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Biden's COVID Relief Bill Progresses; COVID Vaccine Studies in Children Currently Under Way; New Show by Stanley Tucci Airs This Weekend. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 12, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:31:03]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: The House Ways and Means Committee advanced a major portion of President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan late last night. This includes another round of stimulus checks for $1,400.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: It is a sign that Democrats are not letting the impeachment proceedings sideline their push on the stimulus. Let's go to the White House. Our White House correspondent John Harwood joins us.

Good morning, John. What is the status of this?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, it's kind of remarkable. You know, there's a lot of talk about how the impeachment trial had the potential for interfering with Joe Biden's agenda.

But that movement in the House Ways and Means Committee and other House committees this week illustrates that on this COVID relief package, it really isn't slowing them down. It may be impeding some nominations of cabinet appointees, but on this COVID relief plan, that is moving forward. Democrats are very hopeful that they can get that through the House and to the Senate by the end of this month, and get passed before the unemployment benefits run out in mid-March.

These are very substantial economic benefits for American families, aside from the money to spur the vaccination campaign that Joe Biden is hoping to get done by the end of the summer.

You've got not only those $1,400 checks, you've got the extended unemployment benefits of $400 a week, you've got the expanded child tax credit -- child care tax credit, subsidies for Obamacare, all sorts of historic-level investments in American families to curb income inequality.

Now, there will be changes along the way, nips and tucks will occur, both in the House and in the Senate. We expect the Senate to extend the duration of those unemployment benefits through the end of September, not through August, as the House has it. May have some tweaking of the eligibility for those $1,400 checks. And we do expect, in the end, in the Senate, that that $15 an hour

minimum wage is going to come out of the bill due to parliamentary objections -- it's in there now. But overall, Joe Biden's campaign for something very close to this $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan is on track.

HARLOW: OK, John Harwood, thank you very much for that reporting.

SCIUTTO: Well, official CDC guidance on reopening schools for in- person learning will be released today.

HARLOW: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is back with us.

You have a sense of what they're going to say here? I guess if you could share that with us, but also does that mean they can mandate it? I don't think so, right?

SCIUTTO: Yes, yes.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't. You are correct, Poppy, they cannot mandate it. And we are hearing from administration officials about what we think is going to be announced by the CDC today. And as you said, there will be no mandate for schools to reopen.

So let's take a look at that. No mandate to reopen schools, and they won't say that vaccination is necessary, they're not going to say, vaccinate everyone and then reopen, that is not in the plan. They instead will say the schools need to take other precautions to reopen safely. So let's look at what those are.

Schools will need to encourage hand-washing, masking, social distancing. They'll need to do proper cleaning and ventilation. If someone does get COVID, they'll need to do contact tracing and proper isolation and quarantine protocols. Also the CDC, we are expected to hear, will note that screening can be helpful in identifying cases -- in other words testing people who aren't sick to see if possibly they are infected with COVID-19 -- Poppy, Jim.

SCIUTTO: All right, we're going to be watching closely. I know a lot of parents will as well. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.

Well, Dr. Anthony Fauci says that vaccines for children as young as first grade could be approved by the time school returns this September, that's big news.

HARLOW: It's big news. U.S. vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna have already started testing doses in adolescents as young as 12. Clinical trials for younger children have not started yet.

[10:35:01]

We're glad to be able to bring in Dr. Paul Offit, one of the experts who advises the FDA during the vaccine approval process. He is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Offit, thank you for coming on this morning.

PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Thank you.

HARLOW: So to hear Dr. Fauci say yesterday that, come September, it sounds like children as young as first grade could be vaccinated. That's a really big deal. Do you agree with that timeline? And then what about all the kids younger than that?

OFFIT: Yes, I think what's happening now is we're testing children down to 12 years of age. I think after that you'll see children tested down to six years of age. And I'm not sure we're going to go much lower than that, but I think that'll happen.

But I think one thing that isn't getting said is that things are getting better. I mean, it's mid-February, this is a winter respiratory virus that should be raging now, but it's not. I mean, we have a decrease in cases, a decrease in deaths, a decrease in hospitalizations.

And there's one reason for that, I think: immunity. We have -- you list on your site that there's 27 million people who have been infected, but that's just people who have been tested and found to be infected. Most people who had been mildly or asymptomatically infected have never been tested.

So how do you figure that out? You do antibody surveillance studies to see who's been exposed. And when that's been done -- it was done in November, before the vaccines were out -- that number is off by a factor of four. There's probably 80 to 100 million people in this country who have already been exposed to this virus --

SCIUTTO: Wow.

OFFIT: -- that's 25 percent of the country. Plus you have another 40 million doses that are out there, that's at least another 10 percent. That's 35 percent of the country that probably is immune against relatively severe disease. That's the reason that these numbers are going down, as we continue to get vaccines out there and move them to a younger age group, I just think it's going to get better and better.

The only two things that stand in the way of that are -- would be a resistant variant, which hasn't really happened yet. By that I mean resistant to severe disease or the anti-vaccine movement. Those are the two things that stand in the way of that.

SCIUTTO: This is remarkable, Dr. Offit, because you've answered a question (INAUDIBLE) that we haven't heard answered, I believe, right? Which is what explains the downward trend in deaths and new infections.

So you're saying that more people are exposed, therefore more people already have some -- we should note some -- immunity to this. Now, that, based on what we know, that is not permanent immunity, right? So is it right to look at that as a bridge to vaccination as opposed to a bridge to herd immunity?

OFFIT: I think natural immunity probably offers protection against moderate to severe disease. That's certainly been the experience. If you had a severe infection, you're very unlikely, very, very unlikely to have a second severe infection with this virus. So I think -- I think the immunity is probably going to last for a few years, I would guess.

I think the same thing is going to be true with a vaccine. Assuming you get two doses. I mean, the doses that are out there, that 40- million-plus doses, are mostly first doses. And that will provide incomplete, relatively short-lived immunity. But some immunity, you need that second dose.

But I think that explains -- it's mid-February, this shouldn't be happening. It's happening, I think, for the reasons that you -- you could explain.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

OFFIT: And so for example, in the mid-1950s, when we had the polio virus outbreaks every year, there were similarities between polio virus and this virus. Both are spread primarily asymptomatically, and both have roughly the same contagiousness index, if you will, they're equally contagious.

Once you got to about 40 percent immunization rates back in the '50s, you started to see the incidence of polio coming down. I think that's what's happening here.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

HARLOW: Dr. Offit, Thank you for all the good news this morning. Also, people watching might not know your entire background. And "The Wall Street Journal" just did this great profile on you. I mean, you helped create one of the vaccines that I remember both of my children getting orally when they were born, that Merck has since created en masse.

So I just wonder for you, you know, having helped save so many children through what you developed, what it's like for you to watch how quickly this vaccine came to be and how effective it's been and how many lives it's saving now.

OFFIT: It's a remarkable story. I mean, this is the fastest vaccine ever made. It's made using technology that's never been used before and it's remarkably effective and apparently, you know, safe. Even there doesn't seem to be any rare side effects, now that millions of doses have been out there.

It is a remarkable story. It shows what we can do. I mean, we put $24 billion into this effort. You know, the vaccine we made at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia -- I was fortunate enough to be part of that team -- that was a 26-year effort, and that's not an unusual amount of time, actually, to make a vaccine. So this is -- it tells you what we can do when we put our minds to it. SCIUTTO: It's good news, Dr. Paul Offit. And you know, listen, good

news is in short supply, so let's highlight it when it happens. Thanks so much for coming on.

OFFIT: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you, Doctor.

[10:39:41]

Shocking new details about the threat at the Capitol during the insurrection, the vice president's nuclear football was reportedly at risk and military officials were completely unaware. We'll have more alarming revelations from the Pentagon, ahead.

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HARLOW: Award-winning actor, best-selling cookbook author Stanley Tucci is now a new member of the CNN family, and we are thrilled about it. His new show takes us all on a tour of Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisine.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I'm going to make him take me with him. CNN's Brooke Baldwin took a look at Stanley's Hollywood career, his Italian roots and his love of cooking.

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STANLEY TUCCI, CNN HOST, "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY": I'm traveling across Italy to discover how the food in each of this country's 20 regions is as unique as the people and their past.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Good Italian food has been a constant in Stanley Tucci's life.

TUCCI: My mom was an incredible cook, is an incredible cook.

[10:45:00]

BALDWIN (voice-over): Born in New York to Italian-American parents, Tucci spent a year growing up in Florence.

TUCCI (voice-over): It was the start of a lifelong love affair with Italy.

BALDWIN (voice-over): When Tucci first became an actor, he was often cast as a mobster.

TUCCI: All right, hurry it up, I want (ph) to make bail and get out in time for my racquetball game.

BALDWIN (voice-over): But his career blossomed beyond any stereotype --

TUCCI: Well, hello there.

BALDWIN (voice-over): -- appearing in more than 100 films and TV shows.

TUCCI: Well, I know.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Tucci has filled his roles with humor --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You kind of look like a stripper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom!

TUCCI: A high-end stripper for governors or athletes.

BALDWIN (voice-over): -- drama --

TUCCI: No adults allowed.

BALDWIN (voice-over): -- and big-budget action.

TUCCI: Hunger Games!

Yes (ph), I think we (ph) did (ph) it.

They're here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a turning point in your career?

TUCCI: Could be.

BALDWIN (voice-over): His directorial debut, 1996's "Big Night," starred Tucci and food.

TUCCI: This gentleman's --

BALDWIN (voice-over): Two Italian-American brothers struggle running a restaurant while cooking family recipes.

TUCCI: It's a secret recipe that they brought from their home town.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Not much has changed.

TUCCI (voice-over): I'm on the hunt for the perfect timballo. It's a dish I'm obsessed with.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Food is an important part of many of Tucci's films --

TUCCI: And it turned out to be Julia.

BALDWIN (voice-over): He played Julia Child's husband in 2009 --

TUCCI: What is it that you really like to do?

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS, JULIE AND JULIA: Eat.

BALDWIN (voice-over): The same year, Tucci's real wife Kate died from breast cancer.

TUCCI: All right, everyone, gird your loins.

BALDWIN (voice-over): But he found love again when his co-star in "The Devil Wears Prada," Emily Blunt, introduced him to her sister Felicity.

TUCCI: This is where we met.

FELICITY BLUNT, WIFE OF STANLEY TUCCI: You got some poetry?

TUCCI: Not on me.

BALDWIN (voice-over): The two share a love of cooking, and cookbooks have resulted, along with some viral quarantine cocktails.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to make me?

TUCCI: A negroni.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Family, friends and food: a theme of Tucci's life --

TUCCI: I think it's time to feed the film crew.

BALDWIN (voice-over): -- and his new show.

TUCCI: I'm going to make them one of my favorite.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Brooke Baldwin, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Well, I would go on just one of those trips for five minutes, right?

HARLOW: Well, I was going to -- first of all, sold, I am definitely watching that Sunday night. But Sciutto -- obviously, for people who can't figure it out from your last name -- you like Italian food. What's your fave?

SCIUTTO: Hey, I'm named after Italian food, right? Well, not really, but anyway. Prosciutto.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: I hope --

SCIUTTO: So that's got to be my fave.

HARLOW: All right, I hope post-pandemic, you get that trip to Italy. You deserve it, my friend.

SCIUTTO: We'll be fighting.

You can watch the new CNN original series, "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY." It airs Sunday night, 9:00, right here on CNN.

[10:47:53]

And we'll be right back.

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SCIUTTO : A stunning new revelation from the U.S. Capitol attack, one in a series. A Defense official tells CNN that military officials were unaware that Vice President Pence's military aide, who was carrying the so-called nuclear football -- that contains the codes to launch nuclear missiles -- was potentially in danger during the riots.

HARLOW: It's a huge development. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.

Barbara, every day, it seems, we are learning how significant this threat really was.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: What an extraordinary set of circumstances and how we got here. But look at the video of that one staircase, as Vice President Pence and his entire security team are rushed away.

At the -- behind the vice president, in military uniform, an officer carrying the so-called nuclear football, that heavy briefcase full of classified data that is essential if nuclear weapons are to be authorized to be launched. The vice president has a duplicate system, of course -- it is the president's responsibly -- duplicate in case of a crisis if the president's incapacitated.

But at this point, as that move down the staircase is happening, a Defense official very familiar with nuclear authorization procedures says they did not understand at that time, they did not know that the vice president was in such peril and the people with him. And that of course means that officer and the nuclear football, those authorization codes.

So what was the risk at this point, beyond the physical safety, of course, to those who were there? If the insurrectionists had gotten a hold of the case and the material, they could not have launched nuclear weapons, they would not have understood, we are adamantly told, what to do with this. And it would have been very clear that something was amiss.

But what about another nightmare scenario? What if they got it, took pictures, posted them on social media? The propaganda value, the intelligence value, something that would clearly be unprecedented. And it really raises questions about how all of this is handled. A lot of lessons still to be learned -- Jim, Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Have the military officials considered the possibility of forcing the vice president to use it? Is that outside the realm of possibility?

STARR: Well, I think for now, they believe there's sufficient controls. And in this case, just to reiterate, the president, President Trump, was at the White House, completely safe, they say, so there was no threat to nuclear safety.

But did anybody ever anticipate a situation like this, where there would be a mob potentially there, overwhelming a vice president and those Secret Service agents who are sworn with their lives to protect them?

[10:55:09]

SCIUTTO: Yes. Foreign powers, I'm sure, taking note, Barbara Starr.

HARLOW: Yes, wow, Barbara, to see that. Thank you for the reporting, as always.

And thanks to all of you for being with us today and all week, we're always glad to have you. We will see you back here next week, have a good weekend. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. CNN's special live coverage of former President Trump's second impeachment trial will start right after a short break.

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