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President Biden Approves Major Disaster Declaration for Texas; Texas Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Raise Money for Those Harmed by Energy Blackouts and Lack of Water in Texas; COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Falling across U.S.; New Study Examines Condition called Post-COVID Syndrome. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired February 20, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:27]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So grateful to have you with us here on this Saturday, February 20th. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

And we begin with breaking news. Just a few moments ago, President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Texas. Of course, that's after the devastating winter storm that crippled a lot of the state for several days. More than 15 million Texans are now facing a water crisis.

PAUL: They either don't have running water, or they have to boil the water that they do have. Officials say it could be days before the water issues are resolved as well. And temperatures are still below freezing in several parts of the state this morning. More than 76,000 people do not have power after that brutal winter storm just hammered the state for days.

BLACKWELL: But there is some good news. The state's primary power company says the energy emergency is over and temperatures are expected to rise in the next few days.

PAUL: CNN's Natasha Chen is in Houston right now. She has the latest for us. So Natasha, good morning to you. I know that power is being restored to a lot of the people in Texas, but how are they holding out?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this has really become a water crisis. And when you talk about boiling water, that can be hard for those who still don't have power. And there is also concern for the people who are, on the margins, cannot afford bottled water or to go someplace else to stay right now as there are burst pipes in people's homes. Right behind us, we're at the Houston food bank, we have actually three congresswomen speaking right now to the press, Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia representing this area here, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who flew into Texas to help out.

They're talking right now about the millions of dollars they're raising to help the people still struggling right now, and then after they're done speaking to the press, they'll be going inside to volunteer with the food bank for a bit.

So this is one of many distribution sites, events that we're seeing throughout the weekend, food and water distribution, to really help those people who perhaps need that bottled water right now. And if you talk about the availability of running water throughout the city, it's pretty hit or miss right now. You've got some places that have water, some places don't. This building right behind us, all the faucets are taped off, so no one can use that to wash their hands, no drinking water at the fountains. So there's still a lot that is going on here in Houston with the thousands of people as of last night, about 5,000, who called into the city reporting burst pipes.

And so the city leadership, the state leadership, everyone is still closely watching this water crisis, which is of course also affecting hospitals. You've got some hospitals who have gone without water for days. They're using rainwater to flush the toilets. There have been reports that when patients have been discharged, they're actually staying in the lobby if their own homes don't have power or running water either. So there are a lot of considerations here. The worst of the weather event may have passed and the power may be back on, but now you're talking about how long it's going to take for all these repairs to happen. That's where the major disaster declaration that you just talked about is super important, because this gives more resources for temporary housing, for repairs to be made and to cover costs that are not covered by insurance, and for FEMA to really help out more here. Christi, Victor?

BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen for us there in Houston, thank you.

PAUL: And just to reiterate what she's saying, even though the president has just approved that major disaster declaration for Texas, FEMA says it is already there. They're helping residents and people with thousands of meals and blankets and water.

BLACKWELL: This declaration will help boost recovery efforts across the state.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following this from D.C. So what kind of additional help will this bring.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Yes, so this is a significant action by President Biden that will unlock more resources for the state of Texas. So that, we just learned, will include, for example, grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs and assistance for the residents of Texas who have been devastated by the winter storm this week. Now, as you mentioned, FEMA has been on the ground, they have been distributing water, blankets, and generators. but, again, this will bolster those efforts and give FEMA more funds to work with the counties in Texas and help them get back up on their feet.

[10:05:02]

PAUL: Priscilla Alvarez, we appreciate it very much. Thank you.

New businesses have had to get pretty creative to stay open during the winter weather crisis there in Texas. Hotels saw a surge in demand as people left their homes because they were freezing. Marty Miles is the general manager of a hotel group in Galveston, Texas. Marty, we appreciate you taking time for us. I cannot imagine how busy you are right now. What is the situation like for you and your employees at your hotel right now?

MARTY MILES, MANAGER, HOTEL GALVEZ AND SPA: Right now, it's far better than it has been. The last four days have been pretty difficult on the staff, very difficult on the city leaders, and even tougher on the residents. But our town of about 50,000 has been through a pretty tough time.

PAUL: Talk to us and help us understand what your employees are doing above and beyond what they normally do. I think I read that, because of the water issue, an employee has to flush the toilet every time a guest uses it. Is that still happening?

MILES: That ended last night, literally last night. We just got back to full pressure. We just got back to having water levels reach the eighth floor, which is the highest floor of our building at this hotel. The other two hotels are shorter. The guests, frankly, it's been the equivalent of camping indoors. We had four days, we had basically no power, only emergency generator power. And our emergency generators don't control heat, so we had little to no heat. We had no water for two and a half days, and then intermittent and very low pressure water.

Yes, the answer is that we've had to individually flush toilets as needed for our guests. I have about 20 percent of the staff that was able to get to work, because most of them are dealing with their homes with burst pipes and those kind of things.

PAUL: Are you at full capacity in your hotel? How are your guests holding up?

MILES: We took as many guests as we felt we could and still provide safe service. So we cut off our availability at about 60 percent, and then I took in about another 25 percent occupancy I took in of our hotel staff. So those that were without water, without heat, without homes, and/or had to work, we kept them close and warm, as warm as we could keep them, anyway.

The demand was unbelievable. This hotel that I'm speaking to you from is a 224-room resort. We could have easily sold out, easily. I literally ended up putting three additional people on our telephones because we couldn't keep up with the phone demand. Everybody in the city, I think at one point 96 percent of the city had no power, and so everyone was calling trying to find a hotel for some place safe. The employees of the hotels were the first place to call.

There were a few hotels on the island that never lost power, which was congratulations and lucky for them. Congratulations to those guests that figured that out the quickest, because they got their first -- and those hotels did sell out. Most hotels actually closed completely, because they either were incapacitated with broken sprinkler lines, no heat, no water, or they couldn't get their staff in to help.

PAUL: I know that Galveston is no stranger to natural disasters. You're used to hurricanes, to some regard. So what do you think you might have learned in those situations in prepping for hurricanes? Did you learn anything there that served you in this situation?

MILES: Well, what's really interesting about your question is we have really, really well developed and practiced and trained plans for most natural disasters like hurricanes, well documented, everybody knows. But there was no such thing as this. In my mind it's a little bit like COVID where there was no plan because it had never been experienced. I think the learning is that we need to actually create a plan for these types of things.

The hardest part, though, unlike a hurricane, the hardest part unlike a hurricane is that you don't know when it's going to stop. But typically hurricanes last a day or so, and then you can really begin the recovery effort. In this case, because of the rolling blackouts and not knowing when the water would be back, it was a complete stop and go, stop and go, stop and go. So every time we thought we were in the clear, two hours later we started over. So that's the most difficult part.

[10:10:13]

PAUL: We're so glad that you have power back, that you have water back. We're glad for you, for your employees, for your guests. Marty, thank you for taking time to talk to us. Do take good care of yourself and each other.

MILES: I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

PAUL: Thank you.

And for more information about how you can help Texas winter storm victims, go to CNN.com/Impact.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, a new study finds that almost a third of people who had coronavirus still have symptoms up to nine months later. We'll explain why the illness has a lingering impact on the body.

PAUL: Also, the opposition from within the president's own party that could tank his budget director's nomination.

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[10:15:00]

BLACKWELL: This morning there is a growing debate among health experts on whether second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should be delayed in favor of giving more Americans a first dose. PAUL: This follows a new Israeli study that indicates a single dose

could provide up to 85 percent protection three to four weeks later. But Dr. Anthony Fauci warns there isn't enough data to change course right now.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Even though you can get a fair degree of, quote, protection after a single dose, it clearly is not durable. You might actually theoretically be inducing more variants.

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PAUL: CNN's Athena Jones with us now. Despite what we've been talking about, there are some really positive signs regarding COVID, the hospitalizations, the cases, the deaths are dropping nationwide. What are you learning about where this is all going, Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi. That's absolutely right. Good news after the post-holiday surge. We're getting to a point where there's an average of about 70,000 new cases a day. And that's still a high number, but it hasn't been that low since the end of October. In fact, we're seeing the steepest decline in new cases since the pandemic began, down almost 30 percent this week over last week.

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JONES: Encouraging news from the Centers for Disease Control Friday at a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: We continue to see a five-week decline in COVID cases, with cases decreasing 69 percent in the seven-day average since hitting a peak on January 11th.

JONES: Hospitalizations have also declined 56 percent since January, and deaths have declined modestly to an average of about 2,700 a day. Those improving numbers mean that schools can reopen at any stage of community spread according to the CDC director.

WALENSKY: Our numbers are coming down. I would actually invite schools to lean in and to look at what is needed so that in the roadmap to try and get more and more children back to school.

JONES: During the briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccine safety data for high school aged children will likely be released later this year, and children younger than that early next year. But while COVID-19 infection numbers appear to be easing, President Joe Biden said he could not be sure when a majority of Americans would have access to the vaccine.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look what's happening with the weather now, for example. It's slowing up the distribution right now. JONES: Vaccine shipping delays continue to cause headaches across the

United States, with severe winter weather hindering distribution efforts, though officials remain confident those delays will ease within a matter of days.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY, (D) NEW JERSEY: The weather is certainly the here and now reason why it isn't a straight line, but I'm confident that this will straighten itself out in a matter of days. The biggest reason is a lack of supply.

JONES: That lack of supply is driving questions about whether second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should be delayed in favor of giving more Americans a first dose after a new Israeli study indicates high levels of protection after just one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Dr. Fauci said he had not changed his mind about the need for two doses, saying it is too risky given the data about the vaccines.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE: I'm with Tony, I'm with Dr. Fauci in the sense that we know that two doses both give high levels of consistent neutralizing antibody and durability of protection. I haven't seen sufficient data yet to go that single-dose route.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

JONES (on camera): So while we're hearing good news about vaccine effectiveness, they're of course not effective unless they're going into arms. And the situation here at this mass vaccination site, the Javits Center behind me, just like many other vaccination sites across the country, is a lack of supply. We know about the 6 million doses, the backlog of doses due to winter weather and the storms. That we know from the White House is expected to be ironed out in the coming days. They expect all of those backlog doses will be delivered within the next week. Victor, Christi?

BLACKWELL: Let's hope so. Athena Jones for us in New York. Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you, Athena.

So a new study from the University of Washington shedding some new light on what's called post-COVID syndrome. It found a staggering number of 30 percent of people with mild COVID-19 symptoms are still battling those symptoms months later.

BLACKWELL: CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this growing group often referred to as the long-haulers.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MICHAEL REAGAN, COVID LONG-HAULER: I have constant chest pain and pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have some bad brain fog and like feelings of confusion.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What you're hearing is the description of a relatively new phenomenon, post-COVID syndrome. Many people who have it, like 34-year-old Stephanie (ph) Condra (ph) and 50-year-old Michael Reagan, call themselves long-haulers. They were diagnosed with COVID, thought they would get better soon, but are still feeling the symptoms months later.

[10:20:08]

You think about a viral infection like this, you think it's going to resolve, but 11 months later, would you say that you're worse now than you were at the beginning of all of this?

REAGAN: I had a brief period where I felt like I was on the mend, and then the seizures started and then more complicated issues started.

GUPTA: Reagan has been an on-the-go kind of guy, traveling, rock climbing, running. But last March, after waking up in a sweat, he ended up in the hospital for two months. We first spoke last summer.

I honestly thought that when I would speak to you again that we would be having a very different conversation.

REAGAN: Last time I spoke to you I thought six months later that I would be doing cartwheels down Madison Avenue or something. I've been on steroids. I have been on anti-inflammatories. I have been on antivirals, and nothing is fixing it.

GUPTA: So far the treatments have largely been focused on symptoms, nothing yet for the underlying disease itself. And you may be wondering just how common then is post-COVID long-haulers? A new study in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" found that 30 percent of participants who had COVID still had symptoms up to nine months later, 30 percent. The most common, fatigue and loss of smell or taste.

DR. ZIJIAN CHEN, MOUNT SINAI, CENTER FOR POST-COVID CARE: It's very hard to predict who will get these symptoms.

GUPTA: Dr. Zijian Chen is medical director of the Post COVID Care Center for the Mount Sinai Health System. They have seen more than 1,600 patients since they opened their doors in May, patients now waiting months to get an appointment.

CHEN: The patients we're seeing at the center, they're of all races. They span in age from their 20s to 70s and 80s. We have patients who are both male and female of equal distribution.

GUPTA: People who had milder illnesses, are they less likely to have persistent symptoms?

CHEN: I would presume that if you had a preexisting condition that the infection with the virus can worsen that condition. But, again, we're also seeing patients who were previously healthy had somewhat relatively mild illness.

GUPTA: In fact, more severe disease or advanced age do not seem to be predictors of post-COVID. Many coming to the center are under the age of 50 and they never went to the hospital, like Stephanie (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some really bad sinus pain.

GUPTA: Six months after her positive test, she still has inflammation in her heart tissue and memory issues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The neurologist explained there's probably a slight inflammation in your brain, which is why you're feeling the brain fog.

GUPTA: The theory is that the body is essentially now attacking itself, explains Dr. Dayna McCarthy, who is also part of Mount Sinai's Post-COVID Center.

DR. DAYNA MCCARTHY, MOUNT SINAI CENTER FOR POST-COVID CARE: An individual's body is now responding to fight off the virus, but in that process it's then identifying itself as being something that is foreign as well.

GUPTA: A year into this pandemic, there is still so little known about what is driving this. Most striking is that a respiratory virus could then manifest into cardiac issues and neurological ones as well.

MCCARTHY: When you're young and healthy and you're used to being in fifth gear, you're full steam ahead, and now we're telling you, you really have to shift down to allow your body what it needs to recuperate and recover. We are seeing patients get better, it's just glacially slow.

REAGAN: These people aren't just suffering from fatigue or malaise, ro whatever, but they actually have a very real disease.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: Up next, ahead of next week's House vote, President Biden is pushing back on critics who say his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package is too big to pass. Will he be able to win any Republican support?

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[10:28:20]

BLACKWELL: The nomination of Neera Tanden to be President Biden's director of the Office of Management and Budget is in jeopardy. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin says he cannot vote to confirm her. He cites her past tweets and says she will, quote, "have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget." He was asked if he plans to pull her nomination, and the president said no.

Joining me now to discuss, A. Scott Bolden, the former D.C. Democratic Party chairman, and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings, former special assistant to President George W. Bush and adviser to various other Republicans, including senator Mitch McConnell. Gentlemen, welcome back. Always good to have Scott and Scott together. Scott Jennings, let me start with you, first. If Manchin is out, do you think there's any Republican who will vote to confirm Neera Tanden?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, I certainly hope not and I wouldn't think so. Neera Tanden has insulted every Senate Republican. She's called these people everything but a good milk cow over the years. It's particularly nasty partisanship --

SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: What?

(LAUGHTER)

JENNINGS: -- when you look at what she has said. So that, but also, the bigger issue, I think, is conspiracy theories. If you're somebody who is worried about conspiracy theories in politics, Neera Tanden was a terrible choice. She, after the 2016 election, went on a tirade about how Russian hackers had gotten into the voting machines and changed the vote totals. This eerily sounds familiar. It sounds like Sidney Powell who said the same thing after the 2020 election. So righteous move by Manchin, smart move. All Republicans should block vote against this. If you want to take a stand against conspiracy theories and theorists, vote against Neera Tanden, the left's Sidney Powell.

[10:30:07]

BLACKWELL: Everything but a good milk cow. First time I've heard that. Scott Bolden --

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDEN: Scott has come out swinging this morning.

JENNINGS: That's a little heartland wisdom for you guys this morning.

BLACKWELL: And I thank you for it. Scott bolden, let me come to you. She is a firebrand, always has been. For a president who ran on unity and cooling the rhetoric, was she the wrong temperament, tone, choice, to start with?

BOLDEN: These are political tweets, if you will. And news flash, the other Scott, they did. They did hack into our systems. They did attack our democracy. That's hardly a conspiracy. That's for real.

JENNINGS: Are you suggesting they changed the vote totals? Are you suggesting that Russia changed the vote totals?

BOLDEN: I don't know whether they did or not. I certainly know they attacked democracy.

JENNINGS: Come on.

(CROSSTALK) BLACKWELL: Let me just for the purpose of fact. There is no evidence that they changed the vote totals. There is no evidence the vote totals were changed in 2016. Scott Bolden, continue.

BOLDEN: In any event, these are political tweets. She certainly has a right to those political tweets. And let me just say this, it smacks of sexism if you ask me. Ric Grenell was approved after displeasure with his tweets. Machin did support Kavanaugh, one of the most controversial justices we have. And then let's be real clear, Donald Trump was the Twitter in chief, if you will. He attacked everyone, and senators, Democrats, a few Democrats, including the senator from West Virginia, as well as GOP senators certainly supported Donald Trump, the most chaotic president probably in the history of this country.

And so it is the height of hypocrisy and the depth of arrogance for the senator from West Virginia to sit here and say he doesn't want to support her because of bipartisanship. The Republicans aren't interested in bipartisanship, or they certainly weren't under Donald Trump. And so this just really smacks of hypocrisy.

And by the way, Neera is capable, competent, and qualified, and entitled to her political opinions. That shouldn't be a litmus test on whether she gets to be over OMB, or to block her.

BLACKWELL: We'll see if she gets the additional vote to compensate for Manchin pulling out.

Let me come back to you, Scott Jennings. Senator Lindsey Graham playing golf this weekend at Mar-a-Lago with the former president. I wonder, after Minority Leader McConnell's comments during the impeachment trial and then the response from the former president, what is Graham's mission? Is it to calm the former president? Is it to quiet him? This early, is he trying to get him on any specific team? What from your perspective does he have to do on this visit?

JENNINGS: Well, I think Senator Graham, as he has now for a few years, has tried to play someone who can negotiate when the two sides of the party are not getting along, and of course I think it's fair to say McConnell and Trump are not getting along right now. And so he's been a liaison, if you will, from Senate Republicans, to Trump world.

Whether that will have any impact on the president's attitude or not, I don't know. I mean, the ultimate mission for the Republicans, whether it's Lindsey Graham or anyone else, the ultimate mission would be to get as many people in the party rowing the boat in the same direction as possible. And I think that's what Mitch McConnell wants to do. He wants to nominate candidates next year who can win Senate races so they can take back the Senate majority.

I wonder about Trump's mindset, though. I think his mission is more revenge, personal revenge than party building or trying to get back Republican majorities in the Congress. Those are two different goals, and I'm hopeful Senator Graham could have influence on him thinking about how to help the party in the future instead of just help himself. BLACKWELL: Scott Bolden, immigration bill introduced on Capitol Hill

gives an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. an eight-year path to citizenship, no major funding for border protection. Without 10 Republicans to help overcome a filibuster, and also the timing that it is announced while this COVID rescue bill is being argued, is this something Democrats are serious about?

BOLDEN: I think they're serious about it. It's an opening salvo. It has everything in the bill that Democrats, whether you are the progressive left or even if you're moderate, has something in it for them. I think it's a starting point for negotiations.

The real challenge for the Democrats and the Republicans, are you going to do one big bill, notwithstanding the COVID relief bill that has to be a priority, or are you going to break this up into several bills? Either way they're going to need Republican support, and I think they can get there. I think Biden knows he can't get everything in this bill.

[10:30:02]

He's got to management the progressive left. He's got to get DACA through. The investment in Central America that's in this bill, he needs to get that through, too, because that will stem the tide of what motivates individuals to immigrate to the U.S. And in the end we'll have to see what the Republicans and Dems can do.

PAUL: Scott Bolden -- well, let me come to Scott Jennings because he will answer the question. It's realistic that there will be 10 Republicans to vote for comprehensive immigration reform that puts 11 million undocumented people in this country on a path to citizenship without the money for border protection.

JENNINGS: Yes, it's a tough vote, and I don't know. I've always thought we should take care of the Dreamers because they didn't come here through any law breaking. And what is tragic about this issue is during the Trump years, at one point the Trump people had the Democrats talked into $25 billion for the border wall and a fix for the Dreamers, and then he blew the deal up at the last minute. So this problem continued to fester.

I hope something gets done for the dreamer population. I do think Republicans will have a hard time voting for that unless there was significant border security to go with it, because I think the Republican mindset is securing the border has to go hand in hand with any immigration policy changes that we make.

BOLDEN: Yes, there is money in there for beefing up the number of immigration judges and expediting the processes and procedures. That may be something for both sides to negotiate on or to add security for the border.

BLACKWELL: We've got to stop it there. Scott Bolden, Scott Jennings, thank you both.

BOLDEN: Thank you. JENNINGS: Thanks, guys.

PAUL: So the aftermath of severe winter storms is really holding up critical vaccine deliveries across the country and putting a damper on President Biden's vaccine rollout. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is with us next to talk about the challenges facing President Biden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:00]

PAUL: Good news this morning. The power is back for most of Texas, following that winter storm that crippled the state infrastructure. Millions of people, though, still do not have running water this morning, and members of Congress right now are in Houston. Take a look at them there. They're surveying the damage. And among them, Texas Democratic Representatives Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee, as well as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stressed the need to support those who are still suffering in Texas and address the issues that helped contributed to the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): When disaster strikes, this is not just an issue for Texans. This is an issue for our entire country. And our country needs to come and rally together behind the needs of Texans all across the state.

As was mentioned earlier, disasters don't strike everyone equally. When you already have so many families in the state and across the country that are on the brink, that can't even afford an emergency to begin with, when you have a disaster like this, it can just set people back for years, not just for days. And so we have tragedy in this state. We need to rally around the state. We need to rally federal support for Texans and the state of Texas. And we need to make sure that we make short and long-term policy decisions so that this kind of devastation, preventable devastation, never happens again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: By the way, the group also announced that they've raised more than $3 million so far as part of their relief efforts.

The cold weather that's causing delays in getting vaccines to people as well who need them is the latest in the series of problems for the rollout. And a handover between two admissions that handled the pandemic very differently is making it difficult for the country to get control of the situation.

My next guest has some experience in dealing with a new virus and a vaccine rollout. Kathleen Sebelius was the Health and Human Services Secretary for President Obama. She took over the post during the H1N1 pandemic. Secretary Sebelius, so glad to have you with us. I want to benefit, take advantage of your expertise in this area. Is there anything that you learned during that time and the rollouts for H1N1 that might serve the current administration right now?

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, FORMER HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Well, thanks for having me. And I would say the good news is anything I learned, Joe Biden also learned because he was vice president during that critical time, so he has actually been through this process before. What we know is that a national plan from start to finish works very well. There will always be glitches, there will always be more optimistic reporting from manufacturers than actually delivery. There will be glitches along the way, as we've seen with the weather, that cannot be solved. You just have to work through it.

But what's been missing and now is in place, at least for the last four weeks, is a national strategy, very clear efforts on behalf of the American public by the national government, and clear partnership with states, saying we, national government, will deliver these kinds of things to you. Here is your responsibility to mobilize within your state. That has been missing all along, and I think we're really behind the curve when we start this national vaccination campaign because those pieces were never in place.

PAUL: So I want to ask you about testing, because we know that a year later they're still having issues getting testing for people who need it, and I think people are at home wondering -- they understand that the vaccine rollout could have some glitches at this point, but we've been testing for a year. Why are there still hiccups in that regard?

SEBELIUS: Well, again, it was not a priority of the Trump administration. Rachel Walensky, who is now the head of the CDC, has been there for about four weeks. I think there are significant issues to be dealt with at the CDC.

[10:45:04]

There were some early glitches, and then they were really kind of pulled out of the mainstream of this very important testing, tracking, monitoring system. Resources were not given to the CDC to upgrade tests, and there was never really a very good central tracking system put in place. People are scrambling to pick up those missing pieces.

We have been behind on testing from day one. Donald Trump made it very clear he didn't want tests because he thought his numbers would look bad. He thought that testing was the way to overinflate the number of cases. He did not insist that we have a contact tracing and testing program in place before the country opened up in April. So at every step along the way we have been way behind.

I think the catchup can happen quickly. It's going to take not just the CDC with leadership getting their resilience and their testing protocol back in place, but also working closely with university labs and private labs across this country to ramp up and focus on both testing that we need to identify who has the disease, and then the serology test that will tell us more about antibodies and what kind of variant is circulating. But we need both tests and we need them very, very quickly.

PAUL: President Biden, we know, is a proponent of getting kids back in school. Do you think that it is necessary to have some sort of mandate that all teachers be vaccinated before they go back?

SEBELIUS: Well, I think the CDC guidance is very clear. You look at community level of virus, and then, hopefully, teachers get prioritized in the second wave of essential workers. I think that's very appropriate. And we vaccinate as many teachers as possible. I don't think that has to be the precursor for opening the doors, particularly to younger children. I think you're dealing with a harm versus value proposition, and having younger children back in school at this point, having them fed on a regular basis, being in a safe place, having their learning pick up again and pick up pace, having the socialization, and then allowing parents to actually go back to work real time, will be not only helpful to the economy, but more importantly helpful to kids.

What I'm worried about is we're going down the same path again. We say schools are a priority. We say it's really important for kids to be back in school. Too many of them have fallen behind. Meanwhile, governors are rushing to reopen bars and gyms and hair salons. If we want to prioritize kids, let's prioritize kids. Let's be very slow about the other aspects of the economy and really focus on testing and protocol to get schools back open.

PAUL: I only have a couple of second, but you were former governor of Kansas as well. I want to get your reaction to what you've seen happening in Texas. Can a governor or a state government as it is, can it be possible or prudent for them to unilaterally tackle the power issue they had?

SEBELIUS: Well, I think what's proven is that going it alone is really a dangerous place to be if you have an unprecedented climate occurrence, which we're going to see more and more of. So hopefully Texas will regroup and decide that what they need to do is connect to some other people, have an ability to shift power from elsewhere to get connectivity that is more of a smart grid. I find it outrageous that people are saying somehow this is the fault of wind turbines. Texas relies on natural gas primarily, and it was natural gas pipes that froze and were not delivering. And about half the turbines in my understand, worked just fine. So we need Texas to reconnect with the country and they'll be safer and more secure going forward.

PAUL: Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, really appreciate your time today. Thank you.

SEBELIUS: Sure. Good to talk to you.

PAUL: You as well.

We'll be right back.

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[10:53:45]

BLACKWELL: A police officer in Pennsylvania is the latest member of law enforcement to face criminal charges related to alleged involvement in the Capitol insurrection. PAUL: And six Capitol police officers have been suspended with pay, 29

others are being investigated over their alleged actions. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is in Washington. She has the latest for us. What do we know about the investigation this morning, Katelyn? And good morning.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning. That's right, we have 35 members of the police from the Capitol police who are now being investigated. That's for things like taking a selfie with a rioter or wearing a MAGA hat during the riot. And one of the contours that we've seen come out about this investigation, about this riot, is that there are members of this crowd who are members of the police themselves, people from across the country, police forces. Last night we saw new charges against a man out of central Pennsylvania. He was township police there. His name is Joseph Fischer. He had posted a video to Facebook, taken it down, and in that video someone yelled "Charge" toward a line of police.

BLACKWELL: Katelyn Polantz watching the investigation for us, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Katelyn.

[10:55:00]

And thank you so much for being with us this morning. We hope you make good memories today.

BLACKWELL: There is much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up next.

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