McEnany: I 'warned' White House reporters Biden wouldn't be accessible

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McEnany: I 'warned' White House reporters Biden wouldn't be accessible

Fox News contributor Kayleigh McEnany sounds off on 'The Story' on president's absence from press room

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum," March 8, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thanks you guys. Good to see you this afternoon. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Martha McCallum live in New York.

THE STORY begins with building pressure on the White House over this increasingly tough situation at our southern border with adults and children crossing the border in huge numbers. The administration visited there this weekend to do a little investigating, but their investigations left open a lot of questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why so few details on this release? This doesn't seem to be in the transparency of -- in the spirit of transparency.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are all committed to allowing cameras into these facilities. But we want to figure out the best way to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not say more and why not at least say yes, our message is being received or no, we need to work more on getting the messages out?

PSAKI: I would say it's clear we need to work more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Journalists have not been allowed to see what's happening inside --

PSAKI: I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why didn't the President make the trip to see the situation himself? And can we expect a visit to the border from him in the coming weeks ahead?

PSAKI: I don't have anything on his schedule to read out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Also today, Piers Morgan who has always shared the Royal scoop with us in the past, that was a couple years ago. He is back today with some brand new insight into Prince William's fiery reaction to Meghan and Harry's stunning interview with Oprah, as we await official pushback direct from the communications department at Buckingham Palace.

And how about this, a pill to treat COVID? Dr. Marty Makary on the beginning of the end of this pandemic in so many ways across this country right now, good news.

Lots to get to this hour, but first to where we start today. Kayleigh McEnany is here with her take on the White House pressure over its open border policy. But we begin with White House correspondent Peter Doocy who is right there at the just ended press briefing outside the White House. Hi, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good afternoon. There's apparently not a ton of urgency for the Biden administration to really make big changes down at the border because the team of officials Biden sent down there to scope things out came back this weekend and they still haven't briefed him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULISSA REYNOSO, CO-CHAIR, GENDER POLICY COUNCIL: We do plan to brief the president this week on it. We have not done so yet.

DOOCY (voice over): The White House previously defended reopening some Trump era shelters for migrant kids because they said they needed space for social distancing. But there are apparently so many unaccompanied kids coming, the CDC is signing off on opening them to 100 percent capacity despite COVID-19.

PSAKI: How will we continue to accommodate in a safe and humane way these kids and our objective remains moving them as quickly as possible out of the Border Patrol facilities.

DOOCY: And on this very busy day at the White House, officials are also detailing a new Education Department effort to review Trump era regulations including a Title IX rule that added new elements of due process for college students accused of sexual misconduct.

JENNIFER KLEIN, CO-CHAIR, GENDER POLICY COUNCIL: The Executive Order asks the Secretary of Education to consider whether to rescind or revoke anything immediately. And it also makes clear that the secretary should work as quickly as practicable to take action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Details about how these new policies work and why they are being put into place are coming mostly from administration officials, not from the president himself. He still has not posted a solo formal press conference since getting here. The White House says that he has answered shouted questions about 40 times including today.

And just a sense of what you get from that, somebody asked him when he's going to sign the COVID-19 bill, and he said, as soon as he gets it, and that's it, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Yes, the other day, he got cut off in a video briefing when he said are we going to take questions and then all of a sudden, the feed went down. Peter, thank you. Good to see you at the White House.

So, joining THE STORY now for the first time in her role as a Fox News analyst, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Kayleigh, great to see you. Welcome aboard.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good to join you, Martha. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Great to have you with us. So, there's a bunch of things actually that I want to ask you about that. In terms of the press availability, here's what Jen Psaki had to say when she was pressed on that today. You know what that feels like in there? Here she is.

MCENANY: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will we see more of President Biden specifically?

PSAKI: More than 40 Q&A's in the last month or --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where he will be submitted to more extensive questions, follow ups, the kinds of things we're doing today? Will we see him regularly?

PSAKI: I don't know that you'll see him more than 40 times a month, but I'll have to tell -- I'm happy to ask him that question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: I mean, this is such a change, Kayleigh from what the press is used to. He does not make a lot of appearances. When he does, its those really quick in and outs from the room. What do you think of her answer there?

MCENANY: Yes, you know, I don't think it's a good answer. And I actually warned some of the reporters there in the press corps. In the waning days of the Trump administration, he didn't do as much press availability as he did.

Every day when he was walking to the helicopter, those press conferences, and I said to the correspondents, you're getting a little taste of what this will be like in the Biden administration. Essentially saying, I wouldn't expect to see much of him, and we haven't. We're waiting on that solo press conference. We're still waiting on the date, apparently, it's by the end of the month.

But I think reporters got used to accessibility, transparency, regular jousting back and forth with the president and they miss it quite a bit.

MACCALLUM: Yes, you know, it's also curious to me that they sent this delegation to the border including Mayorkas, the Homeland security chief. And they -- you know, then they want -- they're going to check it all out. They wouldn't say where they were going, no cameras went with them. You know, maybe they wanted to get a look at it all, sort of absent of that environment in the beginning.

I think it's interesting that Peter just reported that he -- the president hasn't looked at their findings yet. It's now 3:00 in the afternoon on Monday. Does that seem odd to you?

MCENANY: It seems incredibly odd. But perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised, because of course, they refuse to acknowledge there's even a crisis. And I think the first step to fixing a problem is acknowledging that problem.

And we know in 2014, when the numbers were not as bad as they are now in terms of apprehensions, Biden called it a crisis then, so did Obama, so did Pelosi.

Interestingly, in 2019, they called it a crisis on President Trump's watch, when the numbers weren't as bad. What we are seeing is an astonishing 700 percent increase of kids going from CBP to HHS, this is extraordinary.

And if he won't even call it a crisis, I guess I'm not too surprised he hasn't even reviewed the findings of his team.

MACCALLUM: Yes, the other thing that I thought was interesting, I remember during the campaign, fresident -- then vice former Vice President Biden would push back against President Trump and say, you know, well, yes, you know, you shut down the border to China because of COVID, but you didn't do it soon enough and you allowed some people to come in before that, and the Europe shut down and all of that.

And you know, they are definitely putting out the message that we're still very much dealing with COVID. And yet, the southern border doesn't seem to get that same kind of treatment or scrutiny about the people coming in.

MCENANY: That's exactly right. And then, instead, they're releasing COVID positive illegal immigrants into society. Rolling back President Trump's Title 42 policy that made sure that the kids who came in stopped that and send people back to their home countries amid a COVID pandemic, those policies had been rolled back.

And let me just say, it is not humanitarian to incentivize these kids to come over. There are victims of sexual abuse, of trafficking. It is the -- and it's antithetical to compassion to be doing what they're doing at this moment in time.

MACCALLUM: One quick last question on this Title IX issue, because it's a - - it's an issue that I have followed very closely over the last several years since the Obama letter went out, encouraging universities that they better crackdown on sexual harassment on campuses. They did so with these, you know, sort of mini kangaroo courts made up of professors and often the accused had absolutely no opportunity to have a lawyer in the room or to hear it or face the charges that were against them. That all changed when Betsy DeVos made changes at the Education Department.

What do you think about the potential for reversing some of that? What's the impact?

MCENANY: It's a travesty. We already know that these kangaroo courts don't have due process. Betsy DeVos did a lot of good there by saying at least the accuser must know what they're accused of. See the evidence, allow cross examination, so important.

Not only that she expanded protections for victims and said we'll look at stalking on college campuses as well. So, there's protection for victims, but to potentially roll that back and go back to this kangaroo court system, it's a travesty.

Every victim deserves to be heard, but every accused deserves to have their day in court as well.

MACCALLUM: Yes, I mean, in this country, due process is extremely important and it cannot exist on a college campus when someone is accused. You know, so we'll be watching that really closely. Kayleigh, great to see you and thank you so much for being here. We hope you'll come back often. Thank you very much.

MCENANY: Anytime. Thanks, Martha.

MACCALLUM: You bet. So, we've got silent so far from Buckingham Palace after Meghan and Harry accused the family of racism against them and their child and turning a blind eye to Meghan's desperate cry for help.

The new clips that are just coming through and my interview with Daily Mirror editor-at-large, Piers Morgan who says the couple he's beliefs is lying, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Prince Harry doing some damage control after accusing his family of racism. He says it was not his grandmother or his grandfather who were concerned about how dark his baby's skin would be, that according to Oprah. Now out with new clips from her exclusive interview with Prince -- with the prince and his wife, Meghan Markle, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: Kate was called waity Katie, waiting to marry William while I imagine that was really hard, and I do. I can't picture what that felt like.

This is not the same. And if a member of his family will comfortably say we've all had to deal with things that are rude, rude and racist are not the same.

And equally, you've also had a press team that goes on the record to defend you, especially when they know something's not true and that didn't happen for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Let's bring in Piers Morgan editor-at-large of DailyMail.com. Piers, great to see you. Thanks for being with us today.

PIERS MORGAN, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, DAILY MIRROR: Thanks, Martha. Yes, I'm afraid I'm just not buying any of this.

MACCALLUM: So, tell me -- tell me about that. You know, when I heard the racist charge last night, it seemed to me like there was a bit of a process of elimination that left pretty much William and Kate, and potentially Prince Charles on the plate being called the racist, although they wouldn't go so far as to say who it was, which seems like a bit of a bridge too far, if you're going to make a claim like that and just sort of leave it out there hanging.

MORGAN: Well, it was pretty cowardly of them not to say who said it and to make everyone look guilty by association.

MACCALLUM: Exactly.

MORGAN: You know, they said now, apparently via Oprah, it wasn't the queen or Prince Philip. Well, who was it? Because the people that you're putting in the frame here are potentially the next king of England, and his heir and William.

And I just think these are very serious allegations. If you're going to make them, name the person that said this, and let that person defend themselves.

MACCALLUM: I want to play another soundbite from the interview about the title. And obviously, they were very bent out of shape about I thought about the money? I think they were shocked that they got cut off from the money that Prince Charles usually pays them. And also, about this title, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKLE: They didn't want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol and that he wasn't going to receive security.

In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, he won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title and also, concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: OK, let's tackle the first part of that first, about being told that he would not be given a title and he wouldn't have security. What do you think?

MORGAN: I think it's complete lot of nonsense. Apart from the house, they were quite happy to brief the press that they didn't want him to have a title, this boy, Archie. They wouldn't want him growing up with the pressure of a title. Meghan talks about the pain of having these titles.

And yet, her and Harry have kept the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, so they can make huge amounts of money off those titles and companies like Spotify and Netflix, tens of hundreds of millions of dollars potentially coming out of their royal connection.

And yet, they claim that they are pained by these titles, and then they claim that they wanted one for their somebody, you can't have it all ways.

On that specific question of Archie being a prince, there is no protocol actually for a boy in his position to be a prince automatically. Princess Anne and Prince Edward's children are not princes and princesses.

So, there's a clear system laid down there. And so, Meghan doesn't understand what their system is. But what she says which is even more insidious, is actually the decision against Archie of being a prince was taken because of his skin color.

Now, the only person that makes decisions about titles in the royal family is the Queen. So, what Meghan Markel is saying is the Queen is a racist and that is a disgusting and completely untrue allegation to make.

MACCALLUM: Yes, I mean, and it looked like the family really embraced her in the beginning. And it would appear that things that happened along the way is what changed their opinion over time as they started to see how this whole thing was playing out.

What do you think the palace will do in response if anything, or should they?

MORGAN: Well, the palace is unbelievably shocked. I know that William is incandescent with anger --

MACCALLUM: I would imagine.

MORGAN: And what is brought here -- you know, he feels that allowing Meghan Markle to go on national television and trash his wife Kate, trashed the institution of the monarchy, which he will inherit as King one day. Trashed everything that Queen stands for at a time, Martha, remember, when the Queen's 99 year old husband, Prince Philip is lying seriously ill in hospital with the timing of this couldn't be more grotesque.

It's all about Meghan and Harry. It's all about their mental health, how they're feeling, how they're being treated. They want the world in the middle of a pandemic that's killed 2-1/2 million people to view them as the biggest victims.

MACCALLUM: Yes, just one question on their side of the equation. You know, she said she wasn't trained. No one talked to her. They didn't explain anything to her blah, blah, blah.

You know, if that is the case -- if that is the case, does that show sort of a lack of learning curve on their part after the experience of what happened with Diana?

MORGAN: Martha, she's married to Prince Harry. I think he can teach her the British National Anthem. I think he can teach her how to curtsey for his grandmother, rather than telling her a minute before they're about to go in the room. Where was Harry in all of this? Why wasn't he guiding his wife?

And by the way, she's not a naive 19 year old kid like Diana when she came into the family. Meghan Markle is 39 and divorcee. She's been around the block a bit in terms of life experience. This idea she had to be nursemaid it into how to curtseys. She claimed she never Googled Prince Harry, never knew anything about royal family.

MACCALLUM: Do you believe that?

MORGAN: (INAUDIBLE)

MACCALLUM: Yes, but in the previous (INAUDIBLE) she said she was already friends with Prince Eugenie though -- with Princess Eugenie. So, she like I was independent, I was sort of, you know, on my own. I had my own life, yet, however, I was extraordinarily naive and didn't know how to Google.

MORGAN: There's a picture -- there's a picture Martha of Meghan Markel and a friend on the railings outside Buckingham Palace when they're teenagers looking star struck. This is a girl who dreamed of one day marrying her prince. She tells the story of The Little Mermaid in the Oprah interview --

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: -- Prince and then got silenced.

The one thing these two haven't been is silent. They never stopped yapping, another yapping on a global T.V. interview stage. It's hypocrisy after hypocrisy, and I'm afraid this might play (INAUDIBLE) America, we might fall for this gunk. It's not playing well over here.

MACCALLUM: But I like the we -- with the wistful moment at the end when she said, but you know what happens in the end Oprah, she gets her voice back.

Thank you, Piers. Great to see you. Take care, thanks. Bye-bye.

My next guests fall on opposite sides of this world debate today. It seems everybody is sort of divided over this reaction. Rochelle Ritchie is a former press secretary for the House of Representatives Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Raymond Arroyo is EWTN news managing editor, Fox News contributor and author of The Thief Who Stole Heaven, which is out tomorrow, congratulations on that. Good to see you both today.

Rochelle, let me -- hi there. Let me start with you. What's your reaction to all of this?

ROCHELLE RITCHIE, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY, DPCC: Well, you know what, when I watched the interview, I was really disgusted. And I was definitely shocked.

And I think it's very disappointing that Meghan Markel and Harry -- Prince Harry's credibility are being put on the line, especially when you don't have anyone to counter anything that they're saying. No one has come out to say, you know, this didn't happen, or that's not true. It's just basically people being bias, and having fans of the royal family that they feel like there's absolutely nothing that they can do that is wrong.

And I think it's equally disgusting, that you actually have Americans that are also discrediting their story to protect the U.K. monarchy. And I think a lot of people need to ask themselves, why, why don't you believe them? What do you know about the Royal family that makes you think that these things could not have happened, especially when Princess Diana echoes some of the same sentiments?

MACCALLUM: Well, that's true. I mean, you know, you see lots of people whether being part of the royal family, you know, with a lot of strength and a lot of grace, and they don't talk about themselves, or you know, how difficult it is to shake hands or to smile all day and how what a brutal thing it is to have to go through all the pressure of a royal wedding.

Raymond, you know, I think it's just that when people hear some of these grievances, they have a hard time feeling too sympathetic.

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, Martha in the wake of a pandemic, where countries have been locked down, people have suffered economic pain, it's very hard to summon sympathy for a couple of millionaires talking to their neighbor in Montecito, OK.

But the larger issue here is it seems that Harry and Meghan here are using the titles, maybe abusing the titles, if what Piers Morgan said is true, to for profit, for their own best interest at the end of the day.

Look, Meghan Markel, unlike Grace Kelly who married a royal and left Hollywood. Meghan Markel married a royal and then tried to enter Hollywood at a higher echelon, fearing she'd be the supporting player to Kate back in England. So, that's part of what's happening here. And it's undeniable.

Now, the narrative -- the narrative that's coming out, we'll see if the racism charges hold up, if any of this, you know, holds water.

But so far, the pre-wedding, they said they were married before they were actually married on T.V., that didn't hold water.

MACCALLUM: Yes, that's not true.

ARROYO: You've got a vicar of England saying that never happened. Then we had the title lie about their baby not being named a prince. He's not in line for the throne. Of course, he's not being named a prince.

So, there are a lot of slippery issues here around the edges that need to be sussed out before we take one side or the other. But this doesn't look good. They're making hundreds of millions of dollars and they're in business with Oprah Winfrey which should have been divulged I think, Martha.

MACCALLUM: I really wanted to have a quiet life and get away from it all. There's a very easy way to do that, you just have a quiet life and you get away from it all.

ARROYO: Right.

MACCALLUM: And we saw the opposite of that last night. We got to leave it there. But I thank you both for weighing in with your thoughts today. Good to see you both.

ARROYO: Thank you.

RITCHIE: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, for more on this story, check out my op-ed, which is Up Now on FoxNews.com titled Meghan, Harry interview with Oprah burns down their London Bridge and leaves the royal -- leaves a royal mess, so you can check that out.

Coming up next, Dr. Marty Makary calls the brand new guidance from the CDC on mask wearing and getting together with friends and family. I'll talk about that for millions of fully vaccinated Americans. Excessive he says, he's here to tell you what he thinks is the proper guidance. He's also going to talk about that new pill that has promising signs of effectiveness in treating COVID if you do get it, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: More than 30 million fully vaccinated Americans now have some clarity on what they should and should not do when it comes to masks and small gatherings as a result of the new guidance today from the CDC. Dr. Marty Makary joins us with his response to this in moments, but first our correspondent Jonathan Serrie with the details on it from Atlanta. Hi, Jonathan.

JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Martha. Well, this development is significant because these guidelines recommend -- represent the first recommendations coming from the CDC on safe activities for fully vaccinated indigenous Let's take a look at what they can do.

The activities include indoor visits without masks or physical distancing with other fully vaccinated people or you can visit unvaccinated members of a single household if these people are at low risk for complications from COVID-19.

If exposed to someone infected with COVID, vaccinated people no longer need to quarantine or get tested as long as they remain asymptomatic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CDC: We believe these new recommendations are an important first step to our -- in our efforts to redo -- resume everyday activities in our communities.

SERRIE (voice over): However, vaccinated people should continue wearing masks and social distancing when out in the general public according to the CDC. The agency says it will update these recommendations as more Americans become vaccinated and more scientific evidence becomes available.

As vaccinations ramp up, researchers are also making progress with potential treatments for those who become infected with COVID-19. A pill developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics is showing early success and clinical trials in reducing levels of Coronavirus in patients. The idea is that this pill would work similar to Tamiflu, which is commonly used to treat influenza, except in this case, it would be COVID-19 patients. If they develop symptoms and tested positive, they would take this pill and presumably it would reduce the duration and severity of COVID illness.

MACCALLUM: That's great news, Jonathan. We're seeing some light at the end of this very year-long tunnel. I think it's going to be a very big St. Patrick's Day, at least in small gatherings at you house. Thank you very much, Jonathan.

Joining me now, Dr. Marty Makary, Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and a Fox News Medical Contributor. Dr. Makary, always good to see you. So you just heard these new CDC guidelines. Some people might listen to this and say, really, I still have to wear my mask after I get vaccinated. What do you say?

MARTY MAKARY, MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Martha, I think they're overly restrictive. I mean, to tell people who are fully vaccinated that they can't travel just goes to show how overly excessive some of these policies are. And what appears to have happened is that, there was some tension within the CDC as to how restrictive to be these guidelines were supposed to come out on Thursday. They probably made a lot of changes. And some of those changes were good.

But to tell vaccinated people, they can only be with other vaccinated people and let down their guard then, or only be with a low risk individual from one household, people need to get out there. Loneliness is a problem. Isolation kills people. People need to be out there and not just the small private gatherings they specified, but larger gatherings and in public settings. And once you're vaccinated, you're at a pretty good spot. I mean, that risk of transmission is reduced by 86% among vaccinated individuals, and probably even more.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, it seems kind of overly restrictive, I guess, is one way to put it, that once you are fully vaccinated, that you could only be -- I mean, you're not presenting a risk to other people who aren't vaccinated when you're in that room, if you're fully vaccinated, right?

MAKARY: That's right, that people are going to do what they're going to do. And I think guidance like this that's overly excessive and restrictive, Martha, it hurts public health credibility. The CDC was wrong on testing, they were wrong on masks, they were wrong on schools, and I think this further hurts our messaging. But people should be active.

If you've been vaccinated, you don't have to just wait till two weeks after the second dose in my own personal opinion. Four weeks after that first dose, you've got 92% level protection from the New England Journal of Medicine article. OK, that's not my opinion. Get out there be active. Wear mask for now, but be active.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, I think there's so much good news and I think we should be rejoicing about the return to normalcy and, obviously, being smart along the way. Quick question on this pill, how optimistic are you about this as Jonathan put it sort of a Tamiflu treatment if you get COVID?

MAKARY; Look, it's really interesting, Martha. It was presented at one of our medical conferences on Saturday. It's an early phase two trial. It's very promising, 47 people were treated and within five days had no detectable virus. Now, it's just a phase two trial, small sample size. But that was, you know, more than the control group. The placebo group had 24% of those still had some detectable virus. There's going to be more data that comes out in three weeks. But this is promising and it's an oral tablet could help us in the fall and with some of these new strains. It's an anti-viral.

MACCALLUM: Good news. Marty Makary, thank you very much. Good to have you here.

MAKARY: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Thank you, doctor.

MAKARY: Thanks.

MACCALLUM: So late today, New York Republicans unveiling a path toward impeachment for Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo, now embroiled in a two part scandal that keeps getting worse. The breaking details with Joe Concha right after this break. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL BARCLAY (R), NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MINORITY LEADER: But after this weekend, it just became more and more apparent that regardless of how many hearings or investigations we have, the real problem now is that governor has lost so much credibility and trust that we don't feel like he can go forward and govern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: THE STORY getting bigger again today. Moments ago, New York Republican leaders gathered at the State Capitol. They announced plans for an impeachment resolution against Governor Andrew Cuomo as two more women came forward today alleging sexual harassment. The list of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who say that he should resign or be removed, you're looking at it, and now stands at 50 people. Correspondent Bryan Llenas with the very latest this afternoon on this Monday in Brooklyn. Hi, Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good afternoon. While New York State Assembly leader for the Republicans held that press conference. And he said that Governor Andrew Cuomo has lost the trust of New Yorkers and his credibility. They introduced an impeachment resolution which would start the ball rolling on impeachment but ultimately they're going to need a simple majority. That's 76 votes in the assembly for that to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARCLAY: There's been one bombshell after another. I think we will continue to push this because we think he's unable to govern, but the majority is going to have to get behind this. This really has to be a bipartisan effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: Now, according to the latest Fox News count just said, at least 47 state lawmakers are calling for his resignation or impeachment. The governor though yesterday said he's not stepping down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO (R), NEW YORK GOVERNOR (via phone): I was elected by the people of the state. I wasn't elected by politicians. I'm not going to resign because of allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: Now, Cuomo says that Attorney General Letitia James needs to finish the investigation before anybody cast judgment. And reportedly, the city of New York publication is reporting that ultimately, that he was making phone calls to try to convince lawmakers today to back him on that front. And today, nearly two dozen Democratic State Assembly members signed on to a letter agreeing, "We request that she be allowed the appropriate time to complete her investigation rather than undermine her role and responsibility as the chief law enforcement officer of the state of New York."

But over the over the weekend, top Democratic state legislators turned against Cuomo. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins writing, "We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state, Governor Cuomo must resign," Former aide analysts accused Cuomo over the weekend of inappropriate behavior, like kissing her hand. Another former aide Karen Hinton said he hugged her inappropriately in a hotel room.

Cuomo yesterday, Martha, in that telephone news conference, said that ultimately Hinton was not telling the truth, and that she was a political adversary, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So he-said-she-said we've seen that before. Thank you very much, Bryan Llenas, good to see in Brooklyn.

So let's bring in Joe Concha, Media Opinion Columnist for The Hill and Fox News Contributor, who is among those who say that Governor Cuomo should resign. Joe, good to have you here. Thanks for coming in this afternoon.

Why do you think he should resign? You know, I mean, I think it's, even though, you know, he appears to have some anxious behavior that's being examined both in the nursing home issue and in the sexual harassment issue. His point, I think, is a decent one. He was elected by the people of New York. There's an investigation underway and politicians shouldn't make these decisions. What do you say?

JOE CONCHA, MEDIA OPINION COLUMNIST, THE HILL: I say that the nursing home scandal, particularly, Martha, where he had a senior aide, Melissa DeRosa, just last month, admits literally to a cover up by saying that they didn't turn over the numbers to the Department of Justice as far as nursing home tests were concerned because they were worried they'd be used against them in an investigation. That is literally the admission of a cover up. So that's why I would usually use the word alleged here, but that that seems to be the smoking gun here.

On top of, of course, all the sexual harassment allegations, which I agree. The governor deserves due process and we should let that investigation play out. But you see the media coverage on this just last year compared to now, I mean, it really is night and day. Let me read you some headlines, Martha.

The New York Times, "Andrew Cuomo Was The Control Freak We Need Right Now." Vogue, "Why We Are Crushing On Andrew Cuomo Right Now." Vanity Fair, this might be the best one, "Dear Andrew Cuomo, I Want To Be Your First Lady." In the Washington Post, No One Does It Like Andrew Cuomo." He was even on the cover of Rolling Stones. So he went from being adored by the National Press, even touted as a possible presidential candidate and replacing Joe Biden, to now obviously a governor who has a party and a media that's completely turned against him.

MACCALLUM: And those are pretty stunning highs. And we have those headlines. We can put them up on the board so people can take a look at them. And they are pretty stunning, "Why We Are Crushing On Andrew Cuomo Right Now," "Dear Andrew Cuomo, I Want To Be Your First Lady." And as you said, "No One Does It Like Andrew Cuomo," that one from the Washington Post.

And, you know, but the thing is that the absence of scrutiny on these stories once the game change. And I'm also struck, Joe, by the fact that during that time, and you sort of, know nobody wants to go deeper back into the COVID-19 pandemic year, but when you do put that in your frame of reference, and you go back there, he was the anti-President Trump.

I mean, it was always the comparison, right? Like the same people who were writing these articles were talking about what a terrible job President Trump was doing of managing it. But on the other hand, the better angels of our nature is wonderful, Andrew Cuomo in New York, and he could do no wrong.

CONCHA: Yes. He was the father figure. He was meticulous in his PowerPoint presentations. He was the sympathetic one. But meanwhile, while this is going on and he's getting all this adulation from the press, then HarperCollins comes calling, the big publisher in New York. And they want him to write a book on his leadership throughout this pandemic. And while that advance is being negotiated, in advance of nearly $800,000, that's when aids, according to The New York Times report last week, began to cover up the nursing home numbers, because you can't be the governor that allows 15,000 people in your state to die in nursing homes.

Remember, Martha, what is 15,000? Let's put this in context. That's more than the total death toll in 37 states or 175 countries. So if that's in your track record, suddenly that $800,000 advance in the book in general, and the Emmy Award, those all go away. So I always like was thinking, why would they cover up these numbers? Why not just say, you know, that they made a mistake and they'd be straight about it. Because, maybe, perhaps there is a motive around money here.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I think it's a great point. The timing of the book deal, as you say, an $800,000 advance from HarperCollins, and the cover up of these numbers, which has now been corroborated by other senior staff members. So it's not just the comment by Melissa DeRosa saying we froze, and we were afraid that these numbers would reflect badly on us, essentially. Now, you've also got senior staff who say yes, actually, that is what happened. And those numbers were adjusted in that report, which is pretty stunning.

In terms of the CNN coverage, you know, with your media analysis hat on. You know, how good of a job are they doing at this point of covering the stories that they didn't cover before, like the nursing home issue and the calls for Andrew Cuomo to resign?

CONCHA: Well, it's like being down four touchdowns and suddenly you get the offense going, right, to use a football term. Because last year, obviously you had Andrew Cuomo on the 9:00 pm show on CNN, which is anchored by his brother. I believe it was 11 times. And 10 of those 11 times, Andrew Cuomo was even asked about the nursing home scandal even once, and this is after there was plenty of reporting on this. And now, only now they're saying that Chris Cuomo can't cover this because of a conflict of interest.

The very conflict of interest that they promoted last year and embraced now suddenly is a problem. It is a PR mess and a nightmare for CNN right now as a news organization concerning what they did last year compared to what they're saying they can't do now, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Joe Concha, always good to have you on, Joe. Thanks for coming. See you soon.

CONCHA: Good to see you.

MACCALLUM: So, a story exclusive with the mother and daughter in this viral video. I watched this today. It is so great. So I urge you to stick around because you're going to get to meet these two. This is a nine-year-old girl being told by her mom in, you know, sort of like flashcards, a great story about what's going to happen to her on Monday, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TARINE ZANOTTO, MOM OF 4TH GRADER IN VIRAL VIDEO: What is 03-03-2021?

CLARA ZANOTTO, 4TH GRADER EXCITED TO BE IN SCHOOL: This year, on the 3rd of March.

T. ZANOTTO: Guess what?

C. ZANOTTO: What? Really? We're closed for such a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Raw emotional joy from a nine-year-old girl who learns, yes, you are finally going back to the classroom after nearly a year of virtual learning and being away from her school and her friends. The tears of joy captured in this now viral moment. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. ZANOTTO: The schools are closed for such a long time.

T. ZANOTTO: (Inaudible). It's more than a year.

C. ZANOTTO: Almost a year.

T. ZANOTTO: Almost a year. (Inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: I love that happy dance, mom and daughter. The fourth grader says she was so excited to see her friends and to go outside for recess. Nine-year-old Clara Zanotto and her mother Tarine Zanotto join me now exclusively.

Welcome. It's great to have you both here today. How are you doing?

T. ZANOTTO: Hi. Thank you for having us.

MACCALLUM: So, Clara, let me start with you. When you watch that, and your mom told you, she did this cute thing, and she went through all the cards, you know, about how long you've been home. And she wanted to surprise you with this great news. Why do you think that you burst into tears when you saw that you were going back?

C. ZANOTTO: I don't know. I think because I was just so upset that I couldn't when schools closed down. I guess I was just so upset that I hadn't been to school in such a long time. And I guess I was just so happy to even think about just screaming and yelling. I was just too excited.

MACCALLUM: T., why do you think? You said, you thought she was going to jump up and down and be really excited. As a mom when she cried, what did that tell you? What was your reaction?

T. ZANOTTO: At first I didn't know what to do. So I waited a little bit. And then, I'm like, ok, let's just start jumping. Let's bring happiness, you need to be happy about it. But I think it was all the emotion from all the time that was held inside and she let the tears come out, and the burst of joy, that was it, that it was a very emotional time.

MACCALLUM: So, Clara, this was a little while ago, I don't know a week or so ago, maybe a little longer than that. And now you are back at school. Tell us about your first week back. I think we have a picture of you on your first day returning to school.

C. ZANOTTO: It was really exciting. Like when -- and so, there's the gate, and I walked in and they wrote my name down, and then they took my temperature. And I had to line up with all the other kids six feet away. And then, it was raining that day so we didn't get to do recess. But on Friday, the next day that we went, recess was really fun because we did have big competitions. We did Foursquare where we ran around. And it was just really fun to actually have a bunch of kids around me and not just be alone in my room.

MACCALLUM: Oh my gosh. Tarine, last thought on your daughter. And, you know, does she acting different now that she's kind of got this part of her life back?

T. ZANOTTO: She's happy. She's happy so she's always talking about school when, of course, we are always eager to know how, was it, how do you like it, how is your teacher, how do you like it, do you like better this way or that? It's a good way to see and that it's good to see the school back to life.

MACCALLUM: You are -- I'm so happy for you. You're such a beautiful family and you exemplify so clearly why we've talked so much about the importance of getting kids back in the classroom. The joy in your face, Clara, really says it better than any of us could ever say it. So, we wish you all the best for the rest of your school year. You're obviously such a bright young lady and it's a pleasure to meet you. Take care.

C. ZANOTTO: Thank you.

T. ZANOTTO; Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Bye.

T. ZANOTTO: Thank you for having us.

MACCALLUM: More of THE STORY right after this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Thanks for being with us today, everybody. We've got more follow up to come on Meghan and Harry. Tomorrow, some interesting guests lined up for that story. We're also going to talk to Karl Rove and Brett Giroir on these developments with the vaccine and this new pill. So we appreciate you being with us on this Monday afternoon.

I think spring is coming. It's kind of in the air here in New York. So that's a good thing. Stick around for "YOUR WORLD WITH NEIL CAVUTO" which is coming up next. See, there's a picture and we even have a maybe a few more cars out there on Sixth Avenue. As things begin to blossom and reopen a bit here in New York City. Bye, guys.

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