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Biden to Meet with 10 GOP Senators on COVID Relief; Biden's Unity Push Faces Major Test in COVID Relief Debate; Mass Vaccination Site Officially Opens at Boston's Fenway Park; Nationwide Mask Mandate Begins Tonight on All Public Transportation; Trump Raises Millions While Pushing Debunked Voter Fraud Claims; Trump Names 2 New Lawyers After 5 Members of His Defense Team Quit; McCarthy to Meet with Congresswoman Greene This Week Over Controversies. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 01, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:03]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Monday morning to you. Snowy in lots of parts of the country. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I'm loving the snow. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. Well, this morning the race to vaccinate America as new variants

threaten to upend the U.S. response to this deadly pandemic and of course the push to get economic relief to millions of struggling Americans. Here is where vaccinations stand as we enter February. So far nearly 50 million vaccine doses have been distributed, more than 31 million administered. That means shots in arms.

Health experts are optimistic there will be enough doses of vaccine for all adults, Jim, in the U.S. by this summer, which would be great news.

SCIUTTO: No question, we're at about one in 10 people now? It's a start.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Hours from now, a mask mandate will go into effect for everyone using public transportation. That includes planes, trains, buses and the hubs that house them.

Also today, a critical meeting in Washington to take on the financial blow of this pandemic, which is ongoing. Ten GOP senators set to meet with President Biden to discuss their counteroffer to his $1.9 trillion plan. The Republican proposal, however, valued at about less than a third of the Democratic plan. We'll see if they could find a way to meet in the middle.

Our team is following the latest developments all over the country. Let's begin on Capitol Hill. Congressional correspondent Lauren Hill -- Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. Lauren, $1.9 billion is the Democratic offer. $600 million is the

Republican offer. I mean, the big question is, will Republicans come up from that number? Are they willing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that is the question going into the meeting today. Look, this is a last ditch effort at bipartisanship. What we do know is that the Democrats could vote as soon as this week on a budget resolution that will really unlock their ability to pass a COVID relief bill with just Democratic votes. So the question is how low is Joe Biden willing to go on his own COVID relief proposal?

He's right now sitting at $1.9 trillion. And how high are Republicans willing to go? They're sitting at between $500 billion and $600 billion. They're awaiting a score today from the Congressional Budget Office. But look, I think the one big question is, what is Joe Biden not willing to give up? The Republican proposal, which we have just received a copy of, a summary of, essentially doesn't include any money for state and local governments.

That was a key sticking point, if you'll remember, in the fight last December over the COVID relief package. So whether or not Democrats are willing to abandon that I think remains to be seen. We are also waiting to see whether or not this Republican plan is going to have enough support to really make up for the fact that there are going to be some progressives on the Democratic side who don't like it and wouldn't be willing to vote for it.

Therefore you need more than just 10 Republican votes. You probably need upwards of 12, 13, 14 Republican votes. It's just not clear that that number of Republicans will be willing to go along with another COVID relief plan, when so many Republicans have been arguing look, $900 billion was just passed in December. We still haven't seen all that money go out the door. Therefore we're not really willing to negotiate at this point.

How long Democrats are willing to give Republicans to come along? It's the biggest question of the day and it's something that we might get more of an answer for in just a couple of hours -- Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: OK. Lauren, thank you, keep us posted.

A senator Biden administration official says the White House is open to some negotiation on COVID relief. The question that you post, Jim, is like, how much in dollars?

SCIUTTO: Yes. What's the middle ground?

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is on the North Lawn.

So, Jeremy, you heard me asked Lauren, are Republicans willing to come up from $600 billion, particularly when their plan eliminates a key plank of the Republican plan, right, aid to states? Is the president willing to come down from $1.9 trillion? And if so, where?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is a question that will hang over this meeting that the president is having with those 10 Republican senators coming over to the White House this afternoon.

But one thing is clear is Joe Biden is not going to come down all the way to that $600 billion proposal that Republican senators are talking about. That is less than a third of the $1.9 trillion package that the president has proposed himself and a senior administration official making clear that the $600 billion plan is not going to scratch the itch that the White House is talking about here.

Here's what is in Joe Biden's plan. It's a fairly comprehensive proposal that includes of course those $1400 stimulus checks and also -- and a laundry list of other items. You have enhanced unemployment aid, assistance for small businesses. The aid to state and local governments and schools that Lauren was just talking about as well as that $15 minimum wage proposal. That last item is something that the White House might be willing to shift on.

And then there's also of course the stimulus checks. That is the single area that this White House has made clear they are most willing to compromise on. And here's the White House's top economic adviser Brian Deese talking about that and the targeting they're willing to do just yesterday.

[09:05:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN DEESE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: I want to reenforce is that if we're going to look at ways of targeting, we need to look at how this plan is targeted overall. And so the support that is going directly to children in terms of the child tax credit, the support that is going to keep people in their homes through eviction. Those are highly targeted and we should think about how all of these pieces work together to achieve that end goal, which is to get money into the pockets of the families and the small businesses that need it the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: So look, what you hear there from Brian Deese is the fact that the White House, yes, they're willing to negotiate and target some of these things more. But they're also looking at the total package of this and what it will do for the country, despite the fact that Joe Biden is clearly not going to come all the way down to $600 billion. He is inviting those Republican senators today. It is a sign that he is willing to negotiate and certainly a show of good faith.

But again whether these two sides can meet in the middle and come to some kind of agreement remains to be seen -- Jim, Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Jeremy Diamond, we'll be watching.

Now to the brutal winter storm shutting down vaccine efforts in part of the country today. Look at that big chunk under pink and purple from New York, Philadelphia. Heavy snow is now forcing the cancellation of vaccine appointments and closure of testing sites.

HARLOW: Some areas bracing for feet of snow fall. Chad Myers is tracking the timing of this storm.

About an hour ago, I got that really loud alarm on my phone saying that New York City is under a weather state of emergency.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. And we're looking at two feet of snow for New York City. And although that won't break a record at 27.6, it is going to be close. There are other areas around the country that are going to see some sleet mixing in, including Philadelphia and Boston, and those numbers may not be that much higher when it comes to liquid, but certainly not as much to shovel, it will just be heavier.

So 16 to 24 for New York City. There will be spots to the west to the city that will approach 36. No question. And there may be 36 in the city. That is not a forecast. I'm just saying that that bulls eye may move around 50 miles. 1300 flights are already cancelled. Over 89 percent cancelled out of LaGuardia this morning. If you're waiting for a flight, you may have to wait quite a while -- Jim, Poppy.

HARLOW: Maybe even overnight at the airport. Let's hope not for folks.

Chad, thank you very much.

Well, racing ahead of this storm, Boston's Fenway Park officially opening this morning as a mass vaccination site one hour earlier than originally planned because of the weather.

SCIUTTO: I love seeing these baseball and sports stadiums as vaccination sites.

HARLOW: Right? Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean, such a great idea. CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now from inside the great Fenway Park.

Alexander, so how are officials able to get a site of this size up and running when others like New York's Yankee Stadium and my own Mets City Field are having trouble with supply issues? How are they managing?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is a very different kind of opening day here at Fenway Park. But in Massachusetts, they're telling us that what they feel they need is a combination of these so-called supersites along with the smaller sites. You've heard a different story emerging from New York at times. Mayor Bill de Blasio saying he doesn't have the kind of supply that would warrant opening a site like City Field.

But in Massachusetts, they've been doing it for some time. They opened up Gillette Stadium for vaccines back in January. They have ramped that site up now to offer 16,000 vaccinations weekly. They say it's working well which is why they decided to open up this site today. They say Fenway Park will serve a more urban and diverse population. They believe they can get to 8,000 vaccinations a day here. They are starting at 500 a day today. What they are doing, and this is probably key to the plan, is they're

only releasing appointments a week out. So they're aiming on every Thursday to open up the slots and allow people to book then. That will help them to ensure that they have the supply in their coffers to meet the demands and they do plan to ramp up from 500 today to 1,000 then up to about 1250.

Now the key question on everyone's mind if you are heading to Gillette, if you're heading to Fenway today is whether the snow will derail your long-held plans to finally get that coveted vaccine. In Massachusetts, they're saying that won't really be the case. They have rescheduled some of the appointments that were scheduled for Gillette over the next few days. Here at Fenway, they are asking people who are scheduled for the afternoon to come in the morning.

As for tomorrow, they'll have an emergency meeting this afternoon to determine whether any of tomorrow's appointments need to be pushed out -- Jim, Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Well, you're right. A different kind of opening day. A big impact.

Alexandra Field, thanks very much.

Starting tonight, a mask mandate takes effect nationwide on all public transportation. The Department of Homeland Security is giving TSA workers authority to enforce the mandate at all screening checkpoints.

HARLOW: Let's get straight to our Pete Muntean.

Good morning to you, Pete, this is a marked change from the Trump administration. All U.S. airlines have already put forth their own requirements months ago, which was them having to step in where the federal government was not. This must make it easier at least for them and hopefully healthier for a lot of folks.

[09:10:01]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. You know, workers have been wanting this for months. They have been the ones having to enforce these mask rules and they're laid out by airlines. But also laid out by airports. This is a big shift. Now the TSA will begin requiring masks starting here at security. But it also says throughout the entire commercial and public transportation system. That means planes, trains, buses, boats, taxis and ride shares. The TSA also says this rule applies in airports and transportation hubs.

Big shift. New administration, new policy. The violators in this case will now face civil penalty, something we have not seen before. Airlines, their only recourse has really been to keep people from boarding and potentially banning them from flying again. Delta we know has banned 900 people on its airline alone.

All of this goes into effect 11:59 p.m. tonight. But just can't underscore enough how big of a difference this is. The Trump administration had plenty of opportunities to do this and had failed to act -- Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes. Pete, thank you very, very much. I hope it's some relief for all those workers every day.

Still to come, just days before the impeachment trial, former President Trump's defense team collapses over the weekend. Now he's hired two new lawyers. But how will they defend the president? Will they promote his big lie of election fraud?

Also, she stands for dangerous conspiracy theories, but will the Republican Party stand by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene? This week a big meeting with GOP leadership about to happen. Will anything, though, be done?

SCIUTTO: Yes. She got a call from President Trump. And the mayor of Chicago says the city's public school system will, quote, "take action" if teachers do not report to class today. This as negotiations over COVID safety at schools there comes to a standstill.

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[09:15:00]

HARLOW: Former President Trump stockpiled millions of dollars we've learned in the final weeks of 2020 as he continuously pushed his baseless claims of voter fraud. New filing show the president's new political action committee raised more than $31 million. Some of that money will likely be spent mounting his legal defense.

SCIUTTO: Yes, remember, that money was taken in under the guise of somehow overturning the election. Watch how the money is used now. Just a little week from now, the impeachment trial will start.

The president added two new attorneys to his defense team, this after five others quit over his insistence that they focus their defense on debunked false claims election fraud. Joining us now, Elie Honig; he's former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a CNN analyst. Elie, always good to have you on.

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: I wonder if his defense does bring up his false election fraud claim on the Senate floor, can they be sanctioned the way lawyers are sanctioned or at least opened to sanction, making false claims in court. In other words, do court-like rules apply in a Senate impeachment trial?

HONIG: Absolutely, Jim. So Donald Trump's attorneys make this big lie a defense, this idea that the election was stolen, really at their own professional peril. Attorneys carry ethical burdens with them wherever they go. Whether it's in a court -- a criminal court, a civil court or an impeachment court. And while attorneys have broad discretion and a duty really to represent their client's zealously, aggressively, there are lines.

And one of those lines is you cannot go into a court or a Congress or any official proceeding and just state a lie and put forth a lie, especially as in this case if it's a dangerous one. They could be sanctioned by their bar committees, their reputations will suffer. So there's real consequences.

HARLOW: I mean, I don't want to gloss over, Elie, what happened over the weekend. The president's lawyers quit because they wouldn't substantiate the big lie that he wanted them to further in front of the world in the second impeachment trial of the president. I mean, that's a -- that is a -- that is a huge deal.

HONIG: It's a big deal, Poppy. And those attorneys who quit, I believe absolutely did the right thing. And I do want to say this, if they go ahead, these new attorneys and make this big lie defense, they really do it at not only at their own peril, but at Donald Trump's peril. I mean, I can't think of a better way for Donald Trump to try to lose this case in a case that seems to be --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HONIG: Shaping up, where enough Republican senators want to take the constitutional off-ramp and say, well, you know, we're not commenting on the insurrection, we just don't think you can try a former president. Boy, can you think of a better way to inflame and make life difficult for those Republican senators than just stand in the well and make --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HONIG: Election fraud the basis of your defense?

SCIUTTO: Well, we'll see, right. The shame meter has been broken in Washington I think in recent years. Can you tell us what Republicans actually voted for with this motion that Rand Paul introduced? Forty five agreed and the president is casting this as 45 Republican senators have said the -- you know, the trial is unconstitutional.

Rob Portman, one of those who voted for it over the weekend said no, that's not actually what I voted for. I just voted to debate or to open the debate on that question. Of course, they lost -- they lost that vote. What do they actually vote for and does it preclude any of those senators who voted -- any of those 45 from voting to convict?

HONIG: Yes, Jim, it's so important that we get this straight. Because the Trump camp, when his team resigned made a statement -- a false statement that 45 senators had already declared that this was unconstitutional. That's not what happened. Rand Paul made a motion saying, let's debate and vote on whether this is constitutional, 45 senators said, yes, let's have that debate. But they are not bound to vote guilty or not guilty.

[09:20:00]

Rob Portman, John Thune, another senator -- two of them were both part of the 45. They said, no, we're not binding ourselves to vote guilty or not guilty. We just wanted to have that debate back then last week. So that should not be overstated. Look, is it a good sign for Donald Trump in terms of acquittal? Sure. Does it mean all 45 are going to vote not guilty? Absolutely not.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Elie, how exactly would the Senate go about barring a defense then if they do, you know, continue this big lie defense instead of a constitutional argument? Does like Pat -- Senator Pat Leahy step in and say, sorry, you can't argue that --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HARLOW: And how does that not look --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HARLOW: Partisan then?

HONIG: Essentially, yes, Poppy. So, first of all, lawyers in any legal proceeding have a lot of leeway in what they can argue. But it does happen in regular courts, criminal courts and civil courts, I've seen it happen where judges will say, I will not allow you to make that argument. That's irrelevant, that's not a defense procedurally. Well, what happened is, one of the senators would have to move to Senator Leahy who is presiding and say, we want to preclude, stop this defense.

Senator Leahy then has two choices, either he can rule or he can say I'm not going to rule, but I'm going to put it in front of the whole Senate for a vote, remembering that Democrats control the majority. But even if Senator Leahy rules, the Senate can then vote to overrule him. So, ultimately, this probably will come down to a majority vote of the Senate.

HARLOW: OK, it's so interesting, Elie, thank you very much for explaining it to us.

HONIG: Thanks Poppy, thanks for having me --

HARLOW: House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy will sit down with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene this week. The freshman lawmaker from Georgia has continued to spout conspiracy theories about unimaginable things such as the Parkland school shooting and a K-File -- CNN "KFILE" review found she indicated support for killing prominent Democrats such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

SCIUTTO: Many of her fellow members of Congress say she should be expelled, but she says she's spoken with former President Trump and that he supports her. CNN's Lauren Fox is back with us, Lauren Fox, not Lauren Hill. House Republicans, they're going to meet this week to discuss several issues, McCarthy is going to meet with Greene. Now, McCarthy has won Olympic medals in recent weeks for fence straddling on all these issues including the election. Is he committed to delivering any sort of strong message to her or trying to hold her to account for her many conspiracy theories?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, we don't know what McCarthy's message to Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to be in that one-on-one meeting. We do know that the Republican conference in the House of Representatives is at a bit of a divide right now. And you can look at what is on the table this week for the party, both that meeting between McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene as well as a conference meeting on Wednesday, where we do expect the issue of Liz Cheney, the congresswoman who is in leadership.

She is the number three Republican in their conference. Her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump has been something that has irritated some of her colleagues, the fact that she came out ahead of that vote, a full day ahead of that vote and gave Democrats some ammunition on the floor as they debated whether or not to impeach the president.

That is expected to come up on Wednesday. And I mean, look at this juxtaposition. Essentially, you have Republicans who are willing to try to oust one of their members of leadership over her vote, which she said was a vote of conscience over impeaching former President Trump. And then have you Republicans largely staying silent about Marjorie Taylor Greene, a colleague in the House of Representatives whom they serve with.

And I think that, that juxtaposition is going to unfold this week as we start to see Republicans trying to grapple with what they want to do with former President Trump. Do they want to move ahead with him? Which is certainly where the leadership looks to be moving at this point or are they arguing that it is time for the party to try to recover and try to move on.

HARLOW: I think that's such a good point, and it says so much, some of the outrage from some house Republicans over Liz Cheney and mostly silent over Marjorie Taylor Greene. Before you go, Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger has been an outspoken critic of the president for a long time, not just right now, and now he is launching this pack to raise money. What is the money going to do?

FOX: Well, essentially, he is arguing that the Republican Party needs to be about ideas again, that they need to be about a brighter future. He said in the six-minute long video that he released over the weekend that he believes the Republican Party needs to stand for something, not just stand for what could be a darker future essentially, and that's the message he is trying to move ahead with.

Now, he is one of those members who again has been opposed to former President Trump on a number of issues, from the military to withdrawal of troops to the fact that he believes that the former president was part of the reason why this insurrection happened on Capitol Hill.

[09:25:00]

So, he's been outspoken for a long time. But essentially, he's trying to chart a course for the Republican Party that is different than the one that the former president has tried to push. Jim --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

FOX: Poppy? SCIUTTO: Very different, including on a very basic issue, of saying

it was a free and fair election and Trump lost. Lauren Fox, thanks very much. Well, can Democrats and Republicans negotiate on COVID relief. There will be a big test today, Republicans, a group of 10 meeting with President Biden. We're going to ask a Senate Democrat just how much should the president be willing to give?

HARLOW: We're also moments away from the opening bell this Monday on Wall Street. Stocks appear to be rallying across all three major U.S. indices ahead of these COVID relief talks. Futures tied to the S&P 500 up about 1 percent this morning with the Dow not too far behind. We'll stay on top of this and bring you the latest.

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