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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Republicans Ramp Up Vote Suppression Efforts; Biden Blasts State Governors Eliminating COVID Restrictions; Interview With Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX); Right-Wing Extremists Planning Another Attack?. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired March 03, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:02]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Let's go to Washington now. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

And we start with breaking news in our politics lead today and a terrifying warning from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security today, who say right-wing extremists are plotting another possible attack on the U.S. Capitol tomorrow, March 4, all because of yet another deranged conspiracy theory.

Security is being ramped up around the Capitol, which is still surrounded by fencing, barricades and law enforcement officers there since the deadly insurrection of January 6.

The latest terrorism concerns stem from a QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that tomorrow, March 4, is the date that President Trump will be re-inaugurated and returned to the presidency. Needless to say, there is absolutely no basis in fact or logic for these claims.

That is not going to happen. The claim is, frankly, nuts.

But, as we all learned in January, that is not a reason for law enforcement to not take its adherents seriously.

Today, we're learning even more about the failures surrounding that January 6 attack nearly two months ago. A Senate hearing today revealed that there was a three-hour delay in deploying the National Guard to assist capital and D.C. police, when the major general in command of the D.C. National Guard said his troops were ready, armed and could have been there in just 20 minutes.

He also noted that last summer, when there was violence, the secretary of the Army allowed immediate deployment, though, on January 6, the secretary of the Army did not, as CNN's Jessica Schneider reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM WALKER, COMMANDING GENERAL, NATIONAL GUARD: I was frustrated.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The commander of the D.C. National Guard taking on top Pentagon officials, disputing their contention that the Guard was deployed to the Capitol at sprint speed, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told reporters Monday, according to The Washington Post.

WALKER: The approval for Chief Sund's request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense and be relayed to me by Army senior leaders at 5:08 p.m., about three hours and 19 minutes later.

SCHNEIDER: Walker said the call first came to him from then Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund around 1:49 p.m., minutes before riders broke into the Capitol.

WALKER: Chief Sund, his voice cracking with emotion, indicated that there was a dire emergency at the Capitol. And he requested the immediate assistance of as many available National Guardsmen that I could muster.

SCHNEIDER: But Walker couldn't deploy his forces without authorization from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of defense. And when Walker did ask for approval, he says he was met with resistance.

WALKER: The Army senior leaders did not think that it looked good, it would be a good optic. They further stated that it could -- it could incite the crowd.

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Was the issue of optics ever brought up by Army leadership when the U.S. D.C. National Guard was deployed during the summer of 2020?

WALKER: It was never discussed the week of June. It was never discussed July 4, when we were supporting the city. It was never discussed August 28 when we supported the city.

PETERS: Did you think that was unusual?

WALKER: I did.

SCHNEIDER: While the request for troops was going up the chain of command, Walker said dozens of his men and women were ready and waiting.

PETERS: What would have been the impact of sending those 155 right around that 2:00 time frame?

WALKER: That number could have made a difference. We could help extend the perimeter and help push back the crowd. SCHNEIDER: Once the troops were finally deployed, they arrived within

20 minutes, well after the peak of violence. Today's hearing unfolded as the Capitol remains fortified and the FBI is warning about a possible plot to breach the Capitol tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threats are ongoing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Now, these latest threats could now prompt the House to stay late tonight to vote, instead of coming in tomorrow. That's because there are real concerns about security at the Capitol right now, especially since we're learning more about that joint bulletin that was issued by the FBI and DHS late last night.

They warned violent extremists want to take control of the Capitol and removed Democratic lawmakers tomorrow. That bulletin also warns of a threat to President Biden's still-to-be-scheduled address to a joint session of Congress -- Jake.

TAPPER: Joining us now -- thank you so much, Jessica Schneider.

Joining us now, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: A joint intelligence bulletin warning of the attack tomorrow, March 4, on Capitol Hill, it was released at midnight.

Do you think law enforcement is more ready this time than they were on January 6?

MCCAUL: Oh, I mean, absolutely. The Capitol is fortified like a compound. We have razor wire around the Capitol Complex. We have National Guard surrounding the Capitol. So we feel much safer.

[16:05:11]

But I think, to your piece prior to this, my big question has been all along, why wasn't the National Guard deployed sooner? Why did it take two to three hours? And why weren't they part of the original security strategy as a prepositioned asset where seen or unseen? That could have been done and that could have saved lives, and it could have prevented this thing.

TAPPER: Senator Rob Portman wants the former Secretary of Defense Chris Miller and the former secretary of the Army to testify, to answer these questions. Do you do you agree?

MCCAUL: A hundred percent. I mean, and, Jake, my question has always been not so much what

happened prior, although we know this was a preplanned attack, but what happened after the insurrection was occurring at the Capitol, and why did it take so long for the Guard to respond?

I think there's a lot of unanswered questions out there. I know the FBI has an ongoing investigation that I actually called for. And I hope we get to the bottom of it.

TAPPER: And it seems to me that, whether we're talking about the attack on January 6, or this possible attack tomorrow, President Trump, these people, these attackers worship him, they love him. They think that they're doing this in his name.

Do you think Donald Trump should be more forcefully saying clearly, I'm not going to be inaugurated tomorrow, Joe Biden was elected fair and square?

I mean, I feel like that could potentially quell a lot of these violence threats.

MCCAUL: Well, I think the -- I think President Trump has a responsibility to tell them to stand down. This threat is credible. And it's real.

It's a right-wing militia group that believes that the original -- because the original inaugural date was March 4, until the 20th Amendment passed, they think this is a true Inauguration Day, and that President Trump should be inaugurated tomorrow.

And that is the threat we face right now.

TAPPER: We heard today the timeline of when the National Guard was requested, and then the three hours it took for them to turn up. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Chief Sund, his voice cracking with emotion, indicated that there was a dire emergency at the Capitol. And he requested the immediate assistance of as many available National Guardsmen that I could muster.

Immediately after that 1:30 -- 1:49 call, I alerted the U.S. Army senior leadership of the request. The approval for Chief Sund's request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense, and be relayed to me by Army senior leaders at 5:08 p.m., about three hours and 19 minutes later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I know that you just said you want to hear from the former acting secretary of defense, Chris Miller, and the former secretary of the Army. Do you have any idea why it would take three hours and 19 minutes? I mean, the general testified that he did not have remotely any

problem the previous summer, last summer, when there were violence related to different protests from a different political point of view. I mean, it really looks suspicious.

MCCAUL: Very.

And, again, that's been my biggest concern all along as I was in the Capitol when this is all going down. And, number one, why wasn't the National Guard made a part of the security strategy? Number two, why did it take them three hours to respond?

We have a D.C. armory down the street from here with Guard troops. And I don't know what happened. And I think this -- there are going to be some really tough questions at very high levels on this. And we need to get to the bottom of it and find out the truth. And I really feel for the police chief of the Capitol, Chief Sund, who by the way, didn't get this FBI thread that people were going to conduct violence and war at the Capitol.

He doesn't even see that until after the insurrection takes place. As a former federal prosecutor who led the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, that's not the way things were supposed to happen after 9/11 and after the Boston bombings that I chaired, when I chaired the Homeland Security Committee.

We thought we'd fix this breakdown in communication. And, apparently, it's still a problem.

TAPPER: I know you want to talk about the fact that you're reintroducing a bill calling on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to release Trevor Reed, an American, a former Marine, who's being held in Russia.

The Biden administration just issued a slew of sanctions on Russia for the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Are you concerned that, if the U.S. hits Russia too hard, too fast with these sanctions, efforts, like your effort to bring Trevor Reed home, might get derailed?

MCCAUL: No, I agree with the administration. I think the sanctions were appropriate, given what happened with Navalny.

I would call upon them to enforce the Nord Stream II pipeline sanctions that Congress passed to put pressure on Putin and the Russians and hit him where it counts. And that's the pocketbook.

[16:10:12]

But, look, they took him hostage. They had a kangaroo court trial. He's in prison today. He's been there for many months. I have talked to his mother. He's a Texan. He's a Marine, served his country. But he's being used as a political pawn in exchange for other favors for Putin.

And I think it's an outrage. I appreciate the question, Jake, because more people need to know about the case of Trevor Reed.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, good to see you, sir. Hope to have you on again soon.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Jake. Appreciate it.

TAPPER: President Biden today doing some name-calling after states such as Texas open up and go maskless. What did he have to say? That's next.

Then: He was a target of the Capitol terrorists tossed under the MAGA bus by none other than President Trump. But that is not stopping Mike Pence from doubling down on the big lie again today.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:25]

TAPPER: And we're back with our health lead.

Starting tonight in the state of Mississippi, you can sit inside a restaurant or visit a store with 100 percent capacity, no masks required, the same in Texas beginning next week. Mississippi's governor said -- quote -- "It is time to lift the measures."

It's the very opposite of what the CDC director has warned for weeks and again today, as CNN's Erica Hill reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We at the CDC have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions.

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And yet the new plan in Texas, masks out, customers in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been a year. I think it's enough. People can make their own decisions.

DR. JOSEPH VARON, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER: If we open the state on the 10th, I'm telling you, before the end of March, we're going to have problems.

HILL: New cases in Texas up 20 percent in the past week, skyrocketing 62 percent in Mississippi, with just announced similar rollbacks.

CHOKWE LUMUMBA (D), MAYOR OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: It is against the advice of our health experts. And it is premature. No one celebrates victory in the third quarter.

HILL: Some of the nation's largest companies plan to keep mask requirements in place for customers and employees in both states.

While hospitalizations continue to decline nationwide and new cases in nursing homes are down nearly 90 percent in the past eight weeks, daily reported deaths still hovering around 2,000. The CDC's latest ensemble forecasts projects as many as 47,000 additional lives could be lost in the next three weeks, making these shots all the more important.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is real hope.

HILL: J&J's single-dose vaccine arriving at sites around the country today, states and cities working to boost equity.

DAVE CHOKSHI, NEW YORK CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We have found that, when we make it easier for people to access the vaccine, uptake has been strong.

HILL: Local pharmacies joining the effort.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of the older people don't trust to go to clinics and stuff, but they trust the pharmacist.

HILL: As larger FEMA sites also come online, this one in Florida ready to administer 3,000 shots a day.

Over 26 million people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated. Nearly twice that number have received their first shot and more supply is coming. But:

WALENSKY: How this plays out is up to us. The next three months are pivotal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Jake, I can tell you we have learned the first doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have now arrived here in New York state, 164,000 in that initial shipment.

We also learned today that the mass vaccination sites at Yankee Stadium and at Javits Center, which is just a couple of blocks behind me, they're going to be adding additional appointments, so that they can now operate on a 24/7 schedule -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Erica Hill in New York, thanks so much.

I want to bring in Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine at George Washington University.

Dr. Reiner, good to see you.

President Biden was just asked about Texas and Mississippi ending their mask mandates and other restrictions. Take a listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease. And the last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking

that, in the meantime, everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Neanderthal thinking. Pretty stark. What do you think?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, Neanderthals were apparently fairly clever. So I agree with the president sentiment. I'm not sure it's apt when it comes to the governors of Texas and Mississippi.

Look, Texas has a state positivity rate of over 12 percent. That's three times the national positivity rate. One out of every eight infections in the United States in the last week has come out of Texas. This is not the time to drop mask requirements.

And, look, we have seen what happens in this country when people get mixed messages. A year ago, the CDC and the task force was telling us not to wear masks. Then they were telling us to wear masks. And then we have the president of the United States saying masks weren't for us. And we know what happened, surge after surge.

Now we're finally singing from the same page. And we have these rogue states wanting not to spike the ball before the end zone. In those states, the other team is winning. Texas has a long way to go. This is not going to end well.

TAPPER: So, Dr. Walensky, the head of the CDC, is still encouraging individuals in places such as Texas and Mississippi to keep wearing masks, even if it is not mandated in their states.

[16:20:03]

Do you agree? Will that work? Will that be enough?

REINER: Well, I completely agree with Dr. Walensky.

Look, local officials have to take control. The county officials are, the judges in the various counties in Texas, the mayors of the cities need to understand that what is going to happen if that state opens wildly is what happened around the South and Southwest in June and July and August, when states prematurely opened.

The virus will spike. Places like Houston are just recovering from being overrun by COVID cases in January. And they still haven't recovered from their deep freeze and power outage.

TAPPER: Right.

REINER: Now is not the time to do this.

TAPPER: When it comes to vaccine hesitancy, we often talk about minority communities. But take a look at this. A poll shows that 28 percent of Republicans say they will definitely

not get the vaccine. That's twice as many as the 14 percent of the black respondents who say the same, 12 percent of Hispanics. The real vaccine hesitancy is among Republicans. How can the U.S. change this?

REINER: Well, what a lost opportunity from the former president.

It was shocking to hear that the president -- the former president and first lady were vaccinated secretly in January. Imagine if he had gone on camera, along with the first lady, rolled up their sleeves, got a vaccine, and told his base, this vaccine is for you.

I have these conversations every day with patients. I told the patient today, tell me why you're reluctant to get the vaccine. And we went through this point by point. But if this is done from national leaders who people really respect or revere, imagine the difference there.

So that's done. But now we need to reach these people on the local level. And we need local Republican leaders and Republican clubs to go out and really, on the grassroots level, talk to people, answer questions. We need this coming from physicians, local county health officials. We need to target people, because this virus will not go away until we put it away.

TAPPER: Our friend Olivier Knox at "The Washington Post" reminded us that, when it came to the Salk vaccine against polio, people were hesitant to take it until Elvis Presley got it publicly, and then that really changed minds.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump passing up an opportunity, as Olivier said, to have their Elvis moment.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

REINER: My pleasure.

TAPPER: Just weeks after MAGA terrorists stormed the Capitol, Republican lawmakers from coast to coast are proposing major changes based on the same big lie that these guys believe. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In the politics lead: Now you might think that, after seeing a rabid mob of Trump supporters fed election lies for months, calling for him to be strung up and hung from a noose, Vice President Pence might consider distancing himself from the big lie propaganda that almost got him killed. But if you thought that, you would be thinking wrong. The former vice

president today pushed back on a Democratic voting rights bill up for a vote in the House in a few hours, falsely saying that the 2020 election was -- quote -- "marked by significant voting irregularities" -- unquote.

It was not. Pence tells a number of lies in his op-ed published in the conservative Web site The Daily Signal. But that's the only one that incited a mob that tried to kill him, perhaps showing the pervasiveness and durability of the big lie mentality, which is now motivating Republican officials coast to coast to try to suppress voting rights.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 253 bills could restrict voting in 43 states, as CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PROTESTER: Protect the vote!

PROTESTERS: Protect the vote!

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Demonstrators chained themselves together outside the Georgia state capitol, protesting one of hundreds of new proposed laws around the country sparked by former President Trump's big lie.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We won this election, and we won it by a landslide.

GALLAGHER: The massive nationwide push by state Republican lawmakers is now under way to pass election laws that experts say will restrict voting access.

TRUMP: The Republicans have to get tougher.

GALLAGHER: More than 250 proposed bills in 43 states so far this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes are 97. The nays are 72.

GALLAGHER: Like in Georgia, where the Republican-controlled state House passed a bill this week that would add new I.D. requirements for absentee voting and reduce weekend early voting hours, among other major changes.

REP. DONNA MCLEOD (D-GA): Today, I rise in opposition to HB-531, because it was predicated on a big fat lie.

GALLAGHER: It could directly impact voter turnout efforts like Souls to the Polls, which encourages black churchgoers to cast their ballots the Sunday before Election Day, leading Georgia Democrats to call to measure -- quote -- "the most blatantly racist attacks on voting rights in the South since Jim Crow."

But GOP sponsors argue the bill will restore confidence and uniformity in elections across the state.

REP. BARRY FLEMING (R-GA): There are a lot of good common sense ideas in this bill that is in front of you.

GALLAGHER: In Arizona, state legislators have introduced nearly two dozen restrictive bills, many focused on limiting voting by mail, a method used by more than 80 percent of Arizonans in 2020.