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The Lead with Jake Tapper

President Biden Touts "Shots in Arms and Money in Pockets"; Growing Number of Dems Ask Biden to Make Urgent Changes at Border. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired March 15, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

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

And we begin today with the politics lead. This afternoon, President Biden laid out his plan to implement the massive $1.9 trillion relief package called the American Rescue Plan. The president saying soon, there will be more vaccines in arms and more money in pockets amidst criticisms and concerns that the huge package is insufficiently targeted and could potentially cause inflation.

President Biden also announced that a former top economic official for Obama and Clinton, Gene Sperling, will lead the efforts to maximize every penny of the stimulus.

The president and vice president and their spouses hit the road today from Vegas to near Philly for what the White House is calling the "Help is Here" tour touting the massive legislation.

This comes as President Biden is setting new goals for the nation to begin the path out of this pandemic, and to help reach those goals, the Biden administration is now devoting $250 million to try to encourage skeptical Americans, many of them Trump supporters, to get the vaccine as CNN's Phil Mattingly now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Shots in arms and money in pockets.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With stimulus checks already hitting bank accounts, President Biden now in an all-out sprint to promote the $1.9 trillion COVID relief law.

BIDEN: The American rescue plan is already doing what it was designed to do, make a difference in people's everyday lives.

MATTINGLY: And ensure there are no errors as it's put into place. BIDEN: The devil is in the details.

MATTINGLY: Biden naming Gene Sperling, a top economic official in the last two Democratic administrations, to oversee the law's implementation.

BIDEN: Gene will be on the phone with mayors and governors, red states, blue states, the source of constant communication, a source of guidance and support, and above all, a source of accountability.

MATTINGLY: All as Biden's team hopscotches states around the country over the next week with Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff heading to Nevada, First Lady Jill Biden in New Jersey and Biden himself joining the blitz with two trips in the coming days -- a highly coordinated effort to promote elements of the new law, from the stimulus payments to the housing aid to the small business funding.

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER FOR COVID RESPONSE: President Biden has directed the administration to deliver the two things that will most hasten our ability to recover, checks and shots, and as he said help is on the way.

MATTINGLY: But when it comes to vaccine hesitancy, Biden, says former President Trump, telling his supporters to get the shot will make less of a difference.

BIDEN: The thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctor, what the local preacher, what the local people in the community say.

MATTINGLY: All as the administration continues to grapple with the growing crisis at the southern border.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We recognize this is a big problem.

MATTINGLY: With thousands of unaccompanied minors in custody, the administration's promise for a more humane approach to the border is being tested in a major way.

PSAKI: This is a big challenge, and it certainly is a reflection of using every lever of the federal government to help address that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (on camera): And, Jake, you mentioned the $250 million that will go in part to try to boost the vaccine rollout, but the president mentioned there. There's a recognition inside the White House right now that when comes to reaching Republicans, when it comes to reaching conservatives, Democrats and the messages from the White House probably aren't the best way to go about it.

In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins will be meeting with evangelical leaders tomorrow, again, trying to meet people at -- the folks that they respect the most trying to get the message across that now is the time to get vaccinated -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Phil Mattingly at the White House.

And let's talk about this issue with retired admiral, Dr. Brett Giroir, who led the testing effort under former President Trump and was a member of the Trump White House coronavirus task force.

Dr. Giroir, thanks for joining us.

So, here's the problem. In a CNN poll, 46 percent of Republicans say they will not try to get a vaccine, and obviously, there's one person with a lot of influence over that group, former President Trump.

Do you think he should be actively encouraging his followers to get the vaccines that were developed under his own administration, under the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed?

ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, M.D. (RET.), FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES UNDER TRUMP: Well, thanks for having me on and, of course the answer is yes. I think all of us in the medical community, in the liturgical community and I think it's very important for former President Trump as well as the vice president to actively encourage all the followers to get the vaccine.

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This is something that the Trump administration developed under its time, and I think all of the above, including the former president speaking out would be very important.

TAPPER: So that's why it's so confusing because we're talking about saving the lives of MAGA supporters, not just fellow Americans, but specifically people that he has reached to. Was it a mistake for him, President Trump, to get vaccinated secretly behind closed doors instead of doing so publicly? Did you know about it at the time? Do you know why the decision was made to keep it secret?

GIROIR: I did not know that he was vaccinated until I heard it as it was reported in the news. I get a little hesitant to -- to make judgments about people's, you know, private medical decisions, about whether there could have been, you know, potential issues that he did not want to make it public, but I think the point now is and I think that this is where we are that we all have to get together and urge every American, the people who follow former president are very committed to President Trump, and I think his leadership still matters a great deal, and I think we have to do a better job reaching the minority underserved communities that have been so disproportionately affected.

I think those are two really major goals. We've done a great job with the elderly. We're doing a great job getting vaccines in arms and I want to commend the Biden administration for their building on the program, but we do need to focus on the vaccine hesitant which you pointed out as well as the underserved and minority communities. TAPPER: We've heard Vice President Kamala Harris say, quote there,

what is no national strategy or plan for vaccinations when they started and Dr. Fauci said under Trump, there was only a vague plan for -- on a national level getting vaccine doses into American arms. Could the Trump administration have done more to set up a national program to get the vaccines not just to the states but into the arms?

GIROIR: I think that is false narrative that was propagated, and I have not heard either the president or the vice president say those words in the last few weeks. Look, when we left office, there were plans to procure 900 million doses with 2 billion extra doses on an option. We then rolled 70,000 vaccine sites, including 40,000 pharmacies. We had enabled pharmacists, pharmacy interns, pharmacy techs, any emergency medical technician to provide those.

So, look, I think the Biden administration has done a good job adding on to the plan with some of the mass vaccination sites, but there was clear strategy and plan. On the day that President Biden took office, 1.5 million doses went into people's arms. We were averaging almost a million per day which was a tremendous accomplishment.

The foundation was there. There's no reason to cast aspersions. This is a great American story. A Republican administration started this, laid the foundation. The baton has been passed, and the Biden administration are taking it even to greater levels. That's the way I see it.

TAPPER: Well, when President Biden took office the U.S. was administering just under a million doses a day as you note.

GIROIR: Right.

TAPPER: Now the nation's averaging 2.4 million doses a day. You think, correct me if I'm wrong, that the Biden administration does deserve some credit for ramping up the speed with which vaccinations were going into arms.

GIROIR: I think the ramp-up is approximately the same as we would have predict under the Trump administration. What I think he's done very well in terms of vaccines in arms is, number one, I think the mass vaccination sites focusing on health equity is a really good idea and I think that's an idea that he brought. I think broad naming the Prep Act which he did last week so that physicians assistants and dentists could provide vaccines, I think those are all positive steps and re-engaging with the World Health Organization is going to yield benefits far beyond this pandemic.

So I think he's done some very good things and positive things, but it's built on the foundation that we built in the Trump administration, and that's the way it should be. There's no 180-degree turns. This has been a relatively smooth transition, and I think that the vaccines and the rollout are a true American success story.

TAPPER: A review conducted by the Biden administration found that some Trump-era CDC guidance was not grounded in science or free from, quote, undue influence. For example, some guidance on reopening schools that has been removed from the agency's website.

What's your response to this? What kind of interference did you see during your time working not for the CDC but for the Trump White House or for the HHS rather?

GIROIR: Yeah. You know, there was always discussions about the implications, the broad implications of what a guidance would have, but I personally did not see political interference in anything that the CDC did.

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And Bob Redfield and I were very close and in close communication. Certainly testing and CDC was under me.

I know there was some back and forth from lower level agency officials, but they had no influence. So, you know, I mean, it Jake. I did not see the political influence. We started every day with data and science. The vice president clearly supported that.

So from my knowledge point, certainly around testing and what I saw of CDC guidance, you know, I just didn't see it. Might have happened, I can't, you know, prove a negative.

TAPPER: Right.

GIROIR: But I just didn't see it.

TAPPER: So the big news today and we should make sure that viewers in the United States understands that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not in the United States. We have Pfizer. We have Moderna. We have Johnson & Johnson.

But AstraZeneca is being used in other parts of the world. And today, Spain, Germany, France, Italy all joined other countries in pausing the use of that vaccine. Again, it's not in the U.S., not an issue here because of a report of the injection potentially causing blood clots. AstraZeneca might proceed to submit its vaccine to the U.S. for authorization.

Do you see this as potentially the first vaccine that the FDA might reject?

GIROIR: So, again, I don't have any special insight into the data from Europe, but the FDA will certainly look at this, right? It's not eight months ago when we were desperately in need of a vaccine that even were 50 percent effective. As you pointed out, the three vaccines that are authorized here are all highly effective, the Novavax preliminary data extremely highly effective.

So, I'm sure the FDA will look, it's not just efficacy but it's safety. And if there's an adverse safety signal or a harm signal, they're not going to authorize it.

I do have faith in the process. It's as transparent as it was under our administration and it will get a good look. But as you pointed out and thanks, Jake, for saying this, this vaccine is not in the U.S.

TAPPER: Yeah.

GIROIR: Americans need to be 100 percent confident that what they are getting is safe and effective and is not this vaccine. Please, go get vaccinated.

TAPPER: Have you been vaccinated and if so, which one?

GIROIR: I have been vaccinated. I'm not going to go into my medical history, but I just completed my second dose. I received Pfizer. I would have been absolutely pleased to receive Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. They are all truly medical breakthroughs. I would have happily had any of them, and certainly encourage everyone when it's your turn in line as it was my turn in line here at my private physician to get -- to get vaccinated.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Brett Giroir saying, get vaccinated. He did. Thank you so much. Good to see you again.

GIROIR: Good to see you. Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: A lot of places are easing COVID restrictions as more and more Americans get the vaccine but one university is ordering all undergraduates to stay in their dorms.

Then, CNN goes to a town where children crossing the border by themselves are being housed. That's next.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our national lead now, a growing number of Democrats are asking the Biden administration to make urgent changes at the border amid a massive surge in the number of migrants.

Today, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, called on President Biden to end contracts with states and cities who use prisons to house migrants. Congressman Henry Cuellar who represents a district on the Texas-Mexico border this weekend urged the administration to more forcefully warn migrants in Central America not to make the trip.

On the Republican side, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy today toured the border and blamed the Biden administration's less severe policies for the recent surge, a surge that has left many families desperate on both sides of the border as CNN's Rosa Flores reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As tens of thousands of migrants make the dangerous journey to the U.S. southern border -- someone stole all her money along the way. Many discover that getting here is just the beginning. Some migrants

describe crowded immigration processing centers.

She says it was packed with people.

Without showering facilities.

Do they let you shower?

And some say they slept under a bridge overnight -- on pebbles and sand while waiting to get transported to immigration processing facilities. Once there, migrants say they get three meals a day.

This as CNN learns about 4,200 unaccompanied migrant children are in border control custody, attorneys blowing the whistle this weekend about children in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at this massive temporary immigration processing center in Donna, Texas, where unaccompanied children, including many under 10 years old, are being held, some for five to seven days which is against U.S. law.

Peter Schey is a lawyer representing thousands it of unaccompanied minors in federal custody says capacity at the Donna facility is 1,000 detainees and right now, it's holding about 2,000.

PETER SCHEY, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: It is an untenable situation that the administration needs to address immediately.

FLORES: The head of Homeland Security directed FEMA to help create more shelters for unaccompanied children and move them out of Border Patrol custody quickly. DHS says border patrol officials do everything they can to take care of unaccompanied children in their care. As for mothers entering with children, many are released by border patrol at this bus station in Brownsville.

Why did you come here? She says because of the economic crisis in her country is very severe.

The reasons migrants say they are trekking to the United States varies.

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Some like Silvi Milgar (ph) says he lost everything during a recent hurricane in Honduras. And Marisol Ramirez who says the toughest part of her journey was when her daughter was the hungry and she had no food says she's here because of the lack of jobs and the abundance of violence in her home country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (on camera): You're taking a live look at the immigration processing center here in Donna, Texas. CNN has made repeated requests to Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection to get access to this facility and other facilities like it, and that access has been denied. Today, we also asked about the migrants who we met and they told us

that they slept under the bridge overnight on the dirt while they were waiting to get transported to a processing facility and, Jake, we've not heard back.

TAPPER: All right. Rosa Flores at the border, thank you so much.

Let's discuss. Nia, there's now bipartisan pushback against the Biden administration on the border, but instead of visiting firsthand, the president and his team, they are traveling to promote the COVID relief deal. Is this a smart strategy, by the White House to not go there?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, we'll see what the president ends up doing in coming days from. What we can tell from President Biden, he is someone who listens to the progressives in his party, and they are among the loudest folks who were talking about this crisis at the border. It has been years in the making.

We obviously saw what happened under the Trump administration. We saw what happened under the Obama administration, too, and similar things and now we see there is this surge and partly at least Biden's critics are saying it's partly a surge because the Biden administration has had a more humane policy towards folks who are traveling over the border, children in particular, and that's why you see this surge.

But we'll see what the president ends up doing. He obviously wants to highlight what's going on with this COVID relief package but he does need to have some insight I think into what's going on at the border, and also suggest to the country that it is a -- a sort of different approach that this administration is taking because you've had for years and years and years progressives really complaining about what was happening down at the border under President Trump and now you see similar, the kind of kids in cages imagery that we see out of the border now and some of the inhumane treatment that some might be getting.

TAPPER: Yeah. Although, Franco, we should note, that the Trump -- the Trump administration's harsh policies at the bothered notwithstanding, there was a surge in 2019. Still, what's going on today is going on.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will not call the situation at the border a crisis. She also turned down the chance to call it a disaster. She's saying it a, quote, big problem.

Why is there such a fight over the language here?

FRANCO ORDONEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: I mean, it's a lot -- it has a lot to do about politics. I mean, Biden does not -- the Biden administration does not want to play into the Republicans' narrative that they are trying to paint, that this is, quote, unquote, Biden's crisis. He does not want to play into that game.

As you just note, you know, this is a complicated matter. I mean, they are really trying to, you know, do -- have dual messages, perhaps, you know, conflict messages. On the one hand present a humane approach but on the other hand try to send a message not to come at this time. But you are right, you know. This has happened back in the Obama

administration in 2014 and it absolutely happened in 2018-'19 under Trump. So they were definitely - migrants were definitely coming despite Trump's harsh -- very harsh policy.

TAPPER: Yeah. And, Franco, I want to get your reaction to what we heard from Republican leader Kevin McCarthy at the border today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: When I talked to the doctor to see when they are being tested for COVID, when they get out. More than 10 percent are testing positive, where you're being stored together. In a time when the president will keep our country closed, and when maybe we have a hope of a 4th of July to get together with our family, how much spread of COVID is he creating every single day by his policies along this border?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: First of all, as you note, Trump had harsh policies and that didn't stop people from trying to get into this country illegally in 2019. There was a surge and Kevin McCarthy didn't criticize Trump for that, but beyond that, he didn't seem to be this worried about COVID spreading during packed Trump rallies or at the Trump White House, but all of a sudden, he's invoking these fears of diseased immigrants coming in.

ORDONEZ: Yeah, I mean, it is part of politics of Washington today. It's very unfortunate to attack migrants, attack immigrants, to attack, you know, the, quote/unquote, other that are coming here and using them as kind of a tool to kind of present -- to kind of paint them as kind of a danger to the United States.

It's -- you know, it's an unfortunate reality of the politics of the day, and I think that that's one of the things that the Biden administration is at least trying to combat against.

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But they do have a very, very, you know, difficult situation on hand. It is a crisis at this moment. Hence, why they are sending FEMA in to address this.

TAPPER: And, Nia, we don't have time to run the clip but he's been airing since he said it. Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he did not feel threatened at all during the Capitol insurrection but he would have been fearful if it was Black Lives Matter protesters. What did you think of that?

HENDERSON: Well, listen, I think what he said was pretty obvious. We know that the reaction, if those were Black Lives Matter protests would have been different from Republicans works have been different from the posture of law enforcement as well. That is obvious. In some ways, I'm glad he said this because it does inject into this very clear story that race played a part in not only the reaction from law enforcement but also in terms of the motivations of those folks who were there. They were fearing in many ways kind of multi-racial democracy. That's what they wanted to overthrow.

And so, you had a Ron Johnson essentially saying that those folks where fellow travelers and wouldn't have been if they were Black Lives Matter protesters who were ask for kind of a broader more inclusive America. So, listen, I think Ron Johnson was in many ways just stating the obvious.

TAPPER: Yeah, I know Republican members of Congress who felt plenty threatened that day.

Nia, Franco, thank you so much to both of you. I appreciate it.

One of the women who has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment just spoke to investigators. That story next.

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