Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Biden to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Supply; Department of Homeland Security Warns of Heightened Threats; Republicans' 20 Arguments Against Impeachment. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 27, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Because today is Climate Day at the White House, he said that means today is Jobs Day at the White House. And he talked about what those jobs can look like, moving forward with this really ambitious, really far-reaching plan that he's been laying out.

And also, Brianna, you heard him there at the end, he said he promised to do right by coal workers, talking about what they did for the country and promising to do right by them. That's going to be a big aspect of all of this, is what the effect is that it has and how that ends up looking like. And so clearly, they were trying to address that there as he was unveiling these executive orders.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST, NEWSROOM: Yes, it's a big part of it, it's also -- go on, Bill.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was just going to say, Brianna, that one tool he still has in the box to get around obstructionist Republicans and even a Democrat like Joe Manchin in a coal state, is declaring a national emergency.

Republicans like Marco Rubio, who resisted Donald Trump declaring a national emergency when it came to border security so he could free up money to build his wall, he said, be careful because if we do this now, maybe tomorrow the Democrats will declare climate as a national emergency.

A lot of people would argue that this is a national emergency, as opposed to that one before. Mitch McConnell is -- or Chuck Schumer is encouraging the president to do this, remains to be seen if he'll take that advice.

KEILAR: Yes, it's certainly an emergency in Florida, Republicans in Florida will tell you it is, as they deal with the effects of climate change. Bill, thank you so much. Kaitlan, thank you so much to you as well.

It is the top of the hour, I am Brianna Keilar. And as we are getting new details from the Biden administration today on its plan to tackle the pandemic, just moments ago, we saw the White House press secretary saying that they are recommitted to reopening schools nationwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's going to require testing materials, support for contact tracing, vaccinations for teachers, and ensuring they're equitably provided. But our CDC director and team will be looking into putting together some specific guidelines so there can be clarity on that front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We also heard from the new CDC director in the administration's first coronavirus briefing today. And from the start, it was a stark difference from the Trump White House. It was held via videoconference instead of in person, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky shared data showing that vaccines are not causing widespread allergic reactions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Based on our most recent data, we found that there were 2.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million administered doses of Moderna, and 6.2 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses administered of Pfizer. Let me be clear: These are rare, treatable outcomes and the COVID-19 vaccines are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: President Biden's team also says they are prioritizing bringing services to minority communities. A CNN analysis finds that while black and Latino Americans are suffering more seriously from coronavirus, they are getting vaccinated at a lower rate than white Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCELLA NUNEZ-SMITH, CNAIR, COVID-19 HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE: We're removing structural barriers to access in underserved communities. We'll do this by making sure that it's convenient and accessible to get to vaccination sites. So there's so much to do to get through this pandemic, we want to make sure all communities are cared for and supported along the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The new administration, also pointing out that it will send more vaccines, a 16 percent increase, to states. And that ramp-up cannot come fast enough. With four days left, January is now the deadliest month of the pandemic. There are more people dying now than in the first months, when doctors were learning how to treat the infection, as well as during the summer surge.

The CDC's latest projection shows as many as 514,000 people could die by mid-February, that's another 80,000 Americans lives possibly lost. But the nation is showing signs that the rampant spread is slowing, along with hospitalizations, so that is the good news here. Forty-nine states are seeing a decline in new cases. CNN's Sara Murray is joining me now.

There is some good news, but there's a lot hanging on vaccinations here. And we've been talking to people, Sara, about all they had to do, all they had to go through to get a shot. What more did we learn about the coronavirus vaccinations from this first briefing of the task force?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think we're understandably seeing a lot of frustration from people across the country about trying to get access to these vaccines.

And one of the things we heard from these Biden officials today is that even as they're touting, you know, we're signing these new contracts with Moderna, we're inking these new contracts with Pfizer, there's going to be more vaccine coming in the coming months.

And also, this summer, they are trying to level with the American public that it's a really big task ahead. So here's what Andy Slavitt, who's a White House adviser to this coronavirus team, had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: I want to level with the public that we are facing two constraining factors. The first is getting enough supply quickly enough, and the second is the ability to administer the vaccines quickly once they're produced and sent out to the sites. We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity, but even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:19]

MURRAY: And, Brianna, I think that last part of what he said is so important, because we've seen all of these states, you know, open up to more people, to say, you know, if you're 65 and over, you can have access to this vaccine. And then people get frustrated because they're not able to get appointments, appointments are disappearing or they had an appointment and it got cancelled because there wasn't as much vaccine as their state expected to get.

And one of the things I think the Biden team is trying to do is to say, look, there is light, we are signing these contracts to try to speed up this process, but also, you know, just level with Americans and say even if everything goes as we expected, even if we are able to speed up this vaccine supply the way we want to, it's still going to be a couple months that we are going to be in this mess, you're not all going to be able to go and sign up immediately.

And I think there's going to be a big education component that we're still going to see coming from the Biden administration, to try to explain to people who this is all going to work -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Sara, certainly. Thank you so much, Sara Murray. And I want to talk now with CNN medical analyst Leana Wen, she is the

former Baltimore health commissioner, and she's also a participant in the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine trial.

And, Dr. Wen, you wrote a piece back in April about what you wished the coronavirus briefings were like. I wonder then, as you reflect on what this first one under President Biden was, what you thought about it?

LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I thought it matched exactly what so many of us in public health have been urging the Trump administration to have their briefings sound like. And instead of having to clean up after those briefings and explain why certain things were not true, here we are actually discussing the policy implications of what they talked about.

I thought the briefing was excellent in that it first began with the state of the pandemic, led by the CDC director. And then it went into the science, the new scientific research, led by Dr. Fauci, and explained then to the American people how they can use, how they can interpret those scientific findings.

And then I think very critically, we heard from the administration, from Andy Slavitt, about what's going on with vaccinations. We heard the federal government finally take responsibility for the actions that they should be in control of, and giving the American people some progress reports as well as setting our expectations for what might happen with the speed of vaccine rollout.

KEILAR: The Biden team did stress, Dr. Wen, that there's no stockpile of vaccine like many had thought, but they do plan, despite all the current troubles, to have 300 million Americans vaccinated by the end of summer. Do you think that can be done?

WEN: You know, I think that what they're saying is that they don't want supply to be the constraining issue, and so they have secured commitments from companies so that there will be enough vaccine by the end of the summer.

But there's still a lot of things that could go wrong. So for example, the companies may not be able to meet these manufacturing goals for any number of reasons. Also, we need to be able to distribute vaccines and set up all the distribution and administration channels in the meantime. And we have to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Right now, demand far outstrips supply, but at some point there are -- maybe we need to do a lot more education to build trust in communities.

So I think this could be done. It is a huge lift, but I think that the Biden team actually needs to be setting their goals to be even more ambitious, and really setting these targets so that we can measure their progress against these ambitious goals.

KEILAR: The goal, of course, when it comes to vaccinations, is to reach herd immunity. Can that happen if kids are not vaccinated?

WEN: It will be much harder because it means that you have to be vaccinating much larger proportions of American -- of American adults if kids are not initially in that group.

And again, this is why I think the Biden team needs to speed up their -- the -- the goals that they're setting, because 100 million doses in 100 days is not going to get us to herd immunity probably until middle of 2022. And so I recognize a lot of pieces have to be in place, but there's more that I think can be given to the American people as the aspiration. We want the aspiration of the man on the moon, we need that kind of moment and that could be done.

KEILAR: So the CDC is saying that schools can reopen if precautions are taken. They say that outbreaks seen in crowded offices and long- term care facilities have not been reported in schools. CDC researchers examined what happened to 17 schools in rural Wisconsin, there was only seven in-school infections of students that took place with case rates in schools 37 percent lower than in the surrounding community.

Seeing that study, Dr. Wen, do you think the president can keep this promise?

WEN: Yes, so this is a really important study because I think a lot of us have wondered, if you have really high levels of community spread, how do you keep that out of schools? And I think this is a study that shows if you have the right mitigation measures in place, schools can actually be a safer place to be than say if kids are still gathering, if they're having playdates or if they have daycare in some other unmonitored setting.

[14:10:20]

The key though is, do schools have the resources to do all these mitigation measures? And I think we also have to take into account these variants in the U.K., in the Netherlands, in other countries, where schools have actually been open throughout this whole time, when the variants hit them that are far more transmissible, they've had to close down schools.

And so I think it's a good goal for the Biden administration to aim to reopen schools, but they have to monitor these variants very carefully.

KEILAR: Indeed. Dr. Wen, thank you so much. I think we covered a lot of territory, thanks for coming on.

And also a reminder to our viewers that Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top doctors from President Biden's COVID-19 Team will join Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta tonight for a new live town hall, so don't miss that, it's "CORONAVIRUS: FACTS AND FEARS" at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

We're also following some breaking news on the security front. The Department of Homeland Security has just issued a bulletin signaling that there is a heightened threat environment following President Biden's inauguration.

This reads in part, "DHS does not have any information to indicate a specific, credible plot; however, violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically motivated actors to incite or commit violence."

Let's go now to CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell. I mean, break this down for us, what should we take away from this, Josh?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, I think the top line is, is that we're learning from officials that that January 6th Trump-inspired attack on the Capitol did not happen in a vacuum.

Authorities are now warning the public, the Department of Homeland Security out with this new advisory, as you mentioned, talking about some of the motivations of some of these actors to include this big lie that President Trump has, you know, peddled obviously before the election, and now has continued -- to continue with, he has not actually called that out, and that is this idea that the election was stolen.

Intelligence officials, now warning the public that that -- those kind of ideas could inspire additional attacks. It's also worth pointing out that this new advisory is not something we did not know because of our earlier reporting and talking to our intelligence sources, that extremists are largely looking at that January 6th attack as a success, that emboldening them, motivating them.

That type of advisory material went out to law enforcement, warning them. But today, the Department of Homeland Security, taking this additional step, warning the public writ large that there could be follow-on violence, telling members of the public this phrase that we've heard so often since 9/11, "If you see something, say something." That is important in order for authorities to try to disrupt plots.

Finally, it's worth noting that so many of the arrests that we have seen since that attack on the Capitol have involved people turning in their own family members, their own friends, people that they knew were at that location. The Department of Homeland Security continuing in that same vein, saying if you know something, if you see something, they want to hear from you in order to try to prevent any violence -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And, Josh, CNN is also reporting that there are security concerns with threats against lawmakers when they travel outside of Washington. We are learning that several members of Congress have been given extra security, and some local police departments are also chipping in, helping in their home states.

Perhaps not surprising from some of the videos that we saw from airports, but you know, this is serious.

CAMPBELL: That's right. And this is, again, a consequence of this heightened situation we're seeing based on, again, going back to that big lie that the 2020 election was stolen, we're now seeing lawmakers having to take additional precautions. Our colleague Jamie Gangel had earlier reported after that attack that

lawmakers were looking into private security for themselves. We know that the Capitol Police, other law enforcement agencies provide protection for the leadership in the House and in the Senate, but lawmakers who aren't in leadership positions seeing it for themselves, to go out and try to get security because they feel like they are potential targets.

Again, this goes back to this extremism that we know has been simmering kind of under the surface. We know it's been there for a long time, but so many of these extremist actors now see themselves as successful after that January 6th attack, which was targeting those lawmakers.

Lawmakers, to this day, still feeling unsafe, still feeling it necessary to try to get private security just as a precaution. They don't know what will happen when they're in D.C., they don't know what will happen when they're out in their district conducting their work -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

And despite those threats, just in to CNN, we have learned Senate Republicans are now planning to filibuster President Biden's pick to lead the Homeland Security Department.

[14:15:02]

Plus, GOP lawmakers are really tying themselves in knots to give reasons why Donald Trump's second impeachment trial should not take place, 20 different reasons. We'll roll the tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: There is a debate on Capitol Hill right now about whether the impeachment trial in the Senate should proceed, and whether Donald Trump should be convicted. Maybe you think he should, maybe you think he should not. Republicans don't think so, but they also can't agree on the reason why. There are 20 reasons, 20, that they cite for skipping the whole thing.

Reason number one? They say it's unconstitutional.

[14:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): I think it's a moot point --

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): There is no constitutional provision permitting the impeachment for the sole purpose of removing them from running for office in the future.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We're about to impeach a man who is out of office for the express purpose of making sure he can never run again. I think it's unconstitutional -- SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): It's constitutionally sketchy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, most legal scholars say it is constitutional. They cite precedent to impeach someone once they have left office. Plus, it could prevent them from holding office again. If it was only permissible to punish sitting officials, it would incentivize the end of a president's term as a time to do things that are impeachable offenses without fear of recourse, like inciting a riot two weeks before Inauguration Day and then going la-tee-da into private life.

Which leads to reason number two, that Trump's just a normal guy now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Donald Trump holds none of the positions listed in the Constitution, he is a private citizen --

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: President Trump is a private citizen. Why would you spend your time on this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the House, including 10 Republicans, did not impeach a private citizen, they impeached a sitting president who wasn't a private citizen when he incited the attack that left five people dead including one Capitol Hill Police officer.

And reason number three, they say that Democrats want revenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I think it's petty, I think it is retribution, I think it is vindictive.

SCOTT: It's vindictive, it's a waste of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Of course, what these senators call revenge, Democrats and some Republicans too call accountability. Also revenge is usually served cold and the crime scene at the Capitol is still very much warm.

Reason number four, make like Young M.C. and bust a move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I mean, move on --

CRUZ: To coin a phrase, I think it's time to move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It's an odd argument. He wants to "thank you, next" a failed coup attempt that endangered the lives of him and his colleagues? It's an interesting approach.

Reason number five? Let's call it the "give a guy a break" argument, this from Nikki Haley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: The actions of the president post-January 6th weren't -- post- Election Day were not great. I mean, at some point, I mean, give the man a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Not great is how you describe lousy take-out, not a deadly insurrection at the nation's Capitol. But then again, Nikki Haley has a track record of giving Trump a break, even after saying things like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK. That is not a part of our party, that's not who we want as president. But I have to tell you, Donald Trump is everything I taught my children not to do in Kindergarten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Reason number six, everyone's to blame so he can't be the only one to blame. Let's call this one the "Kevin McCarthy goes full Oprah, you get some blame and you get some blame and you get some blame."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.

I don't believed he provoked, if you listen to what he said at the rally.

I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And then there is reason number seven, that it'll inflame the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): Instead of moving forward as a unifying force, the majority in the House is choosing to divide us further.

HALEY: The idea is they're going to do impeachment, that's not going to bring our country together, that's only dividing our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Say lawmakers who were fine with dividing the country and exacerbating tensions by encouraging or enabling or ignoring the belief of many Americans that their votes didn't count and that the election was stolen, without any tangible proof.

Reason number eight, it's too soon. You know, the can't we just talk about it first part of the break-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): I oppose this rushed impeachment, brought forward without a single hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Reason number nine, the stalker defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): They're going to do it, again. They've been obsessed with it. It is truly an obsession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: From the congressman from Ohio who stans Donald Trump, who went on "Fox" in December and said that he believed Trump won the election. It's that kind of cheerleading that got him a medal of freedom award as the president was going out the door.

Then there's reason number 10, that it's too historic, it's never been done before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORNYN: This is unprecedented, there's no clearly marked path for navigating an impeachment trial for somebody who's no longer president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Also unprecedented that in 2021, a violent mob, incited by the sitting president, attacked one of the most secure buildings on the planet and attacked the very same police officers who whisked these lawmakers to safety.

Reason number 11, also from the senator from Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORNYN: It seems very much counterproductive, if you're President Biden, to say we're going to take the precious first days of a new administration, and we're going to squander it on this impeachment trial. I just think it's shockingly bad judgment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:25:18]

KEILAR: And then reason number 12, cold hard cash money. Senator Boozman saying, quote, "With him already gone, impeachment would be a significant expense.

Reason number 13 is the fate of the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: But for Republicans who go along with it, I think they'll destroy our party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: By the way, Senator Paul thinks that pretty much everything will, quote, "destroy his party."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL (via telephone): If the establishment tries to block an outsider from winning the nomination, there'll be war within the party and they'll destroy the party.

PAUL: What I don't like about, you know, Donald Trump, would be his using the Republican Party and then perhaps going out at the very end, after he doesn't win the nomination, and then trying to destroy the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Reason number 14, the fate of getting anything done in Congress. Senator Wicker says another impeachment will, quote, "poison the cooperative spirit that we need in a 50-50 Senate."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: To my Democratic colleagues, if you try to call one witness, you're going to blow up the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yes, that is an argument that it's going to hurt the Democrats' agenda, which is obviously a huge concern for Republicans.

Reason number 15, lack of votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I predict that there will not be anywhere near the votes needed to impeach the president.

PAUL: We had 45 people, 45 Republican senators say that the whole charade is unconstitutional. So what does that mean? It means that impeachment, the trial is dead on arrival.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: If you think part of a jury is leaning one way even before all the evidence is presented or the witnesses testify, just cancel the trial, that's what that is saying.

Reason number 16, that it's political theater, as Florida Senator Rick Scott claimed in a tweet after indulging the particularly absurd and damaging political theater of baselessly challenging the election.

TEXT: Rick Scott: This impeachment is nothing more than political theater. The Democrats are confusing the U.S. Capitol, where we should be helping the American people, with another big white building in D.C. that specializes in political theater and shows-- the Kennedy Center. It's time to get back to work.

KEILAR: Reason number 17, whataboutism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK (R-CA): If we impeached every politician who gave a fiery speech to a crowd of partisans ,this Capitol would be deserted.

CORNYN: The next time Republicans are in power, they could reach back and impeach a former Democratic president.

CRUZ: So I guess next year, I don't know, maybe it'll be the impeachment of Jimmy Carter or the impeachment of Bill Clinton or the impeachment of Barack Obama, because that's what we do in Januarys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Reason number 18?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: if the chief justice isn't coming, I think it's an illegitimate procedure and it isn't a real impeachment, it's going to be a fake, partisan impeachment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It actually doesn't in this case, since Trump is now out of office. That is why the chief justice of the court that is the final word on constitutional issues has determined that the Constitution does not require him to preside.

Number 19, reason number 19 is the Marty McFly defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORNYN: Well, it used to be that when you lost an election, that was punishment enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The president's election loss November 4th is his punishment for inciting a riot on January 6th. Great Scott, that makes no sense. Remember ,voters didn't have Biff's almanac of the future when they cast their ballots for president.

And finally, reason number 20, that it's cancel culture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN: This is about cancelling the president and cancelling all the people you guys disagree with.

The cancel culture doesn't just go after conservatives and Republicans, it won't just stop there. It'll come for us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Congressman Jordan can rest assured, though, because one thing that is definitely not coming for him is a coherent argument or a dictionary. Because if he looked up cancel culture, he'd see himself.

He and other Freedom Caucus members circulated a petition in his conference to have a vote to force Liz Cheney to resign from her House Republican leadership position for voting her conscience, to impeach Donald Trump.

So no, no one is cancelling Donald Trump. Jim Jordan will make sure of that.

KEILAR: Still ahead, it's an alternative to impeachment. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine will join us live to discuss the possibility of censuring former President Trump if he is not convicted.

[14:29:35]

Plus, we have just learned that President Biden's nominee to run the Department of Homeland Security may face a Republican filibuster. We are live on Capitol Hill, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)