Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Masks Will Be Required On All U.S. Public Transit Starting Monday; Georgia Races To Administer Vaccines; Variants Projected To Be More Dominant In U.S. By Spring; New Study Adds To Nationwide Discussion On School Spread; Dems To Introduce Censure Of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene; Interview With Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA). Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 30, 2021 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:09]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern. And yet even today, the disease continues to ravage the globe.

The U.S. is fast approaching 26 million cases, a quarter of all infections on the planet. But even as progress is being made, a new problem threatens to complicate advancements.

Arizona now reporting its first cases of a U.K. variant of COVID. There is now more than 400 cases of the variant in at least 30 states so far. And while in South Carolina a more contagious coronavirus strain first discovered in South Africa has now been reported.

But there are new weapons on the way to fight this pandemic. Johnson & Johnson announcing they -- it rather, will apply for the FDA emergency use authorization for its new vaccine next week. The company says it is 66 percent effective at preventing the disease in a global trial, but 85 percent effective against severe disease and death. And it only requires one shot instead of multiple doses required by other vaccines.

And with cases growing, the CDC is issuing a strict new mask mandate for travelers starting next week.

For more, let's turn to CNN's Polo Sandoval and Natasha Chen.

First to you, Polo, what do we know about this he new mask mandate?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that it's going to be kicking in late Monday night going into Tuesday here for those folks who have not been wearing masks on public transportations, since many companies in the travel industry had been mandating that on their own. Now this federal mandate requiring everybody on planes, trains, et

cetera to actually wear a mask. And not just any mask. They must be two or more layers of breathable fabric. They also need to be secured to the head, of course, with elastic bands or what have you. So basically more of these bandannas that you perhaps have seen out and about.

And again, this goes in effect at 11:59 p.m. On Monday. The goal here is to try to slow that spread, especially with these, you know, COVID variants that have already been confirmed throughout the United States.

It's one of the reasons why authorities are also trying to really revamp efforts to vaccinate as many people as they can.

Look at the latest numbers right now, Fred, at least as of this moment here. Roughly -- if we can get the numbers up there -- 49 million doses that have been distributed, about 27.8 have actually been administered, so that certainly goes to -- leads to the question of why we may not actually be seeing a higher number in terms of those administered.

We've heard from senior level White House officials that say there are two factors here. One of them is of course the supply. And second is just the ability to actually get those vaccinations into arms as soon as they're administered.

I want you to also hear from at least one medical expert here that's addressing this big development from yesterday, obviously the Johnson & Johnson vaccine data that was shared widely. That according to those numbers, perhaps not as effective as both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccine, but nonetheless a major game-changer when it comes to vaccine efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The CDC two days ago said that 3.5 million Americans have received two doses of the vaccine. That's 1 percent of the population.

We need to get to 70 percent really to start having a major impact on this virus and this -- having vaccines like this makes it much easier for us to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: This would potentially also make the vaccine available to more rural clinics, those who do not have the ability to actually store the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccine, because of course, there's one big question here, Fred, that a lot of people are asking, what number is going to climb faster -- the number of cases we continue to see or the number of vaccinations.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval in New York, thanks so much.

Let's go Atlanta, Natasha Chen is there. So vaccine distribution continues to be really a major undertaking everywhere. What's happening where you are?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, this is Mercedes Benz Stadium. The Super Bowl was played here two years ago. And what a different world we're in now.

Just look at the number of people lining up here. They're actually starting their line all the way outside in the cold and they're coming in. You can see where it wraps around right there. Those folks are trying to stay socially distanced. Everybody has a mask on here, waiting to get registered at these tables in front of us

So they come and sit down one at a time to do some paperwork and then they head over to the waiting area to wait for their names to be called to get a vaccine in the arm.

[11:04:51]

CHEN: And just in the distance there you can see the empty Mercedes Benz Stadium, a really stark image here of all those empty seats in the arena and all those people coming in for a vaccine.

They're trying to vaccinate 1,700 people today at this site and attempting to vaccinate at least a thousand people per day here in the coming week. And this -- a lot of the people here are actually getting their second dose. So they came around January 8th or 9th. They're getting the Pfizer vaccine, so that's why they're here after 21 days to get their second dose of this vaccine.

Across Georgia, let's show you those numbers, we are looking at, at least 810,000 people who have gotten a vaccine in the arm. That's out of a total of more than 1.4 million doses that have been distributed to the state.

So we're seeing about more than half of the vaccines given to Georgia actually getting into people's arms. Of course, everyone trying to increase that number as fast as possible, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Natasha Chen, Polo Sandoval -- thanks to both of you. We'll check back with you.

All right. Meantime, President Biden is lobbying for his relief bill with a new sense of urgency and he's signaling for the first time that he's open to using a streamlined procedure in Congress to pass it without Republican support if it comes to that.

Jasmine Wright is at the White House for us. So Jasmine, what does that acknowledgment mean for how this administration will be proceeding?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN REPORTER: Fred, the public message coming from the White House going into next week's COVID negotiations is still pass it with bipartisan support. But that push for urgency, like you mentioned, could complicate that goal. Now, yesterday Biden was asked about using that rarely-used budget process, that means Democrats would go it alone, pass the bill without any bipartisan support.

And take a listen to what he had to say here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you support passing COVID relief through budget reconciliation?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass. There's no ifs, ands or buts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So that answer, "no ifs, ands or buts" from President Biden, that was him not exactly shutting down that idea. And it's important because that's the first acknowledgment from the White House about the possibility that they may not get that bipartisan support that they are so looking for.

Now, of course, President Biden is still going through the motions. He's still reaching out across the aisle. And CNN has learned that he will continue to make those phone calls, as well as amping-up his public pressure campaign, turning to do interviews to push his message on these COVID negotiations.

But the question of whether or not these efforts by President Biden and his administration are enough is still an open question. Now, if Democrats decide to go it alone, that's going to be an early test for this group as they can't lose any votes. So that's going to be an early test for their unity, but also for their ability to legislate as the majority party for the first time in nearly a decade.

WHITFIELD: And then Jasmine, Biden's new CDC director is also extending an order halting evictions. Tell us more about this move.

WRIGHT: Well, Fred, the CDC move comes after Biden signed his executive order to halt these evictions last week. It is something that he promised on the campaign trail, it's something that he talked about.

And the transition, again, just another thing that this administration is doing in their battle against this coronavirus pandemic to help Americans, as they say, stay afloat in this time of crisis, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jasmine Wright, thanks so much, at a boisterous White House, or at least probably outside Lafayette Park there outside the White House.

All right. Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning about the threat of emerging coronavirus variants, underscoring the need to speed up the pace of vaccinations. Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a CNN medical analyst and an internal medicine and viral specialist. Dr. Rodriguez, so good to see you.

So how concerned are you --

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Hey, Fred.

WHITFIELD: -- how concerned are you about these more contagious variant strains?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I don't know if concerned is the word, but we definitely have to be very aware and knowledgeable that this is what is going to be happening. It isn't a matter of maybe, it is a matter of certainty.

These variants may already be here and what we know, just like perhaps the flu, is that the virus changes all the time. And what people really need to wrap their heads around is the fact that the more infection there is in a community, in a country, the likelihood of almost the certainty that there will be variants and the virus' goal is to survive.

So it will be the strongest variants that will eventually survive. So we have to take this as a certainty that is going to happen and we need to act like that and plan ahead.

[11:09:58]

WHITFIELD: So I guess the message had always been that there would be mutations. You see that in every kind of virus. But does it seem that this happened particularly fast and multiplied many times over for these mutations?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think it seems that it happened fast because we're watching it worldwide very closely. You know, so I don't know if this is happening faster than the flu, and probably not.

But the thing is that since this virus is more infectious to begin with, the baseline of this virus is much more infectious than the flu, and the fact that it is more dangerous, yes, these variants are much more important.

I don't think they're happening more quickly. They're just happening and we're seeing them.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And then there's this influential new model that's projecting the coronavirus will claim about 595,000 lives in the U.S. by May and researchers suggest further spread of the variant could mean that number, you know, north of 650,000 deaths under the worst- case scenario.

Is there anything in your view that can be done to slow down the numbers?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely. The numbers can -- we can start slowing the numbers down today, this hour, if people seriously start following the recommendations that are put forth by the CDC and other health professionals, the most important of which is masking and now double masking.

Again, there is no uncertainty about this. This works. Unfortunately, those models had been precise and they had been on the money. And there's no doubt that if we don't buckle down right now again -- that's how many deaths we're going to have.

WHITFIELD: Johnson & Johnson with this new promise of a dose, a single dose vaccine and they're expected to apply for authorization as early as next week. It's a single dose. It doesn't require refrigeration like we've seen in the others. How much of a game-changer will it be in your view?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think it could be a great game-changer for the simple reason that like you say it Fred, it is just one vaccine that you need to get. It can be taken to rural areas. It can hypothetically be given at regular doctors' offices like mine, because all it needs is refrigeration.

Some people say hey, this vaccine is not as effective as the other ones.

WHITFIELD: Yes. 66 percent efficacy.

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. And again, that doesn't -- you know, we all think that above 95 percent is an A right, which it is. That would be great. But most vaccines, if they're 60 percent or 70 percent effective, that's a wonderful vaccine.

And remember that this vaccine, the J&J vaccine was tested in areas -- the U.K. and South Africa -- where there already was those more effective and more infective variants whereas the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were not.

So we don't know exactly -- exactly how effective those first two vaccines are going to be against the variants. Whereas we know that the J&J was tested in communities where they had one.

So if you can get any vaccine, including the J&J, that would really go a long way toward sort of controlling this epidemic.

WHITFIELD: Let's zero in on California. It has just surpassed 40,000 coronavirus deaths. "The L.A. Times" reporting the vaccine rollout in Los Angeles County is leaving seniors at a disadvantage as they've been forced to stand in long lines, no seating, no bathrooms.

And that's even if they are able to get an appointment online. I mean that is disastrous, you know, from coast to coast. How alarming is this? How much of a setback is this?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: It is. It's horrible. And I don't know how anybody can justify this. And I'm not trying to be facetious, but we listen have 100 dating apps that work. So we cannot work a system that allows our seniors and our most vulnerable to come into locations with appointments where they don't have to be put into these horrible circumstances? That needs to be fixed immediately.

And one of the things is the rollout of larger centers, the rollout of perhaps smaller independent areas and physicians to give vaccinations. And it all has to be done online or by the phone for people to register and not have to be sort of cattled (ph) into locations.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Some locations online and by the phone -- that's not successful either. I mean I've heard all kinds of nightmare stories there as well.

Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, thank you so much. Good to see you.

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Fred. Stay safe.

WHITFIELD: Stay well.

All right. Coming up, how safe are schools and should they open, reopen this year, among those that are closed?

One of the doctors involved in a new study will join me live to talk about that.

Plus, a Republican rift on Capitol Hill. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene facing backlash over some controversial posts and now she's tweeting about a phone call with former President Trump.

[11:14:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is touting support from former President Donald Trump saying on Twitter today that she had, quote, "a great call with him". This coming as she faces criticism from Democrats who want her expelled from the house.

Next week house GOP leader Kevin McCarthy will meet with the controversial Georgia congresswoman known for spreading conspiracy theories and she's also accused of harassment.

Democrats are pushing for her to be expelled or punished after a CNN KFile report found Facebook posts where Greene repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians.

For more now, let's bring in Suzanne Malveaux on Capitol Hill. Suzanne, good to see you.

So Kevin McCarthy, he is to meet with Greene next week. What are the expectations of what that kind of conversation or potential punishments might be?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, I think one person put it well. This is Representative Steve Scalise. He is the GOP whip and he essentially said that he has consistently condemned this kind of violent rhetoric against politicians on both sides.

[11:19:58] MALVEAUX: That is very likely what you're going to be hearing from McCarthy as well, on both sides, not necessarily specifically addressing Greene's comments, but broadening it, if you will, and really being political in that fashion.

We saw McCarthy, he was with the former president, President Trump at Mar-A-Lago. They both emerged with statements saying they're cooperating with each other, that they've got to bring the Republicans back to power in the Senate, as well as the House.

Trump saying that he's more popular now than ever and that his endorsement more important now than ever. And then McCarthy framing it, if you will, as a rejection of the Democratic agenda, what they are calling a radical agenda.

We have heard from Greene this morning in her tweets very much -- sounding very much the same. It's not a personal visit but it's a phone call where she's tweeting saying "I had a great call with my all-time favorite POTUS, President Trump. I'm so grateful for his support and more importantly the people of the country are absolutely 100 percent loyal to him because he's 100 percent loyal to the people and America first."

And then she goes on to say, Fred, that she's not going to back down, that she'll never apologize. And so you are hearing this type of rhetoric coming from her and also, you know, kind of echoing what we've heard for the last four years from the previous president.

There are some who are making this political calculation that, yes, there are a lot of supporters and that former President Trump has a lot of power and that that is where they are taking the Republican Party, much to the consternation of others, as we had seen just before Senator Mitch McConnell, who was quietly and perhaps not even so quietly previously trying to distance himself from Trump, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Suzanne, there's a lot of conflict right now on Capitol Hill, to say the very least. I mean even, you know, there's a fellow member of congress that is accusing Congresswoman Greene of harassing her to the extent where she, you know, felt compelled to move her office.

And then you have other GOP members who are now targeting Liz Cheney for her recent vote and trying to diminish her power. What's going on?

MALVEAUX: We saw --

WHITFIELD: I mean a lot is going on, but zero in for me.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Just to give you an example, I mean, it was Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida who was in Wyoming who was holding this rally against Liz Cheney, the number three Republican in the House. And essentially there is a great divide when it comes to whether or not to support her.

We are also seeing, we're hearing from the former President George W. Bush. He's going to be putting in a phone call to his former Vice President Dick Cheney, not only to wish him a happy 80th birthday today, but also his spokesman saying to express support for Liz Cheney, saying that she is serving the country well.

So you can see where there's this division that is playing out, multiple presidents, multiple layers. And we still don't know where the Republican Party will ultimately end up with all of this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much.

All right. Up next, a massive manhunt underway for whoever planted those pipe bombs near the Capitol. We have new information straight ahead.

[11:23:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The FBI is intensifying its search for the suspect who placed pipe bombs near the Capitol before the riot three weeks ago. The FBI says the bombs had actually been placed there the night before.

Surveillance video obtained by "The Washington Post" appears to show the suspect before the bomb was placed in an alley behind the Republican Party headquarters, one block from the Capitol grounds. The same person also suspected of placing a second bomb at the Democratic Party headquarters.

This comes as we get disturbing new video from the Capitol insurrection and it reveals more of the brutality from that day.

Body cam footage from Metro D.C. police shows the chaos and violence in the moments when police were being attacked. Just a word of warning, this video is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock their masks off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So far, at least 175 people have been charged in connection with the insurrection. Among that group of people charged is a woman who was allegedly heard during the riot saying that she was looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so that she could shoot her in the head.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to react to security threats. This week 30 of them sent a letter to congressional leaders asking about better security in their home districts. Speaker Pelosi said she supports the requests, but warned there is an even more critical threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will probably need a supplemental for more security for members when the enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:29:58]

WHITFIELD: All right. With me right now, is Jonathan Wackrow. He is a CNN law enforcement analyst and a former Secret Service agent who worked under President Obama.

Good to see you.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Nice to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So Jonathan, these images are so disturbing, you know, and it's really mayhem, you know. What goes through your mind when you see the perspective -- and there are varying perspectives, but now from a body cam video of officers who are being beaten?

WACKROW: So, Fred, what I think about when I see this is just how violent these actors are, how motivated they are in, you know, taking their specific ideology and applying violence to attain their goals.

These aren't individuals who are law-abiding citizens. They're not political activists. These are domestic terrorists.

And to that point, this week we saw the Department of Homeland Security actually put out new warnings that further reinforce and define the threats of this home grown domestic extremism.

And the reason why it's important is because even though we're watching this video now, law enforcement wants to make sure that the public is actually maintaining a heightened vigilance and that complacency doesn't set in as to this, you know, ever-persistent threat we're living in.

The public needs to be aware that just because something hasn't happened since January 6th, doesn't mean it won't happen again. This threat is not contained and law enforcement is quickly trying to apply the right security measures to contain these really, really violent, as we're seeing with these videos, really violent groups.

WHITFIELD: And then while on one hand you have members of Congress who are saying we need more security at this building and even in our home districts, then you have other members who are saying they want to be able to bring a gun to the floor of the House. And it was revealed this week that one member of the House, Marjorie Taylor Greene, had posted before she was elected that Nancy Pelosi might be a candidate for execution.

So the sign posting has been there, you know, and now these threats only seem to escalate. How do you gauge the severity of these threats and what should be the action?

WACKROW: Well, you know, this is the challenge for law enforcement. And unfortunately right now what we're seeing are some of the issues actually getting conflated.

Earlier this week we heard the comments from Speaker Pelosi. I understand and appreciate the point that she's trying to make, but I think that she's actually conflating some of these issues when we're talking about what a threat actually is.

Members who possess weapons, members of Congress who possess weapons, they're putting it online that they have weapons, what they're doing is they're just leveraging this moment for political motivations. They actually -- I wholly believe that they don't have the intent to cause harm.

That's different and separate and apart from what we're seeing with these violent groups. Conflating the matter of, you know, an individual trying to bring a weapon onto the floor of the House is actually very different than what a bona fide threat against members of Congress, whether in Washington, D.C. or with the --

WHITFIELD: But isn't the argument there among some members of Congress that it's difficult to tell who is friend or who is foe among members of Congress, because there are expressed threats coming from some members of Congress and there are some members of Congress who say they want to be armed and it is difficult for some members to draw a distinction about whether it's to keep themselves safe or whether it's to follow up on other threats against other members of Congress. So, I mean, how do you make sense of that?

WACKROW: So really -- that's a really important point, Fred. And here's what happens. We have to apply the methodology of assessing a threat as to the means, opportunity and intent. And I wholly believe that the intent of these individuals who are trying to have weapons as a member of Congress are not to launch an attack.

They have other opportunities to do so. If they really are violent members of a violent extremist group, they're not going to wait for that moment on the floor. They can launch an attack at any time.

Law enforcement, you know, has constantly applied the means, opportunity and intent model in assessing threats. Again, that's why I don't want to conflate this issue.

Home grown domestic violent, you know, actors are separate and apart than democratically-elected members of Congress. And I think that conflating the two right now is just further confusing the overall situation. We have to separate it.

Congress needs to deal with their issues and their members and the behavior of their members. And we have to deal with the national threat separately.

[11:34:52]

WHITFIELD: Well, one would hope that there is a separation, but that is kind of the growing allegation right now is that some members of Congress are saying they may not all have the same intentions while they're there.

Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WACKROW: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have announced that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor in the Capitol rotunda. Officer Sicknick died after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the insurrection of the Capitol building on January 6th.

A ceremonial arrival will take place Tuesday night on the east front of the U.S. Capitol and a congressional tribute will be held the following morning.

All right. Still to come, a new study indicates that the investigation of the spread of coronavirus in schools -- that their investigation is adequate, but there are more questions than there are answers. What every parent needs to know next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:58]

WHITFIELD: A new study is adding to the tense nationwide discussion around the spread of COVID in schools. One of the doctors on the study concluded that rates of illness are lower for kids who are in school than out of school, suggesting the whole community is better off with schools open.

That doctor joins us now. She is Dr. Darria Long, clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee

Dr. Long, good to see you.

DR. DARRIA LONG, CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE: Hi, Fred. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm good. So you studied -- or this study looked at two independent schools, one in the southeast, one in the mid-Atlantic area. And your finding was the rate of infection or spread was low, and thereby your feeling is it's universally ok for kids to be in school. They would be safer in school than to be at home, you know, interacting with the community. Explain why you concluded that.

DR. LONG: Yes, Fredricka. And there's some big ifs and requirements there. What we found out is that it can be safer if you follow very conservative policies in terms of protocols for distancing and masking and who gets quarantined and also if you are testing. This came up when we were in June and July and talking to these headmasters and saying how can we safely open. And we realized it was going to be a multi-pronged approach that included all of those things. Because otherwise, a, we were flying blindly and b, we knew we would get to January now and still have COVID going on and not be any wiser than we were August.

So we said let's start with these protocols. Let's start testing and see what happens.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So with these two schools -- and at these two schools you found that, what -- about 9 percent of the population of kids became infected. Help us understand that.

DR. LONG: No, well we found that 9 percent, is that 91 percent of COVID that walks in your door -- somebody who comes -- because every school knows that, yes, some people will walk in with it. Because of the protocols and because of testing, 91 percent of them never transmitted to anybody.

And of those 9 percent that actually did transmit to someone else, we could almost invariably trace them back to a violation of the protocol.

So the testing really enforced that when the protocols are followed, they work. When they're not followed is when you can have a breakdown.

WHITFIELD: So these were independent schools and, you know, most independent private schools have more resources. They're changing their ventilation system. Perhaps they had the space, you know, to respect social distancing.

For public schools, they would still be saying we want you to wear masks. We want you to wash your hands, we want there to be social distancing. However is it fair to compare these two independent schools with, say, urban schools, more densely populated areas, places where kids are commuting, greater distances, whether they're on public transportation or even buses?

DR. LONG: Well, you make a good point there. And Fredricka, one of our goals was to say, let's do all of these different protocols and then let's see what is necessary, what isn't, so that we can then translate this in public on a much bigger scale, the schools that may not have the greatest resources at hand.

And that's why we're going to transition to now say, ok what does this mean as the Biden administration is looking at helping schools reopen. What does it mean they need?

It means that they need a really centralized protocol. Both of these schools, since we were kind of reinventing the wheel, would joke and say we feel like we're running our own public health department.

We can't make all the different schools do that. So centralized guidelines and protocols from the government.

And two, Fredricka, we have to make testing available and affordable. We spend hours and days finding tests. People talk about these $5 tests. They're not available yet, not for the K-12 population. It's incumbent upon the government to help make that feasible for schools.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Darria Long, thank you so much. We're going to talk more about this later on in the afternoon. Parents around the country are very frustrated, you know, with the fact that some schools are closed. They're concerned about their kids' safety as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The garbage workers who pick up my freaking trash risk their lives every day, more than anyone in this school system. Figure it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Coming up in our 2:00 hour, we'll talk about one of the pandemic's most pressing issues -- reopening schools. How should it be done, how safe is it. A panel of experts joining me live.

And we'll be right back.

[11:44:34]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: On Monday, two Democratic members of Congress will introduce legislation to formally censure a GOP congresswoman. Democrats want freshman Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia punished for past comments, including support for assassinating current and former Democratic leaders.

Congresswoman Nikema Williams is a freshman Democratic representative from Georgia. Congresswoman, good to see you.

REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): Good morning. Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So you're a co-sponsor of this resolution to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene and you're also calling on her to resign. The latter is probably not going to happen, right? But with this censure, what kind of support do you need in order for that to happen?

WILLIAMS: So I don't have control over what Marjorie Taylor Greene does as a member of Congress, but I have absolute control over how I move forward with holding people accountable.

[11:49:55]

WILLIAMS: And that's why I've joined with my colleague in California, Sarah Jacobs, to file this resolution and it will be ready on Monday to hold her accountable.

Words have power. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been elected to one of the highest offices in our country as a member of the United States Congress and she must be held accountable. What we're seeing right now is she's thriving off of the attention and we have to stop giving her a platform. And that means we need to make sure that we are taking whatever steps necessary we can as members of the United States Congress to hold her accountable.

So I'm moving forward, and I've heard from people in her district who are embarrassed that she is who is representing them in the United States Congress. People in her district are hurting just like my district from this pandemic. We need to get to work to make sure that we can get our children in school safely, roll out this vaccine, make sure that our economy is back on track.

But yet she is continuing to spread her conspiracy theories and her violent rhetoric. We saw the results of that on January 6th. And it's time for us to hold people accountable and move forward with the work of the people.

WHITFIELD: With that censure that you're proposing, does that leverage any kind of movement to remove her from a very vital education committee in which she just recently got membership on?

I know that Kevin McCarthy is going to be meeting with her next week, but do you feel like the pressure is on to, if she doesn't step down, which is not likely to happen. And with that censure, that she would actually be removed from a powerful committee?

WILLIAMS: Fredricka, she should absolutely be removed from the education committee. When you hear what she said to survivors of the Parkland School shooting, When you hear her talk about school shootings were a hoax and didn't really happen -- it's vile. It is beneath the service of a member of the United States Congress.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And we're showing video now of her, you know, taunting, harassing Parkland, you know, shooting victim David Hogg as he was about to make his appearance on Capitol Hill. In fact, we've got some audio. Let's let people hear it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): You're retracting our Second Amendment. You have nothing to say, no words.

No mass shootings at schools. Do you know that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that was before she got her seat. She ran unopposed, you know, and won her seat. But what's your concern about how she will use her influence and power as a member of Congress?

WILLIAMS: So she's continuing to follow in the line of Donald Trump. This is -- the Republican Party is under the control of Donald Trump right now. When you hear the Minority Leader McCarthy saying that he's going to talk with her, Fredricka, you talk to children about cleaning up their toys.

This has led to violence in our country. We saw a direct attack on the United States Capitol because of the rhetoric and the incitement of violence that she continues to perpetuate.

Just yesterday she had an opportunity to apologize and she doubled down. This is who she is and it is time for her to be removed from the United States Congress.

WHITFIELD: And what's your concern now, while she tweeted, you know, she had a great phone call with the former president. We mentioned, you know, the Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, you know, is supposed to talk with her this week but then this is on the heels of him going to Florida to Mar-A-Lago to talk to the former president, the president who is also looking at an impeachment trial for helping to incite insurrection on Capitol Hill.

So how do you make sense of how power is being promoted, used, how it might be an interruption of a new starting point with a new congress, new administration? What do you do moving forward here?

WILLIAMS: I mean, it's unfortunate that as a member of Congress I not only have to worry about outside forces and people coming in and my safety. But I have to worry about members that are serving with me, and people on the inside who are continuing to uplift and perpetuate this violence.

And I don't feel safe as a member of congress. I have 24-hour security with me at my home, and just for -- just to keep me and my family safe.

And no member of congress should have to go through this. No American should have to go through this. And they're a threat to our national safety.

WHITFIELD: Another fellow member of Congress, Cori Bush, moved her office -- you know, relocated because she says she was being harassed by Marjorie Taylor Greene. And Marjorie Taylor Greene even had, you know, video where she's kind of in a shouting match with Congresswoman Bush.

[11:54:47]

WHITFIELD: Describe for me the tenor, you know, in the hallways. We're not just talking about, you know, in committees and in the chamber, but what is it like walking around, you know, these congressional office buildings and Capitol Hill as a whole knowing that there's this kind of animus taking place.

WILLIAMS: In a building that I thought I would be most safe in, and the entire country it just doesn't feel that way. I don't walk anywhere, even inside the building alone because you don't know who you're going to run into and what the interaction is going to be like.

Congresswoman Bush should not have had to change her office because of the vile acts of other members of Congress. But this is where we're at right now and we have to hold people accountable. Until we hold people accountable they will continue to do what they're doing because there are no consequences.

And so that's why we need to -- Congresswoman Bush has a resolution that I've signed onto to expel members who are part of the seditionist acts of January 6th. We need to move forward and we need to hold people accountable because people are going to continue to do the same thing if there are no consequences.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like Congresswoman Bush should have moved her office or should she have remained making, you know, perhaps another statement to Congresswoman Greene?

WILLIAMS: Congresswoman Bush, like so many other people aren't in Congress to make a statement, we're here to do the work on the people and that was an impediment to her team doing work every day, even when Congresswoman Bush isn't in town.

And so I appreciate her making sure that the work continued for the people of St. Louis. And that's why she moved her office, not because Marjorie Taylor Greene forced her, because we're not going to allow domestic terrorists inside or outside of the Capitol to win but the work of the people must go on. And that's why Congresswoman Bush changed her office.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congresswoman Nikema Williams, good to see you. Thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And this programming note: join Fareed Zakaria for his special "THE DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA". That's tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.

[11:56:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)