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The Situation Room

President Biden And Vice President Harris To Travel Around The Country To Sell The Stimulus Package; AstraZeneca Vaccine Use Halted In Several European Countries; GOP-led States Push Voting Restrictions; Interview With Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL); Two Men Arrested & Charged For Assaulting Capitol Police Officer Who Later Died; Chauvin's Defense Asks To Delay And Move Trial After Minneapolis Settlement With George Floyd's Family; L.A. County Allowing Gyms And Movie Theaters To Reopen; Woman Accusing Gov. Cuomo Of Sexual Harassment Speaks With Investigators For More Than Four Hours. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 15, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Her name was Ruth Sanders. She was an award- winning high school science teacher in Georgia. She taught for almost 40 years. She was affectionately known as Mother Physics. She loved telling people about the time ran into Albert Einstein in a Princeton Lab. She died just shy -- just two weeks shy of her 90th birthday. May her memory be a blessing. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We're following President Biden as he, Vice President Harris, and their spouses are fanning out across the United States right now to sell Americans on the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package called the American Recovery Act. Biden saying it's one thing to pass it, but another thing to implement it adding, and I'm quoting him now, "the devil is in the details."

Meanwhile, the head of the CDC is pleading with Americans to continue wearing masks, physical distancing, and other precautions to avoid another COVID-19 surge as more states open up. The CDC says that one in five Americans has now had at least one COVID vaccine dose.

We're also following new developments here in Washington in the capitol siege. Two men have now been arrested and charged for assaulting police officer Brian Sicknick who later died. The men are accused of working together to spray police including Sicknick with a toxic chemical spray.

Let's begin over at the White House right now where our chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is joining us. Kaitlan, the president wants Americans to know the COVID relief package is much more than just direct stimulus checks. Update our viewers.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, he does. That might be the most tangible given it was put directly in Americans' bank accounts over the weekend, but the White House is saying there's a lot more here and so that's why they are going on the road this week to sell that bill because there are aspects of it that right now are temporary, but they want to make permanent.

Though, of course, Wolf, the more you have to tout, the more you have to actually implement. And that's the next challenge facing the Biden administration, actually getting this money in this coronavirus relief bill out the door while making sure there is no waste, fraud or even a delay in getting those funds out there and so Biden is bringing someone else to oversee all of that spending.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Shots in arms and money in pockets.

COLLINS (voice-over): President Biden is betting on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill to shape his pandemic response and now he must execute it.

BIDEN: It's one thing to pass a historic piece of legislation like the American Rescue Plan, and it's quite another to implement it, and the devil is in the details.

COLLINS (voice-over): Biden announcing he's tapped longtime Democratic economic aide Gene Sperling to oversee the spending, a job Biden held as vice president when the 2009 stimulus bill passed amid the Great Recession.

BIDEN: I learned from my experience implementing the recovery act just how important it is to have someone who can manage all the moving parts.

COLLINS (voice-over): But Sperling will be in charge of a bill twice the size of that one as Republicans are watching closely for any missteps.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): We had no input into actually what transpired.

COLLINS (voice-over): Like many Americans, Gene Sperling will work from home for now.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He'll be working remotely for a period of time until he has his vaccine.

COLLINS (voice-over): Athough stimulus checks began hitting bank accounts this weekend, Biden wants the American people to know what else the massive bill does.

BIDEN: The plan does a lot more.

COLLINS (voice-over): The president and his top aides will spend the next week traveling the country promoting the plan while hoping to make some of it, like the expansion of the child tax credit, permanent. PSAKI: We recognize that signing the bill is just a first step.

COLLINS (voice-over): But another crisis is at risk of overshadowing Biden's cross-country tour.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I know the president is going to travel this week. This is where he should bring Air Force One.

COLLINS (voice-over): Record numbers of children are crossing the U.S. southern border and being held in jail-like border patrol facilities for longer than legally allowed. Republicans who travel to the border are blaming Biden for the crisis.

MCCARTHY: All because the policies of our president has changed and told them something different. Told them to risk their lives and broke families apart.

COLLINS (voice-over): The Department Health and Human Services has opened an emergency intake site, and the administration even sent FEMA to the border to help shelter migrant children. Yet, top officials still refuse to call it a crisis.

PSAKI: I know that we always get into the fun of labels around here, but would I say our focus is on solutions.

COLLINS (voice-over): Republicans aren't the only ones saying Biden needs to step up. Fellow Democrats say they agree.

REP. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-TX): And we can do so much better than we're doing now.

[17:04:58]

COLLINS (voice-over): After Biden sent a delegation of his senior staff to the border, other Democrats have called for a presidential visit.

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): As you know, the president sent a delegation of two secretaries and a whole bunch of folks from the White House. They didn't talk to anybody, not even members of Congress down here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): And Wolf, back on this coronavirus relief bill, we should note that even the stock market is paying attention to it. You saw as they closed today. The S&P 500 and the Dow hitting record highs. It seems that investors are keeping an eye on if there's going to be an economic recovery and how soon that's going to happen and whether or not this bill will help that actually go into place.

And we should note one more thing as Biden was speaking earlier, he took a question on these calls for former President Trump to actually get involved in this effort to get Americans vaccinated since we have seen Republican officials say its white Republicans who are also hesitant to get vaccinated. President Biden says he discussed this with his team of health

officials and that he was essentially dismissing, it saying that it's much more important for people to hear from local leaders in their communities including doctors, pastors, other religious leader than he believes it is to hear from the former president.

BLITZER: Yes, it's really important. Fourth day in a row, by the way, that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all-time record high, a brand-new record high, fourth day in a row. Clearly, Wall Street pleased with what's going on. Kaitlan Collins over at the White House, thank you very much.

Tonight, the U.S. coronavirus death toll has topped 535,000 people with almost 30 million confirmed cases, and while deaths and new infections are down, health officials fear the country is letting its guard down too soon and could face potentially a new surge.

CNN's Amara Walker is joining us with more on the crisis that's going on still. Amara, there's growing concern I take it about one vaccine widely used in Europe but not authorized by any means here in the United States. Tell us about that.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right, Wolf. AstraZeneca is not in the United States but CNN has learned that it is expected to seek an emergency use authorization from the FDA for use in March or early April.

Now, as you mentioned, there have been a small number of people in Europe who've actually suffered from blood clots or even died after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, and that is why we're seeing a growing list of countries in Europe including Germany, France and Italy added today that have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Meantime, here in the United States, there are growing concerns of a surge even as more and more people are getting vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER (voice-over): Over the weekend, spring breakers packing beaches and crowding restaurants in bars in South Florida, Texas and Georgia.

DAN GELBER (D), MAYOR OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: We've got too many people coming. We've got too many people coming who are just acting out and we have COVID at the same time so it's so much the triple threat.

WALKER (voice-over): More than 5.2 million people have traveled since Thursday, the most air traffic since the start of the pandemic. That threat looms large for experts as they worry about the risk of a potential fourth wave of the virus.

FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: If I have an anxiety, it's something worse than the South African variant is out there that we'll get to the point where the vaccines no longer appear to be fully protective against the bad outcome and that will certainly drive us then to do a redesign of the vaccines as quick as we can. WALKER (voice-over): With mask mandates being lifted in some states,

tensions running high.

MIKE NGUYEN, OWNER, NOODLE TREE IN SAN ANTONIO: To take it to this far, it's an actual, you know, wish harm on somebody or even death, you know, over an opinion, that's taking it way too far.

WALKER (voice-over): A San Antonio restaurant owner targeted by vandals, anti-Asian graffiti sprayed on his business after he spoke out on CNN about Texas Governor Greg Abbott's decision to lift the state's mask mandate.

Meantime, new CDC data shows vaccination efforts have sped up with one in five Americans now having received at least one shot of the COVID- 19 vaccine. Adding to the progress, a former FDA commissioner says scientific evidence suggest that transmission drastically decreases with the vaccine.

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: If that's the case, the vaccine creates what we call dead-end hosts, a lot of dead-end host meaning people will no longer be able to transmit the infection.

WALKER (voice-over): As of today, teachers joining those eligible to receive vaccines in all 50 states and the CDC is now looking into whether kids can be less than six feet apart.

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The CDC is very well aware the data are accumulating making it look more like three feet are okay under certain circumstances.

WALKER (voice-over): Still, looking ahead to the summer, concerns that a surge being in the European countries could be next for us.

ROCELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: They simply took their eye off the ball. I'm pleading with you for the sake of our nation's health. This should be warning signs for all of us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER (on camera): Now, part of the concerns of a spike have to do with the U.K. variant which is more contagious, is expected to become dominant here in the United States by end of March, early April. That is according to the CDC.

[17:10:04]

On the vaccine front, as of today, all teachers in all 50 states eligible to get the vaccine. And here in Georgia as of today, people 55 and older and anyone with a high-risk condition able to get a vaccine as well. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: I mean, I had an encouraging sign earlier this morning for the first time in a long time, maybe a year. I actually saw a school bus driving around my neighborhood. That was pretty encouraging I must say. All right, Amara, thank you very much. Amara Walker reporting from Georgia. Let's go more on all of this. Dr. Paul Offit. He's a key member of the

FDA vaccines advisory committee and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Offit, thanks as usual for joining us.

Let me begin with some troubling developments with the AstraZeneca vaccine which has not, repeat, not been authorized for use here in the United States, but is now actually suspended in several countries in Europe after people developed blood clots. How concerning is this development?

PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: I think it's most likely a coincidental and not causal relationship. So for example that we know in this country, that the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, the J&J vaccine, when looked at by the CDC, you're not any more likely to develop a blood clot if you got that vaccine than if you didn't get the vaccine.

What those three vaccines and the U.K. AstraZeneca vaccine have in common is the final pathway. The final pathway ultimately is the production of messenger RNA that makes the coronavirus fight proteins. So it's hard to understand why that vaccine would have a problem whereas the other three don't.

I really think it's incumbent upon the countries to very quickly look at a vaccinated versus unvaccinated group to see whether this is occurring more frequently in the vaccinated group than in the unvaccinated group and get those data out quickly.

BLITZER: Yes. France, Italy, Ireland, I think Germany is about to suspend that AstraZeneca vaccine at least for now. Well, why hasn't the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Offit, been actually authorized here in the United States? Have you seen any of that data?

OFFIT: Well, as a general rule of the FDA, before they will recommend or either license or approve a vaccine for Americans, they like those studies to look like Americans, in other words, to have the same sort of racial and ethnic makeup in terms of African-Americans, LatinX, Hispanic community, people who are over 65, et cetera.

So, they like those studies to be done in the U.S. Those studies are currently being done in the U.S. and I think probably the next month or so the FDA vaccine advisory committee may well be looking at those studies.

BLITZER: And then you'll be able to make a decision whether it's safe or not so much. The CDC also says that most people who have received a first dose of the Moderna or the Pfizer coronavirus vaccines here in the United States are getting their second dose on time, three or four weeks later and only, what, 3.4 percent had missed the second dose completely. Does that early data bode well for the success of these two vaccines? The Johnson & Johnson vaccine you only need one dose.

OFFIT: Yes. I mean, it's important to know that both those mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna are two dose vaccines. It's only with that second dose that you get the so-called cellular immune response that usually predict long-lasting or durable immunity. Those are two dose vaccines. So it's really encouraging to hear that people are getting that second dose on time.

BLITZER: Yes, certainly is. Dr. Offit, thanks so much for joining us. We'll obviously continue our analysis down the road. Up next, some Republican-led states moving to make voting harder for millions of voters. We have details of some controversial new restrictions.

Plus, what we're learning about the two men now charged with assaulting the capitol police officer who later died following the January 6th insurrection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

BLITZER: We're keeping a very close eye right now on efforts in multiple states where Republican governors and state lawmakers are pushing new restrictions on voting. CNN national correspondent Dianne Gallagher is in one of those states namely Texas right now. Dianne, tell us what's going on there.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Wolf, at least two dozen of bills like this have already been introduced this session in Texas. The governor, Republican Greg Abbott, traveled to this area, Houston today, to throw his support behind some of those bills, but critics who live here say they feel like those bills target places like Houston, Democratic, diverse and would limit the power of their vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAEP)

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Already home to some of the most restrictive election laws in the country, Texas is now the latest state to see Republicans introduce a flurry of bills that could make it even harder to vote.

GREG ABBOOTT (R), GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: Election fraud is unacceptable and that's exactly why I made it an emergency item in this session.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Despite no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Texas Republicans are calling for measures that would impose new limits on early voting hours and added requirements on mail voting.

Now, some of the legislation appears to be (inaudible) Harris County, a Democratic stronghold and home to Houston, which saw a surge in turnout last year after the county implemented methods during the pandemic such as 24 hour and drive-thru voting sites.

PAUL BETTENCOURT, TEXAS STATE SENATE: Uniformity, transparency, consistency. Wherever voters are they should be having the same access to that type of voting activity for early voting.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Democratic officials say it's clear what Texas Republicans are trying to do. LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: Obviously these Republicans are

hoping that their work is going to disenfranchise mostly Democrats, but the truth of the matter is it's going to disenfranchise both parties.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice says it's tracking more than 250 bills in 43 states that would restrict voting access in some way so far this year. Election experts say that many of the proposals would place a greater burden on voters of color with dramatic effect.

DAVID SCHULZ, POLITICAL SCIENCE & LEGAL STUDIES PROFESSOR, HAMLINE UNIVERSITY: In many ways it dwarves what we saw during the Jim Crow era in terms of numbers of people, numbers of states, and numbers of laws.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): That's a point echoed by Stacey Abrams about the sweeping election bills moving forward in her home state of Georgia.

[17:20:02]

STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER, FAIR FIGHT: I do absolutely agree that it's racist. It is a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie. And so the only connection that we can find is that more people of color voted and it changed the outcome of elections in a direction that Republicans do not like.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Now, Georgia became ground zero for former President Trump's big lie after President Biden flipped the state in November and then Democrats won a pair of Senate seats there, but not all Republicans in Georgia support the bills being advanced.

GEOFF DUNCAN, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Republicans don't need election reform to win. We need leadership.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But in Iowa, Republicans have already acted. The state's GOP governor last week signed a new law that cuts Election Day voting hours and reduces early voting by nine days.

KIM REYNOLDS, GOVERNOR OF IOWA: There are Americans across this state that have some concerns about what happened in this last election and, again, I think it's imperative that it's not just understood but they feel that there's integrity in the election process.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The state was sued just "24" hours later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (on camera): And Democratic attorneys tell me that they're basically waiting for these bills to be passed into law and that they'll sue in other states as well. Now, election experts say that what will likely happen is that states where there's a trifecta of control, that Republicans control both the statehouse, senate, and governorship, is where we will see some of these bills eventually become law. Wolf, that is in 23 out of the 50 states. BLITZER: Dianne Gallagher reporting for us. Dianne, thanks very much.

Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us here. You heard Stacey Abrams in Georgia call this, in hr words, Jim Crow in a suit and tie. Do you agree with here, is that essentially what's going on?

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Well, I'm not going say, you know, it's Jim Crow or targeted. I will say this, though. We need to make it easier for people to vote, and as Republicans if we're concerned about, you know, more people voting being bad, that actually should be a real call to arms to us that we have to actually go back to the roots of our message and describe to people what it is that we stand for, which I think we've lost and why they should believe what we believe. That's the bottom line of politics.

I think the other thing, too, what this is showing is a basic acceptance of the whole fact that the election was stolen which it wasn't. I mean, in any democracy anywhere in the world, in any election, there's always going to be a little bit of voter fraud or voter irregularities at any time, but if you look at, you know, what was declared basically by the president and claimed to be a stolen election, each one of those were thrown out in terms of in a court and in a terms of by proof to not be true.

And what this is doing in essence is saying, yes, in fact, this election was stolen and we're going to move forward and make it harder for people to vote. I just think personally, we need to make it easier for people to vote and we need to go out and compete with our ideas.

BLITZER: Yes, we really do, as many people as possible should be voting and it should, as you say, easy as possible. One of the things they are trying to do, the Republicans, at least some Republicans in Georgia, is prevent voting on a Sunday.

Now, Sunday is an important day especially for minorities. A lot of people have to work during the week, and on Sundays after church a lot of folks want to go out and vote and they want to prevent that from happening. That's unacceptable, right?

KIZINGER: Yes, I mean, you know, there's a lot of things that don't make sense to me. When people talk about shortening maybe the early voting period so the time frame in terms of, you know, whether it's September or starts in October, there can be some merit to some of that because what you want is people voting when they have gotten all the facts. You don't want campaigns starting earlier, you know, and progressively earlier and earlier so there's some merit in that.

But when it's about, let's just keep it short, close on days that people need to go vote on, no, that is not the right answer. And I think this is where it's important, you know, once we get past kind of the moment we're in right now for really everybody to have a discussion.

What should our vote system look like and how do we ensure that it's safe and secure and everybody that can vote should vote and whenever they can vote goes out and votes. BLITZER: And we want as many people as possible to vote, make it

easier for people to vote, not harder. I want to get your reaction to what Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is saying. He's drawing a lot of condemnation for these comments. Let me play this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break a law, and so I wasn't concern. Now had the tables been turned, and Joe this could get me in trouble, had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let me get your reaction. Senator Johnson says there is nothing racial about those comments. What's your reaction?

[17:25:01]

KINZINGER: I mean, to me it seems like it certainly has a racial connotation, but most importantly I think is it shows it's just tribalism. Everybody is going into their tribes and what the senator seems to be saying is, you know, if it's my tribe that was attacking the capitol, I felt fine with it.

By the way, Officer Fanone who has been on CNN before said that, you know, he's a police officer. He was dragged down the street and beat -- or the down the steps and beaten with Blue Lives Matter flags. And BLM and Antifa, I've condemned the riots of the summer, but they have not charged and attacked the capitol and put the number two, three and four in the of succession to the presidency within arm's reach of real violence which is what many of these people were saying they were going to do.

I don't understand the equivalency of it. You can both, you know, condemn the violence over the summer, but then also condemn what happened on January 6th and recognize there really is no comparison because January 6th was a threat to the institution of democracy.

Now, thankfully we overcame that, and I don't know why people like Senator Johnson are insistent on going back and saying it really wasn't that big of a deal. It's a rewrite of history that frankly is not going to smile well on him in the history of time.

BLITZER: And he says that those insurrectionists, they love this country. Well, they certainly didn't show it on January 6th when they tried to destroy the U.S. Capitol. Representative Kinzinger, thanks so much for joining us.

KINZINGER: You bet, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, a new arrest and charges in the capitol siege investigation including now two men accused of assaulting a police officer who later died.

Plus, a woman accusing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment speaking right now with investigators. She's been speaking for more than four hours with them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:19]

BLITZER: Two men charged with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick appeared in court today. Sicknick died after responding to the January 6 Capitol siege. CNN's Brian Todd is joining us right now. Brian, we're learning more about these two men charged with assaulting this police officer. What are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. Two suspects now arrested and charged for the moment they face assault charges and whether it's on -- right now it's unclear whether murder or manslaughter charges will be brought, but new details of the incident are jarring nonetheless.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Two suspects, Julian Khater and George Tanios work together to assault U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and other officers with an unknown toxic chemical spray. That's according to an FBI agent's detailed statement in court records. Khater from Pennsylvania and Tanios from West Virginia have been arrested and charged with nine counts total. The case of Sicknick who died of injuries suffered in the January 6th attack on the Capitol has been a top priority for investigators.

ANNE MILGRAM, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: This is a huge development in this case, and it's clear that it took a long time for law enforcement to get to this point.

TODD (voice-over): Details of the alleged assault are jarring. In court papers, an FBI agent cites videos taken at between 2:09 p.m. and 2:23 p.m. on January 6th on the west side of the Capitol. On the videos, court papers say, Khater walks toward Tanios and says, "Give me that bear s and reaches into Tanios' backpack. Tanios replies, "Hold on, hold on. Not yet, not yet. It's still early". The filing says Khater then tells Tanios, "They just f-ing sprayed me".

About nine minutes later, court papers say, a police officer's body camera caught Khater discharging spray into the faces of Sicknick and two other officers from just a few feet away.

MILGRAM: One of them has already said to the FBI agent who was an affiant for the complaint that it was worse than any pepper spray that they'd been exposed to when they were in law enforcement training.

TODD (voice-over): The officers recoiled, court papers say, tried to get water to wash out their eyes. They were temporarily blinded by the substance, the agent wrote, and were unable to perform their duties for at least 20 minutes. One officer reported scabbing that remained on her face for weeks. Law enforcement officials have said Sicknick went back to a police command center and collapsed. He died the next day.

Khater and Tanios are charged with assault, not murder, because investigators still haven't determined with certainty that the exposure to the spray directly caused Sicknick's death.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: They are keenly focused on trying to find the right evidence to fully understand how he lost his life, trying to understand what was that, you know, singular moment? We may not get to that but I think we have to look at this officer's engagement throughout the day of defending the U.S. Capitol.

TODD (voice-over): One former prosecutor says, if authorities can't bring murder or manslaughter charges against these defendants, they still have one powerful weapon in court.

MILGRAM: The other two officers are witnesses. You are also going to have two officers who are going to say I was sprayed in the face with a chemical substance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Julian Khater's defense attorney says he plans on pleading not guilty. Meanwhile, tonight, Wolf, prosecutors have new information on alleged writer Timothy Hale-Cusanelli who faces seven criminal counts in connection with a Capitol riot. Prosecutors say Hale-Cusanelli, who's an army reservist was a well-known white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer at the Navy base where he worked as a contractor.

They say that he often promoted racist and sexist views against Jewish people, minorities and women, and that he was even rebuked for wearing a Hitler style mustache. His defense attorney says that Hale-Cusanelli denies being a white supremacist, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian, thanks very much. Brian Todd reporting.

[17:35:02]

We're also following the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, a charged in the death of George Floyd, our legal analyst, the criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson is joining us right now. Joey, thanks for joining us. Chauvin's defense attorney is requesting, as you know that the trial actually be moved out of Minneapolis after the announcement of a $27 million civil settlement between the city and the Floyd family.

You're a criminal defense attorney, does the defense in this particular case make a fair point that Chauvin might be unable to get a fair trial where it's currently taking place?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Wolf, good to be with you. They do make a fair point. The issue is whether the judge concurs with the point that they're making. And so let's just back up one second, right? You have a $27 million settlement, that settlement is during jury selection. Clearly the timing is improper. Clearly, the timing is prejudicial.

The matter now before the court is what you do about it. And so I don't think that the judge at this point would be inclined to move anything and, in fact, to set as much. And, of course, we know that the judge already indicated in November that there would not be any movement of the trials. But now you have this added issue. But there are other remedies, Wolf that could be applied here to ensure that you get a fair trial like what, like the jurors that have been selected already.

Bring those jurors back and ask them the basic question. Is there anything about, first of all, do you know or have you heard any information with respect to a settlement? If you have, does that call your judgment as it relates to what you would find in this case?

Do you promise and agree to relate your verdict ultimately on what you hear in court and having nothing to do with any civil settlement or otherwise? Do you know and understand that the burden of a civil case is a mere preponderance of the evidence more likely than not and criminal proof is beyond the reasonable doubt?

What am I saying? I'm saying there's a number of other remedies that could be employed to ensure you have a fair jury other than saying, you know what, either, a, we're going to have a mistrial, either, b, we're going to delay the trial forever, or until six months or either, c, we're going to move to trial to another venue. I think the judge will fashion in appropriate remedies so that the trial can move forward and move forward in a fair and equitable way to all parties concerned.

BLITZER: Yes. Nine jurors, as you know, they have now been selected jury surveys, indicate five of them are white, two are black, one is Hispanic and one is mixed race. Why is the makeup of this jury being so closely watched?

JACKSON: Well, I think every jury you want to closely watch the makeup, Wolf, in the following reason. You want to ensure no matter what side of the aisle you're on that you're speaking to a receptive audience. That jury that's impaneled has to be a jury that's fair, that's impartial, that can base a verdict on what they hear in court, not what they heard on the news, not what they read, not a video they saw and not what their friend told them, not what they say around the kitchen table.

But you always, in any scenario, want to get a jury that's a fair cross section of the community. Why? Because we all come from different walks of lives, we all have different experiences, we all have different views, thoughts, beliefs, feelings, opinions. But I hasten to add that notwithstanding the fact that you have, say, an African American on the jury, a Hispanic on the jury, a mixed race woman on the jury, people are very complex, Wolf, and that's why the questionnaire which went out before in December, indicating, have you taken part in any protests.

If so, have you shown any sign -- those sign say et cetera, all of those things are relevant to picking what they did, which is hopefully a fair jury who can assess the case on the facts in that courtroom.

BLITZER: They told jurors the two alternatives. We'll see how that unfolds.

Joey, thank you, as usual for joining us.

Coming up, the nation's largest county moves to reopen including the return of indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters and more. The Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, he's standing by live. We will discuss.

Plus, we'll have the latest on the sexual harassment allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and one of his accuser's lengthy interview with investigating.

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[17:42:59]

BLITZER: Even though new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been trending down, the nation's top health officials are pleading with people to keep up precaution so there isn't a new spike. Let's discuss the situation with the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us.

As you know, it's been one years since you issued an emergency order closing bars and gyms. But Los Angeles I take it is now moving into the next tier of its reopening which includes a return of indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters, more. How do you reopen safely with a threat, God forbid, of new variants out there?

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES: Well can you believe it's been a year, Wolf, the longest year of our life, but I'm so grateful where we're at now so optimistic about kind of that hope that hangs on the horizon. And it is exactly a year to the date when these things are going to open from us being the first city in America to close down. You know, Jim's first city in America to close down restaurants, all of those things that we knew were happening, some of the toughest decisions of my life, but in some ways, the easiest ones to make.

Now, I think we've learned and is optimistic as I am, I'm still so focused on making sure my people know that they don't have to have senioritis. It might be our last year of high school, but we don't have to go nuts. Let's take steps and still protect each other because there's a lot of vulnerability, there's a lot of variability out there. And if we finish this strong, we will look back and say this is one of the strongest chapters in our city's history, I hope in our country's history, even in the midst of this tragedy.

BLITZER: I know there's an agreement in place, Mayor, to reopen Los Angeles schools but some parents held a rally over the weekend calling for more in-person learning, more details. What can you tell us that schools in L.A. still on track to return to classrooms next month in April?

GARCETTI: Yes, they are. And many districts in the Los Angeles County area have opened, have been open and obviously independent schools, parochial schools have done that. And we in the city of Los Angeles, we don't control our school district but we've helped is essentially for kids in our rec centers for the last year. Safely distance without huge outbreaks, this is exactly the model we have to see.

[17:45:08]

You know I have a nine-year-old daughter, I think for her generation, which some call generation C for generation COVID, the seven to nine- year olds, the six to nine-year olds especially have been so hard hit by the psychology of this moment. We can't get back to school soon enough. So I'm glad to see not only have we been able to vaccinate school personnel, we had an overabundance of vaccines for them. So they seem ready to go, shots in arms, and I'm hoping that our district will meet the deadline that they said.

BLITZER: Yes, school -- in class learning is so important. I saw school bus this morning for the first time in a long time. I was so excited to see that. When it comes to vaccinations, Mayor, do you have enough doses, enough resources to meet President Biden's goal of making all adults everyone over 18 eligible for a vaccine by May 1st?

GARCETTI: Well, I'd like to see more doses. We've used 98 percent of what we're saying. We have one the largest vaccination sites in the world at Dodger Stadium, and we're doing vaccine equity. Dr. Fauci praised us last week for our mobile teams that are going to black and brown communities, in-house -- in-home vaccinations that we're doing, as well as our use of technology and free rides to text people when appointments open up in our, of course, neighborhoods, and offering even free rides.

But bottom line, no, we don't have enough doses yet. But we have the capacity. So I've been very pleased to see this administration each week adding more and more doses. And I'm hopeful that in a week or two, we'll finally get that flood of vaccines that we've been promised because we're ready to double overnight. The number of shots we're putting in arms here in L.A. and we can't get, you know, even one day early, let alone one week or one month early means everything to our people and to our economy.

BLITZER: It's so, so important. Well, good to hear that. Mayor Garcetti, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck.

GARCETTI: Always, Wolf, great to be with you. Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, investigators talk for four hours to one of the women accusing the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.

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[17:51:26]

BLITZER: New developments tonight of the growing crisis facing the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who's being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. CNN's Ryan Nobles is joining us from the state Capitol of Albany right now. He's working the story. Ryan, we've learned that one of the Governor's accusers had, shall we say, a very lengthy interview with investigators. What are you learning?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. And you may recall Charlotte Bennett has described Governor Cuomo as a textbook abuser. She met today with an independent investigator that was empowered by the State's Attorney General for more than four hours and revealed many things including what her attorney said was the Governor's preoccupation with the size of his hands.

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NOBLES (voice-over): Tonight, a major step forward into the investigation of the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. One of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett, meeting for several hours with the lead investigators tapped by the State's Attorney General Letitia James, about her claims against Cuomo. Her attorney saying Bennett provided more than 100 pages of records to back up her testimony.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We have to get serious today.

NOBLES (voice-over): Meanwhile, Cuomo ignoring the chorus of criticism and turning his attention to the state's battle against the COVID pandemic, checking in on a vaccine distribution site in Long Island which was close to the press.

CUOMO: The vaccine is the weapon that wins the war. Great, it's developed. But you have to get it and then you have to get it in people's arms.

NOBLES (voice-over): The three-term governor making it clear he has no plans to resign despite the two most prominent Democrats in New York, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand calling for his resignation.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and of so many New Yorkers. So for the good of the state, he should resign.

NOBLES (voice-over): Schumer and Gillibrand joining 16 of 19 members of the New York House delegation, asking the Governor to leave office, adding to a growing list of state officials doing the same. But top leaders in Washington, including President Biden and speaker Nancy Pelosi are not ready to go that far.

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

NOBLES (voice-over): Still the Biden administration can't avoid this controversy, including a new Washington Post report that Cuomo's vaccines are Larry Schwartz has been calling county officials across the state to gauge their loyalty to the Governor. In response, Schwartz told The New York Times that he never mix COVID response policy with political considerations.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President finds them troubling, hard to read, and every woman who steps forward needs to be treated with dignity and respect. The New York Attorney General is pursuing, of course, an independent investigation against Governor Cuomo and that is appropriate.\

NOBLES (voice-over): And tonight, a new Siena College poll that shows half of New York's voters believe the Governor should not immediately resign. However, that same poll shows that only 34 percent would vote for him if he ran for reelection. Last month, 46 percent of voters said they would reelect him for a fourth term.

Meanwhile, the investigations into his conduct continue. Aside from the Attorney General's investigation, the state's Assembly Speaker. Carl Heastie, will decide if impeachment proceedings will begin is launching an investigation as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: And the Governor's office pushing back on that Washington Post report about his vaccines are Larry Schwartz calling out the county officials saying that their conversations with those county officials had nothing to do with anything other than the Governor and his relationship with them, nothing to do with vaccine distribution.

[17:55:05]

Beth Garvey, who's the acting counsel to Governor Cuomo saying in a statement, "Any suggestion that Larry acted in any way unethically or in any way other than in the best interest of New Yorkers that he selflessly served is patently false". And Wolf, we're learning more about how long it could take for this saga to play itself out.

Carl Heastie, who is the Assembly Speaker, he would be the person to decide whether or not an impeachment inquiry were to move forward. He told reporters today that he will announce who their independent investigator will be at the end of the week and he said he will not set a deadline on that investigation and it could take up to a month. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Ryan, thank you very much. Ryan Nobles in Albany.

Coming up, a new skirmish in the war on voting as one state moves to limit early voting and restrict vote by man.

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