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Did Pence Aide Suggest Trump Dragged Feet During Insurrection?; Biden Tours Pfizer Vaccine Manufacturing Facility; Manhattan DA Enlists Top White-Collar Crime Prosecutor in Trump Inquiry; South Dakota AG Charged with Misdemeanors in Fatal Crash. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired February 19, 2021 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: So it's interesting to hear Marc Short talk about all of this.
Obviously, there were a lot of, you know, tough feelings inside Pence world because they felt -- and we reported it at the time, Brianna -- that they felt Trump did not reach out quickly enough to Mike Pence making sure he and his family were OK as they were evacuating with the Secret Service on January 6th.
The other thing we get into briefly, Brianna, is what happens next with this relationship between Trump and Pence.
Marc Short said during the interview -- this was the other newsworthy item I think -- that Trump and Pence have been speaking since January 6th and they did speak earlier this week. These two are in conversation with one another.
And I think one of the things we'll look for in the coming days, Brianna, CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, takes place next week in Orlando. It's whether or not these two men re- emerge and appear with one another at that event.
I was just talked with a source close to the former president a short while ago. This source did confirm Trump is considering going to CPAC, appearing at CPAC and speaking at CPAC.
It's under consideration at this point and it's possible he'll attend. We should know whether or not that will happen in the next day or two.
But if Mike Pence is positioning himself to run in 2024, you would think, Brianna, he would also want to be at that conference.
As you know, Brianna, covering this stuff for so many years, that is a highly, highly influential conference inside the Republican Party -- Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Jim Acosta, thank you so much.
Let's go to Michigan now where the president is at the Pfizer factory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: They're in Portage, Michigan. He is touring Pfizer's manufacturing facility where millions of the nation's first doses of the coronavirus vaccine have -- they actually rolled off the production line in December. This is kind of where it all started.
I want to bring in primary care physician, Dr. Saju Mathew.
This -- we're watching this. He's visiting. This is so important because it's what's on everyone's minds right now, right, or a lot of people's minds. They want to know, when can they get the vaccine. There's not enough for those who want it.
And we're watching the president. This is going to be the biggest test, along with economic recovery when it comes to his presidency.
So let's start, Dr. Mathew, with this vaccine. There's a new study out of Israel that shows one dose is 85 percent effective. I wonder if this is, you know, is that a game-changer? Could it help maximize the vaccines?
DR. SAJU MATHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN & PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: Brianna, that's actually exciting news. We already know the two doses of Moderna and Pfizer give you 95 percent. Now we saying there's studies to show you get 85 percent protection. That's huge.
I remember Dr. Fauci mentioning way back when the pandemic started we would accept a vaccine that would be 50 percent effective.
The only concern I have is, why one shot can give you 85 percent. Remember, two shots give you 95 percent.
And if this U.K. strain becomes the predominant strain, which is more contagious and perhaps more lethal, more people could die. So I think more of the vaccine is better than less of the vaccine.
But to answer your question, 85 percent, after one dose, two to four weeks later, is good news.
KEILAR: I want to talk a little about what we're seeing. I'm not sure if you can see it, Dr. Mathew, on your screen, but this is the storage.
And we're seeing the folk whose work there at this Pfizer plant where they have their gloves on. I assume because what they're dealing with is very cold as they're putting these vaccines into storage.
Tell us a little more about the storage are and the storage challenges of these vaccines. MATHEW: Right. So one of the biggest challenges with the Pfizer
vaccine, which is a new platform of the mRNA vaccine, it has to be stored in ultra-cold temperatures. Otherwise, the virus can be inactivated.
It is in a lipid molecule, if you will, embedded in a lipid molecule and that's what's introduced.
For that lipid molecule to not desaturate or melt away, the Pfizer vaccines have to be stored in minus-73 degrees Celsius. That is ultra- cold temperatures.
What's interesting is, we see the videos of people in the factories, Brianna, is the fact that the study in Israel, and we just talked about earlier, is also suggesting that maybe these vaccines don't have to be stored in ultra-cold temperatures.
[14:35:06]
And that also would be a game-changer in addition to the fact that maybe we can give people one vaccine, which is 85 percent effective.
KEILAR: And then one other thing I want to ask, as we look here at the president, who's double masking. It appears he's got an N-95 and cloth mask on top. And the folks around him either have both of those things or just an N-95.
What do you make of that? Is that what we all should be doing?
MATHEW: So when we talk about double masking, I'm a huge believer in that, Brianna. I think it's because of the strains we think can be more contagious and get into the nose easier.
If you're double masking, I recommend the first mask should be a medical mask, a surgical mask, an N-95, if you can get ahold of one, or a KN-95. On top of that, you wear a cloth mask.
The reason for that is, by putting the cloth mask on top of the medical mask, it's a tighter fit and there won't be a lot of leakage from on top or bottom of the mask.
Double masking, I think, is absolutely going to be key. It also depending on the tine of activity that you're partaking in.
KEILAR: Thank you so much. I know these are just the questions we still have. It feels like coronavirus is a moving target. It's helpful to revisit.
Dr. Mathew, great to see you.
MATHEW: Thank you.
KEILAR: Next a significant development in the investigation into Donald Trump's finances. The Manhattan D.A. adding a white-collar crime prosecutor to the team.
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[14:40:45]
KEILAR: We have been monitoring President Biden's trip in Portage, Michigan, to the Pfizer factory, where the first vaccines went out back in December and obviously operations continuing their tour. He is touring this facility right now.
We are going to be monitoring his trip here. And he's going to speak soon. We'll bring that to you as soon as it begins.
Meantime, the Manhattan D.A. has added a top white-collar crime prosecutor to the team that's investigating former President Donald Trump and his company for possible fraud claims.
Mark Pomerantz is a highly regarded trial attorney and will now serve as a special assistant district attorney. Pomerantz headed up the criminal division at the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan in the late 1990s.
Seth Berenzweig is with us now, a white-collar defense lawyer and a constitutional attorney.
Seth, what does this mean that Pomerantz is joining the team?
SETH BERENZWEIG, WHITE-COLLAR DEFENSE ATTORNEY & CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY: Well, it's been a busy week for the Manhattan district attorney's office, and the hiring of Mr. Pomerantz indicates really a very clear clue on where they're leading.
This is a very renowned, nationally known prosecutor. He specializes in corporate crime, business fraud, RICO cases.
And very interesting to also note that they have recently hired from that office, FTI Consulting, a well-known business, company, a business consulting firm that also focuses on, among other things, business fraud and forensic accounting. And they also can serve in trials, including criminal litigation.
I think it's an indication that the speed and momentum of this train is really picking up. We have more subpoenas. We have more witness interviews.
Michael Cohen was interviewed again yesterday for the fifth time. I doubt they'll rely on him heavily if there's a returning of an indictment.
But you know, Michael Cohen still serves an important purpose, basically, a traffic cop for uncovering documents. He's able to show where all the bodies are buried, where all the documents lie.
And this is going to be a very document-oriented case. It's probably will be focusing on business fraud specifically, insurance fraud, banking fraud, tax fraud. That's the indication.
And based upon this hiring and this development, they're picking up steam.
KEILAR: Yes. No, lots of new developments.
Seth, I really appreciate you putting them into perspective.
Seth Berenzweig for us there.
I want to get back now to Michigan where we are watching President Biden's trip to the Pfizer factory there.
And Jeff Zeleny is there on the ground tracking this visit, this key visit of the president's.
Jeff, tell us what we'll expect here.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, seeing President Biden the last several minutes walking through the facility, you can see it behind me here.
Of course, the very images, the same factory floor the world saw December 13th when the vials were packed, filled, and trucks rolled out of this lot in Portage, Michigan, just outside of Kalamazoo.
Now President Biden seeing with his own eyes how the facility works.
It's also important -- this is the vaccine he received in December and again in January. He's been the recipient of this vaccine dose.
But he's traveling along with Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and other plant officials.
This is the vaccine that must be frozen to a certain temp. So he's watching all of this production happen.
After he finishes his look around the facility here, which employed some 2,500 people here in the southwest Michigan area, he'll be making his speech about the need to increase the speed of the vaccination. That's what is at issue here.
He's used the Defense Production Act to speed up production of this vaccine. So that is his point of being here.
Of course, trying to get 300 million vaccines to Americans by end of July -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Jeff, thank you so much for that. Jeff Zeleny in Portage, Michigan. We'll continue to monitor the trip.
[14:44:51]
And next, I will speak with a family of a South Dakota man who was struck and killed by a car while walking on the side of the highway. The state's attorney general was behind the wheel. Details ahead on why he's only charged with misdemeanors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: South Dakota's attorney general, Jason Ravnsborg, has been charged with three misdemeanors for hitting and killing a pedestrian with his car on the side of a highway last summer.
That man was 55-year-old Joseph Boever. He had been walking on the shoulder of the highway when he was hit.
Ravnsborg called 911 after the crash at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 12th.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
JASON RAVNSBORG, (R), SOUTH DAKOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm the attorney general, and I'm --
(CROSSTALK)
RAVNSBORG: I don't know. I hit something.
DISPATCHER: You hit something?
[14:50:00]
RAVNSBORG: By Highmore. Highmore. And it was in the middle of the road. It sure hit me, smashed my windshield.
DISPATCHER: Oh, no. OK. Do you think it was a deer or something?
RAVNSBORG: I have no idea.
DISPATCHER: OK.
RAVNSBORG: Yes, it could be.
(END AUDIO FEED)
KEILAR: Now the next day, Boever's body was discovered. Crash investigators say Ravnsborg was distracted at the at the time but did not find signs of alcohol use.
Still, it took prosecutors five months to announce a charging decision.
Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for each of the three misdemeanors, but he's avoided more felony charges.
A sample taken after the day of the crash showed his blood-alcohol level at that point was zero percent, a point noted by prosecutors when addressing why Ravnsborg wasn't charged with manslaughter.
Joining me now is Nick Nemec, who is the cousin of Joe Boever.
Nick, thank you so much for being with us.
We are so sorry for your loss of your cousin and what your family is going through. And you've seen these charges, careless driving, driving out of his lane, operating a motor vehicle while on his phone. What's your reaction to these charges?
NICK NEMEC, COUSIN OF JOE BOEVER WHO WAS STRUCK AND KILLED WHILE WALKING ALONG HIGHWAY: I think they are too little. Sadly, in the months since my cousin was killed, I did some research on South Dakota law.
And different lawyers had talked to me and warned me that this might be the eventual outcome. And so I had prepared myself for a charge of, you know, crossing the white line. And that's exactly what happened.
The South Dakota law is totally inadequate when it comes to this kind of situation. The only way you could have gotten vehicular manslaughter in South Dakota would have been had he been drunk, had the driver been drunk.
And so in South Dakota, apparently, you can -- so long as you're not drunk, you can run over a pedestrian and escape with just misdemeanor charges.
KEILAR: What do you think would be an appropriate charge here?
NEMEC: I would like to see the state law changed so that vehicular manslaughter could apply in this case.
The man was clearly not paying attention, was negligent in his driving, and he killed a man.
But state law doesn't allow for that charge. It specifically states that the driver has to be intoxicated.
KEILAR: He, the attorney general, said he hit something. Do you think he knew he had hit a person?
NEMEC: Yes. I've spent many hours examining the crime scene. My brother and I have gone out there with a 200-foot tape measure and measured every aspect of that crime scene.
And -- and from the point of impact, what we thought was the point of impact, to the break, the tire skid marks that were made when he stepped on the brakes, it's just too short of a reaction time.
And I think the attorney general saw my cousin ahead of time and began reacting and stepping on the brakes sooner than what people think.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Ravnsborg released -- you think he saw something. He released a statement after the charges were announced, and I want to read part of it here.
It says, quote, "I appreciate more than ever that the presumption of innocence placed within our legal system continues to work. I have and will continue to pray for Joe Boever and his family. I cannot imagine their pain and loss and I do send my deepest condolences to them."
What is your reaction to that?
NEMEC: Well, that's the first time he's offered condolences to any family member. It's been over five months. It would be nice if he did it in person rather than through a press release.
He's a politician. He's an elected official. I'm a former elected official. And I intend to do everything I can within my power to ensure that he does not win re-election.
KEILAR: You want him -- you want to talk to him in person though genuinely, Nick, do you mean that?
NEMEC: Yes. And -- and not so much for me. I'm a cousin. Call and talk to each of Joe's siblings individually. Talk to Joe's wife. Talk to Joe's mother. I'm a cousin. I'm kind of far down the totem pole on this. But those people have a much closer connection to Joe than I do.
[14:55:14]
KEILAR: What do you think that would mean to them to get that call?
NEMEC: I don't know. They may just think it's a meaningless gesture, and maybe it is. I don't know. Sadly, nothing that can be said will bring Joe back.
KEILAR: A big thank you to Nick Nemec for taking the time to speak with us today.
We're back in a moment.
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