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Houston Schools Reopen with Mask Mandates, Defying Governor; At Least 21 People Dead, 25 Missing in Devastating Tennessee Floods; Pentagon Gives Update on Afghanistan Withdrawal and Evacuations. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 23, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Like a lot of places around the country, students in Houston are heading back to school this morning and they will be required to wear masks despite an order from the governor. Last month, Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order barring school districts from instituting mask mandates. This is even as infections spike in the state, but a ruling last week by the state Supreme Court is allowing districts to enact their own rules at least for the time being.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in Houston. Rosa, how long is the time being in effect where the court is allowing them to go ahead with these mandates?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, for now that's what the case is. But as you know, with the courts, it could change at any moment. But let me start here in Houston because this school district, Houston ISD, is the largest school district in this state with about 200,000 students and they're starting the day today with a mask mandate, just like some of the larger school districts across this state, Dallas ISD and San Antonio. And what administrators are looking at and what the point to are the increasing number of cases and hospitalizations. Right now, there's more than 13,000 people hospitalized in the state Texas and there's about 372 ICU beds available.

Look, I just got back from west Texas, covering a tiny town of Iraan, population of about 1,200. The school district there opened without a mask mandate, and within days, they had to shut down because of an outbreak. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACY CANTER, SUPERINTENDENT, IRAAN-SHEFFIELD ISD: In the last week, we have seen more COVID cases for staff and students than we did the entire year last year during school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, Governor Greg Abbott was hoping that the Texas Supreme Court would rule in his favor and bar all of the school districts across this state from having mask mandates. Well, the justices last week said not so fast, governor. You've got to go through the appeals process first. And so, Jim, that's why the lower court decisions stand, they remain, which allows the school districts, like Houston, to start the school year with a mask mandate. Jim?

SCIUTTO: That's what the public health guidelines recommend, and yet the politics once again. Rosa Flores, thank you.

The Texas attorney general, he is suing the San Antonio Independent School District over its decision to require vaccinations for all members of staff. The district is believed to be the first in the state to require vaccines. Staff members have until October 15th to get the shots. Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republican, says, Superintendent Pedro Martinez is deliberately violating state law.

Superintendent Martinez joins me now. Thank you for taking the time this morning.

PEDRO MARTINEZ, SUPERINTENDENT, SAN ANTONIO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, Governor Abbott's order says, and I'm quoting from it, no governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization. Now, we have the FDA giving full approval to the Pfizer vaccine, does that change the legal calculus here at all for you?

MARTINEZ: You know, for me it was never a political decision, Jim. And we've been opening our schools for two weeks. We had a mask requirement as well as now a vaccine mandate. We were anticipating we would get FDA approval for the Pfizer drug, which is what our children and staff have (INAUDIBLE). But we have to be leaders. We have to lead by example. And I applaud all of my colleagues and all of us are fighting together on making sure our children are safe but we have to look ahead. And I believe that we need to have our children and our staff vaccinated if we're going to have a successful year this year.

SCIUTTO: I mean, you note the politics and the fact is the politics have been part of this from the beginning. It is Republican governors, you know, in Florida and Texas who are attempting to block these kinds of mandates, even though in the past, they often argued for choice in districts, right? Let the districts kind of run themselves. What do you say to politicians who do that, particularly as what's happening in Texas right now, as you have a spike, a surge in new COVID infections?

MARTINEZ: Jim, our positivity rate here in San Antonio hit over 20 percent last week. We have COVID testing in all of our schools. Our positive rate is hovering about 2 percent. Last year, we never went above 1 percent. I'm worried because more and more hospitals are reporting children being hospitalized. My parents trust us. My staff trust us. We want to maintain that trust. In order to keep our children safe, have stability in our classrooms, we need to make sure our federal and state leaders are doing everything possible. This is not a time for politics. This is about making sure that we have a strong academic year and that our children are safe.

SCIUTTO: So, if the Texas Supreme Court in the next legal step here upholds the ban, will you comply or will you kind of dare them, in effect, and continue to require vaccines?

[10:35:01]

MARTINEZ: I have full support, Jim, of both my community and my board and my staff. We're going to do what's right for our children. And, again, we'll let lawyers deal with the legal ramifications. We're going to keep our children safe and we're going to make sure our classrooms are stable. It's what I owe my parents, it's what my community expects from us.

SCIUTTO: Setting aside the politics for the moment, what do you hear from staff that you're now requiring to get the vaccine? I mean, the rate is about 90 percent already. Most teachers have, but you do have this holdout group. How are they responding to the mandate?

MARTINEZ: We're not receiving any pushback, Jim, because, again, they want to lead by example. And, Jim, we need to look ahead. Right now, we are requiring our staff to be vaccinated. We're the first district in Texas to do that. And, eventually, we need to make sure our children are vaccinated. We'll use positive incentives right now but I have told my community, if I have to, I will start requiring vaccines for our children as well because we need to keep our kids safe. We need to have stability in our classrooms.

SCIUTTO: Given the FDA news today, giving full approval for this, and there's a lot of talk about, and the surgeon general has said this, that institutions, private companies, et cetera, we know the military is about to require it for service members, does this, in your view, full approval, could that move the debate in a positive direction in Texas and allow more freedom to districts like yours?

MARTINEZ: I'm hopeful it will, Jim. But I think no matter what, I mean, we have been expecting full approval for weeks now. You know, 90 percent of my staff, we estimate has already received the vaccine. We know it's safe. We're pushing, encouraging our families to have our children get vaccinated. We have vaccine clinics in all of our large high schools. We're making it accessible and easy for our families and some of our families are worried.

So we're partnering with our health partners to give them information so they can answer their questions. But right now, Jim, it is important that we all look ahead. We're not going to have a successful academic year unless we get our staff and children vaccinated. It's just that simple.

SCIUTTO: Yes, that's the worry, right, because you don't want to have going back to remote schooling. I know parents wouldn't like that. Pedro Martinez, thanks so much for the work you're doing.

MARTINEZ: Thank you, sir.

SCIUTTO: In Tennessee, search crews still combing the debris for dozens of people still missing, caught in that record-breaking and deadly flooding. We're going to be live on the scene next.

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[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all education department staff, this for all public schools across the city, one of the largest school districts in the country, without a testing alternative. All school staff are required to provide proof of vaccination of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by September 27th. The mayor said, we'll continue to follow that, one of the first follow-on effects of the FDA's full approval of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Pfizer one earlier this morning. We'll continue to follow others as they come.

This is another story we're following this morning. Hundreds of families in Tennessee have lost their homes. Some have also tragically lost loved ones after fast-moving flood waters swept through the middle of the state over the weekend. 21 people confirmed killed during those floods. Authorities are still searching for 25 people missing.

CNN's Nick Valencia, he's on the scene in Waverly where those floods hit. Nick, the scenes there, apocalyptic, you might say. And the sad headline that you still have a couple dozen people missing. What's the latest?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, and it is devastating. And the search and recovery effort here is methodical, it's deliberate and we've seen local residents chip in on this. But just look behind me at what this floodwater, these raging waters left behind. You can see there in the distance, Jim, a shed turned over. And here in this creek, it's people's belongings, pieces of wood, pieces of the surrounding structures in the area. You see a cooler. For some of these residents who were lucky enough to get out alive in time, it's the first time they're assessing the damage these men came here to see this boat here that ended up from two miles away, two miles away, in this creek. And, of course, the focus right now is on trying to find those who are still missing.

Hey, Mike, you want to come over here? We're live on CNN. Mike's niece, Lily Bryant, just 15 years old, she was last seen in this area. She thought by coming here, according to her family, she would get to higher ground, but she hasn't been seen since, since being swept under that water. You came from Illinois.

MIKE GILLINGER, NIECE MISSING AFTER TENNESSEE FLOODING: Yes.

VALENCIA: Tell us about your niece.

GILLINGER: Well, she's 15 years old. She's got long, blonde hair. She weighs about 95 pounds. If anybody has seen her, please contact the family or somebody. The following counties around us, I don't know what they are, because I'm from Illinois, but if anybody has seen her, please give us a call.

VALENCIA: What do you know about where she was last seen? Her aunt told me she was here?

GILLINGER: She was seen in this area right here. Her sister was trying to pull her back on the boat but she couldn't. The current was too strong, so it pulled her out. That's the last time they saw her.

VALENCIA: How are her sisters doing? I understand her parents were at work at that late hour. How are her sisters doing?

GILLINGER: I really don't know what they were doing at the time.

VALENCIA: How are they doing right now?

GILLINGER: They're miserable. They want to find out where their sister is at, at least have some kind of closure, at least find the remains of her, something. I don't know.

VALENCIA: All hands are on deck, Mike. Thank you so much for taking the time. We're getting that picture of her out there.

[10:45:02]

Hopefully, someone knows something. And right now we saw the fire and rescue teams come through here specifically looking for Lily Bryant. But in this devastation, it is going to be really hard to spot anyone here as these flood waters, they'll recede.

You could see behind me in the distance, we showed you that last hour, a car flipped upside down and in these wooded areas behind me, that's what you see as you go behind these homes, cars flipped upside down, parts of homes that have been just entirely ripped away, telephone poles that are bent like toothpicks. These are people's livelihoods, their belongings just sort of strewn everywhere and it is really difficult for them to comprehend. They knew there was going to be a storm system but no one, no one, Jim, thought it would be this bad.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, that poor family. We do hope -- we hope they find her alive. Nick Valencia, thank you for being there.

Well, the report of the false audit of the 2020 election in Arizona will be turned in today. There is no one outside the extremes of the Republican Party in that strait who says the results of this is meaningful at all. So what do they do with it? We'll give you an update.

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SCIUTTO (voice over): Live to the Pentagon now, the spokesman there, John Kirby, updating on U.S. evacuation efforts from Afghanistan. Let's listen in.

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: -- kick off the briefing with and then we'll get to questions, if that's okay, all right? With that, General?

MAJ. GEN. HANK TAYLOR, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, JOINT STAFF REGIONAL OPERATIONS: Thank you, Mr. Kirby. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us this morning. Once again, I want to provide an operational update, and then as Mr. Kirby said, we'll follow up with questions.

As we know, this continues to evolve, the situation. We continue to strive on the ground. And what we really want to do is continue to provide you details in a timely manner.

As you know, recently, the secretary of defense activated the stage 1 of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Right now, that activation includes 18 aircraft from six commercial airlines. This will increase passenger movement from the intermediate staging bases, temporary safe havens to the United States while we continue to prioritize military aircraft for the transportation of individuals out of Kabul and out of harm's way.

[10:50:14]

Please note, as I said, these craft flights will not be flying into Kabul.

As of this morning, within the last 24 hours, 25 U.S. military C-17s, three U.S. military C-130s, and then combination of 61 charter commercial and other military flights departed Kabul. The total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000. Of that number, the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel.

Our mission remained focused on ensuring a steady flow of evacuees out of Kabul to the intermediate staging bases and safe havens at our installations continue to rapidly build out capacity as needed to ensure reception and providing humanitarian assistance.

The use of temporary safe haven locations across Europe and the Middle East in areas that include U.S. installations in Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Spain and Germany. We deeply appreciate the support from these countries. This is truly a testament to the importance of our alliances and our partnerships.

In the past 24 hours, five flights landed at Dulles International Airport with approximately 1,300 passengers. At this time, four military installations, as well as Dulles International, are receiving Afghans as they come into the United States. These installations include Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Fort Lee, Virginia, Joint Base McGuire- Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Fort Bliss, Texas.

The total number currently at these installations is approximately 1,200 and North Com continues to build out capacity to ensure they are prepared to receive more flights that will come in the next few days. This is absolutely a worldwide effort, which hits several countries, multiple commands and thousands of service members across the joint force.

Over the weekend, the airport in Kabul remains secure. However, as many of you've seen already, Centcom released a statement regarding an incident to report as a no U.S. casualty, so partner force or coalition forces were involved. But, regrettably, an Afghan security force member lost his life. As the president referenced last night in his remarks, we are in communication with the Taliban for the establishment and sustainment of several checkpoints to increase throughput and facilitate safe passage for individuals working to gain access to the airport. Today, the number of troops at the airport continues to stand at 5,800. Commanders on the ground continue to actively monitor threats. They are empowered to make the appropriate force protection decisions. As always, U.S. forces retain the inherent right to use force in self- defense.

We are using all of our available tools to maintain the highest threat awareness, both in Afghanistan and throughout the globe. While this mission is not without risk, the safety of our personnel, American citizens and Afghan evacuees at risk is of paramount importance.

To wrap up, we continue to make progress in the completion of this mission. Since the end of July, we have relocated approximately 42,000 people. Since the beginning of evacuation operations on August 14th, we have evacuated approximately 37,000. All of this progress stems from the teamwork, professionalism and dedication of our military, our interagency colleagues and our allies and partners.

We know more hard work remains in the coming days and we're absolutely prepared to meet that challenge. Thank you.

KIRBY: And just a couple other points I would like to make. As you all are aware, the FDA approved full licensure of the Pfizer vaccine this morning, and as also I am sure you're aware back on August, on the 9th, the secretary articulated it was his intent to mandate the COVID-19 vaccines upon FDA licensure or by mid-September to seek a waiver from the president.

So now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved, the department is prepared to issue updated guidance requiring all service members to be vaccinated. A timeline for vaccination completion will be provided in the coming days.

[10:55:01]

The health of the force is, as always, our military and civilian employees, families and communities is a top priority. And what's important to remind everyone that these efforts ensure the safety of our service members and promote the readiness of our force, not to mention the health and safety of the communities around the country in which we live.

Schedule item, the secretary and General Milley will be attending this afternoon the funeral for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at Arlington National Cemetary. Mr. Rumsfeld served as the 13th secretary of defense as well as the 21st. He also served in the United States Navy in 1950 -- in the mid-1950s as a pilot and flight instructor and he continue to service as a reservist until 1975 when he became the secretary of defense for the first time. On behalf of the Department of Defense, we extend our deep condolences to his family, to the loved ones and indeed to the country.

With that we'll start taking questions. Bob?

REPORTER: John, thank you. On the Pfizer vaccine, the secretary's intention to require it, he has not yet made that direction? And did you say there's not yet a deadline for doing that?

KIRBY: We're preparing now actionable guidance to the force. We're going to move forward, making that vaccine mandatory. We're preparing the guidance to the force right now. And the actual completion date of it, in other words, how fast we want to see it get done, we're working through that guidance right now.

REPORTER: Okay. Can I ask you a question on Afghanistan also?

KIRBY: Sure.

REPORTER: A couple of things. One is you have said, I think, General Taylor has said a number of times as well, that the military's air lift capacity at the airport was in the neighborhood of 5,000 to 9,000. I see you've now gone beyond that, at least yesterday.

KIRBY: Yes.

REPORTER: Can you say what the capacity has grown to? And also can you explain a little more about the perimeter issue that the general alluded to very briefly when the president yesterday said something to the effect that perimeter had been moved back significantly to facilitate entry? Can you explain that?

KIRBY: So, a couple things, Bob. On the capacity thing, you're right, we had set a goal of 5,000 to 9,000 a day. Yesterday, we exceeded that. We're not taking anything for granted, Bob. We're taking this day by day. We would love to see those numbers continue to rise. But we're going to just take it day by day. There's a lot of factors that go into being able to reach that output capacity, to include temporary safe havens that you can bring these individuals to as they complete their screening.

And the screening is a big part of that. We have intelligence and law enforcement personnel at these sites, making sure that a robust screening is done of these individuals so that nobody comes in the United States that hasn't been screened in a robust manner. And so there's lots of factors that affect throughput. We were very glad to see that we were able to get that number out yesterday, but we're going to take it day by day, day by day.

REPORTER: So the number of aircraft that are available --

KIRBY: I think -- briefed the number of aircraft was like -- yes. No, no, no. But, I mean, the same number of aircraft are about available on any given day. I mean, we can get up to -- on a given day, yo7u can get up to about 30 C-17s. That doesn't mean that 30 are going to fly every day, and we were under that yesterday and still was able to get out -- still able to get out more than 10,000.

REPORTER: And the perimeter question? KIRBY: The perimeter, and I think the general addressed this a little bit in his opening statement. Without getting into tactical details here, Bob, and I think you can understand why we wouldn't do that, we are very interested in making sure that access to the airport remains as fluid as possible, particularly for American citizens trying to get in, as well as our special immigrant visa applicants. And there's a lot of factors that go into making sure that access remains secure and that we can facilitate it.

And what the president was referring to was efforts to improve that access from a geographical space, out beyond just the perimeter of the airfield. And I won't speak to the details of how we're managing that, but you can imagine thus far and going forward, it does require constant coordination and de-confliction with the Taliban.

REPORTER: I was going to ask you --

KIRBY: It absolutely is going -- it is absolutely requiring of us to keep these lines of communication with the Taliban open, who do have checkpoints out beyond the airport. And what we have seen is that this coordination has worked -- this de-confliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow --