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Today: House GOP Holds Key Meeting Amid Party Divisions; GOP Leaders Face Critical Test Over Fate Of Reps. Greene And Cheney; White House COVID Response Team Holds Briefing. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2021 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining me as we have been watching that beautiful ceremony for Officer Brian Sicknick. We're also tracking some very important events happening this hour.

First up for us, President Biden's coronavirus response team is holding an important update briefing on the fight against the virus this hour. And this comes at a crucial moment. The White House is pushing, of course, to speed up the distribution of vaccines.

And Dr. Anthony Fauci is also warning today that right now, the United States is not vaccinating people fast enough to stay ahead of the new variant, though it is getting better. When that briefing begins, we will bring it to you.

There is also a lot going on behind the scenes right now on Capitol Hill. And it is about to spill out into public view. The Republican Party trying to figure out what to do with itself in this post-Trump era. Who carries the mantle? Who do they stand with?

Liz Cheney, a lifelong Republican, member of House leadership who voted her conscience and explained that very clearly, to impeach Donald Trump, but she is now facing blowback. Or do they stand with freshman Marjorie Taylor Greene who is on video and online pushing wild, unfounded and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

With sources telling CNN, she has not given any indication that she wants to correct, reject and apologize for that.

House Republicans met late into the night last night about Marjorie Taylor Greene and really, their future. This afternoon, House Republicans will gather once again.

The most immediate question is, do Republican strip her of committee assignments or continue to turn a blind eye? Because there's really no threading the needle when it comes to supporting the QAnon conspiracy theories which she has supported.

Let's start there. Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju. He is on the Hill. There is a lot that has been going on behind the scenes, Manu, and you have some great reporting. The contrast couldn't be more stark though. On the day that Officer Brian Sicknick is honored in the Capitol after being killed for defending the Capitol during the insurrection, Republicans are deciding to what to do about one of their own members who among other things, Manu, pushed the big lie that led to the insurrection.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don't forget that also on that day, on January 6th, a majority of the House Republican conference voted to overturn the election results even after those pro-Trump rioters came into the Capitol trying to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory.

But nevertheless, they're still trying to figure out their way forward and they try to determine which way their party goes in the era post- Trump. And Marjorie Taylor Greene is now at the center of that.

Late last night, they had a discussion among House Republicans about whether or not to strip her from two key committee assignments, the House Education Committee and on the House Budget Committee. This, of course, in the aftermath of new revelations about more of her conspiracy theories including suggesting that the Parkland massacre that occurred at a high school in Florida in 2018 was somehow a staged event.

Behind the scenes, Kevin McCarthy had a meeting with Marjorie Taylor Greene last night. I'm told from multiple sources that the discussion came up of whether she would apologize. She indicated she would not apologize or correct her past remarks.

Then there was a meeting with key Republican members who make decisions about whether or not to strip individual members of their committee assignments. They didn't make a decision there about whether or not to get her off those two committees. They discussed maybe getting her off of one committee and keeping her off another.

Now, at this moment, we're told that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is having a call with Kevin McCarthy to determine whether they can reach any sort of deal to avoid a vote on the full House floor to strip her from those committee assignments.

Democrats are planning to make this an action of the House, to kick her off those committees if the Republicans don't act first. McCarthy is trying to see if any sort of deal can be reached first. And Hoyer just told our colleague, Daniella Diaz, he's calling him right this moment.

We'll see if they can reach any sort of accommodation. Because Hoyer, Kate, did tell me yesterday he has some concerns about the precedent this would set. Despite what she said and the conspiracy theories and the lies that she spewed, the concern about setting a precedent of the House removing someone for something they did before they took office, that's still a concern -- a real concern among members.

So, we'll see if McCarthy and Hoyer can get a deal. But at the moment, still a big push to kick her off those committees. We'll see if they can reach any resolution about that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: One carryout to that though is that, as you reported, she's no - she's given no indication she wants to apologize for those past remarks.

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So, that's the one caveat on comments made before she was in office. She's not rejecting them well in office. That's an action in and of itself.

So, then, also, what are you hearing about what Liz Cheney is facing then, as she heads into what is going to be the same meeting with the rest of the House Republicans?

RAJU: Yes. I'm told behind the scenes for days she's been having conversations with House Republicans to try to shore up support. People who are concerned about her vote to impeach Donald Trump. She's one of the 10 Republicans to do just that. She's come under the biggest amount of criticism from Republicans because she serves the number three leadership spot.

Some like Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio are pushing to try to get her out of that position. Jordan told me yesterday, he did not know if he had enough support to push her out of that spot. But she has been trying to explain to her colleagues privately why she voted the way she did. Listen to their concerns. I'm told from some members. They're willing to defend her at today's meeting that the House Republican conference plans to have behind closed doors where this topic undoubtedly will come up.

So, question, Kate, can she hang on to her post. At the moment, Cheney defenders believe she does have the support to stay on. But those Trump defenders are coming after her hard. And that's all going to take place behind closed doors, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Seems like the pure definition of what leadership is in the Republican Party is what is at question right now. Also, just in, Manu, you have some new reporting on the fact that the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate, they have finally reached a power sharing agreement. And yes, it may sound like it is in the weeds. It is quite important. What is going on?

RAJU: Even though the Democrats took control of the House, the Senate majority on January 20th, they actually have not been able to run the committees in the United States Senate because, without new rules in place, they operate under the rules of the last Congress when Republicans held the majority.

BOLDUAN: Manu, I'm going to jump in. Only because we do need to head to the White House. The White House coronavirus response team, they are now beginning their briefing. Here is Jeff Zients.

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: First, we have increased vaccine supply to states, tribes, and territories by over 20 percent. Second, we are providing visibility on supply on a rolling three-week basis, so governors and local leaders have the ability to plan and maximize the number of needles in arms. Third, we secured the equipment required to extract a sixth dose from every Pfizer vial of vaccine. And fourth, we're purchasing an additional 200 million doses to ensure that every American can get vaccinated.

And the data shows that we are making progress. As you can see on our vaccination progress report, our seven-day average daily doses administered is, as you can see in the dark blue bar on the right, now averaging over 1.3 million shots per day for the period from January 27th through February 2nd. We are on track to meet the President's goal of 100 million shots in 100 days.

Notably, yesterday, the Department of Veterans Affairs delivered its one-millionth shot, ensuring those who served our country are among the first protected from this deadly virus.

We are encouraged by this progress to increase supply, but we will continue to push for every opportunity to do more. At the President's directions, we have an all-of-government effort to provide all Americans with access to get more places to get vaccinated. Americans need more access to more places to get vaccinated.

Today I want to update you on establishing and supporting community vaccination centers across the country. These centers are helping to provide new, more efficient places for people to get vaccinated.

First, the federal government is expediting financial support to bolster community vaccination sites nationwide, including in states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. As of today, FEMA has provided more than $1.7 billion to 27 states, localities, tribes, and territories. This funding covers critical steps in the vaccination process, including transportation and storage equipment, supplies needed to administer vaccines, and safety equipment like PPE and masks.

Second, we're deploying personnel to provide technical assistance to support vaccination sites nationwide and provide additional staff from the federal government. FEMA has already assigned over 600 staff to this effort, including experts in logistics, IT, and registration, with over 350 of these staff deployed directly to the vaccination sites across the country.

The federal government is now supporting thousands of National Guard members who are providing support to sites in 39 states, including 800 trained vaccinators. And CDC is providing on-the-ground technical assistance in jurisdictions across the country.

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And third, we are building new community vaccination centers across the country. The Department of Defense will dedicate substantial personnel and resources to help manage many of these new sites.

The profile of these community vaccination sites will vary by community need. You'll see big centers and stadiums, sites in school gyms and community centers, mobile units in rural areas and outer boroughs, pop-up sites in parking lots and other locations.

We are working with state and local health departments to meet the communities they serve, where they are, in places they know, with people they trust. And we'll encourage all vaccination centers to collaborate with community-based organizations and others who can help communities with the greatest need.

Today I'm pleased to announce the federal government will partner with the state of California to launch two new community vaccination centers: one in East Oakland and the second in the east side of Los Angeles - two of the communities most hard hit by this pandemic.

In the east side of Los Angeles, we'll launch a large site on the campus of California University - California State University-Los Angeles. This is one of the most diverse public universities in the country, serving a large Latino community. And we're opening a new center at Oakland Coliseum adjacent to the communities of Eastmont and Elmhurst, which have some of the lowest health scores in the state.

Both centers will be staffed primarily by a federal workforce from agencies such as FEMA, DOD, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and HHS. In all of this work, we're advancing equity. FEMA has partnered with CDC to launch vaccination sites that use processes and are located in places that promote equity, deploying CDC's Social Vulnerability Index.

These sites in California are just the beginning. We are working with - in partnership in states across the country to stand up new sites, and we'll have more to say on that in the coming weeks.

So, across the first two weeks, we've activated a whole-of-government response. We have increased vaccine supply, and we are ensuring that all Americans in every community have more places to get vaccinated.

Now let me turn to Dr. Walensky - Dr. Walensky for a state of the pandemic.

Dr. Walensky.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be back with you today, and I want to make sure we have time for questions, so I will be brief in my remarks.

As I said Monday, cases and hospital admissions continue to decrease, and we now appear to be in a consistent downward trajectory for both of these important outcomes. COVID-19 cases have declined steadily since hitting a peak on January 8th, dropping 13.4 percent to an average of nearly 144,000 cases per day from January 26th to February 1st. Cases are now back to the level we were before Thanksgiving.

Similarly, new hospital admissions have continued to decline since they peaked on January 5th, decreasing 4.1 percent to an average of approximately 11,400 admissions per day from January 25 to January 31.

While deaths have continued to increase, their pace appears to be slowing, with the average number of deaths increasing 1 percent to slightly more than 3,100 deaths per day from January 26th to February 1st.

And the recent decline in hospitalizations gives us hope that the number of deaths should start to decrease in the coming weeks.

Although we have seen declines in cases and admissions and a recent slowing of deaths, cases remain extraordinarily high - still twice as high as the peak number of cases over the summer. And the continued proliferation of variants - variants that likely have increased transmissibility, that spread more easily - threatens to reverse these recent trends.

Based on contact tracing and recent - of recent variant cases, not wearing masks and participating in in-person social gatherings have contributed to the variant spread. We must take prevention, intervention seriously.

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Now is not the time to let our guard down. Keep taking steps to protect each other: Wear a mask, maintain social distancing, avoid travel, crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. And please get vaccinated when it is your turn.

And this Sunday, remember, whichever team you're rooting for and whichever commercial is your favorite, please watch the Super Bowl safely, gathering only virtually or with the people you live with. The CDC recently posted guidance on how to safely enjoy the game.

Thank you. I'll turn it to Dr. Fauci.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Thank you very much, Dr. Walensky. I want to make just a couple of points related to questions and issues that have been brought up over the past couple of days to help clarify it, and I'll be very brief.

We have heard from studies emanating out of the AstraZeneca platform that, in the UK, they're talking about the possibility, since their data seems to show this, that if you prolong the interval between the first and second dose - in fact, even go with a single dose - you can get good results. And, in fact, the interval between the first and second dose can now be measured in months. With - according to their own data, that is actually a favorable response.

We certainly respect that the UK scientists and health officials are going by their data and letting their own data for their own platform dictate their policy. The question is asked often, "Then why don't we do the same thing with our candidates that are now being distributed to people in the United States?"

And the response is simple. We also are going very much by the data and the science that has emanated out of very large clinical trials. As you all are aware, the Moderna trial, with 30,000 people, and the Pfizer trial, with 44,000 people, indicate to us that maximum responses are given with a prime followed by a boost - 21 days with Pfizer and 28 days with Moderna.

Now, we know that sometimes, out of circumstances beyond the control of people, that they may not make it at exactly the day of 21 day and 28 day. And as we know from the CDC, under those special circumstances, that it is okay if you get the second dose in either, four to six weeks later. That doesn't mean that we want to do it at six weeks later. It means that under special circumstances, it's better to delay that couple of weeks than not do it at all.

But we feel strongly that we will go by the science, which has dictated for us the optimal way to get the 94 to 95 percent response, which is, in fact, durable for the period of time that we've been following it.

One other thing I want to mention: We live in a global community, and it is encouraging to see that other countries are coming out with results from their own vaccine trial, such as the Russian trial that we heard about a day or two ago. The UK and European Union, which are now putting vaccines into people, according to the data that they've accumulated, the Chinese trials, et cetera.

We, in the United States, as I mentioned in a speech, I gave a couple of weeks ago to the World Health Organization Executive Board, that we are back on the global scene. We reentered into our arrangement with the WHO, and we are part of COVAX.

So I just want to remind people that this is a global effort, and the more we get the virus controlled globally - and we will be part of that process as part of the global community - the better off we will be. Because I've said it many times, and I'll close by saying it again. We have to be concerned about the mutants.

Viruses will not mutate well if you don't give them the opportunity to replicate in a very large way. Namely, if you have an open playing field for the virus, they will replicate, and they will mutate. The best way to prevent that is the implementation of the public health measures that Dr. Walensky just mentioned, both home and abroad, as well as the implementation of the administration of vaccines, as effectively and efficiently and as quickly as we possibly can.

So, I'll stop there and hand it back to Jeff.

ZIENTS: Well, thank you, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walensky. You have heard from our experts. I want to reiterate. We are at war with this virus. It is clearly a national emergency, and we are doing all we can.

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But it is critical that Congress does its part as well. We need Congress to quickly pass the American Rescue Plan to provide the funding we need to continue to scale up our vaccination program, as well as for more testing, more genomic sequencing, and more emergency supplies. And we must give families, schools, businesses, and state and local leaders the support they need to fight the pandemic.

This will not be easy. Vaccinating everyone in America is one of the greatest operational challenges we've ever faced, and we will not stop working until this mission is complete.

With that, let's take a few questions. MODERATOR: For our first question, we'll go to Weijia Jiang at CBS.

WEIJIA JIANG, REPORTER, CBS: (INAUDIBLE)

MODERATOR: All right, we'll go to the second question while we figure that out.

Second, we will go to Brenda Goodman at WebMD.

JIANG: Hello?

MODERATOR: Oh, Weijia, you're there.

JIANG: Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry about that. And thank you guys for having this briefing and for taking my questions. I have two, if you don't mind.

The first one is about skepticism that remains around the vaccines, which you guys have all acknowledged. And just about 20 minutes ago, a new Monmouth poll shows about 50 percent of Americans plan to get the vaccine when they can, but 24 percent say it is likely they will never get it if they can avoid it.

So, my question is, are there any conditions under which you would recommend requiring a vaccine to access certain places like federal properties, schools, or to travel, like if we fail to reach herd immunity after a certain point, or if more variants continue to spread?

ZIENTS: Dr. Walensky, do you want to weigh in here?

WALENSKY: Yes. Thank you for that question. I think it's important to recognize that we have vaccine hesitancy here. We have to address that vaccine hesitancy at its roots and understand why people are hesitant.

I do believe that the more people who get this vaccine - we now have over 32 million who've received at least one dose - the more people will realize and recognize that it is being distributed and given safely and that the side effects really are minimal to moderate - minimal, really - with very rare risk of events that can be managed.

What I would say with regard to, you know, requiring. I think we can't, sort of, be in a place where we're thinking about making requirements for vaccination until we certainly have enough for the entire country, to make sure that that's possible. So, I would say, right now, it's premature to think about those requirements. Our goal right now is to vaccinate as many people as we can.

JIANG: Thank you so much. I just have a -

ZIENTS: Let me see if Dr. Fauci has anything to add there. Dr. Fauci?

FAUCI: No, I agree totally with what Dr. Walensky said, particularly the last part - is that when you're talking about requirements, which we do have for some vaccines - you know, Rochelle and I both are physicians who practice medicine. We don't do it in the hospital unless we get our influenza shot every year. That's because we have plentiful vaccinations available. But it's no time to talk about that now while we still have a great demand that outstrips the supply.

ZIENTS: Good. OK. Your second question?

JIANG: Thank you. This is about vaccine supply actually, just to get some clarification about something Dr. Fauci said on Monday, that, you know, the U.S. should administer all the doses it has without holding any back. And then, ideally, in three weeks, prioritize people getting second doses. I know that vaccine production has ramped up, but has it increased enough so that you can give everyone their second dose and keep up the same pace for new vaccinations?

ZIENTS: So, as we talked about, I believe yesterday, we've steadily increased the amount of vaccine that we are sending to states. We are up over 20 percent now across the first two weeks. And important for states' planning efforts. We are giving a minimum of three-week visibility into the next three weeks of shipments, which is something that we heard from governors and state and local leaders.

We anticipate, as we work hard to monitor and help and assist the manufacturers, that we'll continue to have supply increases. As you know, we're also beginning to ramp up an initial phase with the pharmacies. I talked today about the community vaccination centers. That's just the beginning of establishing new community vaccination centers.

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So, we are confident that there is going to be an increase in supply. And at the same time, we have the systems in place so that we can ensure that second doses will arrive at the third week mark for Pfizer, and at the fourth week mark for Moderna. And as you've just heard from the experts, from the doctors, it's really important that people get their second doses and get their second doses is on time.

JIANG: Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: All right. Next question, we'll go to Brenda Goodman at WebMD.

BRENDA GOODMAN, STAFF WRITER, WEBMD: Good morning. Can you hear me?

ZIENTS: Yes.

GOODMAN: Great. I wondered if we could get an update on vaccine prioritization. I know under the previous administration this was largely left up to states to decide when they wanted to move to the next levels of priority. But we're seeing a lot of states open this up for teachers, and it's kind of created a patchwork. And I just wondered if the federal government would be working more closely with states to kind of get more vaccinations to teachers in particular so that schools can reopen in the fall.

ZIENTS: Dr. Walensky, do you want to start here? WALENSKY: Yes, thank you for that question. You know, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has created these guides - this guidance for how we should be thinking about prioritizing among all essential workers and all of the population at large.

You know, those have been taken under recommendation - guidance from the states, and then the states are creating their own individual plans. And, you know, those plans have to, sort of, be in sync with how they are able to titrate, really, their supply versus the number of people who are wanting it. We don't want to be too prescriptive so that they have these queues of people, and yet we don't want to be too open so that they also have queues of people. We don't want to have too much supply on the shelf.

So, we've left that to the states to manage, in terms of recognizing the prioritization of ACIP, but also manage at their own local level.

That said, I want to be very clear about schools, which is, yes, ACIP has put teachers in the 1b category, the category of essential workers. But I also want to be clear that there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely.

So while we are implementing the criteria of the Advisory Committee and of the state and local guidance to get vaccination across these eligible communities, I would also say that safe reopening of schools is not - that vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.

ZIENTS: Yes, let me just add here. You know, President Biden has been very clear that he wants schools to reopen and actually to stay open. And that means that every school has the equipment and the resources to open safely - not just private schools or schools in wealthy areas, but all schools. And that's why we need the American Rescue Plan passed now.

It includes money to get schools better access to testing, enables smaller class sizes, acquire the necessary ventilation, ensure everyone has PPE, and that schools are properly sanitized. It also includes much-needed funds to support the learning and social, emotional needs of our kids in what has been an extremely, extremely difficult year.

So again, Congress has to do its part in order to make sure that we can safely reopen schools and keep them open.

MODERATOR: All right, next question. We'll go to Shannon Pettypiece with NBC.

SHANNON PETTYPIECE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NBC NEWS: Hi. Can you guys hear me?

ZIENTS: Yes.

PETTYPIECE: I wanted to - you've raised a lot of concern about these mutants. Given what we know about their transmissibility, should we be rethinking the social distancing guidelines? Should we be double masking? Should we rethink indoor dining? You know, is six feet apart still enough? With these new mutations, do we need to do things differently at all?

I understand you want everyone to continue following the guidelines now more than ever, but are you thinking about any new guidelines potentially?

ZIENTS: Dr. Fauci?

FAUCI: Well, the answer is we always evaluate guidelines, you know, in real time, depending upon what the status is. But I want to emphasize what you just said. That, right now, we don't have complete, full compliance throughout the country of the fundamental public health measures that are necessary to prevent the spread. And I believe that if we do, we will be adequately addressing the transmissibility of these particular mutants.