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Don Lemon Tonight
House to Vote on Biden's $1.9 COVID Bill; GOP Concerned with the Pandemic but Not on CPAC Crowd; Johnson & Johnson Coming with Single-dose vaccine; No Sanction for Saudi's MBS; Lady Gaga's Dogs Now Back. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired February 26, 2021 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Sources tell CNN the FBI has identified a suspect who may have been captured on video attacking several officers with bare spray. As we've reported, the working theory is that Sicknick was among those exposed to it in a big amount and he had a deadly reaction.
The New York's Time -- The New York Times reports that there is also evidence the person talked about using the chemical to attack others ahead of time.
We will stay on this. Part of our coverage, of course, is watching CNN Tonight with the Friday night upgrade, aka, Laura Coates esquire.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Chris, that is, if that's the reason, if that's how he died, that is stomach turning. And he used bear spray --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: And tell them what it means if you know that the person was planning to use it exactly to do that beforehand.
COATES: It sounds like a conviction to me. It sounds like a prosecution to me. It sounds like somebody had the intent that malice aforethought, all those phrases you learned in law school and everyone can use colloquially after watching law and order, the entire thing says that you premeditated some sort of nefarious behavior.
And imagine that, imagine that took place on January 6th and all they were doing in that room was trying to certify in a ceremonial thing, Chris, it wasn't like there was any suspense, it wasn't like it was the Golden Globe of who might win. We already knew who was going to be certified and to use bear spray in that way, stomach turning.
CUOMO: We now have -- we now have half the aisle, basically, fomenting for more. That's what we're seeing going on in their little crazy convention right now. So, time to be onboard.
COATES: Is that the -- that's what the acronym is, the crazy convention? Well, I'll let them be the judge. Chris, happy Friday.
CUOMO: Happy Friday. COATES: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Laura Coates, in for Don Lemon.
And our breaking news. The House voting tonight on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID aid package. The vote expected to be very tight after Republicans dragged it out with hours of debate all day long. We'll bring you the latest on the vote the moment it happens.
That, as President Biden traveled to Houston today. His first trip as commander in chief to a state we know is suffering from a natural disaster. The president now promising comfort and support to Texans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will be true partners to help you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis. We are in for the long haul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: And as President Biden is working to get COVID relief the nation and stepping up in his role as consoler in chief, Republicans at CPAC are literally wheeling around, look at it, wheeling around a golden statue of the former president.
Seriously, that's what they see as the future of the Republican Party, a disgraced twice impeached one-term president and then there is Ted Cruz. Tone deaf Ted Cruz joking about his really, really bad decision to take a trip to Cancun while millions of people in his home state were shivering in the dark with no heat, no power, and lining up for food and water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I got to say, Orlando is awesome!
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: It's not as nice as Cancun. But it's nice!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: I guess that was pretty funny to some people. Probably not anyone in Texas, but those are who Ted Cruz represents.
But there is encouraging news on the pandemic tonight. We could be just days away from a desperately needed third vaccine. Because tonight, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine recommended for an emergency use authorization, and it would be the first one-shot vaccine, and the federal government says it's ready to distribute some four million doses as soon as it gets the final OK. One advisor to the FBI bluntly saying it's a good weapon to, quote, "keep you out of the morgue."
Joining me now CNN chief correspondent Dana Bash and chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
Ladies, nice to see you both on a Friday night. Let me begin with you, Kaitlan. Because they are gearing up for a vote on President Biden's COVID relief package. So, you know, what are the stakes now for this major priority that we all know for the White House, but also for the entire United States of America?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are huge because also for President Biden this is his first massive piece of legislation. And so, this step is just one more step in the process. It still has to go to the Senate after this. And that's going to be potentially where things heat up.
Because one that everyone is watching, you know, we know the main provisions of this bill which is the $1,400 stimulus checks, the $130 billion for schools, several other measures including direct aid to small businesses and increased child tax credit, also included in this bill.
[22:05:08]
One things that's included in this bill tonight that's expected to pass the House in a few hours, we're not really sure on timing, is that $15 minimum wage increase that we know now is not going to be in the Senate bill after that parliamentarian ruled that it can't be in there.
We've seen some progressive backlash today saying the White House should overrule the parliamentarian. But we are told that's not going to happen. Biden is disappointed by the decision but he respects it, the White House says.
And so, the question is where it's going to end up from here because, of course, they've got to satisfy all 50 Democrats in the Senate. If one of them votes against it, the entire bill fails. So that's going to be the next step going forward. Once they get it pass, which the White House believes is going to happen in the House tonight.
COATES: Of course, Sana, it wouldn't be the first time that they ever had to overrule a parliamentarian. I mean, I remember a time that this happened in recent history, but of course the idea of firing a parliamentarian or dismissing or being dismissive of one would said or maybe maintain a very dangerous precedent, right?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And there are procedural ways to force votes on that, which would almost definitely make it so that the attempt to overturn the parliamentarian, even if the vice president sitting in her chair as president of the Senate were to do it, would probably be overturned.
But you are exactly right. As an attorney, as you know, precedent matters, and this is something that the Biden administration in particular, 36-year veteran of the Senate and the President of the United States, likely won't go there.
COATES: And you are reporting, Dana, that more than a dozen Republicans actually told the House that they can't apparently attend votes today due to what, of course, is a public health emergency, but apparently a public health emergency does not exist if you attend CPAC.
We can actually see here Congressman Gaetz and Cawthorn speaking there. I mean, you think about this. You can't show up for a vote because it's a health risk but apparently you can go to CPAC. That's outrageous, Dana.
BASH: Well, even if you add on to that, Laura, that the Republicans tried to block the change in the House rules that allows proxy voting in the first place. This was a big, big deal for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make the move to allow proxy voting and she did it for one reason and one reason only, and that is a global pandemic and concern about health and the fact that people are worried about going to the House floor, sometimes worried about flying, and so they wanted to be able to do their job, the job they were elected to do, to vote in the House of the Representatives because of the COVID, of the pandemic.
And as I mentioned, Republicans fought this. They lost, but they fought this. Now some of those very Republicans are using the proxy vote excuse not because they are quarantined or worried about their health. It's because, as you said, they are in Orlando at a conference trying to get political points by being there and by throwing red meat to their base. It's pretty remarkable.
COATES: And Kaitlan, I mean, remarkable is the understatement, right? I mean, you actually saw it. We heard earlier Senator Ted Cruz making a joke about being in Orlando. He is not in Texas. But he said this at CPAC today. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: And the Republican Party is not the party just of the country clubs. The Republican Party is the party of steelworkers and construction workers and pipeline workers and taxicab drivers, and cops, and firefighters, and waiters and waitresses, and the men and women with callouses on their hands who are working for this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: This is pretty rich, frankly. The idea that Donald Trump, who is the leader of the Republican Party, is living at Mar-a-Lago, which last I checked was a country club. I mean, he literally owns, Kaitlan, multiple country clubs all over the world. So, am I missing something about the callous hands employees that we have not seen?
COLLINS: Well he did say not just the party of country clubs and said those other --
(CROSSTALK)
COATES: You're right. He said the word just, and words matter, you're right.
COLLINS: No, but I do think that makes a great point. Because that is how you have seen Ted Cruz, these other allies of former President Trump try to portray them themselves as this party of working people, they're, you know, the regular people, and of course, you know, the irony of that when even when Donald Trump started his run back in 2015 and 2016, that was the framing that even people who went on to work for him disagreed with. That he was there to represent people whose interests had gone unrepresented for so long when, of course, Donald Trump was someone who has a tower in New York City with his name on it, all of this matters as well.
[22:10:05]
And to see Ted Cruz of course, given the fact that he was under such fire for going to Cancun amid a crisis with his family, something he clearly realized was a political blunder because he came back so quickly and tried to remedy that and now is mocking it is on display.
It will be fascinating to see how the politics play out during this political action conference that's happening right now in Florida. It's not very well known, I don't think to most people, but it is somewhere where you go and show your face if you want to run for president for that party eventually.
Notably, Mike Pence, the former vice president and Nikki Haley, are two expected 2024 competitors. They are not going to be there this weekend. Instead it's going to be the Ted Cruz's and the former President Trump's as well.
COATES: And also breaking tonight, Kaitlan, President Biden released message actually commemorating black history month. What is the president saying?
COLLINS: Well, it's not your typical message. This is actually really interesting because he does tie it back to what is the main event that somebody who we have been talking about, that January the 6th riot. Listen to how the president framed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There is a cry for justice 400 years in the making, and we saw more Americans, more black Americans vote this past election than ever before. We are just over a month away from the deadly insurrection against the very democracy by extremists and white supremacists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I think black history month is so often remembered as to what people have done in the past. And so, what you are seeing President Biden there is tying it to what people have done recently, talking about turnout in the 2020 election, talking about the role that domestic terrorism is now playing in our country.
And that is something that his Justice Department has pledged to combat and confront, and so it is interesting to see how he make the message not just about what's happened before, but what is happening right now amid our very circumstances.
COATES: I mean, it's really black history American president, right, the idea that the Department of Justice is actually founded on this idea of domestic terrorism towards African- Americans in this country. Listen, don't miss this weekend, State of the Union with Dana Bash at
Sunday at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. right here on CNN. Thank you, ladies, to you both. Nice seeing you. We'll watch on Sunday as well.
And now the twice impeached one-term former president apparently still the golden boy at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando this weekend, literally, the golden boy.
CNN's Jim Acosta is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look around this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: T-PAC. That's what it feels like, guys.
ACOSTA: And it's clear much of the Republican Party still sees Donald Trump as a golden idol who will lead the GOP back to the White House.
TOMMY ZEGAN, TRUMP STATUE DESIGNER: I think he was the greatest president.
ACOSTA: Despite Trump's role in the bloody siege at the capitol on January 6th --
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you don't fight like hell, you are not going to have a country anymore.
ACOSTA: CPAC chief organizer Matt Schlapp handed the former president a prime speaking slot closing out the conference Sunday.
MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: I like the fact that he wants to stay engaged. You could say that he lost the election, but his supporters, 73 million --
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: Well he did lose the election.
SCHLAPP: You can say that he lost the election --
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: He did lose the election.
SCHLAPP: Yes, yes, but I'm not quibbling that.
ACOSTA: But Schlapp then says Trump shouldn't be held responsible for the deadly insurrection.
SCHLAPP: Who said that?
ACOSTA: He gave the speech, and then there was a violent insurrection at the capitol. SCHLAPP: You don't know, you simply don't know what you are talking
about.
UNKNOWN: I (Inaudible) you, if you want to give out the fraud I would --
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: After our interview some CPAC attendees irate, many of them refusing to believe Trump incited any violence.
Don't you feel Trump is at all responsible for that?
UNKNOWN: No, not at all.
UNKNOWN: No.
UNKNOWN: Not at all.
ACOSTA: Do you still believe that Donald Trump won the election?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ACOSTA: And still believing his big lie that he won the election. A falsehood the former president is expected to repeat this weekend.
SANY DAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: No. What did he do? I mean, he is out there doing a rally. I mean, you got a bunch of nut cases going out there.
ACOSTA: Trump's presence is overshadowing the other presidential wannabes at the conference, like Senator Ted Cruz who made light of his trip to Cancun while his constituents were freezing to death in Texas.
CRUZ: I got to say, Orlando is awesome!
(CROWD CHEERING)
CRUZ: It's not as nice as Cancun, but it's nice. In the immortal words of William Wallace, freedom!
ACOSTA: This chaotic post-presidency has twisted the GOP in into a pretzel with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he could support another Trump campaign.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The nominee of the party? Absolutely.
ACOSTA: Even though he just condemned the former president right after his impeachment trial.
MCCONNELL: President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:15:01] COATES: Let me bring in Jim Acosta live for us from CPAC. And Jim, first of all, I honestly, don't know watching how you do this all this time, the attacks that you are fending off from people, the criticism. The idea of talking to people who seem to be on a different planet when it comes to the election results.
I mean, the future of the GOP it looks a lot like the past in many ways, right? Let's talk about that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP, JR.: How's it going, CPAC?
(CROWD CHEERING)
TRUMP, JR.: Or I heard someone earlier phrase it a little bit better. T-PAC. That's what it feels like, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Well, that tells you what you need to know about what's going on at CPAC or, I guess T-PAC as he said. But where does that leave Republicans who don't want it to be T-PAC, who don't support the disgraced former president.
Back with me now, Jim Acosta, CNN's chief domestic correspondent. And we're also joined by former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent.
Jim, let me start with you here, because as I was talking before the break, I mean, it looked a little tense at CPAC. I mean, you are reporting that it's not just the election outcome that people are actually still denying. There is a whole host of grievances.
[22:20:05]
ACOSTA: There really is. And if you challenge anybody from the CPAC chairman, Matt Schlapp, all the way down to the regular attendees, if you challenge any of them about the big lie, about whether or not Trump had anything to do with the violence at the capitol on January 6th, which, of course, that is the case, you are met with hostility.
We saw that almost immediately as we were interviewing Matt Schlapp at this conference, as we started to talk to him and pressed him on the big lie, how could he have the former president there when he was pushing this big lie and, obviously, delivered a speech that led to the riot at the capitol and so on.
You could feel the tension building, the hostility building around us and those attendees, you know, started to get hostile with us because they did not like the questions that we were asking. And you know, what you are seeing develop at this event, Laura, is really it's a welcome home party. It's a homecoming for Donald Trump. They are welcoming him back to the political stage. And the question that I was trying to ask, you know, not only to Matt
Schlapp but others there, does Donald Trump really deserve to be welcomed back? I mean, this is a guy who was impeached twice. He left office after being impeached and inciting a riot and insurrection at the capitol and yet they are welcoming him back with open arms.
And they are idolizing Donald Trump at this thing, Laura. We saw a golden statue, a golden idol dedicated to Donald Trump rolled in there. There are people taking pictures of this idol all day long. It is just the most mind-bending surreal experience that you can possibly imagine all for a one-term president.
As you know, Laura, one-term presidents usually fade into the background. They go off and retire somewhere and enjoy the rest of their golden years. And instead, we have a golden idol to Donald Trump at this conference.
COATES: I mean, if I actually wasn't seeing it right now, Jim, with my own eyes, I don't think I'd believe that there was actually a golden statue, they actually have the golden boy there. I mean, look at it. And in flag shorts, no less, with a tie. Is that -- is that a magic wand? Like a tooth fairy sort of wand? I'm looking at this and it boggles the mind.
And Charlie, you know, you saw the Trump idol.
ACOSTA: Yes.
COATES: You saw the Trump hats. The followers who didn't believe that he won -- who believe that he won the election. I thought that CPAC, I know that Don Jr. wanted to change it to a T, but the C was supposed to be about conservative values and you say about conservative leaders with conservative ideals, and now I'm looking, it seems like the fringe has taken control.
CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, yes, Laura. Well, the CPAC or Trump fest as I like to call it, is this CPAC historically has always drawn a fair number of the black helicopter crowd and the tinfoil hat brigade group. They always show up, they are just there in bigger numbers this time and it's all about loyalty to the man. It's about fidelity to him.
You would think by this big program that Donald Trump won the election. I mean, you know, that he cost Republicans the Senate, the House, and the White House, lost the popular vote twice, and impeached twice and they are celebrating him.
Most, I think a lot of republicans are much more clear-eyed about this. That if they ever hope to be a governing majority again, that they are going to have to start appealing to constituencies that have been ignored or mistreated by Trump and those who followed him.
They are all about exclusion. They are not about inclusion. They are all about the vision, not multiplication, subtraction, not addition and that's the problem right now and they haven't recognized it. And it's going to be tough few years for Republicans. COATES: Yet you here people like Mitch McConnell, Jim, saying that he
would support him if he was the nominee. You have Senator Mitt Romney saying that he thinks a thousand percent he would actually be the nominee in 2024. I mean, listen to this, Jim, here is more of what Ted Cruz said just earlier today. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: They look at Donald J. Trump and they look at the millions and millions of people inspired who went to battle, fighting alongside President Trump and they are terrified. And they want him to go away. Let me tell you this right now. Donald J. Trump is not going anywhere.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: You would also almost think by that smile there that he doesn't remember that we remember what it was like just a couple of years ago. I mean, Cruz went from critic to sycophant, McConnell who condemned Trump before, and all of a sudden, embracing him. I mean, former V.P. Pence who Trump incited a mob against him, they are coming crawling back. So, I wonder who is really terrified here? Anyone, Jim?
ACOSTA: I mean I think they are all terrified. I mean, if you listen to Ted Cruz, it sounds like he would like to run off to Cancun with Donald Trump. if you listen the way he weas talking earlier today. And these are the wannabes who want to vie for the 2024 nomination against the former president.
[22:24:55]
Look, I mean, one of the things that I was shocked by earlier today, and there isn't a lot that shocks me anymore, Josh Hawley, the senator from Missouri who was a part of what happened on January 6th in terms of this Republican effort to overturn the election results got a standing ovation from the crowd at CPAC when was defending his attempt to overturn the election.
That goes, I think, what that told me right there, Laura, is that there are some Republicans in this party who are now going to try to ride the back of this insurrection into the 2024 campaign. There is no sense of remorse. There is no sense that they feel at all badly about what happened on that day.
They want to capitalize on this and capitalize on this what they perceive to be this enthusiasm inside the Republican party, inside the Trump base to try to, you know, boost their potential for running for president in 2024. And I think we are going to see this all weekend long. You are going to see the former president come in on Sunday and tout the same election lies over and over again.
And it's because of this enthusiasm inside the Trump base of the Republican Party. I hate to tell everybody, there are people who say don't cover this anymore, we don't want to talk about this anymore. Why are you talking about Donald Trump? This dynamic, this phenomenon is not going -- this deformity as I call it in American politics, it's not going anywhere.
COATES: It certainly is not. And Ted Cruz says that. And of course, as you mentioned, not just the perception of the enthusiasm. It really is there. Jim, Charlie, thank you for your time. Thank you. Jim, I'll talk to you more. Charlie, I'll look back at you next time. I appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, the Saudi crown prince is responsible for murder. Our intelligence community says so. It really wasn't a lot of suspense. But he is actually getting a free pass. So, the question really is, why President Biden isn't punishing him. Fareed Zakaria tells us next.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: So, President Biden has decided not to sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman even though a U.S. intelligence report concluded that he actually approved the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That's also despite a campaign promise to hold senior Saudi leaders accountable.
Administration officials telling CNN that sanctioning the crown prince would have been too complicated. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did announce visa restrictions on dozens of Saudis, as well as sanctions on the crown prince's protective detail. And the White House is saying it wants to recalibrate the relationship with Saudi Arabia. This as the president talked about significant changes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The rules are changing. And we are going to be announcing significant changes today and on Monday. We are going to hold them accountable for human rights abuses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Joining me now Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Fareed, I'm glad you're here. Thank you for being here this evening specially to help us understand what these changes might be.
I would love for you, Fareed, to listen to how former President Trump, this is back in 2018, described the crown prince's role in Khashoggi's killing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The CIA has looked at it, they've studied it a lot, they have nothing definitive. And the fact is maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it would be a terrible mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So now we've got both presidents thinking about the intelligence. But if the price of losing an alliance with Saudi Arabia is too high for Biden to directly punish MBS, is there really any difference here between how Trump and how Biden have responded?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: There is a huge difference. I think the Biden administration is handling this in a serious and responsible way. Look, let's remember the Trump administration essentially lied about what its own intelligence agencies were telling us. That clip you played of Donald Trump was Trump lying, and we can now read the report for ourselves and it's very clear that the definitive judgment of the intelligence community was that MBS, the crown prince, ordered the operation that ended up killing -- it was to kill or kidnap Khashoggi.
But I think that the Biden administration also has to take into caught the Middle East is a very complicated place. Saudi Arabia has been a very stalwart American ally, and you can't get a lot of stuff done in the Middle East if you have Saudi Arabia completely on the outs with you.
Look, we're trying to end the war in Yemen. You need the Saudi, Saudi Arabia to be cooperating in that effort. If you are trying to bring peace and stability to Syria or to Iraq, you need Saudi Arabia for you. If you want to try and normalize relations with Israel with the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is pivotal.
This is our sort of the land of the two holy mosques, you know, in some ways considered the holiest sites in Islam. And considering all of that, I think the Biden administration has done, you know, something that is reasonably balanced. It's a pretty tough position.
They came out against the crown prince. They released the intelligence report. They are sanctioning 76 people, denying them visas. President Biden says there is going to be more. But no, I don't think that, you know, it makes sense for something that happened several years ago to upend the entire relationship because Mohammad bin Salman is the de facto head of the Saudi government. And to take a move against him would seem to me to be, in a sense, a highly symbolic gesture that could have very bad real-world consequences.
[22:35:05]
COATES: Well, it's interesting to think about the diplomatic considerations as you've outlined here, Fareed, and why they are important in terms of the geopolitical ramifications here. There is also the notion here about trying to disrupt one relationship and having tension there, but then what about rebuilding the trust with the intelligence community?
I mean, if the White House isn't going to act on the intelligence because of these considerations and not going to punish the person who actually approved Khashoggi's murder, does that undermine the intelligence community's belief and confidence that they will be listened to and adhered to?
ZAKARIA: Not at all. The intelligence community understands very well. Its job is to provide intelligence, not to advocate policies. And I think that the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines has been very clear about that throughout. Their job is to -- they will be given a job which is to ask, how did this happen, who ordered it, how high up does the chain of command go.
They were not asked, therefore, what should the United States do? That's what the president is paid for. We don't have un-elected intelligence officers formulating foreign policy in the United States. We have the president and his staff --
(CROSSTALK)
COATES: Well, but, Fareed, I just want to say, that is important. You're right. I hate to interrupt you. But the role isn't really that perfunctory just to give information. They are also there in some respects to give and contextualize the consequences if information is not acted on, right?
ZAKARIA: No, there is actually a very strong tradition in the intelligence community that they do not advocate for a particular policy. That's something that Trump violated occasionally, but in general, the entire mission much the intelligence community is very explicitly not to recommend policies.
If you remember, George Tenet, a CIA director, sort of violated that when he seemed to be advocating for the Iraq war. But that was a very unusual exception and was noted as such. The intelligence community doesn't. The foreign policy, the president, the secretary of state, the national security advisor makes it.
And I think they are managing a difficult situation in which you have to balance human rights, you have to balance accountability with all of the interests of the United States has of maintaining peace and stability and trying to get some progress in certain areas.
And I think, you know, you certainly have drawn the balance very differently than Trump, who gave MBS a complete free pass. Here what you are doing is you are holding him accountable, but not accountable in a way that would jeopardize other important goals the United States has.
COATES: I'm eager to hear your show this coming Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. right here on CNN to get more perspective on this issue.
I wonder if this will be viewed the same way by the community as well and about the human rights abuses. Thank you, Fareed. I appreciate it.
ZAKARIA: Pleasure.
COATES: Coming up next, FDA advisers giving the green light to another vaccine. And for this one, you only need one shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: We'll see in the second half of the year whether there will be a second dose recommendation for this vaccine. But certainly, one dose will keep you out of the hospital, keep you out of the intensive care unit and keep you out of the morgue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: More breaking news tonight. FDA advisors recommending authorization of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot coronavirus vaccine. The FDA could actually finalize emergency use authorization, get this, as early as tomorrow. And a member of the FDA panel telling CNN we could actually see shots of the new vaccine administered as early as Tuesday.
For more on this, let's bring in Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and director of Cardiac Catherization Program at George Washington University Hospital.
Dr. Reiner, good evening. Hope you are doing well on this Friday night. You know, we will soon have now -- soon have three vaccines on the U.S. market. So how does the new one from Johnson & Johnson really change the game?
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Hi, good evening, Laura. Yes, today was a really good day. So, the J&J vaccine is a very good vaccine, and it will protect about 85 percent of recipients from severe disease and it will, in that trial, the pivotal trial, it protected everyone from being hospitalized or dying.
So, it's a very, very effective vaccine. So, it's a vaccine that's easy to transport. It can be transported in refrigerator temperatures, it can be stored in the refrigerator for a very extended period of time, months, and importantly, it's being -- it's going to be proved as a single dose.
Now we'll see over the next several weeks results from another trial which will tell us whether a second dose is even better, but the initial rollout of this vaccine is going to be as a single dose, which much better in some places, folks that have difficulty getting to the vaccine clinic, sort of transient populations. It's going to really improve access to vaccines. It's also going to almost double our weekly vaccine output.
You know, right now we're administering somewhere on the order of 14 million vaccinations per day. Today was actually our record. We gave 2.2 million vaccinations today. But about half of our current vaccinations are second shots. But we really need to be giving new shots. We need to get vaccines into more people and the J&J vaccine will, basically, be available in the month of March about five million doses per week. So, it's going to also double our vaccine output.
[22:44:59]
COATES: You know, doctor, my concerns, of course, are with everyone. But we also know that communities of color in particular are not only getting -- having a disparate impact from COVID-19. They are also behind in vaccinations. So, I wonder should this one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be
prioritized for those communities in particular to try to flatten that curve, lower, you know, decrease that gap in particular?
REINER: Whatever works. We know not only our -- is the vaccine being rolled out to minority communities, communities of color in lower numbers, but those communities are also at highest risk of either hospitalization or death.
The African American community, you know, for instance, is almost three times more likely than the white community to die -- excuse me, to be hospitalized for COVID and about twice as likely to die. Yet, there are about half as likely to get vaccinated.
As of the end of last week, in Florida, for instance, about 10 percent of white Floridians had received at least one dose of the vaccine compared to only 4 percent of black people who live this in Florida.
So, there are a lot of reasons for this and we have to really redouble our efforts to get vaccine into the communities where there is either vaccine hesitancy based on a very important historic wrongs, or just structural inequalities that make vaccinations harder, harder to get to these communities. But we need to reach out to them.
COATES: Dr. Reiner, you are absolutely right. and of course, we have to consider the fact that maybe even lowering the eligibility age could be a part of it. And there's been people talking about this very issue of ways in order to try to remedy what we're seeing in terms of the exacerbation of inequity. So, that might be one way. But either way, as you put it, whatever way you can. Get them in the arms of people. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.
REINER: My pleasure.
COATES: You know, breaking news tonight, and, well, it's good news. Lady Gaga's dog walker is recovering after being shot and her two stolen dogs have been recovered. You have police in L.A. saying the French bulldogs Koji and Gustav have in fact been found.
There is an attack that was captured on surveillance video and thieves actually shot, actually shot the dog walker and took the dogs on Wednesday. Right there, can actually see it.
We could actually be days away as well from the confirmation of a new attorney general. And a new way of looking at justice in this country. I'm getting ready to make my case. That's up next.
[22:50:00]
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COATES: Well, we're days away from the Senate vote that is largely expected to confirm Merrick Garland as the next attorney general of the United States. It seems few will even hesitate to confirm him. But it was Merrick Garland's own hesitation, something that gave him pause, but I hope will guide his tenure as the attorney general of the United States.
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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: I have had a great pause about the -- about the death penalty.
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COATES: His pause was actually an evolution of thought. The kind of epiphany that justice not only invites but requires. We assume that justice is served by a blindfolded lady justice, that somehow her blindness will guarantee equal justice under the law.
But Judge Garland's pause may actually represent the realization that we must actually see the world for what it really is for justice to be served. Consider the death penalty that he spoke of. Merrick Garland didn't close his eyes to the data regarding exonerations or the arbitrariness of its application or the disparate impact on communities of color?
And when he saw the data, actually looked at the data. It gave him pause about how justice could actually be defined and even perhaps how an injustice could be corrected. Like the use of police body cameras. Judge Garland called the cameras a powerful tool for accountability, one that could protect officers and civilians alike.
Only then, we can truly evaluate the appropriateness of an officer's use of force. Consider voter suppression. We still know that it continues to happen, but without a beefed-up Voting Rights Act, jurisdictions with a history of discrimination can pretend just not to see it or consider the value of transparency. So, the public can truly see what is happening within its own Justice Department that can only work, by the way, if it is apolitical and not the personal law firm of a president.
Or perhaps just seeing and saying the honesty of actually acknowledging what is right in front of your eyes and was the very impetus behind the creation of the Department of Justice under Ulysses S. Grant, systemic racism.
Perhaps, well, it's high time that an attorney general acknowledge that justice requires a visionary who is not afraid to see what America actually is before it can become what it is destined to be.
[22:55:05]
And I hope Judge Garland does not pause for a moment to help us get there.
This week, we launched CNN heroes for 2021, and celebrate the 15th anniversary of the CNN heroes' campaign, a decade and a half of inspiring moments and stories of everyday people who are changing the wormed.
We begin this year with an update on the man at the center of the most inspiring moment that you selected from last year. Patrick Hutchinson, a London father and grandfather who rescued a vulnerable man caught in the middle of street protests that were turning ugly.
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PATRICK HUTCHINSON, CNN HERO: There was a lot of unrest. There was a lot of frustration. I didn't see color. I just saw somebody who needed help. I have the presence of mind to just scooped him up, put him on my shoulder. And I had a message ping up on my phone from my sister and she said he's going viral. You are going viral.
Spoken to the likes of Reverend Al Sharpton, Prince Harry. I've been on the cover of Men's Health, BBC News. I've been on live TV, CNN, CNBC. I've received a humanitarian award. I've had Michelle Obama who I had message on her Instagram. It hasn't stopped and it's still going.
We started United to Change and Inspire. We call it UTCAI. We're up inspiring other people to be the change in the world that you want to see. Go out there and do what's right. Don't stand by and watch certain things unfold when you know that you have the ability to do something about it.
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COATES: To learn more about the campaign and to hear Patrick Hutchinson's full story, please go to cnnheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate your own CNN hero.
Thank you, everyone, for watching. Our coverage continues. Join Anderson Cooper for an in-depth CNN special report The Cult of QAnon in just a second.
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