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Outrage Erupts After Poisoned Putin Critic Sentenced to Jail; Democrats Plan to Move Ahead Without GOP on COVID Relief; Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), COVID Relief Plan; Study Suggest People Infected Previously with COVID Many Only Need One Dose for Vaccination. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 02, 2021 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Navalny lashed out at the court and at the Russian President himself Vladimir Putin calling the Russian leader, quote, a little thieving man in his bunker.

Frederick Pleitgen is our CNN senior international correspondent live there in Moscow. I know that, you know, Navalny has inspired all kinds of protests, you know, there around the Kremlin. Just what are you seeing and how is security?

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Yes, it's almost an unbelievable scene that's playing out here around the Kremlin area.

This place is full of riot cops. You can see right there a whole column of riot cops that are crossing the street right now, and I'll take you around. That is actually already the sort of wider area of the Kremlin. The Kremlin is right over there. Just a couple of hundred yards away from us, and this whole area is teeming with riot cops. You can see some coming down the street right now.

Essentially what they have done is they have locked down the entire center of Moscow with these cops here. Traffic is still rolling, but for people to come out here we've seen a lot of people who have already been detained by these riot cops. Because they are simply trying to prevent people from gathering together and starting some sort of protest here. Because of course, that's what Alexey Navalny's group has called for after that verdict that came down just a couple of hours ago.

That will see him going to prison for several -- for several years. There have been some smaller groups that have managed to get together, but the riot cops are really moving in, in full force, to try and get people out anywhere they are. I can't tell you how many police officers are on the street. There's another group of them walking around right here.

And Brooke, if you look around here, you can see that this is the world famous Bolshoi Theater. One of the big landmarks of Moscow.

BALDWIN: Wow.

PLEITGEN: And that's also full of riot cops in front of it as well. You can still see the Christmas decorations up there as well.

This entire area has been taken over by security forces and the Kremlin, Brooke, is a gigantic area. You know it's a huge area. The entire Kremlin is surrounded by riot cops. You can't see them very well right now, but they are standing a couple feet apart. So that whole area is surrounded by authorities, and at the same time you have them here all over the streets as well and patrolling the streets also looking for people that they might detain.

In fact, there's one lady who was detained right here. You can see them taking this lady away right here who has just been taken by the cops. There's another person who is getting detained, another two people in fact who've been taken in by the police who are just sweeping a lot of people up because they want to stop -- in fact, these are three people who have been detained. Sweeping people off to try and make sure that people can't gather in crowds.

Here comes another group of these riot police officers who you can see they are going through the streets. They are looking to see whether or not crowds are coming together and then just taking a lot of people with them, detaining a lot of people.

It's something, Brooke, that we've been seeing throughout the day. And there's something I want you to listen for a second. You hear that honking. That's people honking in support of the Navalny supporters. That's something they have gotten from the protests that happened last year in Belarus against Lukashenko. There are people honking support for Alexey Navalny. That's something that we've seen fairly recently here.

But as you can see a massive response by the authorities. I'll just leave you with a picture, you can you see just how many police lights there are and riot cops on the street now. It's almost a surreal scene in the Russian capital -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's everywhere. You can feel it, you can feel it all the way back here in the States. There you are in Moscow, 11:30 at night, your time, Fred Pleitgen, thank you. And then of course the other concern, my goodness, if they tried to kill him once, are they going to protect him in prison? That's a whole other conversation we'll have, I'm sure, Fred in Moscow, thank you for that update there and those pictures.

Back here at home, Democrats are now moving ahead on COVID relief without Republicans. How soon could struggling families get much- needed help? We'll talk to Senator Richard Blumenthal next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

BALDWIN: Well, Democrats are ready to move forward without Republicans to get President Biden's COVID-19 relief package passed.

House and Senate committees will be working to text the draft while Democrats in the Senate make sure that they are working within the rules of reconciliation.

President Biden met with several Republican Senators last night about his plan and their much smaller package. And while the White House says that there were some areas of agreement, it's clear that President Biden is not willing to give up much of his $1.9 trillion relief plan to help Americans.

So let's begin at the White House with our CNN senior White House correspondent Phil Mattingly. And Phil, what exactly are Democrats doing to get this thing done?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're moving. They're moving already. The United States Senate right now having a procedural vote to move forward on their budget resolution and without getting too in the weeds of Senate procedure which I know you love -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I love it.

MATTINGLY: What this is doing, this is essentially kick starting a process, and it's not going to be an immediate process, it's going to be a process that takes place over weeks but essentially it will allow Democrats to put in legislative text via various committees, the proposal that President Biden has put on the table.

And Brooke, you made clear while the discussion last night between the ten Republican Senators and President Biden and Vice President Harris was considered well received by both sides. $1.9 trillion is the White House proposal before that meeting and $1.9 trillion is the White House proposal after the meeting.

They are open to talking about things on the edges. They are open to talking about technical details. But when it comes to the size, the scale and perhaps most importantly given what's happening right now in the Senate, the speed, the White House is not moving right now and that very likely means that even though the ten Republican Senators were here at the White House, they were engaging in good natured discussion, they probably aren't going to be on board with where this thing ends up.

[15:40:00]

BALDWIN: I've got a Senator waiting in the wings. I want to stay on this and ask him about this. Phil Mattingly at the White House. Phil, thank you so much.

With me now, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat from of course Connecticut, he's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Blumenthal, welcome, sir.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Thank you, Brooke, thanks for having me. BALDWIN: Listen, most Americans don't care how you pass this thing,

just that, you know, they get the help they need in the thick of this pandemic

I know that, you know, you are taking a big risk here because if this thing fails, and I say you as the proverbial you, the Democratic Party, it is on you. It is on your party.

BLUMENTHAL: It is indeed on us, and that's why we are absolutely determined to go big and go quickly, and the American people are solidly behind us. We just learned of a poll from the White House showing that more than 70 percent of the American people are behind that $1.9 trillion program which is about helping people, and they desperately need help. They are hurting, hungry. People face eviction. I've seen it in the lines at food banks in Connecticut and as well lines for testing, lines for vaccines.

Our country is in crisis, and we need to meet this moment, and that is absolutely right when you say Americans don't care whether it's called reconciliation or some other name. What we're going to have is a majority, and we're inviting, indeed embracing our Republican colleagues to be part of this process. We would deeply love it to be bipartisan, but we need to move ahead and meet this moment.

BALDWIN: It is, Senator Blumenthal, a hefty price tag at $1.9 trillion. You know, Republicans say these direct payment checks need to be more targeted to low-income Americans. Do they not have a solid argument there? Aren't most low-income Americans the most in need?

BLUMENTHAL: They are, indeed, Brooke, but so are middle class Americans and we need to include them, and not only in that stimulus payment but also in a child tax credit which will help lift children out of poverty, in unemployment insurance, in aid for supporting state and local governments, which means police and firefighters and health care workers, first responders. So it's a comprehensive package and here's the really important point here, Brooke.

This $1.9 trillion number wasn't pulled out of thin air. It's the amount that's needed to bring our economy back so everybody has a job, and we can do it in a smaller number, but it will just mean longer and larger unemployment which in turn will cause continued suffering, hurt and harm.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about someone whose job has been called into question and I'm talking about freshman Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. You saw leader McConnell's statement where he said her, quote, loony lies are a, quote, cancer.

Now, at the same time, Senator, he also told CNN that Liz Cheney is, quote, a leader of deep convictions with the courage to act on them. If you use that same logic -- here's my question. Do you think that means Mitch McConnell and other Republicans will show that same courage next week?

BLUMENTHAL: That is the question of the moment, Brooke. In fact, I ask it in effect in a tweet that I did last night, if he believes in leaders of conviction and courage, will he be one next week. And time will tell because the brief submitted by those House managers is a blockbuster in marshalling the evidence and showing that there have to be consequences and accountability for the president's law breaking.

And I am very hopeful that Mitch McConnell is saying that the president provoked that mob riot and attack on our democracy aimed at stopping the counting of votes, and even assassinating possibly our leaders. And those harrowing tales of and stories of my colleagues being threatened physically as we all were as we rushed off the Senate chambers, I hope they will be persuasive as the Senate views them and Mitch McConnell will live up to those words.

BALDWIN: And if they aren't, Senator Blumenthal, you know, if they aren't, there seemed to be a brief window last month where perhaps Mitch McConnell would have gone a different way. What message does this send to Americans, and I'm saying whether it's, you know, in this case we're talking about Republicans, but it could be your party, too, you know, that there are -- you can incite a riot. You can, you know, I'm using a smaller example with Marjorie Taylor Greene. You can bully a school shooting survivor, you know. If nothing happens, what's the message you're sending?

[15:45:00]

BLUMENTHAL: You know, Brooke, before I took this job ten years ago, I was a prosecutor. I was United States Attorney in Connecticut for four and a half years and then State Attorney General for 20 years.

There is a powerful function of a public trial which is to air the evidence, put it on public record and send a message that people will be held accountable in public view. Whatever the verdict here, there must be a trial, and the message will be there's no January exception for a presidential wrongdoing which comes from the House manager's brief.

There's no kind of running out the clock by the president and escaping accountability. Whether the verdict is one or the other, I think the president is being held accountable in a public trial, and I think that serves the nation well.

BALDWIN: Senator Richard Blumenthal, thank you so much. Good to see you.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching next week very closely.

The White House launching a new effort to get more vaccines to Americans, unveiling a plan to ship doses directly to pharmacies nationwide. Those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00]

BALDWIN: President Biden's chief medical adviser says that there is no definitive answer for when life in the U.S. will return to normal. Cases and hospitalizations are down across the country, but Dr. Anthony Fauci told "The Washington Post" he was hesitant to give a timeframe because there are so many moving parts to consider.

Now he did say that the CDC is considering conducting a study on the benefit of double masking. Meantime the effort to quickly vaccinate as many Americans as possible is indeed moving forward.

Nick Watt is our CNN national correspondent. He has this report from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vaccination Texas style, a 16-lane mega site capable, they say, of 1,000 shots an hour. Nationwide, the pace is picking up. Early January, the seven-day average was under 700,000 doses a day in arms. That average is now around 1.3 million per day.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: You're going to see it's going to get better very quickly.

WATT (voice over): Those who've received at least one dose are mostly over 50. OK, makes sense. Female, all right. But also white. CDC analysis is limited to areas that report such data, but shows around 60 percent of those dosed were white, around 5 percent were black.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): I think it tells us a lot. And it certainly tells us there's a real disparity problem we have to address.

WATT (voice over): Meanwhile, black people are dying at much higher rates than white people. More disturbing news, past infection might not protect you against at least one of the new coronavirus variants now circulating.

DR. FAUCI: The experience of our colleagues in South Africa indicates that even if you've been infected with the original virus, that there is a very high rate of reinfection.

WATT (voice over): The Biden administration promised 100 million shots in 100 days with those variants spreading, some say, we'll need much more.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: We have to deliver 500 million immunizations between now and late spring, early summer, to get ahead of these variants. It's going to be tough.

WATT (voice over): Moderna might now put 15 vaccine doses in each vial, up from 10, to speed production, clear a bottleneck, if the FDA signs off. And there's this. If you've had the virus and one vaccine shot, your antibody levels, which protect you, could be higher than people who've had two doses, but never infected. This, according to a study that is not yet peer reviewed. But --

HOTEZ: If you have to pretest to see who's had the infection before and who hasn't, then it becomes logistically very complex.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): So, Brooke, this morning the White House announced that they are going to start shipping vaccine doses directly to pharmacies across the country. They'll start slow and hope to ramp it up to the point where they're shipping out directly to like 40,000 pharmacies. Now this model has worked pretty well so far in West Virginia. The hope is that it will work pretty well across the entire country -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about there in California? What are officials saying just about the possible surge in these variants?

WATT: Well, yes, that's the thing. It's a strange situation here. Right now in California, we are seeing case counts falling precipitously. So there's a bit of optimism. Outside dining is open. For I think the first time we're actually talking about when our kids might go back to school.

But we have had more than 100 cases of that fast-spreading U.K. variant here, and that, some people say, might cause a surge and wipe these optimistic smiles off our faces -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Nick Watt, in L.A. Nick, thank you.

[15:55:00]

Our breaking news coverage continues. President Trump's legal team formally responding to the House's article of impeachment. The defense, his false claims about the election and calls to fight are protected, they say, by the first amendment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Five south Florida FBI agents were shot this morning while trying to execute a search warrant in a child abuse investigation and it turns out two of the agents have died from their injuries.

Federal officials tell CNN the agents were serving the warrant in the city of Sunrise when the shots rang out. The FBI Agents Association says the case involved a suspected possession of child pornography. Two more wounded agents are hospitalized, in stable condition. Another did not have to go to the hospital and is recovering. Police say the suspect has also died. An investigation is under way.

I'm Brooke Baldwin here in New York. Thank you so much for being with me. I'll see you tomorrow. Let's go to Washington. THE LEAD with Jake Tapper starts right now.