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The United States Identifies Seven New COVID-19 Variants; Democrats Plan to Pass Stimulus by Mid-March; Mike Pence Remained Silent Through Impeachment Trial. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 15, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hello, it's the top of the hour, I am Brianna Keilar.

And there is a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. New cases and hospitalizations are all trending down, but health experts insist this is not the time to let up on masks and social distancing.

As new variants of the virus continue to emerge, seven new mutations have just been detected here in the U.S. Researchers are identifying these variants by birds' names to avoid stigmatizing any region where a new strain is discovered.

The U.S. has been at a similar juncture before, with signs of progress leading to eased restrictions, but then followed by a surge. This time, though, new cases are actually higher than they were during any of the previous summer surges, even as the numbers here are declining, they're still very high.

The U.S. is still reporting nearly 65,000 new cases and more than a thousand deaths a day. More than 67,000 Americans are in the hospital right now, battling this virus. But again, the case numbers are so much lower than what we saw last month. If you go by the seven-day averages here, new cases dropped 58.5 percent; hospitalizations dropped 44 percent.

The head of the World Health Organization says the number of new cases has now been declining for the fifth consecutive week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: So far this year, the number of weekly reported cases has fallen by almost half, from more than 5 million cases in the week of January 4, to 2.6 million cases in the week starting February 8. Just five weeks. This shows that simple public health measures work, even in the presence of variants. What matters now is how we respond to this trend. The fire is not out, but we have reduced its size.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now with Dr. Wilbur Chen. He is an infectious disease expert from University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Vaccine Development, and he also serves on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

OK, let's talk about the good news here. I mean, the numbers are still high but we are seeing this big drop, that is certainly welcome news. Tell us what you're seeing, tell us why we're seeing this drop. Tell us how we keep it going.

WILBUR CHEN, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes, so I think that we're past the winter holidays' surges. So we had a lot of private gatherings where we probably had a lot of transmission, so I think that that's what we're getting over right now, and that's why we're seeing a huge decline.

In the next few weeks, we're hoping that we'll have thawing temperatures and warming of temperatures and higher humidities, and that will also create the right environment for the virus cases to come down as well. So I think that those are the two things that I see as hopeful as we continue to roll out those vaccines.

KEILAR: I think we're all feeling this hope, we're seeing the vaccines, but then we're also keeping an eye trained on these new variants that have been detected in the U.S. We know that there are seven U.S. mutations, and they impact the same part of the virus, what is called the spike protein.

One of the lead researchers said that, quote, "This stretch of spike is important because of its proximity to a region key for virulence," meaning, you know, is this going to affect the way someone might transmit or receive coronavirus, are they going to get more viral load. What are -- do you have worried there?

CHEN: Yes, I do. I think that, again, as we see more and more of these variants and more mutations accumulating on that spike protein at the ever-important region called the receptor-binding domain -- that's the very specific part of the spike protein. That's where we fear there will be increased severity, but also the ability for the virus to potentially evade our diagnostic measures, perhaps monoclonal antibodies and vaccines as well. So I think that we want to watch it very carefully.

KEILAR: It seems like they're still susceptible to the vaccines, though. Is that what you're seeing?

CHEN: That's right. It's not like an on-and-off switch, where if we see variations, all of a sudden the vaccine just does not work at all. But it's more like a gradation where, again, we're seeing that the mRNA-based vaccines have that 95 percent efficacy, but the more variants that we see, mutations on the face of the spike protein, we can see the efficacies decrease.

So we certainly want to preserve the full efficacy of these vaccines by preventing more variant viruses, but again, these vaccines are effective and they continue to be useful.

KEILAR: And right now, the vaccines are exceeding a million a day. The seven-day average is 1.6 million vaccinations a day, but the number of doses administered by state, it's really all over the place. Seventy-five percent of doses received have been administered in Alaska. But then in Alabama, for example, the number is so much lower. How do you fix that?

[14:05:06]

CHEN: Yes, and I guess, you know, each local jurisdiction, each state has a different way of deploying their vaccine, so I really don't know if I can comment on that. But I do know that the national allotments have been very frustrating to all the local, state jurisdictions.

I think it's been unpredictable. We were hoping for more and more allotments as time went on; we're hearing about, again, difficulties with vaccine supply from the manufacturers themselves.

In the next few weeks, we hope that this gets better because we're hoping the Pfizer and Moderna are both being able to produce vaccines in shorter amount of time. Moderna's now able to vial more vaccine doses per vial. We're hoping that, again, we'll have a third vaccine come available in the next few weeks, so again, we hope that the supply overall will increase.

The states, I think, are learning how to deploy these vaccines, and we've not had to deploy vaccines at this level for, you know, more than a century or more, or never. And so I think that, again, local jurisdictions are really trying to learn how to do this on the fly.

KEILAR: Yes. It is a huge undertaking. Dr. Wilbur Chen, thank you, sir, for being with us.

CHEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: A major revelation today from President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci, telling "Axios" that when he worked under the Trump administration, he worried about personally contracting coronavirus.

The Trump White House was known to not enforce mask wearing, of course. Multiple people in Trump's orbit got infected, including the president himself, the first lady and their son. At 80 years old, Fauci is considered high risk for a severe coronavirus infection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: I think you have to be oblivious not to consider the fact that if you get infected, that you are already in a category of someone who has a high risk of having a serious outcome. I didn't fixate on that, but it was in the back of my mind because I had to be out there. I mean, particularly when I was going to the White House every day, when the White House was sort of a superspreader location. I mean, that made me a little bit nervous.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Now, COVID cases may be on a downward trend in the U.S., but the pandemic continues to impact millions of struggling Americans. And now the spotlight turns to President Biden's plan to get it under control.

Democrats are racing to pass Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief package as soon as next week. And the clock is ticking here, just 27 days left until unemployment benefits run out for millions of Americans. And Democrats are also divided over a plan to push for a $15 federal minimum wage.

Ryan Nobles is covering all of this on Capitol Hill for us. Congress is not in session this week, Ryan, so where does this stimulus plan stand?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well at this point, Brianna, it is in the House committees right now. So even though the House is not in session, the committees are busily marking up this big almost $2 trillion aid package with the goal of getting it passed, as you mentioned, in the next couple of weeks.

And this is really Democrats going at it alone. They would like Republicans to be involved in this process, but because of reconciliation -- which is a tool that can be used on the Senate side to pass legislation without a supermajority -- it looks as though Democrats are going to be able to do that without Republican support.

And this is what they're looking at, somewhere in the range of $1,400 stimulus payment checks, more unemployment aid, assistance for small businesses, money for child care, aid for states and schools, increased support for vaccines, and then raising the minimum wage to $15.

Now, there will be some level of negotiation in this process amongst Democrats, even though Republicans would like to be involved, and it seems as though there are two areas in particular where we could see some bargaining.

And the one comes with a $15 minimum wage, there's some question as to whether or not that can make it through reconciliation. But there's also at least two Democratic senators that don't believe that the $15 minimum wage should be attached to this particular piece of legislation, so that could run into trouble.

And then there's a question about who exactly would get this $1,400 stimulus check. The Biden administration would like to see it at a certain income level, and there have been some push to maybe drop the income level and make it less accessible to some people. But progressive Democrats in particular are very much opposed to that, they want to keep the level just like it was when the first round of checks were issued.

So there's going to be a lot of back-and-forth over this over the next couple of weeks, Brianna. But Democrats are pretty insistent that they want to see something passed by at least the middle of March.

KEILAR: All right, that is coming up quickly. Ryan Nobles, thank you so much, live for us from Capitol Hill.

And a reminder that President Joe Biden will join Anderson Cooper, live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in an exclusive presidential town hall. That will be tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

[14:10:03]

And next, the conservative "Wall Street Journal" tells the GOP to move on from Trump, just as Senator Lindsey Graham says the Trump family is the future of the Republican Party. So which is it? We'll discuss that.

And the deafening silence from former Vice President Mike Pence about the riot that put his life in danger.

Plus, in moments, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks live, as he faces more pressure over the alleged cover-up of nursing home deaths.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: "The Wall Street Journal"'s conservative editorial board is declaring former President Donald Trump's political future dead, and urging the Republican Party to move on in the wake of the Capitol riot and Trump's second impeachment trial.

[14:15:00]

The headline of the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper, saying, "Trump's Non- Vindication: He may run again, but he won't win another national election." And the editorial closes with this, quote, "The country is moving past the Trump presidency, and the GOP will remain in the wilderness until it does too."

I want to bring in now -- certainly we should mention that the editorial board at "The Wall Street Journal" was one of the biggest media supporters of Trump. But I want to bring in Amanda Carpenter, who is a CNN political commentator and a political columnist for "The Bulwark," to talk about this with us.

I mean, they say move on. But I wonder, Amanda, can the Republican Party really move on from Trump?

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I would like that to be the case, and certainly Trump and Trumpism has proved to be a political loser for the Republicans. But I cannot take that editorial seriously, or mumblings from other Republicans about how this problem is just going to take care of itself.

Because there was such a willingness to go along with all of the lies. I mean, the big election lie, until the minute there was an insurrection, and even then? I don't see a mass movement of Republicans to say, you know what, the election was fair and Joe Biden was the rightful winner. And so until we can engage with those questions about what went wrong and why so many Republicans went along with it for so long in pursuit of power, Trumpism is never going away. KEILAR: If, say, he does decide to run again in 2024, how will this

vote by Republicans like Mitch McConnell and others who voted to acquit him, how will that be seen, I think, from the outside and also from those folks themselves?

CARPENTER: It'll just be more continuation of the Republican civil war, right? Like, that's what Trump ran on in 2016, beating up the establishment. And even now, I mean, Republicans have twice let him off the hook for impeachment. So you can argue that the party is even more united behind him on the most fringe of fronts, going into another run.

I just -- you know, Mitch McConnell, we really have to examine what he tried to pull off there, over the weekend, in voting for Trump's acquittal but then giving this speech, saying, well, let's put this behind us and someone else, somewhere else will take care of this, the courts will take care of it.

Republicans have been trying to reap the benefits of Trumpism without ever taking responsibility for him since he burst on the scene, and we're really supposed to rest easy now, thinking that maybe some judge in Georgia or some prosecutor is going to put it to rest?

Go read that "Wall Street Journal" editorial. While the same breath that they said that Trump was going to go away, they talked about how it would be so wrong if Republicans ever supported a vote to disqualify him from office. Excuse me? Did we not just witness the insurrection of the United States Capitol, that even Mitch McConnell says Trump was responsible for, and you don't think that's a disqualification for office?

I mean, the fact that anyone could look at the facts of this and not put a vote down to say that he should never be anywhere near a ballot again? Well, you've opened the door, the door is open.

KEILAR: One of, if not the biggest, enabler in the Senate for Trump, Lindsey Graham, now claims that Trump's second impeachment has opened the door to the possible future impeachment of Vice President Kamala Harris. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If you use this model, I don't know how Kamala Harris doesn't get impeached if the Republicans take over the House because she actually bailed out rioters, and one of the rioters went back to the streets and broke somebody's head open. So we've opened Pandora's box here, and I'm sad for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What's your reaction to that?

CARPENTER: I mean, this is why I don't feel good about the future. Because who's telling Lindsey Graham this is nonsense, to stop about the whataboutism and get to the business of actually representing and doing good for the American people? I mean, this conspiratorial, vengeful way of campaigning seems to have

no end, because there's a tolerance for it. I mean, Mitch McConnell can say whatever he wants, but as long as Lindsey Graham is going on every television show and dominating "Fox News" at night, that's the message that gets across.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about something you wrote about that's very interesting. Former Vice President Mike Pence has been so quiet when it comes to Trump's second impeachment trial, despite the fact that he was this focal point of prosecutors' arguments for conviction. And you wrote, in this new piece for "The Bulwark," where you talk about The Strategic Silence of Mike Pence." And wonder if that silence is driven by complicity, cowardice or nihilism. Why has Pence remained silent?

[14:20:02]

CARPENTER: You know, I've been thinking so much about him because he is such an -- I mean, unique figure in the fact that he was perpetrating the big election lie, and then he became a target of it, OK?

Donald Trump and his supporters put a target on Mike Pence's back. And somehow, through impeachment, he's kept quiet. He didn't have anything to say, he didn't want to defend himself, he didn't want to provide any witness as a fact and character witness about what he saw lead up to this and how he experienced it, just as a human being.

But here's the kicker, Brianna. He's not going to stay silent forever. He's in talks, he's going to do a podcast with The Heritage Foundation. He is going to keep talking at some point, so he's going to stay quiet when it mattered, when he had the ability to protect himself, protect us. Because I don't think this kind of violence is over, sadly.

I hate to say that, but he's going to hold his speech until he wants to go out and promote the policies and work with the movement that built up Donald Trump and worked with the people that put that target on his back? I mean, that is just a very dark place. And I wonder if Pence's character and his thinking is just indicative of the broader nihilistic approach that the Republican Party has taken to politics where, you know what, nothing matters except for Trump, not even our own lives.

KEILAR: It's a really interesting column. We only really just got to touch upon it there, Amanda Carpenter, thanks for being with us.

CARPENTER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Next, Senator Lindsey Graham calls Lara Trump the future of the Republican Party as she eyes a Senate run in North Carolina. We will take you live to the state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:32] KEILAR: Along with battling a pandemic and working to resuscitate the economy, add this to the new administration's plate: What to do about the controversial Trump-era postmaster general before he can make moves to reportedly further slow mail delivery? I want to bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes.

And, you know, Kristen, President Biden can't directly fire Louis DeJoy, but now there are calls for him to replace the entire Postal Service Board of Directors. Can the president do that, and are there any indications that he would go that route?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, in terms of whether or not he can, he can in fact remove a board member for, quote-unquote, "cause." And the definition of cause is very loose.

Now, that is exactly what many of these Democratic lawmakers as well as outside groups are calling on President Biden to do. They're saying that the cause is the fact that this Trump-appointed board didn't step in, they didn't intervene when DeJoy was making these massive changes to the Postal Service ahead of the election.

Now, whether or not President Biden decides to go this route -- which is really the nuclear option -- remains up in the air. We know that the White House has this on their radar, President Biden has this on his radar. But what exactly and when exactly they choose to act, that is what is unknown.

And we should note here that Biden wouldn't have to necessarily take that kind of an action to actually stack the board. Just because of term limits, because of the fact that there's still open seats on the board, Biden could technically appoint people now, get a majority and eventually remove DeJoy should the board choose to do so, should he appoint people who had likeminded viewpoints, as he did.

So again, lots of questions on what exactly Biden will choose to do. However, one thing we do know is that DeJoy wants to stay in this position, he has told numerous people close to him he wants to be the postmaster general in this administration.

We know that as early as this week, he's planning on releasing a 10- year plan for the Postal Service. And I've got to tell you, Brianna, a lot of the people I'm talking to inside and around the Postal Service, they are very concerned about this. They hope that it does not include what they saw this summer. They say that's why Americans are already seeing so many delays in mail. They don't want them to see any more -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that update.

Pandemic or not, it is a three-day holiday weekend. And people are taking flight. According to the TSA, millions are ignoring CDC advice against traveling. CNN's Pete Muntean reports the weekend saw a surge at the nation's airports.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this is the busiest air travel has been since the holidays, and what's so interesting is whether or not these numbers will last. The TSA just said 900,000 people passed through security at America's airports on Sunday, 900,000 people on Saturday, more than a million people on Friday, more than 1.1 million people on Thursday.

That means more than 4 million people have flown in four days' time, numbers that the airlines say we would not be seeing if the CDC mandated that domestic travelers get tested for coronavirus before their trip.

That's something that was really thrust into the limelight last week by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He said that the Biden administration was working with the CDC on that, and that any decision would be guided by data. Airlines pushed back hard, and then the airlines met with the Biden administration.

[14:29:46]

And only a few hours after that meeting, on Friday, the CDC and the White House said it was not considering a domestic travel testing mandate, at least not at this time. The CDC, only recommending now that passengers get tested one to three days before the start of their trip, then again three to five days at the end of their trip. Again, just a recommendation.