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Air Travel Hits Pandemic Record; Biden Launches Ad Campaign Targeting Vaccine Hesitancy; Biden Declines to Call for Cuomo's Resignation; Jury Selection in Chauvin Trial. Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired March 15, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: And 1.3 million people passing through security at airports on Friday, 1.3 million people again yesterday. That means 5.2 million people have flown in four days' time, the busiest four day period of the pandemic.

And airlines hope it's the start of a real recovery, especially since they just got $40 billion in that new stimulus. This is what the new normal will looks like, at least for right now. This is a coronavirus testing facility that's opening up before security here at Dulles International Airport.

The CDC is recommending that you get tested before and after your trip, domestically or internationally. But the CDC stopped short of telling vaccinated Americans that they can fly freely without any risk. And Dr. Anthony Fauci says any guidance like that would just be too premature right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: They really would like to get the data that would allow them to go to the next step. They just want to make sure that they get it right.

Now, some people think that's a little bit too slow, but they're going to get there and they'll get there soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Now, industry groups think that people just want to get out right now. All parks at Disneyworld, for example, are sold out this week. United Airlines is adding more flights in April to sunny and skiing destinations. But the head of the biggest industry group, Airlines for America, tells me it's too soon to say a recovery is happening right this moment. He says the trend is people are still booking only a couple weeks in advance.

Jim and Poppy.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of spring travel opportunities coming up too. We'll see where those numbers go.

Pete Muntean, thanks very much.

In the next few weeks the Biden administration will kick off a $250 million national ad campaign. The goal, to encourage Americans still hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine to get the shots.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: An administration adviser says the campaign will work with trusted messengers and influencers to get the word out.

Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford has been on the frontlines of this effort working across Philadelphia to get more people tested and vaccinated through the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium that she founded.

And take a look at this, a moment of celebration. I love this video. Just over the weekend she joined with some of our colleagues to celebrate their vaccination of 25,000 people in 31 days, 82 percent of them people of color.

Happy to bring in Dr. Stanford now.

Good morning.

DR. ALA STANFORD, PEDIATRIC SURGEON AND FOUNDER OF BLACK DOCTORS COVID-19 CONSORTIUM: Good morning.

HARLOW: It must have felt great to dance in the streets and celebrate all that you've accomplished?

STANFORD: It did. It's been a long-time coming. You know, Poppy and Jim, we've been out here since March of 2020, really coming to the community who could not get a COVID tests when it was their friends and neighbors and loved ones who were being most impacted in the city of Philadelphia. So we have really earned and build relationships with many of the residents here.

SCIUTTO: In terms of communities of color, been two issues, one with the vaccine, one is access, right, getting equity in terms of access to this. The other hesitancy, right? And I wonder how you're addressing that where you are and are those hurdles being overcome?

STANFORD: Yes, they're being overcome. And the mission of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium was always access, empathy and action with education. And so from the very beginning, talking about coronavirus disease where there were so many mixed messages.

And then when October rolled around, we were also administering flu vaccine, because flu and COVID was a deadly combination. And we introduced a survey to ask folks how they felt, their attitudes and perceptions. So we knew where many of the fears lied and we educated down that vain.

And so once it was an opportunity to offer the vaccine, I'm here now at Temple and people are lined up around the block ready to receive the vaccine this morning. HARLOW: You know, I wonder if, you know, what your thoughts are,

because it seems like the vaccine hesitancy that was previously being reported from minority groups isn't happening anymore. I mean you had one of the top Biden COVID advisers, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith on CBS just yesterday morning and this is what she said that really struck me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS ANCHOR, "FACE THE NATION": We are now seeing that black Americans are as likely as white Americans to say that they're willing to get vaccinated. Are you also seeing that shift?

DR. MARCELLA NUNEZ-SMITH, CHAIRWOMAN, COVID-19 HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE: Yes, this is great news. We see vaccine confidence growing in all groups across the country. And so now the work is to make sure that people can connect with vaccine when they're eligible. But it is very promising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Very promising. That's good. And, actually, our poll last week showed it's actually white Republicans, many Trump supporters, who are now the least likely to get a vaccine, who are more hesitant.

[09:35:02]

STANFORD: That's very interesting. I can tell you from the day we started vaccinating on January 16th there was no hesitancy. If anything, we didn't have enough vaccine. We have not had a shortage of individuals who wanted, especially since we are offering Moderna and Johnson & Johnson now.

And I think some of it was people assumed or thought that because of the atrocities and the medical mistrust that that would be the case. But when one in two people you know have been seriously ill or died from coronavirus or you personally have had it, all you can think about is not getting it again. And that is what has driven so many when 52 percent of the deaths in Philadelphia were African-American. So no hesitancy here.

SCIUTTO: That's great to hear that progress.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: If I could just ask you on a separate question, big picture about this, there's a new study that says that three feat of physical distancing, specifically in schools, could be sufficient to prevent the transmission of the virus. Of course, that would change -- that would have a huge effect in schools, right, because space has been such an issue to open safely. And I wonder, do you believe that and should that change the way we're making these decisions?

STANFORD: I think everything is with caution, especially with our children. The beautiful thing about the kids though is most often their immune systems are very strong. And even if they are exposed, their diseases may be mild.

That said, it's more important that their teachers and that their parents get vaccinated so that the viral load is those individuals is less and they are less likely to transmit it to the children, especially since right now 16 and under with Pfizer at least cannot (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: Yes.

STANFORD: So, yes.

SCIUTTO: Fair enough.

HARLOW: Dr. Stanford, thank you for being here. And I'm glad you guys got a moment to celebrate over the weekend all you've accomplished. Thanks again.

STANFORD: Thank you, Poppy and Jim. Thank you very much. Have a great day.

HARLOW: You too.

Now to troubling accusations, new ones being leveled at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "The Washington Post" reports that one of his advisers phoned county officials trying to determine their loyalty to the governor amid the sexual harassment investigation and allegations. We'll speak with the reporter -- one that the reporters who broke that story ahead.

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[09:41:42]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Do you think Governor Andrew Cuomo should resign?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That, President Biden over the weekend asked if New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should step down. This in light of a growing list of women accusing him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. Both New York senators and the majority now of the states' congressional Democrats are calling for the governor to resign. He has said he will not.

HARLOW: Unequivocally, yes.

Our national political reporter, Dan Merica is in Albany this morning.

Dan, good morning to you.

It is -- it's notable, I think, that the administration is being very handoff on this from the president to the vice president, Kamala Harris, who, remember, she called for Al Franken to resign, then her fellow senator, before an ethics investigation was had.

Do you have a sense of why?

DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It's a good question because Governor Cuomo wakes up this morning as a man without very many political friend after you note the bulk of the New York delegation, including the two Democratic senators, call on him to resign for sexual harassment and unwanted touching.

But he is not alone. It appears that Biden is giving Cuomo some time. He's actually reflecting the -- what Cuomo himself is asking for, calling on New Yorkers to wait for these investigations to play out into the allegations and then to make their decision. That is a position that a lot of Democrats have previously. But in recent days it has proved too much for many of these Democrats from New York to hold that position.

But Biden again is not alone. Nancy Pelosi actually, over the weekend, said something very similar, gave Cuomo that time.

Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I do think that the women deserve to hear the results of these investigation, as does the governor.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS CHIEF ANCHOR, "THIS WEEK": But you're not calling on him to resign right now?

PELOSI: I -- I think we should see the results of the -- but he may decide -- and that was -- hopefully this result will be soon. And what I'm saying is the governor should look inside his heart -- he loves New York -- to see if -- if he can govern effectively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MERICA: Now, it's worth noting Cuomo denies some of the allegations against him, even though he has apologized for making people feel uncomfortable. And he has repeatedly said that he will not resign. Now, that is something that Democrats in New York and nationally tell me that they agree with, that they don't think Cuomo is going to resign willingly. And that is why all eyes are on this impeachment investigation that is now ongoing here in New York.

It's also worth noting that Jake Tapper is told by a House Democrat that the reason so many Democrats came out last week on Friday was because of a recent allegation that was published in "The Albany Times Union" that reported recent and physical allegations against the governor, Poppy and Jim.

HARLOW: Right. Yes, that's -- there seemed to be a sea change there, you know, and Jake's reporting really hits on why.

MERICA: Yes.

HARLOW: Dan, thanks a lot.

Let me bring in political investigations reporter for "The Washington Post" Josh Dawsey.

Josh, good morning.

You have very important reporting, front page of "The Post," that I want to get to, and that is that Larry Swartz, a close friend -- used to work for the governor, now a close friend and sort of -- and formal adviser has been picking up the telephone in the last few weeks and calling a bunch of county officials that rely on this administration for distribution of vaccine, not about vaccine but about their loyalty to the governor.

[09:45:01]

But explain why that matters in the middle of a pandemic and the concerns that some of these officials have.

JOSH DAWSEY, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": So Larry Swartz, one of the governor's best friends, came back in last spring to help run the pandemic response. And he's been tapped as the vaccine czar for New York state. And he's been working with a range of county executives, county officials across the state to set up mass vaccination site, to figure out how many doses of the vaccine should be distributed to each county.

And recently Swartz began calling county executives, county officials, to make sure they would not be calling on the governor to resign amid the firestorm of allegations. And what that did was it put some of these officials, they said, in an uncomfortable spot. One of them even called -- filed an ethics complaint with the state attorney general, a notice of an ethics complaint.

But as we said, this person that we're relying on for vaccines, to make sure that our counties are healthy, is also asking us for political support for the governor. And could those two things be linked? Swartz says that they are not. He never mentioned the vaccines in these calls. But he's undoubtedly the person who runs vaccines for the entire state.

HARLOW: Yes. Well, and concerned enough to file an ethics complaint.

OK, what is your take and your reporting on why you just heard Nancy Pelosi not calling on Cuomo to step down? You have President Biden and Vice President Harris also not calling on Governor Cuomo to step down. And as I had just mentioned to Dan, I mean, Harris was very clear in her language about now Justice Kavanaugh during that confirmation hearing and about her fellow senator, Al Franken, in 2017. She was unequivocal before any investigation, saying, he should step down.

What's different now?

DAWSEY: Well, you saw some blowback, particularly for Senator Kristen Gillibrand after the Al Franken, when she called for his resignation and there were lots of folks who later, you know, criticized her for that after it happened.

And you have Cuomo, who, if you talk to all of his advisers in Albany, and people who have known him for a long time, they say he's not -- he's not resigning. And the only person who could potentially move the needle and it's unclear even if he would is Joe Biden, the president of the United States.

The two of them have known each other for many years. You know, I think -- I think he was considered at times for cabinet spots in the Biden administration or at least in the Biden transition. The two of them, I think, have a -- have a pretty friendly relationship. And unlike many of New York politicians that Cuomo deals with, who have had annoyed by acerbic behavior and the sharp elbow and are not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. So far Joe Biden seems to be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

And, honestly, that's quite important. I mean Biden would be a big move if he -- if he called for the resignation, it would have -- it would be far more seismic than anything else we've seen heretofore.

HARLOW: It seems like, Josh, Governor Cuomo is taking, you know, the play right out of the Ralph Northam playbook in Virginia. You know, stick out this controversy. His was a blackface controversy. You know, through press conferences it dominated the media. And now look at him. And he has higher approval ratings. And he stuck it out. I mean it seems like that's what Governor Cuomo is aiming for, no?

DAWSEY: It is what he's aiming for. It certainly seems that way. You saw what he said on Friday, I'm not going to be part of cancel culture. The governor, whose a former HUD secretary, who married a Kennedy, whose father was a three-term governor said he was not part of the political club, which was a claim that was viewed as laughable by many in New York, but that's what his Reddit (ph) was doing on Friday, he was saying, the voters still support me.

And to be fair to the governor, a lot of voters in New York state and New York City do still support him. You see his numbers high, particularly among black voters, particularly in New York City, who have known him for many years. So what he's counting on is that those folks stay with him. The difference in what I think happened to Governor Northam in Virginia and what is happening to Governor Cuomo here is there's a rat-a-tat series of allegations that are coming out every day about Governor Cuomo.

And you have, you know, the nursing home issues that he's dealing with and the investigation into how his administration handled COVID in nursing homes. With Northam I think you had a desperate incident while, you know, politically difficult to overcome and politically challenging, there were not new revelations every single day. And the question is, how many of those can he withstand?

HARLOW: Yes, that's a very important distinction you make.

Josh, thank you. And important reporting as well. Appreciate you being here.

DAWSEY: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: Well, the second week of jury selection is set to begin in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the death of George Floyd. We're going to have a live preview of that trial and updates, next.

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[09:54:07]

HARLOW: In just a few minutes jury selection resumes in Minneapolis for the trial of ex-Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Seven seats in that jury already filled. Seven more now to go for that panel that will decide the fate of Derek Chauvin.

SCIUTTO: This weekend the city of Minneapolis announced really just a historic size of a settlement payment, $27 million paid to the Floyd -- to Floyd's family.

Omar Jimenez, he's been following the trial.

And, Omar, the settlement decision you're hearing is leading some to say, how does this impact the trial, right, including jury selection? What is the concern there?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, the concern at this point is really one of the stipulations for prospective jurors is that they stay away from news about this case. And because that news was so big, one can imagine it may have been difficult to avoid some of those headlines.

[09:55:03]

And it's led some legal observers, including the former chief public defender here in Hennepin County, to say, if this was her client, she would be asking for a mistrial.

Now, we haven't heard any plans of that from Eric Nelson, Chauvin's attorney. We reached out to him last week but haven't heard back. It would then be another hurdle for, of course, the judge to grant one. So still that is very hypothetical. But, of course, that is where any concern lies.

Outside of that, week two and three slated for jury selection is set to continue in just about -- in just a few minutes her and we're half way through the process. Seven jurors selected of the 14 necessary, including two alternates. And while we don't know their identities, we do know -- we do know a few things about them, including their demographics.

So far they are three white men in their 20s and 30s, a black man in his 30s, a Hispanic man in her 20s, a bi-racial woman in her 20s and a white woman in her 50s. At the moment they're finishing up some preliminary motions, including about hearing expert testimony. And despite all of the other things and all the factors that could

have slowed this down, including the readmission of a third degree murder charge, things do remain on schedule with opening statements set to begin March 29th.

HARLOW: OK.

Omar, thank you very much for all of that.

A quick break.

We'll be right back.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

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