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Biden to Roll Back Trump Health Care Actions; Most Americans Will Have to Wait Months to be Vaccinated; Dem House Staffers Draft Letter Urging Senators to Convict Trump; Interview with Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) about Trump's Senate Impeachment; Sarah Sanders Announces Run for Arkansas Governor; DHS Issues Bulletin Over Potential for Violence After Inauguration; GameStop and AMC Stocks Soar. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 28, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Thursday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow.

President Biden is taking on health care with a new executive order as the nation battles, of course, this devastating pandemic.

[09:00:04]

Officials are now recalibrating their vaccine timeline as they face supply and, of course, those

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: 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)

HARLOW: We are following the president's agenda and this, a stunning new warning directly from the Department of Homeland Security that domestic extremists may be emboldened by the Capitol insurrection and could mobilize to commit more violence, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Real parallels between domestic terrorism and international terrorism. And now Republicans are struggling to unite after the deadly insurrection turning on those members who held President Trump responsible for helping to incite the violence. What is the path forward for the party? Maybe this could be a signal.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy is meeting with Trump in Florida today. He, of course, said the president bore responsibility in the days afterwards and then backtracked.

We're covering all the headlines this morning. CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond following all the latest on the COVID relief package.

Jeremy, we're hearing the president may be willing to pare down the size of the overall package to gain bipartisan support. I'm curious how and is he confident that he could get Republican support if he does so?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, President Biden and his aides are clear eyed about the facts that this $1.9 trillion price tag is going to have to come down if they are going to get bipartisan support in Congress. But at the same time, I spoke with a senior administration official this morning who made very clear that while the ultimate number is going to have to probably come down, if there is going to be a bipartisan deal, that they still consider all of the components of this deal from vaccine funding to funding for testing to those stimulus checks.

All of those categories, quote, "essential." And so they're not going to siphon off any of those categories of funding into a separate bill or take them off the table altogether. Where they are willing to negotiate, though, is on the stimulus checks in terms of providing more targeted relief is what that official told me just this morning. Whether or not they can actually get a bipartisan deal is a whole other question and ultimately Democrats may choose to go the budget reconciliation process and pass this along party lines.

For today, though, President Biden is still taking action using his executive authority where he can. We've seen focus on coronavirus, on the economy. Today we are seeing action on health care. And specifically, President Biden will sign an executive order today to reopen that enrollment period through the federal marketplace. So in two weeks, Americans in the 36 states that use healthcare.gov can go there and register for health care for a three-month period.

There's also going to actions to review some of the Trump administration policies that weakened Obamacare and Medicaid. So HHS is going to be reviewing some of those policies. And then President Biden taking action to reverse some of the restrictions on abortion services that President Trump had put in place. That includes reinstating the -- rescinding, sorry, the Mexico City policy also known as the Global Gag Rule which prevents the federal government from providing funds to international nonprofits that provide either abortion services or even simply referring individuals to abortion providers.

They will also be reviewing that Title 10 funding rule. The Trump administration prevented any health care providers who receive funding under Title 10 from referring people to abortion services. That was a huge hit on Planned Parenthood here in the United States and low- income families across the country looking for reproductive health services.

So again, taking some action on the health care front today through executive order. But to be clear, the central tenets of Joe Biden's health care plan including pushing that public option to strengthen Obamacare and to really expand access to health care coverage across the country, that is something that he'll need congressional support for. And for now he's doing what he can on the executive action front -- Jim, Poppy.

HARLOW: OK. Jeremy, thank you for all of that reporting.

There's a lot going on clearly this morning on the health front. Experts at the White House and on the White House Coronavirus Task Force say they are working to try to increase vaccine supply, but admitting it's going to be months before most people can get it.

SCIUTTO: CNN's Kristen Holmes, she's been following this detail by detail. So what are the factors that are constraining vaccine distribution specifically and what are the specific solutions to those problems?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Jim and Poppy. Well, it's actually incredibly interesting because we are learning that one of the potential issues that's causing a bottleneck might also be the answer to one of the biggest questions that we've had and been asking since the beginning of this vaccine rollout which is, why is there such a big discrepancy between the number of doses administered and the number of doses distributed?

[09:05:05]

So take a look at where this currently stands. You can see this enormous gap. You have about 47 million doses that have been distributed. Now 24.6 million that have actually been administered. So that means 47 million have gone out to the states but only about half of them or a little over that have actually been administered.

We've been asking state officials, why this is, where are these doses? And they've given us a number of reasons. One, it's hard to transport this particular vaccine. They've also said they don't have enough people to actually administer the vaccine. But now we're learning there might be another reason which is that at least some states have been holding on to some of those doses as second doses.

Now to be clear, this is not every single state. And it is still unclear how long they've been holding on to this supply to be potential second doses. Is this something that they put a vaccine in the arm and then another one goes on the shelf for 20-plus days or is this something where it's just on the shelf for a couple of days while the health provider has to find the person and give them the shot?

So a lot of questions here we're still trying to get to the bottom of. But we know at least in Florida, the governor going back and forth with the White House essentially saying that the federal data isn't fair because it does not actually have a position where it shows those earmarked vaccines. So something we're looking into now.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And it gets that key question as to whether the guidance will become just get those doses out, worry about the second dose later.

Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

This morning, as Republican leaders are growing increasingly confident that former President Trump will not be convicted in his second Senate impeachment trial, a group of Democratic House staffers are drafting what they hope will be a bipartisan message to the Senate urging senators to take the trauma they experienced during the deadly insurrection seriously in the upcoming trial.

And Poppy, when you hear the stories of those staffers and others locked in rooms, barricaded, fearing for their lives, you get where this is coming from.

HARLOW: Absolutely. You do. This comes as House minority leader Kevin McCarthy is going to go to Florida to meet with former President Trump today. Making pretty clear where he stands.

Let's go to our colleague Lauren Fox. She joins us on Capitol Hill for more on this letter.

I mean, I read the draft to the letter and Jim is absolutely right, it says so much, and I also think it says a lot that they're allowed to sign with their e-mails, not using which representative they work for. Clearly fearful of some sort of backlash if they are completely transparent about that.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Poppy, this is going to be such a big part of the story when we talk about impeachment and the trial we expect to get started in the Senate in a couple of weeks is this is personal. For members of Congress, for their staff who experienced the violence on January 6th, this isn't something that they read about, something they had to investigate for a length of time.

This was something that they felt. Like you said, staffers hiding under tables trying to barricade themselves inside of offices while they could hear the mob outside in the corridors of the Capitol. And I do want to read part of this letter because I do think that it speaks to the pain and trauma that a lot of lawmakers and staff are still experiencing.

It says, quote, "As employees of the U.S. House of Representatives, we don't have a vote on whether to convict Donald Trump for his role in inciting the violent attack at the Capitol. But our senators do. And for our sake and the sake of the country, we ask that they vote to convict the former president and bar him from ever holding office again."

And we know, of course, that we have not seen any evidence that there are going to be 17 Republicans willing to vote to convict Trump. But clearly, members making the case that this is personal, staffers making the case this is personal. And you can expect that that's why House managers are talking about using video as part of the Senate trial. They want to remind people of the pain that everyone who was up here on January 6th truly felt. SCIUTTO: Lauren Fox, thanks very much. Good to have you on the hill

this morning.

I'm pleased to be joined now by the governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson.

Governor, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R), ARKANSAS: Hey, it's good to be with you. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So Kevin McCarthy who said that Trump bore responsibility for what we saw on January 6th, he's now going to Florida, according to our Lauren Fox today, to make up with Trump in effect. Mitch McConnell, of course, the Republican leader in the Senate who said Trump provoked the attack, he voted that a trial now is unconstitutional.

I just wonder, has the GOP, in your view, after a brief break with Trump following January 6th, reverted to the party of Trump?

HUTCHINSON: I think what you see is you're going to have a serious debate within the Republican Party both in terms of leadership roles, but also in terms of substance on policy issues.

[09:10:03]

By and large there is a cohesive, there is a unity among our values on the party reflected in a very successful election except for losing the presidency this last time. So that debate is going to go on. In terms of leadership, obviously, President Trump as a former president is going to have a role to play. He's got a powerful voice, he's got a lot of support, but there's going to be many other voices that are out there, and that's the nature of it.

Any time you lose the presidency, that debate is going to go on really for the next two to four years until we have a new presidential nominee representing the party. That is a healthy debate. We have to embrace that. We have to understand there's going to be challenges in the next election cycle. And the role that President Trump plays will make a difference in that and as to how people line up. But we have to recognize it and not run away from it.

SCIUTTO: Well, Governor, with respect, it strikes me and many others that there's genuine disagreement on what the values of the party are. I mean, after all, you have members of the party who continue, like the president, without basis to say the election was stolen and those who grant the reality that Biden won.

You have a sitting member of Congress now who's just been placed on the Education Committee, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who traffics in a whole host of conspiracy theories. I mean, denying 9/11, saying that school shootings were false flags, as she says January 6th was. I mean, those are not policy disagreements. Those are fundamental disagreements about not just the direction of the party but reality. I mean, how can those be reconciled? HUTCHINSON: Well, I mean, that is a challenge that we have in society

as a whole when you have such false information on the Internet. You don't have all of the truth coming out through balanced representation for the media. But when I say that there is a unity on philosophy, I'm talking about having reduced role of government in our lives, having support for freedom, a strong national defense, support of our military and law and order.

There's been a unity whenever you just cited Kevin McCarthy and you cited the Senate leader that said President Trump has responsibility. That is a clear statement by the leaders of the two branches of our government.

SCIUTTO: Though, you'll admit, that some have backed off those clear statements. I mean, that's my wonder here because you, to your credit, you have deep experience in the Republican Party for decades in the House, in the statehouse back in Arkansas, and to your credit, you've said, definitively, the president misled Americans into believing the election was rigged and that that helped result in the Capitol riots.

I just wonder, you are opposed to impeachment. How do you believe the former president should be held accountable then?

HUTCHINSON: I think that's a fundamental question. And I said that the impeachment in the House should not move forward. It was primarily an issue of timing trying to bring our country together. Now that it's in the Senate, I am very interested as to how the Senate is going to proceed with the trial because the level of responsibility is the issue. And so that takes questions of proof that the FBI is still investigating. It's going to be a long investigation. And so to what extent are they going to delve into that level of responsibility in the Senate?

But it also falls on the president and his defense team to articulate where the responsibility lies. Is that going to be done by witnesses, by depositions, summaries from the FBI? That's going to be interesting. And if I'm a member of the Senate, I would say I want to hear all of that evidence, make an appropriate judgment and the American people will as well. This is important that the Senate trial is transparent. More information provided on responsibility for that attack on the Capitol, but then there's going to have to be another reckoning whether it's an independent commission.

This is the most serious event that we've had and threat to our democracy in my lifetime, obviously. And so I think that has to be explored from both an independent type commission as well as in the trial in the Senate.

SCIUTTO: Well, let's hope we see it because, gosh, the members of law enforcement truly paid, some with their lives and some with severe injuries in there.

I want to ask about your state because you are, of course, term limited out from running again. One of those who is challenging for your seat is the president's former press secretary and former first daughter Sarah Sanders, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. As I mentioned, you believe the president misled the American people. Sarah Sanders, she aided the president, you know, over a couple of years in that post in misleading.

And I just wonder, does her record, in your view, disqualify her to lead the state of Arkansas?

[09:15:00]

HUTCHINSON: Well, let me assure you, I'm not going to get into a gubernatorial campaign for my successor that is two years away. It's very early in that cycle, Sarah can certainly defend herself, so I'm not treading down that path. I'm concentrating on getting the vaccine out in Arkansas, making sure that we have the support from the Biden administration. We just had our economic numbers in Arkansas that we dropped to 4.2 percent unemployment rate, which is way below the national average. So we're doing well in Arkansas, but I want to keep us on the right path.

SCIUTTO: On the question of vaccines, I wonder, this is -- your state is not alone in this, right, in terms of getting those vaccines, getting those shots into people's arms quickly. You still have about 220,000 doses as I understand it, received or allocated, have not yet been administered. I just wonder, in your view, who bears responsibility for the slow roll out so far of vaccinations, not just in Arkansas but around the country?

HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, we've accelerated our vaccination here in Arkansas, and just like the manufacturers get better in their production of the vaccines, the states get better in the distribution capacity, and we're in a good position now. I'm delighted with a 16 percent increase in the vaccines that's going to be distributed to the states.

One of your previous news persons indicated that the second doses don't need to be held, they need to be out there and distributed. And that's part of the challenge. It is very important that we stick with that second dose regime -- regimen because that's what the FDA approved. And so, you're going to have some extra supply in the states to meet that second dose --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HUTCHINSON: Requirement. And so, I think we're doing pretty well in Arkansas and getting it out. We're going to continue to improve it, but we have a system in place to administer it. We just need that supply to continue to come.

SCIUTTO: Do you -- just before we go, a big part of Biden's stimulus proposal was more money and aid to states to get those vaccinations going. Do you need that federal help, right? Will that help you get shots into arms?

HUTCHINSON: Well, we'll take the resources. Now, we're in pretty good position here in Arkansas with a surplus in our budget, with a growing economy. In terms of the vaccinations, yes, we want federal help in terms of vaccine administration. We're in a good position, but we can do better, and that assistance will be helpful, but it's also for our schools, it's for our small businesses --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HUTCHINSON: And for those that are hurting in the unemployment line. So that stimulus package will be helpful, but it needs to be the right level, and I'm glad that debate is going on right now to make sure there's some compromise that's reasonable.

SCIUTTO: Well, Governor Hutchinson, we know you've got a lot of work on your hands. We wish you the best of luck and the people of Arkansas the best of luck.

HUTCHINSON: Thank you. Great to be with you today.

SCIUTTO: Well, still to come this hour, the Department of Homeland Security is issuing a stark new warning about the threat from domestic terrorists. We're going to have the details ahead.

HARLOW: Plus, the state of West Virginia quickly becoming a success story in vaccine rollout, why? We'll take you there. And the story that is sending shock waves through Wall Street and much of America. Investors on the internet take on the big hedge funds.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During a pandemic, pay a lot of bills and really stick it to Wall Street who are like the big business suit guys, and we're just like, you know, teenagers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This is much bigger than the stock in this moment. It may signal a fundamental shift. We'll explain to you why it matters, ahead.

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[09:20:00]

HARLOW: The Department of Homeland Security has issued a rare and significant bulletin warning against domestic extremists emboldened after the Capitol insurrection.

SCIUTTO: The parallels between this domestic terror threat and that from international terrorism, Islamist terrorism is alarming and real. CNN's Whitney Wild joins us now. Tell us the details of this bulletin and why issued now?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this follows conversations that we've been reporting on within the intelligence community about whether to raise this terrorism threat level. The hope had been that the riot at the Capitol represented the apex of this heightened political tension. But instead, what intelligence community officials are telling us, what DHS is telling us, is that rather than reaching the apex and on the down swing, we remain at a plateau of a heightened political climate. This bulletin also says that some of these motivations are coming from

different places. For example, a perceived government overreach, other ideological grievances fueled by false narratives. And this comes as officials here in Washington are rapidly racing to try to find whoever put out these pipe bombs.

Three ways that they're trying to do that, Jim and Poppy, they are going through hours of surveillance footage. They're also using parts of the bomb, cross-referencing that in a national database that collects other pieces of evidence from other bombings to see if there is a pattern, and then finally, they're looking through cellphone data, Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Incredibly troubling. Important reporting --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HARLOW: Whitney Wild, thank you for that and we're glad we have you now here at CNN. Well, joining me to discuss all of this and more, Senate Majority Whip, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. Good morning to you. I just wonder what your response is to what we just heard Whitney report, this DHS warning, and if it factors at all into your thinking about an impeachment trial.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): We've seen this coming. It goes back to a number of hate crime incidents. I can think of six or seven years ago in Wisconsin, the Sikh Temple where people lost their lives.

[09:25:00]

And it's happened over and over again in different parts of the United States. But I think our real focus is on January 6th here in the United States Capitol, what happened. And we saw those groups march in here in a terrorist mode and try to take control of our government. They delayed our government from working for five hours. It was a violent confrontation within this building. A Capitol policeman was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher and others were beaten with clubs. It was serious. It wasn't a political demonstration. It was a mob, out of control mob.

HARLOW: So --

DURBIN: And I think it's important that we receive this warning and take it seriously.

HARLOW: So senator, there is a bipartisan effort between your Democratic colleague in the Senate, Tim Kaine and Republican Senator Susan Collins on a resolution to censure President Trump. They'd like to see a vote on censure before the impeachment trial begins. Given that Republicans in the Senate are increasingly convinced that the president will again be acquitted in the second impeachment trial. Why do you think there is not growing support in your party to censure the president?

DURBIN: Well, let me -- let's get to the bottom line here. We had a vote the other day, five Republicans joined the Democrats in saying let's proceed with the impeachment trial. It was disappointing. You know, there are many who are arguing on the other side, get over it. You know, let the president ride off into the sunset.

Any disclosure of what happened on January 6th is just going to divide our nation. I couldn't disagree more. We need an official record of what happened on January 6th in the United States Capitol building where five people died as a result of this mob that stormed the building. There are already sizable numbers of American population who dispute whether or not this was really a political event on the right.

We've got to put the evidence on the record once and for all, so now and future generations we can make the case. Do I believe this president should be censured if he's not impeached? I agree with it, but we --

HARLOW: OK --

DURBIN: Need to go ahead with the impeachment trial.

HARLOW: On the issue -- you also need to go ahead with some sort of relief for people, and there is Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus package, but there's a lot of dissent from Republicans about it. Say it's not targeted enough, et cetera, even Joe Manchin says this isn't who we are, the way it stands now.

You told my friend and colleague John Berman a few days ago, you hope it doesn't come to having to try to push this thing through reconciliation, which would mean it's exactly the opposite of a bipartisan effort. But do you get the sense after your meeting with your fellow sweet 16 members that that's exactly where it is going?

DURBIN: Well, I don't want to say anything specifically about that meeting, but I will tell you this. There are some Republicans who disagree with the premise that we need more stimulus for our economy. They think we've appropriated enough money. I disagree, and I think President Biden is right. And secondly, I believe that we better take this seriously.

The leaders in our economy, Janet Yellen who is our new Secretary of the Treasury, as well as the chairman of the Federal Reserve who is historically a Republican, are all telling us, keep your foot on the accelerator. Get this economy back on its feet. Get people back to work and kids back to school. Don't be half-hearted about this. We've got a serious challenge in our economy and we need to address it seriously.

HARLOW: But if the first piece of big, what was supposed to be bipartisan legislation, becomes exactly the opposite, and I hear you want all of those concerns, and we do have an economy on its knees that needs help. But there are some legitimate concerns about is it targeted enough, and the $900 billion previously has not all been distributed. My question is, if the first thing you guys do is not bipartisan, you push it through in reconciliation, does that just set up a less unified four years ahead?

DURBIN: That, of course, is a challenge. Let me say, though, that the criticism that the -- I call it the Mnuchin formula of cash payment distribution, I think it should be changed. I think frankly, it rewards some families who are very well off, and that was never our intention. I think we can change it. For a minute, Joe Manchin is right, Susan Collins is right in saying that. So, we should take that advice on a bipartisan basis and make the change.

If we can make that kind of change and bring together some Republican support for this, all the better. But more importantly, we've got to do the right thing for the American people and do it quickly. We've got to get the vaccine out on the road. Look at my own state, many other states desperate for more vaccines. I mean, let's get that done. Let's put the money on the table and make sure that, that vaccine is going to save lives across America.

HARLOW: Senator Dick Durbin, thank you for your time this morning. It's nice to have you.

SCIUTTO: Notable conversation there. As the nation tries to forge past hiccups, obstacles in the vaccine rollout, West Virginia quickly became a benchmark for how to do it right.