the cnn app at any time on demand. that's it for me. the news continues. let's hand it over to chris for cuomo primetime. today is ash wednesday. why is mine so good this year? because i did it. the catholic church has the priest spreading the ashes on my head. i said no thanks. you had an option to do it yourself. here we go. the beginning of lent. and it begins with a reminder what is this about? we're all dust. from dust we come and to dust we return and in that way we are all connected. we have to remember that. maybe the crisis in texas will help us reconnect. our brothers and sisters there are hurting and there is no end in sight. more than 2.5 million families and businesses are still without power. they've had no power for days. they have no timeline for when the lights will come back on for many of them.

now the big question is why. the storm of course. texas, cold snap, not a good mix. why weren't they ready? why didn't they know when this power grid will be fixed? why didn't they fix it before? they knew before. i'll show you. the most vexing question though is why did their governor decide to blame it on democrats? some of the coldest weather in decades knocked off the power grid prompting rolling blackouts. most of the state will have below freezing temperatures until at least saturday. you see, icicles on ceiling fans, no heat, no running water, no flushing toilets. pipes of course are freezing. families have been sleeping in cars, running cars in their garages. carbon monoxide, big risk. okay? others like our first guest are burning what they own in their homes because they've run out of firewood. food stores closed or extremely low. people can't get prescriptions.

people can't get covid vaccines. with all this trouble again why is governor greg abbott creating more? listen to what he said on fox. >> this shows how the green new deal would be a deadly deal for the united states of america. >> once off hate tv, this is what he told local news. >> the companies that generate the power, their operations have frozen up or trip wired and are nonoperational. that is the lead reason why there is a shortage of power. >> that's different right? he gets called on it and today this was his excuse. >> what i made clear was the fact that if we relied solely on green energy that would be a challenge but in texas we do not rely solely upon green energy. we have access to all sources of energy.

>> look, if you relied only on any kind of energy you'd still have to be prepared for a cold snap and you weren't. here's the truth. they're not in this mess because of wind turbines. yes, some wind turbines have frozen but so have coal piles and so have natural gas pipelines. yes, texas generates more wind power than anywhere else in the country but it produces more of every kind of energy period. keep in mind texas is huge. only 10% of its electricity comes from wind. this is not about that. states like oklahoma and iowa depend way more on wind than texas does. you don't see the problem there. even with the storm the state's turbines are actually out performing projections. all right? now, to the real point. the main sources of power in texas are national gas and coal plants. right now too much of that gas is frozen in the ground because the real problem is infrastructure. they had cold snaps in 1989 and

2011. the infrastructure failed then, too. both times they were warned to prep for extreme weather. both times they failed to invest. that failure is compounded because the texas grid is cut off from the rest of the country which means it can't get emergency power from other states. it also means the same people trying to stay alive will now see their electric bills go up. let's get to our first guest. she is among many desperate texans who were caught by surprise on this. this is a big part of the story. she and her family moved to texas after their home in ohio was destroyed by a tornado. after that, her husband marcus lost his job in the pandemic. they went to texas to start again. now they're faced with this. brianna, blake, marcus ziggler join us now. thank you for taking the

opportunity. >> hi. thank you. >> good evening. >> how are we holding up? >> pretty okay. we're kind of still at the beginning of this whole fiasco for lack of a better word. we're still waiting to see if we'll keep the power we have. we had our power turned back on. we were just made aware we'll be losing our water again which is a different layer is a lot of communities are also losing their water along with power. i think it's just kind of what next is kind of what we're all in anticipation of and how to get back to normal. >> let's start at the beginning. you say you were caught by surprise on this. that you weren't told that this is what to prepare for. how so? >> we got a notification sunday night right around midnight which i didn't even see but it stated we were going to be

getting rolling power outages meaning our power would go out for a couple hours and then come back on. which isn't ideal but that's enough to be able to keep your house heated. >> with at least a fan which is what we prepared for was to, you know, be sharing the power with kind of everyone. we had never anticipatedd go 36 hours without any heat in the house. we weren't told that's what could happen. we were led to believe we'd be dooling these rolling outages. >> right. marcus, you are an electrician but obviously can't fix what you can't get power to. this wasn't about fixing. >> no. >> your knowledge was not helpful here. but you got two little ones running around in the house. brianna, what did that mean in terms of what life got like for you guys and fast?

>> i think we were kind of still, even into, i can only speak for me but even into tuesday morning when we were, we had no firewood left and we started using things in the house to keep the fire going it was just kind of the unknown and seeing my two sleeping babies under a bunch of blankets in front of the fireplace that was slowly going out was heart breaking. we already had a terrible year. i mean, kids are resilient as all get out. right now they're being put through things we never could have fathomed when we were their age. so to see our kids kind of have to go through one more thing that is just kind of unbelievable. i couldn't have called this two months ago. i wouldn't have called a lot of things that happened. >> in my opinion completely avoidable. >> we'll talk about that in a second. but i can't believe you had to burn stuff. what did you wind up -- i can't

imagine the conversations you guys were having about what to choose but what did you have to burn, brianna? >> that was really the weird part about it all is it was kind of like a second major thing. i just started kind of grabbing my canvasses off the wall and breaking them and throwing them in the fire. while i'm doing that he is getting parts of our bunny hutch and just hand sawing them in the garage as we're also simultaneously reaching out to everyone trying to find firewood and our community came together and we were able to reach somebody at 5:00 a.m. and they answered the call which is remarkable from a complete stranger. we just moved down here in the middle of a pandemic and we don't know anyone yet and luckily we had acquaintances that knew and gave us somebody to reach out to and they own a tree service and he was just

making sure people got firewood which was remarkable. >> there are good people. there are good people everywhere. you are two of them and you were put in some spot. so you got the little ones. you're worried about the temperature. what was the hardest part emotionally in having to deal with what was happening to the family? >> really right now i think the hardest thing is kind of trying to balance my children's mental well being and i think at the forefront of almost every parent's mind that we, you know, support them in everything they're going through right now. this was just another thing for especially my 7-year-old. he's going through a lot in terms of his whole life. trying to make sure we spent this -- trying to make it family time rather than focusing on how

terrible it was. trying to keep him grounded and know that we're going to get through this and it is going to be okay and keeping their mental health in check. >> they've seen mom and dad can keep them safe in anything. and that goes a long way. with kids. they know what they see even at that age. marcus you say this was totally avoidable. where do you see the accountability here? >> mainly with ercott. it is the -- >> it's the power grid. the energy companies. >> yes. the governance of the power grid. and they completely dropped the ball on this. they've had since 2011 since the last time this happened. >> to winterize. >> and get their act together.

and prepare. >> they could have done it. you guys are taking care of yourselves and your community is stepping up. shouldn't have to but they are and again brianna trust me. take it from an old parent. the little ones won't remember this except for what you tell them and emotionally they will know that their family stuck together and got through a hard time. and as much as this stinks, there is a real blessing for them in that. brianna blake, marcus ziggler, thank you both. i hope the worst is behind you. please stay in touch and let us know. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. >> all right. no power. right? that means asbur brianna told y at least they had water. no power can also mean no clean water. that is what is happening in houston, a city of more than 2.3 million. the entire city is being told to boil its water but here's the catch. how do you boil water if you don't have electricity to turn

on your stove? the situation is especially worrisome for the fire department. the water shortage is compounding the need as desperate families turn to dangerous alternatives just to stay warm. lena hidalgo is the county judge, the highest ranking official in harris county where houston sits. judge, welcome back. how is your family? >> thank you for having me. look, we have all experienced, myself, my family, outages since monday 1:00 in the morning. so going on three nights without power. i think they just got it back for a little bit so that may be good news but just like brianna and marcus, there are millions of families. this is a county of 5 million people. half of them have been without power since monday. 2.5 million people, no power. freezing temperatures. no water. the low water pressure has meant that our hospitals can't

adequately operate. our fire departments can't adequately operate. just unbelievably tragic stories. so much suffering. people who are fed up. the toughest part and i think they mentioned it a little bit this is not a disaster that was all nature. right? a lot of this is man made. by virtue of that fact a lot of this could have been avoided. once this is over there has to be accountability and answers for these people and hopefully changes so this kind of thing can't happen again. >> well, the governor and at least one member of congress from your state jumped out this is about wind energy, about green deal policies and lefty politics being pushed on them. i'm sure your constituents don't care where the power comes from. it's just that they don't have it. what do you think of their statement? >> they don't. i am here with so many first

responders worried sick about their families. the cell service has also been spotty. the people who live in this county and the state who are out of people do not care about this political posturing going on. it is not appropriate. in fact, it's disappointing that some folks are using their energy to try and gaslight and focus on these culture wars to say that this is caused by wind energy in a state where we know that the you about k of our energy is not wind energy. it is just -- they should be focusing their time on trying to pressure this state agency to get the energy back up and running so we can get these people back and out from this tragedy. right now that is what the focus should be. and i am sad to hear that folks are not only not focused on that but are making things up that are simply not true because that is going to be a problem when we

try and focus on accountability. >> do you know what people in your county need right now? there word we can get to your collective family that are watching right now? >> right now, cascading effects from this crisis. so there's power and then there's the water but there is also, you know, lack of food. because some of the grocery stores are out of power. the ones that have supplies can't open. some don't have supplies. >> do you have a relief organization that works well within your area that people can reach out to to help? >> folks can always support the red cross. we're very grateful to the administration, the state's been working to send us resources. it's hard without the roads being passable. so folks can support in that way. and then, you be, the attention you're putting on the failure of these agencies, this is something that absolutely needs to change going forward and to the extent we can keep that pressure that is a big deal for this community. >> first it was the lines of

food we saw in texas. now we see people desperate for gas and energy. you just are not used to seeing these scenes in america. we have to do better. judge hidalgo the best to you and your family. we're always a phone call away if you have information that needs to get out. >> thank you. >> we will monitor as developments come in. i will bring them to you. but next, i have a look for you into why governor abbott, why this other member of congress, and other righties are all stepping up their trumpiness right now. did you see this by the way? a little side note metaphor? is this trump casino in atlantic city no more, is it a metaphor for him or his party or both? and i actually know something and have a connection to his casinos in atlantic city that you will not believe. next. and it's definitely not “close enough or nothing.”

mercedes-benz suvs were engineerered with only one mission in mind. to be the best. in the category, in the industry... in the world. lease the gla 250 suv for just $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. what do you look for when you trade? i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too.

i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. now offering zero commissions on online trades. to support a strong immune system, your body needs routine. centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. season, after season. ace your immune support, with centrum. this is the sound of an asthma attack... that doesn't happen.

this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. it's not a steroid or inhaler. fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's one maintenance dose every 8 weeks. it helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and lower use of oral steroids. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove them. fasenra is not a rescue medication or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. this is the sound of fasenra. ask your doctor about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

take a look at this. did you see this? i'll wait. no. you're supposed to show it blowing up. all right. this is a surprise to me. i wanted you to show the casino blowing up. you know who that is? me and a stunt woman. so the trump casino blew up today, right? the trump plaza casino. it was supposed to be the best. and now it's in rubble. his other one, this is what happened. you were supposed to see this first. ah, live tv. so this is gone. another great effort gone kaput. his other casino is called the trump taj mahal. okay? that actually he lost also. now the hard rok has that. they've had it for years. so i did a stunt off that other casino. that was me jumping off. it was part of a facing your fears thing. okay? and obviously that's where we

all are right now. trump donated 20 grand to charity for redoing this from one of his hotels. he offered me another 20 grand to do it again without the harness. you think he was joking? i'm not sure. but this is the question now. all right. enough. what is it a metaphor, this collapse of the building? trump? the gop q? or both? he is going after his own because they all have to be his. that's why you see people like governor abbott and this texas congressman dan crenshaw almus lg up in defense of trump and trump's fights. there is a purity battle going on. let's bring in two of our better minds, van jones and michael smerconish to talk about the state of play there. that is actually a true story. that was actually me going off there. can't lie with the ashes on my head. mitch mcconnell hears that trump is after him. they say he laughed and trump is in the rear view mirror. how do you see the state of play

in that party? >> the numbers are still unsettled but the preliminary polling is quite shocking. i'm referring to the morning consult and quinnipiac that show that the gop numbers are holding firm. that his support within the base maybe dipped a couple days after january 6th but now it's back. i also looked at the latest gallup party identification numbers. independents have never been as high as they are now since gallup has reported. 50%. here is an interesting question. the rs and ds are dead locked at 25. why aren't more identifying as democratic given what's been going on in the country for the last couple months? >> strong point. van? >> i think that there is a shift away from the republicans. there is not a shift away from the democrats. the democrats are holding firm and republicans getting smaller.

people are not leaving the democratic party and they are leaving the republican party by the tens of thousands because people i think who are principled conservatives, who are ronald reagan conservatives, abraham lincoln conservatives, they just don't see a place in this party anymore. >> so a follow to you, van. what does this mean for doing business as democrats? you know that you are an existential threat to most people in the other party. and they're looking to be oppositional. what does that do in terms of hunting for compromise like on the relief bill right now? >> i think if you look at what the biden white house is saying, they think they have the republicans right where they want them. that if they continue to be obstructionist and oppositional they'll continue to bleed support. actually you have a pain threshold that's been hit in red states and blue states in rural and urban america that demand

action. republicans who want to continue to chase donald trump down the drain, play with qanon do so at their own peril. in the meantime people are hurting and it is going to be tough for democrats to find good dance partners on any of the issues the country needs action on. >> will obstruction cost the gop q or the trump party or whatever they become? >> it will if it con fins. i think van is right in his assessment. what is going to happen is the biden administration is going to have to do the heavy projects all alone. republicans are going to say, see that? he didn't mean it when he spoke of unity. but you take a look at this relief package right now and the inability of them to work together. if they can't work together on this is what i'm trying to say i can't imagine how other projects will be mutually accomplished. >> doesn't it matter about why they're not working on it? doesn't that have to be part of the story? i guess for biden and the

democrats that this is not good faith negotiation. you have the republicans wanting to walk away from whatever the offer is on the table. michael? >> you have a lot of political theater going on on the right, right now. people can't figure out are they in a democracy where they need to appeal to the people or are they in some kind of autocracy with a king in waiting and they have to appeal to the sovereign, to trump, to the would be king. that is causing a lot of political theater. i think they are fiddling while their party burns. i do believe that in time some of them are going to realize they have to do something. i think that biden will be a partner and i think a lot of democrats will be a partner to them as they come around. in the meantime i think democrats have to put the people first, not the party, not the politics, but the people first and deliver real aid. if they can do it with

republicans, great. if they can't the republicans are going to have to come around at some point but the american people can't wait. >> last word to you, michael. >> a low point of what we're discussing here you can tie all of these subjects together. go to a different channel tonight and you'll see b roll as we would refer to it of frozen wind turbines not with standing the fact that in texas in the winter they account for about 10% of capacity. and yet it is being seized as an opportunity to try and sink any prospect of a green new deal. it is all about simplicity and reaching the base. >> look, you know what's going on on the other channel right now? one other channel? they've got the former guy as biden calls him still fire breathing about having been robbed on the election. they've made their choice. if the party follows that, the sweet spot is going to be who is hearing people? that was what was -- that is what trump had over everybody else. he was out there with people all the time.

they saw him as a straight proxy. if biden can take some of that mandate maybe with harris to stretch the energy that's what's missing right now. left and right has been tired for people. let's see who seizes the advantage. van jones, michael smerconish, appreciate your better minds. president biden fielded a lot of questions in the cnn town hall about america's way forward. remember that was part of the strategy. get out to wisconsin. talk to the people there. did his answers satisfy? now i want to talk specifically about covid with respect to schools. everybody has always said we have to get back. but there are issues even with the messaging, even with this administration. and we have to clean it up, next. e been to every city. including little rock and even worcester. and totonight... i'll be eating t the chicken quesesadilla from...tony's tex mex...in... katy. (doorbell) (giggle) do ya think they bought it? oh yeah.

♪ ♪ ♪ do ya think they bought it? when it comes to your financial health, just a few small steps can make a real difference. ♪ ♪ ♪

learn, save and spend with guidance from chase. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. want to save hundreds on your wireless bill? with xfinity mobile you can. how about saving hundreds on the new samsung galaxy s21 ultra 5g? you can do that too. all on the most reliable network. sure thing! and with fast nationwide 5g included at no extra cost. we've got you covered. so join the carrier rated #1 in customer satisfaction.

and get a new samsung galaxy starting at $17 a month. learn more at xfinitymobile.com or visit your local xfinity store today. all right. we all want schools to open. right? the question has always been

how? former guy as biden calls him punted to states and did little else. president biden promised more. it is not proving easy. even in the messaging. last night the president said this. >> do you think that would be five days a week or just a couple -- >> i think many of them five days a week. the goal would be five days a week. >> but the cdc guidelines don't go that far. they still talk about hybrid models using different cohorts and podding of students and some students and teachers sticking with virtual options. the big issue is how to help schools do what it takes to reopen for real. now, one obvious tool would seem to be vaccinations. specifically with teachers and staff. the administration seems a little squishy ton this idea. >> they're not vaccinated. is it safe for them? >> well, i think that we have to decide if we can put in place

safe measures. >> now, we get the dodge. why? because the cdc says that teachers don't need to be vaccinated to return safely. it's been done in places without teachers being vaccinated. but teachers unions don't really agree with that. so if that's the situation just say it. but if it is then why did biden answer this question directly and differently last night saying, yes. teachers should be vaccinated? which we've never heard from the white house covid response team until today. and then the press secretary takes a turn at bat and walks it back. listen. >> neither the president nor the vice president believe that it is a requirement. >> why the confusion? now, first of all, we invite the team on here all the time. and the invitation is open. okay? so this is not about giving you a chance to speak.

it's about you taking that chance. but here is what the confusion comes down to. it is the same issue we have everywhere with the vaccination effort. they don't have the doses. so they don't want to say, yes. they should be vaccinated and figure out what the science is whether it is really worth it or not if they can't even get it done and it winds up protracting the timeline. but the timeline has to be a function of safety. it always has to be that way especially dealing with millions of teachers in this country. the straight read seems to be that point. listen to fauci. >> i think if you are going to say that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before you get back to school, i believe quite frankly, tony, that is a nonworkable situation. >> i think that's what it is, right? it has to be about, he says nonworkable situation. what does that mean? that you won't be able to get the people and the phase before them and that is going to screw up everything. but what is your priority? you see what i'm saying? there are still more than 20

states where teachers can't get vaccinated. yes it is done by state. that doesn't mean the message from the top doesn't matter. that is where they get the vaccine. what is the deal? let's ask dr. leana wen. she ran public health in baltimore. start with the science then go supply side. thank you doctor for being with us by the way. on the science it is not necessary the cdc says that teachers can go back and be safe without being vaccinated. how would you explain this? >> i would say that they are partially correct. so if you have low levels of community transmission, if you have mitigation measures put in schools, then it is safe for teachers and students to be back in school. if you have higher levels of community transmission it can still be safe but you need a higher level of the mitigation measures as well. many schools don't have that. actually in many areas teachers and school staff are already back for in-person instruction and in many places teachers are

in cramped classrooms without good ventilation, with lots of kids around them who may not be abiding by social distancing in their own lives and may be bringing covid into the classroom. these teachers are saying, why am i not prioritized? this is not saying well maybe vaccines can be available in the future a year later and let's not wait until we get vaccines. we are saying the vaccines are available right now. we can get every teacher vaccinated within a matter of weeks if we just made that a priority. i can really understand why teachers are very upset about this. >> but it has to be this supply priority because that has to explain the kind of mixed messaging from the white house. i'm not ascribing any animus. but it has to be that it is not a no brainer that teachers should go before all these other groups. it has to be true because the schools have never come first. >> well, i think that's the problem. so yesterday we heard president biden say that, well, it's not up to the federal government. it's up to the states to figure out priority groups.

i would really argue with that and say actually it is up to the federal government because here's what the federal government can do. they can earmark doses specifically for schools. right now they're earmarking doses for health centers. they're giving doses directly to health centers, giving doses directly to pharmacies. why not give doses directly to schools and have school nurses administer the vaccines to their staff? they can even deploy the national guard if it is so important and set up pop up clinics in schools or tell these governors, these 20 plus governors that have not prioritized teachers, they can say we're not going to give you any more vaccine unless you prioritize teachers. it is a matter of will and intention and with due respect to president biden he is just not willing to do that yet. >> for what it is worth there is no parent i talked to that this isn't their primary concern even before getting themselves vaccines. they are so interested in getting their kids back in school and normalizing their life flow. you know that also as a parent. now, i want to ask you something

else as a parent, as a doctor, as a person. as somebody with asian heritage. you know what is going on. you know in the next segment we're taking it on directly about hate crimes. asians are over represented in the medical field right? hard work, dedication, commitment to education. you've really blossomed there and such a benefit to the country. we are seeing people are trying to avoid asian medical care. you know, from asian clinicians. were you aware of this and what does it mean to you? >> so it hasn't happened to me directly, chris, but i have had colleagues who have had patient spit on them or refuse to be treated by them or even say to them i don't believe you because you're the reason why we have coronavirus in this country. so why should i believe you when you give me medical advice? again, i haven't had this happen to me in the clinical setting although every time i appear on air i do get social media

messages somewhere along those lines, too. i certainly know that this is out there. i think this says a lot about why language really matters. there is a reason why the world health organization says we need to not call diseases by the country of origin or by a people because then you get this fear and stigma directed to a particular group of individuals. i am extremely concerned about the racist attacks that seem to be growing in different parts of the country. >> just as a matter of fact the spanish flu we always talk about didn't start in spain. it got called the spanish flu because they were the first to be honest about it. and, you know, again, we know where this started. we know who started it. he's gone. but it is about what remains and this is part of that stain. thank you for being honest about it. thank you as always for being with us on the show. appreciate you, doc. look. we got to talk about this. we've got to be better than this. it is not just about the former guy. okay? it's what remains -- there are

people fighting for that mantle of malignancy, of malice. and you're seeing it. you saw it on january 6th. and this is now the next chapter. a disturbing rise in targeted violence during the pandemic against asian americans. these are racist attacks and, yes, they are increasing. why? actor daniel dae kim is actively trying to help. his connection, his plea, next. are [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today.

with unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, there's more to take advantage of. see a doctor in the morning here... or talk to a nurse in the moonlight there. ♪ wow, uh-huh ♪ unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. take advantage everywhere. ♪ wow. ♪ i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter.

hi, i'm a new customer and i want your best new smartphone deal.giggling) that's my turtle. well i'm an existing customer and i'd like your best new smartphone deal. oh do ya? actually it's for both new and existing customers. i feel silly. but i do want the fastest 5g network. oh i want the fastest 5g network. are we actually doing this again? it's not complicated. only at&t gives everyone the same great deal. like the samsung galaxy s21 5g for free when you trade in.

covid's still a threat. and on reopening schools, we know what happens when we don't put safety first. ignore proper ventilation or rates of community spread, and the virus worsens. fail to provide masks

or class sizes that allow for social distancing, and classrooms close back down. a successful reopening requires real safety and accountability measures. including prioritizing vaccines for educators. parents and educators agree: reopen schools. putting safety first. justice for vica this viral communication not only commemorates the #94-year-old thai man who died in a senseless attack but has become the rallying call for rising anti-asian attacks especially among the elderly. the videos are graphic and hard to watch but i think we should watch. we should see what is being done to our fellow americans.

and have outrage. this is the moment that he was brutally shoved to the ground. watch. remember, he is an old guy. this guy just runs over. this was his intent and purpose. this was an attack. this punk ass younger guy runs up and does this to an old man on his morning walk in san francisco. his family never got a chance to say good-bye. >> then he told us they followed him, he got assaulted. he got injured very bad with his brain and he never wake up again. i never see him again. >> can you imagine? if that were your grandfather? you know somebody knows that guy, right? you know the chance that guy did

that alone without talking about it, without bragging about it afterwards is almost zero. so where are they? he died two days after the attack. same weekend in oakland's chinatown three seniors reported being attacked including this 91-year-old man. again, obviously a younger guy attacking an old man. it hasn't stopped. more than 20 assaults and robberies were reported in oakland over a two-week period last month. in portland more than a dozen asian businesses have been vandalized in recent weeks. here in new york a 61-year-old filipino man was slashed in the face on the new york city subway. authorities say it is hard to nail down evidence to prove that these crimes were motivated by racism and hate. rights groups say you only need to look at the patten of unprovoked attacks and see the targets to see what it is. who goes around pushing over old

people? that is not a thing. organizations that track the animus point out the dramatic difference. look for yourself. 2017 to 2019 asian americans advancing justice says it received less than 500 reported incidents of hate against asian americans. since last february when covid hit, they've tracked at least 3,000. whole communities are on edge. residents, activists, and hollywood celebrities are upset like our next guest daniel dae kim. they are clamoring for awareness and action. kim and a fellow actor daniel wu even offered $25,000 to track down the suspect in the oakland case. he joins us now. good to have you on the show. i wish it were for a better reason. >> thank you, chris. i am really happy to be here. thank you for putting a spotlight often this issue. happy ash wednesday. >> thank you. i appreciate you, brother. we got to take care of one another here. >> absolutely.

>> what is your thought as to why this is happening? >> you know, that is a complicated question. it's definitely a confluence of events, you know, these are economic hard times for everybody. i think the pandemic has created a situation where the stakes are higher for life and death and these are often impoverished communities where these crimes are taking place. but i don't think you can also deny the fact that there has been racist rhetoric coming from positions of power where you can draw a direct line to the surge in these kinds of crimes. i think your statistics are really effective and accurate. starting in march, when the pandemic started to be labeled the kung flu and the china virus there was a 1900% upsurge in crimes of this nature against asian americans in march alone u

so you can draw a direct line from one thing to the other and words matter especially from positions of power. >> why did you put up the 25 grand? by the way, i hear there is a suspect in the oakland case. they have somebody in custody. but what what motivated that? >> two things. first and foremost, we wanted to help find the perpetrator. but just as importantly, we wanted to raise awareness for this issue. those of us in the asian-american community know that this has been going on since last march. it shows up almost daily in our news feeds. and yet despite our pleas nothing has really been done and no one has really amplified this issue. and the night i saw mr. pakdi's murder and the incident against the man in oakland i got so upset. and i was very emotional. and a friend of mine, daniel wu,

who also is very passionate about this issue, you know, and we connected and i just said we have to do something more than just tweet about it and speak about it. this has been going on for too long and enough is enough. we need to do something. we need to put our money where our mouth is. and so we thought that by offering a reward like this we could draw attention to this issue. and thankfully, that in part is the reason why we're able to talk tonight. so i'm really glad to be able to speak with you about it. >> awareness plus what? what do you think needs to be done? >> that's a great question. because awareness is really just the first step. now it's about volunteering. it's about contacting community organizers who are working in communities like oakland and the bay area and new york city where so many of these attacks are happening. and donating to these causes. and it's about speaking up. it's about not being silent, whether you're a witness or a

victim. report these incidents because we know that there's a tendency in the asian-american community not to report. and these figures that we're citing now as a result are not accurate. they're actually very underreported. so we need to know the scope and the breadth of this problem. so reporting is part of it. amplifying the message is part of it. if you have a twitter, if you have any social media, get the message out. and you know, the media can really help. and i would also say contact your legislators and your district attorneys. ask what they're doing. in fact, we're trying now to connect legislators to community organizers and trying to find out how we can figure out the connection between the two so they can work together to help solve this problem in the long term. because offering a reward is just a band-aid. but what we can do in the long term is what's really important. >> how do you reconcile something like this with the

life that you know? i know you well. you are so highly regarded. you're a sex symbol. i've seen too much of you in my house with my kids watching you. i know exactly who you are. i know exactly how you look. and so you are celebrated for your talent, for your beauty, and then you see people attacking people like you. yes, picking on the old, picking on the infirm. but how do you reconcile the two? >> it's difficult. and i think it's really important to know that i am an asian-american but i do not represent all of asian america. and this is part of the model minority myth. when we see the super successful among us we think, well, asian americans, they're fine, they're doing -- they have a lot of buying power, they're fine, no need to worry about them. but we are not a monolith. and there are so many of us who are living below the poverty line, who are invisible to society. and that's part of the problem. there's something in the american psyche.

there's something in the psyche of people that somehow makes it okay for us to attack and verbally abuse asian-americans. and especially the most vulnerable of us, the elderly, our children, women. there are reports of attacks on women almost daily. and the verbal abuse so many of our children are getting in school are all part of the same phenomenon. and it's really just a question of speaking up, speaking out and really fighting the injustice that we've been subject to historically since our immigration to this country but especially now. >> it's very important also to have members of the majority saying it's wrong. because this isn't new. the xenophobia of us versus them, what happened during the war to asian-americans, specifically japanese. this is not new in this country. and it's about it being rekindled. and we saw that in ugly effect on january 6th. i'm with you, brother. i'm with you even with my own personal bias after having been

confronted with how you look and you're in such better shape than i am with my kids watching you all the time. i'm with you for the cause because we are brothers here in this country. and i wish you well. i'm always a call away to help with the effort. >> that means so much. we all need mutual alliship. we need to help one another. thank you so much, chris. >> i'm a call away. i'll make sure you have it. daniel dae kim, thank you for being awareness to this and more. we'll be right back. as your broker, i've solved it. that's great, carl. but we need something bebette. that's easily adjustable has no penalties or advisory fee. and we can monitor to see that we're on track. like schwab intelligent income. schwab! introducing schwab intelligent income. a simple, modern way to pay yourself from your portfolio. oh, that's cool... i mean, we don't have that. schwab. a modern approach to wealth management.

do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a

term policy, for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today.

you know, you can see everything that's happening around us as related. what's happening with asian-americans being targeted. this flux of animus. it's like we're addicted to it. our politics is all about enmity. it's happening in our culture again and again. you see what's happening in texas. should be a straight tell, man,

we've got to care about our brothers and sisters there, figure out how to help, help the red cross, watch, wait. but no. it's about politics. oh, this is what's going to happen with the green new deal. where'd that come from? he knows it's not accurate. but why even make the point in this context? it's all related. we are addicted to the animus. and it's not going to be easy to stop. "cnn tonight," the big show with the big star d lemon now. >> you are absolutely right. i was speaking to a friend in texas just moments ago before i came on and she said that she and her kids, her dog, her husband, they're hunkered down by the fireplace. they haven't had any water. they don't have -- no running water, no electricity. they're charging their cell phones, they have to go out in their car, start the car, warm up a little bit, charge the cell phones, and then go back in the house. and the first thing i said, well, what's going on? isn't it the wind turbines? she goes, it's not the wind turbines. she said, and again, texas resident in houston, it's greg