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Biden: Must Not Return to Cold War-Style Relations with Russia; Biden Admin. Pledging $2B in U.S. Aid for U.N. Vaccine Effort; Biden Urges Action on Climate Change as U.S. Rejoins Paris Accord; Biden: Climate Change is a "Global Existential Crisis;" Biden: "America is Back. The Transatlantic Alliance is Back;" Biden: Must not Return to Cold War-Style Relations with Russia; Biden Addresses World Leaders Amid New Push for U.S.-Iran Talks; Winter Storms Cause Widespread Delays with Vaccine Shipments; White House COVID Response Team Holds Briefing. Aired 11:30a-12p ET.
Aired February 19, 2021 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm announcing that the United States is making a $2 billion pledged to COVAX with a promise of initial $2 billion to urge others to step up as well.
And even as we fight to get out of the teeth of this pandemic, the resurgence of Ebola in Africa is a stark reminder that we must simultaneously work to finally finance health security, strengthen global health systems, and create early warning systems to prevent, detect, and respond to future biological threats because they will keep coming.
We have to work together to strengthen and reform the World Health Organization. We need a U.N. system focused on biological threats that can move quickly to trigger action. Similarly, we can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change. This is a global existential crisis, and we'll all suffer - we'll all suffer the consequences if we fail.
We have to rapidly accelerate our commitments to aggressively curb our emissions and to hold one another accountable for meeting our goals and increasing our ambitions. That's why as president I immediately rejoined the Paris Agreement, and as of today the United States is officially once again a party to the Paris Agreement which we helped put together.
On Earth Day, I will host a leaders summit to help drive more ambitious actions among the top emitters, including domestic climate action here in the United States. I am grateful. I am grateful for Europe's continued leadership on climate issues over the last four years.
Together we need to invest in the technological innovations that are going to power our clean energy futures, enable us to build clean energy solutions to global markets.
The threat of nuclear proliferation also continues to require careful diplomacy and cooperation among us. We need transparency and communication the minimize the risk of strategic misunderstanding or mistakes. That's why the United States and Russia not withstanding other competition extended the New START Treaty for an additional four years once I came - I was sworn in.
That's why we've said we're prepared to reengage in negotiations with the P5+1 on Iran's nuclear program. We must also address Iran's destabilizing activities across the Middle East, and we're going to work in close cooperation with our European and other partners as we proceed. We'll also work together to lock down fissile and radiological
material to prevent terrorist groups from acquiring or using them. Look, the range of challenges Europe and the United States must take
on together is broad and complex. And I'm eager to hear - I'm eager to hear - I'm eager to hear next from my good friends and outstanding leaders, Chancellor Merkel, about her thoughts on the way forward together. So let me conclude with this: We cannot allow self-doubt to hinder
our ability to engage each other or the larger world. The last four years have been hard. But Europe and the United States have to lead with confidence once more, with faith in our capacities, a commitment to our own renewal, with trust in one another and the ability of Europe and the United States to meet any challenge to secure our futures together. I know we can do this. We've done it before. Just yesterday - after a seven-month, 300-million mile journey - NASA successfully landed the Perseverance Rover on Mars. It's on a mission of exploration, with elements contributed by our European partners to seek evidence of the possibility of life beyond our planet and the mysteries of the universe. Over the next few years - "Percy" is what you'd call it (ph) - but Perseverance will range and collect samples from the Red Planet and pile them up so another mission and rover, envisioned as a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, will retrieve this trove of scientific wonders and bring it home to all of us. That's what we can do together. If our unbound capacity to carry us to Mars and back don't tell us anything else, they tell us we can meet any challenge we can face on Earth. [11:35:00]
We have everything we need. And I want you to know the United States will do - we'll do our part. We'll stand with you. We'll fight for our shared values. We'll meet the challenges of this new moment in history. America is back. So let's get together and demonstrate to our great,
great grandchildren, when they read about us, that democracy - democracy - democracy functions and works, and together, there is nothing we can't do. So let's get working. Thank you all very much. (END VIDEOTAPE) BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: And there we just heard from President Biden, his first major speech to world leaders at the Munich Security Conference. A wide range of topics were mentioned. The first and the one that he ended with being that America is back, reassuring our allies that we can be trusted after four years of a relationship where America seemed to fray from our initially commitments to our world allies and European allies in particular.
I want to bring in CNN White House Correspondent, John Harwood, and CNN International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson. So John and Nic, as we mentioned a lot was covered here from China to Russia to Iran to climate to COVID, but what stood out to me, John, was what the president said. Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values. They are not transactional. They are not extractive. That seems to be to directly say I am not Donald Trump and our policies are going to be different and they're going back to where they were before. Was that enough and is that what you heard?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly what I heard, Bianna, and that message, "I'm not Donald Trump", was shot through the extent of those remarks. It was a variant of the message he's given to Americans, which is that our shared values should bring us together.
He was saying the same thing to America's allies, many of whom have felt bruised by the Trump experience. Very pointed in that way with respect to NATO and Europe and Russia. He talked about how Europe - excuse me, Russia had sought to weaken the European project. He firmly embraced the Article V commitment to the common defense of NATO partners. That's something that Donald Trump had pointedly called into question.
I remember and interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox when Carlson said why should American troops go defend Montenegro if they were to be attacked by a non-NATO power, and the President Trump said, well, yes. I've asked the same question. Donald Trump said, "No. We are committed to that common defense." That is a way of saying to European allies we are standing together with you.
And in the same way he said America alone doesn't get the job done on China, doesn't get the job done on Iran, doesn't get the job done on North Korea, and he's going to commit to working collaboratively with U.S. allies with who we have shared values to try to address those problems from security threats to COVID to the economy as well.
GOLODRYGA: And in a sign of reassuring our allies, he said that he was going to halt sending U.S. troops back from Germany, which is something that the president - President Trump had said that he wanted to do. They will be staying put in Germany, a reassurance to our NATO allies.
But Nic, it also comes at a time when the president - President Biden and his administration is wanting to be a bit more hawkish in terms of our approach to China, in terms of our approach to Russia whether on the humanitarian issue or whether it's just on geopolitical issues and hacking. Europe seems to be caught in the middle and not necessarily wanting to go the same route. Talk about some of the challenges that are going to be ahead for this president, this administration as they say we can do both without having to enter another cold war? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And I think to get to that point we heard from President Biden essentially calling this an inflecting point in history. So he's saying, you know, you've got a choice. You can follow the autocracies. Some people say that's the better way to go, or you can follow the democracies, and he was appealing to allies and partners as fellow democracies.
So that's his big peal - appeal, and that's his big picture. We've heard that laid out before, but this is where, you know, the rhetoric is going to meet the reality. You know, we got a briefing from European Union officials yesterday and they spoke about the E.U.'s decision to go ahead just as president - just before President Biden came into office and strike a trade deal with China. They say they want to be free to be able to do those sorts of things.
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President Biden would far rather have the European Union work more closely on economic - on an economic relationship with China that can potentially provide leverage for the commonalities that we all share in the democracies of our nations. How can we stop and prevent China being an autocracy that damages the human rights of its population, that tries to steal data and information from the United States and its allies' companies and undermine their economic interest?
How can they do that? Well part of that is going to be, you know, in the way that we have a relationship with China. So Europe is not in necessarily in lockstep with President Biden on this. They know where he wanted to go, but they were ready to strike this deal and China was ready to make concessions on that deal to get it in ahead of President Biden coming into office.
So it's not plain sailing, but the big pitch, and this is an emotional pitch, it's a real pitch of what is it we have in common, what are our stakes in this? And t his democracy we are all - we all live in democracies and share those values.
So I think we're going to hear a lot more of that coming from President Biden, and let's see if the European Union will bend to that message a little bit more.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, from China and from Russia as well in the midst of everything that's going on with Navalny and hacking from Vladimir Putin. You still have Germany continuing forward with a major gas pipeline from Russia that many in the west, including in the U.S., are frowning upon and suggesting that may not be the best route.
Also, however, John, we talked about Iran. We heard the president say that he willing to enter - reenter negotiations with the P5+1. Obviously that making our European allies very happy, but at home that may not sit as well.
HARWOOD: That's right, and we've seen a sensitivity at the White House to the choreography of this. What does Iran need to say before those negotiations resume? We've gotten a statement from Iran in the last 24 hours that they were willing to cease uranium enrichment if they can revive that deal - U.S. participation in that deal. That is certainly what our European partners want.
And so, the president saying he's willing to negotiate, the Iranians saying they're willing to halt enrichment, that seems to be setting the table for that to happen. Interesting contrast, though, as Nic was just explaining with respect to China, remember one of the firs things President Trump did on China was pull the United States out of the transpacific partnership, which was intended to be an allied counterweight to China economically.
Though the president has rejoined - President Biden has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement he has not signaled that he's going to rejoin the transpacific partnership. That's an issue that has domestic political sensitivity, of course, some union opposition, some opposition from the left wing of the president's party.
That's going to be an interesting bit of dynamic to watch play out is to what extent does he formally engage with U.S. allies in an economic way to confront China as opposed to talking with them outside the bounds of that large trade agreement, the transpacific partnership.
GOLODRYGA: All right, it's going to be a tight rope for him to walk and navigate by saying remember me? I'm the same Joe, but obviously this is a different administration. This is not the Obama administration and the world has changed in the last four years. John Harwood, Nic, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
Well coming up, the White House COVID response team gives its latest briefing. It's just moments away and we'll bring that to you when it begins. Plus brutal winter storms are holding up critical vaccine deliveries across the country, what the big shipping companies are doing now to catch up. We'll be right back.
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[11:48:15]
GOLODRYGA: And we are moments away from the latest COVID briefing from the White House. We, of course, will bring that to you as soon as it begins. Meantime later today, President Biden will be heading to Michigan. He'll visit a manufacturing plant that makes Pfizer's COVID vaccine as the distribution effort endures weather-related shipping delays.
A senior White House official says - advisor says officials need to work double time next week to catch up, but the weather, well, it may still be a problem. FEMA says more than 2,000 vaccination sites are in areas suffering from power outages.
Joining me now is CNN's Pete Muntean and CNN's Kristin Holmes. Pete, let's begin with you. You've been tracking the distribution challenges. What are companies like FedEx and UPS doing to help with these deliveries and to expedite them?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Bianna, the bad weather's really having a big impact on this vaccine distribution network that's so massive. You know, two companies that are so critical to that - FedEx and UPS - and FedEx says the bad weather has now cause it to bypass its main Memphis hub, instead trying to funnel these deliveries through smaller regional hubs.
UPS says it's still able to make deliveries where the roads are passable -
(CROSSTALK)
GOLODRYGA: And Pete, we are going to interrupt you. I am sorry. We are going to go to the COVID briefing right now.
ANDY SLAVITT, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CENTERS FOR Medicare AND MEDICAID SERVICES: First, FedEx, UPS and McKesson, our logistics and distribution teams, have all faced challenges as workers have been snowed in and unable to get to work to package and ship the vaccines, kits, and the required diluent.
Second, road closures have held up delivery of vaccines at different points in the distribution process, between manufacturing sites to distribution and to shipping hubs.
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Third, more than 2000 vaccine sites are located in areas with power outages, so they're currently unable to receive doses. General Perna's guidance to the team was to ensure safety of personnel, preservation of the vaccines and supplies, and constant communication with the states.
Because of 72-hour cold chain constraints, we don't want to ship doses to those locations, and have them sitting at a site where they might expire. So the vaccines are sitting safe and sound in our factories and hubs ready to be shipped out as soon as the weather allows.
Now, as weather conditions improve, we're already working to clear this backlog. 1.4 million doses are already in transit today, and we anticipate that all the backlogged doses will be delivered within the next week, with most being delivered within the next several days. And we expect we will be able to manage both this backlog and the new production coming online next week.
With everybody's hard work and collective effort, we will be able to catch up, but we understand this will mean asking more of people. UPS and FedEx both will support Saturday deliveries tomorrow. We are working with the jurisdictions to see which ones are able to take Saturday deliveries.
The packaging plant for Moderna vaccines is just now coming online. Roads are being cleared for the workforce to leave their homes. They're working today through Sunday to package the backlogged orders, and we'll put the vaccines and ancillary supplies on aircraft on Sunday night for Monday through Wednesday delivery.
As we get back on track, we're asking states, sites, and vaccinators to help us catch up and to get Americans vaccinated. We know many Americans are awaiting their second dose, and many more, their first dose.
We're asking vaccine administration sites to extend their hours even further, and offer additional appointments and to try to reschedule the vaccinations over the coming days and weeks as significantly more supply arrives.
States and vaccination sites are going to want to be prepared for the additional volume. Whatever reduction we see in our seven-day average this week in vaccinations from the weather, if we all work together, from the factory all the way to the vaccinators, we will make up for it in the coming week.
I want to personally thank the men and women who have continued to keep our operations up and running throughout this storm, and they've been working 24/7 with the states and with local vaccination sites, and my thoughts remained with all of those impacted.
I'll be happy to answer any questions about this topic, but before we turn it over to Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci, I do want to briefly touch on our work to stand up more federally-run sites. Even as we manage the weather on the one hand, we are pushing ahead with plans to get more vaccines to more places, to get more Americans vaccinated.
Today, I'm pleased to announce we will be opening five additional vaccination centers, one in Pennsylvania, and four in Florida. In Florida, we will stand up four major new community vaccination centers in partnerships with the state in Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, and Tampa. These sites will have the capacity to vaccinate a total of 12,000 individuals per day in total.
In Pennsylvania, we're announcing a major new community vaccination center at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. This site will have the capacity to deliver 6,000 doses per day. Selection of all of these sites is based on a CDC FEMA framework that has been developed to target vaccinations to those who are most vulnerable.
The goal is to launch vaccination sites that use processes and are in locations that promote equity, and deploy the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index. The federal government will be deploying teams immediately to work hand in hand with state and local jurisdictions to get these sites set up, and we expect them all to be up and running in the next two weeks.
[11:55:00]
So that's a brief status from the white house COVID response team here. We'll have more announcements to come next week. Now with that, I will turn it over to Dr. Walensky to overview a state of the pandemic and public health. Dr. Walensky.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be back with you today. I have new information to share from CDC regarding ongoing safety monitoring of the COVID-19 vaccines, but before I go into those findings, I want to provide a brief overview of the latest data on the pandemic. We continue to see a five-week decline in COVID cases, with cases
decreasing 69% in the seven-day average since hitting a peak on January 11th. The current seven-day average of approximately 77,000 cases is the lowest reported since the end of October, but still higher than the height of last summer's peak.
Like new COVID-19 cases, the number of new hospital admissions continues to drop. The seven-day average of new admissions on February 16th, approximately 7,200, represents a 56% decline since the January 9th peak. As I reported on Wednesday, the number of deaths continues to fluctuate. The latest data indicate that deaths have declined modestly in the past week, to an average of approximately 2,700 per day.
These numbers are a stark reminder of the thousands of lives lost to this pandemic. Another reminder of the devastating impact that the pandemic has had on our country was brought into clear view yesterday in a report released by the CDC on the provisional life expectancy in the first half of 2020.
The report found that life expectancy was at its lowest level in 15 years, dropping by a full year compared to the life expectancy in 2019. This represents a substantial decline in life expectancy in our nation. Importantly, like the populations most heavily affected by this pandemic, the declines in life expectancy were again most pronounced in certain racial and ethnic minority groups.
The largest declines in life expectancy occurred in non-Hispanic Black persons, dropping 2.7 years, levels not seen since 2001. And Hispanic persons had lost the second largest life expectancy, dropping 1.9 years. These findings, though not surprising, are sobering and representative of the continued need to take this pandemic and actions to stop the spread of COVID- 19 seriously.
Now, more than ever with continued spread of variants that stand up to threaten the progress we are making. We must recommit to doing our part to protect one another. Wear a well-fitting mask, social distance, avoid travel and crowds, practice good hand hygiene, and get vaccinated when the vaccine is available to you.
I also want to spend a moment talking about vaccine safety. To date, more than 41 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but we continue to hear that people might be reluctant to roll up their sleeves because they are worried about adverse effects.
I will reiterate, the CDC is committed to monitoring vaccine safety and frequently reporting on what we know. Today, CDC is releasing a study in the morbidity and mortality weekly report that describes findings from our COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring in the United States from December 14th through January 13th, 2021.
December 14th through January 13th, 2021. During the first month of vaccinations, approximately 1.6 million people enrolled in V- safe, CDCs new phone-based COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring system. Among those enrolled, 71% reported pain where the shot was given, 34% reported fatigue and 30% reported a headache. These are common with most vaccines and they typically resolve within a day or two of vaccination.
It's important to know that about half the people don't feel very well after getting their second dose. This should not deter you from getting your second dose, but you need to have a light day of activity after getting vaccinated.
There were also rare reports of severe allergic reactions like anaphylaxis, a serious, but treatable reaction. In fact, there were 4.5 cases of anaphylaxis per 1 million doses given during this time, a rate similar to what we've seen in other commonly-used vaccines. In the first month of experience, a total of 113 deaths were reported, of which approximately 65% were among long-term care facility residents.
A thorough review of the available data indicated that these deaths were not related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
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