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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Biden Targets Climate Change; Republican Party Still Party of Trump?; CDC: New Study Finds Very Few COVID Cases in Schools When Precautions Are in Place. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired January 27, 2021 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:30:00]

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: And we see that with Kevin McCarthy making this pilgrimage to Florida to get his marching orders from Donald Trump. This isn't going to be sort of a collaborative give-and-take meeting.

This is going to be a Trump telling Kevin McCarthy what he wants to see out of his allies in the House and also the Senate. So, we will see what Kevin McCarthy says when he comes back. But we can already see from Kevin McCarthy knowing the power of Donald Trump, and the way he's shifted in terms of his response to January 6.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: CNN's KFILE yesterday broke the story of Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia, who's already known as a bigot and a conspiracy theorist, but KFILE uncovered that she repeatedly indicated support on Facebook, literally, for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019.

Axios is reporting that McCarthy says he plans to discuss this with Greene. I don't really take that particularly seriously. But if -- how would an actual House Republican leader handle this, Gloria?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: An actual one? Yes.

TAPPER: Well, somebody who actually believes in what the Republican Party, what I thought the Republican Party stood for, which is not conspiracy theories.

BORGER: Right.

And she says, oh, other people were liking things for her, that it wasn't real. Look, you would have to do an investigation. And how about what they did for Steve King, which was -- and it took them a long time, by the way, but after he said he didn't see what was so wrong with some white supremacist language, they stripped him of his committee assignments.

It took a long time. But if somebody is behaving this way, and somebody is doing such odious things, then you -- there has to be a punishment, unless, unless this is what the Republican Party wants to stand for. I think they have to make a decision here. There has to be a line that

cannot be crossed. And the question they have to answer is, where's that line for the Republican Party? I think it's been crossed in her case.

But, obviously, he's going to meet whether. He's going to do -- maybe he's going to warn her, you do this anymore, and you're going to lose your committee assignments. But it has to be public and it has to be quick.

TAPPER: And she's been appointed to the House Education and Labor Committee.

BORGER: Yes.

TAPPER: There's a report from Media Matters showing that she agreed with social media commentators that the Parkland shooting was a false flag operation, meaning anti-gun people did it and it wasn't real. I mean, it's just -- it's just crazy.

BORGER: Yes.

TAPPER: It's just absolutely crazy.

Now she's going to have a hand in overseeing our nation's schools. Nia?

HENDERSON: Right.

It's crazy and it's dangerous. I mean, the FBI has said that QAnon conspiracy theorists represent a domestic terrorist, right? And we saw some of that visited on the Capitol on January 6. The problem here is, if you look at some of the polling, anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of Republicans and Trump supporters believe some part of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

In terms of Kevin McCarthy, he has already said that Marjorie Taylor Greene has denounced QAnon, when, actually, she hasn't denounced QAnon. So, he has already sort of made an exception for her by saying that she's denounced it and by already putting her on these committees and allowing her to serve on those committees.

He's got a real problem on his hands, because there is some element -- and it's not really a fringe element -- of the Republican Party that believes part of these conspiracy theories. And that's a real problem for the party. But it's also a real problem for the country, because these people are dangerous.

BORGER: And I should say there are Democrats who are saying she should not be seated on that committee.

TAPPER: There are -- I mean, this might beat Donald Trump's longest- lasting legacy is mainstreaming all this complete insanity.

Nia-Malika Henderson, Gloria Borger, thanks to both of you.

BORGER: Sure.

TAPPER: President Trump called it a hoax, but now it's a matter of national security to the Biden White House,.

We will bring you that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:52]

TAPPER: In our Earth Matters series: It is climate day at the White House.

President Biden has just signed three executive orders to try to begin to combat what he calls the existential threat of climate change. His orders are seeking to protect 30 percent of all U.S. land and water by 2030. He will stop all oil and gas leases on federal land. And he will officially elevate the climate crisis to being an essential element of national security and foreign policy.

This is the first major step by the Biden administration to try to reverse the damage done, including by the Trump administration's denial of the existence of climate change.

CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, joins me now.

So, Bill, obviously the bar was set about as low as can be by the Trump administration. How big of an impact do you think these executive orders will have? Or is it just a matter of sending a signal, and much more needs to be done?

BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CHANGE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's -- I'm going to use Greta Thunberg's analogy of that our house was on fire. And relative to today, Barack Obama was trying to put it out with like a garden hose and some neighbors, and then Trump came along and sprayed gasoline and kindling on it for four years.

And now here comes Joe Biden with 10 fire trucks. Now, this fire is going to take 100,000 fire trucks to put out, but at least we have firemen on the scene with hoses who seem to care.

Yes, it is really messaging from the bully pulpit that this is not a story about starving polar bears. This is about your life, your fortune, your health, your children. It affects everything from food to transportation to housing, every part of us.

And I know scientists and universities and labs around the world will sleep better tonight after being written off, all their hard work. And this is the first step.

TAPPER: Yes, the first step.

There is understandable concern among some industries that these actions, especially halting oil or gas leases, switching to federal cars -- switching the federal fleet of cars to electric, is going to result in the loss of jobs by some industries. Take a listen to President Biden's special presidential envoy for

climate, John Kerry. And this is what he had to say about that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: Workers have been Fed a false narrative -- no surprise -- right, for the last few years.

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They have been fed the notion that somehow dealing with climate is coming at their expense. No, it's not.

What President Biden wants to do is make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, that they can be the people who go to work to make the solar panels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, that's an optimistic take. Obviously, the cost of doing nothing is hideous and not an option.

But is it not likely that Biden's actions will result in job losses that Biden and the Congress need to do something to fix, to help?

WEIR: Absolutely.

And I thought one of the most intriguing moments today, Gina McCarthy, his climate hawk from Boston, who's talking about putting under the social climate justice, the climate justice umbrella, which normally you talk about, these are communities of color on fence lines next to big chemical plants and are breathing poison all day, he wants to put coal miners in there and power plant workers, and that we should think of them -- I was -- the analogy is more like, we should think of them as veterans, not villains.

They got dirty, dirtier than most, building these countries, and they need to be brought along in a safe way. And what he's proposing with these, it's not the Green New Deal, which was easy to make fun of, because you thought that was going to be one big bill. But that was just a set of principles that's in all of these orders, which is, we have to take care of everybody and we're really calling for an Industrial Revolution 2.0.

But what took 150 years, now we have to do in 30. And so all of those hardhats and guys with calluses, we need every single one of them, is what he's saying here, just to transition to something that is in your skill set. You don't tell a 50-year-old sheet metal worker you're going to learn to write computer code.

No. If you're a driller of oil, you can drill for geothermal, or you can cap the two to three million wells that are leaking methane right now. And, as you said, the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, had a report where the hidden costs dirty fuel on our bodies, on our health and on our environment is $5.2 trillion a year. That's like 7 percent of the global GDP. And these are not tree-

hugging hippies. This is the IMF. And there are even studies that say that the health savings just from air pollution that is eliminated could pay for a lot of these transitions.

And then the question is also whether oil companies should have to pay. A lot of coal companies went belly up and they left a mess uncleaned. And so, yes, it -- there's a reason to be scared, because, in the past, it's been done very poorly.

TAPPER: Yes.

And we're going to keep up as you continue to cover this issue for us. We're going to keep up with those jobs and those families who will be affected, because they need to be taken care of in this revolution.

Bill Weir, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

A growing fight right now between teachers and school districts across America, it is forcing the new Biden administration to make a tough political choice.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:47:45]

TAPPER: In the health lead now -- all over the country, in Chicago, in Montclair, New Jersey, Las Vegas and beyond, there's a recognize reckoning of reopening schools. A new CDC released study found little COVID transmission in one Wisconsin school district if proper precautions were taken. But that costs money, for better ventilation, for testing, for smaller class size, for PPE, money that many school districts do not have.

And some teachers unions are leading the fight against reopening schools in the name of safety -- as CNN's Omar Jimenez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you, as a teacher, prepared to strike if necessary?

LAURA TORRES, SPANISH LANGUAGE TEACHER, MONROE ELEMENTARY IN CHICAGO: I am.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Laura Torres is a Spanish teacher at a Chicago elementary school in the middle of a battle as what she sees as her livelihood and her life. Chicago public schools, nation's third largest school district is pushing to have kindergarten through eighth grade students return in person to the classroom. As it stands right now, you don't feel the school district is doing enough?

TORRES: I don't. I need to worry about not just what my students are facing, but also what my family and myself are facing. I think it's okay that at a time like this that I take a step back and consider me.

JIMENEZ: But Chicago school district says it has put in place safety strategies, like masking, smaller class sizes, hand sanitizing stations, air purifiers and daily screening for the thousands of pre-K and special education students who were able to return weeks ago.

JANICE JACKSON, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: To date, we've not had to close a single school due to outbreaks of COVID-19.

JIMENEZ: That's not enough for Torres and the Chicago teachers union, which this week voted to stay in remote learning just as the district was getting ready to reopen. The union demanding vaccinations and mass testing for students and staff among other things, before teachers step foot back in the classroom. A goal president Biden laid out in his first few days in office.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need testing for teachers as well as students and we need the capacity, the capacity to know that, in fact, the sick -- the circumstances in the school is safe and secure for everyone.

JIMENEZ: But the president and his team are walking a political tightrope. On one hand, claiming to support the science of COVID-19, which as chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has said for months --

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Close the bars and keep the schools open.

JIMENEZ: Shows very little risk of transmission at brick and mortar schools, while on the other hand wanting to support teachers unions.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Why do you think the unions in many cases are overruling what the studies show?

RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think unions are overruling studies. I think you're seeing schools that haven't made the investments to keep the students safe -- most teachers want to be back in the classroom. They want to know that it's safe.

JIMENEZ: It's not just Chicago dealing with this issue. This week in Montclair, New Jersey, just outside of New York City, a similar fight, plans to reopen schools scrapped when teachers refused to return. In West Virginia, one of the state's largest teachers unions is suing the board of education, which voted unanimously to resume in-person learning by the end of the month. And in Los Angeles, the superintendent says all of its teachers should be vaccinated before returning to in-person instruction.

AUSTIN BEUTNER, LAUSDE SUPERINTENDENT: Once that's done, we'll be at the school front door with big smiles under our masks to welcome students and their teachers back to classrooms where they belong.

JIMENEZ: But as both sides of the debate await a solution, parents and students await answers, with the experiences to virtual school top of mind, given the educational, emotional, and even psychological trauma it's caused.

REELA GARCIA, MOTHER: They just walk away from the screens. You hear the teacher saying, okay, we don't see people. People are disappearing.

TORRES: The way they're learning right now is not the norm. But returning to school right now will not be school as they have known it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): Now, the teachers union has told members, be prepared to go on strike tomorrow if the city chooses to retaliate for members choosing to continue teaching remotely.

Today, by the way, was the day teachers were supposed to report back in person with over 70,000 K through 8 students, indicating they would be back in person here in Chicago on Monday. The question now is will teachers be joining them? Jake?

TAPPER: Omar Jimenez in Chicago, thank you so much. Appreciate that report.

The Bidens have changed lots of things at the White House already, except for one. We'll show you in a lighter part of the news today.

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TAPPER: Amidst all this rather heavy news, a lighter story now in our politics lead. One full week now in the White House, and the Bidens are doing what all families do when they move in to a new home, they're adding their own special touches from the moon rock now in the Oval Office to two new first dogs joining the ranks of Bo, Sonny and Barney.

CNN's Kate Bennett has a look inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A week after the Bidens walked into the White House, the new first family has already put its stamp on the presidential mansion, starting with the Oval Office where President Trump's controversial portrait of Andrew Jackson has been replaced with Ben Franklin. Gone is the bust of Winston Churchill. Hello labor leader Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt, a first lady Oval Office homage.

Biden also changed the rug, bringing back the one from Bill Clinton's era, ditching Trump's, which was used by Ronald Reagan.

But the new president did keep his predecessor's gold curtains. Upstairs, in the White House residence, the den Donald Trump used as a

bedroom, separate from the master suite occupied by Melania Trump has been returned to a den, the Bidens sharing the bedroom. As for the staff, the search is on for a new chief usher, who is in charge of running day-to-day operations of the White House, while the chefs are being kept busy.

DR. JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY: Chocolate chip cookies. I can't say that I baked them all myself.

BENNETT: Mood has also shifted. One source telling CNN, quote, the residence has life in it again. The extended Biden family, like the Trump family before them, is taking advantage of the White House, spending nights watching movies in the theater. No word that the Bidens will change the bowling balls Melania Trump had re-embossed to say the president's house not the people's house.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: People love what she did, and I love what she has done.

BENNETT: And presidential pets are back. The German shepherds champ and major moved into the White House on Sunday, another change from Trump who broke with tradition more than 100 years by not having a pet.

TRUMP: I wouldn't mind having one, honestly, but I don't have any time. I don't have -- how would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?

BENNETT: The dogs are cared for by chief White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney, who has walked presidential pets since Richard Nixon's Irish setter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BENNETT (on camera): Now, Jake, I should mention, we're still in a pandemic. The residence staff has received vaccination, at least one round of vaccinations, some of them have received two. They all wear masks. So, certainly, things are still safe in the executive residence.

And I'm also on cat watch. The Bidens say they will be adopting a cat. I don't know if you're at the shelter where your mom got her cats might be available but this is a chance for a pet adoption like none other.

TAPPER: Morris animal shelter in Philadelphia, we all give them a ring. Maybe they can get a first cat.

Kate, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

BENNETT: Thank you.

TAPPER: Before we go, we want to remember two of the lives lost to coronavirus. Penny Hubbard (ph) was 54 years old. She was a beloved presence at the

front desk of the animal health care of Marlboro, New Jersey. She was the kind of friend who gave great advice, always remembered your birthday. Her twin sister and best friend, Nancy, says Penny was a pure genius with animals.

Their mother Carolyn died over the weekend, just a week after her daughter Penny. Carolyn was 78 years old. She raised four children and adored with two grandchildren.

To the Hubbard family, our deepest condolences. May their memories be a blessing.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

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