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Biden White House Holds First COVID Task Force Briefing; White House: 100 New Vaccination Clinics Nationwide By End Of Feb; Andy Slavitt: It Will Be Months Before Everyone Can Get A Vaccine; White House: Looking At Ways To Hasten Vaccine Production By Using Manufacturers Who Aren't Working On Their Own Vaccines; Biden Issues A Flurry Of Climate-Related Executive Actions. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 27, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Is that as we all know RNA viruses mutate all the time. That's what they do, that's their business. And there were very few, but they do happen occurring that is - that you get one that has a functional relevancy tool.

The way we've seen with graded transmissibility, possibility of greater virulence. But also, importantly for us what I mentioned in my opening comments is that, what is the relationship between the mutant and the induction of antibodies by the vaccines that we do.

So, supplementing what Dr. Walensky said, that together with the CDC's expansion in getting more real-time sequence genomic surveillance, the NIH will be collaborating with the CDC in looking at what the functional characteristics of these are.

For example, we will be monitoring in real-time the effect of antibodies that we induce with the current vaccines and with future vaccines, as to what impact they have on the ability to neutralize these mutants. And as we see them getting further and further through more a more vulnerable part, that's when we trigger the kinds of things that I mentioned in my opening remark.

Namely, making a version of the same vaccine that in fact would be directed specifically against the relevant mutant. All of that is going on in real-time, really, as we speak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I think we're going to wrap it up here. I want to thank everybody for joining. As you can see, lots of information on the disease front coming from CDC, science, with Dr. Fauci and the operations from Andy Slavitt. We will be - plan on doing these in a regular basis. The next speaking will be on Friday. I thank you for your patience and for all of your great questions. Appreciate it.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, everybody. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS I'm John King in Washington. You've been listening to the first major briefing by the new Biden administration's COVID task force run from the White House reaching out to Dr. Fauci, NIH Dr. Walensky at the CDC. The first time the administration promises of their regular briefings to talk about, a., how to fight the Coronavirus. B., a loll of emphasis there on the president's new promise to accelerate the rollout. Both the production, the rollout delivery to the states and then the administering, shots in arms of the new COVID vaccine. Let's bring in our experts to talk about what we just heard in that nearly - along briefing.

With us our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Phil Mattingly, Seung Min Kim of "The Washington Post" and Laura Barron- Lopez of "POLITICO". Sanjay, let me start with you. I was struck number one by the fact this was a very technical science, data driven briefing. You don't have the - we got used to the former president of the United States winging it, actually, I'll use that term.

But President Biden leaving it to his experts here. A lot of emphasis here on can they meet their metrics to speed up, not only the production but the delivery and then the administering of the vaccines.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean I think that was sort of the biggest question that came out of this. A lot of the briefing was sort of catching people up on the science of what's going on here. Vaccines, how safe are they. We here it now it's 2 up to 6 in a million of these adverse events. Dr. Fauci talking about the variants, saying there's pretty good evidence that the current vaccines work well against these variance.

There's enough of a cushion effect as he described it. We hear a lot about the role of equity, seeing everything through the equity lens in terms of the vaccine rollout. But the issue that you raised John, its still how is the vaccine rollout going to improve. We hear that it's not going to be 10 million doses a week for the next three weeks. States can count on that.

How did that happen exactly, from not really being able to say even how many vaccines there were a few days ago. How did we get to that point? I'm not sure we really got a good answer to that, Andy Slavitt said more Moderna doses have been released. Released from where?

Were they in stockpile? Was this part of the rolling inventory? That's still a little unclear. But I think what it reflects more than anything is a confidence now that they think they're going to have at least this sort of supply going forward. And that's important, because I don't think states have been able to count on that and then able to have good administering plans once the vaccines got to states.

One thing I'll just point out quickly, the COVID relief bill came up and there's a lot of things in there about testing and PPE. Jeff Zients made the point that to get the 100 million doses into a 100 people within the next 100 days, I'm sorry 100 million doses in 100 days, that is not dependent on the COVID relief bill, but just about everything else is. Testing in schools, PPE, all those other things.

KING: Let me stay with you in a minute, because I also want to talk -- , they were talking about, number one on the vaccine, they essentially say they didn't hear much of a plan. They came in and they had a very rough draft of what to do, it wasn't detail they didn't have backups.

[12:05:00]

KING: And that's one thing they're trying to work on. The other thing, Jeff Zients was talking about this, and then Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walensky both talked about. Explain to our viewers why it's important, he was essentially saying it's pitiful that the United States is 43rd in the world they said in terms of genome tracking.

In the efforts to keep on top of the virus as these variants from South Africa, from the UK and elsewhere come up, why was that discussion so important?

DR. GUPTA: Well, this is a critical point because right now we know that these viruses mutate all the time. And the more they spread, the more they mutate, which is why speed of vaccination is as important as the amount of vaccination.

But most of the mutations are inconsequential. But if you start to get a mutation that is going to escape from the current vaccines, escape immunity, it's called, you want to know that very quickly so that you can start to plan.

You can start to either create new vaccines or new antibodies or whatever. You just need to know that. We do about 0.5 percent of the specimens are sequenced in this country. It's a really low amount. And as a result, we may suddenly have outbreaks of these variants.

And the outbreak becomes harder to contain because it happens without us really getting any advance notice. So this is going to be critically important and we know that these mutations are going to continue to occur.

KING: And Seung Min Kim, interesting, just the difference in approach, again it's a brand-new team, one we can go today, Joe Biden was inaugurated as president. One of the recurring themes during the Trump Administration was are you using or why aren't you aggressively using the so-called Defense Production Act, essentially the power of the president to order things in the manufacturing center, to order in the Trump Administration at General Motors for example in Ford producing ventilators.

There was an interesting conversation note from commitment, but Jeff Zients said everything is on the table about using presidential authority, federal authority to speed up vaccine manufacturing. The question was asked in the context of Merck just said our vaccine candidate hasn't proven well in science. So we're stopping.

And so the question was would you order Merck to produce a Pfizer vaccine or somebody else's vaccine use their facilities to produce that, and no commitment. But it was interesting to hear them say everything is on the table.

SEUNG MIN KIM, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: That's right. I mean, the Biden administration came in knowing that controlling the pandemic was their top priority. And they will be judged heavily on how well they contained this

pandemic and just limit the deaths and make sure the United States can get out of this. And you do see how they're expanding all the resources that they have to control the pandemic. Whether it's exploring all of these executive authorities that the president has.

And also critically leaning on congress to pass the entirety of that $1.9 trillion COVID relief package which the administration has made clear it is just the first of multiple COVID relief packages that they believe congress needs to pass this year. But the problem right now is, as with often negotiations are, is with congress itself.

Despite the pressure from the Biden administration. Despite these quiet talks with key bipartisan groups of senators, there is still a lot of resistance among Republicans to that $1.9 trillion price tag resistance to other provisions in the measure. There were Republicans urging the Biden administration to be more targeted, smaller.

And it does - from our reporting and others that Democrats are ready to act on their own to go big with the White House on that COVID package relief. So that is really the theme of the Biden White House right now. And also, you know, expectation setting.

The president has said several times that it is going to get much worse before it gets better. And that is a key difference from the rosy talk that you heard a lot from President Trump.

KING: It is a key difference. But Phil Mattingly, you also hear and I think you could see the tension, a little bit of the tension, I'm not sure that's the right word on this call, in the sense that President Biden said yesterday, he believes that most Americans, adult Americans can be vaccinated by the spring or by - first, he hoped the spring and then he says the fall. Essentially said it up that by fall that we should be back to a sense of normalcy. Not full normalcy, by fall.

So that's a standard by which they'll be judged now. In the sense that, our kids going back to school in the fall. Do we see fans in the seeds of the world series or things like that? And you sort of get the sense that is that an aspiration or are that a firm commitment. Because Andy Slavitt, one of this coordinators saying on the call here, just listen here. Listen to Andy Slavitt who says Joe Biden says vaccines are coming as quickly as possible, Andy Slavitt says well--

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 REPONSE TEAM: We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. But even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Again, the president said on Monday. I think it will be this spring. I think we'll be able does that this spring.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And since Monday, you've seen everybody speaking publicly from the White house attempt to gently walk that back as one advisor told me the president is an internal optimist and wants this to turn out well.

[12:10:00]

MATTINGLY: I think the reality is this. And Sanjay has talked about this a bunch of times where 100 million shots in arms over the course of 100 days would be largely keeping on track with - once every three or four days pace that the administration inherited in terms of a million shots per day and keeping that consistent over the course through a long period of time.

They are setting goals that are achievable at this point in time. But I also think there's recognition that there are things that can occur over the course of the next several months that can ramp up where they could end up. But I think that's what you're hearing the president refer to. Obviously, there's a single dose vaccine that looks promising at this point in time.

Andy Slavitt also made very clear that is not being factored in to any other projections right now. So there are elements that I think lend the president to where he ends up right now. But the reality on the ground, at least in the present time is what you're hearing from his advisers. And that is there are huge problems in terms of distribution.

There is a mass demand with limited supply. And I think as Sanjay pointed out, nobody is really totally sure where the supply stands at this point in time. The administration clearly feels like they've gotten their arms more around it. But they also feel like they need to kind of limit expectations here or at least try and are more reasonable with expectations just in case.

KING: Right, to that point Sanjay, they said to date, this includes Trump administration numbers. 47 million vaccines distributed to the states. 10 million a week is their commitment as we discussed at the top for the next three weeks. And they say they'll keep only a two to three days' supply on hand at the federal level, sort of an emergency supply in case you have a hiccup in production.

But otherwise their plan is the surge - to the states. But to Phil's point this is all based on Pfizer and Moderna. What we have on the table right now. The vaccines in the pipeline. How big of a game- changer would it be if Johnson & Johnson presents its evidence in the next week or so that its vaccine is ready to roll?

DR. GUPTA: I think that would be very significant. And I've spoken to some of the chief scientists that have been working on this vaccine. We know a lot about this vaccine if it comes to fruition. And they're going to un-blind the data and look at this in the next few days. So we should get some real indication of how well this vaccine works.

And the reason that data is coming now is this marks the two-month safety window that the FDA asked for - know about safety data as well. So 100 million doses, it's a one-shot deal. So that obviously could add a lot to it. Johnson & Johnson is a big company. When you talk to them about their manufacturing capacity, you're

talking in the billions, not even in the hundreds of millions in terms of doses they could create. Maybe a billion doses in 2021. Not all of it obviously for the United States. 100 million of it for the United States. But if it works and the data looks good, they should be able to come through with these numbers.

KING: That will be another big test in the week or so ahead. And Laura Barron-Lopez again, we'll watch if they can meet their own metrics as they lay them out. But watching now, it's the new administration, so they will be held accountable even if they inherited a bad plan. They are in charge now and they must deliver.

But you hear both in the substance and in the style such huge changes, number one, a big focus on equity. You heard one of the doctors saying we need better data to find out, are the vaccines reaching Latino communities, African-American communities, other communities in need who traditionally, let's be honest, get the short end of the stick when you have rollouts of new initiatives like this.

Also at one point, they were quoting one of the reporters quoted the Maryland Governor Republican Larry Hogan yesterday who said thank you, he appreciates the new hope from the Biden administration, but he said it's not enough. We need even more. But in the final days of the Trump administration when questions were raised about the vaccine rollout, they kept criticizing the states.

Andy Slavitt, President Biden's coordinators said we hear you, governor and we could not agree more. We know you need more. We're going to try to help. So very different approach.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: You know, both of those John, are very different. In that the Biden administration is not trying to take this combative approach with the governors and with the states. Trying to say we're here, we're listening to you, we're going to tell you what's realistic and what's not.

And then also on the issue of racial equity, one thing that administration officials have made clear since Biden took office is that, unlike not only the prior administration, but also prior democratic administrations, they say that they're using a racial equity lens in everything that they do, be it COVID, infrastructure, anything.

And then that something that a lot of these people who come from the Obama administration didn't even sees that in the Obama administration. And so, we're seeing that again today when they're talking about the Coronavirus. Because as you said, black and brown communities, they are less likely to get the vaccine.

They've been less likely to get vaccines in the past when we're talking about the h1n1 vaccine. And part of that has to do with historical mistreatment of those communities and why there's a lack of trust there. KING: Lack of trust in historical perspective. The new administration

promises to deal with an upfront. An interesting briefing today. They say another one on Friday. This will be fascinating to watch as we go forward. I appreciate everyone's help today. Dr. Gupta, Seung Min Kim, Laura Barron-Lopez, Phil Mattingly in this programming note.

Dr. Gupta, we'll be back tonight along with Dr. Anthony Fauci and several top doctors from President Biden's COVID-19 team. Join Sanjay and Anderson Cooper, Coronavirus, facts and fears at CNN Town hall, that's tonight 8'0 clock eastern. I don't want to miss that.

[12:15:00]

KING: Up next for us more big changes at the Biden White House. The climate plan being rolled out today including a halt on new oil and gas leases on federal land and a giant expansion of federal conservation efforts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're just moments away, and we'll take you there live, the White House briefing to detail the Biden administration's ambitious climate agenda. The change here is just monumental. From our president do called climate change a hoax to one who says the climate crisis will now be a major part of every administration decision, from transportation policy to military planning, to American diplomacy around the world.

Let's take a look at just some of the big changes we know are coming. Number one, it's just Trump versus Biden. It's an about face in 2017. President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accords. President Biden has already said, the United States is rejoining. In 2019, President Trump granted the permit for the keystone excel pipeline from Canada through the United States.

[12:20:00]

KING: President Biden has already signed paperwork saying no, sorry we're stopping that project. Some new Biden initiatives and they'll be discussed at the briefing today, this one is ambitious. In the next decade, the Biden administration says it wants to get to 30 percent conservation of U.S. land and water. Much more conservation efforts across the country.

One of the actions today will be stopping any new oil and gas leases on federal lands, already objections from the oil industry about that. This is the big change. The administration says whether it's their transportation department, the pentagon, U.S. diplomats overseas, climate change will be elevated into every conversation.

The climate crisis must be a factor. The administration says in any conversation about purchasing, diplomacy abroad, military installations that are a huge shift there. This is another case where the American people frankly, are way ahead of their government. 72 percent of Americans in this Yale research say global warming is happening. 72 percent say its happening and 60 percent of American adults say

they like their president to do more about this crisis. Let's have a conversation before the briefing with Katharine Hayhoe, she's Director of the Climate Center Texas Tech University. CNN's Phil Mattingly is still with us as well.

Katharine, I want to start with you just on we're going to get these specific changes today. But as a climate scientist, someone who has tried to move the country and move citizens on this issue. How much of a difference does it make just the fact that from the president on down, you now has an administration that says this is a crisis, not a hoax?

KATHARINE HAYHOE, ATMOSPHERIC SCIENTIST, DIRECTOR, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY CLIMATE CENTER: I think it's absolutely critical. Make no mistake the last four years there have been cities like Houston and Chicago and Washington, D.C., there have been states, there have been companies like Microsoft, there have been nonprofits and tribal nations and universities who've all been taking action. But to finally have the federal government as a full partner will be a much needed shot of energy.

KING: And Phil, to this point, again, so much change happening in these early days to get dizzy. You're just at the White House now from a stint on Capitol Hill. Back at the White House. The president is doing some things today through executive action. If he wants more, he's going to need cooperation in the congress. What's the likelihood there?

MATTINGLY: Limited because of the current majority in the United States senate, which is 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie and one of those 50 is Joe Manchin who also happens to well soon be the chairman of the key energy committee that oversees it. Obviously, he's protective of his home state. He's protective of his constituents.

And I think that underscores the importance for this administration on actions like what they're doing today. Obviously, it's sweeping, obviously, it brings to the forefront this issue as you noted across the agencies.

And why that matters is, the federal government is a little bit of an aircraft carrier and to get it turned around particularly in such a sharp divergent way from the last administration, putting the emphasis on it across the agency, across all departments matters.

And as important rising as a national security issue matters. And as important as the pentagon has done since 2014. But there's also the reality of the politics here. And that is they don't have the votes, regardless of whether they're breaking the filibuster or whether they think they can break the filibuster.

They don't have the votes on Capitol Hill to move sweeping climate action at this point in time. So what the president is doing with the swipe of the pen matters because it might be as much as he can do at least in the broad scope of things. KING: And to that point, Katharine, what do you see as most

significant in the context of, you mentioned some of the local actions happening at the state and local level, the corporate level. Obviously other players around the world have been moving. But for four years, the federal government of the united states essentially hit the pause and the halt button and many people would say even reversed some modest progress that had been made in this.

So when you have the president today talking about new oil or gas leases on federal lands. Action to protect 30 percent of federal lands and waters by 2030. Elevating the climate crisis essentially making clear it must be part of any conversation across the government right there, re-establishing a presidential council on advisers.

Memorandum on scientific integrity. The date for a big climate leader, some at a global summit on the issue. Is there any one thing here or is it all of the pieces at once that from a science perspective are necessary?

HAYHOE: It's that whole set of actions that really matters because we have to prepare for the impacts that we can no longer avoid that will affect every single one of us, whether democrat, republican, independent or anywhere in the political spectrum. We need to increase our efficiency through efficiency alone, we could cut carbon emissions in the U.S. about to 50 percent, it's estimated.

And we need to accelerate the transition to clean energy. Not only because it's clean but because it supplies real jobs for real people. There are already more jobs in the clean energy industry, but in the oil and gas industry.

And just comparing the pipeline for example with one of Biden's plans to clean up all of the damaged public lands because of oil and gas. It's estimated the cleanup could create over, well over a quarter of million jobs, whereas the pipeline could create 11,000 temporary jobs, 35 permanent jobs and some of those 35 jobs would be in Canada.

[12:25:00]

KING: Katharine right there, Phil, is touching on one of the conversations that you already see happen in fuel and gas industry. Both in the keystone pipeline decision now and the decision to halt any new leases for oil and gas on land saying the Biden administration is anti-jobs, the Biden administration is throwing Americans out of work.

Katharine is saying, there's a flip side there actually could be more jobs in this approach. But in terms of the politics of this year in D.C., the midterm elections coming up, that's one of the reasons I think you are saying that action in congress is hard to come by.

MATTINGLY: This has always been the issue with climate, right? Whether it's green jobs, how do you shift the paradigm to where you cannot just talk about how the jobs market will increase if you take these actions, but actually show proof of it happening. And I think this is always kind of the balance that you're trying to strike. You saw the Obama administration try and strike it multiple times. You

saw the Trump administration repeatedly talk about how the Paris climate accord was just going to wreck American jobs. How do you take that talking point away going into a political season?

And again if you read through what the Biden administration is doing today, they're putting the focus on attempting to kind of move into a new direction and actually create jobs in this marketplace. The other thing they're doing which I think is very important, at least from their perspective is the equity issue.

Laura Barron-Lopez mentioned it last block about COVID. They're doing it again 40 percent of the federal funds related to this are going to disadvantaged communities that matters as well but if you're talking about a very slim house majority.

And you've got numbers in Pennsylvania or you've got numbers in Texas or you've got numbers like Joe Manchin in West Virginia, it is a very, very difficult issue on Capitol Hill to be able to push forward in a sweeping manner to the degree like those like Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez's sunrise movement those folks want them to push in the weeks and months ahead.

KING: And so, Katharine Hayhoe, as you listen to the conversation here in Washington, one of the reasons I love your work is, you're out in America out in conservative America in Texas. You're a climate evangelist, as you say, your husband is a pastor in a Christian church.

And you talk often about the misinformation that many conservative Christians have been getting including those who supported say President Trump who listened to hoax for four years. How do you think having a new administration that now puts this as top priority in every conversation across government?

Again, whether it's procurement at the department of transportation to pentagon decisions to American diplomats around the world. How does that change the conversation out there in America where there are skeptics, critics and opponents of what the new president wants to do?

HAYHOE: Well, 7 percent of people across the country are what the Yale program and climate communication calls dismissive. And they will continue to dismiss each and every effort by anyone to motivate climate action. But as you yourself said, 72 percent of people already say this is real. But only 40 percent think it affects them.

And less than 35 percent of people across the whole country ever even have a conversation about it. And here's the connection. If we don't ever talk about it, why would we understand why it matters to us here and now, not just the polar bears and our great grandchildren, but here today.

And if we don't understand why it matters why would we do anything to fix it? So, I think there's going to be a lot more positive discussion about constructive, creative practical solutions today than there would have been four years ago. And I think that that's going to help move a lot of people in the middle who say, OK, it might be real. But what are we supposed to do about it that makes sense.

KING: Really fascinating. Watch one of the many fascinating things to watch in the new administration. A lot of change. Katharine Hayhoe grateful for your expertise and perspective. Phil Mattingly as well. And as we go to break here, just moments ago, more change, the Vice President Kamala Harris holding the ceremonial swearing in of America's new Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I Antony Blinken.

ANTHONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: I Antony Blinken.

HARRIS: Do solemnly swear.

BLINKEN: Do solemnly swear.

HARRIS: That I will support and defend.

BLINKEN: That I will support and defend.

HARRIS: The constitution of the United States.

BLINKEN: The constitution of the United States.

HARRIS: Against fall and amidst foreign and domestic.

BLINKEN: Against fall and amidst foreign and domestic.

HARRIS: That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

BLINKEN: that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

HARRIS: That I take this obligation freely.

BLINKEN: That I take this obligation freely.

HARRIS: Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

BLINKEN: Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

HARRIS: That I will well and faithfully discharge.

BLINKEN: That I will well and faithfully discharge.

HARRIS: The duties of the office upon which I'm about to enter.

BLINKEN: The duties of the office upon which I'm about to enter.

HARRIS: So help me god.

BLINKEN: So help me god.

HARRIS: Congratulations, Mr. Secretary.

BLINKEN: Thank you, Vice President. HARRIS: Congratulations.

BLINKEN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thank you, all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)