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Schools Defy Governors Over Ban on Mask Mandates; Infrastructure Bill Expected to Pass Senate; Gov. Cuomo in 'Fighting Mood' as Aides Try to Convince Him to Resign. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Tuesday, August 10.

[06:00:25]

And this morning, American children are caught in the middle of a dangerous standoff, pitting public health against politics, all while schools are starting to reopen.

So much is at stake here. More than 200 children under the age of 17 are now hospitalized in Florida, which is a number that has never been higher. But the state's governor, Ron DeSantis, is now threatening to withhold paychecks from superintendents and school board members who choose to follow CDC guidance and require masks in schools.

Four school districts in the state are putting safety first and defying his order, including the state's second largest school district in Broward County.

BERMAN: So for all the talk about liberty and local control, the Florida governor is trying to restrict the freedom of local school boards to make their own health decisions.

In Texas it's a similar story. The governor has tried to limit the freedom of schools to make locally-based decisions about health.

Overnight the city of Austin voted to join Dallas in defying these restrictions and issue mask requirements for schools in areas where COVID cases are surging.

More than 93,000 new cases of coronavirus reported among children last week. That's a 30 percent increase week to week. And this morning nearly every American is living in a county considered to have high or substantial coronavirus transmission.

We're going to begin our coverage tonight -- this morning, I should say -- with Leyla Santiago live in Alachua, Florida, where they are standing up to the threat from Governor DeSantis -- Leyla.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, in a matter of hours children will be arriving at this school for their first day of school, and they will be required to wear masks, at least for the first two weeks, unless they have a doctor's note. The school board said it made that decision because they want to stop

the spread of COVID-19, and now the governor is going after those responsible for making that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLEE SIMON, SUPERINTENDENT, ALACHUA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The governor should take the conservative step and do everything he can to protect the lives of our community. I believe the governor has other interests that he's focusing on.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): The superintendent of Florida's Alachua public schools fighting back against Governor Ron DeSantis, explaining why she's choosing to defy his effective ban on mask mandates in schools, despite his threat the state may withhold salaries of superintendents and school board members.

SIMON: We need to be able to run schools, and we need to make sure that people aren't testing positive or needing to quarantine.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Parents have the fundamental right to raise their children, their health and well-being, and that that has to be respected by the state at all levels of government, and so it's our belief that this should be a parent's choice.

SANTIAGO: The superintendent of Miami-Dade public schools also responding to the salary cut threat, saying, quote, "At no point shall I allow my decision to be influenced by a threat to my paycheck."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Masks for all in the fall!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Masks for all in the fall!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Masks for all in the fall!

SANTIAGO: The back and forth comes amid a surge in new cases across Florida, the state accounting for nearly 20 percent of the nation's cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say "Ahh."

SANTIAGO: There's also an alarming rise of cases in children, with some pediatric hospitals overwhelmed.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: If we're already seeing COVID-19 pediatric ICU admissions and children's hospitalizations before schools open, what's going to happen after that?

DR. CHLOE WINANT, SIXTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER: I'm really excited for the school year. It just is the best feeling to see your new crop of kids.

SANTIAGO: Chloe Winant is entering her ninth year teaching sixth grade science in Alachua County, where students are heading back to class today. WINANT: I think it's important to model safety with the kids and to

make sure that they feel safe with me. Then I have a two-year-old daughter at school who is starting school this year, and so I need to be able to protect her and her classmates.

SANTIAGO: Her school board will reevaluate its decision to require masks on August 17.

TINA CERTAIN, BOARD MEMBER, ALACHUA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL: It does make you pause, but our goal is the health and safety of our students and our staff. So we're -- we think we're within the guidelines of the law.

SANTIAGO: Tina Certain is a member of the board that voted for the two-week mandate and could now lose her salary over it.

CERTAIN: I am actually just trying to stand firm on that and provide a safe learning and work environment.

SANTIAGO: A safety issue that doctors say could be a matter of life and death.

DR. MARK KLINE, PHYSICIAN-IN-CHIEF, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, NEW ORLEANS: I think bringing together large numbers of children, congregating them in classrooms with masks being optional or -- or, worse yet, even forbidden, is just a formula for disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:05]

SANTIAGO: You know, as we spoke to teachers, the principal here at Howard Bishop, as well as staff members, there's a sense of exhaustion over the stress from dealing with not only the rise in cases of COVID- 19, but also the politics of the back and forth over this mask mandate.

Now, Alachua County School Board believes that it is in compliance with the governor's executive order, not only because they are giving parents the option to provide a doctor's note, but also because the state board of education voted last week that, if a -- if a student believes that they are experiencing some sort of COVID-19 harassment, a patient can pull the student out of the school, send them to another school, and the state will provide funding for that.

BERMAN: It's interesting, the simultaneous attacks here. Under attack from COVID, from a pandemic, and under political attack all at the same time. Leyla Santiago, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

KEILAR: Developing overnight in Texas, the Austin School District declaring it will require masks in defiance of Governor Abbott's ban after listening to the concerns of parents and teachers at a special session.

A similar school mask requirement was issued earlier in the day by the city of Dallas, and that is where we find CNN's Ed Lavandera.

Ed, we're seeing school districts pushing back.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.

We are seeing this. Clearly in defiance of the order that Governor Abbott has issued here over the recent weeks, and he has been publicly saying -- the governor has -- that there would be no mask mandates, that to control the surge of the virus, that it would be the personal responsibility of Texans to do what they needed to do to protect themselves.

But clearly, Dr. Michael Hinojosa, the superintendent of Dallas schools, was saying -- or told me yesterday that he was looking at the numbers and the trend lines that he's hearing from medical experts here in the Dallas area. And he says he's especially concerned for elementary and middle-school-aged children who can't be vaccinated yet. And he's concerned about the spread and the trajectory of where this is going.

And he explained to us why he decided to step out and defy the governor's orders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: You're essentially defying Governor Abbott's order of no kind of mandate like this. Why do you think it's important to do that?

MICHAEL HINOJOSA, SUPERINTENDENT, DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, he has a big state to run that's very different. This is Dallas ISD, and I know my numbers. And I'm responsible for this district, and I'm responsible for everything that happens. And if we can save a few lives and save the health of some kids, it's worth whatever trouble I get in -- get into.

And that's kind of this whole issue of local control. We know what's happening in our community better.

So this is not something that we're defying the state just because it's willy-nilly. It's because it's a need. And as soon as we get comfortable with the metrics, talking to the health professionals, we will -- we will rescind the mask mandate. Because we don't like it, but we think it's necessary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: The superintendent also says he's not sure exactly how long this requirement will have to be put in place. He did say that he was talking about it in terms of several months as we get through this surge.

And Brianna, if you look at the numbers here, really, the concern is hospitalizations. The state of Texas has about 9,400 people hospitalized because of coronavirus. That is a number we have not seen since early February. We are still waiting to hear exactly how governor Abbott is going to

react to the news of Dallas Independent School District and the Austin School District.

The superintendent here in Dallas, Brianna, also told me that he had been on conference calls with other superintendents across the state in recent days, and he expects more to follow the lead of Dallas and Austin here as we've seen in the last day. So this is a story that will continue to develop this week -- Brianna.

KEILAR: I like how the superintendent of Dallas put it. It's not willy-nilly, right? They're following the science.

Ed Lavandera, live for us in Dallas. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Joining me now is the mayor of Austin, Texas, Steve Adler.

Mayor Adler, thank you so much for being with us. Talk to us about the decision overnight by the Austin school board to issue mask requirements for students in the incoming school year.

MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D), AUSTIN, TEXAS: I think this is clearly something that parents in our community want, which makes perfect sense. It is following the doctors and the data.

When the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics speak very clearly that the safest thing you can do for children is make sure that everybody in schools are masked, parents with children in school are going to want -- are going to want everyone masked.

BERMAN: What's your message to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has tried to restrict the freedom of local school boards to make their own decisions on masks?

ADLER: I really do believe that local communities know best what is important for those communities. I think there's -- there's a basic freedom and liberty interest in local communities being able to make those -- those kinds of decisions. And that's what we're seeing here.

[06:10:15]

Ultimately the question -- or the questions, you know, that could be determined by -- by the courts. Austin has been in court twice with the governor. Over the last several months we went into district court. Supreme Court hasn't weighed in. But -- but no one wants that kind of litigation. And it's unfortunate if it ever gets to that place, because it makes some people think that it's a partisan political issue, and it's not.

It is just communities trying to make sure that they can keep themselves and their children safe, and that's what you see happening here.

BERMAN: So talk to me about the situation with COVID in Austin right now. You issued a Stage 5 emergency alert over the weekend. Have you ever done that before?

ADLER: You know, we've been up to Stage 5 before, but the numbers -- it's been a while. And, frankly, we never thought we would be back here again.

This is a meaner, more aggressive virus, and what's real frustrating is the situation we're in right now is -- is preventable. Vaccines work, and they're safe, and -- and we need more people to -- to take them.

In the meantime, we know that masking works, and it's real -- real effective. And it's something we can do and still keep our cities safe and open and -- and vibrant.

And the fact that there's difficulty or road blocks for -- for being able to mandate those things sends a really confused message to the community about what's important.

So, yes, we've been in Stage 5 before. It's not a place we thought we would get back to, but we're real concerned right now about our ICUs.

BERMAN: And can I just ask you, again. You say the road blocks being thrown up. As you sit here this morning, do you feel that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is helping you battle COVID, or is it the opposite?

ADLER: Well, you know, we -- the Governor Announced yesterday he was going to try and help us get staffing at our hospitals, and we're -- we're appreciative and grateful for -- for that. The hospital requests for assistance have been denied up until -- up until yesterday. So we're pleased for that assistance.

But -- but the -- to try to stop a city or a county or a local school district from being able to have a mask mandate in school is something that doesn't -- that doesn't help at all. It doesn't follow the doctors and the data.

Our message is confused in Texas. If something is important enough for everybody to do, then local communities have to have the right to be able to -- to order people to do it.

BERMAN: Mayor Adler, we wish you the best of luck going forward. I hope these numbers turn around for you soon.

ADLER: John, thank you.

BERMAN: Just a short time from now, a big moment for the Biden presidency and the fate of the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

KEILAR: Plus, will Donald Trump and his loyalists be held accountable for their efforts to steal the election?

And we're learning new details about what Governor Andrew Cuomo is doing behind the scenes as the political world collapses on him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:17:37]

KEILAR: Here in just a few hours, the Senate is set to vote on a bipartisan trillion-dollar infrastructure package, and this is coming after weeks of intense negotiations with the White House and a core group of Democratic and Republican senators.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is joining us now.

So, you know Sunlen, the bill is expected to pass, but it could wind up being a very long day before that happens, right?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Brianna, certainly a lot left to do up here on Capitol Hill.

This infrastructure bill is a massive bill, and it potentially will become a major victory for the Biden administration after, as you said, months and months of painstaking negotiations.

Now, $550 billion in new federal spending over the next five years. New money for roads, bridges, the electric grid, broadband access, modernizing the transit system among many, many other items.

It is expected to pass here in the Senate. They do have the votes to get this through. It then goes over to the House, where it there faces something of an uncertain fate.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, she has not yet committed to taking up the infrastructure bill until the Senate moves forward with that separate $3.5 billion budget resolution. That is the Democratic-only package that has a broad array of Democratic priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he has said that they will move quickly after infrastructure to start work on that resolution. That will likely set off the so-called vote-a-rama, where we see a marathon session likely on the Senate floor tonight before any of this, Brianna, gets over the finish line.

KEILAR: Vote-a-rama, it sounds so fun, but really, it's not. That's what I've learned about vote-a-rama.

Sunlen, thank you so much for that. Sunlen Serfaty live for us from Capitol Hill.

BERMAN: So as Sunlen noted, after Senate passes, the next stop for the infrastructure bill is the House. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said they will not take it up until Senate Democrats pass a $3.5 trillion budget plan, or at least the way to get it through.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us to explain what's in the $3.5 trillion proposal.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is the Dems' budget blueprint. It's a $3.5 trillion package of Democrat-only priorities, with a focus on strengthening American families. This is their wish list. These are the human infrastructure investments that the White House wants to become legacy.

This dovetails with the president's American Families Plan. These are investments in these different areas, right? Families, climate, healthcare and jobs.

[06:20:06]

In it: for young families a universal pre-K program and a new child care benefit and making the child tax credit permanent, that expanded COVID child tax credit permanent. There's also two free years of community college.

For Medicare recipients, lowering the eligibility age and adding dental, vision and hearing benefits.

There are investments aimed to meet the president's goals of cutting carbon emissions in half. There's money for agriculture conservation, drought, forestry programs to help reduce carbon emissions and prevent forest fires.

You know, the Democrats want even more investments in infrastructure projects, not included in what Sunlen was just talking about, the bipartisan infrastructure package. So there's other investments in job and infrastructure here.

The big question, how you pay for this? This memo to Democratic senators Monday said no new taxes on families making less than 400 grand a year. That's been a White House promise. No taxes on small businesses, no taxes on family farms.

Paid for, Dems say, with stepped up IRS enforcement, corporate and international tax reform, new tax revenues from rich people and corporations, healthcare savings, long-term economic growth. But no other details.

There's a lot of work to be done to actually finalize what those taxes would look like.

You know, Chuck Schumer -- the Democrats say this is the biggest change to the American economy since the New Deal and the Great Society. And Republicans are like, this is the biggest change in the economy since the New Deal and Great Society. So both sides looking at this: one with panic, one hoping for legacy.

BERMAN: That's a great way to put it. I mean, the answer is yes.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: To both.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: And it's just whether or not you like it.

Christine Romans, great to see you. Thanks a lot.

ROMANS: Nice to see you guys.

BERMAN: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly in a fighting mood as his closest confidants try to convince him to resign. CNN has brand-new reporting, next.

KEILAR: Plus, will former President Trump and his allies face consequences for trying to steal the election? We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:09]

BERMAN: New reporting that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's closest confidants spent the weekend trying to convince him to resign following the report that found he sexually harassed multiple women.

A source says Cuomo can't come to grips with the end of his time in office, telling his inner circle, quote, "I need more time." The governor's attorney spoke with CNN's Erica Hill overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RITA GLAVIN, ATTORNEY FOR GOV. ANDREW CUOMO: Everyone is pushing the governor to resign based on a report that has not been vetted and that people are taking to be 100 percent true. And the governor should be allowed the opportunity to see that evidence and do a fulsome submission which we're not being allowed to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now, Maggie Haberman, CNN political analyst and Washington correspondent at the "New York Times," who has covered all kinds of politics, including New York politics for years.

So Governor Cuomo is trying to buy time. What does time actually buy him?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it buys him more time in the governor's mansion, among other things.

But look, what I think he's hoping to do -- and, again, I think where his head is, is very hard to glean on any given day -- what he's hoping to do is, as time goes on, can he wear down -- is there a number of assembly Democrats who would have to vote for impeachment who he can get to not, who he can get to stay on his side?

He doesn't really have a whole lot to work with right now. There's no budget that he can dole things out. That -- that's passed already. There's no, you know, strength that he can dole out and threaten them with, because he's pretty weak right now.

So I think what he's doing, frankly, is staving off what is likely the inevitable. But I think that if you were any politician in this country, and you watched Donald Trump go through two impeachments -- this is not the same thing. There were not the votes to remove Donald Trump. There are likely the votes to remove Andrew Cuomo here. But I think what he's doing is saying what's the harm in waiting? And once I'm gone, I'm gone. And so I'm going to keep going.

The harm is to his party, which he clearly doesn't care about, because if he did, he would have resigned already.

BERMAN: And the assembly speaker has made clear he doesn't see any room for negotiating or deal making here.

HABERMAN: Absolutely. I was really struck by that from the assembly speaker yesterday, Carl Heastie, saying amid a report from the city that there is some -- some effort by Cuomo to try to cut a deal with assembly Democrats, saying, I'm not here to make a deal. And so I think that's certainly cut off an avenue.

That does not mean that there are not members of Heastie's conference who might be willing to be open to talking to Cuomo, but it seems like a pretty narrow path.

KEILAR: The lieutenant governor appears poised to kind of move in here once Cuomo is out. The expectation that the path really isn't there for him. She's actually been marginalized, right, in his administration, which might be a positive for her.

HABERMAN: I think it's been a good thing that she's been able to say that she is not in his inner circle. She's not tied to any of this. She is not someone who's advice he has sought. She doesn't show up over and over again in that attorney general report, as a number of people did.

And she has been traversing the state during COVID and long before COVID, having a separate identity. That separate identity was often because Andrew Cuomo doesn't want to share a stage with people. And that has always been the issue. It was part of the issue for his previous lieutenant governor, before Kathy Hochul.

But this puts her in a not terrible position to start out from. Look, we don't know what an administration would look like if she becomes governor. We don't know how long she'll be governor. But it does mean that she can make something of a clean break that, if she were close to him and if he had any interest in working with others in a real way, she might not be able to do.

BERMAN: So at the federal level, we keep learning more details about what was going on in the days surrounding the insurrection. Testimony from Jeffrey Rosen to the Senate Judiciary Committee, revelations about what Jeffrey Clark, who was a senior member of the Justice Department, was trying to do.

Curious, Maggie, whether any of these revelations make a dent inside Trump world. Whether these are things that the former president and his confidants fear for any reasons that there will be consequences there; or if it's just, you know, another brick in the wall, as Pink Floyd used to say.

HABERMAN: It's -- Nicely done. It's a great --