enough, I'm hearing from you, from that office?

BIAGGI: Not only is it not -- not only is it not enough. It's not acceptable to withhold information, number one, from the Department of Justice for any political reasons.

And any inquiry from the Department of Justice has to be taken seriously. And the numbers have to be shared and the information has to be shared immediately with a DOJ inquiry.

I think the thing that is perhaps the most controversial is the fact that his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, was in a closed-door meeting with legislators and said that the reason we didn't share those numbers is because we didn't know how they would be used against us as an administration.

[13:40:04]

That is incredibly troubling to hear. Why? Because 15,000 lives were lost. And behind every life lost is not only a family member, but a whole series of people who have been affected by this who deserve accountability, transparency in their government.

WHITFIELD: As a result, let me ask you more about the bill that you have helped craft. And this is to address the expanded emergency powers that the governor has. And you want a limitation on that.

BIAGGI: That's correct. So the bill that I introduced with Assembly Member Ron Kim is to repeal the governor's expanded emergency powers.

And just to be very clear, I have been calling for the removal of the DPRN's governor's expanded emergency powers now for months because of just the nature of the governor's directives and how they have really demonstrated an overreach of power that I believe is threatening to our co-equal branches of government.

For me, and for --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So you wanted these limitations -- so you wanted these limitations before this revelation about, you know, what the attorney general says the numbers are incorrect.

So what precipitated that? And how does this investigation that's happening right now, I guess, add fuel to your fire?

BIAGGI: Well, what precipitated that was the dozens and dozens of requests to have information shared with the legislature, which were the nursing home deaths, and the fact that there was a stonewalling of the legislature.

And really a closing off, almost, from the executive communication with us.

Not only did we send requests from the legislature to the executive but we had hearings in the summer where we asked the Department of Health commissioner, the very question, how many people died in nursing homes.

And they said to us over and over and over again we will share those numbers with you when we have them, which, frankly, is not acceptable. Again, we are a co-equal branch of government and deserve to have this information.

It's been something that's been going on months. It is, I think, not surprising it's kind of bubbled up to this point because many of us, myself, Assembly Member Ron Kim, have been banging this drum to say there's something going on here with the undercounting of nursing home deaths. I think the attorney general's report on January 28th was a really

important moment, a turning point in the ability for us to have this information and to be able to have this information shared with us.

But again, this is something that's been going on behind the scenes for months.

WHITFIELD: All right, New York State Senator Alexandria Biaggi, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

BIAGGI: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: Since the pandemic began last year, women have been driven out of the U.S. workforce in droves. Of the 10 million Americans who have lost their jobs, more than half are women. We'll talk about why and what is being done to help, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:28]

WHITFIELD: Vice President Kamala Harris is sounding the alarm about the number of women driven out of the workforce due to COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economy cannot fully recover unless women can participate fully.

I think we all believe this is a national emergency. Women leaving the workforce in these numbers, it's a national emergency, and it demands a national solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. economy is currently down nearly 10 million jobs since the start of the pandemic. And over half of those, 5.3 million, were held by women.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE GASAWAY, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: Look. Whoo!

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life --

GASAWAY: Want to play our favorite game?

YURKEVICH: But when Brooke Gasaway was five months pregnant with her son, Luciano, she says she was laid off from her job.

GASAWAY: It was a lot of anxiety because I didn't know what was the best thing to do. YURKEVICH: Now that her son is six months old, she's looking for work

again, but the economy she's facing is still down nearly 10 million jobs since the pandemic began, 5.3 million held by women.

GASAWAY: At this moment, sometimes I am scared to say I'm a mom when I'm applying. There's something about telling an employer that I'm going to be one of those people that -- that's going to have to balance those two things.

YURKEVICH: And 2.5 million women have left the workforce altogether, many who are mothers.

ALLISON ROBINSON, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, THE MOM PROJECT: It has been, on so many fronts, such a challenging year for women. We've suffered more layoffs than men. And we've seen our already fragile childcare and education infrastructure unravel.

YURKEVICH: That very issue may have cost single mother, Nicole Conner, her job. She says she was fired because she could only work virtually. Her seven-year-old son, Atikis (ph), is at home remote learning.

She says they're surviving off food stamps and her student loans.

NICOLE CONNER, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: I mean I'm lucky that my bills are paid during this time. But it's a sad concept that I have to be -- consider myself lucky to be able to go into debt and make sure my bills are paid.

YURKEVICH: Mother of four, Michelle Mitchom, is also looking for new work after she says she was laid off in July from a career in sales. The search has led her to apply for jobs she never considered before.

MICHELLE MITCHOM, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: I've been applying for, I mean, any type of jobs. It doesn't matter if it's entry level, if it's, you know, internships, if it's janitorial. If it's anything, I've been applying.

[13:50:03]

YURKEVICH: President Joe Biden is proposing giving $15 billion in grants to working families to pay for childcare as part of his stimulus plan.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Enable parents, particularly women, to get back to work.

YURKEVICH: And some companies, like Spotify, Google and Facebook, are offering perks, like additional paid family leave or remote work from anywhere. Accenture is committing to hire 150 moms as a start.

GASAWAY: This is where I applied to jobs while my son takes naps.

YURKEVICH: The pandemic giving new meaning to work-life balance for mothers.

YURKEVICH (on camera): How are you feeling about your future? GASAWAY: I want to be something that makes my son proud and I think he

would want me to continue pushing and, you know, continue trying to help other people and just be back in the workforce.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A short time ago, Prince Charles, overseas, was seen leaving a London hospital where his father, Prince Philip, is currently staying. The 99-year-old was admitted Tuesday evening as a precaution after feeling unwell. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:54]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A short time ago, Prince Charles was seen leaving a London hospital where his father, Prince Philip, is currently staying.

The 99-year-old was admitted Tuesday as a precautionary measure after feeling unwell, although he did walk into the hospital under his own power.

Britain's royal family is currently embroiled in a growing rift between the queen and her grandson, Prince Harry, over his separation from the family and his move to the United States with Meghan Markle.

Victoria Arbiter joining me. She is a CNN royal analyst and grew up around the royal family while her father was press secretary to Queen Elizabeth.

So good to see you.

So first off, what do we know about Prince Philip's condition?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.

Yes, Prince Philip, as you mentioned, was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital last Tuesday. He was driven in a nonemergency fashion.

As you said, he walked into the hospital unaided. He's also 99 years old so, of course, there's concern when anyone is that age.

Generally speaking, royals don't tend to visit each other in hospital because they're very aware of the disruption it causes by their security detail and the police.

Given the lockdown situation in London as well, hospitals are operating under their own set of rules. The King Edward VII Hospital says there may be visits under exceptional circumstances.

So people are sensing that Prince Charles drove into London for a 40- minute visit with his father this afternoon. But according to the palace, Philip remains in good spirits. WHITFIELD: Of course, we're wishing him well.

This timing is something else, right, because it also comes on the heels of all these discussions about what is going on with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their split with the royal family now.

The queen making it official yesterday that they will permanently, you know, be removed from royal duties.

So what's going on there? Especially when the queen seems to have made it really clear, maybe a year ago, saying, OK, he's still my near and dear, but I also respect that you want to think things through.

So now it's a big decision.

ARBITER: I think it's important to recognize here that this is all business. It's not personal. Harry and Meghan are not being punished with this final deal.

As you mentioned, last year, when the couple first announced they were planning to step away from the royal family, the queen said, let's just take a minute.

She wanted to be sure this wasn't just a reaction to the run of really difficult press that they had endured. They had intense media spotlight around the birth of their first child.

I think she wanted to give them a bit of breathing room to see what it is they wanted in the future.

We're now coming up on that 12-month period and the queen rightly went to them and said, OK, are you happy, what do you want to do?

It's very clear, on the endorsements that Harry and Meghan have secured over the last 12 months, the incredible businesses they've managed to affiliate themselves with, Netflix and Spotify, they have no intention to returning to the lives of a senior working royal.

So the items were finalized yesterday. Harry and Meghan have officially split from the royal family. And now the two parties go their separate ways.

WHITFIELD: What's your intel tell you? Independence -- that business independence, as well, OK, maybe really happy because it seems to be really, really lucrative.

But what do you know about how happy, particularly Prince Harry, really is? The idea of divorcing from your family. We get the royal duties, divorcing from that.

But is it also kind of interpreted as, you know, parting ways with the family that he has known, the only family he's known all his life?

ARBITER: I think it's been very difficult. It would be wrong to say that a lot of personal hurt hasn't been experienced by both parties.

Of course, the queen would have much rather Harry and Meghan had stayed as working members of the royal family.

They had an incredible reach. Meghan marrying into the royal family represented a whole new group of people.

And I think there was a lot of excitement, particularly in commonwealth countries, that as a biracial woman marrying into the royal family, that the royal family had finally been propelled into the 21st century.

[14:00:03]

So I think there was a lot of sadness that Harry and Meghan felt it was in their interests to leave.

I think it's also difficult for Harry to make his peace with his decision.