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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Biden Pitches Spending Plans As Negotiations Intensify; Interview With White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki; Key FDA Panel Unanimously Recommends J&J Booster Shot; Biden Admin Plans To Revive Controversial Trump Era Border Policy; Bill Clinton Hospitalized For Infection But "On The Mend"; British Lawmaker Stabbed To Death At Meeting With Voters. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 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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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: But you need to hear "All I Ask."
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BLACKWELL: She says, if this is our last night together, hold me like I'm more than just a friend. My god, today.
All right. THE LEAD with Jake Tapper starts right now.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: On the road again, President Biden struggles to sell his economic vision.
THE LEAD starts right now.
Needing to convince Americans that he can help them, President Biden this afternoon touting his massive agenda but it's still stalled by his own party. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is here.
A vote by an FDA advisory panel just minutes ago to approve booster shots for millions more Americans as new data clearly shows a shot can be a matter of life or death.
Plus, a British lawmaker killed after being stabbed multiple times while meeting with voters. We're live on the scene.
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Hello and welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
We start this hour in our politics lead. President Biden promising to slash child care costs for working class families. He's visiting Connecticut today, pitching this proposal and others as part of his far-reaching spending plan on programs such as expanding Medicare or free community college tuition. Currently that bill is in jeopardy back home in Washington, D.C. That social safety net package has stalled again as moderate Democratic senators disagree with progressives with no compromise in sight.
As Phil Mattingly reports, President Biden plans to spend his weekend negotiating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden hitting the road and the playground to unlock his stalled agenda.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Too many folks in Washington still don't realize it isn't enough just to invest in our physical infrastructure. We also have to invest in our people.
MATTINGLY: Seeking to rally support for the child care component of his dual-pronged and currently frozen multi-trillion-dollar package.
BIDEN: Both bills are not about left versus right. They're not about, you know, moderate versus progressive.
MATTINGLY: Facing criticism for not selling that agenda, Biden using public remarks in Connecticut to press the urgency of the moment.
BIDEN: These views are about competitiveness versus complacency.
MATTINGLY: While privately, top advisers have made clear they've grown impatient with the pace of the talks. As two key moderate Democrats, Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, remain on the fence.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): My number has been 1.5.
MATTINGLY: Either senator committing to a top line price tag which they've sought to keep at roughly $2 trillion. Sinema privately insisting on a vote on the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Senate-passed infrastructure proposal first, a nonstarter for House progressives. Manchin's sources say, has laid out a series across the package from the scale of the paid leave and free community college proposals to an expansion of Medicare and the coal state Democrat opposed to many of the proposed climate measures.
Biden has spoken to both this week, according to officials, and talks remain ongoing. As the calendar ticks toward the end of the year, two critical dates are consuming Democrats. The October 31st expiration of surface transportation funding, an unofficial deadline of sorts, and the November 2nd Virginia governors race where pressure is mounting to pass the infrastructure proposal.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I hope the House will get that to President Biden's desk ASAP. It will really help here.
MATTINGLY: Democrats concerned inaction could have electoral consequences.
KAINE: We will get both done. I'm confident. Obviously, the sooner we can get one and then the other done better for people and the better for this race in Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MATTINGLY (on camera): Well, Jake, while the president made his public pitch today, for the last several days, White House officials have been engaged in intensive negotiations with the key outstanding lawmakers really granular negotiations over each specific piece of the president's plan, trying to close out those issues to some degree part f the legislative process, particularly a legislative process dealing with something this wide in scale and scope. However, White House officials have made clear time is not unlimited. Decisions need to be made soon, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Phil Mattingly at the White House, thank you.
I want to bring in the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, to discuss.
Jen, thanks so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Hi, Jake. Great to be here.
TAPPER: So, how problematic will it be for Democrats if you are unable to pass both the infrastructure bill and the social safety net packages before Christmas? Won't that show voters that Democrats are not able to govern?
PSAKI: Well, Jake, we absolutely plan on getting these, both of these packages done, passed into law, signed, and starting to get the impacts out to the American people.
We have some time. I know people are doing some Christmas shopping now, but we have more than two months between now and Christmas. And I will tell you, though, that the president feels there's an urgency in moving these things forward. We need to get to a unified approach, so that we can get these things passed into law.
And I think you have heard us say that over the past couple days.
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And that's what people should know out there.
TAPPER: So, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, the two moderate Democratic senators who object to what a lot of the progressives want in that bill, the $3.5 trillion social safety net package, they say they have made it clear to the White House what they want, how far they're willing to go.
And I guess my question is, is there even a middle ground? Does it even exist?
PSAKI: Of course there is, Jake. We're optimists by nature here. The president is. I am.
And we believe this is going to be a compromise that we're going to get done. It is always true that, at this stage in the process, the later stage of negotiating, you're into the granular details, as Phil just outlined in his interview with you a few minutes ago. That is absolutely true. That's what we're doing right now.
A lot of that is happening privately. The president's on the phone with these senators and other senators and other members of Congress. We're talking to leadership. We're talking to staffs and committees. People don't always see that in public, we know, but that's important work that's happening behind the scenes.
At the same time, the president's also out there selling this package, conveying to the American people his commitment to absolutely getting this done. And that's what you heard him say today.
TAPPER: Well, let's talk about that salesmanship, because a CNN poll this week asked Americans how these two bills would affect their families, their view of that.
Only a quarter of those polled said that the bills would leave them better off, only a quarter; 32 percent said they'd be worse off; 43 percent said they would not be affected.
I want to highlight some of the key demographics in this last group. Nearly six in 10 African-Americans say they will not be affected by the president's economic agenda, half of Latino voters, six in 10 independent women, more than half of people under age 35, half of moderates. You get the picture.
The White House has not convinced the very voters who empirically would be helped by these trillions of dollars in proposed spending. There's a real communication problem here.
PSAKI: Well, here's what we know, Jake, and this is the good news.
When people talk about the need to make universal pre-K a reality, three-quarters of the public supports that. When we talk about the importance of making sure people have clean drinking water, vast majority, Democrats and Republicans, support that, rebuilding roads, rails and bridges, same thing, ensuring we're making prescription drugs less expensive, cutting the cost of prescription drugs by negotiating through Medicare, hugely popular.
So what we are going to be talking about more is the components of these packages. It is true. You're right. And your poll showed this. Everybody doesn't know what Build Back Better means for them. But they do know they like clean drinking water. They like good roads. They like universal pre-K and child care. They like paid leave.
Those are all the pieces that you're going to hear the president out there talking more and more about in the days and weeks ahead.
TAPPER: It personally feels like I have heard progressives bashing Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin more than I have heard progressives, not all, but some, talking about what's in the bill.
PSAKI: There has been a focus, I would say Jake, here in Washington -- sometimes, this happens in the zip code we all operate and work in -- on the mechanics and the mechanisms of getting this legislation forward.
There is an urgency the vast majority of people in Congress are feeling in getting this done. The president feels that urgency too.
But it is also true that the more all of us, every Democrat who supports clean drinking water, roads, rails and bridges and rebuilding them, universal pre-K, paid leave, the more we talk about that, the more the public knows how we're trying to make government work for them, the better off we all are.
TAPPER: Well, you're a little bit more disciplined than some of your fellow Democrats, I will say.
Inflation is skyrocketing, as I don't need to tell you. The prices for home heating costs, cars, groceries, furniture, rent, gasoline are hitting Americans right in the wallet. The White House response has been generally to say, hey, inflation shows that we're coming out of the recession, so it's a good sign.
President Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, enthusiastically retweeted an economist who had said, in part: "Most of the economic problems we're facing, inflation, supply chains, et cetera, are high- class problems."
Now, I get the larger point that, when we're talking about economics, we're coming out of recession. But doesn't it seem tone-deaf to say that rising prices and empty grocery store shelves are high-class problems? Isn't that a bit dismissive?
PSAKI: Well, that's not exactly what the tweet said, nor the retweet of the original tweet, which is what we're talking about here.
It is true, though, Jake -- and economists will tell you this, and I know you have interviewed some of them as well -- that the fact is, the unemployment rate is about half what it was a year ago. So, a year ago, people were in their homes, 10 percent of people were unemployed. Gas prices were low because nobody was driving. People weren't buying goods because they didn't have jobs.
Now more people have jobs. more people are buying goods. That's increasing the demand. That's a good thing.
At the same time, we also know that the supply is low because we're coming out of the pandemic and because a bunch of manufacturing sectors across the world have shut down, because ports haven't been functioning as they should be.
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These are all things we're working through. What people should know is that inflation is going to come down next year. Economists have said that. They're all projecting that. But we're working to attack these cost issues that are impacting the American people every single day.
But there's different issues in different sectors and many of the ones you mentioned.
TAPPER: Well, Chief of Staff Ron Klain, back when he was a private citizen in 2018, on Twitter, he went after the Trump White House for efforts to dismiss rising prices.
Klain asked if Vice President Pence would do what then-Commerce Secretary Ross did and -- quote -- "hold up a Campbell's Soup can and argue that price increases for basic food items really don't hurt the middle class" -- unquote.
There are a lot of people out there who might say, why did Ron Klain think that rising prices was a serious concern under Trump, but not under Biden?
PSAKI: I can tell you, from sitting in a lot of meetings with Ron Klain day in and day out, he is obsessed with lowering costs for the American people. And that's driven from the president.
And how we're approaching that is, we're trying to increase competition in the agricultural sector. We're working to get ports up and running, which is an announcement we made earlier this week. We're working with labor unions, with industry leaders to make sure that there's more of a movement of goods. This is our focus every single day.
There isn't the same issue in every single sector. But every meeting I'm in, he's pressing for the economic team and others to do more. And that's what the American people should know.
TAPPER: So, Jen, you probably know this, but it just happened in the last few minutes, that a watchdog group here in D.C., CREW, which is generally, I would say, fair to -- it would be fair to characterize them as left-leaning -- that they filed a complaint against you.
They allege that you endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Virginia Terry McAuliffe from the podium in the race yesterday.
Here's what you said. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PSAKI: Look, I think the president, of course, wants former Governor McAuliffe to be the future governor of Virginia.
We're going to do everything we can to help former Governor McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he's representing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, you also said in that quote that you had to be careful about how far you went, but CREW says you still went too far.
I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond.
PSAKI: Well, I appreciate that, Jake.
And I take ethics seriously. So does this president, of course.
As I understand it, if I had said he, instead of we, that would not have been an issue at all. And I will be more careful with my words next time. Words certainly matter.
TAPPER: All right, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, we appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much.
PSAKI: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: We have breaking news coming up in our health lead. Stay with us for the latest on booster shots for people who got the J&J COVID vaccine.
Plus, former President Bill Clinton in the hospital for an infection. And we're now learning more about his phone call with his successor. President Biden.
Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our health lead, one and not done yet for the 15 million people in the U.S. that got the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A key FDA panel unanimously approved a second shot and for the unvaccinated, frankly, the numbers don't lie.
CNN's Nick Watt dives into new CDC data that unequivocally shows those refusing vaccines should really reconsider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have 19 out of 19 unanimous yes votes.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FDA advisers just agreed with Johnson & Johnson, a second dose of their vaccine is a good idea.
DR. PENNY HEATON, GLOBAL THERAPEUTIC AREA HEAD, VACCINES AT JANSSEN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: It will increase efficacy against severe disease. It will increase efficacy against all symptomatic COVID. And it will increase the breadth of the immune response against variants.
WATT: And they say adults should get that second shot at least two months after the first. Now, Johnson & Johnson says their vaccine's protection against severe disease and death remains robust. But the V.A. study found that back in March, vaccine protection against all infections was high across all the vaccines. By August, there was erosion. And look at Johnson & Johnson, fell from 88 percent to just 3 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this frankly was always a two-dose vaccine. I think it's better as a two-dose vaccine.
WATT: More than 9 million Americans have already had a booster. Great. But this isn't. More people are getting a booster every day than getting their first shot. And unvaccinated adults are 19 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I urge everyone who's eligible for vaccines to get them.
WATT: In Chicago, starting tonight, cops must submit to testing or prove they're vaccinated. Their union says half haven't had the shots.
JOHN CATANZARA, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: But even the ones that are still, like myself, believe that a forced mandate is absolutely wrong.
MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO: What we've seen from the Fraternal Order of Police and particularly the leadership is a lot of misinformation, a lot of half truths and flat-out lies in order to induce an insurrection. And we're not having that.
WATT: Finally, good news for the U.S. tourist trade. November 8th, fully vaccinated foreigners can enter this country. This policy is guided by public health says the White House, stringent and consistent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): Now, of course, the CDC still needs to weigh in on those Johnson & Johnson second shots and a lot of people are going to be hoping sooner rather than later. Fourteen million Americans got the Johnson & Johnson and with the two-month time frame, about 90 percent of them could soon be eligible for a second -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Nick Watt, as always, excellent. Thank you so much.
Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot will join us live in the 5:00 hour of the lead for more on that story.
But, right now, let's talk to Dr. Ashish Jha. He's the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
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Dr. Jha, what's your take on the FDA advisory committee decision on the Johnson & Johnson booster?
DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yeah, Jake, thanks for having me back. I think it was clearly the right call. Clearly wasn't a close call. 19-0. J&J is a very good vaccine. I also believe it's probably a two-shot vaccine. Probably one is not enough. And everybody who has had one needs a second one two months after the first. They are going to get full protection if they do that.
TAPPER: As you saw in Nick's piece, a V.A. study shows a shocking drop in vaccine effectiveness when they looked at veterans who had gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in March. Protection against infection was 88 percent for the J&J dose. By august it dropped to 3 percent. Do we risk losing lives if the CDC doesn't approve this extra dose
immediately?
JHA: No doubt about it, CDC needs to move quickly. The way I see it is first of all, that's against infection. Still have good protection against hospitalizations and deaths but not enough. So we do need to move quickly on that second shot.
That drop is a combination of waning immunity and the delta variant given the delta variant is out there and the dominant variant now. It's really urgent that people go get that second shot pretty quickly.
TAPPER: Yeah. Let me underline what you just said, that 88 percent to 3 percent for the J&J. That's about infection. That's not death. I just want to make sure.
It's about whether or not you get infected, not hospitalized or killed. Let's underline that.
So, Dr. Jha, mix and match boosters were also discussed by the FDA advisory committee. It was not formally voted on. This is the idea of you get the Pfizer vaccine and then the booster from Moderna or vice versa.
Will it be a big deal if anyone can get any booster at their pharmacy regardless of what their initial vaccination was?
JHA: So we have a little bit of data on this, Jake. The data so far suggested if you got a Moderna or Pfizer initially, there's probably not a huge benefit to switching, to the other one. So you can. There's no down side but probably not much up side either.
The data seems to suggest that for J&J, a second shot with J&J is good but a second shot with a Moderna or Pfizer may be better. I emphasize may be better because we have small studies on this.
I would have loved to see the FDA panel weigh in on this more formal formally. That may become a thing where J&J people get a second shot from something else. But for Moderna and Pfizer vaccinated people, I don't think there's any major advantage to switching.
TAPPER: Anyone out there who isn't vaccinated or who has a close friend or family member who wasn't vaccinated, I want you to pay extra attention to this question. As you also heard in Nick's report, there's new CDC data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that unvaccinated adults are 11 times more likely to die from COVID than vaccinated adults, and six times more likely to get the virus.
The numbers seem pretty clear. We're talking about hundreds of thousands, millions of individuals. How would you suggest talking to a friend or loved one who is still hesitant?
JHA: Yeah, this is -- the data here is overwhelming. The CDC data confirms what we've been seeing. 85,000 Americans died between September of this year from this virus, almost all of them unvaccinated. As we get into the fall and winter, the thing I remind people, all of us will encounter the delta variant at some point. Much, much better to do it with a vaccine-inducing immunity.
And it's not just about you. It's about spreading it to others and getting other people sick. It's our most urgent challenge to get unvaccinated people their shots.
TAPPER: And while you're there, get the flu shot as well. Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Coming up next, a controversial Trump-era policy that the Biden administration is being forced to revive. We'll explain, next.
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TAPPER: In our politics lead in the hotly contested race for Virginia's governor, obviously, every vote counts. It looks like it will be a squeaker to help secure a victory. Candidates must win over a key demographic, Latinos, who make up 11 percent of the population of the commonwealth.
Both Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are spending big on outreach in Spanish language media campaigns. McAuliffe trying to boost Democratic support by painting Youngkin as a Trump wannabe. Youngkin rejects that label. For some Latino voters, it might actually work in his favor, frankly.
But as Boris Sanchez reports for us now, red or blue, many Latino voters care less about the courting and more about what happens after the election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRY MCAULIFFE (D-VA), NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR: We got Peru, Nicaragua --
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a hotly contested Virginia governor's race, retail politics means shopping for cafe at Todos supermarket.
Mingling with dozens of workers and customers and the owner, Carlos Castro.
MCAULIFFE: You guys voted yet?
SANCHEZ: Democrat Terry McAuliffe going to great lengths to court Latino voters amid signs of a potential shift in the reliably Democratic leaning demographic.
MCAULIFFE: It's critical that I get the Hispanic vote out here.
SANCHEZ: With Latinos making up roughly 11 percent of the commonwealth's population, Democrats see Virginia as a test.
MCAULIFFE: They are sick of Trump. They don't want to go back and they don't want a Trump wannabe coming into this governorship.
SANCHEZ: Though President Biden won nearly two-thirds of Latinos nationwide in 2020, former President Trump outperformed expectations leading Republicans to substantial gains across the country, including in Virginia where he gained six points among Latino voters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translated): Sometimes, you have to make a change. When you see that certain promises aren't fulfilled.
SANCHEZ: While the McAuliffe campaign is going after his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin for emulating Trump, to some voters, that is the appeal.
Raul Velasco says he's worried about illegal immigration and crime.
RAUL VELASCO, VOTER: It might seem wrong, but if they said Youngkin is one of Trump, I'm 100 percent with him.
GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA), NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR: Let us come together to celebrate the mark that Hispanic and Latino Virginians have left on our state.
SANCHEZ: Eager to replicate Trump's success, Glenn Youngkin visited Todos grocery store last month and has held more than 20 outreach events targeting Latino voters. His campaign also investing in Spanish language advertising and social media, an effort that's impressed Daniel P. Cortez, a politically independent Vietnam vet who voted for McAuliffe in 2013 but voted Trump in 2020 and now is the co-chair of Latinos for Youngkin.
DANIEL CORTEZ, LATINOS FOR YOUNGKIN: This is not about race. I'm tired of dealing with racial politics, in the previous election and this election. Voters are tired. They're going to vote their pocketbooks.
POLITICAL AD (translated): Let's vote early for Democrat Terry McAuliffe for governor.
SANCHEZ: Democrats have increased their own outreach launching a six- figure Spanish language media campaign on television, radio and online, along with dozens of community events, attempting to sway the undecided, like Carlos Castro, who is a former undocumented immigrant turned entrepreneur. He now owns a local supermarket chain employing hundreds.
He says his values align with Republicans, but he says extremist rhetoric and discrimination toward immigrants like him have turned him away.
CARLOS CASTRO, OWNER, TODOS SUPERMARKET: Then lately, after having all the -- from other Republican establishment, a lot of us have been forced to support candidates that show that they care about the community.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ (on camera): And, Jake, both campaigns tell me they're planning similar outreach events not just over the weekend but all the way through Election Day.
And as you noted, several voters I spoke with in the community say they'll be vigilant about what happens once all the ballots are counted and whether these candidates remain focused on the concerns of the Latino community and their contributions to the country as a whole -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Boris. Thanks so much.
Also on our politics lead, the Biden administration is making plans to adopt a controversial Trump-era policy on immigration, one that the Biden administration tried to get rid of and then lost a recent court battle. A federal judge accused the Biden administration of improperly terminating that policy, so the administration is now saying it will recommence, forcing migrants seeking asylum to stay in Mexico, often in squalid and possibly dangerous conditions, at least until a U.S. immigration court can hear their individual cases. It's a process that critics point out can take months, if not years.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is here to explain.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They say they don't agree with this policy but they have to comply with the court order. So they are moving to re-implement it and they said in a court filing that they're prepared to do that in mid-November, assuming Mexico agrees to terms because these migrants will have to stay in Mexico until their court date.
Immigrant advocacy groups aren't buying it and we are now learning that immigrant advocacy those groups and service provider blasted Biden officials in a call today about reviving this policy. Sources tell me it was an emotionally charged call. It was a frustrating call particularly as they recalled the conditions that these migrants were in and the danger to their lives.
And one source said, quote, there's no trust. So, tensions are boiling over here, over the potential of a second Trump-era border policy taking effect next month.
TAPPER: So, Vice President Harris was put in charge of trying to stem the flow of migrants from Central America. What does she have to say about this?
ALVAREZ: She's always said their focus is on root causes of migration, specifically in three countries, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. But what we have seen over the last few months is that there are flows from South America now that are overwhelming the administration. And a perfect example of this is Del Rio, Texas, where we saw thousands of migrants primarily Haitians, underneath a bridge and they came from South America, not Central America.
So, officials are going back to the drawing board. They're trying to find ways to solve this. One of the ideas is connecting migrants to economic opportunities in the region. The State Department is running ads to try to deter people from coming to the U.S. southern border. So, an immense challenge to this administration while Harris tries to make inroads in those three countries through her private partnerships.
[16:35:00]
TAPPER: And then Priscilla, the Homeland Security Department is facing criticism there was a watchdog report on how ICE handles solitary confinement inside immigration detention facilities. Tell us about that.
ALVAREZ: The IG found quite simply that ICE was not tracking adequately the use of solitary confinement in their detention centers. They provided recommendations like updating their policies and finding ways to make sure they are reporting these instances in an appropriate way. ICE says that they agree with those recommendations and will work toward enhancing their policies.
TAPPER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
What put President Bill Clinton in the hospital? Coming up next, how he ended up in intensive care. And what did he tell President Biden about his condition? That's next. Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our national lead now, a health scare for former President Bill Clinton. He's been hospitalized since Tuesday for a urinary tract infection that doctors say spread to his blood stream.
CNN's Sara Sidner is outside the University of California Irvine Medical Center located near L.A.
And, Sara, the former president still undergoing treatment. What are doctors saying about his condition?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's better. He's in quite a good mood, according to his spokesman. He's reading a couple of books while in the hospital and he's joking and he's actually been able to walk around as well. And so, they are saying, look, he is doing better, although we're not sure just how good because he's still here in the hospital in the ICU, although we should be clear that the ICU is simply because it's a more private space and more secure than the rest of the hospital.
We know he came in on Tuesday night. He came in because he was feeling fatigued. Doctors determined he had a urinary tract infection. That inspection spread to his blood stream which is basically sepsis, which can be fatal if not treated. And so, they are paying a lot of attention trying to make sure that he is going to be okay.
But so far, we're hearing from his spokespeople that he is doing well and that he certainly feels better. And just a bit annoyed he has to be in the hospital because he could be out here in the sunny California sun -- Jake.
TAPPER: Right. And, Sara, do we know when he's expected to be released?
SIDNER: We understood he was going to be released today but we're now hearing that he actually may have to stay in just a bit longer. Doctors want to observe him for a little bit more but tomorrow may be the day that the president, former President Bill Clinton is able to come out of the hospital. We know also his wife Hillary Clinton visited. We watched her walk in to visit her husband -- Jake.
TAPPER: Sara Sidner, thank you so much. We're glad he's on the mend.
Let's bring in CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel.
And, Jamie, you were the first to report that former President Clinton was under in this condition. Take us behind the scenes into his healthcare. He's 75 years old. Not a spring chicken anymore.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: He's 75 years old but this is actually not uncommon for people who are older to have a UTI infection. You don't have pain. You don't have symptoms. It goes unnoticed. And then all of a sudden, it becomes sepsis.
Two things to clarify. Why are they keeping him in the hospital? A lot of these infections require IV antibiotics. You can't just go.
TAPPER: Intravenous.
GANGEL: Intravenous antibiotics. So -- and that would be a three to five-day course. I know someone who had a seven-day course in my family. So it's not at all unusual or alarming that they are keeping him there. Another day or maybe a couple more.
TAPPER: Better safe than sorry, sure.
GANGEL: Correct. He is in a very good mood. He is reading Colson Whitehead's "Harlem Shuffle." Hillary Clinton is still there. And he had an interesting phone call with President Biden today. I think in addition to the president wishing him well, guess what the two of them talked about? Politics.
TAPPER: Right, I'm sure.
GANGEL: And what race is coming up? Virginia.
TAPPER: Right.
GANGEL: I'm told that they discussed at some length Terry McAuliffe who was the chairman of both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton's campaign, former DNC chairman, that the two men had a discussion about how that race is going.
TAPPER: Bill Clinton younger than Joe Biden, I might observe. GANGEL: That's true.
TAPPER: If there were no symptoms initially, then what happened? How did he have to get rushed to the hospital?
GANGEL: So you may remember that in April 2018, the day after Barbara Bush died, former President bush 41 was rushed to the hospital. The same thing had happened to him. There were no symptoms and then, all of a sudden, he wasn't feeling well and he had sepsis.
In this case, what we know is that Tuesday, he wasn't feeling well. The words were very fatigued. He really must not have been feeling well for them to bring him to the hospital. They did the test and they discovered the infection.
TAPPER: Very important. Listen to your body. Our beloved colleague Kasie Hunt just had a brain tumor removed. It was benign. She's fine -- but she just put out a tweet. Listen to your body.
GANGEL: Right.
TAPPER: Jamie Gangel, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
We're live on the scene after a British lawmaker is murdered while meeting with voters. What we know about the suspect, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:49:23]
TAPPER: In our world lead, British counterterrorism police are leading the investigation into today's fatal stabbing of a member of the British parliament as CNN's Nic Robertson reports, conservative party member of parliament David Amess was meeting with his constituents when he was attacked.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over) Known as a kind and gentleman, 69 Sir David Amess had been a member of parliament for more than half his life. His brutal killing shocking the nation from the prime minister --
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: All our hearts are full of shock and sadness.
ROBERTSON: Amess' constituents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was awful. He's such a kind gentle soul.
[16:50:02]
ROBERTSON: Amess died while helping his community, meeting face-to- face with voters, a so-called constituency surgery, answering queries, solving problems, listening to gripes. Police say they received a call about a stabbing around noon. They
were on the scene of the church within minutes but they say Amess had been stabbed multiple times and the emergency services couldn't save him.
A knife was found at the scene and a 25-year-old man arrested. Police say they are not looking for anyone else at this time.
BEN-JULIAN HARRINGTON, CHIEF CONSTABLE OF ESSEX POLICE: The investigation is in its very early stages. And is being led by officers from the specialist counterterrorism command.
ROBERTSON: His killing is the first of a sitting MP since labor's Joe Cox was shot and stabbed by a man with extreme right wing views five years ago.
From across the political spectrum and beyond, the outpouring of affection for Amess, a traditional conservative with a love of animals and the environment, has been huge.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH OPPOSITION LEADER: He was much respected. He had that profound sense of duty, was driven by his faith. And that's why across the parties, across parliament, he was so respected and so liked. And there's a very profound sense of loss, I think, across politics, across faith and up and down the country.
ROBERTSON: He leaves a wife and five children.
Sir David Amess dead at 69.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (on camera): And, of course this really is reigniting the debate, Jake, about how safe British MPs are when they meet face-to- face with their constituents.
TAPPER: Yeah. It was five years ago the British MP Joe Cox was murdered in a similar type situation. We've gotten no word on a motive yet for this 25-year-old man who has been arrested or taken by police.
How are police working to track down a motive?
ROBERTSON: Well, you know, I think some of the details that we do know and they are slender, I have to say that, the man was taken alive. It's not the situation where he stabbed the MP and was shot and killed on the scene. He was taken alive.
So, the police will be able to question him. No doubt try to get from him his motives, where he lived, who his friends were, who his associates were.
When you bring in the counterterrorism command, they bring in a huge package, if you will, of assets that can rapidly troll through social media, can rapidly try to map out associates of this person. To form a better picture of who this person was. Was it someone who was quite simply deranged or is this someone with other motives? So, this is what the police will be doing right now.
TAPPER: And, Nic, I have to say, two members of parliament murdered in five years. Lawmakers there must be very worried about threats to their safety.
ROBERTSON: You know, Sir David Amess was as well after Joe Cox was killed. He had written about his concerns. He said this really does sort of, you know, rather -- has rather spoiled, his words, rather spoiled the great British tradition of meeting face-to-face with constituents.
So even he was concerned. And had raised questions in parliament with Boris Johnson just earlier this year about knife crime, what was the government going to do about knife crime, about reducing the killings from knife crime. So, he was very cognizant and aware of it and other MPs are. This will send a chill. But we've heard from the speaker of the House today saying that even he -- even he today continued meeting constituency members as he's always done.
It's a strong tradition and politicians want to keep it going. But the police are going to have a view on it, too.
TAPPER: Yeah. It's a real tragedy. May he rest in peace. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
Nobody is off limits. That's the warning from the chair of the House Committee investigating the insurrection. Could Donald Trump himself get a subpoena?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:58:48]
TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
Leading this hour: the House Select Committee investigating January 6th is hoping to send a message as it moves forward to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress, and the chairman of the committee, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson told CNN that no one is off limits to subpoenas, including former President Trump.
CNN's Paula Reid starts us off with the committee's stepped up efforts and now a U.S. Capitol police officer facing charges in a case tied to the January 6th attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Today, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Riley arrested, charged with obstruction of justice. According to an indictment unsealed Friday, Riley allegedly communicated on Facebook with a person who had posted selfies and videos from the Capitol during the insurrection.
Riley allegedly messaged the person: I'm a Capitol Police officer who agrees with your political stance. Take down the part about being in the building. They are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to charge.
Then in mid-January, Riley allegedly told the person, get off social media. They're arresting dozens of people a day.
At some point, they also spoke on the phone. Then the person at the riot was arrested on January 19th and was asked by the FBI about communications with Riley.
