and at that point, manny diaz was going to be there. that he was no longer going to show up? >> yes, absolutely, joy. i'm almost sure that the governor and the governor's office directed the commissioner that this is not something that he should be doing or that he should do because he did express that he was getting some -- he had gotten some pushback, but he wanted to definitely do this anyway because i expressed to him the importance of it, but earlier in the week, he made it clear this is something that he probably would not be able to do. he would give me a call and then he put it out and said this is something that i can't do anymore. >> and pulled out, when was that? >> that was earlier this week, so monday or tuesday. >> monday or tuesday. how many people had rsvp'd for this event, this community event? >> about 1400 people rsvp'd on the website. but that's not including those individuals who had rsvp'd through email and other things. so i think right now, we're still getting rsvps and the event is about to start in the next 30

>> reporter: manny diaz, florida's commissioner accepted an invitation to attend but did not show up. >> manny diaz is a coward. >> reporter: vice president kamala harris did come to florida to speak out against the new standards, and she turned down an invitation from governor desantis to have a debate about the new curriculum. >> there were no redeeming qualities of slavery. [ applause ] >> reporter: and so we reached out to the department of education for comment on some of the criticisms surrounding the new standards as well as the education commissioner's decision not to attend the town hall. however, we did not hear back. ask for the teachers we spent the weekend with in central florida, all of them said they do not plan to teach what they believe to be lies. phil and poppy? >> all right. carlos suarez in miami. thank you. >> yeah. so glad carlos did that piece. really important. >>> ahead, a new very troubling study on the rise of cancer diagnoses among young people, the demographic driving the increase. we'll tell you that, ahead. >>> first on cnn, secretary of state antony b

manny diaz is a coward. [applause] ron desantis knew this was going on.az knew this was going on. they know how important this is to the black community. they know that they have thrown a vote in our community, and they know they should have been here tonight to face you. [applause] so, if you're going to do those kinds of things, that you ought to have no commission to be here and speak your truth. >> so, some important context here. miami gardens, where that town hall was held, this lasted about two hours. and there was a lot of people who spoke. we heard from local and state policy makers, we heard from educators, and we heard from parents. so, there is a lot of different discussions that was had. as you heard, we -- called him a coward in that one soundbite. others called him a flat out racist. there was a lot of frustration over the fact that they couldn't press him on these changes, because some important context here. miami gardens is a city in miami-dade county area is predominantly black. these are frustrations over recent changes to the way the

manny diaz knew that this is going on. they know how important this is the black community.e thrown an academic bond in our community. they know that they should've been here tonight to face you. >> so, if you are gonna do those kinds of things. jada have enough gumption to be here, speak your truth. >> this town hall ran for about two. hours we heard from local and state law makers. we heard from educators. we heard from parents. all of the words ranging from frustration, confusion where policy changes stand here in florida. in terms of the words that they have for diaz himself, there were even accusations that diaz was racist or not showing up. i think, yasmin, a couple of things here that i want to get to. diaz himself said his reason for not showing up whether because a scheduling conflict he told senator jones, one of the organizers, last week that you won't build a show up organizers incels say that this came at the very last second. he was a last-minute no shows what they are saying. but i think the bigger picture you are looking and anger at the town hall had remembe

manny diaz is calling for the remaining school districts to try to get them open as soon as possible.appreciate everybody's hard work. it's been a lot going on over these last few days. there's a lot to do but i think the quick response is helping everybody get back on their feet. okay, we're going to hear from some of the folks who have been involved in different areas of this response starting with kevin guthrie. >> thank you, governor. appreciate your continued support. >> that was the florida governor talking about the recovery efforts of his state in the wake of hurricane idalia, which is now a tropical storm. he said that of course the biggest impact was those big bend counties. that area where the florida panhandle meets the peninsula. he talked about those who are still without power. some 250,000 residents but that is actually a, that number has actually gone down. 316,000 residents had had their power restored. the governor going on to say that all of the bridges in the state have been cleared. i want to get back to john in the city of perry, florida. john, as we were saying

manny diaz knew that this was going on. they know how important this is to the black community. bomb in our community, and they know that they should have been here tonight to face you. if you're going to do those kinds of things, you ought to have enough gums to be here and speak your truth. >> they have defended the new standards but they couldn't show up. they couldn't do it to their faces, what does that tell you, donna? >> yeah, the problem is that they defended these standards but they've done it out on the campaign trail. that's what ron desantis has done. he's using black people and black history as a cudgel in his presidential campaign, and i do think that it is both sad but also very cowardly that neither ron desantis nor his commissioner of education diaz could show up and really face the music. really face the parents whose children are being impacted by this ridiculous, ridiculous decision on curriculum. ron desantis has decided that he's going to use this as his platform toward the presidency. but in doing so, not only will he alienate black voters, of course, i do