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Key Biden Cabinet Officials Remain Unconfirmed; President Biden Lays Out COVID-19 Response Plan. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 21, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, I'm formalizing the Health Equity Task Force that we announced in the transition led by the brilliant Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who ensures that -- is going to ensure that equality is at the core of every decision we make.

That includes addressing vaccine hesitancy, and building trust in communities, as well as fighting disinformation campaigns that are already under way.

Above all, our plan is to restore public trust. We will make sure that science and public experts -- scientists and public health experts will speak directly to you. That's why you're going to be hearing a lot more from Dr. Fauci again, not from the president, but from the real genuine experts and scientists.

We're going to make sure they work free from political interference and they make decisions strictly based on science and health care alone, science and health alone, not what the political consequences are.

And Vice President Harris and I and our entire administration will always be honest and transparent with you about both the good news and the bad. We will level with you when we make a mistake. We will straight-up say what happened.

And I said at the outset, the honest truth is, we're still in a dark winter of this pandemic. It is going to get worse before it gets better. It's going to take many months to get where we need to be. Progress from our plan will take time to measure, as people getting infected today, they don't show up as case counts for weeks, and those who perish from this disease die weeks after their exposure.

Despite the best intentions, we're going to face setbacks, which I will always explain to you. But I also -- but I also know we can do this if we come together. That's why, ultimately, our plan is based on unity and all of us acting as one nation.

It requires families and neighbors looking out for one another, health care providers and businesses civic and religious and civil rights organizations and unions all relying together on a common purpose, with urgency and purpose and resolve. It requires reasserting our global leadership, which is why I took an action yesterday for the United States to rejoin the World Health Organization, and to reestablish our Global Pandemic Office in the National Security Council.

It requires Congress coming together to provide the necessary funding in the COVID relief package and the American Rescue Plan that I will soon be sending to the Congress.

I know these bold, practical steps will not come cheaply. But failing to do so will cost us so much more dearly.

I look forward to working with members of both parties in the Congress. We're in a national emergency. And it's time we treat it like one together, with a national plan, as the United States of America.

As I said yesterday in my inaugural address, there are moments in history when more is asked of a particular generation, more is asked us as Americans than other times. We are in that moment now. History is going to measure whether we're up to the task.

I believe we are. The American people have given so much already. But I believe they're ready to set big goals and pursue them with courage, conviction, and honesty, because the health of the nation is literally at stake. It's not hyperbole.

I'm convinced the American people are ready as well, to spare no effort, no expense to get this done. What could be more important? The more people we vaccinate, and the faster we do it, the sooner we can put this pandemic behind us, and the sooner we can build our economy back and build it back better, and give back to our lives and to our loved ones.

We can do this. We can do this if we stand together, as fellow Americans and as the United States of America.

So, God bless those lost souls in this pandemic and their families and all they left behind. May God bless all of you on the front lines who define the best of who we are as Americans.

Thank you very much. Now I'm going to go over this desk and sign these executive actions.

But, again, this is the plan. This is the plan. You can go online and get it. I know it's a lot of heavy reading. But it's all laid out in stark detail here.

Thank you.

[15:05:06]

This executive order I'm signing is strengthening the supply chain.

This next one is keeping workers safe and how to do that.

This next one is ensuring equitable response.

I guess I should take this out this way. The pens are in a pile. Can you give me a hand here? There you go.

This next one is what I referenced about traveling to America. This is the promoting safe travel.

This next one is setting up the pandemic testing board.

Thank you.

This next one is studying the Safe Schools Initiative.

This next one is dictating the COVID data that has to be maintained and recorded.

The next one is making sure that the National Guard and FEMA support is available.

This next one relates to expanding access to care and treatment for COVID-19.

And the last one is our global response directive.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, you set the goal at 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days. Is that high enough? Shouldn't you set the bar higher? That's basically where the U.S. is right now.

BIDEN: When I announced it, you all said it's not possible.

Come on. Give me a break, man.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: It's a good start, 100 million.

Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: All right, we just wanted to hang on the last few seconds there.

You have been watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Listening to President Biden, as we -- as a nation, of course, are hoping for more truth and transparency and science over denial. That really was the message there from the president of the United States in his first full day in office, laying out a specific tangible plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic and, most desperately, a plan to get more vaccines to more people.

So, let's walk through what we have just heard, all these various executive actions he's just signed. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is with me, as is our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

So, first to you, Sanjay.

Number one, quite a different tone, message that we have grown accustomed to. And, number two, can you just walk us through what he just did?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first of all, I agree, a very different tone. I mean, he said this is a public health emergency, which it is, and we need to treat it like one, which we have been needing to do for some time.

[15:10:02]

There are a few things. There was 10, it sounds like, executive actions, everything from improving supply chain, to requiring testing for interstate travel on buses and trains and planes, to global response, not pulling out of the World Health Organization, and being a part of something known as COVAX, actually ensuring that there's vaccines for around the world.

So, there's all sorts of different things here. He also talked about the fact that the CDC would be responsible for actually overseeing vaccines being distributed in local pharmacies. That's going to be a big point, I think, and that FEMA would start setting up these community centers, 100 community centers, he said, by the end of the month.

Obviously, both those things focused on vaccines. And HHS would be recruiting people to be the vaccinators, people who may be even retired health care workers, people from the military, to improve the number of people who can actually administer the shots, because, Brooke, that's been a rate-limiting step.

So, there's a lot there. It sort of tracks with what we have heard from the COVID rescue plan that he has talked about over the last week or so and from some of the executive actions he was even talking about last night.

I don't know if you caught it. At the very end there, I don't know who asked him the question. Someone asked him the question. I think it was something like, are you shooting high enough? And I think he was referring to the vaccines, 100 million doses within 100 days.

And you saw the president's sort of response there, which was, come on, man, you guys didn't even believe we could get here.

So, I think that's going to be an interesting point, because a lot of people have suggested that, is a million doses a day enough? I mean, we're at 800,000, 900,000 doses now a day of the vaccine, and we don't even have a plan, frankly. So, if you start to implement a plan, get pharmacies on board, should we be striving higher?

The faster we go, the quicker we get through this, Brooke. BALDWIN: Well, Americans are craving the truth, right? We deserve the

truth. And when you hear President Biden, Dana, say things like, this is going to get worse before it gets better, or the fact that he said, it'll take months for most Americans to be vaccinated, what did you think of that?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, if you take what you just saw and heard in totality, anybody who has any connection to reality about what is going on around them should have watched that and said, the adults are back in the room.

That is what the kind of vibe was that President Biden was clearly trying to get out there. And it made it easier because he has a plan. He has a plan that he and his transition have been working on for a very long time. And it is aided by the fact, as you said, Brooke that he is very clear it is not going to happen overnight, it is going to get worse before it gets better.

But he is addressing so many of the issues, from mask-wearing. He added, in addition to what he said and did yesterday, making a mask mandate the law of the land in federal buildings, he said that would be also interstate, including planes and trains and automobiles.

And then the thing that every parent out there is struggling with still almost a year into this pandemic, which is the fact that so many schools are closed, and the fact that he is putting the people in charge, the Department of Education, HHS, to specifically focus on finding ways to get them back to school safely, which is with testing, vaccines.

We have more tools now. But it has been the Wild West out there for schools in so many places around the country. And so that was what he was trying to communicate.

And anybody who has it in them to listen, it was hard not to feel that way.

BALDWIN: Listen, amen to the adults being back in the room.

But, Sanjay, I'm still back on your final point there, because this is a mighty long list. We heard from M.J. Lee in her reporting that this administration has been essentially handed nothing when it comes to the vaccine distribution. He has a full plate.

And, by the way, this is just -- we're just talking about the pandemic here. So, can he do all of this as quickly as this administration says they can?

GUPTA: It's going to be very challenging, there's no question.

And I think, in some ways, to start with no plan, which it sounds like what they were handed, obviously makes it that much more challenging. I mean, they have no -- they have to start -- there's no ramp room here, really.

So, I think that the goals that they have laid out specifically, again -- just talk about the vaccines for a second, 100 million doses in 100 days, I think that does sound very doable. I have been talking to people within the national pharmacy retail world. I have been talking to people who are responsible for making these vaccines.

[15:15:05]

It does sound realistic. I think it's a very realistic goal, and, again, maybe, in some ways, some could argue, undershooting, undertargeting a fair amount in terms of what is possible.

The pharmacies alone, they are responsible in large part for addressing long-term care facilities. That work should largely be done -- there's always caveats here -- but largely be done by the end of this month.

If those pharmacies, with adequate resources and funding, can shift their attention to the general public, so people could go to their local pharmacies, as President Biden just said, by February 6 or February 7 -- that's what he just said -- the CDC would make it possible that people could go to their local pharmacies and more reliably get vaccines -- they can vaccinate 100 million people a month, these pharmacy chains, alone.

When you start to add in these community centers, possibly assisted by FEMA and the National Guard, as you heard President Biden say, I think you can get to some significant numbers higher than even what they are suggesting, higher than 100 million doses in 100 days.

I also think that testing -- I mean, I'm glad that we're talking about testing again. The vaccine is wonderful. We should focus on it. It's going to take a while to work. The idea that you can have rapid antigen testing in people's homes even...

BALDWIN: Oh, so good.

GUPTA: ... that could tell you on a regular, kind of daily basis whether or not you're contagious...

BALDWIN: So good.

GUPTA: ... I mean, that -- we have been talking about that for a year. It's just screaming into the void on this issue. Now they're saying they're going to spend $50 billion to get that done, because these things -- those types of things will make a difference faster probably than even the vaccines.

BALDWIN: But I'm listening, and I'm -- I have hope. I want to be hopeful for all of us and for this country, in just getting us better.

But, Dana, I'm also left with his warning of essentially just saying this is a wartime undertaking.

BASH: It is. But the fact that he says that, that he understands that, he's not just saying that.

I mean, there was a point where President Trump sort of saw himself as a wartime president. It was very fleeting. And he clearly didn't know what to do with that. He didn't know how to be that, because he didn't have the organization underneath him. He didn't have the talent around him that Joe Biden has from Ron Klain, his chief of staff, who has done this before, to everybody else he has put in place specifically because they have so much experience.

We're at such a different time. The time for disruption, for now, in this snapshot in time is over. People want structure. They want organization. They want things to be fixed in this country. That is why Joe Biden was elected. And he came out on his first full day and tried to send the message: I'm here. I got it. I get you. We're on it.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Dana, thank you. Sanjay, thank you.

We have so much more to talk about today on this first full day, as we have now a President Joe Biden.

Still ahead: President Biden's Cabinets still largely empty. Why key roles remain unconfirmed, we have that for you ahead.

Also, one of the top Republicans in Congress, Kevin McCarthy, is now suddenly contradicting himself from something he said just one week ago, when he said Trump at the time did bear some responsibility for that Capitol insurrection. What he's saying now and why.

Also, confused and disappointed, QAnon tries to figure out what's next after their conspiracy theories around the inauguration have totally imploded.

So much to talk about. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We will be right back.

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BALDWIN: We're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being here.

President Biden is starting his term with several Cabinet vacancies and people serving in acting capacities. In fact, only one of his nominees, Avril Haines, has actually been confirmed as director of national intelligence.

The House just approved a waiver for retired General Lloyd Austin, President Biden's pick for secretary of defense. And, earlier today, Pete Buttigieg testified at his Senate confirmation hearing for transportation secretary.

But there are still some key Cabinet positions that remain unfilled.

Let's go to CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean. And, Jessica, I know at least three secretary positions are still vacant, Treasury, State and Homeland Security. Obviously, these are critical for any administration. Why is it so important to get these positions confirmed ASAP?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you just laid it out, Brooke.

It is critical for our government to be working to have these secretaries in place. Now, the Biden team, as you mentioned, did get Avril Haines confirmed last night through the Senate. And you just talked about Lloyd Austin. That is big news for them to get him through the waiver process.

Here's how that works. Because he's secretary of defense, or he's the nominee for that, he needs a waiver, because he has not been out of the military for more than seven years. That's the federal law to take that position. So, not only does he need to be confirmed by the Senate, which is customary for all of these nominees. He's in the unique position where he also needs this waiver.

And when I talked to a source earlier today, they said the Biden team, their confirmation team was feeling very confident about that. And, obviously, that is working out very well for them here today. He also passed out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. So that is moving in the right direction for their secretary of defense nominee.

But, as you mentioned, many of these nominees haven't even gotten hearings yet. Some have, some key positions, like the secretary of state, Tony Blinken, nominee, Janet Yellen, the nominee for Treasury secretary, and the homeland security nominee, Alejandro Mayorkas. They still need to be voted on, though, by the Senate in order to take those posts.

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Now, a large part of this and what's driving this here on the Hill is the fact that right now they have not worked out a power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans. So, some committees don't even have a chairman at this point, because there's now this 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans.

Leadership from both sides have to work out exactly how they're going to deal with that moving forward. So, that's slowing things down as well.

But when you come back to those key nominees that have had their hearings that they are waiting on right now, you think about Treasury secretary, the economy being what it is, very imperative to have somebody in there. Homeland Security, the Biden team very keen to get Mayorkas in there because of all the domestic threats, much less what happened right here in this building on January 6 -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Got a lot to do.

Jessica Dean, thank you so much just for the reminder of those key positions that have yet to be confirmed. As the Republican Party grapples with a future beyond Donald Trump,

the party's leader in the House is already contradicting himself. What Kevin McCarthy now says about former Trump's -- former President Trump's role in the insurrection.

And President Biden's Inauguration Day was certainly filled with messages of unity. But the question we're asking today is, how do you unite when people just stormed the Capitol wearing "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirts and with nooses?

Let's talk to Congresswoman and former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger coming up.

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