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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Interview With Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Democrats Push Forward on COVID-19 Relief Bill; Commercial Pilots Out of Practice; Rep. Cheney Arrives for GOP Meeting that Could Decide Her Leadership Fate; McCarthy Condemns Rep. Greene's Statements But Blames Dems for Raising the Temperature. Aired 4:30-5p ET
Aired February 03, 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]
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: In one instance, a pilot forgot to engage the plane's critical anti-ice system. "This was my first flight in nearly three months," the pilot said. "I placed too much confidence in assuming that it would all come back to me as second nature."
PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: These kinds of fairly mundane, what appear to be mundane errors, can really result in terrible events.
MUNTEAN: Goelz says he is reminded of the 2006 Comair crash that killed everyone but the first officer, who was partly blamed for taking off from the wrong runway. The reports, which date back to the spring, do not specify where the incidents happened or the airlines involved.
JIM THOMAS, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT TRAINING, AMERICAN AIRLINES: Day to day, there's at least 400 that are in some sort of training environment.
MUNTEAN: American Airlines gave us an exclusive look at its program to keep pilots in practice. At its simulator center in Dallas, pilots are retrained before they return to the flight deck.
CURTIS JOENS, AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT: There has to be a bit of butterflies, sure. Oh, I'd acknowledge that, sure, a few butterflies.
MUNTEAN: Twenty-year American pilot Curtis Joens recently returned from a company leave of absence because of the pandemic.
JOENS: We don't just sit down and say, OK, start engines, and fly by the seat of our pants. We -- there's a checklist and a methodology for everything that we do, all the way from the preflight to starting engines to taxi to takeoff.
MUNTEAN: American analyzed its pilots and insists the pandemic has not led to a decline of their skills.
JOENS: Just realize you have got two pilots up there. They're supporting one another. They're watching one another. They're challenging one another.
MUNTEAN: The airline underscores that pilots discuss specific risks with each other before each flight, and they can request extra training.
THOMAS: We're not going to allow them to go fly the line until they're fully trained and ready to go fly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)'
MUNTEAN: Jake, as a pilot, I can tell you, flying is a perishable skill, and pilots are taught early on in their training to be especially cautious after taking a break.
There's been no uptick in crashes during the pandemic. But airlines tell us this is an issue they're going to keep an eye on -- Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you so much.
As the battle for the COVID relief bill heats up, President Biden has a warning for his own party. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:36:37]
TAPPER: In our politics lead, today, it was Senate Democrats in the Oval Office joining President Joe Biden, as he urged the party to stick together to pass a massive COVID relief deal, which includes $1,400 checks for millions of Americans.
The proposal as of now still has no Republican support.
But, as CNN's Phil Mattingly reports, President Biden reiterated his hope today that any plan would be bipartisan, even though it seems increasingly clear that the legislation can be as big as Biden wants it to be or it can be bipartisan, but it likely cannot be both.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Welcome, all, home.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden's lobbying blitz on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
BIDEN: I think we will get some Republicans.
MATTINGLY: Hopeful on GOP support, but, today, laser-focused on Democrats, underscoring the political dynamics at play.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president and the senators were also in agreement over the need to go big and to meet the challenges we face with a response that will get the job done.
MATTINGLY: Biden met with key Senate Democrats in the Oval Office and walked through his plan in detail to House Democrats by phone, where he stressed the need for the $1,400 direct payments.
BIDEN: I think we can better target the number. I'm OK with that. I'm not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.
MATTINGLY: A push coming is congressional Democrats are clear that just days after this:
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): We have just had a very productive, cordial two-hour meeting with the president.
MATTINGLY: They are prepared to move forward without GOP help.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): There's agreement, universal agreement, we must go big and bold. We cannot dawdle. We cannot delay. We cannot dilute.
MATTINGLY: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pointing to Biden's meeting with Republicans Monday night.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Yesterday, less than a day after several Senate Republicans spent literally two hours meeting with President Biden, Senate Democrats plowed ahead with a party-line vote to set the table for a partisan jam.
MATTINGLY: Biden, in his first sit-down interview with "People" magazine, making clear his family will play no role in his administration,
BIDEN: No one is our family, extended family, is going to be involved in any government undertaking or in foreign policy. And nobody has an office in this place.
MATTINGLY: A sharp departure from his predecessor, but one tested on Inauguration Day, when his brother Frank appeared in this act for Florida law firm.
While the White House has not commented directly on that ad, it has made clear they don't support any efforts to leverage Biden's name.
PSAKI: The president is committed to ensuring we have the most ethically vigorous administration in history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And, Jake, an administration official I was just speaking with said the president remains very serious about reaching some kind of bipartisan agreement.
His team circulating answers to several of the questions that senators had earlier this week, trying to address those questions. But the reality remains this. With Democrats on Capitol Hill moving forward, making clear they are unanimous in their support to move forward, as the administration official told me, Jake: "The clock is ticking."
TAPPER: All right, Phil Mattingly at the White House, thank you so much.
Joining us now to discuss, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Senator, thanks for joining us.
Can you give us a reality check of where this legislation stands? Are Senate Democrats negotiating with Republicans at all?
[16:40:00]
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): So, we have been negotiating with Republicans for the last several months.
And one of the real challenges we have had is responding to the need. My state is suffering. I just had a call with a lot of my advocates in the food space. People are hungry. Children are going to bed hungry. Seniors don't have enough food. Seniors are dying of isolation.
I mean, the reality of what's happening in my state is horrible. And so we need a generous and robust and bold package. We need something that actually adds to food stamps and to pandemic EBT, one that adds for housing, to health care workers, to job training.
And that's what the Republicans are unwilling to do. They are willing to do money for vaccines. Everyone is, but they're not willing to go the extra step to meet the need of the suffering.
TAPPER: President Biden said in the Oval Office that he thinks some Republicans will ultimately support the plan. I assume he's talking about the $1.9 trillion plan.
As of now, do you know of any Republicans on Capitol Hill who are open to voting for it?
GILLIBRAND: So, typically, we have gotten support for these kinds of investments from a handful of Republicans, people like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
But I don't know, because, until they see the bill and can assess what's best for their state, I don't think they know. But I know that I need a bill that has money for paid leave, that has money for food stamps, that has money for job training, so we can have more health workers to give the vaccines.
TAPPER: CNN obtained audio from President Biden's comments to Democrats this morning, where he warned that the Democratic Party will succeed or fail together.
Take a listen to this little excerpt.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BIDEN: There have been three Democratic presidents in 28 years. Each one faced a tough midterm loss. That cost a lot. It happened in '94 and it happened in 2010. We don't want to let that happen here. So, let's stick together.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: Do you have any concern that Democrats might vote against this bill, for instance, Joe Manchin from West Virginia, or Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona?
GILLIBRAND: I don't.
I think this bill represents the shared values of the entire country. At this point, people are desperate for relief. Our economy has not been worse. And people have to get resources, so they can provide for their kids.
And in my state -- I know that you are out in communities. When I visit the food banks and the homeless shelters and the domestic violence shelters, the needs have gone up exponential -- exponentially, and the resources aren't there to help them right now.
So, we have to do more. It is time for a bold response. It is not time for half-measures.
TAPPER: President Biden also said it was critical to pass the $1,400 stimulus checks -- that's in addition to the $600 that already passed last month -- or, December, rather -- because he didn't want to start his presidency by breaking a promise he made to the American people.
Republicans say President Biden also promised to be bipartisan and also to try to usher in a spirit of unity in Washington. And they say that, if this bill is not bipartisan, then he's breaking that promise.
GILLIBRAND: So, we would like all of our bills to be bipartisan. And, in fact, almost every bill I have ever authored is bipartisan and has just been waiting to get a vote on.
If we cannot deliver this emergency, robust response on a bipartisan basis, it doesn't mean we can't deliver the rest of our legislation over the next several years on a bipartisan basis. So, I'm optimistic that this call for unity is still very much there. But, again, we just can't sacrifice what's happening right now in our states, and not deliver the relief people are asking for and that what people actually voted for.
If you look at the Georgia election, it was about the $2,000 checks. And if the Republicans don't want to help do all the things that people need, these members of Congress, this is what they ran out. They ran on helping people and meeting the people where their need is.
TAPPER: All right, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.
GILLIBRAND: Thanks.
TAPPER: House Republicans meeting right now to address the party's civil war. We have new details on that. Plus, the price one Republican congressman is already paying back home for voting his conscience.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:48:27]
TAPPER: We're getting some breaking news now out of that House Republican meeting.
Earlier this hour, Congresswoman Liz Cheney arrived to the meeting as the party considers whether she should be removed from her leadership position because she voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection. The House Republican Party is also considering consequences for Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for her long history of spreading deranged and bigoted conspiracy theories.
CNN's Ryan Nobles is on Capitol Hill.
Ryan, Leader McCarthy just released a statement. What did he have to say?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake.
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, just issuing a statement a few minutes ago where he essentially says that the Republican conference is going to do nothing to hold Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable for the statements she made before she became a member of Congress. This, of course, after Democrats put intense pressure on McCarthy and Republicans to remove her from the two committees she currently sits, on the House Education Committee and the House Budget Committee.
Now, McCarthy did meet with Greene last night in an attempt to try to get her to offer an apology of some kind. He has then gone back to Steny Hoyer, the Democratic House Majority Leader, to try to offer up some sort of a compromise that would allow Greene to at least sit on some sort of a committee without taking the dramatic step of members of Congress voting to remove her from those committees, particularly members of Congress from an opposite party.
Now, in this statement, McCarthy says that he offered that compromise to Hoyer in an attempt to, what he said, what he describes as turning down the temperature regarding this controversy and that Hoyer turned them down.
[16:50:02]
He then goes on to criticize Democrats, suggesting that their members should also be held accountable for some of their past statements.
But the long story short, Jake, McCarthy taking no action on Greene. On the other controversy that's happening right now, that of Liz Cheney, who's the third ranking Republican, we are told in that closed-door meeting that's happening right now where Jeff Zeleny reporting, that she actually spoke to everyone in that conference. She did not apologize for casting her impeachment vote but did ask that they continue to keep her in that position.
So, we'll have to see how that all plays out. So, we got resolution at least from the Republican side on one of those controversies, Jake, still learning to find out what happens in the second.
TAPPER: All right. Ryan, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Congresswoman Cheney, of course, is one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump.
CNN's Kyung Lah visited the home district in Washington state of a different House Republican, who also voted to impeach, and is now facing backlash and calls to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to the bottom line News Radio 610 on a Monday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bottom line on News Radio 610, KONA.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the heart of Washington's fourth congressional district --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to open up the phones.
LAH: -- a conservative stronghold --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're very strongly behind President Trump.
LAH: -- continues to react.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The votes from Representative Dan Newhouse in favor of impeachment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to vote him out because he's a Democrat in sheep's clothing.
LAH: Still angry at their congressman, Dan Newhouse, one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Donald Trump.
REP. DAN NEWHOUSE (R-WA): There was a domestic threat at the door of the capitol, and he did nothing to stop it. That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment.
LAH: It's not echoes of that applause here in this agriculture swath of central Washington state.
Republican county leaders are calling on Newhouse to resign. He says he won't, in this district that the congressman and Trump both won easily.
ROBB FRANCIS, KONA RADIO HOST: Betrayed is probably the word we heard the most from our listeners.
Thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
LAH: When you say majority, what does majority mean?
FRANCIS: Probably, I would say, 85 percent of our listeners. There are a lot of voters, especially on the right, that have developed a personal connection with President Trump unlike they have with any other politician.
This is radio 610 KONA, your name, where you're calling from.
LAH: They're already turning to 2022.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will be voting for Mr. Brad Klippert.
LAH: Washington State Representative Brad Clifford has already declared he is running, demonstrating with anti-abortion activists.
BRAD KLIPPER (R),WASHINGTON STATE REPRESENTATIVES: I'm Brad, running for Congress in the fourth congressional seat, yes, ma'am, in 2022. I'm running for the values and principles that I believe in, the values and principles of growth and prosperity that took place during President Trump's presidency.
Love you, ladies. Thank you. Have a great day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You too.
LAH: How did you respond when the congressman voted to impeach the president?
CHARLES SCHWAB, WASHINGTON STATE REPUBLICAN: He lost my vote.
LAH: Why would he lose your support completely because of this one vote?
SCHWAB: Because he has joined that group that is trying to destroy our president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He needs to be in touch with his people and I think he failed to do that.
LAH: Newhouse, a farmer and businessman from Sunnyside, Washington, was popular before this vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought he was brave and did absolutely the right thing to do.
LAH: But even this supporter acknowledges in a place that remains firmly pro-Trump, 2022 may not be kind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's going to be tough over here for him again, yeah.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LAH (on camera): Of course, there's a lot of time between now and November 2022. Supporters for Representative Newhouse say that is a lot of months, and many votes for him to change some minds, but critics doubt that their support and their sentiments for Donald Trump will waiver between now and then -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Kyung Lah, thank you so much.
Coming up, CNN sits down exclusively with the newly sworn in head of the Department of Homeland Security. What is his plan to undo one of the policies of the Trump administration?
Stay with us.
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[16:58:38]
TAPPER: In our national lead, as of today, the Justice Department has opened more than 180 criminal cases against insurrectionists who violently attacked the capitol to undermine the election. Among the latest, a Virginia man wearing a sweatshirt that said, "American supremacist." He is charged with violent entry.
A New Mexico county commissioner who said during a cowboys for Trump meeting that, quote, the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat, unquote, he said he wanted to go to the inauguration for the Biden administration with guns in his car. He's waiting trial for the unlawful entry charge.
So, as the rioters and terrorists face justice, it's important to remember what happened on January 6th and the lives lost. Today, the nation said goodbye to one of the victims of this terrorist attack, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was laid to rest at Arlington national cemetery. Fellow officers paid their respects at the capitol as Officer Sicknick was one of the few people to lie in honor in the same chamber where he gave his life.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Officer Sicknick was a peacekeeper caught in the wrong place when peace was shattered. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden paid their respects last night.
May Officer Sicknick's memory be a blessing and shame on all of those who told the big lie that incited the mob that led to his death.
TAPPER: And follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @JakeTapper. You can tweet the show @TheLeadCNN.
Our coverage on CNN continues right now.
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