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New Day Sunday

U.S. Administers Record 4.6 Million Vaccine Doses In One Day; 160 FEMA Vaccinators Headed To Michigan Amid Surge In Cases; Second Week Of Testimony Focuses On Floyd's Cause Of Death; Biden Announces $100B Plan To Expand Broadband Access; Tomorrow: Biden Meets With Bipartisan Lawmakers On Infrastructure; Prince Philip's Funeral To Be Held Next Saturday; Vaccine Hesitancy Remains High Among Some Americans. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 11, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:01]

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But fear didn't stop her, Beulah May and other black leaders from around the country took on the men who killed her son, and the terrorist organizations that fueled their hate.

Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: This is a must watch. The all new CNN original series, "The People Versus the Klan," premiering tonight in back-to-back episodes at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: The second we let our guard down, it comes roaring back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not even halfway through our vaccination program. So now is not the time to change course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vaccine requirements are becoming part of the new normal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They would say that it was everything but Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck that killed him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went frame by frame and showed us when the life was actually sucked out of George Floyd's body. Those images are going to hard to overcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's enough legally to show Chauvin's actions were substantial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He will soon start hosting those lawmakers here at the White House to talk about his massive $2.25 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would be willing to pay higher taxes to fund a strong infrastructure plan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only about 20 percent of it is infrastructure. And that's using a generous definition of infrastructure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, and welcome to Sunday. I'm Christi Paul.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez, Christi, a pleasure to join you as always, officially now. This is great.

PAUL: Yes, we have been waiting. Thank you so much. We're glad that the alarm didn't deter you. It's a hard one, I know.

SANCHEZ: Of course not.

PAUL: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Let's get started.

A record day in the race to get America vaccinated. The U.S. recording a high of more than 4 million shots in one day. Right now, at least 21 percent of the U.S. is fully vaccinated.

PAUL: The White House says additional vaccinators are heading to Michigan. That state seeing an alarming surge in infections. We know right now Michigan has the second highest number of U.K. variant cases in the U.S. too.

SANCHEZ: The Biden administration says that all adults will be eligible to get a shot by next week, but there will be a shortage in the supply of one specific vaccine.

PAUL: Yeah, a CNN analysis found that allocations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will drop by 84 percent, despite recent setbacks with that shot. The White House says they are not concerned.

We are going to begin this morning with CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro.

Evan, good to see you. He's in Michigan, where, again, they recorded 7,000 new cases just yesterday.

So, talk to us about what's happening there, and what they're trying to do to slow the spread. And good morning.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you.

Christi, I would love to be in Michigan, I am unfortunately in Manhattan where the weather is not looking too good, but we have good news in Manhattan about the pandemic. Our vaccination rate here is very high. Our numbers are low.

It's not the same story in Michigan. The infection rate has risen by 18 times, 18 percent in the past few days.

And that's what's going on in the headlines of this pandemic this weekend. We're seeing good news on the vaccine, but also scary news in places like Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: A record high, 4.6 million COVID-19 doses reported administered in the U.S. in one day on Saturday, according to data published by the CDC. The previous record was just over 4 million, last Saturday.

In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been pleading for more federal government assistance including more vaccine doses. A hundred and sixty additional FEMA vaccinators are on their way to Michigan as the state grapples with a rise in COVID-19 cases, a senior Biden administration official told CNN.

Meanwhile, some Michigan hospitals are delaying and rescheduling non- emergency procedures as a last resort, amid that virus surge, the Michigan Health and Hospital Association says.

As more transmissible variants spread across the U.S., emergency rooms are seeing an uptick in cases among younger adults, many of whom have not been vaccinated, CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky says.

The FDA is considering Pfizer's request to expand its emergency use authorization to kids 12 to 15 years of age.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: That's really good news because the b is.1.1.7 variant I affecting teenagers and we need to vaccinate them as soon as possible. The data looks really good.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The FDA is aware of blood clots in some individuals that received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The agency told CNN in a statement on Saturday. The agency said the data will inform whether or not regulatory action is needed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's important is has that increase from the baseline, compared to what we're administering for the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Right now, the benefits really outweigh the risks.

[07:05:02]

But more information hopefully will come out to the general public.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The vaccine, developed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen is currently authorized in the U.S. for emergency use in adults.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the vaccine is a remarkable vaccine. I think certainly the FDA and CDC is looking into the situation, and I think it's just important to see what are we seeing, are these consistent with side effects that we normally see after vaccination, and as we look at blood clots here in the United States, we have about 300 to 600,000 Americans that developed blood clots generally every year. So, we're going to continue to see that.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The first U.S. military branch disclosed service wide numbers on acceptance and declination, 40 of U.S. Marines are declining U.S. vaccinations, according to data provided to CNN on Friday by the service.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The declination rate within the military is still about the same as the society write large. It's the ill-advised anti-vaxx movement that's driving this and it says as much about our society as it says about the military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): It's a complicated headlines this morning. Some good news on vaccines, some worrisome news. Some good news on the infection rate, some worrisome news in places like Michigan.

The most concerning news, though, really is that last piece about people not taking the vaccine. Doctors and experts say the best way to keep this pandemic in check to stop it from spreading and end it once and for all is to get the vaccine as soon as you can.

The good news is in just a couple of weeks, everyone should be eligible to get it. The bad news is some people seem like they may not be doing it, and that's something we should be concerned about, Boris and Christi.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a glut of supply, but yet vaccine hesitancy that prevents us from getting over with coronavirus.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, thanks so much with your reporting.

With us now to share his expertise and insight is Dr. Ashish Jha. He's the dean of Brown University School of Public Health.

Dr. Jha, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us.

I want to speak to you specifically about Michigan. Nearly 7,000 new cases yesterday of the second highest number of U.K. variant cases in the United States. What is behind the rise in cases there?

ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yeah, good morning. Thanks for having me on.

You know, what's going on in Michigan is complicated. There isn't a single explanation, but they were the earliest to get hit by the B.1.1.7 U.K. variant. The second is that there's a little bit of a cost here in the fact that Michigan did very well in November, December, January. They had a much higher proportion of their population, vulnerable still, than other states who saw much higher infection rates.

And the combination of those two things, the fact that a lot of Michigan is pretty open, a legislature that's pretty opposed to any kind of public health restrictions, put it all together, and unfortunately, that's where Michigan finds itself.

SANCHEZ: Now, we should share with our viewers that you have been advising Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer now for some time on how to handle COVID response in the state.

What have you been telling her to help get cases down?

JHA: Yeah, I have spoken to the governor and her team more or less on and off since last April. Many of us have. She often reaches out to public health experts for guidance and input.

What I have been saying to her is what I have been saying publicly is we know how this virus spreads. It spreads when large numbers of people gather indoors, not wearing masks, and that means restaurants and bars. It means gyms. It means other indoor places.

And whatever she can do to manage that, reduce that, and obviously, now, we have a tool that we didn't have six months ago, which is vaccinations. And so, obviously, encouraging to vaccinate as many as possible, and particularly get elderly people vaccinated.

SANCHEZ: Now, given your higher learning, I'm curious to get your response. Some colleges are requiring students to get vaccinated in order to get back in the classroom. What's your take on schools that are not doing that?

JHA: Yeah. So, you know, obviously, I'm at a university, and I advise the leadership of Brown University to do exactly that, is to say we want to create a safe learning environment and the best way to make sure we have a safe learning environment is to have a room full of vaccinated people.

For schools that are not doing that, I think it's going to be a challenge for them. They're going to find themselves with outbreaks. They're going to have to figure out, are they going to continue doing social distancing. It's going to be challenging to create anything close to a normal, if a large chunk of people are not vaccinated.

SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about something we featured with Evan just a moment ago, that's the numbers among U.S. Marines, nearly 40 percent of U.S. marines declining COVID-19 vaccinations. The specific numbers, around 75,500 have gotten the shot, 48,000 have declined. The military can't mandate the vaccine because it only has emergency use authorization.

[07:10:03]

Do you anticipate that changing when it has for authorization, the numbers going up?

JHA: Yeah, I think, more than mandating, I'm a big believer in educating people, helping people understand their concerns and addressing them.

There has been a lot of targeting of misinformation to young people -- junk, nonsense about fertility effects and other things that are almost not worth repeating. They're all nonsense. They're not true.

When you use that, and when people have a concerted effort, and you know, marines are young people who are a subset of our society, or a cross section of our society. So, not a surprise that they have been hit by this as well. I would rather focus on education.

Eventually, the military may decide it needs to keep troops safe, and for that reason may mandate it. Right now, I would like to try the education effort first.

SANCHEZ: And on that note, what would you tell someone that you really care about that has vaccine hesitancy, that they have seen stuff on Facebook and YouTube and they're genuinely worried that the vaccine may get them sick?

JHA: Yeah. You know, what I would say to them is what I would say about any other health issue. If you are diagnosed with cancer, if you have heart disease, you may go look at Facebook, but you probably want to the speak to your doctor and use that as your primary source of information in the same way that's what you should do with vaccines.

This is a health crisis we have. Vaccines are a health tool. We have to prevent infections. I have gotten vaccinated. My family, everybody who's eligible has gotten vaccinated. That's the strategy I try to explain to people that you should get information from trusted sources, not from, you know, junk news that you see on Facebook.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Ashish Jha, we appreciate you being a trusted source for us and a voice of reason in strange times. Thank you so much.

JHA: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: It is the critical testimony that could help decide one of the most watched trials in years. Medical experts testifying that heart disease and fentanyl contributed to George Floyd's death, but they were not the main cause. We're going to break down the testimony with the medical examiner.

PAUL: And we're learning only 30 people will be allowed to attend the funeral services for Prince Philip. The question, is will Harry and Meghan be there? We have a live report from Windsor Palace on what we have learned, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:30]

PAUL: So, the prosecution is expected to rest its case against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin this week, but an attorney for George Floyd's family said some of them will testify before that happens.

SANCHEZ: Now, for two weeks, Chauvin's defense attorney has argued that Floyd died as a result of drugs and preexisting health conditions. But on Friday, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy blew a hole in that defense. He testified that heart disease and the use of fentanyl were contributing factors to Floyd's death but they were not the direct cause.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANDREW BAKER, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA MEDICAL EXAMINER: In my opinion, the law enforcement subdual restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And medical experts have been painting a detailed graphic picture of George Floyd's last moments.

Joseph Scott Morgan, a former senior investigator with the Fulton County, Georgia Medical Examiner's Office is with us now. He's also a distinguished scholar of applied forensics at Jacksonville State University.

It's so good to see you, Joseph. Thank you for being here.

I want to talk to you first about -- all about what we saw from pulmonologist. Dr. Martin Tobin. He gave really detailed descriptions of what was happening to Floyd in those nine minutes. It was hard to take in for anybody who is watching. And I kept thinking about his family and how they would deal with this.

But what stood out to you in that testimony of what he was outlining?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR OF APPLIED FORENSICS, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: Yeah, Christi, good morning. Thanks for having me.

You know, I've got to tell you, Dr. Tobin, out of all of the witnesses, expert witnesses that we've seen thus far, had this compelling narrative. He's a clinician, that means he treats living patients in a clinical setting on a daily basis, and he walked everyone through George Floyd's final moments, step by step, as if he were narrating the end of George Floyd's life from a clinical perspective.

And I was -- it was quite striking. He even went through the whole process of the lack of oxygen that the major muscle groups were receiving in Mr. Floyd's death. And even to the point where he was doing the descriptor relative to the handcuffs behind the back, the hand being pushed up, and there was one chilling moment, you know, in his testimony where he actually said you can see that when George Floyd is actually grappling with his hands, you see them going into a claw like position, that was his hands attempt to breathe.

And I found that very striking. I'm sure that it gave pause to the jury to think about that, that these muscles are contracting. And then he goes into this idea, this hypoxic seizure that took place where Mr. Floyd's leg extended very suddenly and then you lose all spark of life after that point. So, yeah, Dr. Tobin was very, very compelling for everyone that was watching, including all of us doing analysis on air.

PAUL: It was one of those moments where you -- I just could not help but think of the family, and what this was like for them. It's hard enough to know what happened, to see it on video, but to have it dissected like that. I think has to be hard for them.

The autopsy report we know shows that, yes, he had an enlarged heart and, yes, he had drugs in his system, but forensic pathologist, Dr. Lindsey Thomas, said this was the bottom line. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LINDSEY THOMAS, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: There's no evidence to suggest he would have died that night except for the interactions with law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:20:06]

PAUL: Medical examiner Andrew Baker as well said that heart disease and drugs did play a role in his death but that they were not the direct cause of his death, as we said earlier. Do you find that to be accurate in your estimation and based on what you know?

MORGAN: Yeah, Christi, I would have to say so. You have to ask yourself kind of this broad philosophical question, had Mr. Floyd and Mr. Chauvin not met at that moment in time, would Mr. Floyd have survived that day, and, of course, you have to come back to the logical conclusion, yes, Mr. Floyd would still be with us.

His disease process that he had going on within his body, coupled with drugs, they were significant, and maybe, maybe, and I think that Dr. Baker had kind of opined on this as well, had he not had this preexisting disease, he may have fared better in a struggle.

But at the end of the day, you still have the pressure that Chauvin is placing down upon Mr. Floyd, and you have to ask the question, could he have overcome it. Yeah, he had significant heart disease. There was a blockage or an occlusion in one of the major vessels, I think it was about 90 percent.

He did have fentanyl on board, and Dr. Baker didn't shy away from that when asked, you know, had he ever ruled a death as an overdose with less fentanyl on board, he said, yeah, three nanograms, and Mr. Floyd had eleven nanograms on board. So, that was compelling.

You have to ask yourself the question, would Mr. Floyd have passed at that point in time if it had not been to the pressure Mr. Chauvin was applying to his back and his neck and his shoulder.

PAUL: So the rare thing about this case is all of the video, the different angles of it, the different video that is available, and the people that are watching this happen. It's jolting for anybody I think to take in.

In your profession, it's not rare for you obviously to see things like this, but help us understand, you know, psychologically what it does to people in that courtroom, what does it do to people in the courtroom and to jurors because cases are supposed to be made on the basis and the merit of the law, not on emotion, but you can't separate yourself from some of this?

MORGAN: It's very, very difficult, Christi. Yeah, you're right. I mean, in my profession, I have seen all manner of things over, you know, 30 years relative to people, you know, having either been videoed while dying or videotaping themselves while dying and striking.

It's stuff that, you know, the average person on the street doesn't see and they're certainly not subjected to. Just keep in mind, day after day after day, I have been covering this now for, you know, since the trial started. You see this video, and it's striking.

You know, when you hear it or see it and not just that, but his sounds, you know, that he's making. So, yeah, it will really -- it's like getting hit in the chest with a 10-pound sledge hammer, to be honest with you. And the other side to this, I think, the redundancy of this, it has a numbing effect, too.

And I'm really wondering how that's going to play out in court, because, you know, you see -- you see this man pass away right before your eyes, and then -- but after a while, there's almost, I don't know, a callousness that develops as a result of it.

So I don't know if it's the best strategy to continue to play the tape over and over again because it may numb the jury up to a certain point, but yeah, it's very tough to see. I cannot imagine what it's like for the average layman to be subjected to this on a regular basis.

PAUL: Joseph Scott Morgan, we appreciate you walking us through your assessments of what you're seeing. Thank you so much.

MORGAN: You bet, Christi.

PAUL: Of course. And CNN is going to be in court when testimony resumes tomorrow, so we're going to bring that to you live, of course.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Christi, we have a sad update to a tragic story we have been following since last week. The lone survivor of Thursday's mass shooting in South Carolina has died. Investigators say Phillip Adams, a former NFL player shot and killed a doctor, the doctor's wife, and the couple's two grand kids outside the couple's home.

Two air conditioner technicians were also shot. One of them died the day of the shooting, and the other passed away last night.

Authorities say Adams took his own life shortly after the shooting. Investigators have yet to reveal a motive. His brain is going to be studied now by researchers to determine if Adam suffered from CTE, which is caused by repeated head trauma and has affected the lives of many former NFL players. PAUL: We've been talking a lot about the digital divide exposed by

this pandemic, the students who have fallen behind because they don't even have internet access.

[07:25:07]

Well, President Biden says he wants to change that. Still ahead, his billion-dollar plan to provide high speed access to everyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: President Biden's negotiating skills are going to be put to the test this week. Congress returns to work in Washington tomorrow and the White House is set to meet with lawmakers on their next multitrillion dollar priority, jobs and infrastructure.

PAUL: Let's bring in CNN's Jasmine Wright. She's at the White House right now.

Good to see you, Jasmine.

So, talk about the administration right now as they work to get this passed.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Bipartisan support, Christi and Boris. That is going to be the White House's mission this week. Now that Congress is back, President Biden will try to curry some Republican support for his $2 trillion infrastructure package.

Now, the president wakes up for the first full weekend here at the White House in over a month, and he is wasting no time. Officials say that he will have a bipartisan group of lawmakers here at the White House on Monday to talk about --

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Now that Congress is back, President Biden will try to curry some Republican support for his $2 trillion infrastructure package.

[07:30:08]

Now, the president wakes up for the first full weekend here at the White House in over a month, and he is wasting no time. Officials say that he will have a bipartisan group of lawmakers here at the White House on Monday to talk about infrastructure.

And now, Christi, we saw kind of the same play book during those COVID relief talks. He had Republicans here in the Oval Office. They talked through the bill, but still not a single one signed on to the final package.

And right now, Christi, no Republicans are publicly supporting this infrastructure plan. And so we will see him trying to do that, of course. But again, it's going to be a tall order because Republicans and honestly some Democrats are balking at that 28 percent corporate tax hike, and Republicans really don't like that everything else that comes with this package that is not that traditional infrastructure railroads, roads and bridges.

So, President Biden on Friday really spoke about trying to get some support for his priorities, including this infrastructure plan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I look forward to working with Congress to advance these and other priorities. I think we're going to be able to get, I'm hoping we'll have some bipartisan support across the board. I have already spoken to some of my Republican colleagues about dealing with the infrastructure legislation we have up there as well as other budget items.

So we're going to work on it, see if we can get some bipartisan support across the board here. That's what we're about to do now. We're going to be talking about our economic priorities and we'll get the brief from the team here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Now, President Biden was quite active yesterday. He met with senior members here at the White House, including climate envoy, John Kerry, and CNN learned they had a meeting on climate, but we know, Christi, and Boris, there are climate related measures inside this infrastructure package. The question going into tomorrow now that Congress is back is exactly who is going to be at this bipartisan meeting with lawmakers, what makeup is really setting the tone for talks for the full week -- Christi, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, you're absolutely right, jasmine. It is not just a sales job on Republicans he's got to do but on specific Democrats like Joe Manchin, and Kyrsten Sinema as well.

Jasmine Wright, reporting from the White House, thank you so much.

Let's discuss part of this infrastructure package further and the American Jobs Plan, the White House calls broadband Internet the new electricity.

Evan Marwell is here to discuss that piece of the infrastructure push. He's the founder and CEO of EucationSuperHighway, a nonprofit tackling the digital divide.

Evan, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

I want to ask about the specific hundred billion dollars that's been set aside for digital infrastructure. According to the White House, here's some bullet points, as to what that money would go toward, 100 percent high speed coverage across the nation. Future proofing broadband infrastructure and unserved and underserved areas.

I won't read the whole thing. but, essentially, they lay out a series of priorities. I'm curious from your perspective, given the price tag, is the administration moving in the right direction with this push for broad band? EVAN MARWELL, FOUNDER AND CEO, EDUCATIONSUPERHIGHWAY: Well, good

morning, Boris, thanks for having me.

The president's plan is really a dramatic step to connecting 100 percent of Americans. Today we have 29 million households across America. That's almost 25 percent of all American homes that don't have Internet access. And about a third of those, 9 million, don't have it because they simply have no infrastructure available to them. They can't get it if they want it.

So the president's plan, spending $100 billion, as long as it's spent well, and that means using good data to actually find which households need to be connected, could make dramatic progress. Now, it's important to note that over 2/3 of the people without internet don't have it not because there's no infrastructure available to them, but because they can't afford it, and the president's plan does take some steps to help improve affordability for all of Americans, building on what Congress has done on the last two stimulus bills.

But what I have to say is that we really do need a permanent solution to the affordability gap in addition to what the president's plan is going to do to close the infrastructure gap!

SANCHEZ: Now, Evan, the infrastructure plan is already facing some push back, specifically from Senate Democrats who feel that the corporate tax rate would be too high if this plan were to go through. It would be at 28 percent. From your perspective, and given that you're so passionate about broadband connectivity, what would your message be to those Democrats?

MARWELL: Well, I think the reality is if you ask any CEO in corporate America, what they'll tell you is we need 100 percent of Americans to be connected to the internet.

[07:35:03]

Without Internet today, their employees can't come to work remotely. They can't get the job training that they need, and we can't teach and get our kids to school even if we get back to school. So, corporate America is super supportive of getting internet to 100 percent of Americans.

SANCHEZ: Now, I do want to ask you about pushback from industry groups like the NCTA, the Internet and Television Association, they say they want to see guardrails for the money that is being proposed to be spent. In a statement earlier this week, they said this in part, quote, when I high dollar program like this one is proposed there is temptation to think there's enough cash to do any and everything without making hard choices. Such a lack of discipline leaves underserved communities without a chair when the music stops and the money runs out.

They're speaking largely on behalf of the broadband companies here, but is their concern valid?

MARWELL: Well, I think the biggest concern they have and others have is that the money actually results in all Americans being connected and to do that, we need to get good data. For too long, our country has been shoveling out money for broadband infrastructure bills without the maps and data that we need to make sure that the money is spent to build new infrastructure to the homes that don't have it.

And so I think that's a very valid concern. You know, there are, as I said, about 9 million homes in America who can not get access to infrastructure today, but there are also millions more homes where there's old infrastructure there. And we do need to upgrade some of that infrastructure as well.

So, yes, I believe that we -- the industry is right, that we do need guardrails around this, but the guardrails need to come in the form of good data about who isn't connected and who doesn't have access to high-speed broadband.

SANCHEZ: Evan, you noted some of the shortcomings of infrastructure plans in the past. Former President Trump wasn't able to actually put one forward. Infrastructure week became a joke during that administration, but why do you think the time is right now to get this done? What is it at stake?

MARWELL: Well, I think the pandemic has changed everything. All Americans have realized just how critical broadband infrastructure is to living in today's society and to thriving in today's society. As I said before, if you don't have robust broadband at your home, you can't send your kids to school. You can't work remotely. You can't get access to telemedicine. You can't get access to government services.

So there is incredible bipartisan support for improving the broadband infrastructure in our nation. I think more people are in favor of the broadband piece of this bill than of the bill as a whole. So we believe that Americans from both sides of the aisle robustly embrace this plan and that we need to move forward, both with building infrastructure, but also with solving permanently the affordability gap that keeps so many Americans off the internet.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I think what's exacerbated the problem and made it so obvious to in are the inequalities revealed by the pandemic, and how difficult access to simple things when it comes to education have been for folks.

Evan Marwell, thanks so much for making the case for us this morning. Thank you.

MARWELL: Great to be here.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, new details on the funeral plans for Prince Philip, including who and who is not expected to attend. .

PAUL: And listen, there is a powerful new CNN original series, "The People Versus the Klan". It premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got a black man hanging from a tree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Donald was an innocent Good Samaritan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No doubt the Klan is behind this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was my baby, and nothing they do can bring him back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must continue to fight. The stakes could not be higher.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an incredible story of courage.

ANNOUNCER: A powerful new CNN original series, "The People Versus the Klan", tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:44:35]

SANCHEZ: Funeral arrangement for Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburgh and late husband of Queen Elizabeth, have been set for next Saturday, April 17th.

PAUL: Yeah, the service is going to be intimate. Only 30 people allowed to attend because of ongoing COVID restrictions in the U.K.

CNN's Anna Stewart is live from Windsor Castle right now.

Anna, we know he was so beloved, there are people that want to pay some sort of reverence to him. Do we know if there's any sort of memorial or any opportunity to do so this week since we have a week before that official funeral will happen?

[07:45:08]

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: It really is just so sad that this is taking place in the context of a pandemic because ordinarily Operation Forth Bridge, which was the sort of code name for the funeral plan would have included all sorts of ceremonial events in the days leading up to the funeral so people could pay their respects. It's been fundamentally changed as a result of the partial lockdown that was still in here in England.

And the palace keen not to encourage crowds which is why this funeral is incredibly pared down, there will be no events ahead of it, and only 30 people will actually be attending the funeral. It's going to feel like an intimate, private fair, albeit watched right across the world, of course, on cameras. It's going to feel very different, for instance, than the funeral we had for the queen mother, or Princess Diana, and in many ways it will feel incredibly special, the family close together.

We expect, of course, Prince Harry who we would expect to arrive back soon, because he will need to self-isolate for five full days following date of travel if he isn't given an exception. Beautiful tributes have been made, not least from Prince Charles who spoke of his father very fondly yesterday.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him. And from that point of view, we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: The mood has been so sad and yet very beautiful as tributes have poured in around the world. People wanting to mourn the loss of a great man but also remember his life which was so well-lived.

SANCHEZ: Anna Stewart reporting from Windsor Castle, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Anna.

Now, there are plenty of vaccines available in Maine. The problem is there are people that are just still too hesitant to get them. After the break, CNN's Jason Carroll takes closer look at what's really going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:40]

PAUL: So, states are racing to vaccinate more people against COVID-19, there's still a lot of Americans, particularly in rural areas, in no rush to get their shots.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I know a few of them.

Health officials are beginning to worry that this could ultimately hinder our chances at reaching herd immunity.

CNN's Jason Carroll went to Maine to find out why people there are still hesitant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF EDGECOMB, MAINE RESIDENT: I've stayed healthy. I don't get sick. I eat right, try to take care of myself.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORERSPONDENT (voice-over): Health officials in Maine are desperately trying to reach people like Jeff Edgecomb, a 60-year-old truck driver who has been eligible of getting the COVID vaccine but has no intention of getting one.

Do you have any concerns about not being vaccinated?

EDGECOMB: No, not really. CARROLL: Edgecomb is a supporter of former President Donald Trump.

He's not alone in rejecting a COVID vaccination. A recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows fewer than half of Republicans say they've gotten the vaccine or intend to do so as soon as possible, compared with 8 in 10 Democrats and almost six in 10 independents.

That vaccine hesitancy is happening despite many GOP leaders, including former President Trump, encouraging people to get vaccinated.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: So everybody go get your shot.

EDGECOMB: I'm not going to do it.

CARROLL: You're still not going to do it?

EDGECOMB: I am the way it is and that's how it is.

CARROLL: Joy Gillespie, a part-time hospitality worker, also says her mind is made up. She will not roll up her sleeve for a shot.

JOY GILLESPIE, MAINE RESIDENT: I think it's medical and political. I'm kind of up and down with the government as it is and I think there are certain things that they put out, I don't think they know.

CARROLL: Even though the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective, Gillespie thinks it was rush and is concerned about possible long-term side effects.

GILLESPIE: I'm going to watch and pray that I don't get it.

CARROLL: Health officials in Maine are encouraged by a new survey showing that 4 out of 5 adults in the state say they do plan to get the vaccine, one of the highest rates nationwide. But at the same time, acknowledge vaccine hesitancy could jeopardize their progress.

The state's CDC director cautions it's not just politics keeping shots out of arms.

DR. NIRAV D. SHAH, DIRECTOR, MAINE CDC: It's not a monolith. There's a diversity of views. Some folks have questions because they're skeptical of the government, other folks have questions because they're skeptical of pharmaceutical companies. Other folks have questions because they're skeptical of vaccines in general. And I think the trick that we as a public health community have to do is meet those folks where they are.

CARROLL: Androscoggin County has one of the highest percentages of positive COVID cases in the state. On this day, volunteers from a local health advocacy group are going door to door, urging the residents to sign up for the vaccination. They're targeting members of the immigrant community, but they will engage with anyone.

ABDIKHADAR SHIRE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AK HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES: Did you get vaccinated?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

SHIRE: You don't want to?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

SHIRE: What if I tell you it's medical proven, I got my shots, he got his shots. All my team got their shots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I understand, but I don't believe in it.

CARROLL: Health volunteers say conversations like this are not unusual.

Why the hesitancy?

SHIRE: There's -- something to do with conspiracy theories that's going around.

[07:25:03]

CARROLL: The state is planning more outreach to address the concerns of those across the anti-COVID-19 vaccine spectrum.

SHAH: They may not listen to me, they may not listen to someone in D.C., they may not listen to a pharmaceutical company, but they will listen to their doctor.

CARROLL: Still, for some, there may be little convincing.

Is there anyone that could influence you, perhaps, to get the vaccine?

EDGECOMB: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Jason Carroll, thank you for that report.

Also, state officials say the demand in Maine still outweighs the supply. Health officials were disappointed to learn next week they're going to receive fewer vaccine doses from the federal government than they had initially anticipated.

So, we'll keep you up to date on that.

Boris, go take a nap, buddy.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for having me.

PAUL: So good to have you.

SANCHEZ: One in the books. Many more to go, I hope.

PAUL: Yeah, we'll see you next Saturday.

We want to thank you so much for staying with us. Make good memories.

SANCHEZ: Stay with us.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH ABBY PHILLIP" is next.