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FDA Fully Approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine; Situation Still Volatile as Kabul Evacuations Pick Up Pace; At Least 21 Dead, 40 Missing in Devastating Tennessee Floods. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 23, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWSROOM: Good Monday afternoon. I'm Erica Hill in New York in for Ana Cabrera today.

Minutes from now, President Biden will address the nation on a day that could be pivotal in the push to get more Americans vaccinated, just hours ago, the FDA granted full approval for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. Now, it first received emergency use authorization in early December. And since then, it's been administered to more than 92 million Americans.

Among the big questions now, could this full FDA approval encourage more people to get the shots and will it also open the door to more vaccine mandates? We are seeing a rise in cases and hospitalizations in the country and daily reported deaths, surpassing 1,000 for the first time in five months, nearly all of those in the unvaccinated.

I want to get straight to CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. So, as we look at this, we know there are a number of people in this country who have said, I am not getting that shot until it has full FDA approval. Now it does. What does this mean?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It means that it could make a difference. I think that we shouldn't expect this tsunami of people to say, oh, now it's been approved, now I'll get it. There has just been so much misinformation on social media. It's really hard to counteract that even with full FDA approval. That's the hope.

So, let's take a look at the hope of what this full approval could do. As I said, it could encourage unvaccinated people to get the shot, but no one should rely on that. It allows Pfizer to advertise. They weren't allowed to advertise with just emergency authorization, but they can now. But pharmaceutical companies are very good at advertising and making convincing campaigns.

This probably, though, is the most important point of all, is that with this full approval, businesses and restaurants, et cetera, employers, will feel more comfortable requiring the vaccine for people 16 and older. So, if your boss tells you, hey, you got to get this shot, you might feel better about it, it's still important to note, 12 to 15-year-olds, they are still under emergency use authorization. There is no full approval for them yet. And so it doesn't really matter in some ways. You should still get your 12 to 15-year-old vaccinated, but they don't have full approval.

So, again, Erica, lots of hope here, but, really, the mandates are probably what's going to do the trick. Erica?

HILL: Yes, I think we'll be looking for those. There's also been some talk about just how effective the vaccine is, especially over time. What more are we learning?

E. COHEN: So, what the FDA announced today is that when they did the emergency authorization back in December, that was based on a few months data, two, three months, not on as much as they have now. When they look at it now, what they're finding is that it's not as effective.

So, let's take a look at it. It is still an amazing, effective vaccine. But back in November, they said it was 95 percent effective. Now, 91 percent. That's not because of delta, because this 91 percent number doesn't include delta data. It stopped before then. What it is is just, over time, this vaccine efficacy starts to fade. But, again, to fade from 95 to 91 percent, you know, that's actually a pretty good problem to have, still an incredibly effective vaccine even though the efficacy does seem to wane over time.

HILL: Elizabeth, I appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.

E. COHEN: Good to see you.

HILL: Let's turn our attention to Miami now. CNN's Leyla Santiago is standing by with some more reaction to the news. What are you hearing from folks there in Florida?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, some folks didn't know. Others were very well aware and celebrating as we talked to them here on the streets. Now, remember, this is in Florida. So, this is a state where the vaccination rate still stands at 52 percent and hospitalizations continuing to rise.

Listen to what folks said to us when we talked about the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALO NORALES, VACCINATED FLORIDA RESIDENT: I think that -- I can say when I took my vaccination. Now it's even better.

PETER WOELKERS, VACCINATED MAN VISITING FLORIDA: I trust medical people I know, and they said that it was safe. And so I think, for some people, it's probably helpful, but for me, it was -- my decision was already made.

PEDRO RAMIREZ, VACCINATED FLORIDA RESIDENT: I think it should be mandated. It should be mandated and there should be more information for people to know, and so we can fight the misinformation. There's a lot of misinformation out there that's stopping people from getting vaccinated. DEBBIE MITCHELL, VACCINATED FLORIDA RESIDENT: I don't think it's going to change anybody's opinion. I think anybody that isn't going to get a vaccine isn't going to get a vaccine.

I hope it's mandated for everybody, but it's not going to be. So, I don't know. If we had a different governor, it might be better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: Now, all of those people were here in Miami-Dade, where the vaccination rate is higher than the state rate here, it stands at 65 percent.

[13:05:05]

And I should also note that the mayor of Miami-Dade tweeted, great news, and then talked about the full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine and then encouraged people to go out and get vaccinated. So, you're seeing the leaders use this as a way to push people to go and get either their first shot or get fully vaccinated here in Florida.

HILL: Leyla, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now, Dr. Richina Bicette, she is Medical Director at Baylor College of Medicine and an emergency medicine physician. Dr. Bicette, great to have you with us.

As we just heard from Elizabeth and even a little bit from Leyla and some of the folks she spoke to there on the street in Miami, we know, I know some of these people personally who have said, I am not getting this vaccine until it has full FDA approval. Well, that day is now here. Do you anticipate this will really move the needle much?

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: I think it's going to move the needle some, and some is better than none. There were previous studies that showed of about one-third of Americans who said that they were not going to get vaccinated, 16 percent of that number said that they are waiting on full approval. And as you mentioned, Erica, that day is here. We're hoping that as more people start to get vaccinated, as people start to become more comfortable with the fact that the vaccine is fully approved, as there are onslaughts commercials from Pfizer advertising their vaccine, that can help sway some individuals.

HILL: How important do you think these potential mandates, more mandates coming down the pike now that there is full FDA approval, how important could those be, especially in the Houston area where you are?

BICETTE: I think the messaging behind the mandates are what is truly important. If you are mandating a vaccine, it's because, one, the vaccine has been proven to be safe, two, it's been proven to be effective, and, three, we know that this vaccine is what is going to help us make our way out of this pandemic. So that messaging coming from the highest offices in this country is what's really important here. HILL: The good news is that we are starting to see an uptick in vaccinations. I think we have the numbers from just at the end of last week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, more than 1 million COVID-19 shots were administered. It dipped a little bit yesterday, but still that's a good sign, especially as we're looking at the rise in cases, the rise hospitalizations, deaths topping 1,000 now.

Based on what you are seeing in Houston, how is it looking on the ground? Is that message getting through that the rise in cases and hospitalizations and deaths can be prevented with this shot?

BICETTE: I think the messaging is getting through, but, unfortunately, the most people that I'm hearing who are now starting to understand that are those who are already sick and already symptomatic with COVID. They're coming into the emergency department feeling ways that they've never felt before, even with the most bouts of the flu and people are now starting to realize why did I choose this path for myself instead of getting vaccinated? And I've been able to convince a few people that way that once they are better and once they get over the hump of being ill, they definitely should seek out their vaccine.

HILL: Yes. It seems -- we're hearing it from so many physicians like yourself from nurses as well across the country, the regret that they are hearing from patients.

I want to get to a couple kid questions with you quickly, because I think as people look at this full FDA approval, it's great, but it's only for 16 and up. But we know that the vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine is actually authorized for ages 12 and up. So, why is it not approved for ages 12 to 15 but they still are authorized to get the shot?

BICETTE: So there's a bit of a difference between the emergency use authorization that Pfizer is currently operating under for ages 12 to 15 and the full authorization that we just approved for ages 16 and up today. Emergency use authorization only requires two things. Number one, an emergent situation, and, number two, the company has to show that the risks of their product are far lower than the benefits of their product.

For full authorization, it requires a lot more rigorous investigation. Imagine, Pfizer got their emergency use authorization eight months ago and we are just now coming to a point where there's full approval. That's because they've been following over 10,000 of their participants for greater than six months and the FDA has really done a deep, deep dive into that data and into that information. We just don't have enough time right now for ages 12 to 15 to get that full approval.

HILL: So they don't have that data yet. And then really quickly, before we let you go, the FDA was pretty clear today that they said it would not be appropriate to prescribe this to a child under 12. To be clear, the vaccine is not authorized, even under an emergency use authorization for anyone under the age of 12. But once there is full FDA approval, it does give doctors more license to prescribe that. They are saying clearly, this should not be given to a young child. Why?

BICETTE: Because the studies have yet to be completed. We know that both Pfizer and Moderna are studying their vaccines in ages under 12, as low as six months.

[13:10:06]

But those studies have not been completed, and it wouldn't be the most responsible thing to use the vaccine off-label and give it to children in ages that we haven't yet studied the risks and benefits.

HILL: Dr. Richina Bicette, great to see you today. Thank you.

BICETTE: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: We are also closely following the breaking news out of Afghanistan where evacuations are ramping up amid new threats of violence and a new warning from the Taliban.

Plus, we are live in Tennessee. Devastating floods have killed at least 21 people in the state, including seven-month-old twins.

And it is unreliable, unnecessary, it's fuelled by lies. The sham audit of Arizona's election results, that report is set to be handed over today. So, what will it actually reveal?

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[13:15:00]

HILL: Time is running out in Kabul. Thousands are still stranded at the airport, perimeter supplies are stretched thin and the threats are growing. This morning, gunfire at the airport's north gate left one member of the Afghan security forces dead, several Afghans wounded.

And with the situation becoming more volatile, the pace of evacuations is now all the more urgent. In the 24 hours, the Pentagon says some 16,000 people have gotten out in the last 24 hours. When asked how many Americans that includes, well, the Pentagon spokesman wouldn't specify, saying only several thousand since those operations began.

As it stands now, the evacuation effort is set to end in eight days. President Biden said on Sunday the U.S. may extend its August 31st deadline, but the Taliban warned just hours later, there will be no extension.

Let's go straight to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh who is in Doha, Qatar, today. So, Nick, what more can you tell us about the security situation right now at the airport in Kabul?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I mean, it's always been a little bit volatile. And when I was there last week, you could hear gunfire at night on the edges of the airport. But there was the worst situation I think we've seen yet when a sniper shot one of the Afghan security people who works on the base helping the Americans there. That caused his colleagues, other Afghans, to essentially fire back in the direction they thought the shot came from. But I understand, actually, they ended up shooting toward some U.S. Marines that returned fire as well.

Centcom's official statement doesn't quite offer that full version of events, but says in the exchange of gunfire, four Afghans were, in fact, injured. But I understand they are in a stable condition.

But, today, we have heard some extraordinary figures, frankly, from the Pentagon. About 10,400 people being taken off that base by about 33 or so cargo planes in the last 24 hours. That is quite extraordinary. But there is now a significant challenge, because they say they've taken several thousand Americans off, they say there may be several thousand still trying to get on the base. The big question is what about the allied Afghans, the SIV applicants who have worked for the U.S. and are eligible most likely for visa in the United States.

Today, an embassy spokesperson and a source I spoke to familiar with the situation said that they'd asked SIV applicants not to come to the base and were prioritizing U.S. citizens and green card holders. John Kirby sort of stirred around that a little bit, the Pentagon spokesperson today suggesting how they might still be processing that sort of person on the gate. But it's chaos. Some SIV applicants seem to be getting through unofficial holes in the fence, as far as I can understand. But, essentially, the key question for the U.S. is how many of these allied Afghans can they get off in whatever time they have left. Erica?

HILL: And also, how much longer can this effort be sustained, Nick?

WALSH: This is fundamentally the question, absolutely, yes. The 31st of August is the deadline for troops to leave. Now, they have a 5,800 strong presence on that base with lots of enablers, a lot of equipment, a lot that needs to be packed up and leave. And the one thing they cannot do, I think, is in front of thousands of Afghans dependent on these troops to get away from Afghanistan, begin to show that they're leaving themselves. That could cause panic. So, I suggest most likely at some point they will have to empty the base, stop bringing people on, fly them out and then look after the job of the U.S. leaving itself.

It could be a few days they need to depart their own equipments. And we might start seeing in the days ahead, two or three days ahead, that evacuation effort slowly wrap itself up. I am speculating here, but unless that 31st of August deadline is held to, there's a lot to be done in just a matter of a week. Erica?

HILL: A lot may be an understatement, you're right. Nick Paton Walsh with the latest for us, Nick, thank you.

For more on this, let's bring in former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Good to have you with us today. As we look at where we stand right now, G7 leaders expected to push President Biden to extend the deadline tomorrow, he, obviously, on Sunday night suggested looking at staying longer if needed. But the Taliban made it very clear. They want us troops out by August 31st as originally promised. Do you think that the U.S. can get everyone and all the military personnel and equipment, as Nick just talked about, out in the next eight days? WILLIAM COHEN, DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: I think it's highly unlikely. And I think the closer we get to that date, President Biden is going to be forced to reconsider. And I think he's going to have to send the message very directly to the Taliban. We're doing our best. We need your help. We have a situation now for a metaphor by way of example. The heart is beating at that airport, but the arteries are clogged. And when the arteries are clogged, and the heart can't get the supply it needs to continue to function. So a way has to be found with the Taliban's help to unclog the arteries or to use American forces in a way that is very covert and very capable of getting other arteries -- rewiring those arteries, so to speak, so we get those people to the airport.

[13:20:10]

The one thing that President Biden cannot do is leave behind those Afghans who have helped us. They help protect us. And we have, I think, an absolute obligation to make sure we get them here. And whatever it takes, I think we have to send the message to the Taliban, don't give us these categorical directors because life can be bad for you if you continue to prevent us from getting people out that we need to get out. There are many ways in which you will not be able to govern in the future if that's what you're seeking to do. .But I think that message has to be conveyed to the Taliban leaders right now.

HILL: Do you think -- I mean, sort of take us inside what could potentially be happening right now. We heard from John Kirby that there are continuing talks with the Taliban. But do you think that conversation has already started in terms of laying out what the U.S. sees as an incentive for the Taliban to negotiate with them on this, because the Taliban was pretty clear in its response.

W. COHEN: If it hasn't started, it really needs to be started. It goes back to the question, was this foreseeable, this situation we're seeing on the ground, and was it foreseen? And if it wasn't foreseen, why wasn't it foreseen? What information went up to the chain of command to give the president confidence that we could carry out this mission in this period of time? I think that's something to be determined in the future.

Right now, it's mission critical that we focus on getting our Americans out, and to get those who helped us, who saved their lives, those soldiers and Marines on the ground, and also saved the American people from not allowing Al Qaeda and ISIS to come back in a way that could pose a threat to the United States.

So we have an obligation. I know there are some people in this country saying we have no obligation, no promises made. You know, I'd go back to 1924 when the Klu Klux Klan urged the passage of an immigration bill that prevented people coming from Europe into this country. They made exceptions. 50,000 Germans could come in, 100 Syrians.

So, it tells you going back in 1924 what the racial prejudice was, and those days it continues right to this day by saying, we don't want any Afghans coming in our country, any brown people coming into our country, or any others who don't look like us. That's what's taking place in this country right now. And President Biden has an obligation to say, we're getting them out, we're bringing them here, and in other countries, other capitals of the NATO countries and others.

HILL: We'll be watching for that. As you said, it is sad, frankly, what we see in many areas in terms of the response to helping Afghan refugees.

I do want to talk about -- you just touched on briefly ISIS with the anniversary of 9/11 looming, with this renewed threat from ISIS around the airport in Kabul. The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called this real acute and persistent in terms of the threat from ISIS. What concerns you most today?

W. COHEN: The concerns I have is we are in a basically a war zone. If the -- if the Taliban or if Al Qaeda or ISIS starts to shoot at our military, they're certainly in danger, as are all the others who are trying to get into the airport. And we would have to, number one, fight our way to get back into the airport, certainly fight our way out. That would be the worst scenario. And I hope that kind of contingency planning is on the books right now, that the worst case scenario would be that we have to fight our way out.

Now, if the Taliban allows this to happen and don't cooperate with the United States and with our allies, our British allies and our NATO allies, then I think the message has to go back to the Taliban. You have impeded this. You have harmed us in a way that's catastrophic. And there will be penalties that will be paid not today but down the line. If you have any hope whatsoever to be a governing force in Afghanistan, we will do everything in our power to make sure that never takes place. That's the message that has to go to the Taliban.

HILL: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, always good to have your insight. Thank you.

W. COHEN: Thank you.

HILL: Hundreds of homes in Tennessee torn apart by deadly flood waters. A massive search operation is underway at this hour to find those who are still missing. CNN's Nick Valencia is there.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And about 40 people are still unaccounted for. I'm Nick Valencia live here in Humphreys County, Tennessee.

Coming up after the break, we'll take you live here on the ground to get a firsthand look. You're in the CNN Newsroom with Erica Hill.

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[13:25:00]

HILL: At least 21 people have died, including seven-month old twins, following what people describe as a tidal wave of flood waters in Middle Tennessee. Along the path of destruction, you can see flipped cars, impassable roads, scenes like this, homes reduced to piles of rubble. CNN Correspondent Nick Valencia is in Waverly, Tennessee. It is ground zero and it is just heartbreaking there.

[13:30:02]

Nick, what more do we know at this hour?

VALENCIA: Yes. Erica, even the surrounding areas were impacted by this.

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