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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Interview With Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD); New Details Emerge on Capitol Building Siege; President-Elect Biden Delivers Address on Pandemic Response. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired January 15, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Millions of Americans now turn to their local pharmacies every day for their medicines, flu shots and much more.

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We're going to immediately start a new, major effort, working directly with both independent and chain pharmacies, to get Americans vaccinated. This program will extend, expand beyond access in neighborhoods across country -- across the country, so that we can make -- you can make an appointment and get your shot, conveniently show up at a particular time, and get it done quickly.

The fourth thing we're going to do is, we're going to use the full strength of the federal government to ramp up supply of the vaccines. As I said before, we will use the Defense Protection Act to work with private industry to accelerate the making of materials needed to supply and administer the vaccine, from the tubes and syringes to protective equipment.

And I have already asked the team, and we have identified the suppliers who are prepared to work with their -- with our teams, and we're going to work with their teams. Not someday, we're going to go do this.

When I say we're going to invoke the Defense Production Act, I said, go out. Even though we don't have the authority now, go out and identify those companies that are prepared and will be able to do what we're going to ask.

As we made clear earlier this month, the Trump administration's policy of holding back close to half the supply of the vaccines available did not make sense. Our administration will release the vast majority of the vaccines when they're available, so more people can get vaccinated quickly, while still retaining a small reserve for any unseen shortage or delays.

But let me be clear. We are not changing the FDA's recommendation and its recommended dosing schedules. We believe it's critical that everyone should get two doses within the FDA recommended time frame. So, we're not doing away with that availability.

Fifth, we will always be honest and transparent about where we stand, both the good news, as well as the bad. We are going to make sure state and local officials know how much supply they will be getting and when they can expect to get it, so they can plan.

Right now, we're hearing that they can't plan, because they don't know how much supply of vaccines they can expect at what time frame. That stops when we're in office.

We will also promise to provide regular updates you, the American people, on our progress and our goals. We will be, I promise you, transparent about the decisions we are making and why we're making the decisions. You're entitled to know.

Our administration will lead with science and scientists, with the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health, that will be free and totally free from political influence, a surgeon general who is independent and speaks directly to the American people, the FDA, whose decisions are based on science, and science alone, speaking directly to you.

Look, while millions of Americans have already gotten the vaccine, and millions more are all ready to get it, we also know we need to address vaccine hesitancy and build trust in many communities.

We know that's the case, for example, in black, Latino and Native American communities, people who have not always been treated with dignity and honesty they deserve by the federal government and the scientific community throughout our history.

We also have seen that disinformation campaigns are already under way to further undermine trust in the vaccines. Our administration will launch a massive public education campaign to rebuild that trust. We will help people understand what science tells us, that the vaccines help reduce the risk of COVID infections and can better safeguard our health and the health of our families and our communities.

It's a critical piece to account for a tragic reality of the disproportionate impact this virus has had on black, Latinos and Native American people, who are being infected about four times the rate of white Americans, and dying at nearly three times the rate of white Americans.

This is unacceptable. It's unconscionable. Equity is central to our COVID response. And the vice president and I commit to making sure communities of color and rural neighborhoods, those living with disabilities and seniors, are not left behind in our vaccination plans.

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Look, our plan is as clear as it is bold. Get more people vaccinated for free. Create more places for them to get vaccinated. Mobilize more medical teams to get the shots in people's arms. Increase supply and get it out the door as soon as possible.

This will be one of the most challenging operational efforts ever undertaken by our country. But you have my word, we will manage the hell out of this operation.

But, as I said last night, we need funding from Congress to make this happen. And I'm optimistic. I'm convinced that the American people are ready to spare no effort and no expense to get this done.

All these steps will take some time. It may take many months to get where we need to be. There will be stumbles. And, yes, I know so much has already been asked of you.

And when we're sworn in next week, we're going to ask you to keep the faith and keep following what we know works. One of our 100-day challenges is to mask up everyone. The day we're inaugurated, we're going to ask you to mask up for the next 100 days.

This is not a political issue.

And I will issue an executive order to require masks where I have the authority to do that, and federal workers -- for federal workers and federal property, on interstate travel like trains and planes.

We will also be working with mayors and governors in red states and blue states and require mask -- and ask them to require masking up in their cities and their states.

Look, I hope we now know this is not a political issue. This is about saving lives. I know it's become a partisan issue, but what a stupid, stupid thing for it to happen.

This is a patriotic act. We're asking you. We're in a war with this virus, and experts saying -- have shown that wearing a mask from now until April will save as many as 50,000 lives.

Quite frankly, it was shocking to see members of the Congress, while the Capitol was under siege by a deadly mob of thugs, refusing to wear masks while they were in secure locations.

I'm so proud of my congresswoman right here in the state of Delaware, Lisa Blunt Rochester, trying to hand out masks while people are lying on the floor huddled up. And her Republican colleagues refusing to put them on, what the hell is the matter with them?

It's time to grow up.

The result? At least four members of Congress today, and including a cancer survivor, now have COVID-19 who were in those rooms.

For God's sake, wear a mask, if not for yourself, for your loved ones, for your country. These are real matters of life and death.

We need you to stick with handwashing, social distancing, and avoid indoor gatherings with people outside your own household.

We will be a partner to the states and cities. So, where things are working, we will help do more of the good work. And when things can improve, we will bring more resources to bear to get folks tested and vaccinated. I promise you, we're going to work closely with nonprofits and with

the private sector, who we know all want to partner with us in this effort. The more people we vaccinate, and the faster we do it, the sooner we can put this pandemic behind us, and the sooner we can build our economy back better, and get back to our lives and to our loved ones.

As we have seen during this pandemic, we can't solve our problems as a divided nation. The only way we come through this is if we come through together, as Americans, fellow Americans, and as the United States of America.

Vice president-elect Harris and I ran on that vision. And starting at noon on Wednesday, that's exactly how we're going to govern and ask for your help.

May God bless you all and keep you safe, and may God protect our troops.

Thank you.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper on this Friday.

You have been listening to president-elect Joe Biden, who, in just five days, will be sworn in and will therefore be responsible for guiding the United States out of this devastating pandemic that has as of now claimed more than 390,000 American lives, 390,000.

President-elect Biden detailing his effort to fix what he called a dismal failure, the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines. Biden is asking all states to open up vaccinations to more Americans, including everyone aged 65 and older.

Biden is also pledging to establish more vaccination sites and ramp up supply of doses. He is still promising 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his administration. So far, more than 31 million doses have been distributed across the U.S. Only 12 million of those have actually been put into American arms.

Plus, despite the Trump administration's promise, governors are now saying that the reserve supply of the vaccine for the second doses cannot be delivered. Why? Because they don't exist. There is no reserve.

That's the news today.

And while the nation has been so focused on the deadly terrorist attack on the Capitol from a week and a day ago, it may be lost that these past 14 days have been the deadliest two weeks for the pandemic in the U.S. ever.

On Tuesday, the deadliest day ever, 4,462 people, 4,462 in one day died in this country from the coronavirus. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins me now.

Sanjay, president-elect Biden laying out several steps to get more shots into arms, including updating priority groups, so anyone over 65 is eligible, getting more vaccination sites, using the Defense Production Act to ramp up supply even further. He said he would be transparent with states on how many doses to expect and when.

He said this was going to take time, and that it was going to get worse before it got better. But if these steps happen, will we get to where we need to go?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, I really do believe we will.

But, as you point out, he's going to take office, president-elect Biden will become President Biden, in the midst of probably some of the worst days of this pandemic. I mean -- and, at the same time, as you point out, 36 percent, roughly, of the vaccines are actually being utilized here.

So you have got clear problems, and things will get better, but they're likely to actually get worse in terms of numbers of people infected, hospitalization capacity issues. And, sadly, I mean, these numbers, Jake, people who are tragically dying, it's just -- I can't even still get my head around it.

And if you look at the models, it could be 5,500, 6,000 people potentially a day dying. I hate to say it. Those are the worst-case scenarios. But that's where we are.

Having said that, I do think that all the specific issues that we were even asking last night after he talked about that this vaccination plan would be coming out were, how do you reach the community, these community centers, as you pointed out?

Day one, FEMA is going to be involved, he says. I said, do you have enough health care workers? He says they're going to be bringing on thousands of health care workers. They may even tap into retired health care workers, offering them positions to be able to come on to start doing these vaccinations

The pharmacies, Jake, people do go to their pharmacies for vaccinations. Are they going to have the resources they need? When I talk to people within the national pharmacies, they say they could potentially do 100 million vaccinations a month. So, that would obviously be a huge consideration.

And then the supply you mentioned, Jake. That's been a mess.

TAPPER: Yes.

GUPTA: I mean, it's still back and forth. How many shots do we really have in this country? Something else president-elect Biden addressed as well. So, it's funny. I made a list of things yesterday after his speech

that I wanted to see addressed, and they kind of got ticked off today; $160 billion is sort of the price tag for all that, Jake Tapper.

TAPPER: Yes, the toughest thing, the biggest challenge was finding a vaccine. Thank God our scientists and scientists around the world found vaccines. Now comes the hard work.

But, as Biden pointed out, this rollout has been a -- quote -- "dismal failure."

He says he's convinced that the United States government, under his leadership, not the -- whatever we have now, can turn it around. You are convinced that they can, that they will be able to?

GUPTA: I -- they have set this goal Jacob 100 million shots in 100 days.

To be frank, I think that's probably under undershooting a bit. We're close to that now. I think, day before yesterday, there was some 900,000 vaccines that went in. And we really -- there's not really a coordinated response right now. There's not these community centers that we're talking about. There's been understaffing of health care workers.

The online pharmacies have been focused on long-term care facilities. My point is this. If you start to bring all these different groups together, and even reimbursing the National Guard was something else he mentioned, so National Guard can be working in states, FEMA would be involved, yes, I think you could get to that number easily, frankly, and even higher, because, ultimately, we probably need to be getting some 200 million people vaccinated, 250 million.

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That could be 400 to 500 million shots. When I read his comments carefully yesterday, they believe they can get there, even without one of these other vaccines coming online, such as Johnson & Johnson or Oxford/AstraZeneca.

So, it's audacious, but it seems possible, Jake.

TAPPER: There are no more reserved second doses left to release, as promised by the Trump administration. This was shocking news. We're hearing now from governors, including the governor of Oregon, who are stunned to hear that the doses that they were planning for, the second doses for the people who already got the first, will not be arriving.

The governor of Oregon issuing a statement, saying -- quote -- "I am demanding answers from the Trump administration, I am shocked and appalled that they have set an expectation on which they could not deliver, with such grave consequences."

I mean, it really -- at some point, Sanjay, this is just complete dereliction of duty. I mean, I know President Trump has checked out. He's focused entirely on attending to his own fragile ego. I don't know what, like, Mike Pence is doing.

But there just isn't the federal leadership. I mean, how did this even happen?

GUPTA: I mean, come on at this point, right? I mean, we are in the middle of a public health emergency.

I cannot believe this at this point. This is the way it played out. You remember, Jake, the Biden administration, their corona task force folks came out and said, you know what, you should just release all the reserve doses. You should just do that. That's what they said they would do when taking office.

And, at first, that idea was sort of bashed by the current administration. And then the current administration said, yes, you know what, we will do that. We will go ahead and release all the reserve doses.

We come to find out that there are no reserve doses. And it's very hard for us as journalists to keep tabs on all the numbers. You remember, we originally told 40 million doses would go out by the end of 2020, 20 million from Pfizer, 20 million from Moderna. That was the expectation.

So, what was going on this entire time? We don't know. I think it was "The Washington Post" that first reported that Dr. Marcus Plescia, who is chief of the state association officials, said that this was essentially a paper exercise, that the stockpile, these reserve doses, were actually all on paper. They didn't actually exist.

My point is, these are some of the most precious commodities right now on the planet. Everybody wants these things, and we seem to have a hard time even accounting for them.

This is -- I mean, it's incompetence at this point. And it's such an easily fixable problem, and yet it's not being fixed.

TAPPER: Yes. It's just absolutely a disgrace.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks for joining us.

A reminder: Sanjay wrote a great book. It's called "Keep Sharp: How To Build a Better Brain at Any Age." It's fantastic. I just sent my dad a copy. And he's enjoying it very much, Sanjay. Thanks so much.

CNN's M.J. Lee is live in Wilmington.

And, M.J., president-elect Biden's vaccine plan is just one part of this massive $2 trillion recovery effort he's proposing.

Tell us more.

M.J. LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake.

The resounding message that we have gotten from the president-elect for months now is that Trump is not getting the job done both on COVID and also the vaccination front. And, yesterday, what we heard from him was sort of the money that he wants to pump into the economy, to the tune of $1.9 trillion.

And then what we heard today is sort of the second part of that, which is essentially how he is going to vaccinate the majority of the country. Remember, the goal is 100 million vaccine shots in the first 100 days that he is in office.

And I think the easiest way to boil this down for our viewers is, he's really talking about doing two things here. First is streamlining the process. And second is speeding things up.

In terms of streamlining, he's really saying, look, the federal government needs to take charge a lot more than the Trump administration has been doing. So, whether it is about setting up these federal vaccination sites, or using FEMA, using the Defense Production Act, and then, in terms of speeding things up, raising the eligibility, and making sure that there are more vaccines being produced.

I will tell you, Jake, though, for anyone that has been following this to any degree, these are all familiar ideas. We have heard about these ideas before.

I was struck. I think what we are missing at this point are the really fine details of how exactly he is going to execute these ideas. And that is going to be the challenge for the Trump -- for the Biden -- excuse me -- administration, is really figuring out how to execute on all of these broad ideas -- Jake.

TAPPER: Although it will be easier now that he's going to have a Democratic Senate and House.

M.J. Lee, thanks so much.

A D.C. police officer describes facing the MAGA terrorist mob.

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MICHAEL FANONE, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: And then some guy started getting ahold of my gun, and they were screaming out, "Kill him with his own gun."

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TAPPER: As the feds say, some of these terrorists aimed to actually assassinate elected officials.

And Trump finally built the wall. Unfortunately, it's around the nation's Capitol, even more layers of security protecting D.C. ahead of the inauguration over fear of another armed insurrection by Trump supporters.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: And in our national lead today: The Justice Department has now charged nearly 100 people and opened up 275 cases in connection to the terrorist siege of the Capitol last week, the Justice Department investigating a growing number of former and current law enforcement officers from other parts of the country who allegedly took part in the riots.

This news comes as Washington, D.C., looks more and more like a militarized state, like Fallujah maybe a decade or so ago, razor wire, barricades, police checkpoints all being installed around a massive so-called Green Zone. They're actually calling it a Green Zone, like there used to be in Baghdad, to shut down and protect key parts of the city ahead of the inauguration.

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As Alex Marquardt reports, Washington, D.C., is facing an enormous security challenge.

And I want to warn you: Some of the images we're about to show you, well, they're disturbing.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The American capitol now a fortress, unprecedented scenes, as Washington and the country brace for more violence around Joe Biden's inauguration.

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM WALKER, COMMANDING GENERAL, NATIONAL GUARD: People should be aware that we have a new national security environment we're operating in.

MARQUARDT: A new bulletin from the country's main security agencies warning: "Domestic extremists who believe the election was stolen from Donald Trump are the main threats."

Today, D.C.'s mayor, police, Secret Service and others trying to reassure a nervous country the inauguration will go well.

ROBERT CONTEE III, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: All of our officers will be on hand to participate in ensuring a peaceful day.

MARQUARDT: New 12-foot fencing with concrete bases around the Capitol complex, the National Mall officially closed until after the inauguration, threats being monitored across the country.

At least a dozen states have activated the National Guard to secure their capitols.

MATT MILLER, U.S. SECRET SERVICE: We have so many assets inside the Penn Quarter-Capitol area that there is the potential for people to go elsewhere, whether it's back to their state capitals or to other parts of the city.

MARQUARDT: Few specific threats, the FBI says, but lots of worrying chatter.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are seeing an extensive amount of concerning online chatter.

MARQUARDT: Now nine days after the storming of the Capitol Building, we're learning how much worse things could have been.

Federal prosecutors allege there is "strong evidence that the intent of the Capitol riders was to capture and assassinate elected officials." The government said the evidence was not direct, but they are pursuing it, based on evidence they have, that allegation from a court filing against this man, Jacob Chansley, whose lawyer places the blame squarely on President Trump.

AL WATKINS, ATTORNEY FOR JACOB CHANSLEY: He was there at the invitation of our president.

MARQUARDT: Chansley is one of around 100 suspects charged according to federal officials. There are around 300 cases opened by U.S. investigators.

And a terrifying new revelation, "The Washington Post" reporting that Vice President Mike Pence was even closer to the rioters than previously known, "The Post" reporting that, as this heroic officer led rioters away from the Senate chamber, Pence and his family were less than 100 feet away in another room, reportedly staying out of the view of the mob by mere seconds.

D.C. police officers are now describing their terrifying ordeals to CNN.

FANONE: I was beaten from, like, every direction, and then Tased a number of times on the back of my neck.

And then some guy started getting ahold of my gun, and they were screaming out, "Kill him with his own gun."

MARQUARDT: Officer Daniel Hodges was brutally crushed in a doorway as rioters charged in.

DANIEL HODGES, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: There was a guy ripping my mask off, and he was he was able to rip away my baton and beat me with it. And he was practically foaming at the mouth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Just incredible and infuriating stories there.

Now, Jake, we have also just learned that, two days before the insurrection at the Capitol, a memo was sent to members of Congress banning tours of the congressional buildings on January 6. That's the day of the election certification. Now, since then, some Democrats have accused Republican members of

helping the insurrectionist by giving them tours before that rioting. Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill, she called them reconnaissance missions.

Now, there's no proof so far that Republican members were complicit, but a law enforcement official does tell CNN that they are looking into the possibility that those Republicans unwittingly helped give people who were later part of that mob a lay of the land -- Jake.

TAPPER: Pretty stunning.

Alex Marquardt, thanks so much.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Anthony Brown of Maryland. He's a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Speaker Pelosi today said that she supports your calls for a 9/11- style commission to investigate the federal government's failures around last week's attack.

You write -- quote -- "The alarm bells have been ringing for over a decade" -- unquote.

How do we prevent the next attack?

REP. ANTHONY BROWN (D-MD): Sure.

Well, first of all, Jake, I think there are two things you have to do.

First -- and Speaker Pelosi just asked General Honore to lead an investigation into the command-and-control regarding security around the Capitol, the physical infrastructure, the interagency coordination. That's in the immediate. That's in the short term.

But what Mikie Sherrill and Jackie Speier and a number of other members of Congress and I are calling for is a broader investigation, a commission that looks at the growing, the prevalence of domestic terrorism throughout this country.

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