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Biden Honors Fallen Police Officers; Jan. 6 Panel Moves To Hold Steve Bannon In Criminal Contempt; FDA Panel Recommends J&J Booster Two Months After First Shot; Former President Bill Clinton Recovering In California Hospital; Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate & Former Governor, Terry McAuliffe, Discusses The Virginia Race; TX School Administrator Apologizes After Telling Teachers To Offer "Opposing Views" On Holocaust; U.K. Police: Fatal Stabbing Of Lawmaker Meeting With Constituents A "Terrorist Incident". Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 16, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:00:43]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
President Biden today honoring the nation's fallen police officers at the very spot where officers defended the country against an insurrection. This comes just one day after his strong remarks against those who refused to comply with subpoenas in the January 6th investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope that the committee goes after them and hold them accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should they be prosecuted by the Justice Department?
BIDEN: I do. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Namely, Trump ally Steve Bannon, the House January 6th Committee wants to get key information from him and other witnesses, but it will be no small task. Former President Trump is still trying to claim executive privilege and Congress power has limits.
More on the investigation in a bit, but first, let's bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns. Joe, President Biden's tribute to the fallen officers today, he did reference the January 6th insurrection and hard not to, right, because he was there at the Capitol where it took place.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jim and look, a lot of the significance f the speech is about the timing coming after so much harsh criticism of police officers and policing in the United States.
Then the president of the United States goes over to the Capitol and essentially gives a speech that, in large part, is about the good that police officers do and the sacrifices they make. Sometimes the ultimate sacrifice in fact with exhibit one being the response to the riot at the United States Capitol on January 6th. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Nine months ago, your brothers and sisters thwarted an unconstitutional and fundamentally un-American attack on the nation's values and our votes.
Because of you, democracy survived, but only because of the women and men in the U.S. Capitol police force, Washington D.C. Metropolitan police department, other law enforcement agencies who once again literally put their bodies on the line to protect our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The president also sent his condolences to the three sheriffs deputies in the Houston area who were shot overnight or early this morning. And he also referred to just a bit about his policy prescriptions including the George Floyd in and Policing Act, which got hung up on Capitol Hill in September, Jim.
ACOSTA: And Joe, I think there was some surprise out there that Biden said so clearly that yes, the Department of Justice should prosecute those who defy these subpoenas. What is the White House saying about the president's remark last night?
JOHNS: Well, you know, given the fact that Democrats were really steamed about Donald Trump's repeated, brazen efforts to try to pressure the Justice Department publicly to do his bidding when you hear this new president, this Democratic president essentially doing the same kind of thing, although not on the same scale, it's at least enough to create some heartburn among Democrats.
So Jen Psaki put out a twit -- tweet I should say, just last night and said in part, "The president supports the work of the House Committee and the independent role of the Department of Justice to make any decisions about prosecutions. Independent role of DOJ. So a little bit of clean up there on Aisle Seven.
ACOSTA: Absolutely, Joe. And also because the president himself has said he would leave these sort of things to the Justice Department.
All right. Joe Johns, thank you very much, the Justice Department insists President Biden will have no influence on his prosecutorial decisions, telling CNN, quote, "The Department of Justice will make its own independent decisions and all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law, period, full stop."
[17:04:43]
ACOSTA: Let's talk about this with former Nixon White House Counsel, John Dean.
John, Let's tackle that one first. Do you think the president went far enough or too far, I should say, by saying the Department of Justice should prosecute here? What do you think?
JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He shouldn't have said it because he said he wouldn't say this sort of thing.
ACOSTA: Right.
DEAN: It clearly is a violation of the norms.
I for one was delighted to hear him say it because I hope that that's the way his department is thinking. But there's a little bit of him being on both sides with this issue and I think Joe Johns described it well. It's causing a little heartburn.
ACOSTA: Right. And certainly not on the same scale as what President Trump was -- I mean we just have to --
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: No. Not at all.
ACOSTA: That's as plain as the nose on your face.
But John, the January 6 Committee is moving to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt. They intend to start this process next week. How long could this drag out? I mean this is out of the Trump playbook.
DEAN: Well, it is exactly. And it's not new. The congress, to my amazement, Jim, has never really gotten around to getting its act in order. They know that they have very weak enforcement powers. They knew that they learned from the court of appeals in the McGahn case that the court would rule they don't have statutory basis in the House. The Senate on the other hand does.
So they got that case really just sort of dismissed and worked out a negotiation. So they have no civil remedy. Their criminal remedy is totally in the discretion of the Department of Justice.
And whether Bannon's activity rises to the level of criminal activity is a real interesting legal issue. He's working on the advice of counsel. It's pretty hard to say that that's a criminal act when you're working on the advice of counsel unless they're conspiring to somehow deny the Senate or the House his presence before the January 6th Committee.
So this is not a clean cut remedy by referring this down to the Department of Justice at all.
ACOSTA: Right. And I want to play for you what Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of the two Republicans serving on the select committee, had to say about those defying these subpoenas. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): The problem is when you start seeing people resist and people obfuscate, you have to look at that and go, why are they doing that if they have nothing to hide? We have people coming in and talking to us voluntarily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: As an attorney, do you agree with that thinking that if someone isn't willing to talk, they must have something to hide? There seems to be a lot to hide these days when it comes to that conversation.
DEAN: Kinzinger is not an attorney and you really can't draw much of an inference from somebody's obfuscation and refusal to cooperate that is really meaningful. You can make some assumptions. They're always entitled.
Bannon could go before the committee and take the Fifth Amendment. He might well do that yet if they get him in front of the committee. So I think we have to be careful about what inferences we draw from non- appearance or non-testimony.
But I think Bannon is up to this in -- up to his eyeballs. I think he's a vital witness. I think he could lead directly to Trump or those closest to Trump. And I do believe that the indications are that Trump is much more involved in this whole thing than we think he was.
ACOSTA: And do you think this committee will ultimately get access to the documents and testimony that they want and if so, by the time the next election rolls around? Every cynic in Washington is just shaking their heads and saying no.
DEAN: Well, it's a good question. Trump has been as good a president as any to obfuscate and delay and do it with some success. I don't have a crystal ball as to how this is going to come out. I think this committee is determined.
I hope, Jim, that they get their act together and use the power they do have which is inherent contempt powers. In 1934, the Senate sent the sergeant at arms down to get an assistant secretary of commerce and put him in jail, put him in the Willard for ten days, until he agreed to cooperate. That's still good law.
There's Supreme Court rulings back as early as 1821 that the House could do this. I think they should and I think they should do it next week, if you will.
ACOSTA: Maybe not the Willard. Maybe a few steps lower than the Willard. I won't mention any names.
DEAN: Not the Trump Hotel either.
ACOSTA: Well, I was going to say there's a hotel in Washington that could use some occupancy these days.
But I want to ask you about the Capitol police officer who's been indicted on obstruction charges in connection with the January 6th insurrection. The officer allegedly sent a private message to a Facebook contact who posted selfies and videos about being in the Capitol. The officer wrote, quote, "I'm a Capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance. Take down the part about being in the building. They're currently investigating and everyone in the building is going to be charged. Just looking out."
[17:10:01]
ACOSTA: This is all according to the Department of Justice indictment, we should point out. Do you think this is an open and shut case in terms of this officer's involvement?
DEAN: Well, it certainly is evidence of obstruction and it shows how serious the department is taking this whole insurrection. This is sort of on the fringe, but they're saying, hey, here's a capitol policeman who probably had some inside rumblings as to how the investigation was proceeding.
He's warning somebody, who is not particularly close to him personally, but knows a fellow fisherman down in Virginia who has posted on the same Facebook site, an affinity group that he has, and warning him. Take that stuff down. Get rid of it.
And then he turned the two counts of the indictment, he warned somebody and told them to do it as well as then turning around and doing it himself and getting rid of his own exchanges with this guy. So it's clearly obstruction. And it's the outer fringe of obstruction, but again, it shows the seriousness with which this whole issue is being treated by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's office.
ACOSTA: No question about that. All right, John Dean, thanks so much for those insights. We appreciate it as always.
DEAN: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: Thank you.
And this just in. Some unwelcome news for travelers headed to Reagan National Airport right here in Washington, D.C. over in Virginia. Two main runways are closed right now after a flight had a quote, "mechanical issue" during landing. You're looking at live pictures right now of Reagan National Airport.
Officials say tires on the plane's main landing gear went down after landing safely. Right now the plane is on the runway. Crews are working to get passengers bussed from the plane to the terminal.
There are no injuries reported, but you should know if you have a flight or if your loved ones have flights going in and out of Reagan right now, there's major problems over at the airport right now due to this disabled plane that they're trying to deal with right now.
We'll get the latest information as soon as it comes in and we'll bring that to you. We'll stay on top of this and bring you any developments on that.
Coming up, a key FDA advisory panel is recommending a booster shot for anyone who received a Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. They say people should receive it two months after their first dose.
So what do you do if your first dose was a lot longer than 60 days ago? It's a good question. We'll ask an infectious disease expert, next.
[17:12:37]
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ACOSTA: Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine was branded the one and done, but now FDA vaccine advisers are recommending all adults who received a J&J shot get a second jab at least two months after their first one. Essentially making it a two-dose vaccine and potentially raising concerns among those who have gone way longer than two months since their first dose.
I spoke this afternoon with the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins about mixing and matching COVID vaccines. Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: There was data that suggested if you are going to get a booster for J&J, maybe getting a Moderna or a Pfizer booster would actually have some advantages in terms of giving you an even stronger immune response. So don't --
ACOSTA: Is that what you would do?
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: I would wait another week right now and see what CDC's advisory committee does with this next week. Maybe a week from today, I'll tell my grand kids what I think they ought to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And joining us now is Dr. William Schaffner. He's a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Doctor, great to see you as always.
Dr. Collins being prudent there in his response. Not surprised to see that. But do you think we'll get clearer guidance on this mixing and matching of vaccines because everybody is asking that question these days.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Jim, you're exactly right. Everybody is asking that question and it's a good question and I hope Dr. Collins is right, that within about a week, week and a half, we will have a definitive answer on that question. I sure wish we had it today. The data looked good to me. As they do to
Dr. Collins and I would hope that mixing and matching will be a recommendation shortly, but let's let the process work out.
These critical advisory committees that look at that, let them have a careful look at the data and then we can talk to the American public with great clarity and assurance.
ACOSTA: Right. And considering the efficacy rates of Pfizer and Moderna, here's another question I think people are going to be asking. And that is do you think J&J should even be an option anymore? I suppose what we're just hearing now from these experts is that two doses of the J&J might be pretty darn effective.
SCHAFFNER: Two doses of J&J actually looks rather good and so for some populations that are harder to reach, remember this J&J vaccine can be managed in conventional refrigerated temperatures so it's easier to get this vaccine out to populations. It still may be a good vaccine, but we have to give it two doses the way we do the other vaccines.
ACOSTA: And a new study among hundreds of thousands of veterans found a big drop in vaccine effectiveness. The study found that in March, protection against infection was in the 80s for Johnson & Johnson, 90s for Moderna and Pfizer by August. However, protection against infection had declined to just 3 percent for J&J, 64 percent from Moderna, 50 percent for Pfizer.
[17:19:50]
ACOSTA: The study hasn't been peer-reviewed yet or published yet, we do caution about that. But why aren't boosters being recommended and authorized for everyone who has been vaccinated?
SCHAFFNER: Well remember, Jim, the performance of these vaccines against severe disease, keeping people out of the hospital, is distinctly better than that and that's the main thing we're interested in and I think as more data come in and data such as you mentioned from the VA, are carefully reviewed and vetted. Well, then I think the expansion of the recommendations may be in order.
Not quite yet. Let's let the process work. We want rigorous assessment before we make broad recommendations.
ACOSTA: This is also going to be on everybody's mind. I suspect it already is. Cases, hospitalizations, deaths continue to fall nationwide. Thank goodness. That's all welcome.
But do you expect another spike this winter when people are indoors more? And we're all, you know, we don't want to sit outside on those outdoor patios at the restaurant and so on. Or do we have enough herd immunity in the country right now to protect against that?
I suspect that's going to depend on where you're at. It's going to be region by region.
Here in the Washington area, might be different than Nashville and so on.
SCHAFFNER: Jim, you anticipate me.
ACOSTA: I'm sorry.
SCHAFFNER: First of all, my fingers are crossed. If everybody keeps getting vaccinated and we actually get people their boosters as we hope they will, then I think this downturn will continue.
But it's too early to unfurl that banner mission accomplished. We still have to be careful and we still have to try to persuade some of our neighbors who are unvaccinated to take the vaccine.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. We'll keep that banner in the back closet there for a while. We won't touch that one just yet. We're a long way off.
All right. Dr. William Schaffner, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
DR. SCHAFFNER: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Good to see you.
Come up, an update on the health of former President Bill Clinton as he battles an infection.
Plus, why the Virginia governor's race was on his mind.
And the world saw a fairytale, but behind the scenes, trouble was brewing from the start. Go behind the scenes of the royal wedding on a new episode of the "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES: DIANA". That's tomorrow, 9:00 Eastern here on CNN.
[17:22:15]
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ACOSTA: Well, President Bill Clinton is spending his fifth day in the hospital in California after a urinary tract infection spread to his bloodstream.
CNN Cameras captured former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and their daughter Chelsea arriving at the hospital earlier today. A good sign that he's well enough for visitors. Also phone calls, apparently. We're told he talked to President Biden yesterday.
CNN's Natasha Chen is outside Clinton's hospital in Orange County, California. Natasha, we're told President Clinton is improving. That he's up and moving around but a fifth day in the hospital, I mean, that is a concern. What's the concern?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, I think this is really about the IV antibiotics treatment that he's on. It's supposed to take three to five days. And it's not an antibiotics that should be taken orally.
This particular treatment, if you count five days since he arrived on Tuesday when he first started feeling unwell, the fifth day could be within the next day or two. So he may be released soon. We just don't know exactly which day.
But as you said, he has been improving. The daily tests that they're running show that he's going in the right direction. White blood cell counts are decreasing and here's what a urologist said on our air about how common this is, especially for a 75-year-old man and what this could mean if it's not caught early on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAMIN BRAHMBHATT, UROLOGIST, ORLANDO HEALTH: I mean, sepsis when you're diagnosed with it is as serious as it gets. And once you get that he diagnosis, time is of the essence.
Actually, I see a lot of men in my office that have recurring urinary tract infections, they will never get to that point of sepsis.
Sepsis sometimes can be predictable and sometimes it can be unpredictable. That's why you just have to be aware of your symptoms.
If you start having issues breathing, if you start having issues with your blood pressure or if you start having this excessive fatigue or anything that may feel abnormal, you've got to get yourself checked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: But as we said, the former president is seeming to do better. We've heard from doctors and staff that he's able to get up and move around. He's got a couple of books he's reading. As you mentioned, he's on the phones. President Biden spoke with him yesterday and they discussed the Virginia race, which of course involves an old friend of the Clintons, Terry McAuliffe running for governor, Jim.
ACOSTA: That is correct. All right, Natasha Chen, thank you so much.
It's no surprise that President Biden and former President Clinton talked shop during their phone calls. Natasha was just talking about this.
I'm joined now by Virginia Democratic candidate for governor and former Virginia Governor, Terry McAuliffe. I should note, we also invited Glenn Youngkin to appear on the program and we did not get an answer on that in the affirmative.
So in the meantime, Governor McAuliffe, great to have you on. You were, of course, a campaign co-chair for both Clintons as we all know. You go way back with the Clintons. Have you spoken to President Clinton about his hospitalization? How's he doing?
TERRY MCAULIFFE (D-VA), GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I have. He's in great spirits. You know, he's not worried about himself. He wants to see how the race was going. So, you know, he just said don't worry about me, how's the race going.
So he's his old self and getting better every single day and hopefully he will be out soon. But when I talked to him, he was a happy warrior.
ACOSTA: All right. Well, that is good news and we wish him the best.
Let's get down to this race.
[17:30:00]
ACOSTA: You're in a tough fight, Governor McAuliffe. And the DNC just announced a massive ad buy on your behalf, part of the largest-ever investment in Virginia.
What should voters read into is that when it comes to your chances heading into the home stretch? It seems to suggest, this is a tight race, you're vulnerable.
MCAULIFFE: First of all, Jim, this is always going to be a tight race. As you know, we're in an off year, so no federal candidates.
But it was a real turning point in this race Wednesday night when they had a Glenn Youngkin rally here in Virgina and they opened the rally by pledging allegiance to a flag that was used during the January 6th insurrection.
It was so sickening to so many people. The flag, the symbol of democracy, that flag was used in insurrection to destroy our democracy.
And then, as you know, Donald Trump called into this rally they had for Youngkin and the president said -- President Trump said, Glenn Youngkin will do whatever we want him to do.
I think that really lit a spark on a lot of folks. Just this weekend, we were supposed to knock on 80,000 doors. I just got a report a few minutes ago. We're now knocking on 100,000 doors.
We released our financial report today. We've raised $45 million, the most that's ever been raised from 100,000 donors. And we raised $1 million online in just the last few days.
So people don't want Donald Trump. They don't want a Trump wanna-be, like Glenn Youngkin, who will ban abortions, will roll back voting rights, someone who's education plan will cut 43,000 teachers.
In the last three or four days, people are coming out woodwork to help in this race. They realize the stakes are so great.
ACOSTA: Yes.
MCAULIFFE: Donald Trump wants to use this race to kick himself off for 2024. And we're just not going to have that here in Virginia. People are happy here in Virginia.
ACOSTA: Yes, it seemed to catch everybody's attention, the event you're talking about on the behalf of Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin, for his part, as you know, Governor, said that he wasn't there, first of all. Then he said that the use of that flag, I believe, he said it was weird. That sort of thing.
MCAULIFFE: Weird.
ACOSTA: Did he go far enough in condemning that?
MCAULIFFE: Absolutely not. First of all, Jim, I had 12 different rallies around the state on my behalf. I was not at him. I had surrogates at it.
So the idea he wasn't there, that doesn't mean -- if that had been a Terry McAuliffe rally and they had pledged allegiance to a flag that was used at the insurrection, it was so sickening, I would have come out, condemned it. Wrong, disgraceful.
What did Youngkin say? It's weird. What do you mean it's weird? No, it's wrong.
People fought and died for the right to vote in this country. The idea they were pledging allegiance to this flag is nothing but sickening.
It just reminded everybody of the stakes of this election. We don't want a Donald Trump wanna-be.
He wants to ban abortions, Jim. And now with the Trump Supreme Court, this is reality. Abortion is gone in Texas. Glenn Youngkin wants to bring that to Virginia.
He wants -- he said top of his agenda will be voting rights laws in Georgia, he wants to bring them here to Virginia.
So yesterday, I've got Jill Biden here. I got Stacey Abrams here. I got Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance-Bottoms. I have President Obama coming in on Saturday. The president of the United States will be here the week after. We have everybody here.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: You have a date that he's coming?
MCAULIFFE: -- Vice President Kamala Harris.
ACOSTA: Do you have a date nailed down yet for the --
(CROSSTALK)
MCAULIFFE: He will definitely be here. He's coming back at another time. So appreciative. I think we're going to get Vice President Harris.
Listen, people understand the stakes of this election. This is an important election. And this is Donald Trump. He's endorsed Glenn Youngkin six times.
And Glenn Youngkin has said so much of the reason why I'm running is because of Donald Trump. That just sickens people. We just lived through four years of culture wars, hatred and divisiveness. I'm a unifier. I have so many Republicans who have endorsed me.
(CROSSTALK)
MCAULIFFE: How do we increase health care and education? That's what Terry McAuliffe is going to do.
ACOSTA: Got you.
And, Governor, but I do want to ask you about the potential visit by President Biden.
If President Biden goes out there, campaigns on your behalf, and they have not passed those two important spending bills that are sort of in limbo on Capitol Hill right now, are you concerned about that?
I know you have said that you want to see at least one of those bills get passed. And if it hasn't happened by the time the president gets out there, is that a problem?
MCAULIFFE: I'd like to see them passed. I want to get them passed, not because I'm running for governor, but I've got $7 billion worth of road projects here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
But, Jim, for President Biden, I want to say thank you. We've got $14.3 in the American Rescue Plan. And $300 billion we got for education because of President Biden. Child poverty is being cut in half.
So there's a lot of great things we have going on.
But I campaigned -- I had 13 events today and this is my 13th. One more going on after this. I have not been asked once about that.
What they want to know, are you raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks, are you getting paid sick leave, are you getting family medical leave?
[17:35:01]
I am for all of those things. Youngkin is against all of those. He doesn't want Medicaid expansion here. Really?
ACOSTA: Let me ask you
(CROSSTALK)
MCAULIFFE: -- got life-saving care.
ACOSTA: Let me ask you, do you see this as a national race in a sense? We saw what happened out in California. It became a national race. Donald Trump was essentially on ballot out there.
It sounds like you're trying to do the same in Virginia. And what is your warning to Democrats if they don't heed that call?
MCAULIFFE: Donald Trump will use this as a major victory for himself to help himself in the 2022 midterms and this will be the kickoff for his 2024.
Literally, Jim, he has endorsed Glenn Youngkin six times. And you know, Youngkin is a Trump wanna-be.
So we've got to stop Donald Trump. We don't want him back again. He called into this rally on Wednesday night, after they pledged allegiance to this flag, and basically said Glenn Youngkin will do whatever we want him to do.
That was frightening. That woke everybody up. And that's why 100,000 doors are being knocked as we $1 million in three days.
All my life, this is the biggest amount of money that's ever been raised ever in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And people are excited. People around the country understand. We're not going to let Donald Trump off the mat. And we're not going to let a Donald Trump wanna-be, who wants to ban abortions.
He says the single-biggest issue facing Virginia today is election integrity. No, it's not. It's jobs. It's health care. It's education.
So sure there's national ramifications. Trump wants to use this to pick himself up. We're not going to do it. We just don't want that here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
ACOSTA: All right, former Virginia governor, current candidate for governor, once again, Terry McAuliffe, in And Newport News, Virginia, a great part of the state of Virginia -- Commonwealth of Virginia, of course.
Governor McAuliffe, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.
MCAULIFFE: Thank you.
ACOSTA: And coming up, horrifying audio obtained by CNN reveals a Texas school official telling teachers they need to teach opposing views of the Holocaust. That leaked audio is coming up after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:41:46]
ACOSTA: A Texas school official is apologizing after telling teachers they need to present what she called, quote, "opposing views" of the Holocaust. The moment, which was caught on tape, has sparked an uproar.
CNN's Ed Lavandera brings us the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Being told to get rid of your library or opposing viewpoints on what they called on like controversial subjects. ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): To tell this story, this
schoolteacher says she has to speak out under the cover of secrecy. She says she fears never being able to get a job as an educator again.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Teachers are actively getting threats if they are speaking out at this point, threats to destroy their lives, to come for their license, to go after their families.
LAVANDERA: Last week, Carol Independent School District administrators in the suburb of Southlake, Texas, held training sessions laying out the guidelines teachers needed to follow to pick the books for their classroom libraries.
At the heart of what unfolded during these sessions is a controversial new state law that tries to control how racial issues and history are taught in schools across Texas.
The law states that, "if a teacher engages in a discussion of a controversial issue of public policy or social affairs, they're required to explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives."
Part of the training was recorded by a teacher.
GINA PEDDY, TEXAS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR (voice-over): Just try to remember the concepts of 3979. And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing -- that has other perspectives.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER (voice-over): How do you oppose the Holocaust?
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA (on-camera): In that audio recording, you hear this administrator say this absurd idea that there should be an opposing view of the Holocaust taught.
When you heard that, what was your reaction?
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: It's almost like a joke. Like, I don't even know, what would an opposing view of the Holocaust speak.
We're not being asked to have opposing views on colonization. We're not being asked to have opposing views on Christopher Columbus Day or Thanksgiving.
We're being asked to have opposing views on only certain things. And that's where the problem lies really.
LAVANDERA: What are those certain things that you're being asked to have opposing views on?
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Civil rights movement, Holocaust, the Civil War, slavery, women's rights. LAVANDERA (voice-over): The school administrator in the meeting had tried to ease the frustrations and anger of the teachers.
PEDDY (voice-over): You are professionals. We hired you as professionals. We trust you with our children. So if you think the book is OK, then let's go with it. And whatever happens, we will fight it together.
LAVANDERA: The school district superintendent apologized for any hurt and confusion this has caused. Adding, "There are not two sides of the Holocaust," and that the district "is working to add clarity to the expectations for teachers."
But in Southlake, finding clarity has been impossible since the controversial Texas law went into effect.
Several teachers who have spoken to CNN say a group of conservative and highly organized parents are the driving force of this controversy, pushing school administrators to limit discussions on racial and social justice issues.
RUSSELL MARYLAND, SOUTHLAKE PARENT: It's very sad, the situation that we're in right now.
[17:45:00]
LAVANDERA: Russell Maryland is a longtime Southlake resident. His three children have gone to schools here.
The former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman has spent the last three years working with dozens of other parents to develop a diversity curriculum for the city schools,
MARYLAND: The world is changing. The city is changing. And, unfortunately, you have a set of people in this town that are fearful of the change. And what do the fearful do? They instill fear.
LAVANDERA: The council's efforts have gone nowhere. Maryland says the latest Southlake school controversy is embarrassing.
MARYLAND: It's just ridiculousness of it is just incredible. But it's happening. It's happening here in our community.
As a warning to everybody out there, if you don't stand up right now, then that ignorance is coming to a town close to you.
LAVANDERA (on-camera): What do you think is driving this push to control how these issues are taught in classrooms?
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Fear and ignorance. I'm sure it's racism, true. But it's fear and ignorance.
And I keep saying this, I hope this is the catalyst for change in our district. But these changes -- we can't continue to go on this way. We have to make a change. We cannot continue to be ignorant and behave this way. We're beginning to feel like children of divorce. Like we have these two sides fighting and we're becoming collateral damage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Disturbing story.
Coming up, an act of terror in England. The second stabbing death in five years of a member of parliament. What we're learning, next.
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[17:51:09]
ACOSTA: Just into CNN, notorious real-estate heir and convicted murderer, Robert Durst, has been diagnosed with COVID-19. His lawyer telling "The Los Angeles Times" the 78-year-old is hospitalized and on a ventilator.
Just two days ago, Durst, who was the subject of an HBO docuseries, "The Jinx," was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing his best friend, Susan Berman, more than 20 years ago.
Friday's fatal stabbing of a British lawmaker is formally being declared an act of terrorism. David Amess died after being stabbed several times at a meeting he was holding with his constituents at a church.
A 25-year-old suspect is in custody. He's believed to be a British national with Somali heritage.
And CNN's Phil Black reports from London.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the site where the lawmaker, David Amess, was stabbed repeatedly on Friday.
The prime minister laid a wreath, a symbol of the grief and anger being felt by politicians here across the spectrum.
Because, although this attack was shocking in many ways, for many members of parliament, it did not come as a complete surprise.
There's been growing concern here over what is a long-standing tradition in politics.
The easy access voters have to their elected representatives, the ease with which they can arrange meetings to discuss concerns, one on one, in a close setting with little to no security.
The concern is that is no longer appropriate. It's outdated because it is unsafe.
David Amess himself had spoken with concern about what he saw as a growth in harassment, violence, intimidation and threats towards elected politicians here.
The government is now promising to review the security arrangements in place when members of parliament meet with the people they represent.
Meanwhile, police are developing a clearer idea about why this attack happened. They believe it was an act of terrorism. They suspect the 25-year-old man they're holding was motivated by Islamist extremist -- Jim?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Thanks to Phil for that.
This just in, a new statement from President Clinton's spokesperson about his health condition.
"President Clinton," the statement says, "continued to make excellent progress over the past 24 hours. He will remain overnight at U.C. Irvin Medical Center and continue to receive I.V. antibiotics before an expected discharge tomorrow."
And the statement goes on to say that, "He's in great spirits and spending time with family and watching college football as well."
And we wish him well as he makes his recovery.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the island of Bali, tourism, which is a driving economic force there, practically came to a halt. Thousands of people were left out of work and going hungry.
This week's "CNN Hero" found a way to help his community by implementing a simple plan, empower people to trade in plastic waste for rice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADE JANUR YASA, CNN HORO: I keep going with this mission because people empowered, because people get excited, because of the community that respond into this initiative.
I see the smile in their face. I see the cleaner environments. And also I see they can provide for their family.
This initiative is so simple and we can do this in every community.
We clean the environments, we feed the people, and we're proud doing this.
My goal is to really spread this movement. I want to inspire people that everything is possible. There's no small dream. If you believe and you do it, with the community, and you will succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And for the full story, go to CNN heroes.com.
That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
[17:54:57]
Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM, live, after a quick break.
Have a good night.
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