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Johnson & Johnson Vaccine 66 Percent Effective in One Month, Study Indicates Efficacy may Grow Stronger over Longer Time; White House Holds Briefing as Stimulus Talks Ramp Up and COVID Strains Spread. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 29, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

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

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

We are keeping a close eye this morning on the White House where, at any minute, there will be a White House briefing. We'll take you there as soon as it begins. A lot of important questions to be answered, this as we are learning sadly that a third coronavirus variant is in the country.

But also we're learning this morning that a third coronavirus vaccine could soon be available in this country. Johnson & Johnson preparing to apply next week for that emergency use authorization for the vaccine. The company says its vaccine candidate is 66 percent effective yet 85 percent effective against severe COVID disease, that is lower in terms of efficacy than Pfizer and Moderna, both are already authorized for emergency use at more than 95 percent effective. But Dr. Fauci Hopes the one-shot vaccine keeps people out of the hospital and helps alleviate the stress this pandemic has put on the health care system.

SCIUTTO: Yes. The Johnson & Johnson has the advantage, just one shot, not two weeks apart.

Experts are urging Americans to roll up their sleeves, get whichever vaccine is made available first. That's for your safety and the country's safety, this as more as more contagious variants take hold across America. Officials in South Carolina just confirmed that the nation's first case of the South African variant has been detected there.

And this, a new model shows that the pandemic could claim nearly 654,000 American lives by May 1st. We're already up to 433, just so disheartening to see.

Let's begin with CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. So, Elizabeth, break down this data on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for us.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, Poppy and Jim. Before I do, to just reiterate what you just said, bottom line, Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we expect them to apply to the FDA for authorization very soon and the bottom line is it is a good vaccine. It works. It does well. But it is not as effective as Pfizer or Moderna. If it does come on the market and you can't Pfizer and Moderna, experts are saying, take this one. You can always get Pfizer and Moderna later as sort of a booster.

So let's look at the specific numbers. What they found is when you are looking at preventing moderate to severe cases, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was 66 percent, Moderna and Pfizer's, they were around 95 percent effective. That is a big difference.

Now, when we look at what matters even more, which is preventing severe cases, keeping people out of the hospital, keeping them from dying, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was 85 percent effective, Moderna and Pfizer's vaccine --

SCIUTTO: Sorry to interrupt, Elizabeth, to the White House now, Jen Psaki beginning of the White House press briefing. Let's have a listen.

(WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: OK. I have several announcements for you to today. To begin, I know many of you and the American people are interesting in the news coming from Johnson & Johnson's trial data. The president is encouraged by positive data on a potential new vaccine. He also knows that this is just new data and now is the time for the FDA to do its job of evaluating the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

In the meantime, he continues to urge all Americans to mask up and follow public health guidelines until it is their turn to get vaccinated.

Now, I know there may be a lot of questions you have for us about the trial data or Johnson & Johnson. I'm here to tell you that I'm not going to get ahead of the experts, who you all get to hear from in the next hour in our public health briefing from the COVID response team. They will discuss this more with you and what everything means then.

At Wednesday's briefing, I also shared some of the engagement and outreach the White House is doing to move forward the American rescue plan. From the president and the vice president on down, that work has continued and accelerated. Yesterday, senior staff spoke again to governors about the challenges they are facing and the importance of relief.

Today, National Economic Council Deputy Director David Kamin will meet with the Council of State Governments. The Office of public engagement will brief black civic groups, anti-hunger and nutrition advocates and key progressive groups to invite their feedback. These conversations are, of course, critical to building support and moving the president's bill forward.

But we also saw evidence this week that the American people overwhelmingly want their elected leaders to work with the president to confront the pandemic and get -- And put people back to work. According to a Monmouth poll released Wednesday, 71 percent of the American people want Republicans in Congress to work with President Biden. That number is up nearly 10 points from right after the election, meaning the trend of support for working in a bipartisan manner with the president is only growing.

[10:05:06]

Finally, the president is committed to getting relief to working families, hence, he is also meeting this morning with his economic -- members of his team with the vice president and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for a briefing on the cost of inaction and the impact of a delay in moving forward with a relief package.

Millions of Americans don't have enough food to eat and millions more have lost their jobs but interest rate are at the historic lows and that means it is a right time to make smart investments. Moody's, a Wall Street, has said that we could end up with 4 million fewer jobs this year if we don't act on the president's plan, that is 4 million Americans who could get back to work. I'm sure they will discuss all of that at their briefing later this morning.

Last thing, we are venturing to provide a week ahead to all of you, or return to providing week ahead to all of you. So, a quick preview. Next Monday, the president will meet with the secretary of state at the state department. On Tuesday, President Biden will deliver remarks and sign an executive order advancing his priority to modernize our immigration system. And Friday is, of course, jobs day and the president will deliver remarks about the economy.

We'll have hopefully more over the next couple of days but we wanted to provide as many details as we could.

With that, Zeke, why don't you kick us off?

REPORTER: Thank you. One (INAUDIBLE) with surging in Afghanistan, is the president still committed to wind down operation there and bring the troops home this is year?

PSAKI: The president -- I have not spoken to our national security team about this in particular but his commitment remains.

REPORTER: And then at the top, you mentioned that Americans should follow public health guidance. What are the challenges has been over the course of the last ten months is that public health guidance from state to state varies? Some states have mask mandates, others have (INAUDIBLE) and others have schools open, others don't. What guidance should the American people follow? Their governor's guidance or should they follow president's?

PSAKI: Well, first, what we're venturing to do is provide more concrete guidance from the federal government, from the CDC, from health and medical experts on the important steps of the American people can take to keep themselves safe. That includes the importance of mask wearing, of course, and how vital that is to keeping us safe. It also included the importance of hand washing, of restricting travel. These are all guidelines that have come in recent days and weeks, I should say, from the president of the United States and from our medical and health experts.

But in addition, as we discussed yesterday, there are guidelines including the safe reopening of schools that he signed an executive order on, directing both the Department of Education and HHS -- and the CDC, I should say, I'm sorry, to produce those guidelines to give more specific advice and markers to states and local school districts on what they should follow.

So it will ultimately be up to states, to governors, to local school districts and others to make determinations but we do want to provide more clear guidance from the federal government based on the expertise of health and medical experts on what people should follow and what will help keep the American people safe.

REPORTER: I just wanted to follow up on that. The CDC study that was discussed a couple of days ago, one of its recommendations is part of reopening schools, (INAUDIBLE) was to close indoor dining, restaurants at bars, is that a part of the federal guidance that we

should be expecting to see from the CDC and the Department of Education soon?

PSAKI: Well, the good news is you get to hear from our director of the CDC, I believe, in about 45 minutes and our medical and health experts and you could ask them if there is going to be any updated guidance.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: Dr. Fauci said that the U.S. may not be able to meet that goal of reopening most K-8 schools in 100 days because of the trajectory of the pandemic. Given that, is the president going to adjust his goal of trying to get all these schools reopened in a hundred days?

PSAKI: Well, as we talked about a little bit yesterday, the president wants to not only to reopen schools, he wants the schools to stay open but does rely on the guidance of his health and medical experts. And, obviously, he's not going to do anything that is not safe and doesn't keep teachers, students and our school districts safe.

But a key part of this is the guidelines, as we mentioned, the executive order he signed to ensure that school districts are getting the information they need and clarity they need on what steps that they should take to keep their students safe and teachers safe, of course, but it is also funding. And we've talked about this quite a bit in here.

And the American rescue plan is pivotal for a number of reasons, including ensuring that Americans have food on table, including that and we can get shots into the arms of people across the country but also that public schools, especially public schools, have the funding they need to take steps on everything from ventilation to PPE to testing.

[10:10:12]

And the longer that is delayed, the harder it is going to be to meet that goal.

REPORTER: And has President Biden spoken to former President Trump since taking office? And if so, could you give us any update on what President Trump said in his letter to President Biden?

PSAKI: I don't have any update, I don't have any calls to report on. There are no calls to report on, I should say. And I don't have any update on the letter. And as I said, when we talked about this about a week-and-a-half ago, it seems longer than that, I'm going to acknowledge, the president, of course, thought the letter was gracious and generous, but he plans to keep it private.

Go ahead.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jen, I understand you don't want to get too much into the Johnson & Johnson vaccine given the data that is out there, but this likely won't be the only vaccine that is less effective than the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines. And so I wonder what is the president's message to those Americans who would be less -- who would be more reluctant to get one of those less effective vaccines and are you concerned about the impact that that would have and how many doses have already been bought on (INAUDIBLE)?

PSAKI: Well, first, when the president announced his plan earlier this week to ensure we have enough vaccines to give every American two shots by the end of the summer, with the purchase of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, he was doing that without the need for additional vaccines approved.

Obviously, if additional vaccines, Johnson & Johnson, or any others, go through the FDA approval process, that is a positive step, right? No doubt about that. But he purchased the large orders for vaccines that we'll have by the end of this summer to get into the arms of Americans to ensure that we will be able to do that even without any of those steps moving forward.

DIAMOND: And so he would encourage Americans to get any vaccine that is approved by the FDA for emergency use authorization?

PSAKI: Well, again, we're not getting ahead of the FDA, I'm not suggesting you're asking that, but we'll rely on our health and medical experts to advice if there are additional vaccines. If and when, I'll be optimistic, that are approved by the FDA and how that will impact our vaccine distribution plan.

DIAMOND: And, secondly, on the coronavirus relief bill, in his first month in office, President Obama traveled to a number of key states to drum up support for the recovery act. Does President Biden have any plans to do something similar to drum up support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill?

PSAKI: Well, Vice President Biden -- then-Vice President Biden also traveled to a number of states to drum up support for the American recovery act at the time, and, obviously, we weren't dealing with a pandemic, so the circumstances were quite different. But he fully recognizes, as do we, the importance of speaking directly to the American people about the components of this package, whether it is the importance of funding to get schools open or get vaccines in the arms of Americans or just to ensure that people know they could put food on the table.

And so we're having to take a number of creative steps to do that, whether that is direct television or local media or from the president, the vice president and others, we're doing that. Whether it is engaging with governors and local-elected officials to ensure that we're answering all of the questions they have and that they can could convey to the public.

So we're taking a number of creative steps, a little outside of box. Certainly, his preference would be to get on a plane and fly around the country, but that's not the step we're planning currently.

DIAMOND: As a candidate, President Biden did travel a fair amount, especially in the final weeks of campaign, and he's now received both doses of the vaccine and a number of safety precautions are in place and could be in place for his travel. So why wouldn't he be traveling or is that something --

PSAKI: Well, it is also about keeping the public safe. And we're not going to do an event, a rally with 20,000 people. That wouldn't be a recommendation made by our health and medical experts.

DIAMOND: But there wouldn't be any plans to travel without the crowd and to go out into the country?

PSAKI: We may travel certainly, but I have nothing to preview for you at this point in time. What I'm conveying is that it is vital for the president and the vice president and every member of our team to be speaking directly to the American people. And so we're looking for creative ways to do that.

DIAMOND: Can I ask you a foreign policy question? After Alexei Navalny was poisoned last summer, then-candidate Biden said, there was no doubt that the Kremlin was responsible for his poisoning and he vowed to, quote, hold the Putin regime accountable. This week, you told us that the president conveyed his concerns to President Putin but he has not yet taken any action to hold Russia accountable. So I wonder does President Biden hold President Putin directly responsible for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny? And if so, why hasn't he taken any sanction actions to punish Russia for its actions?

PSAKI: Well, first, the president spoke with President Putin earlier this week, as you know, and he did not hold back in his concerns about a number of the actions of the Kremlin and of the Russian government.

[10:15:00] But there is a review underway that we have spoken about a bit in here by our national security team and we'll let that review carry forward. That includes including the SolarWinds breach, it includes the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, it includes the -- I'm kind of losing my thought here, but it includes a number of steps, a number of concerning actions they've taken. We want that review to carry forward and to be completed. And the president always reserves the right to respond and in the manner of his choosing and the time of his choosing.

DIAMOND: Does he hold President Putin responsible for the attempted assassination of Alexei Navalny?

PSAKI: We're going to let the review carry forward and then I'm sure we'll have more to say about it at that point in time.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thank you. The New York Attorney General released a report yesterday saying that the state had undercounted the number of COVID deaths by as much as 50 percent in nursing homes. Would President Biden support a federal investigation into what happened and Governor Andrew Cuomo's role.

PSAKI: I've seen those reports. I would say any investigation, I would you point you to the Department of Justice.

REPORTER: Does the White House think that it should be looked into further?

PSAKI: Again, any investigation would be led by the Department of Justice. We're in a new age. They're independent and they will determine what paths they take moving forward.

REPORTER: Okay. On immigration, I know you said yesterday that it was never 100 percent that today was going to be immigration day, that it was just an early draft and things change. I mean, could you understand what exactly changed and why it is taking a little bit longer for these executive orders and actions on immigration to execute?

PSAKI: Sure. One, it is, of course, it's been widely reported that the president is planning to announce his task force, or plans to announce his launch of a task force on reunifying families and children, something that he's personally committed to, his wife, Dr. Biden, is personally committed to and invested in and he will plan to do -- to make that announcement next Tuesday. The task force will be led by secretary of homeland security, once he's confirmed, Ali Mayorkas. And we planned to sign that executive order today or at the end of this week, I should say.

Early plans sometimes do change, and that was a draft plan, which -- those change many times, I can assure you, from sitting through many scheduling meetings. But we had planned to do it this week because we had hoped that Ali Mayorkas would be confirmed by the end of this week. But because of the filibuster of his nomination, we expect him to be confirmed on Monday evening and, therefore, the president will sign it on Tuesday and then secretary Mayorkas will be overseeing that moving forward.

REPORTER: Okay. And one more question, a foreign one. Can you give us just a little bit more of a timeline in terms of how much longer you think it will take for the White House engage with Iran on its nuclear program? Because you had one of Iran's top diplomats yesterday saying that it believes the window is closing.

PSAKI: Well, I'm not going to give a timeline on it. Obviously, it requires Iran complying with the requirements of the nuclear deal. We've said previously, but I will reiterate here, that the president also sees it as an opportunity to build on the plan from there, and I apologize, I just want to make sure I give you the exact language.

He believes that through following diplomacy, the U.S. should seek to lengthen and strengthen these nuclear constraints and address other issues of concern, including Iran's ballistic missiles program and its regional activity. But, again, Iran must resume compliance with a significant -- with the significant nuclear constraints under the deal.

Now, he's also talked, and, thematically, we've talk about how working with our partners and allies, including the Europeans, members of the P-5 plus one is pivotal to any engagement moving forward, of course, including on what the future of the Iran nuclear deal is.

REPORTER: Okay.

PSAKI: Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thank you, Jen. Just to follow-up on Iran, would the president consider meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, and maybe following President Obama's example for starting to have a television conversation with him?

PSAKI: I think we're getting a little bit ahead of where we are in the process. Again, the first step here is for Iran to comply with the significant nuclear constraints under the deal. But I am certain we will continue to discuss this issue here and at the state department and other parts of government.

Go ahead.

Steve Holland, I didn't recognize you with your mask for a second.

REPORTER: And just to follow-up on Jeremy's question. Did President Biden specifically call on President Putin to release Alexei Navalny?

PSAKI: Yes, as we have publicly, as our team has repeatedly called for, through the course of the last several weeks. In terms of the specifics of the conversation, I don't have any more details for you on that.

REPORTER: We don't know what Putin said or did he make any promises?

PSAKI: I don't have anything to read out on President Putin's comments.

REPORTER: In wake of the GameStop trading incident, is there a public role the White House can play in educating people about the dangers of this kind of trading?

[10:20:03]

PSAKI: Well, Steve, I know the SEC issued a new statement earlier this morning or just before I came out here and I certainly point you to that and others to that. And we, of course, respect the role of regulatory agencies. They are closely monitoring the situation but it is under their purview at this point in time. And I guess part of our education can be conveying to people that the SEC is the regulatory body that would oversee this and can speak to it further.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thanks, Jen, two on Capitol security. So the acting chief of police on the Capitol Hill has recommended a permanent fencing around the Capitol. I was wondering if the Biden White House or President Biden himself has any thoughts on this permanent fencing is the right answer? Does it project the wrong picture to the American public?

PSAKI: I'm not sure we'll have any comment but I'm happy to talk to our national security, homeland security team if we have anything further to add.

REPORTER: Sure. And just a follow-up, Speaker Pelosi said, I believe it was yesterday, that she feels that threats are coming from inside the House, where their members being allowed to carry guns, of course, and conspiracy theorists among the ranks of the GOP. Now, do you and does the White House agree with that assessment that there is security threats coming from inside of the House? Has Biden spoken to Pelosi? And is he worried about the safety, the physical safety of the members of Congress?

PSAKI: Well, he speaks with Speaker Pelosi on a regular basis and certainly has reiterated his support for her and members of the caucus, and he has spoken publicly about his concerns about the rhetoric, of course, around the events of January 6th but some of the rhetoric that has continued and the role of social media platforms.

So he is in close touch with her about events on the Capitol, about the safety of members, but I don't think I have anything more for your to read out beyond that.

Go ahead in the back.

REPORTER: Thank you, Jen, two quick foreign an one domestic, if that's okay.

Can you confirm officially that Robert Malley has been appointed as special envoy for Iran?

PSAKI: I can. I believe it was announced this morning, yes. Or I guess I can confirm it here too for you.

REPORTER: And as you know, settlements have been a major obstacle to getting the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Would President Biden consider -- does he believe settlements are -- should be halted in the west bank so that the Palestinians will come back?

PSAKI: I don't have any new comments from President Biden on this or the current circumstances. He's obviously spoken to this particular issue in the past and conveyed that he doesn't believe security assistance should be tied but I don't have anything more for you on the path forward toward a two-state solution.

REPORTER: And following up on the Capitol Hill fence. There is a fence outside here, a temporary one around the White House. It's been up since last summer. President Trump took a lot of criticism for it. Would President Biden consider bringing the fence down so people can take photos in front of the White House again?

PSAKI: Well, I think we would all like that, including members of my family and people in Washington. But I will talk to our security team and see if there is anything further to convey to all of you.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: As you guys are thinking about the task force to reunite the parents and the separated children, what are you sort of learning about the scope of that challenge, something that groups have tried to do in the past and failed? How many people do you think would need to be tasked to that to actually make it effective?

PSAKI: Those are excellent questions and I expect that when we announce -- when the president signs the executive order next week, when we put the task force together, when Ali Mayorkas is confirmed as the secretary of homeland security, maybe we'll have him come to this briefing room or I'm officially inviting him here today to come to this briefing room.

But there is no question that we recognize this is going to be incredibly challenging, that there will be a lot of work to be done. That that is why this will be a priority. It is not only a priority for the president but it will be a priority for Secretary Mayorkas. But I will leave it to him and to others at Department of Homeland Security to outline and preview for you the path forward.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thank you, Jen. I know that the President Biden and the first lady are acutely aware of the sacrifices that military families make. That being said, we have an incident in the garage with the National Guard that was kind of embarrassing and now I'm hearing from spouses of guardsmen that they had a COVID outbreak and were not tested or vaccinated before they arrived in D.C.

And I'm wondering if there is any concern by the president about how these guardsmen are being treated, whether he can do anything specifically to safeguard their health before they arrive, while they're here. Could he get vaccinations too and testing to governors specifically for the purpose of providing some health safeguards to these soldiers.

PSAKI: Well, as you noted at beginning of your question, but I would just reiterate, the role of the National Guard, and I've spoken to the president about this directly, and the incredible sacrifices they make is something that is personal to him given his family connection to the National Guard. He had called the head of the National Guard just last week when the reports came out about the treatment of the National Guard and the fact that they had been -- many had been sleeping in garages and, of course, conveyed his dismay of the photos he had seen and their treatment and also offered personally any help that he could provide, whether even if it was boosting moral. And certainly that line of communication is open should there be something that he can do from his end.

In terms of specific prioritization of the vaccine, I would you point you to the Department of Defense and leaders over there to speak to that more specifically.

REPORTER: Okay, one follow up from that, on the question of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi's concern about the enemy within, has the president been briefed on such a threat? And does he agree that the National Guard should be here until mid-March during the impeachment trial?

PSAKI: I'll speak to Liz Sherwood-Randall in our Department of Homeland Security, our homeland security colleagues here to see if there is more specifics we have from our end. But I would point you to the Department of Defense and the National Guard team otherwise.

REPORTER: One question from a reporter from WUSA.

PSAKI: Sure, go ahead.

REPORTER: The reporter asked, I've learned that the IRS employees nationwide are having telework suspended. They're all being called back into the office, this despite an OMB directive issued Tuesday ordering federal agencies to only allow 25 percent capacity in federal buildings. If IRS employees have been doing telework successfully, why is it now the time to bring them back into the office? Is that safe?

PSAKI: I would point you to the Department of Treasury where the IRS is located for any further comment on that.

Go ahead. Sorry, I'll come to you next, sir.

REPORTER: Jen, just on the Defense Production Act, we've been asking a few times in the briefings about any specific instances of the Defense Production Act being used. Yesterday, the chief of staff, Ron Klain, suggested that it was being used as it relates to the production of N95 masks. Is there anything specific you can tell us on that or any other companies or products where the Defense Production Act is being used now?

PSAKI: Well, we're not going to get into specific companies. Obviously, there are procurement processes here, but also that take place at federal agencies, but also we're still early in the process. It was invoked just last week. But I can give you more detail in terms of how we plan to use it on vaccine supply.

I think one of the -- also the products that Ron Klain spoke about was low dead space syringes, which are the key to getting the sixth dose out of the Pfizer vile, pivotal in getting vaccines out into the public. N95 masks, isolation gowns, nitro gloves, again, and safety and keeping people safe from infection, pipette tups and high absorbency foam swabs for testing and then lipid nano particles which are key to the mRNA vaccine and bioreactor bags, which is what the vaccine is mass produced in.

So, as can you tell, a lot of this is materials that will help ensure that the vaccine can be used by vaccinators and transported, in some cases, to vaccine locations. So there are several components of it and very specific materials that we're focused on.

REPORTER: And then at the National Security Agency, Michael Ellis, a Trump appointee, was installed as the general council, which is a career position, as you know. Is there -- are you guys considering reviewing that decision or attempting to remove Michael Ellis from his position as general council of the NSA?

PSAKI: I don't have anything new for you on that other than I don't have any personnel announcements. And, certainly we're reviewing personnel across government, including political appointees, most of whom have left. But I don't have anything new on any decisions there.

Go ahead. Oh, wait, I promised you. Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thanks, Jen. FEMA has requested active duty troops be used at vaccination centers when they get stood up across the country. Does the White House support that request?

PSAKI: I did ask our team about this. You or someone else may have asked about this the other day. I think I have something on it here, one moment. Thanks for your patience. Lots to say about COVID, no doubt about it.

So, let's see. Let me talk to our team about. I know I've seen the request from FEMA. Basically, part of our objective is ensuring that we have vaccinators on the ground.

[10:30:03]

I know that is not what you're asking about, but also the ability to move material and vaccines.