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New Day

U.S. to Meet Biden's 100 Million Vaccination Goal Today, Ahead of Schedule; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Goes Off on Fauci about Masks, Calls Them Theater; Biden Faces New Tensions with Russia and China. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 19, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, here still continuing to push ahead, still very aware of the optics of replacing potentially a Republican who had serving here in Congress for months.

[07:00:09]

John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, keep us posted on this really interesting twist there.

New Day continues right now.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day.

The U.S. will cross 100 million vaccine shots since Joe Biden's inauguration today. That's 42 days ahead of the Biden pledge. The U.S. is averaging 2.5 million coronavirus vaccinations a day with nearly 35 percent of Americans either partially or fully vaccinated.

Now, there are plenty of folks that noted that 100 million was a very low bar to begin with, but if you do the math going forward, at the pace we're going, we'll cross 200 million vaccinations within the first 100 days, and, honestly, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone that optimistic.

But, and this is hugely important, there is concern this morning the U.S. may be on the verge of a new surge. The drop in hospitalizations, I want you to look at that graph, you can see it was going down steeply for weeks and weeks and weeks, but that decline has stopped. It's completely stalled right now. Hospitalizations static and may be ticking up slightly in the last few days.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEW DAY: Meantime, in just a next few hours, President Biden and Vice President Harris Will meet with Asian- American leaders in Atlanta following the shootings there at three area spas, which left eight people dead, including six Asian women.

Now, the House held a hearing yesterday on the surge violence against Asian-Americans. And Republican Congressman Chip Roy used a hearing not to address the issue but complaint about his right to criticize China and deliver a strange reference to lynching, provoking an emotional response from New York Congresswoman Grace Meng.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): There's an on old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a taller tree.

I'm not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the Chicomm, I oppose the Chinese Communist Party. And when we say things like that and we're talking about that, we shouldn't be worried about having a committee of members of Congress policing our rhetoric.

REP. GRACE MENG (D-NY): Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's-eye on the backs of Asian-Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids. This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Congresswoman Meng joins us now. And it's good to have you back with us this morning. That moment understandably getting so much attention, but I know you're hearing about it from your constituents as well who have told you repeatedly, and especially over this past year about the bull's-eye that they have felt directly. What has the response been?

MENG: Sure. Thank you, Erica, for having me and for covering this topic. You know, we've been hearing about it not just in the last few days but all throughout the last year. We've now seen over 3,800 incidents that have been reported across this country. And we don't know how many have been reported.

I hear from people who are not let their parents, their grandparents go outside, not even for a walk around the block. They're scared something might happen. People aren't letting their kids play outside because they're scared that they might get bullied.

Just in the last two weeks, a mom and her baby were taking a walk in the park in the middle of the day. Someone came up to her, spat in her direction three times, calling her the Chinese virus and to go back.

Two days ago, a 13-year-old boy was just playing basketball at a local park and a group of people threw basketballs at his head telling him that he was a Chinese virus and he should go home.

HILL: It is so disturbing and yet, I think, so important to hear each one of these accounts.

[07:05:01]

There was a new study published by the American Journal of Public Health, which analyzed former President Trump's use of anti-Asian rhetoric, and founded that likely perpetuated racist attitudes knowing that hash tags like COVID-19 evoked anti-Asian sentiment about 20 percent of the time as compared to 50 percent after he used things like China Virus.

We know words matter. Your colleague, Congresswoman Jayapal, told John Berman a short time ago, she thinks, in some cases, and perhaps with Chip Roy, that people are so caught up in the rhetoric, they can't see the damage it's doing. Do you think it's that simple?

MENG: It is simple like that. And he has literally, for the past year, empowered this sort of racist behavior. You have to remember the mindset of people, especially in the beginning of the pandemic. There was a lot of fear, there was a lot of unknown about this pandemic. People were losing loved ones, their homes, their jobs. And then when you have a leader who has a big platform constantly, incessantly using phrases like that, it's going to affect people, and it's a direct cause of some of these incidents.

HILL: Mitch McConnell was asked several questions yesterday, which he ignored by our colleagues on Capitol Hill, specifically about the shootings in Atlanta, would not address it. He eventually did put out a short statement, we're going to put that up on the screen, which the Asian-Americans should not have to experience discrimination anywhere.

Why do you think there has been such a resistance, it would seem, to condemn attacks on Asian-Americans?

MENG: Well, first of all, I'm not surprised Mitch McConnell is ignoring what happened. He ignores the opportunity to pass life-saving legislation in the Senate all the time. But, you know, what we've seen is that even when we in the House passed a resolution that was just symbolic, didn't require any commitment of resources, and I didn't even put in the president's name in my resolution, it was simply a resolution to condemn bigotry against Asian-Americans, many of whom live in their districts. 164 Republicans voted no on that symbolic resolution, and that really says a lot.

HILL: Do you think those numbers are changing though? Do you think you will see more support moving forward?

MENG: I hope so. We have introduced a resolution again. We think that there is a need for us to remind people that it's not okay to discriminate (INAUDIBLE) hatred towards anyone including Asian- Americans. So we're going to try again. But we're also pushing legislation. We are pushing two bills that would hopefully help curb these hate crimes and get more resources out to local communities.

HILL: I know part of what you're trying to do too is also make it easier for people to report these hate crimes because people can be reluctant to come forward.

The hearing was the first one, I believe, in 30 years to deal with discrimination against Asian-Americans. What do you think was achieved?

MENG: Well, first of all, it was such a source of comfort even to have that acknowledgement that this is a real pain and situation going on in our country. We wanted to have a very honest hearing and to work together to find solutions. Our member panel had both Republicans and Democrats testifying.

And so we talked about legislation. We heard from community members on what resources and support they need. We talked about these two pieces of legislation, and that's part of why I was so upset that Mr. Roy just was completely insensitive about the focus and the point of the hearing.

HILL: Congresswoman Grace Meng, good to have you back with us this morning. Thank you.

MENG: Thank you.

BERMAN: Major diplomatic tension this morning out in public in ways you almost never see. It comes in the first face-to-face meeting between top Biden administration officials and their counterparts from China. It's going on in Alaska. It began with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his opening remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S SECRETARY OF STATE: We'll also discuss the concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies.

The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winners take all, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And this was just the beginning. I mean, that was just the beginning. Then there were the cameras sent out and brought back in and statements made about each other in ways you almost would never see.

[07:10:02]

CNN's Kylie Atwood at the State Department with the very latest here, and it's still very much ongoing.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is. So these talks are still ongoing in Alaska. They had their first two sessions yesterday, they have a third this morning. But I just want to reflect what happened there. Behind closed doors, sometimes fireworks explode. This happened, as you said, John, in front of cameras. That's really not normal.

So after Secretary Blinken gave his opening remarks, then it went to the Chinese. They deliver their opening remarks. They went on for much longer than they traditionally do and they offered some really aggressive statements about the United States, going to divisions in the United States, calling out Black Lives Matter protesters and calling U.S. champions of cyber attacks. Blinken then clearly felt like he had to respond. He told the cameras not to leave the room and he talked about the United States not being a perfect country, making mistakes but also making reversals. The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was there. He called that the secret sauce of America, the fact that they do make mistakes but then they change them and they do so in the public eye.

Then cameras left and they were asked to come back into the room. It was clear that the Chinese wanted their return at a rebuttal, and they accused the U.S. of having a condescending tone. This is in front of the cameras. They also said that U.S. isn't qualified to speak to China from a position of strength.

Now, all of this unfolding as a senior official accused the Chinese side of grandstanding. This morning, the Chinese are saying that they had no intent of grandstanding. And we are hearing that after that first session, a senior administration official said there were serious, direct and substantive conversations that essentially unfolded after the cameras left the room. They got down to business.

But this is really extraordinary. You know, this is the first face-to- face meeting between Chinese and U.S. officials of the Biden administration, and we should also note that this is unfolding as U.S./Russia relations are kind of on unsteady ground right now, as there are things that are happening there that are really challenging for the Biden administration.

So this is something to keep an eye on, and we'll see how these meetings wrap today.

BERMAN: Unsteady ground and shifting, but the Biden administration clearly showing it will take a tough posture in different ways to both Russia and China. We will watch this throughout the morning, Kylie. Thank you so much for that reporting.

So there are numbers to look at in terms of the coronavirus pandemic that are very concerning this morning. Hospitalizations have stopped dropping, may be ticking up. There are signs that the U.S. could be on the precipice of a new surge in cases. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: A tense exchange between Republican Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci over whether people who have recovered from coronavirus or have been vaccinated should still wear masks. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): If we're not spreading the infection, isn't it just theater?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: No, it's not.

PAUL: If you had the vaccine and you wear two masks, isn't that theater?

FAUCI: No, that's not -- here we go again with the theater. Let's talk facts.

When you're talking the infection and you don't keep in the concept of variants, that's an entirely different ball game, that's a good reason for a mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now is an CNN Contributor Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He's an epidemiologist and a former Detroit health commissioner.

I actually don't want to spend much time talking about Rand Paul's health prescriptions for the country. What I want to talk about is what maybe they imply in terms of what we are seeing around the country, which is cases have stopped dropping as much as they are, we've plateaued in the 50,000 cases a day, and hospitalizations, which is maybe the most consistent means of measuring where the pandemic is.

Hospitalizations have stopped dropping. And, in some ways, if we can put that screen back up, you can start to see a little tick up there again. So, Dr. El-Sayed, I'll just ask you this simply, are we on the verge? Are these signs that we may be on the verge of a new surge here?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: These are definitely signs. And if you look across the Atlantic, you see that Italy, which was the canary in the coal mine for our last major -- the first surge in March last year, and they're in lockdown, which suggests to us that the spread of B117 coupled with the fact we've been making policy based on the idea that vaccinations are on the way but they're still just on the way, we're only at about 12 percent full vaccination in this country, in the country suggests to us that we're at a deep risk for another surge.

And the problem here is that these policies have sent a message to the public, just like Senator Paul was right there, grandstanding about this idea that somehow masks aren't still important, and we've got these variants that are bearing down our door. So, yes, we may have put ourselves back at risk for another surge, and that really is devastating to hear, given the fact we've lost 535,000, 537,000 people now, and we could lose yet more as we noted with these flattening out of hospital numbers.

HILL: And we also heard from Dr. Fauci say, we need to stop being so focused on herd immunity. There's not this -- we don't really know the, in his words, magical point of herd immunity as we move into this. And I think that also plays into the messaging, right? People are so eager to go back to 2019, that we're kind of ignoring all of these -- there are multiple canaries at this point.

EL-SAYED: You're absolutely right. Herd immunity is not a destination. Herd immunity is a journey, and we have to start treating it that way. Every single person who gets vaccinated increases our herd immunity by that much more. And we've got to keep doing what we can to increase that community immunity, that herd immunity.

Meanwhile, we've got to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus. And so we've got to get all on one page here, that we are still at risk for this. It could still be spreading in our communities, and we have a responsibility to do what we can to stop it.

[07:20:02]

Now, I'll be honest with you, I lay the blame at governors' feet. You've got people like Greg Abbott who are saying Texas is open for business. But you know who else hears that? B117 hears that. All of these new variants here that. They say, well, look, we can keep spreading. And so we've got a responsibility to do what we can to defend ourselves from these variants and continue to practice safe practices. That means wearing a mask, that means practicing physical distancing, that means getting in line, getting your vaccination as soon as you can, it means washing your hands, it means being very vigilant.

BERMAN: A couple of good news items today, as I noted before I actually think the U.S. is on track to surpass 200 million vaccinations in Joe Biden's first 100 days at the rate we're going, going across 100 million today. And then the news is that we expect the CDC to issue guidelines today that schools, that kids can be three feet apart rather than six feet apart if they wear masks.

This will be an opportunity, I think, Dr. El-Sayed, for a lot more schools to open up.

EL-SAYED: I think you're right. And I think that really is good news. And it reflects a couple of things here. Number one, we know that masking is just really, really powerful. And so being able to wear a mask and wear a mask consistently, which kids have shown they can do, really does make a difference.

Number two, more and more teachers are getting vaccinated, and they really were the folks at the highest risk for potentially getting the disease at schools. And as they're vaccinated, it makes it a safer environment.

And then number three, new evidence suggesting to us that three feet does most of what six feet does, and it is as safe.

So this is really great news. It helps us to go back to the kinds of life that we've been accustomed to that has been so disrupted through 2020 and into this year, and it really is good news for both kids and parents.

BERMAN: If you wear your mask, if you wear your freaking masks, you can do so much more. There are so many opportunities. Dr. Abdul El- Sayed, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

EL-SAYED: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: So, the last 24 hours, truly a remarkable moment in U.S. diplomacy. Very public, very unusual fights with both Russia and China. What do they tell us? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: 24 hours in diplomacy the likes of which we have not seen for generations, very public, and in some ways personal spats with both Russia and China. So what does this tell us about how the Biden administration wants to position the U.S. in the world?

Joining us now, Ambassador Nichollas Burns, Biden 2020 Foreign Policy Adviser and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO. Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us.

Look, I think it's clear the big picture, this represents something of a repositioning overall for the Biden administration in terms of where it wants to put the U.S. in the world. But, if we can, let's talk about each separately first with Russia, where we saw the president use blunt language in regards to Vladimir Putin saying he was a killer. Russia recalled its ambassador. And now, there is this really remarkable back-and-forth -- really, a forth in terms of what Russia is doing, questioning the president's mental acuity. What's going on there?

AMBASSADOR NICHOLLAS BURNS, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER, BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN: Well, what's going on is an intense competition between Russia and the United States. President Biden told the truth in what he said about President Putin. This is a president in Moscow that has indiscriminately bombed the Syrians, that has incarcerated tens of thousands of political prisoners in Russia itself, attempted to kill Alexei Navalny, the major opposition leader.

And so it's time that the United States stood up to the Russians. You did not see it under Donald Trump. You are seeing it under President Biden. And I think he did exactly the right thing to point out that there's a struggle here between the democratic countries and the authoritarian countries led by the Russians and Chinese. And sometimes in diplomacy, you need to recalibrate. and after four years of really saying nothing to defend democracy, President Biden is doing that. I think it's the right step.

BERMAN: What does it tell you that one of the responses may be obliquely from Vladimir Putin but directly from other Russian leaders is to take the very Trumpian line, like ripped from the pages of the Trump campaign, to question Joe Biden's mental acuity?

BURNS: It's ridiculous and it's obviously an attempt by the Russians to deflect from the real point, and that's the weakness of the Russians system and the fact that the Russians are the major human rights violators.

Vladimir Putin also said he wanted to debate President Biden. Putin doesn't belong on the same debate stage with a democratically elected president of the United States. And at the same time, Putin is making this offer to debate Joe Biden, he won't even listen to anyone in his own country. If you speak up against Putin in Russia, you're jailed. Alexei Navalny is in jail right now.

So, it's a little bit of theater from the Russians. But, again, you have an American president finally standing up for democracy, for human rights, what we believe in the world. And I think, frankly, John, the rest of the democratic world has been waiting for the United States, during the four years of President Trump, to do exactly what President Biden has done this week.

BERMAN: All right. We've had drama in terms of China as well, and I think it's different, right? Because I think what the U.S. is trying to do with Russia is to say Russia is a diminished country. China, very different, trying to say China is, in fact, a major competitor and we're going to start treating China as such. How do you interpret this very public back-and-forth we're seeing in Alaska?

BURNS: Well, an extraordinary opening to the meeting last night in Anchorage, Alaska. Frankly, John, I saw it as grandstanding by the Chinese delegation. They're also under the international spotlight because of the treatment of the Uyghurs, the horrible treatment in Xinjiang, because of the fact that they smothered Hong Kong's democracy over the last year.

And I thought it was China trying to change the subject here, but you saw a very measured, I think, very effective response by our Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who essentially said, look, the United States has never claimed to be perfect, but we're transparent and we work on our faults.

[07:30:06]