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The Lead with Jake Tapper

White House Holds Press Briefing; President Biden Lays Out COVID-19 Response Plan. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired January 21, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

It is day one of the Biden presidency.

And any moment, we expect an update on the coronavirus pandemic from new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci. It was, in fact, one year ago today that the very first case of coronavirus in the U.S. was reported.

And now more than 24 million Americans have been infected. More than 408,000 Americans have been killed by the virus. Yesterday, the day that Joe Biden became president, was the second deadliest of the pandemic so far for the U.S., more than 4, 300 Americans lost to coronavirus in one single day.

In just the last hour, President Biden unveiled more of his pandemic plan, called it a wartime undertaking. He signed 10 executive orders, including orders to accelerate and expand the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, as well as testing for the virus to identify and isolate it, and also the manufacturer of personal protective equipment.

Right now, at the current pace of vaccinations, it will take until summer 2022 to fully vaccinate every U.S. adult, according to a CNN analysis. And even if Biden reaches his goal of a million shots per day, it would still take until spring 2022. Biden sources tell CNN that the Trump administration essentially had no comprehensive distribution strategy at all.

So, the Biden team says they will have to start from square one and -- quote -- "from scratch."

Now, given that we know 16 million vaccines have been administered, that claim from the Biden team demands a further explanation. And we anticipate reporters will ask about that momentarily. We will bring that press conference to you live.

Now, President Biden is eager to break from his predecessor's handling of the pandemic, of course. The new president warns this is a -- quote -- "wartime undertaking."

And CNN's Kaitlan Collins joins us now.

And, Kaitlan, how is President Biden managing expectations for this new COVID response plan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think he that is managing them, because, of course, one thing he said is, this is not going a matter of moments, this is going to take several months, because it took a long time to get to the position that we're in now.

You just noted it was only a year ago that that first case was reported. We don't know about diagnosed, but actually reported. And so it does show you how long it's taken to get here. And he is believing it's going to take a long time to get out.

And the question is how he's going to do that and how he is going to try to speed that up by using the federal government. And so that's why you saw President Biden signing that nearly dozen executive orders and actions today that really have to do with all aspects of the coronavirus response, Jake, when it comes to the supply chain, worker safety, travel, schools, the global response, really these issues all over the place.

And he was kind of just numbering off as he was going through and signing these orders in front of the cameras earlier. And, of course, the question is about the vaccine distribution plan and what that's going to look like under the Biden team, because you're already hearing from his advisers, especially his coronavirus coordinator, who was saying that, because of the lack of cooperation, they say, from the Trump administration, they didn't have good visibility into the state of supplies and the state of vaccines.

And they say, basically, they inherited a worse problem than what they thought it was actually going to look like, though we had a pretty good indication of where it was, given, in December, we were talking about how we weren't where we were expecting to be, where the Trump administration was telling us we were going to be.

So I think that's the big question going forward. One thing that we should note, as we saw President Biden earlier, Dr. Anthony Fauci was also in the room, along with several other health professionals, and, of course, the new vice president...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: OK, Kaitlan -- Kaitlan, the press conference is starting. So we're going to bring it to the American people now.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good afternoon.

Thank you for joining us today. Many familiar faces from yesterday back again.

We are pleased to have Dr. Fauci here with us, as part of the president's commitment to have public health experts lead our communication with the American people about the pandemic. Just to give you a bit of a run of show here, Dr. Fauci will speak at

the top about the state of the pandemic, the status of vaccines. He will take some of your questions.

I will play the role of the bad cop, when it's time for him to go and get to the work of the American people. And then I will do a topper, and I will answer a bunch of your questions as well.

So, there's lots to come after this.

With that, I will turn it over to Dr. Fauci.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: Thank you very much.

And I'm going to just spend a couple of minutes just summarizing the status of where we are, and then maybe addressing some of the things that I know are on people's minds.

So, first of all, obviously, we are still in a very serious situation. I mean, to have over 400,000 deaths is something that is, unfortunately, historic, in the very -- in the very bad sense.

[16:05:01]

When you look at the number of new infections that we have, it's still at a very, very high rate. Hospitalizations are up. There are certain areas of the country, as I think you're all familiar with, which are really stressed from the standpoint of beds, from the standpoint of the stress on the health care system.

However, when you look more recently at the seven-day average of cases -- remember, we were going between 300,000 and 400,000 and 200,000 and 300,000 -- right now, it looks like it might actually be plateauing, in the sense of turning around.

Now, there's good news in that, but you have to be careful that we may not be seeing perhaps an artifact, an artifact of the slowing down following the holidays. So, when we see that, we think it's real, but one of the things -- and it's interesting. I'm sort of getting a deja vu standing up here, because I said something like this almost a little bit less than a year ago, when we were talking about the acceleration of cases in the late winter, early spring of 2020, when we were having New York City metropolitan area being the epicenter of what was going on.

That there are always lags, so please be aware of that, that, when you have cases, and then a couple weeks later, you see it represented in hospitalizations, intensive care, and then a couple of weeks later in deaths.

So, you have almost the paradoxical curves, where you see something plateauing and maybe coming down, at the same time as hospitalizations and deaths might actually be going up.

So, this is something that I just put on your radar screen. It is not an unusual thing to see that sort of thing. The other point I want to make is one that we're getting asked a lot

regarding questions. And that is, what is it about these mutants that you're hearing about, the mutants in the U.K., which we know are in about 20-plus states, the mutants that we're seeing in South Africa and in Brazil?

First of all, we need to understand that RNA viruses, like coronaviruses, mutate all the time. Most of the mutations don't have any physiological relevance with regard to the function of the virus itself.

However, every once in a while, you get mutations, either singly or clustered in combinations, which do have an impact.

So, what have we learned thus far? And I want to emphasize thus far, because we're paying very, very careful attention to this, and we take it very seriously.

At least from the experience that our colleagues in the U.K. have had, the one that is in the U.K. appears to have a greater degree of transmissibility, about twice as much as what we call the wild-type original virus.

The one that is in South Africa is a bit different. And I will get to that in a second. So, it does look like it increases the transmissibility. They say, correctly, on a one-to-one basis, it doesn't seem to make the virus more virulent or have a greater chance of making you seriously ill or killing you.

However, we shouldn't be lulled into complacency about that, because if you have a virus that's more transmissible, you're going to get more cases. When you get more cases, you're going to get more hospitalizations. And when you get more hospitalizations, you're ultimately going to get more deaths.

So, even though the virus on a one-to-one basis isn't more serious, the phenomenon of a more transmissible virus is something that you take seriously.

The next thing is, does it change enough to interfere with the efficacy of a whole group of monoclonal antibodies that many of you are aware of, the monoclonal antibodies that are being used for treatment in some cases and prevention?

Since monoclonal antibodies bind to a very specific part of the virus, when there's a mutation there, it has much greater a chance of obliterating the efficacy of a monoclonal antibody. And we're seeing, in the much more concerning mutations that are in South Africa and in some respects Brazil, which is similar to South Africa, that it is having an effect on the monoclonal antibodies.

The real question that people are quite clearly interested in is, what is the impact on the vaccine? And so far, literally, we have this new phenomenon that are pre-print journals, where people get data and they put it into a pre-print server, where it hasn't yet been peer- reviewed. But you have to pay attention to it, because it gives you good

information quickly. Ultimately, it gets confirmed. And we're seeing them coming out over the last few days. And what they're saying is that what we likely will be seeing is a diminution, more South Africa than U.K. -- U.K. -- is a diminution in what would be the efficacy of the vaccine-induced antibodies.

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Now, that does not mean that the vaccines will not be effective. And let me explain why. There's a thing called a cushion effect. So, if you have a vaccine like the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccine that can suppress the virus at a dilution, let's say, one to 1,000, and the mutant influences it by bringing it down to maybe one to 800 or something like that, you're still well above the line of not being effective.

So, there's that cushion that, even though it's diminished somewhat, it still is effective. That's what we're seeing both certainly with the U.K., which is very minimal effect. We're following very carefully the one in South Africa, which is a little bit more concerning, but, nonetheless, not something that we don't think that we can handle.

What is the message? Because someone could say, now, wait a minute, if you have the possibility that the vaccines are diminishing in their impact, why are we vaccinating people? No, it is all the more reason why we should be vaccinating as many people as you possibly can, because, as long as the virus is out there replicating, viruses don't mutate unless they replicate.

And if you can suppress that by a very good vaccine campaign, then you could actually avoid this deleterious effect that you might get from the mutations.

Bottom line, we're paying very close attention to it. There are alternative plans. If we ever have to modify the vaccine, that is not something that is a very onerous thing. We can do that, given the platforms we have.

But right now, from the reports we have literally as of today, it appears that the vaccines will still be effective against them, with the caveat in mind you want to pay close attention to it.

So, Jen, why don't I stop there and maybe just answer some questions on anything else that I said.

So, yes?

QUESTION: How helpful would it have been if Amazon got involved with the federal response to COVID-19 before Biden took office? And do you know about any plans or discussions ahead of yesterday?

FAUCI: No, I don't think I could answer that question. I'd be waving my hands about that. Sorry.

You know, one of the new things in this administration is, if you don't know the answer, don't guess. Just say you don't know the answer.

Yes. Yes.

QUESTION: Dr. Fauci, a couple of questions, if I might.

I'd like to follow up with you on what you just said about this strain in South Africa. Has that strain made its way to the United States? And what, if any, concerns do you have? How much do we understand about that?

FAUCI: Great question.

Thus far, it does not appear at all the South African strain is in the United States. However, we must be honest and say that the level of comprehensive sequence surveillance thus far is not at the level that we would have liked. So we're going to be looking very, very carefully for it.

But given the information we have today, it doesn't appear that the South African strain is here.

QUESTION: OK.

And if I could just ask you about the effort to distribute the vaccines, because, of course, that's what most people want to know. When are they going to get a vaccine?

Is the Biden administration starting from scratch with the vaccine distribution effort, or are you picking up where the Trump administration left off?

FAUCI: No, I mean, we certainly are not starting from scratch, because there is activity going on in the distribution.

But if you look at the plan that the president has put forth about the things that he's going to do, namely, get community vaccine centers up, get pharmacies more involved, where appropriate, get the Defense Production Act involved, not only perhaps with getting more vaccine, but even the things you need to get a good vaccine program, for example, needles and syringes that might be more useful in that.

So, it's taking what's gone on, but amplifying it in a big way.

QUESTION: President Biden said that what was left was abysmal, essentially.

Is there anything actionable that you are taking from the previous administration?

FAUCI: Well...

QUESTION: And is that delaying your efforts to get the vaccine? I mean, that's the question.

FAUCI: No. I mean, we're coming in with fresh ideas, but also some ideas that were not bad ideas with the previous administration. You can't say it was absolutely not usable at all. So, we are

continuing, but you're going to see a real ramping up of it.

QUESTION: One more final question.

You had said that most people would be vaccinated by the middle of 2021. Is that still your expectation?

FAUCI: Yes, it is.

I mean, I believe that the goal that was set by the president of getting 100 million people vaccinated in the first 100 days is quite a reasonable goal.

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And when you get to the point -- and one of the things that I think is something we need to pay attention to -- and I, quite frankly, have been spending a considerable amount of my own time -- is outreaching, particularly to minority communities, to make sure that you get them to be vaccinated, and you explain why it's so important for themselves, their family and their community.

If we get 70 percent to 85 percent of the country vaccinated, let's say by the end of the summer, middle of the summer, I believe, by the time we get to the fall, we will be approaching a degree of normality. It's not going to be perfectly normal, but one that I think will take a lot of pressure off the American public.

QUESTION: You're one of the few holdovers from the previous administration to this current one.

What has been your experience with this new team? And, in your view, what would have been different in terms of the trajectory of this outbreak from the start had a team like this been in place at the beginning?

FAUCI: Well, I can tell you my impression of what's going on right now, the team.

I don't know if I can extrapolate other things. But one of the things that was very clear as recently as about 15 minutes ago, when I was with the president, is that one of the things that we're going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest, if things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them, and to make everything we do be based on science and evidence.

I mean, that was literally a conversation I had 15 minutes ago with the president. And he has said that multiple times.

QUESTION: And is there anything that you, looking back on your comments over the last 10 or 12 months, would like to now, with that sort of license, to amend or clarify?

FAUCI: No, I mean, I always said everything on the basis -- that's why I got in trouble sometimes. QUESTION: You mentioned pharmacies.

The new CDC director said today that the goal of getting vaccinations into pharmacies by the end of next month isn't realistic, as had been previously suggested. When will most Americans be able to get a vaccination in their neighborhood pharmacy?

FAUCI: Well, I'm -- I didn't hear that comment.

Are you talking about Dr. Walensky's comment? I didn't hear that comment, so I don't really want to comment on the comment.

But what she may be saying is that for many people in this country who don't have access to a pharmacy, they may not be able to utilize getting things in the pharmacy. I'm not sure. I want to be careful, because I'm not sure that's what she said.

We just had a conversation about how we're going to get vaccines to people who are in pharmacy desert areas, where they don't have easy access to a pharmacy. That's something we're working on and taking very seriously.

QUESTION: But, just to be clear, if you are in an area where you do have access to a CVS or a Walgreens...

FAUCI: Right.

QUESTION: ... when will you be able to get access to this vaccine like you would a flu vaccine?

FAUCI: You know, in the spirit of not guessing, I really am not quite sure when that will be, but we can get back to you on that.

QUESTION: And just on a broader timeline, you mentioned the fall. We just heard the president say, the brutal truth is that it is going to be several more months.

Just to be clear, you're saying, by the fall, the majority of Americans...

FAUCI: No.

QUESTION: ... you think will be vaccinated?

FAUCI: No, I didn't say that.

I said, if we get the majority of Americans, 75 percent to 85 percent, vaccinated by then, we could have a degree of herd immunity that would get us back to normal.

The concern I have, and something we're working on, is getting people who have vaccine hesitancy, who don't want too get vaccinated, because many people are skeptical about that. So, we really need to do a lot of good outreach for that.

I mean, I don't know what the best-case -- the best-case scenario, if it were for me, is that we'd get 85 percent of the people vaccinated by the end of the summer. If we do, then, by the time we get to the fall, I think we can approach a degree of normality.

QUESTION: Dr. Fauci, on the mutations that you were talking about, a question about how exactly they increase transmissibility.

FAUCI: Yes.

QUESTION: Is it -- does it take less exposure time to get...

(CROSSTALK)

FAUCI: No, no.

What it is, is you can do in vitro in a test tube setting, binding an affinity to the receptors, what you have in your nose, in your lung, in your G.I. tract.

The receptor for the virus is called an ACE2 receptor. And the facility or affinity with which a virus binds to that means that it very likely will have a better efficiency of infection and replicate more in the nasopharynx.

So, that's how you make that determination, in the test tube. Then you look, epidemiologically, and you see a spike going up in the sense of number of cases, and they sort of match each other. A virus that has the ability to easily bind to and replicate with your receptors is one that likely will spread easier.

QUESTION: So it doesn't mean that you would have more viral load? You...

(CROSSTALK)

FAUCI: Oh, you could, yes.

In fact, it would mean, because, if it binds more easily, it could replicate in the nasopharynx more easily. And it is likely that you would have a higher viral load.

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QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) make masks less effective in that case?

FAUCI: No, it makes it the reason why you absolutely should be wearing a mask. It doesn't necessarily make it less effective. If you properly wear a mask, then you will be OK.

QUESTION: Then, on the U.K. strain, do you have any data on how widespread that strain is in the United States?

FAUCI: Well, I think it's in at least 20 states that people have mentioned. Exactly -- the real question that's going to be asked, is it going to become the dominant strain, or will the strains we already have prevent it from flourishing and being in the more dominant strain? But it is here, for sure.

Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Dr. Fauci.

FAUCI: Yes.

QUESTION: Just a follow-up on vaccines.

Some state and local authorities are saying that they would be able to distribute more vaccines if they had more. Is the Biden administration now trying to increase production by Moderna and Pfizer in the next six weeks?

FAUCI: Yes, as well as to utilize what we hope will be another player in the field, the J&J, Janssen, as well as other of the companies, but also, as the president has said in his plan, to do whatever he can to expand the availability of vaccines, whatever that is.

I mean, he said that he's going to just use every possibility, including the Defense Production Act.

QUESTION: And can you explain the discrepancy between what some states are saying about needing more vaccines and the CDC saying that a lot of vaccine is still remaining on people's -- or on their shelves?

FAUCI: Yes, you know, I think that -- that is something we need to really take a close look at, because that is sort of an inconsistent discrepancy.

And then one of the things we want to do is to find out why that's the case, and, if it is the case, particularly, the thing that would be most disturbing, if there's vaccine laying around, and people are not using it, when others would need it.

But I don't know the answer to that question, but we need to look into it.

QUESTION: Dr. Fauci...

(CROSSTALK)

FAUCI: Yes.

QUESTION: You have joked a couple times today already about the difference, in -- that you feel in being kind of the spokesperson for this issue in this administration vs. the previous one.

Can you can you talk a little bit about how free -- how much different? Do you feel less constrained? What is the -- you know, you -- for so many times you stood up behind the podium with Donald Trump standing behind you, that was a different -- that was a different feeling, I'm sure, than it is today.

Can you talk a little bit about how you feel kind of released from what you had been doing for the last year?

FAUCI: Yes, but you said I was joking about it. I was very serious about it.

(LAUGHTER)

FAUCI: I wasn't joking.

No, actually, I mean, obviously, I don't want to be going back over history. But it was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable, because they were not based on scientific fact.

I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president. So, it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something, and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it.

The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling.

QUESTION: You were basically banished for a few months there for a while.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Do you feel like you're back now?

FAUCI: I think so.

(LAUGHTER)

PSAKI: Well...

FAUCI: OK.

QUESTION: ... that's Mike Shear. You don't want to questions from him in the future.

(LAUGHTER)

PSAKI: Thank you, Dr. Fauci, so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

And we will have him back again. So...

FAUCI: All right, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

PSAKI: Well, thank you, everyone. As I promised, we will have a full briefing from here.

So, as you know, just a few moments ago, the president also released a national COVID-19 strategy and signed 10 executive orders and other directives to move quickly to contain the crisis. Underpinning everything the president signed today and everything we do every day will be equity.

Some highlights of those actions include an executive order to fill supply shortfalls for vaccinations, testing, and PPE. The president directed agencies to exercise all appropriate authorities, including the Defense Production Act, to accelerate manufacturing and delivering of supplies, such as N95 masks, gowns, gloves, PCR swabs, test reagents, and necessary equipment and material for the vaccine.

The president also signed a presidential memorandum to increase federal reimbursement to states and tribes for the cost of National Guard personnel, emergency supplies, and the personnel and equipment needed to create vaccination centers.

An executive order that established a COVID-19 pandemic testing board to bring the full force of the federal government's expertise to expanding testing supply and increasing access to testing.

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An executive order to bolster access to COVID-19 treatments and clinical care, establishing a comprehensive and coordinated pre- clinical drug discovery and development program to allow therapeutics to be evaluated and developed in response to pandemic threats.

Sorry. I had to clear my throat. There's a lot here.

He also issued an executive order directing the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to provide guidance on safe reopening and operating for schools, child care providers, and institutions of higher education.

An executive order on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to immediately release clear guidance for employers to help keep workers safe from COVID-19 exposure.

An executive order to require mask-wearing in airports or certain modes of public transportation, including many trains, airplanes, maritime vessels, and intercity buses.

And an executive order establishing a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, something we had previously announced, but making it official today, to provide specific recommendations to the president for allocating resources and funding in communities with inequities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, and other considerations.

These steps, of course, build on the actions we announced yesterday.

I had an additional update. Some of you may have seen this come out through last -- late last night. But I wanted to share with you that, as a result of one of the executive orders President Biden signed yesterday, the acting homeland security secretary issued a memorandum to review and reset immigration enforcement priorities.

For 100 days beginning tomorrow, the Department of Homeland Security will pause removals for certain individuals. This pause will allow the administration to review and reset enforcement policies and ensure that resources are dedicated to the most pressing challenges and that we have a fair and effective enforcement system rooted in responsibly managing the border and protecting our national security and public safety.

I had one other item I just wanted to flag for you about something the first lady is up to.

Let me see if I can find that, or I will circle back to it a little bit later.

With that, I'm happy to take your questions.

Zeke, why don't you kick us off?

QUESTION: Thanks, Jen.

There was some reporting earlier today about the president's commitment to extending -- extending New START. Can you talk about the president's directive on that front has been?

Additionally, did he -- can you confirm that the president requested reports from the new DNI for an assessment on potential foreign interference in the 2020 election and also the SolarWinds hack.

PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

I can confirm that the United States intends to seek a five-year extension of New START, as the treaty permits. The president has long been clear that the New START treaty is in the national security interest of the United States.

And this extension makes even more sense when the relationship with Russia is adversarial, as is it at this time. New START is the only remaining treaty constraining Russian nuclear forces and is an anchor of strategic stability between our two countries.

And to the other part of your question, even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, so, too, we work to hold Russia to account for its reckless and adversarial actions. And, to this end, the president is also issuing a tasking to the intelligence community for its full assessment of the SolarWinds cyber-breach, Russian interference in the 2020 election, its use of chemical weapons against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the alleged bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

So, that's -- hopefully answered all of it. That was a mouthful. QUESTION: And just changing gears for a quick second just to COVID,

the negotiations with Capitol Hill, how long is the president willing to pursue bipartisanship?

Democrats are already talking about a reconciliation process. Is there -- given the critical need for some sort of aid here the president's talking about, is there a deadline at which he's going -- he's giving Republicans by -- is it February 1, is it President's Weekend, by which he will say, no, we're going to do this by reconciliation ahead?

PSAKI: Well, I'm not going to set any deadlines on our first full day in office.

But I will say -- and, hopefully, I will have more for all of you on this tomorrow -- we are going to be increasing our engagements. It's already been ongoing, even before the president was inaugurated yesterday.

But, hopefully, we will have more to share you tomorrow on meetings, engagements, discussions that will be going on with leaders on Capitol Hill and many members over the course of the next several days.

As I conveyed to all of you yesterday, his preference and priority is a bipartisan package and working with members of both parties to come to agreement on that, because he believes that the crises facing the American people.

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