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Millions Face Water, Food Crisis in Texas After Deadly Storms; Biden Approves Major Disaster Declaration for Texas; White House Fails To Provide Clarity On School Reopenings, Teacher Vaccinations; NY Gov. Cuomo Under Fire Over Nursing Home Data; Pennsylvania Officer Accused Of Obstructing Police During Capitol Attack; Nine Alleged Associates Of Oath Keepers Charged In Conspiracy To Attack Capitol; Bad Weather Delays Shipment Of Roughly Six Million Vaccine Doses. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 20, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:01]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. So we're now also getting to see far away what Mars looks like in full color. NASA's "Perseverance" rover has sent back photos in stunning detail of the Martian surface all from about 293 million miles away. The rover landed Thursday in the area where evidence of water had previously been found, and the main goal of this mission is to find signs that life existed there billions of years ago.

All right. Thank you so much for being with me today. I hope you join us again tomorrow.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Erica Hill.

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ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Good Saturday afternoon. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill, in for Ana Cabrera in New York.

We begin this hour with a deadly crisis in the state of Texas. At least 26 dead so far, but that toll is expected to rise. And even as temperatures are finally moving up, the devastation for residents there is far from over.

People in several areas of Texas and surrounding states have no running water. In fact, many, as you can see here, waiting in line to get drinking water after the pipes burst deep freeze. Significant number of families staring down major repairs but a long recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENN STUDEBAKER, AUSTIN, TEXAS RESIDENT: So this is kind of what we're now doing. The water is not even bubbling, nothing. This is -- this is snow we melted for washing faces and hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And breaking this morning, there is federal relief on the way. President Biden approving a major disaster declaration for the entire state of Texas.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Austin right now.

So, Omar, what's the latest there in Austin?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so right now, what the real priority is water for a lot of people. On the electricity front, thankfully, they actually have outages under 10,000 for the first time after peaking at more than 200,000, and so, that is good news.

But again, on the water front, we have seen more than 14 million people across Texas have their water disrupted as a result of in week, leaving people like here in Austin, to come to places like this brewery where they would come over and have their water bottles filled just like this so that they could have actual water for themselves at their home.

We're under a boil water advisory in Austin. And right now, the prognosis is they're a little bit more than halfway at getting the water pressure at a level to where they can distribute citywide.

Now, I want to talk to the two owners here at this brewery helping people fill up on water over the course of really this week.

So, now, tell me about what this week has been like and what you guys have been doing, and how much water have you been able to give out to people?

NAO OHDERA, OWNER, MEANWHILE BREWING: We started this Thursday morning when we found out like a majority of the city lost power Wednesday night and so, you know, I lost power -- water at my house. So, we were like we have two tanks full of filtered good drinkable water. So we were, like, you know, we could use it to make beer. But right now, people need water. So, that's how we decided to give it out.

We started giving water out on Thursday morning. And have given out about 4,000 gallons the past two days. Then we ran out yesterday. But we got the water back on luckily last night. So this morning right away, I came in and started boiling more so we can give out more today.

JIMENEZ: And talking to people that would normally be customers but are now people in need, what have -- what have people been saying to you about, you know, what you've been able to provide?

WILL JAQUISS, OWNER, MEANWHILE BREWING: People have been incredibly grateful. And we're happy to do this. This has just been an awful week for everybody. And we're trying to do what we can to help.

And when -- the water situation got very real for people on Thursday night and Wednesday night, sorry Wednesday night, we decided Thursday morning to give water to people as much as we could. And we've had hospitals, nursing homes, you know, all sorts of organizations reach out, because, yeah, just people are pretty desperate.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and, look, I mean, you guys have had a steady stream of people coming in over the course of the day to get their water filled up. And I mean one of the things we have seen is this process, not just here in Austin but in Houston they've gotten water pressure right about to where their normal levels are. But in Austin as I mentioned we're a little bit more than halfway.

How long are you prepared to do this here at your brewery?

OHDERA: We'll keep doing it as much as we can and as much as our equipment will allow us. And, you know, as long as we have flowing and people need water, we'll try to do this as much as possible.

JIMENEZ: Thank you guys, so much. We appreciate the work you're doing. I know so many people in Austin are appreciative as well.

The city of Austin has also said they've gotten a little more than 10,000 cases of water coming into the city as part of a steady flow that we're expecting, at least from what we've heard from city officials here.

[15:05:09]

So, again, that next frontier is what is going to help Texans get out of the week that was an awful week, where in many cases people were fighting for their own lives inside their homes.

HILL: Yes, certainly, it certainly was awful. That's for sure. Omar, appreciate it. Thank you.

President Biden as I mentioned signed a major disaster declaration for Texas. That will unlock more federal resources. He says he also plans to head to Texas as soon as his visit is not a, quote, burden on the state overwhelmed resources.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is in Washington. White House correspondent Arlette Saenz is there at the White House.

Priscilla, I want to begin with you.

Just give as you sense of how this major disaster declaration will help the state of Texas. What will it change?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: This is a significant development for the residents of Texas, because now they're going to be able to receive more individual assistance. So here's what FEMA says about what the assistance will include. It will be grants for temporary housing and home repairs, as well as loans for uninsured property losses and other programs.

So bottom line, this really will help Texas residents get up back on their feet after a very devastating week there. Now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already remarked on this, a major disaster declaration saying that it is an important first step and that the state is going to continue to work with federal partners as it has over the course of the week.

Again, FEMA has been on the ground providing water, generators, blankets, meals and now, they'll be able to step in even more and give assistance to the individuals who need it.

HILL: So, that's one aspect of it.

As we look at the impact of this winter storm, Arlette, we know it's had a significant impact on vaccination efforts as well. President Biden visiting Pfizer's plant in Michigan yesterday. Did he address that? How did that go?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, President Biden traveled to Michigan not just to promote his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package but also to sell the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The White House has acknowledged that there have been some setbacks for vaccine distribution due to those severe winter storms.

They are encouraging states to expand their hours for appointments so people can get in there to get those vaccines. They are also shipping out much more vaccine than is typically normal, sending out just also this week's shipment but also next week's shipment as well.

But one other challenge that is facing the Biden administration in this moment comes to school reopenings. The president has avowed that he will have schools reopened within the first 100 days. There have been questions about what kind of target that would be.

But yesterday in Michigan the president spoke to some of the things that need to happen for niece schools to reopen safely. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know certain things are necessary. Social distancing, smaller class sizes, ventilation, testing. And the possibility that staff, whether it's the staff taking care of the sanitary conditions in the school or simply you heard me say this before, bus drivers, to open the schools, we need more buses and bus drivers. We can't put kids packed in a bus sitting next to one another.

So, we know the things that have to be done. The question is the order in which we do them is going to determined on what moves the quickest and where the need is the greatest. Obviously we still have to focus on first responders. Our doctors, our nurses, those delivering the services.

But the reason I bother to bore with you that detail is to try to explain to the American people that this is a process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So the president saying there, there are still a lot of issues that need to be worked out. And one big concern for many people is vaccinations for those teachers. The White House had a bit of confusing messaging over the course of the past week. Ultimately, they are saying that they side with those CDC guidelines that say teachers should be a priority for vaccinations but they don't necessarily need to have those vaccinations in order for schools to restart. But these are certainly questions that the Biden administration will

continue to face as they are trying to meet the 100-day goal for reopening schools.

HILL: Arlette Saenz, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you both.

Well, as we stay on the topic of schools for a moment, we know that safely reopening schools is a priority for the Biden administration. You'll recall, Biden's goal to have kids and teachers back within his first 100 days in office. The plan, though, to make that happen at this point is frankly far from clear.

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan joining me now. He served under President Obama and, of course, then Vice President Joe Biden.

Good to have you with us.

You know, the one thing that seems consistent, there is a desire, a real desire as we know to reopen schools. But the administration's messaging on how to do that has been somewhat inconsistent.

So, I'm just curious, when you listen to what you hear in terms of guidance from the administration in the CDC, are you getting a clear message, clear guidance at this point?

[15:10:08]

ARNE DUNCAN, FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY: It is getting extremely clear to me, and I listened and I got myself (ph) spent lots of time talking to superintendents across the country, from Boston to San Antonio to Broward County to here in Chicago. And what I'm hearing from actual school districts seems to be verified by what the CDC is saying is that schools, because they are controlled environments, and when there is strict adherence to safety guidelines, the schools absolutely can open safely.

And that's happening across the country as we speak. They have -- they have to open slowly and carefully, starting with the youngest children first and the children with special needs are the most vulnerable. But we need to get our kids back in school and that is happening and happening successfully all across the country as we speak.

HILL: So, to your point, you know, you're speaking with superintendents across the country. I mean, I see it where I live. My kids go to public school. Our districts versus maybe a district in a town next door, two towns over, the way things are being handled is very different, which plays into questions of not only funding but also the resources in terms of staffing that different districts have.

Do you think there has been enough discussion about, yes, there may be guidelines that can sort of be one-size-fits all. We talk about smaller class sizes, and more physical distance and universal mask wearing.

But the reality is they can't be implemented in the same way at every school across the country. Are we addressing that enough? DUNCAN: Well, I think you're re hitting on a really important point.

We have 15,000 school districts, more importantly, 100,000 school buildings. And how we open them, that's going to vary school by school, again, elementary versus middle versus high school.

But I think the broad parameters are clear. And there is a desperate need to get children back in not just academically. I'm really worried about tens of millions of kids being six months, ten months a year behind. But I'm actually more worried, quite honestly, about the students' social and emotional health.

And we have to really get students in a much better shape before we go back to school this fall. And so, the conversation can't just be about reopening schools carefully and thoughtfully now. But how do we use the summer months much more creatively to help students learn, to help them grow, to help them play and just be kids and to help them heal, quite frankly?

HILL: When we look at that, when we look at the emotional piece of this, and I have to say, as a parent, I think like most parents we are all watching this in real time and seeing how our kids deal with things differently.

How do you address that over the summer? It's not -- I mean, I think most parents agree it's not another Zoom class. It is not something that happens on the Internet, but it happens with real, physical interaction.

DUNCAN: Yeah, I think we're all Zoomed out. So, we would all agree on that one.

But again, where we can open school buildings, have students come in for academic tutoring, but it can't just be the academic part. You have drama, arts, sports, music, chess, robotics, debate, year book, all those extracurriculars that basically disappeared this year, that's what keeps kids excited. That's their peer group, that's their friends. Let's incorporate all of that.

So, let's do again the academic piece, but also, let's do the social and emotional piece, let kids play. Let them pursue their passions and interests. And we have to start the school year this fall in a much better place than where we are now.

If we have tens of millions of kids starting the school year six months, nine months, 12 months behind, they may never catch up. We cannot afford to have a lost generation.

HILL: As -- we certainly can't. I think pretty much every parent would agree with you and even adults who obviously don't have children know -- know the importance there.

Getting schools reopened is not just about the children as we know. It's about the adults who work in these schools, the teachers and the staff. So, 28 states and the District of Columbia have said that, you know, teachers are eligible for now for the vaccine. How much do you think it would change where we're at -- and even

perhaps change the conversation if that entire map that we're showing you now was filled out, if all 50 states and D.C. said teachers and school staff should be eligible at this point for the vaccine?

DUNCAN: Yeah, so teachers, bus drivers, custodians, lunch room attendants should absolutely be at the top of the list for getting the vaccine now. We should do that as fast as we can with tremendous urgency. Having said that, again the CDC has been extraordinarily clear that schools can open safely for everyone, for children, for their families, for the adults, for the staff, for the teachers when all those vaccines aren't yet in place.

So, these two things can happen concurrently, need to happen concurrently and actually are happening concurrently again in many places across the country.

HILL: You know, other thing I want to ask you about before we let you go -- and we talk about the social and emotional wellbeing of children and adults. But as we head back to school, there has been a significant rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the start of the pandemic. There has been a massive spike in the numbers just here in New York City we have seen according to the NYPD.

[15:15:00]

How much should that be a concern and a consideration as schools reopen that this is something to look out for? And this is something to be aware of and so that it can be addressed if it does arise?

DUNCAN: That's a great question, Erica. This has been just a traumatic year. And I think we as adults, frankly, don't even begin to understand the psychological toll, the impact this year has taken for our children. We as adults have never been through anything like this in our lifetimes, hopefully, we never will again.

So, going through the pandemic being separated from their friends, being isolated, that the murder of George Floyd, you know, all the hate rhetoric that former President Trump pushed and the attack on Asian-Americans, we have to listen very, very carefully to our students' fears, to what they are concerned about, to what's going on in their homes, in the broader community.

And we always have to push very hard academically. But we have to take care -- to your point -- we have to take care of our children's social and emotional needs first. That's the building blocks, that's the foundation upon which all the great work we need to do academically is built. And without that foundation, we're kidding ourselves.

So, we have to absolutely be attuned to all the different stresses and trauma that our children have been through this year. It's been too much. It's been way too much.

HILL: Yeah, I think that's something everyone can agree on. Far too much.

Arne Duncan, good to have you with us, as always. Thank you.

DUNCAN: Thank you. Have a great day.

HILL: You too.

New York Governor Cuomo facing allegations his administration covered up COVID deaths in nursing homes. He calls that a lie. But he does say he should have done one thing differently. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:50]

HILL: As outrage grows over allegations that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration covered up the true scope of COVID deaths in nursing homes, the governor is now blaming in part misinformation, saying he didn't confront the misinformation aggressively enough.

Well, this as calls ramp up for a full investigation into Cuomo's handling of the cries. And it also comes amid allegations of political intimidation by the governor.

CNN's Brian Todd as more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew's Cuomo's latest political battle has gotten intensely personal with new accusations of intimidation against the New York governor.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: That's classic Andrew Cuomo. A lot of people in New York state have received those phone calls. You know, the bullying is nothing new. The threats, the belittling, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment, many, many times I've heard that. And I know a lot of other people in the state have heard that.

TODD: The comments to MSNBC by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio who has had a longstanding contentious relationship with Governor Cuomo referred to a call Cuomo made recently to New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim. Kim who criticized Cuomo over a controversy involving nursing home deaths from COVID says Cuomo threatened to destroy his career.

RON KIM (D), NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: Berating, yelling and threatening that I have to issue a statement to -- that invalidated what I heard. He asked me to lie to cover up for his staff. And this was done in front of my family. He called me -- my wife -was next - right next to me. I was, you know, about to bathe with my kids. And it really put, you know, my family and my wife into shock and trauma.

TODD: Cuomo's office tells CNN Kim is lying about the conversation, that there was never a threat to destroy anyone.

Cuomo and his aides say Kim's accusations stem from their history. GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: I've had -- my office more than me

has had a long and hostile relationship with Assemblyman Ron Kim.

TODD: This New York style political brawl stems from backlash Cuomo was getting over his handling of the pandemic. A law enforcement official tells CNN, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn and the FBI are looking at the handling of data surrounding COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in New York.

This comes after a top aide to Governor Cuomo admitted that his administration delayed the release of the nursing home information, because they were concerned the Trump administration would turn it into a political football. It's not clear whether federal investigators are looking at Cuomo himself. Cuomo's solves says it is cooperating with the Justice Department and Cuomo addressed the crisis this week.

CUOMO: These decisions are not political decisions. They're all made on the best information the medical professionals have at the time.

TODD: A far cry from dark early days of America's battle with coronavirus, when Cuomo was looked on as a true national leader.

CUOMO: You guys need a hand?

TODD: At a time few others were. One analyst says Cuomo still enjoys high favorability ratings for handling of the pandemic but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is certainly among the biggest crisis -- political crisis that the governor faced since he came into office, if not the biggest. You know, the difference here is the attention that he's getting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Asked by CNN to comment on Mayor de Blasio's remark that he's bully, Governor Cuomo's office didn't respond specifically but did send us an email calling Assemblyman Ron Kim, quote, unscrupulous.

Meanwhile, some New York lawmakers are calling for Cuomo to be stripped of his expanded emergency powers.

And in Washington some Republican senators are calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the nursing home controversy.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

HILL: Joining me now, CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York 1, Errol Louis and CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Rodgers.

Great to see you both this afternoon.

So, Jen, you penned this op-ed for CNN this week, arguing Governor Cuomo and his administration's handling of the nursing home deaths really calls for a serious investigation. Tell us why.

[15:25:00]

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, for a variety of reasons. I mean, you have a situation where there are allegations that the governor and his top health officials withheld information from the state legislature. So, that warrants investigations in the state.

Then you have the part that, you know, apparently there was a federal investigation going on through the Department of Justice. And the question is, what did he do with that investigation? Was he also withholding information from the Department of Justice? If so, the feds want to get interested in that. And in fact, since I wrote the op-ed, of course, a bunch of information has been learned that there are such investigations going on.

HILL: As we look at where we're at, Governor Cuomo, Errol, has blamed this in part on federal policy, some early concerns about hospitals being overwhelmed in terms of the policies that were in New York state. He says there are issues with misinformation. But in a lot of ways he is saying I would still make the decisions. We turned out -- in a lot of ways New York state did really well.

There was a point, though, that these policies as I understand it, Errol, could have been changed and a little bit earlier on. Can you just -- I mean, set the scene for us again? Bring us back to like, how we got to this point?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We go to this point. It's March, Erica, we have a crisis on our hands. We have credible sources like McKenzie, the consulting firm like Columbia University, the school of public health, saying that New York state needed 140,000 hospital beds in a state where we only have 53,000 hospital beds.

And so, in the course of dealing with the emergency, one of the orders that came from the Cuomo administration was instructing people, instructing nursing homes in particular that if the hospital bed is freed up, if somebody is well enough, even if they've had COVID-19, if they're well enough that they can leave they've got to leave, they got to free up the hospital bed, they got to go back to the nursing home.

It was controversial at the time, as it turned out we didn't need nearly that many. I think we topped out at 20,000 hospital beds needed at any one time at the height of the pandemic. But nevertheless that was the order.

Now, by the time it was rescinded in may you've got about six to eight weeks during which the policy was in effect. And that's what the fight is all about.

Should those people have been sent back to nursing homes? Could it have been avoided? And most importantly, at this point, why didn't the state simply fess up and give up the information about what was happening so that people could make better decisions about their loved ones and about -- about state policy? HILL: And that's something that we -- we're not getting much of a

clear answer to. I'm interested as we look at the push of what's happening here in New York state.

We know there is a bipartisan push to strip him of emergency powers as Brian Todd mentioned. Democrats, you know, really very vocal about that as well, including one state senator who was on with us on CNN earlier today.

The other thing, though, as we look at this, is, okay, let's say those emergency powers are stripped. Jennifer, so what toes that actually change? Does governor actually need the emergency powers at this point in the pandemic?

RODGERS: Well, he might. I mean, the benefit of emergency powers is the ability to act quickly. Legislatures don't move that quickly. You have to draft bills. They have to get together, they go through committee, they have to negotiate and debate.

The governor can move much more quickly with executive orders and the emergency powers gives him the ability to do that. You know, where we are in the pandemic, things seem to be getting better. But certainly if I were Governor Cuomo I would be arguing -- and I think many people even in the legislature agree with this -- that he still needs the ability to move quickly if necessary when it comes to emergency powers.

So I'm not sure at the end that even the people who are furious with him about this nursing home situation are going to strip him of those powers right now, until we're really out of the woods.

HILL: When we look at what has a lot of people frustrated, certainly if you talk to New Yorkers and you read some of the reaction from New Yorkers online, is I think too really when we pull back the curtain and you see how the sausage is made in this. And politically it's not pretty, Errol, and it raises a lot of questions.

As I mentioned, a New York state senator was on CNN just a short time ago with my colleague Fredricka Whitfield. And here's some of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALESSANDRA BIAGGI (D), NEW YORK STATE SENATOR: It's not acceptable to withhold information, number one, from the Department of Justice for any political reasons. I think the thing that's perhaps the most controversial is the fact that his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, was in a closed door meeting with legislatures and said that the reason we didn't share those numbers is because we didn't know how it would be used against us an administration. That is incredibly troubling to hear. Why? Because 15,000 lives were lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It's true, Errol. I mean, that's not sitting well be understandably. LOUIS: And it shouldn't. It really shouldn't, Erica.

I mean, look the standard that people have the right to expect of their government is that they are going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They'll let the chips fall where they may.

[15:30:03]

And if the Trump administration, which is entirely credible, wanted to make political hay and make a spectacle out of criticizing the New York governor, they were going to do that anyway, whether you give them information or not.

So give them the information they're asking for and move on to something important like saving lives.

As it turned out the Trump administration did criticize Cuomo. It turned out the Republican establishment did go offer Cuomo. And it turned out that they lost at the polls anyway.

So it was kind of all for nothing, which adds an extra range of tragedy to this, you know.

And then, of course, the real victims here are families. Families who had loved ones in nursing homes didn't know what was going on and had had to make agonizing decisions.

Do you take them out and try to bring them home? Is this nursing home a site of danger? Should I leave my grandmother? Should I leave my parents there?

They had to do it without the kind of information they needed and they deserve to have. That's the real tragedy here.

HILL: Errol Louis, Senator Biaggi, thank you for joining us. Certainly not the last time we will be discussing for sure. Thank you.

LOUIS: Thank you.

HILL: Up next, more charges filed following the Capitol Hill riot, including charges against a Pennsylvania police officer.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:39]

HILL: A Pennsylvania law enforcement officer is now facing several charges for his alleged role in the January 6th insurrection at the nation's capitol.

And 55-year-old Joseph Fischer is a member of the North Cornwall Township Police Department, just outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to federal prosecutors, Fischer posted video of himself

online showing his alleged brawls with U.S. capitol police officers trying to defend the building.

Joining me now, CNN crime and justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz.

Kaitlan, what are you learning about Officer Fischer's arrest?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Right. So this is a police officer who is charged in the situation of obstructing law enforcement, obstructing other police inside the capitol.

We have seen other police that have been charged related to the riot, for taking part in the riot who had come to Washington to support President Trump.

In one is a little bit different, although, there are things about it that are quite similar to what we have seen in the way the investigators have gathered evidence.

In this, the prosecutors gathered video from Facebook that he had posted and then taken down. In the video, it showed a group of people pushing towards a police officer line inside the capitol, someone yelling, "charge."

And then they also were able to see Joseph Fischer's messages over Facebook, which said, "The FBI may arrest you, LOL." And that he had no regrets.

We could probably see him in court this week. And we are not sure what the Justice Department will want to do, whether they want to keep him detained, and what a judge would do in that case. But that is coming up this week, we expect.

HILL: We'll be watching for that.

Meantime, nine alleged associates of the right-wing Oath Keepers group have also been charged in a conspiracy to attack the capitol. What do we know about those charges?

POLANTZ: We've known for a while that there were leaders among the Oath Keepers, the group of nine, that had been coordinating. They had been charged previously with conspiracy.

Now the federal investigators are adding six new people to that saying there were nine in total who coordinated, talked beforehand, talked about doing manipulator training, or paramilitary training. Talked about coming to Washington, met up the morning of the riot.

And then what we see in the court documents and also in some publicly available video out there is that there are images of these people who are -- have patches on their uniforms saying Oath Keepers.

That they are marching together as part of the crowd in paramilitary gear, body armor, helmets. And they have hands on top of one another. It's called a stack formation. It helps them cut through the crowd and plow into the capitol.

That's what we see in these charges this week. We do expect to learn much more about them as well.

We think we'll see at least one of the Oath Keepers in court on Tuesday for a hearing. And the others are just being brought in following their arrests and their charges in North Carolina, Florida, Ohio -- Erica?

HILL: All right. Katelyn with the latest for us. Katelyn, thank you.

Just ahead, the severe winter weather causing delays in vaccine shipments and deliveries. All of this, of course, during a critical period. We are really in this race to get as many people as possible vaccinated. Our medical experts discuss the impact next.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:00]

HILL: The race to get Americans vaccinated hit a huge speed bump this week. A series of winter storms not only knocking out power but deep snow and ice also helping to cause shipping delays.

Delays for roughly six million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Texas to New England. Bad weather forcing the closure of many vaccine sites.

So what happens now?

CNN Medical Analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder is with us. She is an infectious disease specialist and also served on the Biden/Harris transition COVID-19 advisory board.

Good to see you this afternoon.

Give us a sense how serious of a setback mass the weather been this week.

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Erica, I do think we made significant progress over the last month or two in terms of scaling up vaccination. And I think it's really important to recognize that.

About 60 million Americans across the country have received at least one shot. About 40 million have received only one shot, 60 million have received one or two shots.

So that's really tremendous progress towards this goal of getting 100 million shots in arms by 100 days.

I think big picture, this is a minor setback. We have lost, yes, about a week's time where we could have been continuing to scale up vaccination. But I think we'll make up for that soon.

HILL: You don't think it's a big deal, it sounds like?

GOUNDER: I think it's a setback. But I think that if you look at the numbers we're still hitting an average of 1.5 million Americans vaccinated per day across the country. And we're continuing to scale that up.

So I think we're continuing to remain on trend with massive increase in vaccine supply predicted, come later this spring and in the early summer.

HILL: We've heard a lot of different dates -- by dates, I mean months, really -- that have been thrown out there in terms of when vaccines will be readily available for -- essentially for all Americans.

So the latest being that there should be, let's see, triple the number of COVID doses on hand by May, according to the CDC, and enough to fully vaccinate the population by July.

[15:45:05]

So this is the latest one. Does that sound reasonable to you in terms of timeline? Can we bank on that one?

GOUNDER: Just with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Biden administration contracted with Pfizer and Moderna to receive a total of 600 million doses by the end of June.

And 600 million doses with, divide by two because that's two-dose vaccine. That's 30 oh million that we could vaccinate with the supply which, by the end of June.

That's the vast majority of people. We have 3,030 million American people.

Even without the Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines coming online, we should have enough by the end of July for every American people who want to get vaccinated.

HILL: That's the key, the people who want to be vaccinated. We know that's one hurdle.

But another issue, if we're looking at the popular and we're talking about herd immunity, which we talk a lot about, and how important the vaccinations are getting to that point.

The reality is there are a lot of kids in this country. And they figure into the population. They are not getting vaccinated right now.

So how could that impact this goal of herd immunity, and even the timelines that we are seeing?

GOUNDER: That's a really important point, because the clinical trials on children are being -- they're enrolling these kids now. So we won't really have any data until at least the fall on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in kids. I think of this a bit like a car where you don't want to take your

foot off the brake until you had a chance though put the car in park and turn off the ignition.

And so we -- in terms of keeping your foot on the brake, that means we need to continue the masking, the social distancing, the non- -- avoiding non-essential travel until enough people have been vaccinated.

It's once you get to that point where enough people have been vaccinated that you are putting that car into park and turning off the ignition.

HILL: I love a good analogy, especially involving a car. I like that one. I can picture it well.

There's been so much talk about, do you really need both doses of the vaccine? Shall we just vaccinate as many people as possible, as we know.

And this week, the new study out of Israel, looking at a single dose of Pfizer vaccine, 85 percent effective. Dr. Fauci says you should stick with the two doses.

Just walk us through this here. Because 85 percent effective is still remarkable.

GOUNDER: I have to say, you know, my own bias is I do agree with Dr. Fauci on this one. But this is a -- to be fair, being very hotly debated among the experts. I don't think there's clear consensus.

But the way I think about is with one -- this expression, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. And with one dose, let's say you get 10 apples with two doses, you get 100 apples.

The challenge is, even with 10 apple i's enough for the regular strain of the virus. But with the mutant strains it may not be enough. It is for now.

But what we're seeing is a diminution, a reduction in the effectiveness of these vaccines against the variants. So you really want to get that 100 apples a day to protect you against the variants that are continuing to mutate right now.

HILL: To get as much protection as you can.

Dr. Celine Gounder, always appreciate it. Thank you.

GOUNDER: Thanks.

HILL: Just ahead, a decree from the Vatican makes it clear where the Holy See lies on COVID-19 vaccine. That's next.

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[15:53:08] HILL: The Vatican is taking Pope Francis's pro-vaccine stance very seriously in a message to employees: Don't refuse the COVID vaccine.

CNN's Delia Gallagher explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: The Vatican has told its employee, if they don't get vaccinated for COVID-19, they risk losing their jobs.

The decree from the governor of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, calls vaccinations a responsible decision. And says that those employees who refuse without a legitimate health reason may be transferred or have their contract terminated.

Pope Francis is a big proponent of vaccinations for COVID-19. He himself has been vaccinated. And he has called it an ethical choice.

The Vatican with about 4,500 employees. And they began vaccinations for employees and their families on January 13th.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Vatican has reported 27 cases of coronavirus. Most of those occurred amongst the Swiss Guard, who live together in barracks inside the Vatican walls.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: On this week's new episode of CNN's original series, "STANLEY TUCCI SEARCHING FOR ITALY," it's a search for the perfect pasta.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY TUCCI, CNN HOST, "STANLEY TUCCI SEARCHING FOR ITALY": All right, so he's spreading out the leaves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

TUCCI: Look at how beautiful that is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Salad?

TUCCI: Salad.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

TUCCI: That's the best one I've had. It's delicious.

[15:55:03]

(voice-over): It's so addictive. It's like eating candy. You just can't stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Your chance to experience Rome like never before on the new CNN original series, "STANLEY TUCCI SEARCHING FOR ITALY," that's tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Up next, water systems in Houston and Austin are coming back online. Boil-water advisories, though, remain in place for many residents. We're going to take you live to Texas for an update, next.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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