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New Single-Dose Vaccine Nears Emergency Use Authorization; Biden's $1.9 Trillion Relief Heads For Senate Showdown; CPAC Becomes Base For Trump Reboot With His Speech Tomorrow; Conservatives Celebrate Trump At CPAC Despite Election Loss; New Yorkers Unite At Rally Against Anti-Asian Violence; Thousands Of Migrant Families Surging Toward The Border Prompts Biden's First Migration Crisis. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 27, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:12]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnson & Johnson's single shot vaccine is now a step closer to being rolled out in the U.S.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: More vaccine is on the way. We are at the precipice of having another vaccine in our toolboxes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody who got the J&J vaccine, no one was hospitalized and no one died.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): They want him to go away. Let me tell you this right now, Donald J. Trump ain't going anywhere.

MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been called clowns and deplorables and ignorant rednecks. We've been called the evil resistance.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: What were your thoughts on the violent insurrection incited by Trump at the Capitol?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, that's all such a lie. That was all the left. We have all the proof. There's tons of proof.

O'SULLIVAN: When he lost the election, they said he has a plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Trump didn't lose the elections, sir. Trump didn't.

O'SULLIVAN: But he did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump did not lose the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world on a Saturday evening. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And any minute now, we will find out if Americans will soon have a third vaccine to fight COVID-19. This evening, the F.D.A. is expected to grant Emergency Use Authorization to Johnson & Johnson's single- shot vaccine.

Researchers say that it demonstrated total protection against COVID- related hospitalizations. Now, this is a major step toward providing protection for millions of Americans.

More than 72 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have already been administered, up to two million more from yesterday.

CNN's Natasha Chen joins me now and Natasha, you have seen your fair share of the vaccination process there in Atlanta at the Mercedes Benz Stadium site. Tell us though, how an F.D.A. Emergency Use Authorization for a third vaccine will change the game here.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now Pamela, that likely third vaccine rollout is going to be a welcome news for so many not just because it'll put more supply into the system when appointments are so quickly booked up, but in thinking about the about 1,100 people who came to Mercedes Benz Stadium for their shots today, about half of them were getting their second doses.

And in the future, if people get that Johnson & Johnson vaccine, they'll only have to make one trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (voice over): A third vaccine could come as soon as next week as the Food and Drug Administration weighs granting Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine for emergency use.

DR. GREG POLAND, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, MAYO CLINIC: Significantly, the vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19.

CHEN (voice over): The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires no complex refrigeration and only one dose. The company says it's ready to begin shipping doses as early as Sunday.

WALENSKY: Having an additional safe and effective vaccine will help protect more people faster.

CHEN (voice over): And more people are eager to get one. A Kaiser Family Foundation report on Friday showed 55 percent of surveyed adults in the U.S. had either had at least one vaccine dose or is eager to get one. That's up from early December when only about a third of adults surveyed wanted a vaccine. There's still more demand than supply especially after last week's

winter storms sweeping through the Midwest and Texas disrupted the supply chain all over the U.S.

CHEN (on camera): Vaccination sites like this one outside of Atlanta saw none of that severe weather, but are feeling the effects. This afternoon, they are seeing all the people whose scheduled second dose appointments were canceled last week, due to shipment delays caused by the severe weather.

CHEN (voice over): More groups of people like younger adults with underlying health conditions are becoming eligible for the vaccine in some states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I was actually like shaking because I was like, oh my gosh, I can go get it.

I think I was the youngest one that had been through so far, and so they were all like, wait, we don't know what to do yet.

CHEN (voice over): With nearly seven percent of the country fully vaccinated, the number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to stay lower than the Holiday peak.

But the majority of U.S. states have plateaued or worsened when it comes to new cases. Only 17 states show downward trends. This relative progress is threatened by rapidly spreading variants.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have variants that are in play. We must address these.

CHEN (voice over): And the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in many states. New York nursing homes reopened with restrictions, Friday, to some visitors. In Tennessee, it lifts restrictions on visiting its long-term care facilities Sunday. South Carolina will lift restrictions on mass gatherings starting Monday.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I'm worried that people are lifting restrictions saying this is over when the reality is we're not over yet. We're really right now in a race between variants and vaccines and we have to do whatever we can to shut down this virus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:05:06]

CHEN (on camera): More and more people are becoming eligible to get the vaccine depending on the state. For example, here in Georgia, in a little more than a week, we're going to start seeing teachers and staff of K-12 students, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caretakers, as well as parents of children with medically complex issues. They will be able to join the list of people trying to get an appointment for the vaccine - Pamela.

BROWN: That is encouraging news. Natasha Chen, thank you for bringing us the latest there from Atlanta.

And also today, a big step toward financial help for millions of people and businesses hurt and in need because of the pandemic.

The House of Representatives approving President Biden's massive $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, and included in the bill, stimulus checks for many families and help for small companies and schools trying to navigate this painful time.

President Biden this morning underscored the bill's urgency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We have no time to waste. If we act now decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus, we can finally get our economy moving again, and the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering.

The American Rescue Plan does just that, it relieves the suffering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is on Capitol Hill. So Suzanne, this relief package, it's not a done deal yet. What about that big provision in the relief package? The minimum wage increase? What are its chances in the Senate?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a very complex situation here, Pam. I mean, you have the Democrats, the House Democrats really moving very quickly. It happened at two in the morning that big vote 219 to 212, strictly along partisan lines. Two Democrats actually crossing over to support Republicans' rejection of this because of its massive size.

But one of the things that House Republicans were bent on doing here is including this minimum wage increase, $15.00 an hour.

The Senate Parliamentarian has already weighed in on this saying that it does not follow the reconciliation budget rules, very specific rules that govern whether or not the Democrats could push this forward in a simple majority, 51 majority as opposed to a 60-vote majority.

The Senate Parliamentarian saying that is not the case. And so very likely, this is going to have to be stripped out of this bill. But there are House Democrats, the Progressive Caucus that are now calling to fire the Parliamentarian or overrule the Parliamentarian in some way.

Pam, there is no effort afoot to do that. As a matter of fact, we heard from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi around this vote saying, look, if they get this package without the minimum wage increase, they're absolutely going to pass it because it is so critical, the type of aid that is in this and they'll deal with the minimum wage increase at a later time.

Just some of those elements. Pam, as you had mentioned before is that $1,400.00 direct stimulus payments for those making less than $75,000.00. The enhanced unemployment aid, the assistance for small businesses, the money for childcare, as well as aid for states, local and tribal government, increased support for vaccines, as we mentioned, as well, that push for the minimum wage hike not likely to be included here.

But certainly, we're looking at a very fast timetable just in a couple of weeks. March 14th is when they hope to get it to the President's desk. That is when 11 million Americans are going to lose their unemployment insurance -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, Suzanne Malveaux live for us from Capitol Hill. Thanks, Suzanne.

And tonight, CPAC, the yearly national gathering of conservatives is rallying around the Republican who just lost The White House and attendees will cheer on Donald Trump tomorrow, when he ends more than a month largely out of public view.

Jim Acosta is in Orlando. Jim, it seems like you've had quite an interesting experience there. This is a party of course, that has spent months lashing out at itself in the wake of the election, the Capitol riot and the impeachment. Now, we saw they are lashing out at you. But what is the tone there? What are you noticing there?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: It is a strange and surreal experience being here, Pamela, because obviously, you know, when you see a President lose re-election, typically in those kinds of cases, you would see the former President sort of retreating from public view heading off to the beach somewhere, enjoying political retirement. Not so with Donald Trump.

I mean, this is a Trump love fest that is taking place at CPAC. It is a Trump-a-palooza here at CPAC. We saw Trump World figures making the rounds earlier today. Roger Stone was, you know, going up and down the corridor talking to fan boys who would stop and ask for selfies and that sort of thing throughout the day.

We even caught up or tried to catch up with the former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Mike Pompeo was talking to a conservative news outlet wrapped up that interview and then we tried to stop and talk to him for a few moments about whether or not he regrets at all the statements that he made shortly after the 2020 election when he said there would be a continuation or a transition to a new Trump administration.

[18:10:15]

ACOSTA: He did not stop and take our questions. But all day long, Pam, and really all convention long, when you hear some of these speakers up on stage, it all seems to be steeped in this Trump victimhood, that he shouldn't be sort of shooed away from the political limelight, if anything, they are positioning Donald Trump to be the leader of this party for the next four years.

Here's a bit of what we saw earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM BANKS (R-IN): The most popular republican figure in Congress today is Kevin McCarthy.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

BANKS: Let me tell you who the least popular Republicans in the party are today. They're those few, very few men.

MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: There is teetering -- there's teetering out there as much as --

BANKS: There are very few Republicans, the least popular in our party are the ones who want to erase Donald Trump and Donald Trump supporters from our party.

Now, let me tell you -- let me tell you, if that happens, we won't win back the majority in 2022. We definitely won't win back the White House in 2024 if we erase Donald Trump.

But you have a leader right here, I'm the conservative leader. And you and I both know, Matt, and for decades, that conservative leader fights with the Republican leader, not anymore, because Kevin McCarthy is the right leader for the right time to win back the majority. He is going to be the best Speaker of the House we've had in a generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you have Republican Congressman Jim Banks there, Pamela saying, making the case that their political fortunes inside the Republican Party when it comes to taking back the House, the Senate, the White House, it's all tied to Donald Trump, even though he just lost the 2020 election.

And getting back to what you were saying earlier about the experience that we've had here. I mean, you walk into the CPAC, Pam, and you try to talk to people and ask them whether or not Donald Trump lost the election, whether or not Donald Trump was responsible for the insurrection that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th, and you are met with hostility.

They do not want to take those questions at the CPAC for all this talk about, you know, they don't want there to be a cancel culture out there. How this, you know, this theme of this conference, is "America Uncanceled," they want to cancel journalists. They want to, you know, basically run them out of the room if anybody is asking any tough questions about this former President -- Pam.

BROWN: Yes, cancel the facts. All right, Jim Acosta, thanks for bringing us the latest from Orlando.

ACOSTA: Right. You bet.

BROWN: Well, our Donie O'Sullivan is also at CPAC this weekend talking to Trump and QAnon supporters in the crowd. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: Everybody keeps saying Trump has a plan. He has a plan. When he lost the election, they said he has a plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Trump didn't lose the elections, sir.

O'SULLIVAN: But he did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump did not lose the election and that's where we differ and that's where I believe the information that Mike Lindell has put out --

O'SULLIVAN: The pillow guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of all of the abuse, corruption, stealing.

O'SULLIVAN: You trust a man -- you trust a man more who sells pillows than the Republican officials in Georgia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So Donie is live with the rest of that report later on. You're not going to miss it. You're not going to want to miss it.

He'll also tell us why some people now believe that Trump will return as President next month.

You can watch that right here on CNN NEWSROOM at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And also coming up later tonight, he calls it a medical mystery that completely stumped the experts, a COVID-19 long hauler details his year of hell living with the ongoing effects of his illness, and he has some advice for others who need help.

Plus a rally in New York in support of Asian-Americans after a surge of hate crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of my family members are living in fear and anxiety. You know, the attack just a couple of nights ago is -- a man that was stabbed in the back randomly, you know, so this is not a way to live. You know, to walk with our backs against the walls, always you know in fear. You know, something must be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And now actor, author and activist, George Takei is speaking out on this issue. He'll join us live in the 8:00 p.m. hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:18:33]

BROWN: Breaking news, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just granted Emergency Use Authorization for the Johnson & Johnson single shot vaccine. That means Americans will soon have three separate vaccines to fight this virus, an incredible accomplishment in the span of just around one year.

Already more than 72 million doses of the Pfizer-Moderna vaccines have been administered. That's up from two million yesterday.

Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Esther Choo. She's a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Let's get right to it, Dr. Choo, how significant is this?

DR. ESTHER CHOO, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Thanks, Pamela. This is really great news. Very exciting for all of us. Johnson & Johnson vaccine, of course, you know, performs very well. It still has an outstanding safety profile and then has the added benefit of tremendous convenience.

So it doesn't need to be stored at these ultra-cold temperatures. It is a single dose. It's been such a challenge to get even a single dose to many people signing up for a second one, keeping track of that, getting transportation is just a huge barrier for many Americans, and then of course in harder to reach places, including rural America. It's just been a huge logistical challenge with the mRNA vaccine.

So Johnson & Johnson provides a really important tool in our arsenal.

BROWN: So then how quickly can we see Johnson & Johnson shots in the arms?

[18:20:01]

CHOO: Well, assuming that all goes well with the C.D.C. and we have a distribution strategy by next week, we could start seeing Johnson & Johnson going out.

Of course, the limiting thing is supply. So it looks like we may have around four million doses going out by next week. But it seems that Johnson & Johnson is prepared to ramp that up very quickly so that we could have more on the order of 40 million by the end of March.

So going through the spring, having that extra supply will be very valuable, and really gives us a lot of hope for how the summer into the fall could be transformative.

BROWN: So just to be clear, it could go out early next week. Does that mean next week there could be shot to the arms of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? Or do you expect there to be a delay?

CHOO: Well, there could be. As we've seen, we've had some challenges in distributing to states and then to distribution sites, and you know, getting all the logistics of actually getting the vaccine to collide with people's arms. However, a lot of those bugs have been worked out with distribution of

the first two vaccines. So hopefully, that has built in some efficiencies.

And also, hopefully, states are right now already planning for how they will prioritize the single-dose vaccines to certain populations, so that we can be really nimble when the vaccine is actually available.

BROWN: And as you said, it is easier to store which makes it easier on the states and these facilities administering the vaccine.

I want to talk about the safety data. So the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is about 72 percent effective in the U.S., lower than the 95 percent of efficacy of the Pfizer-Moderna vaccines. Yet it showed that there were no hospitalizations or deaths for those in the clinical study. Explain what that means. Why we shouldn't pass up on the J&J vaccine?

CHOO: Yes, well, first of all, I want people to understand that the J&J vaccine was tested in a pretty different environment than the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine.

So it was really tested through the last surge we went through. There was much more variants around. You know, this vaccine was tested in Brazil, in South Africa, where 90 percent or more of the cases were the newer variants, as well as in the United States.

And so, you might say that it was tested under more stressful environments, and that might account for why the performance was a little different.

However, it is also important to know that for the endpoints that we care about, for the most severe and critical disease, hospitalizations and deaths, the performance was just as good. This is an outstanding vaccine.

Nobody in the J&J arm died compared to the placebo arm and so, as far as the really critical endpoints, they are solidly there and that's why with confidence, we will tell people, get the vaccine that you can, of any of the three that are out, they are all performing incredibly well.

BROWN: Right, don't pass up a vaccine waiting for another type of vaccine. You're saying take it, if you want it.

Jacqueline joins us here. Jacqueline Howard joins us here, our medical team. Tell us more about this Emergency Use Authorization from the F.D.A., Jacqueline.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Pamela, this is a historic moment that we're experiencing right now with this authorization the F.D.A. is giving its okay, its thumbs up to use the Johnson & Johnson single shot COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in ages 18 and older.

And here's what acting F.D.A. Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in the F.D.A.'s announcement today. She says, quote: "The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for COVID-19 to help us in the fight against this pandemic," which as we all know, has claimed over half a million lives here in the United States.

And with the rollout of this Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we expect to see the initial rollout of vaccines this week, which will be about 3.9 million doses. That will expand our capacity to vaccinate people by approximately 25 percent.

So this will add to our ability to get more vaccines out there, and it is pretty exciting to see -- Pamela.

BROWN: It is and it just means that we're taking one huge step closer toward more of a sense of normalcy in this country.

Jacqueline Howard, Dr. Esther Choo, thank you very much for coming on.

And coming up next hour I'm going to talk to a 40-year-old COVID long- hauler, more than a year after his diagnosis, he says that he is still dealing with agonizing chronic pain, fatigue and brain fog.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:29:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: And they want him to go away. Let me tell you this right now, Donald J. Trump ain't going anywhere.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So there you see, Senator Ted Cruz, fresh off his ill-fated winter storm getaway to Cancun celebrating former President Trump at CPAC ahead of Trump's appearance there tomorrow.

Cruz by the way won the CPAC straw poll of G.O.P. presidential contenders in 2016, but clearly, he is now among those who believe Trump is the future of the Republican Party.

With me now, CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen who worked for four presidents. Also CNN senior political analyst, Kirsten Powers. Thank you both for coming on.

Let's start with you, first, Kirsten because just this moment that we're seeing play out with CPAC, putting aside the politicians for a moment, why are conservative voters like the ones who attend CPAC still super fans of Trump when he cost them the White House and likely control of the Senate?

[18:30:09]

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a great question, because it's very unusual that when somebody loses a presidential election, they become the standard-bearer of the party. It's usually afterwards people sort of say, thank you for your service and it's time for you to go away.

And so it speaks to the hold that Donald Trump has on the Republican Party and particularly on the conservative base, that really these kinds of things don't matter to them. It doesn't matter that he lost and then, of course, we have to acknowledge the fact that a lot of them don't think that he lost. And I think that Jim Acosta was interviewing someone earlier I think who was correcting that he did not, that Donald Trump did not lose the election.

So this is the way they kind of get around it that he actually won the election and the Democrats stole it from them.

BROWN: Just totally denying basic facts.

POWERS: Totally bias, yes.

BROWN: So David, what does that mean that the GOP is now the party of Trump? Have we ever seen anything like this where a political party is just basically one man?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. I think Franklin Roosevelt came close, but we really haven't seen anything like this. And I think to support Kirsten's point, Donald Trump didn't just recreate the Republican Party, he created a cult. That is something we've never seen in American politics.

We've seen demagogues who get like 40 percent of the support of the country and Huey Long, for example, or Father Coughlin back in the '30s and Joe McCarthy who get this kind of support. But none of them had the kind of cult following that Trump has created.

Where it goes is I think another question whether it really serves the best interest of the Republican Party I think as a huge question. I think that it may drive the party right into the ditch.

BROWN: But again, Kirsten, what is your view of this idea that the GOP is Trump? What does that even mean? What does the GOP stand for? If you're explaining to someone what the GOP is, how would you explain it?

POWERS: Well, I mean, the cult word is actually a very apt word as much it will put off a lot of people. And one of the core things about a cult is that there's only one arbiter of truth and that's something that you see with the really core Trump voters. I don't mean every person that supports Donald Trump or every person who voted for Trump is part of a cult, but the people who are his core supporters who believe the only person they can trust even more than Fox News, for example, is Donald Trump.

And so what does it mean for the Republican Party? It remains to be seen. But I think if you're going to explain to somebody today's Republican Party. It's that it is not about policies, it is about Donald Trump and to the extent it's about anything else, it's about owning the libs. Those literally are the two animating factors for most of the people that you talk to. It's not about lower taxes or a strong military or a smaller government, that just isn't what animates people anymore in the Republican Party.

BROWN: But it's interesting so far we haven't seen a lot of talk about Biden and going after Biden in the CPAC, which is just interesting, given the owning the libs message you're trying to send out. I want to ask you this, David, about Mitch McConnell. He absolutely tore into Trump after the impeachment acquittal, despite voting not to convict him. But here he is this week, let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: If the President was the party's nominee, would you support him?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Oh, the nominee of the party? Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Now, he had to kind of be pushed in to say that it didn't just come out freely, but still he said that he would absolutely support Trump if he was the nominee of the party for 2024, just weeks after saying he basically, practically and morally was responsible for provoking the Capitol riot. What are we supposed to take away from this?

GERGEN: I think we're looking at peace pipes. The Senate Majority Leader knows that if he can keep peace with Trump that he'll be better off in the Senate. He's got a much better chance of keeping the Senate until he's willing to do that and make that gesture. Kevin McCarthy said some negative things about Trump. What did we see him do? He went to Mar-A-Lago. He flew down to Mar-A-Lago to kiss the ring.

I don't think the House Majority Leader is in that camp. But Sen. McConnell is a very savvy, shrewd man who knows how to protect his Republican senators and they can count on him to do that. So I don't think they're bothered in the least by him taking the sort of swerve over to make peace with Trump.

BROWN: All right. I want to also go to a little bit about Joe Biden and what is going on in his administration and, of course, the COVID relief bill. As we know, Kirsten, Joe Biden campaign in part on his experience and knowledge at the Hill and his relationships, if he can't get the minimum wage hike through, do you think progressives will forgive him?

[18:35:10]

POWERS: Well, look, I think there's going to be a constant tension and there are always is a constant tension in the Democratic Party, between progressives and moderates and Joe Biden is a moderate. And he is somebody who very much believes in the institution of the Senate and it doesn't, for example, doesn't want to get rid of the filibuster, which I personally think is a mistake, but that's his position. And so, I think we are going to continue to see this tension between

progressives and Joe Biden. I don't think this will be the last time that they're disappointed and he's going to have to make a calculation about that. But to a certain extent, he's got to make a decision about whether or not he wants to be more committed to the institution of the Senate or if he wants to sort of seize the opportunity and push through the things that he promised to push through and that he believes in and that he wants to get done.

BROWN: And it appears though as of now there's no sign that the White House is going to push it through in the wake of what the parliamentarian said, but this is going to be an ongoing issue.

POWERS: Right.

BROWN: Kirsten Powers, David Gergen, thanks for coming on. Really interesting discussion with you both.

POWERS: Thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And up next, on a Saturday evening, New Yorkers unite at a rally against anti-Asian violence as America sees a shocking increase in attacks on Asian-Americans. We are live in New York up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:38]

BROWN: Protesters were in the streets of New York City today denouncing violence against Asian-Americans and people of Asian descent. The NYPD recorded 29 racially motivated crimes against people of Asian descent in 2020 compared to just three in 2019. Almost all of those attacks last year were attributed to coronavirus motivation.

CNN's Jean Casarez is in New York for us. So, Jean, tell us more about this rally there today.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pam. Well, the whole point was to really bring awareness to the escalation of crimes against those Asian-Americans in New York City. And it was a lot of notables were there from the Secretary of State of New York, the Attorney General of New York, Letitia James, to the Senate Majority Leader Schumann (ph) and the whole point was to bring that awareness.

And the facts and figures cannot be at this point taken into consideration, because it was found that 29 people of Asian descent had crimes against them committed in 2020. In 2019, there were only three, so a vast difference.

And let me give you an example. Just this week, Thursday night, an Asian man was walking downtown near Chinatown. Someone came up from the back. They stabbed him in the in the torso and we have learned from the District Attorney's Office that his liver was punctured. The last we heard he is in critical condition. And the night after that, which would be last night for Asian-Americans were stabbed in Brooklyn.

I spoke to community members and what they had to say was that they are really, at this point, afraid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEARL SUN, NYC RESIDENT: I walk out the door and I brace myself. I prepare myself and just - I make sure I no longer listen to music when I'm walking around. I no longer listen to podcasts or distracted in any way. I want to make sure I pay attention to whatever might be happening around me, that's where I am right now.

WILL LEX HAM, NYC RESIDENT: Many of my family members are living in fear and anxiety. The attack just a couple nights ago, it was a man stabbed in the back randomly. So this is not a way to live, to walk with our backs against the walls, always in fear. Something must be done and we're going to look to our elected officials, our government and really society at large to understand and recognize this problem and do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, the New York Police Department task force against Asian crime says that this is a priority, that they are here to protect the vulnerable, Pam.

BROWN: Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

And heads up for later, George Takei is speaking out on anti-Asian hate tonight and he's going to join us live in the 8 pm hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

The U.S. has seen an uptick in the number of unaccompanied minors trying to cross from Mexico and now the Biden administration is building a tent city to house them. But what about a permanent solution? Former Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano joins me live up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:44]

BROWN: So there has been an uptick in the number of undocumented migrants being detained at the border and it's squeezing the Biden administration. In January, more than 5,800 unaccompanied minors and nearly 7,500 families were taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Mexico border according to the agency's most recent monthly data. And numbers are expected to continue to rise.

On Thursday, CBP Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief tweeted in less than a 24-hour period, this area alone saw more than 500 illegal entries. A majority were families and unaccompanied children. On Friday, CNN learned that the administration is now planning to build at least one tent city along the border to deal with this influx.

Former Secretary for Homeland Security under President Obama, Janet Napolitano, joins me now for more on this. Secretary, thanks for coming on.

As you well know, the President was critical of how the previous administration how children and other undocumented migrants at the border. What are we to make of this tent city being built? Is this a detention center by another name?

JANET NAPOLITANO, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, no, I think you can contrast it with the kind of holding areas that were for children in the Trump administration. This one, as I understand it, is being carefully constructed so that it is, of all things, it's humane.

[18:50:07]

After all, these are children, unaccompanied children who've arrived at our border and they're coming to a strange land. But there needs to be in any kind of facility. There needs to be adequate bathroom facilities, showers, good healthy food, areas for recreation and for education. And I think those are all being incorporated into the administration's plans.

BROWN: So part of the problem here, they're having to build these overflow sites, essentially, because there's more unaccompanied children crossing the border. A DHS official told CNN that CBP has taken in more than 300 unaccompanied children into custody daily at the border. We're now seeing numbers of unaccompanied children higher than even the peak of 2019.

Now, the Biden administration, as you know, has set a policy to not expel children under the public health rule. And now we are seeing these numbers rise. What do you think the solution is?

NAPOLITANO: Well, it's complicated. But I think the approach needs to be to house these children in a safe environment, until a safe placement can be found for them, either with relatives that are already in the United States or with a foster care family. And that just takes time and you need to have the personnel at the border working in the facility who can work with these children and also work with their placements and then do so as expeditiously as possible, but it will take some time.

BROWN: But that doesn't address the root issue, which is so many more unaccompanied minors are making this dangerous track trying to cross the border into the U.S. Of course, many of them are fleeing in horrible conditions, but what do you do about that problem? What is the administration doing specifically to deter undocumented immigrants from crossing the border?

NAPOLITANO: Well, again, I think the root cause is in part the hurricanes that hit Central America last year, destroyed a lot of the agricultural crops, destroyed a lot of the villages. So these are children who are fleeing really desperate circumstances. They have arrived at our borders. The position of the administration is not just to turn them away as a blanket proposal, but instead to accept them within our borders, to house them safely and securely until again, a place can be found for them within the interior of the country. BROWN: So I want to talk to you about Mexico, because under the Biden

administration, Mexico now says that the U.S. can no longer send families back there while they wait for their immigration proceeding during the pandemic. Biden is talking to the Mexican president on Monday. What do you think he should say to him?

NAPOLITANO: Well, one of the things I think they should talk about is what to do with the 65,000 or 70,000 asylum applicants that are already waiting at the border, whose asylum applications were withheld by the Trump administration. We have laws on asylum. Those laws simply were not enforced under the Trump administration.

I think that Biden needs to assure president Obrador that the United States will have a plan for accepting families with children into the United States under our immigration laws. But it can't just do it all in one fell swoop. Again, it's going to take some time.

BROWN: So you think he should pressure him though on the fact that Mexico changed its rules and now says it can't take in these families while they wait for their immigration proceedings? Do you think he should pressure the Mexican President on that specifically?

NAPOLITANO: I do. I think the United States and Mexico have a long and deep relationship. It's a relationship that has complications along the border, but the presidents of the two countries have usually been able to work these things out. And I think if President Obrador has the assurance of President Biden that Mexico is not going to become a permanent holding camp for asylum applications to the United States, that would give him the confidence not to immediately turn off the faucet so to speak.

BROWN: All right. Janet Napolitano, thanks for coming on to discuss this important issue.

NAPOLITANO: Thank you.

BROWN: And tomorrow, we'll have an exclusive CNN report from along the Mexico-Guatemala border.

[18:55:03]

And I'm also going to be joined by the former Trump White House Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, starting tomorrow night at 6 Eastern.

And up next, saying goodbye to a true superhero of the pandemic, 100- year-old Tom Moore is laid to rest in the U.K. He raised $45 million for health care. More on how he was honored when we come back.

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