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Brian Lehrer: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone, and Happy March. Today is March 1st. It's always good when we enter the month in which spring begins, the days are getting longer, Daylight Savings Time begins in less than two weeks, new vaccines are coming, the House passed the COVID relief bill. There are at least some reasons for hope.

On today's show, we'll have Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr back with us to discuss the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, now coming to our area as early as tomorrow, it could be in arms tomorrow, and what can make of the patent different rates of efficacy at preventing moderate cases of COVID, even as all the vaccines including J&J to be very clear, prevent hospitalizations and deaths at 100% rate in the clinical trials.

We'll also talk about what these new local variants mean even to people who have been fully vaccinated, so we'll do that today with Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr. We'll have Jason Johnson on CPACK. We'll take calls from Asian Americans today about discrimination including the rise in anti-Asian violence in our area, Arun Venugopal will share his reporting on that and be here for your calls.

After the Golden Globes last night will ask about your own television and at-home movie habits during this year of the pandemic, the current racial justice movement, and the big lie and insurrection. Did you watch more ambient TV as it's called, like Emily in Paris, or more serious documentaries for serious times, more escapist shows because you needed that or whatever that's coming up too? So a lot to do today.

Let's start here. Governor Cuomo is not denying the account of a second employee who came forward this weekend and said he sexually harassed her in his office. 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett was quoted telling the New York Times that the governor asked her about her sex life, including if she had slept with older men, and that Cuomo, who is 63 said he would consider a relationship with a woman in her 20s. Again, Ms. Bennett is 25. This allegedly happened just last year, June 5th of 2020, she says.

You'll remember that last Wednesday, Lindsey Boylan, age 36, Cuomo's former Deputy Secretary of economic development released a statement alleging what she called repeated sexual harassment including the sentence, "Let's play strip poker" during an airplane flight on a business trip in 2017 and that he shocked her by kissing her on the lips at the end of a business meeting in his office in 2018.

The governor yesterday released a statement. This is his first real statement on this and it's not a denial, and it includes an apology. It's short. So I'll read the whole thing. "Questions have been raised," the governor writes, "about some of my past interactions with people in the office. I never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm. I spend most of my life at work and colleagues are often also personal friends."

He says, "At work, sometimes I think I'm being playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I do on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way. I do it in public and in private, you have seen me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I have tease people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is very serious business."

The governor goes on to admission. "I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive, or too personal and that some of my comments given my position made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation, to the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that."

He goes on, "To be clear, I never inappropriately touched anybody, and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to. That's why I've asked for an outside independent review that looks at these allegations. Separately, my office has heard anecdotally that some people have reached out to Ms. Bennett to express displeasure about her coming forward.

My message to anyone doing that is you have misjudged what matters to me and my administration and you should stop now period." That's the governor's full statement. Now there will be a review after a disagreement over the weekend between the governor and state attorney general about by whom. Let's get more details now from Josefa Velásquez reporter for the news organization, THE CITY. Thanks for coming on, Josefa. Welcome back to WNYC.

Josefa Velásquez: Thank you for having me, Brian.

Brian: For people just now catching up with the weekend's developments. Can you tell us more about 25-year-old Charlotte? Did I say, Jessica? It's Charlotte Bennett, if I used the wrong first name, that somebody else, Charlotte Bennett, what job she had in the governor's office, and what she said happen?

Josefa: Sure. Charlotte Bennett says that she was an Executive Assistant for the governor, basically briefing him on matters throughout the day. After she reported the governor's inappropriate comments to her she was moved to another portion of the building at the state capitol and became a Health Policy Advisor until she left in November.

What Charlotte has described to the New York Times is a series of inappropriate comments made by the governor. I don't think she has said that the governor has inappropriately touched her or forced himself honor, but she has said that there's been an unsettling series of questions by the governor himself, including whether she was comfortable having sex with a man who was older than her and repeatedly mentioning that she is a survivor of a sexual assault. Things that he said made her clearly uncomfortable.

Brian: I read the governor's written statement there. Has he said anything else?

Josefa: No, that's been about all that we've heard from the governor. Yesterday was a full day of back-and-forth between the governor's office and what would be happening with this investigation. For everyone listening, it was whiplash really, a lot of back-and-forth over who exactly would be able to investigate these allegations levied against the governor. At first, he had proposed to have a former judge Barbara Jones investigate these allegations and after a torrent of criticism because Jones has close ties to a former Cuomo aide, that idea was dropped.

Then the governor's office proposed to have "Tish" James, the Attorney General, investigate these claims with the Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. That was dropped as well, because Janet DiFiore, the Chief Judge of New York highest court is a Cuomo appointee and has extensive ties to him. Ultimately, last night, the last that we've heard was the governor's office has given the Attorney General the clearance to begin investigating this and the Attorney General will, in turn, find an outside investigator to start looking into some of these allegations.

Brian: I want to ask you about the Attorney General's investigation even with an outside investigator and questions around whether that's exactly the right office to lead this, but let me invite listeners in first. Listeners, given the second woman coming forward, and the governor basically admitting at least the language in question or the type of language in question through the statement, and I read the full statement so that you could get the context that he wanted you to hear it and to be fair to the governor. What's the appropriate consequence in your opinion? 646-435-7280.

Is anybody in human resources listening right now who wants to call in and say how you or your company would deal with a 63 year old CEO who said things like these two women who worked for him in their 20s and 30s? He denies the kiss which will be investigated, but even just what he is apologizing for HR people, what would standards and practices be at your company? 646-435-7280. Parents of young women, daughters, does this push special buttons for you or anyone else? 646-435-7280.

Most of our callers on Friday defended the governor in various ways after Lindsey Boylan's accusations came out, now that there's a second woman and an acknowledgment of things that could have at least been misinterpreted, he kind of apologized for how other people might have misinterpreted him, that kind of apology, but he did acknowledge, saying things that in fact could be interpreted that way. What's the appropriate consequence in your opinion based on what he has acknowledged and based on whatever other findings may come from the State Attorney General's investigation, which will now begin.

646-435-7280, 646-435-7280, or tweet @BrianLehrer with Josefa Velásquez, reporter for the Nonprofit News Organization; THE CITY. Josefa, there are at least two questions I guess about the attorney general's independence on this. One would be that Attorney General is frequently a launching pad for Governor, Eliot Spitzer ascended from Attorney General to Governor, then Andrew Cuomo himself ascended from Attorney General to Governor.

If the governor doesn't run for re-election next year or is in a weakened political state, people speculate Letitia James may well run for governor next year. So might have some political conflict of interest in that regard. Let's take that first one first. What what are people saying about her placement as the one who investigates this?

Josefa: Although her office has been referred to investigate these claims, she would actually and the office itself would actually outsource the investigation to another investigator. So it's not like "Tish" and his office would directly be investigating this, it would be an independent outside entity that would really look into what happened here, so there is a level of removal. With that being said, a lot of people have been mattering that "Tish" James is perfectly positioned to take on a possible gubernatorial run if, in fact, the governor steps aside resigns is forced to leave office.

I think the next week will be critical in doing that. I think it's too early to tell whether or not he survives this earth-shattering moment. It's really the biggest scandal of his tenure so far, but "Tish" James has definitely been rumored to be the contender at this point and the one that's on the forefront of being able to become governor if and so Andrew Cuomo has been significantly weakened or is no longer governor after this.

Brian: The second question that people have raised is a structural one about the Office of Attorney General, which is sometimes in the position defending the governor or the governor's office. If there's some charge against the governor, it's sometimes the Attorney General, who is required to step in, in his defense in a legal context. Does that come into play here?

Josefa: Sure. The role of the Attorney General office is to be the lawyer for the state, and that means the lawyer for Andrew Cuomo in some respect. I'm not sure how this plays out to be quite frank, I know that the attorney general's office is going to have to hire a law firm and deputize them as attorneys within the attorney general's office to be able to investigate these allegations. They'll have subpoena power.

At the end of the day, I don't know how this works. I think a lot of people are trying to figure that out how and reading through as many laws and talking to as many smart people to find out what happens because the last time we've seen something similar to this is Eliot Spitzer, and he ended up resigning. It's unclear what steps need to be taken at this point.

Brian: Let's take a phone call. Alan in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Alan.

Alan: Good morning. I have been very concerned about taking the right balance on this. I'm not insensitive to the generic concerns of what the Human Resources Director of the company would think about this kind of behavior, but this is not a private company executive. This is a governor of a state, which happens to be the prime prosecutorial state against the former president. I believe that some of the media hype around this has probably been accelerated by some of the same tactics that were used in 2016 in social media by forces outside our borders possibly, can't prove it, to make this a top story, when it really doesn't warrant it.

It's not much different from the Al Franken story were things that are now recognized as not warranting his resignation led to it because there was this firestorm, and it ran on people's ability to think rationally and let it cool and that's also what they say about the Senate. We need something like that for media as well, to allow these things to cool down before they have a life of their own. I don't think there's anything there. If you accept everything that was alleged here, nothing here rises to the level of a resignation event, but it could cause that because of the echo chamber effect.

Brian: Alan, when you talk about it, possibly being driven by Republicans, you're aware I'm sure, I know from your previous phone calls, how you follow New York politics, and I imagine that you're aware that a lot of the pressure, though there are certainly Republicans calling for him to resign, a lot of the pressure is coming from the most progressive members of the state legislature.

Alan: Yes, I am aware of that, but I think this is the Republican behind-the-scenes forces using our own internal divisions against us. I think we have to be very wary of that before we take the bait. There are people who don't want to see themselves be used as pawns to enlarge this beyond its right proportions, but we're losing proportionality, just the way we did with the Al Franken thing, focusing on what is the ideal behavior.

What are our internal standards of behavior instead of what is it in relation to the party competition? Are we doing anything remotely as bad as the other side without ever resigning or facing any consequence? Why are we unilaterally disarming in this battle for hearts and minds when it isn't really justified? I'm not saying this to justify imperfect behavior, I'm saying the remedy is not to take the bait and allow other people to manipulate us into self-destructive acts.

Brian: Alan, thank you very much. Josefa, do you want to do any political analysis based on what Alan's raising?

Josefa: Sure. Having covered the governor since 2013, none of this behavior is shocking. Covering a state legislature, there is a clear power dynamic here, and that power dynamic breaks down into gender roles. I think my colleague, Laura Nahmias tweeted out something really astute where--

Brian: She's on the Daily News editorial board and a former Albany reporter, just to put her in context. Go ahead.

Josefa: Yes. She said that some of this conduct in sexual harassment is pervasive as air and as a female reporter, something that you have to tolerate, and you have to live with to be able to do your job. I don't think that there are Republican forces out work behind the scenes to be putting this into the forefront. I think this is years in the making, you have a governor who has been governor for the better part of a decade. At this rate, he has not made friends along the way, he has alienated and used fear tactics to govern. What we're seeing now is a culmination of that where people have been fed up with the way that they have been treated.

All of this started because an assembly member from Queens spoke out about receiving a threatening phone call from the governor. I think what makes this moment different, and I've spoken to a few political observers about this is that there are more women that have been elected to office, they are younger, they are more liberal, and they're not willing to just sit there and take it, and sit there and oblige and be quiet about the behavior. This is a culmination of a lot of things, the combination of the MeToo movement, it's a combination of the moment that we're living in and finding their voices and realizing that it's 2021, we don't have to put up with that anymore.

Brian: Sarah in Wycoff, you're on WNYC. Hi, Sarah.

Sarah: Hi, thank you for taking my call. Actually, exactly what you just said is the point. How much do we take? My daughter is an adult, she's in her 30s and is very politically active and also runs a youth group. What happens every day when another politician comes on, and another politician is charged with whatever it is, whatever level it is, it almost doesn't matter. The women around us, her generation, my generation, our teenagers say, "There is another reason why we don't trust men." because these men have power prove that with power comes some act of aggression, or just taking advantage of women.

I think that though, I do understand that there are degrees, the Al Franken case or the governor's case, to the younger women who are learning to trust society, it does matter. It matters tremendously, that he takes responsibility and that that responsibility means that you prove to the women of your constituents, and you prove to all the younger women watching that it's enough, you just can't get away with this.

Brian: To the extent that you can say, Sarah, for your daughter working in politics, has she perceived a change since 2017 when the MeToo movement broke out?

Sarah: No. I don't think--

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Brian: Go ahead. I was just going to say because I think some people are surprised that Cuomo and fashioning himself a progressive Democrat and for equal rights would have engaged in even this behavior, even if it was just as he characterizes it after MeToo.

Sarah: I think that's exactly the point. I think Exactly the point is that even those men who perceive themselves as being better than or somehow understanding of, or allies of women, it feels to us, it feels to women, that men in power still think that they can just get away with these things because it doesn't matter somehow.

Brian: Thank you for your call. We appreciate it. Ellen in Stamford, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ellen.

Ellen: Hi, thank you for taking my call. I think the governor is doing a great job and every night I was looking forward during the COVID crisis to come up and calm everybody down. I'm really feel bad that so much now such a force to bring him down for allegations in such a big platform now. I think you had a program on Friday and was still dedicated to Cuomo's behavior, and today again.

I'm a little bit disappointed. We women have a power, believe me, I have encountered through my life because I come from Europe, aggression towards me, the bosses, and everything and I had a power, I didn't let anything bother me during my career, had approaching me and when I did not want it I just made it clear an end of the story. I did not ever try to bring anybody down. I understand people will make mistakes, but for sending flowers and saying things inappropriately, that doesn't require to bring the governor down or anybody else, unless you get pushed to the corner and get raped, other than that, it's words and we have to let it go.

Brian: Do you sense a generational difference, Ellen, to the extent that you may be talking to younger women, between what you and other women in the workforce of your age? I'm guessing at your age, general range you tell me, and younger women, do you feel a generational divide here?

Ellen: Yes, I do. I think that younger women are like making a big deal or what happened to me blah, blah, blah, everything. Things happen every day, and you have to let go. If your boss makes inappropriate comments, just brush them away and move on and you can say, "No, I'm not interested," end of the story, but to bring it to the public and try to bring the governor down because he sent dozen of roses, blah, blah, blah. I got dozen of roses from men and I thank them very much, and that was the end of it.

Brian: Allen, thank you. Thank you very much. One more call. Joe in Hudson, New York, you're on WNYC. Hi, Joe, and we're running out of time. Be brief, but Hi, you're on the air.

Joe: Good, good morning. I will be very fast. We need to hold the standard for Cuomo as well we did to Trump. All these conspiracy issue. Your last caller, I don't know what culture he's talking about. She's from Poland. Polish women will never accept such a behavior because she had an Eastern European accent, and I'm a foreigner myself. We need to hold the standard. By the way, your reporter is right. Andrew Cuomo is not his father. He's been bullying for past four years.

Remember, the renegade senators that they were voting with Republicans. He didn't do anything. He's been swinging every bar. He has made so much enemies all over the world. He's buddy that they used to go to Super Bowl party during his father called Palatino from Buffalo, they would party together, they used to raise money for his father. He was running against him and I told one of the New York Times reporter, "This is ridiculous." He went and investigated, and he said you were right, "How did that, Joe?"

Brian: Joe, I'm going to leave it there for time. I apologize, but you're saying hold Cuomo to a single standard with other politicians. Well, as we can hear from our callers, Josefa, and as we run out of time, it's very easy to find people on various sides of what they think should happen now and how seriously they think any of these behaviors were at least as far as acknowledged so far.

Josefa: Right. I think the difference is that this is a governor who has made a platform of being a champion for women, who has shepherded pieces of legislation trying to curb sexual harassment in the workplace, and he's at odds right now with some of these policies that he has put forward. What will happen in the next few weeks, I think, will be indicative of where things are societally and where things go from here. We've heard from two women so far, who have worked for him, there may be many more. I think there comes a tipping point if that's the case.

Brian: I think one of the things that we hear from callers, we definitely heard it explicitly on Friday, and I think implicitly today, it's that this governor is actually competent in an era of incompetent governance on COVID, please don't take him away from us. We'll see if that changes, but despite the failures, the particular failures around the nursing home transfers, there's a wide perception out there. I think that Cuomo has actually done a good job in an emergency, and, "Please don't take him away from us." I think we heard that explicitly from callers on Friday and implicitly today. You get that sense from the public in your reporting?

Josefa: Absolutely. You have Cuomo being graded against Donald Trump, and that you're being graded on a curve at that point because you had ineffective leadership on the federal level. The governor was able to step up and be that leader for not just New Yorkers during the peak of the pandemic, but for Americans who have been tuning into his daily conferences. They're right, they did see someone who was an effective leader, who was able to speak, and really quell some of the worries that people had during a really uncertain and scary time. That is the Andrew Cuomo that they know. The Andrew Cuomo that some of the New Yorkers know is a different person.

Brian: There is some of the conversations that New Yorkers are having from various points of view with each other today. Josefa Velásquez, reporter for THE CITY. Thanks a lot for joining us.

Josefa: Thank you, Brian.

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