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President Biden Rescinds Trump Policies; White House COVID Relief Seeks Bipartisan Support; U.S. Surpasses 25 Million COVID-19 Infections; Mexico's President has COVID-19; Japan Hospitals Overwhelmed with Soaring Coronavirus Infections; Trump's Second Impeachment Trial Set on February 9th; Israel Bans International Flights To Curb COVID-19 Spread; Kerry: U.S. Coming Back With Humility On Climate Change; World Economic Forum & COVID. Aired 2-3aET

Aired January 25, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. You are watching "CNN Newsroom.: And ahead this hour -

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): What we cannot do is wait weeks and weeks and months and months, to go forward. We have got to act now.

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HOLMES (on camera): Pressure mounting for concrete action on coronavirus economic relief. But will President Biden get bipartisan support? And a dramatic shift, this White House making clear the U.S. is serious about climate change.

Also, the case against Donald Trump, the House will send its article of impeachment to the Senate. Just hours from now, we'll hear how the day might play out, right now.

U.S. President Joe Biden hitting the ground running as he begins his first full week in office, planning a flurry of executive orders to dismantle even more of Donald Trump's policies. The president will also jump start the fight against the coronavirus.

A White House official telling CNN he will reinstate international travel restrictions that Trump had been planning to lift. And for the many Americans still waiting for economic relief, President Biden has a nearly $2 trillion COVID relief plan on the table. He is hoping it will get some bipartisan support. More details now on those relief efforts from CNN's Arlette Saenz.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is trying to drum up bipartisan support for President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. And over the weekend, the president dispatched his top economic adviser, Brian Deese, to speak with a group of 16 senators, eight Republicans, and eight Democrats, as they are looking to get more bipartisan sign on onto this bill.

Now, some Republicans have expressed unease about the size of this package. And Senator Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, who was part of that call, said that she thinks it's too premature to be talking about a $2 trillion package and that she believes that a bipartisan group of senators could find a more targeted approach.

Now, one item that was deemed a priority on that call was money for COVID vaccinations. But many of the senators wanted to see more details and find ways to ensure that Americans who needed the money most would be the ones receiving it.

Now, Biden has been clear. He wants this to be tackled in a bipartisan manner. But some Democrats are pushing for him to pass the measure through reconciliation, which would only require a simple majority.

Now, this was just one of many meetings the White House is having on this topic as they have made it clear, this is a top ticket item for them in the early days of the administration.

Now, on Monday, President Biden will reinstate some COVID travel restrictions on non-U.S. citizens coming from Brazil, the U.K., Ireland, and other European countries. And he will also extend those restrictions to those who have recently traveled from South Africa.

This is just the latest attempt from the Biden administration to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which they have said, is a top priority. Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

HOLMES (on camera): Now, President Biden's pick to lead the nation's health department tells CNN it will take time, communication, and more people wearing masks to get this pandemic under control.

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XAVIER BECERRA, U.S. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: I believe President Biden is making very clear. The plane is in a nosedive and we go to pull it up, and you're not going to do that overnight, but we're going to pull it up. We have to pull it up. Failure is not an option here, and so we will.

And the president has put forward not just a plan. It's a rescue plan that should be followed by a recovery plan. But first you got to rescue the people, you got to rescue the economy, and that's why the president has put forward a bold plan with specifics and he's going bring everyone into the game.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So I take that to mean, you do think that you can change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months. And if so, what timeframe are we talking about?

BECERRA: Well, that is where President Biden made it very clear. It won't happen overnight. We can do better. We cannot only control COVID, but get us back to real normality, but it takes everybody. All hands on deck. We've got to make sure we're coordinating and we are talking to people.

We can't just tell the states, here are some PPE, some masks, here are some vaccines, now go do it. No, no.

[02:05:02]

When we hand them over, we stay with them and provide resources to make it happen. We do that, Dana. If we get people following the president's guidance of wearing a mask for these 100 days. We're going to get control of this thing.

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HOLMES (on camera): Now, two of the top health advisers in the U.S. are speaking out about their time serving under Donald Trump. The former White House task -- coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx says she always considered quitting the job because her colleagues believe she'd become too political. In an interview with CBS News, Birx also said she had no idea where Trump was getting some of his information.

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DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made. So, I know that someone or someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president. I know what I sent up and I know that what was in his hands was different from that. You can't do that. You have to use the entire database.

MRAGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: Who was doing that?

BIRX: To this day, I don't know.

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HOLMES (on camera): And infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, telling "The New York Times" the Trump administration tried multiple times to discredit him personally after he contradicted the president's misinformation. Dr. Fauci said that Trump would call him and asked why he wasn't more upbeat about the pandemic and would often brush off his input.

Well, just barely a year after recording its first case of COVID-19, the U.S. has now surpassed 25 million infections. It is, of course, by far the highest total in the world. The U.S. accounts for more than a quarter of all global cases.

But the good news is, some states are starting to see a dip in the infection rates. And experts say they can keep the numbers low if they move quickly on vaccinations. But the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she is worried about the country's vaccine supply, noting that some states have run out of doses. Paul Vercammen brings us the latest from California. PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The latest release of

COVID-19 numbers out of California, mixed. There are a lot of new cases. More than 24,000 of them. The deaths still up to 429. But the hospitalizations have dipped below 18,000. Perhaps, a very good sign.

But with all of these deaths, there is just extreme pressure on mortuaries throughout the state. In Boyle Heights, the Bagues Mortuary, here for 90 years, a pillar of the community. Jennifer, the funeral director, telling us that she has had to hire more employees, put in a 24-hour answering service, mandate that all viewings are outside. It is daily stress.

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JENNIFER BAGUES, FUNERAL DIRECTOR, BAGUES MORTUARY: Well, it's been really hard turning people away and just, you know, especially when they're upset and you have to tell them that, you know, I can put you on a wait list and, you know, we'll get to you, you know, when your number comes up, which is, I don't think -- that's unheard in our history. I've been doing this 25 years and I've never have that -- this happen.

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VERCAMMEN (on camera): All of California still trying to ramp up and get more shots into people's arms, more of those COVID-19 vaccines. Dodgers Stadium, closed down today by design, but they're hoping for a much better week as California is lagging way behind when it comes to getting those vaccinations for the people of the state. Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you. Michael?

HOLMES: Joining me now in Los Angeles is CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Good to see you doctor. We've seen some dipping of numbers around certainly the use and parts of Europe, which is good news, very encouraging, but the numbers themselves are still frighteningly high. What did you read on where things stand as vaccine start to roll out?

JORGE RODRIGUEEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, as vaccines start to roll out, I think people need to realize that vaccines are not the end all and be all. They are definitely going to help us decrease transmission, but we're not going to see their full effect for two to three months.

And in the interim, we really still need to do what we've always done, which is wear the mask, the social distancing, that triumvirate is not going to change, you know, and washing our hands. So, it's a great start, but boy, we have a long way to go.

HOLMES: Yes, I guess. Do you see the number drop? Do you think that it's just the end of the holiday surge and we're going back to what has become, you know, "normal numbers" which of course is still devastating or do you see this as, hopefully, a sustainable trend?

[02:10:05] RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think it is a trend. I think it is the end of the

holiday surge that we're now seeing a dip. My concern is that we get too complacent with even a little bit of success. We're also yearning to get out, right into the fresh air or to visit folks that even a little bit of success should not be taken as an excuse.

I was reading something by Justin Trudeau right now that says, stay home, don't make plans for spring break, cancel any vacations because we're still so high in the number of cases that we really need to see this out through April and May before we can start breathing comfortably.

HOLMES: And when we talk about variants too, which is a worry, more contagious which can mean more deaths in the long term. I guess one thing that is striking is the U.S. lags the world in genomic sequencing, which shows the prevalence of variants in a community.

I think the U.S. is 33rd behind places like Senegal and Sierra Leone, with far fewer resources. So, is it fair to say, we don't know how widespread the variants are in the U.S.?

RODRIGUEZ: We don't know, and those statistics are actually embarrassing for my country. And we tout ourselves as being the leader. We really need to step this up because one of the ways of controlling the virus is knowing where it is going, knowing how it has changed and how it's going to affect it.

So, you know, they've stepped it up a little bit, but we need to be leading the world along with other countries, you know, like the U.K. and Germany that are really on top of all of this.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. They are leading the sequencing world. You know, what's interesting, listening to Dr. Fauci and reading his comments also in "The New York Times" interview about the hurdles that he faced in the previous administration.

I mean, it does make you wonder just how different the U.S. death toll and infection rates might have been if things had been done differently. Do you look back at it that way?

RODRIGUEZ: I do look back at it that way. I mean, from the beginning I've been saying that, you know, the problem was leadership, the problem was obfuscation of real data. And as much as I admire, right, and I've been working long distance with Dr. Fauci, you know, I think there had been a time where I would have wished he had stepped up and said, you know what, this is not true, you know, this is not so.

But, who knows because he could have been replaced for someone, you know, that was much more of a Trump loyalist and things could have been worse. So, these people are doing a great job and it just shows that from the top down is how this starts.

So, just Biden came out and right out of the gate he says we're going to beat this, you know, we're going to speak honestly about it. We're going to do tough things in the next hundred years - I mean, hundred days, and that in and of itself was leagues ahead of what we had. HOLMES: Yes. If there's one thing we learned is that politics plays

-- has no business being in the realm of science. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, I got to leave it there. Always good to see you. Thank you so much.

RODRIGUEZ: Likewise. Michael.

HOLMES: Countries around the world trying to ramp of vaccinations and considering what they need to do to keep those new mutations at bay. But the virus is still striking at the highest levels.

Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announcing on Twitter that he has tested positive. The president says he has mild symptoms, is optimistic about moving forward with treatment.

The U.K. health minister says England's case rate is still incredibly high and the country is a long way from easing restrictions. But he adds that there is early evidence the lockdown is making a difference.

In a recent spike in COVID cases, putting a serious strain on Japan's health care system. According to a recent survey, at least 15,000 people are waiting to get treated for coronavirus in hospitals or isolation centers.

But right now, there are just aren't enough hospital beds to keep up with demand. The number of new infections has been rising sharply in Japan this month. Japan reporting more than 360,000 total cases. Let's get some more on this.

Our CNN's Selina Wang joining me now from Tokyo. Walk us through these numbers. Stunning numbers and obviously putting a big strain on the medical system.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Michael. That strain is evident, but some say the medical system is already in a state of collapse. So the numbers you referenced are according to this Kyoto new survey, showing that at least 15,000 people are waiting to go to a hospital or to be at an isolation center.

And this is just in the 11 prefectures that are in the state of emergency. And these numbers have soared in the past month.

In Tokyo, they have nearly quintupled to now 7,500 people waiting for space.

[02:14:59]

And what this means, Michael, is that more and more people are dying at home. An infectious disease expert explain to me that those who are high risk, who have tested positive for COVID, so that would be the elderly or those who have severe symptoms, are supposed to go to the hospital, while those with mild symptoms are sent to the isolation centers to avoid infecting their family members and preventing community spread.

But now because of this medical strain, even those with severe symptoms, a sizable number of them are now on that waiting list. This is coming as Japan is dealing with a severe spike in COVID cases, more than doubling in just the past two months to now more than 360,000 total cases.

And here in Tokyo, the government is urging people to stay at home. We are under a state of emergency, but most say that it's too little too late. Michael?

HOLMES: How does this tie into the whole plans for the Olympics? I imagine that it, you know, it would just add to people's concerns about the Olympics in Japan.

WANG: Absolutely. And further speculation about whether or not it's even feasible to hold it this year. But as we've been talking about, the government, the International Olympic Committee, they have been unwavering in their commitment that the games will still be held as scheduled.

But of course, the situation on the ground points otherwise. Japan, most of, is in a state of emergency. The host city is in one. It could even be extended if the situation does not improve. Foreigners are currently banned from entering Japan and vaccination, Michael, as we've been talking about, is not a magic bullet.

Japan is behind in vaccinations, not even sent to start vaccinating medical workers until late February. In addition to that, if you take a look at what's happening at the Australian Open right now, that is certainly, potentially a harbinger for what could happen at the Olympics, who right now have 72 players that are under a strict 14-day quarantine because of infections on their flights over here. So, it's easy to imagine the challenges that could happen at the Olympic Games, Michael?

HOLMES: Yes. Multiplied by lots. Selina Wang in Tokyo, appreciate it. Thanks for that. We are going to take a quick break. When we come back on the other side, within hours, U.S. lawmakers will take the first major step towards launching Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial. We'll bring you up to date.

Also, Democratic senator, Elizabeth Warren, has a comeback for Republicans who say another impeachment trial is unnecessary or unconstitutional or divisive. Hear what she has to say.

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HOLMES: In the coming hours, the U.S. House of Representatives will set into motion the second Senate impeachment trial of former president, Donald Trump. On Monday evening, the House is expected to deliver the article of impeachment to the Senate.

That article, charging Mr. Trump with incitement of insurrection in connection with the deadly attack on the U.S. capital nearly three weeks ago.

On Sunday, the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of course, said he expects the trial would be fair, but will move relatively quickly.

CNN senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is on Capitol Hill with more on how the trial might play out.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Its history in the making, once again, as Capitol Hill prepares for the second Donald Trump impeachment trial. A bit different from the first, he is now out of office, he is out of town, and he is off Twitter. Very different from last time.

Nonetheless, there are still some similarities. For example, once again, the House impeachment managers will take the long walk across the United States capital to deliver the one article of impeachment to the United States Senate and read the article before the United States Senate.

Normally, after such things occur, the impeachment trial is supposed to start in earnest, at o1:00 p.m. the next afternoon. But the United States Senate has bought itself sometime, in fact, they're going to stay out two weeks before they begin the trial in earnest, coming back on February 9th.

There has been a lot of suggestion that this trial will be quicker than the last one, but that's not clear simply because Republicans are all over the place on what to do.

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SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I think the trial is stupid and I think it's counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire.

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): I think it's a moot point because I think right now, Donald Trump is no longer the president. He is a former president. Constitution, and I think, and I know that there are other people out there that may disagree with me, but Article I, sections, I think its 3 or 6 and 7, specifically point out that you can impeach the president and it does not indicate that you can impeach someone who is not in office.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): The preponderance of the legal opinion is that an impeachment trial after someone has left office is constitutional. I believe that's the case. I'll, of course, hear what the lawyers have to say for each side, but I think it's pretty clear that the effort is constitutional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS (on camera): The United States Senate is divided 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans. A two-thirds majority is required to convict. That means, if all Democrats vote to convict the former president, 17 Republicans will also have to vote with them. Back to you.

HOLMES (on camera): All right, our thanks there to Joe Johns. And as you just heard, many Republicans are against this impeachment. Abby Phillip, CNN senior political correspondent and new anchor of "Inside Politics Sunday," spoke with Senate Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, about the Republican pushback. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I can't imagine how Republican opposition to insurrection would fade over the space of a couple of weeks. We are talking about a president who stood in front of a mob and told them to go to the capital and invade. Told them to go to the capital and stop the lawful business of government.

[02:25:00]

So that he could try to stay in the White House. That is so fundamentally wrong. I just -- we have to think about what's at issue here. You know, Donald Trump, for years, has broken so many norms as had people say, over and over, that they are shocked by what he does.

But this one, insurrection, this is the first time since the civil war that we have seen someone, a politician, encourage people to take up arms against the United States government and it's lawful actions. We need accountability. Accountability for Donald Trump and accountability for everyone who participated in that insurrection.

ABBY PHILLIPS, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, now Republicans are talking about unity. That was also a big theme of President Biden's inauguration address. They also seem to think that unity means compromising, specifically on policy. How do you see it?

WARREN: Well, let me start with, how about if we are unified against insurrection? How about if we are unified for accountability? Unity starts with accountability. And then unity is about doing the work that the American people want done. It is not about ideology. It's not about helping just the richest Americans or some interest group.

Unity is about doing things that the American people want to see us do. Like, a $15 an hour minimum wage. Like canceling student loan debt. Like expanding social security. Like giving us more universal child care, and universal pre-K. Things are popular across this country, things that are needed across this country. We want to have unity, then get on board with the things that the American people want to see us do.

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HOLMES (on camera): We're going to take a quick break. When we come back on the program, it's about to get a lot more difficult to travel to Israel. How it plans to tighten restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID. We'll be right back.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. More people get their news from CNN than any other news source.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: And welcome back to CNN Newsroom everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate the company. The U.S. has now surpassed 25 million coronavirus infections just over a year since recording its first case.

Now that accounts for more than a quarter of all global cases but the good news is some states are starting or many states are starting to see the rate of new infections dropped and health officials say they can keep the numbers heading low if they move quickly on vaccinations.

That the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she's worried about vaccine shortages, noting that some states have already run out and concerns over new variants is prompting the U.S. to reinstate travel restrictions on non-U.S. citizens traveling in from Brazil, Ireland, the U.K. and much of Europe.

New restrictions also going to effect on those traveling from South Africa. Now the U.S. isn't alone in making new travel rules. Israel has just announced its imposing strict travel restrictions. CNN's Sam Kiley reports from Jerusalem.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli government, at the end of a long and late night cabinet meeting has decided to ban international flights both into and out of Israel starting at midnight on Monday night.

The reason for that is that while the country has been enjoying the world leading reputation in terms of the Israeli citizens and ID card holders and visa work permit holders that have been inoculated amounting to about 25 percent of the population, they have also been struggling in spite of a two-week lockdown, a very strict lockdown being imposed to get to grips with the continued spread of the coronavirus amid increasing concern of the new apparently or potentially more dangerous strains particularly coming from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.

On top of that the Israeli government and police in particular also have been struggling with certain elements within the ultra-orthodox community who've been refusing to socially isolate, refusing to close their schools and in some cases refusing to stop worship in large numbers in their synagogues and other gathering places.

Against all of this the Israeli government is anxious not to see the shine come off the success of the vaccination campaign particularly as Benjamin Netanyahu the Israeli prime minister faces yet another general election on March 23. Sam Kiley, CNN Jerusalem.

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HOLMES: Australia has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine. It is the first vaccine to receive regulatory approval in that country. Inoculations set to begin in late February with an initial 80,000 doses a week.

The rollout being delayed due to global supply issues. Frontline health workers and border workers will be among the first to receive them. Now every year global business leaders gather for the World Economic Forum but the coronavirus pandemic means this year's gathering is going to look very different from those that came before.

We'll explain when we come back.

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[02:35:00]

HOLMES: Now this year's World Economic Forum is meeting virtually, not surprisingly. It is usually held in Davos, Switzerland with lots of finery and fine food and fanfare but obviously that can't happen this year. We're still expecting to hear from the world's political and financial leaders though. We'll also hear from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease experts, one of many influential figures set to address the forum.

Kristie Lu Stout is covering the forums not from Davos from Hong Kong. What are we going to expect this year? It's going to be a bit weird and you're not going to be in Davos?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nope and it's a bit different. Look, it is the end of January. It is that time of year again. Davos will take place but it's different. The World Economic Forum is holding a virtual forum all this week showcasing over 2000 global political and business leaders including the German chancellor Angela Merkel, the ECB chief Christine Lagarde, the Indian Prime Minister, the Japanese Prime Minister as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, all these world leaders will be gathering for a week of virtual seminars and zoom chat under a banner scene of a crucial year to rebuild trust.

And the first keynote speaker will be Xi Jinping, the Chinese president is due to speak in a couple of hours now around 8:00 PM, Beijing time. He's expected to mention two things in his address, number one to emphasize China's success in reining in the coronavirus and number two to emphasize China's call for greater global cooperation in regards to the pandemic in global health as well as climate change.

Now this will be Xi Jinping's second attempt to - or invitation to speak to the World Economic Forum audience. He made his first debut in 2017 just days before the Donald Trump inauguration and back then in his speech Xi Jinping, he defended globalization.

He cast China as sort of a leader of multilateralism and he also made a warning about the trade war and the dangers posed by it. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): Say no to protectionism. Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room while wind and rain are kept outside so are light and air. No one would emerge as a winner in a trade war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was the Chinese President Xi Jinping back in 2017 and trade experts say that the trade war has caused collateral damage on both sides for both China and the United States. Now meanwhile there are new United Nations figures that came out over the weekend on Sunday.

That revealed that China has overtaken the United States as the number one top destination for foreign direct investment. In fact it brought in some $163 billion in FDI in the year 2020 and that just underscores prominence on the World Economic stage. So when Xi Jinping makes a speech, all eyes on what his message will be to the world and especially to the Biden administration just days after the inauguration. Michael.

HOLMES: All right thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it. Thanks so much. Now billionaires around the globe have old ready, get this, recovered from the economic impact of the pandemic while of course the world's poor.

[02:40:00] Well, they're looking at years of struggle. Oxfam International reported that billionaires' wealth grew by $3.9 trillion between mid- March and the end of December. Yes indeed throughout a pandemic but the number of people living in poverty, well that probably increased by up to 500 million last year.

Oxfam's report said for the first time ever the pandemic could increase economic inequality in nearly every country at once. Thanks for watching CNN newsroom. I'm Michael Holmes. For our international viewers World Sports coming up next. For our viewers here in the United States, don't go away. I'll have more news for you after the break.

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[02:45:00]

HOLMES: America's newly appointed special presidential envoy for climate says he's been getting an earful from European leaders about the U.S. absence from the climate change discussion. Have a listen.

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JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE: They said to me, hey guys, you've been gone for four years and we really have high expectations for what you're going to be able to do here and they started giving me numbers of what we have to try to achieve so I said to them yes, we realized, we come back with humility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, John Kerry's comments followed President Biden's dramatic shift in the U.S. approach to climate change. He's already signed executive orders to rejoin the Paris Accord of course and revoke the permit for the Keystone Oil Pipelines and put a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic.

Let's dive a little bit deeper into some of the details in the Paris Climate Agreement. It is a legally binding climate agreement, adopted in 2015 by 195 countries. It agrees to help the world abandon fossil fuels this entry and specifically try to stop global warming well below 2 degree Celsius.

And to achieve this temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by the year 2050. Now each country is responsible for developing its own plans for achieving those goals.

I want to bring in Tracy Raczek. She's a former climate adviser to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. It's good to see given the Trump administration disdain of climate action, how much damage was done, how much time was lost in this fight?

TRACY RACZEK, CLIMATE ADVISER: Thank you so much Michael. Thank you for having me. A really good question. I think it's excellent that the Biden-Harris administration has of course placed climate change as one of its top four priorities but you're absolutely right that the administration has catch up and confidence building to do.

So time has indeed been lost in this very, very important issue.

HOLMES: So often the measures needed to curb emissions and environmental impacts, they're seen as some sort of economic burden. Well, it put that way by those with interest in saying so but isn't the fact that solar wind and other renewables are growth industries. They're job creators, aren't they?

RACZEK: Absolutely. Many, many think tanks have proven that there's loads of opportunities to be had with renewables, with smart grid, with infrastructure, rebuilding retro - retrofitting buildings etcetera with this, with really green transition that's not only needed but it's inevitable at this point. So there's loads of opportunities. In fact it's the fastest growth - fast growth sector and there's shortages in many of these labor, labor opportunities so in engineering and electricians, many of that the skills that are needed, there are shortages in that field.

So anybody who's really thinking ahead, recognizes that there's opportunities both in the skill sector and training but also of course investment.

HOLMES: Yes, solar panel installers are in short supply. I mean it's interesting when it's an economic benefit and it's a no brainer for the environment as well. Rejoining the Paris Accords, rolling back these changes to environmental or regulations is a start but what more needs to be done?

This is now getting to the point of no return if stuff doesn't change immediately.

RACZEK: Yes, yes, there's - there's - you know, it's no small feat. There's a lot to be done and I think the Biden-Harris administration has again catchup and confidence building to be to be done and they're going to be very welcome when they - when they return to the table in Glasgow at the end of this year and they've done a lot of smart maneuvers by Kerry as the climate envoy is very respected states person and Gina McCarthy, head of the - former head of the EPA as well.

Very welcome and intelligent people in the space so they're doing all the right moves by reaching out to the various leaders in this space right out of the gate. However I think you know there - they'll be welcome but soon afterwards there's going to be high expectations for them to be delivering on ambition.

So currently the last Obama administration's plans which are nationally determined contributions that are expected to be ramped up in Glasgow, that plan was not - is only half way been met, it was ramped up.

[02:50:00]

Sorry, the expectation was 28 percent of reductions of emissions on 2005 levels by 2028. United States does not deliver to that and there'll be expectations for them to do much more so they're going to - they're going to be welcome but there's going to be an expectations.

Welcome back but we expect you to do much more.

HOLMES: Time is short and so is our time so real quick, there's still a lot of big money and political power the fights climate action. How strong is that lobby even as the evidence amounts of damage done?

RACZEK: Well, there's of course a lot of - a lot of entrenched interests in the United States and around the world on infrastructure and interests in old an old ways and things that have been done so I think it's going to take - the Biden-Harris administration's going to have to be very transparent in how they do business and who they do business with.

They've - Kerry has said they're going to go forward with the humility and with transparency. That's going to be front - that's going to need to be front and center for them to be trusted actors in this space.

HOLMES: Yes, powerful forces. Tracy Raczek, got to leave it there. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

RACZEK: Absolutely, thank you.

HOLMES: Now a small county in Texas is getting a lot of attention for having so many loyal Trump followers so it might be a surprise that some people in Roberts County think Joe Biden could be a good president. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Roberts County in the Texas panhandle. Do you think he could be a good president, Joe Biden?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody has capability being good. We'll see.

TUCHMAN: It's a very small county. Roughly 850 people live here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just tell him good luck and do what's right.

TUCHMAN: Except for the frequent freight trains, Roberts County is quiet but it's getting a high profile because in the last two presidential elections, Roberts County gave Donald Trump a higher percentage of the vote than any other county in America.

In this election Donald Trump got over 96 percent of the vote in this county. Joe Biden received a grand total of 17 votes so we asked these most loyal of Trump voters. What do you think Joe Biden needs to do to be a good president?

GARY MCFALL, TRUMP VOTER: Well, he's going to have to get everyone together first. Get the whole United States together again and I don't know that he can do that because he's got too many people behind him that's against getting the Trump supporters together with the Democrats. TUCHMAN: You voted for Donald Trump twice. Do you think there's a

possibility that you could ultimately believe that Joe Biden is a good president?

BRET HALL, TRUMP VOTER: Yes Sir.

TUCHMAN: What would he have to do to earn that from you?

HALL: He's going to have to keep the people together and quit being so divisive.

TUCHMAN: Several other Trump voters here told us the same thing. They believe President Biden needs to unite the country, be less divisive despite the obvious irony.

TUCHMAN: Do you think Donald Trump has been divisive?

HALL: In certain ways, sure.

TUCHMAN: Debbie Howard has owned the family haircare salon in the county seat of my Miami for almost a quarter century.

If Joe Biden walks into your salon and said Debbie, I'd like an opinion from a Trump voter, someone who voted for Trump twice, what can I do to make you like me, to make you think I'm a good president? What would you say to him first thing?

DEBBIE HOWARD, TRUMP VOTER: That's really hard because I'm just going blank right now. Just try to unify this country. Try to you know listen to both sides and made - in the middle compromise with the Republicans.

TUCHMAN: Certainly not every Trump voter we met here is willing to give President Biden a chance. Randy Massey works in the heating and air conditioning business. So is there any chance you could see him being a good president?

RANDY MASSEY, TRUMP VOTER: No.

TUCHMAN: So you've given up on him already?

MASSEY: Well, I had faith in him for 47 years and I'm only 44 years old.

TUCHMAN: But others are hoping they end up being pleasantly surprised.

You think you could be happy with him potentially?

HOWARD: Basically there's potential there, yes.

TUCHMAN: There are many Trump voters here in Roberts County who are not happy with something that President Biden did on his first day in office. The president made the decision to cancel a permit that allowed the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline to go from Canada to the United States. Oil is a big business here in the Texas panhandle and it did not go

over too well. However the prevailing sentiment we heard from people here is they're willing to give Joe Biden some time to prove himself or perhaps not prove himself. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN in Roberts County, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Super Bowl 55 now set and the Kansas City Chiefs are going to be looking to repeat as champs. They'll be facing Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers February 7 in Tampa, marking the first time in NFL history, a team will play for the title in their home stadium. It's going to be Brady's tenth Super Bowl appearance.

[02:55:00]

They all with the others of course came with New England Patriots. The NFL giving free tickets to the game to thousands of health care workers fighting the pandemic. And finally we at the moment, we all needed right now. Senator Bernie Sanders and his mittens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: One of the things that has seemed to have been a distraction from the pain you're talking about is you on the internet, over the past week. The fact that you have become a meme of the picture of you sitting at the inauguration in your mittens.

Thousands of memes such as some of them on the screen I have to show you some of my personal favorites. Demi Moore she put your picture in her famous ghost scene. Jennifer Grey you know she played Baby in Dirty Dancing. She put you editor.

And you know you're even a selfie with us on election night so my question is are you having as much fun with this as the world is.

BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATE INDEPENDENT: I am and not only we're having fun, what we're doing here in Vermont as we're going to be selling around the country sweatshirts and T-shirts and all of the money that's going to be raised which I expect will be a couple of million dollars will be going to programs like Meals on Wheels that feed low income senior citizens.

So it turns out actually to be a good thing and not only a fun thing.

BASH: Well, and apparently that's sold out so you've got to start manufacturing more to give to charity like Meals on Wheels in Vermont and elsewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That's great stuff, isn't it? Thanks for watching and spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes, the one and only Rosemary Church though is standing by eager to give you another hour of CNN Newsroom after the break.

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