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Kevin Hassett, Former Trump Economic Adviser, Discusses Biden Signing Executive Action in Troubled Economy, Ex-Trump Adviser Supporting Biden's $1.9 Trillion Stimulus; Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) Discusses National Guard Allowed Back into Capitol after Move to Garage & Some Democratic Lawmakers Say They Don't Feel Safe with Colleagues; Baseball Hall of Famer and Civil Rights Activist, Hank Aaron, Dead at 86; Fauci Hopes U.S. Can Exceed 100 Million Doses in 100 Days; Mother & Daughter Wait in Vaccine Line for Hours in Florida; QAnon Believers Shattered by President Biden Taking Office. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 22, 2021 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: If Republicans are not onboard with a stimulus bill that is this big, which you think is very necessary, is it important enough to pass, in your view, something of this size to the point that Democrats should be going it alone?

KEVIN HASSETT, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISOR: Again, I, myself - but again, politics has consequences and Democrats control things. I'm just saying we definitely need a big stimulus right now.

And I, myself, might change a few things. I think if Republicans want to play along, they could maybe influence those things.

Again, if you lift the minimum wage right now while 35 percent of small businesses have been closed a long time, you're going to really, really hammer a bunch of people just hanging on. It's probably not something that belongs to the bill.

I think it would be useful for Republicans to recognize the real-time data is headed south and come and try to influence the bill and make it better. I hope they do that.

But remember, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and many, many important pieces of legislation that starkly passed through reconciliation. So, if the Democrats were to take that path, (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: Kevin, thank you so much for being with us. Kevin Hassett.

HASSETT: Thank you.

KEILAR: The governors of Florida, Texas and New Hampshire are recalling all of their National Guard members from Washington after photos surfaced of the guardsmen being relegated to a parking garage to rest rather than staying on capitol grounds.

The 5,000 troop was reportedly limited to use of one bathroom with only two stalls.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu writing, quote, "They did an outstanding job serving our nation's capital in a time of strife and should be graciously praised, not subject to substandard conditions."

Multiple lawmakers voiced outrage. And now National Guards troops have been allowed back inside of the U.S. capitol complex.

Let's talk now with Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego, who is with us. He's a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He served in the Marines.

Thank you, sir, for being with us.

REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: Do you know who made this decision to move them to this garage?

GALLEGO: We don't know yet. There's been two conflicting reports. Capitol police claim they never told them to move there. National Guard at this point saying they were told to move there. We will get to the bottom of it at end of the day, though.

KEILAR: In your experience, would the National Guard just move to a garage if someone had not told them to do that?

GALLEGO: Yes. Actually, to be honest, that happens all the time. In the Marine Corps, someone told them to move, they would move us to anyplace, whether a parking garage or open-air anywhere. It does happen.

The bigger problem is the disrespect we showed to them in the process of doing this and unsanitary locations of not having bathrooms.

But, you know, I am more concerned about the propaganda that came out of this. As soon as it happened, we could tell it was a mistake. We had leaders like Kevin McCarthy automatically assuming and blaming Schumer and Pelosi on this.

They purposely were propagating a lie, much like the big lie and using our soldiers as tools of that lie. So that's one of the things I'm really mad about, the fact that nothing was learned since January 6th.

Kevin McCarthy automatically took this opportunity to get cheap shots in, when we all knew it was just a mistake and not intentional upon anybody to try -- at least no elected official.

KEILAR: Yesterday, Capitol Hill police stopped one of your colleagues, Congressman Andy Harris, of Maryland, who was apparently trying to get onto the House floor while carrying a gun, a concealed gun.

I'll note, since screening started, several other Republican lawmakers have gotten into confrontations with police, verbal confrontations over the metal detectors installed there, that they don't want to go through. And it's caused some of your colleagues, some of your Democratic colleagues to say they don't feel safe. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDER OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We still don't yet feel safe around other members of Congress. And --

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: How many of are "we"?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think a very considerable amount. A lot of members do not feel safe.

CUOMO: Do you really think that colleagues of yours in Congress may do you dirty?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, well, one just tried to bring a gun on the floor of the House today.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): It is a very sad part of the present situation that we have to have metal detectors to protect ourselves from our colleagues who are carrying guns or who would want to carry guns onto the floor of the capitol. There's no place for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Congressman, do you feel safe around your Republican colleagues?

GALLEGO: I mean, yes, I feel safe, but it's not about me. You know? It's about the environment we're trying to set. And we have 435 members that should be able to come and debate without the specter of violence around them.

The fact that Andy Harris tried to sneak in way gun. And then, by the way, he tried to hand off his weapon to somebody else without clearing it -- by the way, it's one of the first rules of weapons handling -- tells you why people like that should not be having weapons on the House floor.

[14:35:00]

It's time for these men and women to stop being -- you know, pretending that they're going to be super Rambos if the situation happens. Clearly, all of them were not when it actually did hit the fan January 6th.

And we need to return the House floor to the respectability that is deserves. A place that's free and safe for us to actually have real rational discussions amongst each other without any shadow of violence potentially hanging over our heads.

KEILAR: Congressman, thank you so much. It's been such an eventful week and we appreciate you doing this.

GALLEGO: Yes, it has. (CROSSTALK)

GALLEGO: And a heck of a year so far.

KEILAR: It's more like three weeks in.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Congressman Gallego, thank you.

Next, Dr. Fauci says he's confident that the Biden administration can deliver on getting 85 percent of adults vaccinated by the summer, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

I'm going to speak to a woman who had to wait in this line. Do you see this line? She had to wait there's for hours. And at least she got hers. That was with an appointment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:33]

KEILAR: We have sad news in the sports world today. Former homerun king, Hammering Hank Aaron died. Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer held the all-time record for career homeruns decades after breaking Babe Ruth's record.

I want to bring in CNN contributor and legendary broadcaster, Bob Costas, to talk about this.

Bob, Hank Aaron changed the game of baseball. Tell us a little bit about this.

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm not so much sure that he's changed the game, Brianna, but he is one of most important figures in the history of the game, and in the history of American sports.

Those old enough to have experienced the context or they can read up about it, he was one the greatest of the great players, yes, but he's a genuine civil rights hero.

As he approached Babe Ruth's record, a good portion of America, it should be noted, including a good portion of white America, admired him, respected him, and cheered him on.

But there were ugly incidents. He received tons of hate mail. Eventually had to have FBI protection as he approached Babe Ruth's record.

But not only did he surpass him, but he carried himself then and always with such dignity and grace and class.

It's such a cliche -- there you're looking at the moment where he does it in Atlanta on April 8, 1974. And even the way he rounds the bases, no self-celebration. The opponents, the Dodgers, want to shake his hand. The respect that

he had then and always, was well beyond his magnificent baseball achievements.

And through the years, at Cooperstown, when they had the Hall of Fame inductions, and all the great Hall of Fame players come back, it's a striking scene to see dozens and dozens of the greatest in baseball history all gathered in one place.

But still, among all of that baseball stardom, the respect for Hank Aaron was so overwhelming that the reception he received was different. It was just so deeply appreciative.

People came to understand what he represented. And it went beyond baseball.

KEILAR: I mean, it is -- it's a moment that gives you chills watching, I think because you realize how important it is, what he did.

And you mentioned the racism he experienced as he approached breaking that record.

He also -- I mean, he had experienced that as a child. You know? He'd experienced that growing up. This was something that wasn't new to him and was still something he experienced as a professional baseball player of such prominence.

COSTAS: Yes. He told me and others that, growing up as a small child, growing up in the Deep South, there were times when a Ku Klux Klan came parading down his street.

Not specifically in these cases to vandalize or commit violence, although we know they did plenty of that. But just to send the message yet again, to remind black families that they were there. And his mom telling him to hide under the bed.

And then he was telling his dad -- which was so poignant, we mentioned this today. He told his dad he wanted to be an airline pilot, and his dad said, ain't no black airline pilots.

And he said, I want to be a Major League Baseball player, and his dad said, ain't no black baseball player.

And Hank Aaron was 13 years old when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

The Dodgers then --it was a different era in baseball -- they would barnstorm sometimes coming up from Florida in spring training on their way back up to Brooklyn.

When Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers played in a ballpark near where young Hank Aaron lived, he related to me a story how he couldn't get in the ballpark.

He didn't have the money for the ticket. He climbed a tree out beyond the right field fence to watch Hank Aaron from a tree. And when he broke into baseball, in the minor leagues, he's playing in

segregated cities.

He couldn't stay in the same hotels, couldn't eat in the same restaurants and, in some cases, couldn't even dress and undress in the same clubhouse as his white teammates.

He ended and those first-generation of players, post-Jackie Robinson, faced and surmounted all that.

But the remarkable thing, Brianna, about Hank was that he could have -- and you would have understood it -- if there was bitterness within him.

[14:45:02]

But he was such a decent and kind man, that somehow he managed to look with a clear eye at the racism he faced and the racism he still saw in society.

But to treat each individual who crossed his path as an individual, worthy of respect and worthy of kindness as long as they showed him the same.

KEILAR: Bob, I want to thank you for coming on. And these are incredibly special stories that you are sharing with us on this day. Thank you very much.

COSTAS: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Right now, January is on track to become the deadliest month in the U.S. since the pandemic began. Just yesterday, 3,955 people lost their lives to the coronavirus. It is the fifth-highest day so far.

There's some positive news, and that is that new data released this morning show there's a real downward trend in hospitalizations.

In order, though, to keep that trend going, the number of vaccinations needs to speed up. And that is part of President Biden's new coronavirus plan, which is 100 million doses in 100 days.

And the nation's top infectious disease doctors feel that's possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Obviously, you want to do as best as you possibly can. I'd like it to be a lot more.

The goal was set, but you don't want to get fixated on as an undershoot and overshoot. You go for 100 million over 100 days. If we do better -- I personally think we likely will -- then great.

I just don't want to get fixated. Because I saw yesterday. There was that back and forth between that. We're going to go for it for as much as you possibly can.

When you set a goal, if you do better than the goal, that's terrific. I hope we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: There's a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and it found six in 10 Americans do not know when or where to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we're finding when you have the information and even have an appointment, people are showing up and finding scenes like this. Hundreds of people standing in line waiting.

This is a photo taken by Debby Goldbrand. And she's with us now here with her mom, Jo Durham, to talk about the experience they had in Jacksonville, Florida.

Thank you so much to both of you.

This is so important, because I know so many people are dealing with what you have dealt with.

Debbie, the state of Florida began their vaccination program for people 65 years and older on Wednesday. You called to get your mother an appointment. Tell us what happened next.

SUSAN "DEB" GULBRAND, WAITED HOURS IN LINE FOR MOM'S VACCINATION: I called about 7:30 in the morning, and they put my mom on what they called a waiting list. And told me that she would receive a telephone call when they had an appointment for her.

About two hours later, she received a phone call telling her she had a 3:00 appointment and to be there by 2:15 and they would see that they could get her in early.

Well -- we got there about 1:00, and the line was halfway around the entire mall property. After waiting -- let's see. She waited until about 4:15 to be able to get into the door.

My mom's not a spring chicken. So I made her go sit in the car, because -- I'm not going to say her age, but anyone in her advanced age doesn't need to be standing for that long. It was absolutely crazy.

KEILAR: And I wonder, Jo, for you -- and I hear what your daughter is saying, but you seem pretty spry. I know, though, there are a lot of people in line who were having difficulties.

What was it like as you were there seeing all of this?

ELIZABETH "JO" DURHAM, WAITED HOURS IN LINE TO GET VACCINATION: It was very disheartening. Like she said, the line went on forever. And the people that were in it were 65 and older, and probably the average was 75.

There was no cover. There was no chairs along the way to be able to sit down. There were no bathrooms.

And once you got in line, you just had to stand there and -- and move in baby steps to even get to the door.

I was very disheartened when I did get to the door, and they took us in to get our shots. With that many people sitting out -- standing outside, they had five people administering the shots. Five people.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:50:00]

KEILAR: Yes. It's wild.

(CROSSTALK)

DURHAM: Yes, it is.

KEILAR: Yes. There needs to be more, obviously.

And you know, I wonder, Jo, how you feel after getting the vaccine, after spending the past year, I'm sure very concerned. You're in a vulnerable category.

How did that feel to get the vaccine?

DURHAM: It was wonderful. I had no side effects whatsoever.

It was like stones were off my shoulders because you -- you're afraid to go anywhere, to see anybody other than your immediate family.

And it was very liberating to know that, OK, I'm somewhat protected now. And I can't wait to get my second dose.

KEILAR: Jo, thank you so much for being with us.

Debby, thank you so much for sharing your story as well.

There are so many people trying to help the loved ones in their life get through this. And, I mean, it's a joint effort that's very difficult. We've seen that.

So thank you to both of you.

DURHAM: Thank you so much.

GULBRAND: You're welcome. Thank you.

KEILAR: Any moment now, President Biden will speak about his plan to get the economy back on track. We're going to bring that to you live.

Plus, a former believer in QAnon will join me live to talk about what happens to the conspiracy theory group now that Biden is in office.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:26]

KEILAR: The start of Joe Biden presidency might bring an end to one of the biggest lies pushed by the conspiracy theory group, QAnon, or perhaps they will find a way to explain it.

QAnon prophecy that Donald Trump would declare martial law as he rounded up a cabal of Democratic pedophiles and evil-doers.

After the inauguration of President Biden, some QAnon believers are questioning what they blindly followed.

One posted this question, quote, "We were promised arrests, exposures, military regime, classified documents. Where is it?"

My next guest followed QAnon for two years. And then, in June 2019, he posted his epiphany on Reddit, declaring, quote, "'Q' fooled me."

Jitarth Jadeja is with us now. He's joining us from Sydney, Australia.

Thanks so much for coming on. There's not a lot of people in your position to speak with such authority on this.

And I wonder, as you've been watching this, and this prophecy of those who follow QAnon has been disproven, what's the effect of that? Do they explain it away, or do they just, you know, what is it?

JITARTH JADEJA, FORMER QANON FOLLOWER: They do both. This is not -- this is not unique that a QAnon prophecy has been disproved. I've lost count of how many times "Q" says something only to be proven wrong.

The issue is that while some people will come to their senses and snap out of it, it's like any kind of doomsday cult, in the sense that when doomsday never arrives, in this case, the storm, it gets pushed back and pushed back.

And the concern is that people who are left -- and even if it's just 10 percent of them, even if it's just 1 percent of them -- they will act in a way that will bring about the doomsday.

So for QAnon, specifically, while they want martial law -- at this moment, they think it will happen automatically -- that they might think that they are the storm and start acting in a way that brings about martial law. That's the real danger.

KEILAR: What is the storm exactly? What do QAnon followers believe should have happened with the storm?

JADEJA: So, the storm is exactly like you said. It starts off with a declaration of martial law.

That is followed by an unsealing of sealed indictments, followed by military tribunals of civilians, followed by public executions of those that continue to be in the cabal, followed by question mark, question mark, question mark, followed by everybody lives happily ever after.

You can't talk about QAnon without also talking about the storm.

KEILAR: What do you think of now QAnon -- I know you follow American politics quite closely.

What do you think about QAnon followers, QAnon sympathizers, who have now, as Republican lawmakers, have been elected to the U.S. Congress?

JADEJA: I think it's crazy. I think that, on some way, it's actually quite impressive if you think about this as a political movement.

You know, it only started in, what, 2018. "Q" came around in October 2017. A few years later, they have got members in Congress. I mean, the Tea Party would be impressed with that.

KEILAR: What do you think about -- you know, I know that for you, your involvement in QAnon began at a time for you when you were vulnerable.

I know that you've looked back and said that you think you were probably suffering from depression, and you were maybe looking for something.

But what was it that made you kind of snap out of it, that challenged your beliefs enough that you rejected something that was such a huge part of you?

JADEJA: Well, the answer to that is really long, but I'll try and keep it short.

An improvement in my mental health, as well as my social isolation was something that was not maybe a causal effect, but it was definitely a correlationary effect.

However, the one thing that really broke the camel's back was that there was a particular proof I was holding onto. This was the idea that Trump had said the phrase "tip-top shape," "tippy top shape," in front of the White House in a speech.

It was requested four months earlier by someone on the "Q" boards. And then when Trump said it in front of the White House during an easter egg hunt, I thought that that was proof.

[15:00:04]

You know, that's a unique phrase. I'd never heard that phrase before. That must be a shout-out to the board.