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Founder of a Republican Group Charged in Capitol Riot; New York City to Postpone Opening Mass Vaccination Sites amid Shortage; Millions Struggle as Lawmakers Negotiate New Relief Package. Aired 11:30-12p ET
Aired January 26, 2021 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:01]
DR. RICHARD BESSER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION: But we need to ensure that we're aligning people's expectations that it's not just getting the systems right in each state. We definitely need to do that. We need to do outreach to community clinics, mobile vaccination, reaching people where they are. But we have to set expectations right that there is a limited vaccine supply and so it will be many, many months, even if we up the rate, it just means we're going to go through the existing supply faster. If it is not coming from these companies, we're not going to have the vaccine and people will, again, be disappointed.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is what -- I'm quite curious, where do you think the tough questions need to go right now? Is it to the companies to find out they -- for them to be more transparent and clear about how much they are putting out, is it through the logistics pipeline of how they're coming from the federal government with the logistics manager, Perna, who has been in charge since the Trump administration on this? Where do the tough questions need go because it shouldn't be so unknown, I feel like?
BESSER: Well, I think all of those are important pieces when it comes to the vaccine side. I think there needs to be as much of a push though on how we get people to rally around wearing masks.
I think the tough questions have to go to any governor who isn't mandating masks in their states, it has to go to elected officials who continue to push back against requirements around wearing masks because it is wearing masks that is going to save lives this winter. It is not the vaccine. The vaccine will save some lives but the biggest effort in terms of saving lives will be if we can get this downward trend we're currently seeing to continue.
And as these mutant spread, and they will, CDC predicts that the U.K. variant may become a dominant strain here by March, as those spread, everything that we do in terms of our individual behavior and our collective behavior will be amplified. Strains that spread easier, they look for those little lapses in behavior and that gives them an end for transmission and we can't allow that to happen.
BOLDUAN: As always, Dr. Besser, thanks so much.
BESSER: Thank you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, she is accused of directing riots during the Capitol insurrection. Now, officials are worried that she might be destroying evidence. Details, next.
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[11:35:00]
BOLDUAN: It is been almost three weeks since the deadly riot and insurrection on the Capitol. Almost 150 people are now facing federal charges. And that is just so far. Today, we are learning much more about some of them as several new charges were just filed.
Among the most recent arrests, one man who has taken the stage at Trump rallies in the past, and a new concern by federal investigators that another suspect could be destroying evidence.
CNN's Jessica Schneider, she has been tracking all of this and she is joining me now. Jessica, walk us through what you're learning.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. A lot of these arrests are really exposing the deep ideological bent of these rioters. So we have learned that the founder of a Republican group that's called Walk Away, he is being charged now for his role in the Capitol riot. His name is Brandon Straka and he founded this group which encourages liberals to abandon believes. And we also believe and we've learned that he spoke at a Stop the Steal rally, that was just one day before the Capitol insurrection, January 5th.
So he is now charged with entering the Capitol, remaining in a restricted area, disorderly conduct and he also allegedly recorded video during the riot where he is heard directing people. And he's also heard telling his fellow rioters to take the shield away from a Capitol police officer.
And after the riot, this is key, investigators say he posted this on Twitter. He wrote, for six to eight weeks, everybody on the right has been saying 1776 and that if Congress moves forward, it will mean a revolution. So Congress moves forward, patriots storm the Capitol, now everybody is virtually signaling their embarrassment that this happened.
And this once again speaks to how many of these riots really believe that they were following orders when they stormed the Capitol, including this latest arrest here.
And then, of course, there is the latest on the Riley Williams. She is the 22-year-old accused of helping to steal a laptop from Nancy Pelosi's office. And now, prosecutors are raising concerns that she might have deleted online messages. This concern came in a court hearing yesterday and it was discussed that she might actually be facing pressure from others to delete messages and maybe even ordering people to delete messages. So she is in court today.
And we've also got this video of her from inside the Capitol. She's seen like -- it looks like she is directing people, definitely a key figure in this attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
So, you know, all of these cases, they're moving forward. And, Kate, we're looking at possibly bigger arrests, more charges that carry steeper penalties for a lot of these people who may have organized that planned these attacks. But in the meantime, just a lot of court appearances right now, we're getting more of these details, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Yes, thanks for tracking it, Jessica. I really appreciate it.
So if we also take a step back, the broader fallout from the Capitol attack is playing out all over the country. The cracks and fissures that have been growing in the Republican Party now is starting to be really laid bare in an incredibly stark way.
The latest example is the state Republican Party of Oregon.
[11:40:00]
The group is not only standing firmly with Donald Trump, it passed a resolution, a statement of support for a complete and utter lie, trying to claim that the attack on the Capitol was a false flag operation, an attempt to discredit President Trump and all of his supporters, the Republican Party of Oregon now says.
CNN's Michael Warren, he is joining me now with much more on this. Michael, this is the actual state party of Oregon who is not only whispering this really despicable conspiracy theory, they are shouting it. What is going on here?
MICHAEL WARREN, CNN REPORTER: That is right, Kate, and on top of this, the Oregon Republican Party denouncing those ten House Republicans who voted to impeach. Look, this is really a culmination of four years by efforts of pro-Trump MAGA movement folks within the Republican Party to really dominate the state and local parties. And the Oregon Republican Party is sort of an extreme example of what has been happening really across the country.
And we saw this just in the last weekend in the Arizona Republican Party efforts to censure three prominent Republicans, including the sitting Republican governor of the state of Arizona essentially for not being pro-Trump enough. This is really what is happening, really the frontlines of an internal Republican civil war. It is happening in the state and local parties, it is a big sort of activist grassroots movement.
What is different about this than other past grassroots movements as it has, as it sort of stated there, the leader of the party, the former president, Donald Trump, who has really cultivated and accelerated this kind of thinking throughout the party, that is something that is different, past leaders and other leaders within the party try to keep the activists at arm's length. It is really not happened this time around and this is really a legacy of the president -- of the former president as we move forward.
BOLDUAN: That is a great point, good reporting. Good to see you, thank you.
Coming up for us, New York City was planning to open three mass vaccination sites this week. Now that is postponed because the city doesn't have enough vaccines. What has happened and how long will the city have to wait to get more?
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[11:45:00]
BOLDUAN: New York City is quite frankly struggling, already running out of COVID vaccines. The shortage has forced the Mayor Bill de Blasio to postpone opening the mass vaccination sites that they had set to open at places like Citi Field and Yankee Stadium. Add to that, thousands of appointments have had to be canceled or rescheduled.
So what is happening here? What is going so wrong? Joining mew right now is New York City Councilman, the chair of the Council's Health Committee, Mark Levine, it is good to see you again. Thanks for coming on.
MARK LEVINE, NEW YORK CITY COUNCILMAN: Thank you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: So with these mass vaccination sites, it all comes down to supply. You would be opening them if you had the shots. You wouldn't be canceling appointments if you had the shots. Have you gotten a good answer as to why you're not getting the supply?
LEVINE: The situation is just dire. The stock of first doses in New York City this morning is at about 7,000 in a city of 8.5 million people. And that is why tens of thousands of appointments have been canceled. The entire department vaccine health system is closed today and will be tomorrow.
We need more supply. It has to come regularly in a reliable fashion or we are not going to get to herd immunity in New York City any time in 2021.
BOLDUAN: I mean, 7,000 shots is just quite frankly like ridiculous when you think about how many people live in the city. Have you gotten a good answer, is the mayor getting a good answer on where the supply is, if you're going to be getting more?
LEVINE: Well, the Biden administration is indicating an interest in accelerating production, and that's key. We need them to use the Defense Production Act to smooth out the supply chain problems. We also need a more fair formula for how they distribute vaccine.
New York City doesn't get its fair share because we don't get compensated for the tens of thousands of people that we vaccinate who commute in here, who drive here from other parts of the state and region. So the Biden administration can fix that. And we need more flexibility and when we use doses and how. We have over 200,000 second doses that are stored today in New York City, some of which won't be used for weeks. We could use some of them now to avoid canceling appointments.
So there is a lot the Biden administration could do to ease the problems here and we are just desperate for action.
BOLDUAN: What are you hearing from constituents, the stories you're hearing about how hard it has been to get an appointment even when there is shots available? What are folks up against?
LEVINE: Well, getting a vaccine appointment in New York City has been like the Hunger Games. It is a brutal competition for a small number of slots and also a very complicated to navigate scheduling system. You really have to have tech savvy, hours of time. And imagine the feeling of --
BOLDUAN: That's got to get fixed. That's got to get fixed.
LEVINE: It has to. It has to get fixed.
BOLDUAN: Who is the person -- who is the person that needs to be held to account on that?
LEVINE: The city of New York can fix this. It has to fix this. There is an equity impact, Kate, because people who are vulnerable, seniors, people who don't speak English, they have the hardest time navigating the system. We need something like a travel website where you have one place to go with a smooth interface where all of the different booking systems are united. We don't have that in New York right now. It is extremely fractured, it's difficult to navigate.
[11:50:00]
The shortage, of course, blows that all up and makes it even worse. So I don't want to take our eye off of that but there is no doubt there has to be easier access for people of all backgrounds. We're pushing. Kate, to get demographic data on who has been vaccinated in New York City, we suspect it's going to show the people of color are widely underrepresented. That is unacceptable. And part of the problem is how difficult we've made it just to get an appointment.
BOLDUAN: The mayor said just this morning that, in his mind, there is no doubt that New York City public schools are going to be reopening full-time in person come September. Do you agree with that? Do you have any doubts that that's going to happen?
LEVINE: I think it's too soon to answer that question. We have uncertainty about the pace of vaccination. As I mentioned, at a current pace, we won't hit herd immunity until sometime in 2022. Secondly, the confirmation of new variants in the city, the U.K. variant has already been confirmed in New York City. And this is, unfortunately, a very connected city. We have to assume that the Brazilian and South African variants are here. That throws a wild card that we just don't know how that's going to play out. So I think we need to monitor this virus closely. It's really a race between vaccination and the variants right now. We have to make sure that vaccination wins.
BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Mark. Thank you.
LEVINE: Thank you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: You, very clearly, need to get back to work. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Coming up for us, record number of unemployment, entire industry is in freefall, the economy that Joe Biden has inherited and an up-close look at a few of the millions of families who are desperate for help right now.
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[11:55:00]
BOLDUAN: We know that President Biden inherited the worst jobs market of any modern American president, and the crisis is truly as wide as it is deep that this point. The White House is asking Congress for an enormous $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. But that faces an uphill battle and pushback now on Capitol Hill despite the obvious need.
The number of Americans on unemployment is still tragically high. Lines at food banks across the country continue to grow. And many are now facing the threat of losing their homes.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has their stories.
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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Michelle Bennett and her children are leaving in fear. Their landlord is trying to evict them after she lost her job and can't pay rent.
MICHELLE BENNETT, FACING EVICTION: I don't really have anywhere to go without me having the income to pay during a pandemic because I don't want to be homeless.
YURKEVICH: The eviction crisis is just one of the economic disasters facing the Biden administration, including historic job loss and a growing hunger crisis.
Last week, President Biden signed an executive order extending a ban on evictions through March. But that doesn't help Bennett, whose lawyer says her landlord is using a loophole that's becoming more common during the pandemic.
Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan proposes about 30 billion in additional rental assistance. For months, Bennett tried applying so she can stay in her home, with no luck. BENNETT: When you call, it's like no money, or call back next month. Maybe there will be money then, you know? And then you call back the next month, it's still, oh, we're out of money.
YURKEVICH: Gabby Riley is also out of a job. Weekly unemployment claims are back hovering around a million. And last month, the economy shed jobs for the first time since April. Every single one of those 140,000 jobs lost was held by a woman. Riley is one of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's maddening, it's frustrating, it's defeating.
YURKEVICH: Riley worked in sales at the Loews Hotel in Minneapolis. Leisure and hospitality lost more jobs than any other U.S. industry last year. Riley, a single mom, is worried her career is over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a long way to go yet before our economic society is really feeling and appreciating what females have to contribute to society.
YURKEVICH: As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, food banks across the country are running out of critical government funding. The Campaign Against Hunger in Brooklyn, New York, says their money is nearly gone.
MELODY SAMUELS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUNGER: It's frightening. I don't know what I'm going to do because I still have food to buy.
YURKEVICH: President Biden signed an executive order to address hunger, directing the Department of Agriculture to give families more money to replace school lunches and increase food stamps for about 12 million Americans. But some on the brink will still fall through the cracks, and food banks need federal funding to feed them.
SAMUELS: I need assurance from all our policymakers that, listen, you started, we need to finish this thing. We started helping families, we can't leave them in thin air.
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YURKEVICH (on camera): Another element to economic recovery is addressing the economic racial inequities that existed before the pandemic but have only been made worse by it. So many minority small business owners have lost their businesses, minorities are seeing higher rates of unemployment, more so than white Americans.
[12:00:00]
And we know, Kate, that the Biden administration has dedicated their attention to race and the economy.
