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J&J Trials Show 85% Efficacy Against Severe COVID Disease; Fauci: Johnson & Johnson Data Tells Us We Now Have a "Value-Added" Additional Vaccine Candidate; Biden Still Wants Bipartisan Relief Bill Despite GOP Pushback; War Brews Within GOP Pitting Moderates Against Trump Allies; Fauci: Variants Projected to be More Dominant in U.S. by Spring; New Model: Variants May Lead to 85,000 More Deaths by May; Fauci: U.S. Health Officials Hope to Begin Vaccinating Children by Late Spring, Early Summer; Biden Touring Vaccination Site at Walter Reed Hospital; CDC Director Hopeful Schools Can Reopen Soon With Teacher Vaccinations and Mitigation Measures; FBI: Pipe Bombs Found Near Capitol on Day of Attack Were Placed There the Night Before; GameStop Rally Reignites After Stock Apps Lifts Restrictions; FBI Boosts Reward to $100k for Info on Capitol Pipe Bomber; Gaetz Slams Fellow Republican Liz Cheney for Impeachment Vote, Ignoring Calls for Unity; Rep. Greene Removes Social Media Posts Amid Scrutiny of Past Controversial Comments. Aired 3-3:30p ET.
Aired January 29, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi there and thanks so much for being with me on this Friday afternoon, I'm Brooke Baldwin and you're watching CNN. Let's start today with some encouraging news in the pursuit from more COVID-19 vaccines.
Johnson & Johnson is resulting (ph) the results of its vaccination trial, 66 percent at its global trial, 85 percent effective against severe disease and death. And I know you're sitting there and thinking well it's not quite as good as what we've seen in terms of efficacy from Moderna and Pfizer.
Well, yes, you are correct. But Dr. Anthony Fauci says this vaccine though could be a game changer.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This is a single shot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from seven to 10 days following the first and only shot. It is very, very good with regard to cold chain requirements, namely requiring only a refrigerator. It is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the numbers of billions.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: While the White House task force is focused on the vaccination piece of this pandemic, President Biden is working today to help Americans suffering financially. He is urging Republicans to get on board with his $1.9 trillion relief package.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the choice couldn't be clearer. We have learned from past crises the risk is not doing too much the risk is not doing enough.
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BALDWIN: But Congress isn't just divided over this relief bill. The Republican Party is showing more signs of facture as Former President Donald Trump seems to be keeping a firm grip on a number of people in the party and we'll dive into that in just a little bit
But first, Johnson & Johnson's new single shot vaccine; it's advantages, its disadvantages, growing concerns over new COVID variants. CNN National Correspondent, Nick Watt has it all.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Global trial data is in; Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine is safe and 66 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe illness, 85 percent effective against severe disease.
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FAUCI: There were essentially no hospitalizations or deaths in the vaccine group.
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WATT: Some context; the flu vaccine reduces the risk of illness by between 40 and 60 percent.
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DR. MATHIA MAMMEN, GLOBAL HEAD OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, JANSSEN DIVISION OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON: Our topline result is that we have 85 percent protection against disease that matters.
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WATT: Johnson & Johnson will apply for FDA emergency use authorization mid to late next week. Their commitment is 100 million doses for Americans by June.
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MAMMEN: We're very much on track (inaudible). Our plan is to have supplies immediately upon launch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Yes, this vaccine was less effective than Pfizer and Moderna in trials but.
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DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: For many clinics out there this is going to be the ideal vaccine to have. One dose, stable vaccine, use it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Meanwhile Dr. Fauci says those more contagious coronavirus variants might be dominant in the U.S. by March. The strain first found in the U.K. now confirmed in 28 states.
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FAUCI: This is a wake-up call to all of us. We will continue to see the evolution of mutants.
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WATT: The strain first found in South Africa now found in South Carolina.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: By the time someone has symptoms, gets a test, has a positive result and we get the sequence our opportunity for doing real case control and contact tracing is largely gone.
FAUCI: We are really ratcheting up our genomic surveillance capability and our ability to get that information in real-time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Those University of Washington modelers project these variants might add up to an additional 85,000 deaths in America by May.
And, of course, something else on many people's minds when can more kids get back into school safely. This was interesting from Dr. Fauci, today; he said that test are underway on the safety and efficacy of these vaccines in younger people.
And he said hopefully late spring, early summer children will at least be - some children will at least be authorized to get the vaccine. Whether of course there's enough supply is a whole different story.
BALDWIN: Right, as we've seen these last couple of months certainly parents perking up though hearing that. Nick Watt, thank you.
WATT: Yes.
BALDWIN: I want to go back to though the news today about the J&J vaccine. With me now, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Dr. Adalja, nice to see you sir, welcome back.
DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSTITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: Thank you for having me.
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BALDWIN: When you look at the efficacy of this Johnson & Johnson single shot, 66 percent you know and of course as I mentioned off the top people look at that and they think about Modern, they think about Pfizer that's somewhere in the 90 plus efficacy range. And think well that's not - that's not as good. What do you say to them?
ADALJA: I say that's not the right way to look at these vaccines. The reason why we developed a COVID-19 vaccine is to stop severe disease, to stop hospitalizations and stop deaths. And when you look at Johnson & Johnson that vaccine looks very good, just like Moderna and Pfizer. I think we got spoiled a little bit with Moderna and Pfizer because of their high efficacy rates.
But remember a couple of months ago the FDA would have approved something at 50 percent. So we're really doing really, really well with all of these vaccines and I do think they are going to be the solutions. So, there should be nobody thinking that this is not good for Johnson & Johnson or not good for our vaccine rollout. This is something great and people should get that vaccine. And it's a single dose vaccine without a cold chain.
That's going to be much more effective than a Pfizer vaccine sitting in a freezer that nobody can give.
BALDWIN: If we are ever at a point where we are fortunate to be able to choose between vaccines; Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson& Johnson, which would you choose?
ADALJA: Well, I didn't have a choice, I got the Pfizer vaccine because I was a healthcare worker. But I do think that you're going to have to look at each individual person and say what are their risk factors for disease? You're going to have to find some way to do some head-to-head comparison. We know people with Pfizer vaccines have allergies so there may be some issues there.
And it might be that certain vaccines are better for certain subgroups. I think we're going to have do some studies to determine that. We give different flu vaccines to elderly people versus children. The same thing might happen. But obviously people are going to look at the number and say the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines are more effective. So everything else being equal you would pick that.
But remember those are two dose vaccines and Johnson& Johnson you're one and done. So I think it's hard to make that kind of a decision. And I think each person is going to pick differently.
BALDWIN: What about all these new variants, Dr. Adalja, I mean we've obviously talked a lot about the U.K. variant, the South Africa variant, there's a variant in Los Angeles. Are these vaccines going to work against all these various virus mutations? ADALJA: So it depends on the variant. It looks like the U.K. variant has handled pretty well by our vaccines. The South Africa and Brazilian ones might be a little bit difficult. We don't really know much about the California variant.
But the important point to look at is not the number of symptomatic infections that are prevented but do the vaccines prevent severe disease from these variants? And that looks like it's the case.
BALDWIN: Good.
ADALJA: If you look at the Novavax data, which came out yesterday, if you look at the Johnson & Johnson data, they're able - they may not be able to block you from being infected but they block you from dying, they block you from being hospitalized. So that's very good.
And we can think about updating vaccines if that's necessary. But the key to stopping these variants is to get our population as vaccinated as possible so they have nowhere to spread.
Even with reduced efficacy the variant is not going to have an easy time if our vaccination rates go up higher. So this really should underscore the need to really - to accelerate at basically no speed limit for this vaccine into people's arms.
BALDWIN: Good, good. We have also heard today from the Governor of New York saying that starting Valentine's Day, New York City restaurants will actually be allowed to reopen, just to capacity at 25 percent; this, of course, while schools are not even fully open. How can this be done safely?
ADALJA: I think that with lower capacity requirements, with people having to wear face coverings, with a lot of kind of mitigation efforts in place. A 25 percent capacity is probably not going to be a major - a major issue. I do think it has to be the default though that schools should be opened first everywhere we talk about.
But I do think that restaurants have done a lot to try and make their environment safer and in many places they weren't driving spread, in certain places they were driving spread.
But it's important to try and help restaurants kind of reduce the harm the virus causes by kind of following a harm reduction approach and giving them tools to make things safer. And I do think this is something that can be done safely if mitigation efforts are put into place.
BALDWIN: And I should be specific when I say 25 percent, of course I mean indoor dining. You know right now you can sit outside and freeze under a heater outside. But this would then open up the possibility for some people dining inside.
And then, also Dr. Adalja, as you and I have been chatting that we've been looking at live pictures of President Biden. He's been touring this vaccination site, here he is at Walter Reed Medical Center. He is pushing to reopen schools in his first 100 days in office, right. That's a promise that he has made. Dr. Fauci now says that may not happen.
What do you think needs to happen to make that a reality? Or do you think it's just still unsafe right now.
ADALJA: I think and this has been my position through the whole entire time of the pandemic that schools or (ph) something that should have been open much earlier than they have been.
They should be just like the CDC Director said today, the first things to open, the last things to close. They should be the default, it (ph) shouldn't be that we work on opening casinos but not opening schools.
And it shouldn't be the fact that schools are open for wrestling practice but not for calculus. I think that's kind of a switch priority we have in our country. So I do think the data shows that schools can be open safely if they are following the mitigation measures. If they're podding students, if they have face covering policies, if they've got social distancing.
It's not them sitting in the classroom that's driving classes. It's sometimes the extracurricular activities like clandescent homecoming dances or sports after school. So I do think that this is something we need to do.
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I think that this should be the default, this is what -- it goes on in the European countries. Schools are open while everything else is closed, but we've kind of done it backwards and I think that children are suffering and the data is on our side for those of us who want to open schools.
BALDWIN: I hear you. I think some of this, though, is majorly, you know, contingent upon this $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that this administration and some of these Democrats would like to pass. So it gets sticky. We're going to talk to a member of Congress about that in just a little bit. Doctor Amesh Adalja, thank you so much.
ADALJA: Thank you.
BALDWIN: We have breaking news this afternoon. In the wake of the capital insurrection investigation, the FBI is now saying that those pipe bombs that were found near the capital back on January 6th were actually planted there the night before.
We have those new details coming in this afternoon. Also ahead, Republicans in disarray as infighting conspiracy theories, loyalty to former President Trump continue to dominate over working with Democrats to pass this COVID relief bill.
And the GameStop roller coaster continuing. The stock soaring again today after the trading app Robinhood reverses course and lifts restrictions, but small investors are still very angry. We have all of that. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
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BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Breaking news out of Washington, The FBI says that those pipe bombs that were found near the U.S. Capitol on January 6th were actually planted there the night before.
We're learning this as federal authorities have yet again increased the reward for information leading to the pipe bomber's arrest. CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider is following this for us. And so Jessica, how did the FBI figure this out?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have been poring over the surveillance video and interviewing people for weeks, and this is a residential area where this happened.
So they've been talking to people in that area, the FBI concluding that both bombs were placed near the DNC and RNC buildings blocks from the capitol between 7:30 and 8:30 at night on January 5th, of course, the night before the insurrection.
And authorities have been hunting for whomever placed these pipe bombs for more than three weeks now. And as you mentioned, today is the third time they've increased the reward for tips leading to an arrest. It's now at a whopping $100,000.
And the constant raising of this reward really speaks to how much difficulty the feds are having tracking the perpetrator. They've got the pictures and they're now trying to hunt down who this is. Now, they've released these pictures and they're describing this person.
They say that they're wearing a light sweatshirt, their face and head largely covered, as you can see there, and some new details we're getting. They say the suspect wore Nike Air Max speed turf shoes, yellow, black and gray. And then we've got details, Brooke, about the pipe bombs themselves.
They were eight inches long, rigged to egg timers filled with an explosive powder. That's according to some of our reporting last -- earlier this week.
But the key here is that the bombs they worked, but they didn't go off, Brooke, and law enforcement believes that that may have actually been a diversion because when the pipe bombs were found on January 6th, officers rushed to that location while the rioters rushed in.
So law enforcement believing this may have been a sophisticated actor or actors who remains undetected at this point, Brooke, three weeks later.
BALDWIN: Speaks to the premeditation of this whole thing, though they'll find him, they'll find him.
SCHNEIDER: They will.
BALDWIN: Jessica Schneider, thank you. And a remember to you, join Anderson Cooper for a look at the origins
of the QAnon conspiracy. How did this fringe theory become a movement that includes members of Congress and what role did it play in the Capitol insurrection? The CNN special report "Inside the QAnon Conspiracy" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern here on CNN.
Still ahead this afternoon, the divide in the Republican Party, it is growing deeper and deeper by the second as conspiracy theorists, like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, face no punishment for supporting violence and moderates, like Liz Cheney, get lambasted for standing up to former President Trump. Let's talk about that.
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BALDWIN: Right now, we are witnessing a civil war rage within the Republican Party. On the one side, you have the moderates, including those ten House Republicans who stood up and voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over his role in inciting that deadly insurrection.
On the other side, you have the Trump loyalists, those who are continuing to kiss the ring, so to speak, of their former leader despite all these calls for unity. Included in this group, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who went after Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney right in her own home state.
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REP. MATT GAETZ, (R-FL): We are in a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, and I intend to win it. You can help me. You can help me break a corrupt system. You can send a representative who actually represents you, and you can send Liz Cheney home, back home to Washington, D.C.
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BALDWIN: All right, this is where we're starting. Bill Kristol is the director of Defending Democracy Together, a Republican organization which was created to hold former President Trump accountable. Welcome to you sir. Charlie Dent is here, he's a CNN political commentator and former Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania.
So welcome. And Bill, you're up first. So let me sum this up. You basically have a Republican Congressman going to a Republican Congresswoman's backyard to tell, what turned out to be a crowd of Republicans, that this Republican is a bad Republican for wanting to hold Trump accountable. Help me wrap my head around this one.
BILL KRISTOL, DIRECTOR, DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER: Well, and just -- and Liz Cheney is not that moderate of a Republican, she's a proud conservative Republican in her voting record and she supported Donald Trump for re-election, so nonetheless, unacceptable.
Why? Because she didn't vote to overturn the results and she thought Donald Trump should be held accountable for what happened January 6th.
[15:25:00]
The same day, yesterday, the leader of the Republicans in the House, not some fringed third term Congressman from Florida who's kind of a flake and a showboat.
The leader of the Republican Party in the House went to homage to Donald Trump. So, we can talk about a civil, I wish there were more but honestly an (ph) even Civil War, what there is is a party that's half of which, maybe, is totally onboard with Trump, 10 percent of which is where Charlie and I are, I think I can say.
Which is horrified by - upset by - unhappy about Trump's presidency, horrified by his behaviors since November 3, horrified by the events of January 6. Amazed that they're trying to just put those down in memory hall.
And 30, 40 percent of the party in between, not thrilled about Trump, not thrilled about Matt Gates, not thrilled about Marjorie Taylor Greene. But unwilling to cut free, unwilling to hold the President and his enablers accountable.
BALDWIN: Well let's talk about some of those priorities. You know you mentioned Kevin McCarthy and his trip down South to you know Mar-a- Lago, Charlie, this is for you, Republicans are basically going pretty hard on Liz Cheney, as Bill points out, a strong conservative, right. They want to remove her from her leadership position but then you have the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene who bullied a Parkland shooting survivor.
And yet she gets assigned to the Education Committee. And in the past has also expressed support for assassinating Democratic lawmakers. But she just needs a good talking to from Kevin McCarthy. Please explain that to me.
CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER Republican CONGRESSMAN OF PENNSYLVANIA: Well, Brooke, this is almost inexplicable. Here Liz Cheney who stood up on principle, did the right thing and she's the one being taken to the woodshed. And I think this is just - it's so beyond pail.
And then Marjorie Taylor Greene, who should have been told back in August when she won that primary that she would never be seated on a committee, that she would not be welcomed into the Republican Conference. And that the leadership would be working with the Georgia State GOP to defeat her in a primary in 2022.
Hey, and welcome to Congress. That's how she should have been dealt with given the Steve King (ph) treatment. I mean there's just so something terribly wrong that you know that Marjorie Taylor Greene, for some reason, is not - is not the one who's being excoriated and excommunicated.
While Liz Cheney is under tremendous pressure from some of her colleagues who are showboating, going into her district and trying to suggest that she's somehow disloyal.
Well I think we were going to find out - it seems like (ph) - the fight's going to be engaged. You know we - people like Bill Kristol and I and others you know we're going to stand up for these folks who have a lot of integrity and did the right thing and they should not be called on the carpet. And that leadership of the Republican Party should be standing up and defending Liz Cheney and the others for doing what they did.
BALDWIN: But so far they haven't you know. And so far they are allowing Marjorie Taylor Greene to continue to you know be a functioning member of Congress on this committee. And we went to one of her town halls and this is what one of her constituents had to say about Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My 23 years in Georgia and the years prior to that, she's the most serious candidate and I would follow her more than any other Congressman or Senator I've ever seen in office.
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BALDWIN: Bill, from her constituents to the party leaders, are there just no standards right now in the GOP. Like as long as you support Donald J. Trump and as long as you are a member of the Republican Party, you're good?
KRISTOL: Yes and how do you break that sort of --
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BALDWIN: How do you break that?
KRISTOL: Well you break it by standing up and saying what - the truth about November 3, the truth about the big lie, the deep lie about election fraud. And maybe not - you know maybe 80 percent of the people just shrug that off and they're on their social media and they don't believe you. But maybe 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent say you know I hadn't really thought about that.
Or maybe you really try to bring home what Marjorie Taylor Greene has said and one. But the way to bring that home is for the leader of the Republican Party in the House and leaders of the Republican Party across the nation to say; this is unacceptable. And -
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BALDWIN: What is they don't?
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KRISTOL: -- you know she's been elected -
BALDWIN: What is they don't, Bill?
(CROSSTALK)
KRISTOL: -- and she's there. What's that?
BALDWIN: What if they don't?
KRISTOL: Then you have a party that the extremist could get stronger and stronger until people stand up to them.
BALDWIN: It's not even like you know what's happened in Marjorie Taylor Greene's past is only surfacing, right. When you look at Axios and their reporting today, they talked to Greene's opponent back in the August runoff who had apparently had this whole phone conversation, speaking of party leadership with Kevin McCarthy, and warn him back then about all this wild opposition research that they had against her.
The then opponent said this and I quote, "I said she's bad for the party, I said she has real problems and does not represent at least what I think of as someone who would be allowed even in a big tented party. I mean at some point you have to say no shoes, no shirt, no service."
Charlie, they knew this was coming and still she is a member.
DENT: Of course they knew, they had a dumpster full of opposition research on her that was horrible.
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