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tv   Katy Tur Reports  MSNBC  August 10, 2021 11:00am-12:00pm PDT

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that will change the way we experience sports. we've already invested in entrepreneurs like ane swim, who develops products that provide hair protection so that everyone can enjoy the freedom of swimming. like the athletes competing in tokyo, these entrepreneurs have a fierce work ethic and drive to achieve - to change the game and inspire the team of tomorrow. welcome, everybody. we come on the air this tuesday with a pair of blockbusters. we're about to hear from the president on what was once thought impossible, the senate passing that bipartisan infrastructure bill. it could be one of the defining achievements of his presidency, but it now faces an even bigger roller coaster. but for today, republicans and democrats found themselves in agreement on a generational
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piece of legislation. then at the same time that was happening in washington, d.c. came an absolute thunderclap here in new york. >> now, you know me. i'm a new yorker, born and bred. i am a fighter. and my instinct is to fight through this controversy, because i truly believe it is politically motivated. i believe it is unfair and it is untruthful. this situation by its current trajectory will generate months of political and legal coronavirus. that is what is going to happen. i think that given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing. therefore, that's what i'll do
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and my resignation will be effective in 14 days. >> andrew cuomo brought down by 11 accusations of sexual harassment and the threat of near certain impeachment and ouster from office. cuomo was preceded by his lawyer who came out swinging attempting to discredit the accusers. the outgoing governor blaming his own failure to recognize what he called generational and cultural shifts for his own downfall. i want to bring in tom winter and joyce vance. she is a professor at the university of alabama law school. welcome. tom, i want to start with you and talk about the criminal
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investigations currently in effect right now, the albany county d.a., westchester county, manhattan as well. getting a statement from attorney general tish james saying in part, today closes a sad chapter for all of new york, but it is an important step towards justice. we know, tom, the attorney general herself cannot bring criminal charges against the outgoing governor, but what does this mean for those criminal investigations happening throughout new york state? >> it doesn't change anything really. given governor cuomo's long-term ambitions prior to this coming out, from a legal perspective everything is the same as it was this morning, which is that the governor has some serious legal hurdles and criminal hurdles ahead of him. when you look at this today, the albany county district attorney's office, the albany
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county sheriff's office is looking into a serious complaint of groping and fondling by the governor of one of his executive assistants, who's now come forward. on top of that the westchester county district attorney's office is looking for information to see if there's any criminality involving trooper one. westchester county is looking into that because some of those allegations are in that region. it's a lot. for the governor going forward today, he may have cleaned up some political issues, but as far as his legal issues, those still very much remain. >> i want to hear about what's happening on the ground in albany. i've been speaking to sources there. there's definitely mixed
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reactions to the governor's resignation. what are you hearing? >> reporter: shock waves. nobody expected this today. i've been speaking with the judiciary committee that was going to present its findings to the entire new york state assembly and then the assembly would vote on whether to begin impeachment proceedings. the judiciary committee was going to meet monday in a secure location to go through the ag report. now, one of the assembly members on that judiciary committee tells me at this point he doesn't know what route he wants to pursue. i did speak with another on the judiciary committee. she said she wants to continue on with impeachment proceedings because she feels like she doesn't want the other issues
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potentially intervening in maintenance on the mario cuomo bridge, she doesn't want those issues to go overlooked either. >> i'm not buying it. i've been following this governor for too long. it left a bad taste in my mouth, the rest of the people are going to have to say what they think but i didn't find it genuine at all. i think when he was starting to choke up, i think he's crying for himself. >> reporter: one of her colleagues on the committee tells me he expects they will still meet on monday if not sooner. >> i just want folks to know it's the same on the local level as the federal level if in fact they were to pursue impeachment and find the current governor guilty, he would not be able to pursue office. joyce, i want to play for you
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some sound from the governor's attorney, who spoke before he announced his resignation. >> and she claims that as he went through the rope line, he touched the logo on her shirt, which was her energy company logo as he was greeting her. the governor did not mean to grope her and certainly there were pictures from this event. >> i want to get your reaction as to why it is the governor's personal attorney appeared in front of the official seal on the governor's live stream despite the fact that she is not a government employee. she is a private attorney of this governor. and then she went onto discredit
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this five months long investigation ahead of the governor himself announcing his resignation. >> her appearance and the way it was staged seems to be clearly improper, designed to give it more of an official appearance than it was entitled to have. i suppose they felt like that staging was critical and important but that doesn't make it any less wrong and fully indicative of the efforts he has gone to to try to push through these allegations and pretend they're without merit. her comments really fell wide of the mark. i'll give you one example. it comes from the governor's resignation speech itself. the worst of these allegations is the one involving the trooper
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who he has transferred onto his security detail even though she doesn't meet the qualifications. at least on a couple of occasions detailed in the report, he goes ahead with touching her intimately on her body. his excuse was to say he didn't recall it, but if it had happened he's the kind of guy who grips the shoulder, pats the face or touches the stomach of people on his security detail to acknowledge their presence. the notion that you would routinely touch people on their stomach and slide your hand across their body, which is the allegation here, i think seems nonsensical. the governor didn't have good defenses to the sorts of claims being made. >> he didn't specifically call out certain allegations. he talked about that state trooper.
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he didn't necessarily talk about allegations made by an accuser in which he put his hand up her shirt. do you think this was advice he was getting from his attorneys considering the current criminal investigations he has against him right now? >> i think that makes a lot of sense from a legal perspective for the governor. you don't want to be making statements that could be used not so much against you but can be called to impeach your own testimony or own defense. if we get to the point where the governor is ultimately charged, it makes sense to me that he would want to avoid the statements defended by his attorney from an evidentiary standpoint of well we think she was only at the governor's mansion on such and such a date, we don't have any evidence to back up some of the things she's said. that's how they've gone after some of the statements made. on the trooper point, that is corroborated by contemporaneous
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e-mails as well as testimony according to the report. it's not as if this was in a vacuum. it is not a he said/she said. this is a situation where multiple state troopers overheard a lot of this. i think it's important to note what the governor is kind of saying here, what he's not saying and how that kind of folds into what we know to have occurred based on the report. >> the question here is, is it telling. later on the show we're going to do a deeper dive into the lieutenant governor. thank you guys all for joining me this hour. i want to bring in karen hinton, one of the women who came forward with allegations against governor cuomo. she accused the governor of inappropriately embracing her in a hotel room.
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i really want to get your reaction to what we've been hearing today, obviously first from the governor's attorney and then from the governor himself and also this idea that he talked about this general generational and cultural shift for some of the reasons he felt as if he had been, quote, unquote, misunderstood. >> let me say i definitely wanted him to resign, but at the same time i'm not gloating over it and i don't think anyone should. it's a very sad day for the state of new york. what he did to those women was unforgivable and he brought it on himself through his own actions. and of course he immediately started blaming others, blaming his opponents, his political opponents, blaming his enemies,
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blaming the media. that's very nixon-like in so many ways. i'm old enough to remember when nixon resigned. at the same time he accomplished a great deal as governor, marriage equality, minimum wage, family leave. so he could have done even more and done even better, but his own flaws brought him down, not anyone else. i just think that, to your question about the culture difference, number one, he signed a law on sexual harassment. he signed the law. he signed the rule and then he broke the rule. so talking about what things were like 20 years ago when he was born, when he grew up, when
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he was housing secretary, is meaningless, because he understood what the sexual harassment law is in new york. he signed the law. to your question about culture, i just think it makes no sense. >> what i'm hearing you say is you're not necessarily buying his excuse that he made today when announcing his resignation. have you spoken to any of the other accusers today? >> i haven't spoken to any. i did text one and said i'm sending you love. i said i'm sending it back and more. as a 63-year-old woman, i know how this issue of sexual harassment has evolved over time from the '60s with the feminist
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movement to the '70s with the equal rights amendment and other actions that were taken. many things have changed along the way, but in a lot of ways they haven't. they stayed the same. i hope that the laws of new york and the attorney general's report will be meaningful not just in new york but across the country so that women who file sexual harassment charges will be taken seriously and they will be believed and they won't be dismissed. andrew cuomo did exactly that today. he dismissed their claims. he dismissed their allegations. he belittled them. that has to stop. it was clear from the ag report that the details in it that he
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had committed sexual harassment and sexual abuse. he just needed to own it and move on. instead he just blamed everybody else. >> you said that you spoke to lindsey boylan. she said when will enough be enough with the victim blaming and the smears. that's obviously a part of her reaction to all that's going on. do you want the das to continue their criminal investigation into the governor? do you believe they should? >> absolutely they should. i don't know why his resignation would have anything to do with their own investigations that they're undertaking. i realize that under new york law he can't be impeached but the investigations definitely
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should continue. i just think it sets a pace so that other women understand i can speak out, i don't have to be silent. i can speak out because someone will take me seriously. and the district attorneys now are the ones who can do that. >> has this provided any closure for you, karen? >> yes, in many ways it has, because as a teenager i experienced sexual harassment. then growing up i was in news media for a while. then i went onto politics. throughout that entire 45-50 years of career building, i had to deal with this kind of treatment along the way, not just with andrew cuomo but with others. it's hard. it's tough. it takes so much out of you that
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then it becomes even more difficult to build your career and to experience things that you want to experience. so finally having an attorney general to stand up for these women, finally having a state assembly do the same, timely having so many different organizations, nonprofits and groups speak out and say the governor should resign, that does bring some closure to my own experiences as a woman. >> karen hinton, we are grateful that you shared your voice with us today. thank you. still ahead we continue our coverage of andrew cuomo's resignation with a look at the woman who will replace him. also ahead today's breaking news from washington and a major legislative achievement. legislative achievement.
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we're also following breaking news from washington. we're awaiting remarks from president biden on today's specific legislative achievement, the senate's passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. senators voted 69-30, passing the sweeping legislation just before noon. >> once again, congratulations to all of those who worked hard, so hard on this very significant and very important bill. >> now the bill moving to the house where it faces an unsurgeon future.
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we're awaiting the president to speak. i know the time keeps moving along but nonetheless we expect that from this president. is this going to be a victory lap speech, or are they now going to look ahead to the house and of course the reconciliation bill? >> reporter: the white house is certainly aware this is not the moment to spike the football. this still has to get through the house. there's no guaranteed there given up divides between the house moderates and progressives on a lot of these issues. the white house does want to claim this as a moment to mark a major achievement in the president's agenda. the message they want to convey is this is not just an achievement for the things that will get funded for this, but
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also the bipartisan nature of this. so much of the theme of this presidency has been about trying to take down the partisan rhetoric, trying to end the forever wars between democrats and republicans and show that both sides can come together and work together on something where there is some common ground. the white house and those close to the president say they feel a big element of what got him elected was people believed he could bring some bipartisanship to washington. as much as they want to talk about what's in this bill, look for the president and the white house to talk about the bipartisan nature of this. this is not just some tag-along republicans who came to join with some democrats. this is a big vote including mitch mcconnell. >> i want to about what is ahead
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for the senate and the house and obviously the umbrella which is the reconciliation bill. let's talk first about what is ahead for the senate aside from this vote. beyond that, what happens with the budget resolution? >> as bipartisan as infrastructure was, the budget resolution is going to be fully partisan. we are only expecting democrats to support that. that is kind of the underpinning for which the reconciliation package will happen. the action really does shift to the house, because reeblgt now you have the house is also going to want to take this up. speaker pelosi has said she's not going to take up this bipartisan package until there is reconciliation. this is going to be a september or october issue for congress to deal with both of these pieces at the same time. it's going to be a very busy
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time. as much as this bipartisan effort really was democrats and republicans coming together, they quickly now go to budget resolution where both the senate and the house will have to write those packages. >> isn't september and october kind of an optimistic timeline when it comes to working on these bills in tandem? you ever democrats in the house saying we don't want to vote on this thing. they should be separate. i was message imagining more of december timeline. >> i'm talking about when they actually start to take them up. it's going to make for a very busy fall because you also have the need to raise the debt limit as well as fund the government thrown in that mix and how they sequence these bills as well as what's encolluded in them is going to be really critical in terms of that.
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>> is there any real threat from the progressive caucus when it comes to getting this bipartisan bill through? >> i think the progressives in the house in particular are going to be focused on this human infrastructure package where the real threat is if the speaker were to move forward with just this bipartisan package as a lot of moderates have said, you have the problem solver's caucus saying we want to pass this right now. the progressives' threat is we will not support this package unless you do it at the same time as reconciliation. the speaker knows the numbers. she's got a four-seat majority. she cannot lose the progressive wing on either of these bills. >> let me circle back one thing to the senate.
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any sense manchin and sinema are going to be on board? how are democrats so sure they can get it across the finish line? >> i think it is going to be an uphill battle. both senators sinema and manchin love to be in the mix and are going to want to be heard. they are coming off a big win on this bipartisan package. there's going to be tremendous pressure on the two of them as well as the need fo chuck schumer to listen to them. they are clearly in play. this will be not just a senate and congress issue. i think you're going to see the white house get extremely
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involved in making sure sinema and manchin will be involved. >> thank you both. with me now from capitol hill is democratic senator chris coons. let's start with the negatives. that is manchin and sinema. a lot of folks wonder whether or not democrats can keep it together in the senate for the reconciliation bill. what types of conversations are you having with your colleagues when it comes to that? >> we're going to see later tonight or very early tomorrow morning a proof point about whether or not my colleagues sinema and manchin will join all
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the rest of the democratic caucus to vote to proceed with the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. i think they wil send forward a bold piece of legislation that will give a big tax cut to middle class americans and that will be paid for by the wealthiest americans and corporations. i think that's supported throughout our whole caucus and they'll have a chance to show it. let's not start with the negative. let's take one sentence on the positive. it's a big deal. president biden is about to speak to this, but frankly my
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friend joe biden ranhe idea tha can still come together and do big things in this country and work together to fix the deally issues in people's leaves like potholes or delays on highways or amtrak, challenges at our airports, needing access to broadband so our kids can go to school. this bipartisan deal is going to deliver $1.2 trillion over eight years and create 650,000 new high scale, high wage jobs. this is a big win for the republicans and democrats who work closely together to get it done, for majority leader schumer who gave us the space to come to this agreement and of course president biden, who is now also going to help us as a caucus move forward on the bold agenda items that only democrats
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support and that we frankly will mostly end up running on in next year's elections. we can do both and move our country forward. >> we are hearing of the successes in the senate and your positivity when it comes to the passage of this infrastructure bill. with that, it still needs to get to the house and the president's desk. are you worried about speaker pelosi wanting to work this bill in tandem with infrastructure? >> i trust that speaker pelosi realizes that we have a limited amount of time for us to get both bills from the senate to the house to the president's desk and deliver this stimulus to our recovering economy, this relief to millions across the country. nobody knows how to lead the caucus over in the house better than speaker pelosi. i trust she understands how to best get this done and she and
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her close friend president biden as well as leader schumer will be coordinating about what's the right path to get this done. the passage today in the senate of this bipartisan infrastructure bill is a critical step, but it doesn't amount to anything if it doesn't get to the president's desk. and the path to the president's desk runs through our caucus also supporting climate change. i'm fighting for the civilian climate corps that would create an inclusive nationwide robust program to allow tens of thousands of young americans to earn money for college, to gain skills and to help everything ensure we are a more resilient country in the face of climate. there are so many things i could
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talk about in this reconciliation bill. >> talk about afghanistan a little bit. it is a rapidly deteriorating situation. the taliban are advancing very quickly in afghanistan amidst the withdrawal from there. people that invested the last two decades of their lives helping americans are being targeted as well. what responsibility does the u.s. have and what are they willing to do to help? >> three things. first we have a responsibility to do everything we can to provide for a safe exit of afghanistan for those afghan interpreters and translators, folks who worked directly with our forces over the last 20 years and the administration has been working diligently and has already brought to the united
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states hundreds of interpreters. the afghan government has to make some very hard choices about how they are going to concentrate their forces. we spent 20 years funding the training and equipping and supporting of the afghanistan national defense forces. every senator was briefed year in and year out about how they would not defend their country without us backing them up. after president trump supported the peace agreement with the taliban that committed the united states to withdrawing was for us to stay there another ten years was something he wasn't willing to seen up for for another genertion of american service members. we should continue to support folks in afghanistan who are looking to partner with the
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united states for development and security. >> appreciate it. coming up, more and more children testing positive for covid. doctors say there isn't just an uptick in pediatric cases but also an increase in those getting very sick. t also an increase in those getting very sick. i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice.
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i got you. ♪ all by yourself. ♪ go with us and find millions of flexible options. all in our app. expedia. it matters who you travel with. anyone who's eligible for a vaccine, if you're going to be around children, you've got to do everything you can to protect them. if you're eligible to get vaccinated, get vaccinated. since children of certain ages can't get vaccinated, that's why you get the situation of the cdc recommendation about wearing masks in school. i know a lot of people push back about that, but again that's the weapon, if you want to call it that, we have. >> dr. anthony fauci there echoing the warnings we've been hearing from public health experts and state officials about the alarming surge in
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covid cases amongst kids. in just the last week there were nearly 94 thousands new cases in kids. speak to us about how doctors and nurses are dealing with the uptick in covid cases amongst kids. >> reporter: doctors are feeling incredibly discouraged as they've seen across the state a 65% increase in pediatric hospitalizations just in the last week, the state health commissioner warning all the state's children's hospitals could be full by the end of the week. they saw two children pass away
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here within the last two weeks from covid. the thing that doctors are looking at is the fact that the community here in shelby county where memphis is not fully vaccinated. the number of fully vaccinated adults sits at about 37%. i spoke with a doctor this morning about the types of cases they're seeing. take a listen. >> our vaccination rate unfortunately is not where we want it to be here in shelby county and the surrounding areas. i think that's fuelling the delta variant. we've seen completely healthy kids come in and be admitted. what we've seen with our patients that have some comorbidities we've seen it present pretty quickly. >> reporter: he said healthy kids and kids with
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comorbidities, other doctors mentioning memphis is a diverse urban population. so those issues around racial lines applies to kids too, but he did emphasize these are healthy children he's seeing as well. dr. fauci mentioned anybody spending time around kids should be vaccinated because these younger kids can't be. >> it is so frustrating and scary to think about a children's hospital being full by the end of the week. then you think about what's happening in the state of florida, this political stalemate over whether or not to wear masks in schools as kids are heading back to the classrooms when that is the only way they can be protected right now, kids underneath the age of 12 obviously. what is your reaction to that? >> i mean frustrating is absolutely the word that comes to mind and frustrating for all involved.
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yes, we know that masks can help. there are people who want to dispute that like the governors of seven states now and climbing. hopefully some of the local officials will kind of reign victorious as they're trying to bring forward their own ordinances. i can't stress enough to do everything you can to make sure your child is safe through their own wearing of protective masks but also ventilation. we need to do more testing. we're watching numbers closely. we don't think this virus is resulting in more severe cases of covid even though we're talking about icus being full. it's just there's so many sheer numbers of children being affected because the delta variant is so contagious. we've got data gaps in how states report even children's
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hospitalizations like florida. >> why is that? >> number one, we did not have even data infrastructure to begin with. that's something the biden administration is still struggling with. we still have these blind spots where states do not have even requirements on how they report the data, ages for which they report. we don't have requirements on infections that lead to hospitalizations. we are undercounting what's happening in children. i don't want to paint such a dire picture that people are terrified to send their children to school. we know from schools that were in person last year, if you do mask and take precautions, you can keep your children safe. we need parents to speak out to the boards, to the supervisors,
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to anyone who will listen. we should be able to protect these tiny people who were blessed to have and it's ridiculous that we're not. it's disgusting. >> you have a lot of parents who are wanting to get kids vaccinated as quickly as possible. what is the timeline on getting kids under 12 vaccinated at this moment? is there any sense that the fda could give emergency authorization incrementally? >> it doesn't work like that largely because of the way the trials are set up. i wouldn't want it to work like that. what we do know is the fda does v a serious of rolling data inputs from pfizer and moderna. all the manufactures are working in trials right now for children, but we do know that the fda are prioritizing this obviously but they're going to have to wait until they have enough data accumulated to be
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safe enough to start that go signal to start that eua process. you have heard a lot of time estimates. i will tell you friends of mine who work inside the fda say they are doing it as soon as they can safely but it won't be in time for schools to open. if you pushed, december, january, maybe. that's why we need to talk about masks. >> the covid again on the rise and children preparing to return to in-person learning, we're answering your back to school questions. we're going to have our experts answer as many as they can live on friday 11:00 a.m. eastern. she is about to become the
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most powerful explosion on new york state. up next on kathy hochul, her background and how she distanced himself from governor cuomo, next. distanced himself from governor cuomo, next no. nope. no way. but then helen went from no to know with freestyle libre 14 day, now she knows what activity helps lower her glucose. and can see what works best for her. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. freestyle libre 14 day. now covered by medicare for those who qualify. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep freestyle libre 14 day. to people who were tired of being tired. what is even in this? clinically-studied plant based ingredients passion flower, valerian root, and hops. new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep. (vo) i am living with cll and i am living longer. thanks to imbruvica. imbruvica is a prescription medicine for adults with cll or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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it's not crazy. help me, mother. it's an omelet. just crack an egg. welcome back. we want to go back to that blockbuster news here in new york, the resignation of governor andrew cuomo and the rise of the lieutenant governor kathy hochul, becoming the first woman state governor in new york state history. even in new york she is not a household name. here is new york magazine writer ben jacobs. good to see you. thanks for joining us on this simple question, who is kathy hochul. give us her story. >> kathy hochul comes out of buffalo, which already makes her unique in new york. no governor has come from buffalo since grover cleveland.
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she is a long time local politician who rose up in 2011 to win a special election that no one expected democrats to when at the midpoint of barack obama's political fortunes. in 2014 she was picked by cuomo to be his running mate because he needed someone who was popular in western new york, but not someone he viewed as inherently politically threatening to him. now the longest serving lieutenant governor right now in the united states as cuomo's number two focusing on economic development, traveling the state without playing a key role in actually everything cuomo was doing, which is a net plus and a net minus at this point. >> i'm hearing the first test for the lieutenant governor lb whether or not she advises the assembly to pursue or continue
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to pursue the impeachment investigation and impeachment following that, the impeachment trial, despite the fact he has chosen now to resign. any word or idea as to whether or not she would do this? >> folks i've talked to in her orbit haven't gotten that far yet. at this point it's still about getting ready to deal with the mechanics of taking over the state. some of that they do have a head start on. they had more than some inking this was coming. i think the initial test is the transition, taking over and getting ready to be in the charge of the state. what happens after that is a work in progress. >> there are a report that indicates they literally have not spoken since january or february. was that in a way the lieutenant governor's means of distancing herself from the governor? >> that's certainly part of it. part of it is also that they've had such a separate
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relationship, that cuomo hasn't also spoken to major state legislative leaders since that period of time. some of it is not just a testament to what she's doing but to the fact that cuomo has been in bunker mode since then. >> were they close before this? >> no. before this >> no. no. my reporting is they were there. they were governor and lieutenant governor. but that doesn't mean that she was number two in the administration. she was off doing economic development. but she was no the inner circle. during the pandemic, he was holding the national news conferences and talking about what is going on in new york city, she serve as point person in buffalo. not in the rest of the state. she was focusing on what was happening in western new york. >> thank you for joining us n o this. we appreciate it.ni up next, everybody, how the dangerous heat wave is hitting california and could make the already a devastating dixie
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wildfire even worse. g dixie wildfire even worse.
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if i live anywhere in the united states, expect heat waves. 25 million americans are bracing for triple digits temperatures. cleanup is happening in chicago. severe storms generated tornadoes. that shredded houses, tore trees from the ground and knocked out power as well. there are new fears over in california today. the dangerous heat wave there could make an already bad fire season much, much worse. the dixie fire has burned half a million acres and forced thousands from homes. now there are new concerns that heat and high winds could actually further fuel those flames. joining me now from greenville, california, nbc news correspondent. thank you for joining us on
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this. we appreciate it. you got thousands under evacuation there. nearly an entire town is destroyed. how much worse do they fear this could get? >> it's hard to say. the dixie fire is contained to 25%. the fear is what is coming later in the week. you mentioned possibly dangerous elements that could make it even more complicated when battling the dixie fire. and that includes temperatures that could reach triple digits, plus forecasted thunderstorms that could bring lightning and spark additional flames. these are also contributors to things of fire extreme behavior. the u.s. forest service witnesses some just yesterday. take a look at this image. this is a fire whirl that was connected to the dixie fire. all just things forcing firefighters to retreat as the dixie fire continues to engulf half a million acres of land.
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we are in the heart of much of the damage here in greenville. historic mining town. and much of it completely unrecognizable. you look behind me, this used to be a fire station. behind it the fire engine. then across the street, there was a greenville library. this is just a small sample of the damage we're seeing here in greenville. and we spoke with a volunteer firefighter who first rushed to greenville to try to protect his town. but then had to rush back home to protect his 500 acres of property. >> it was 20 hours a day. we had spot fires everywhere just like you're seeing here all over the ranch, up by the houses, up on the hill. every time i fill the truck up with water, they'd be calling me saying hey, there is another one. you got to come back now. and we just couldn't get to any of it quick enough.
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>> what we hear time and time again is the wildfires are burning hotter, faster and earlier. they're pointing the finger at climate change for extending the drought season and worsening heat waves. that toll seen here greenville. >> good to see you. we're still waiting to see president biden at the white house. we're going to bring you those lives when ayman mohyeldin picks up our coverage next. ayman mohs up our coverage next and, getting screened for colon cancer. that's big because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. hey, cologuard! hi. i'm noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. early stages! yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you.
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good afternoon, everyone, i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. we're following this stunning news of new york governor andrew cuomo's resignation. his decision coming -- comes after the release of that bombshell report from the state's attorney general's office. alleging he has sexually harassed 11 women. cuomo continues to dispute the allegations and denies wrongdoing. >> the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to government. and, therefore, that's what i'll do. >> we're also following developing news on capitol hill where today the senate passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. it is the latest step in the democrats' hope of passing a key

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