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California Issues Vaccine Mandate For Schools; New COVID Treatment?; President Biden Heads to Capitol Hill. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 01, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: And I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. You can find me on Twitter @AnaCabrera.

Until Monday. Actually, I will be back Tuesday. I'm off Monday because I'm running a race over the weekend in Minnesota.

Have a great one, everyone.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Welcome to NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Victor is off today.

President Biden is heading to Capitol Hill this afternoon in an attempt to save his economic agenda. On Thursday, the Democrats failed to bring that $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal to a vote, despite a flurry of negotiations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had promised there would be a vote, but, at midnight, she announced that there's a new deadline, and that is today. Pelosi just held a meeting with her party. Some Democrats have been floating a new number on that bigger social safety net package, and that number is $2.1 trillion.

That's a counteroffer to Senator Joe Manchin's $1.5 trillion top-line offer. The leader of the House Progressive Caucus said she has yet to receive an official proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): We're just going to keep working as hard as we can. We will see how far we get. I don't believe in arbitrary deadlines.

QUESTION: Do you have a sense of the progress of cost on reconciliation?

JAYAPAL: I think there's a lot of really good conversations happening. So let's just keep them going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: CNN's Ryan Nobles is on Capitol Hill. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.

OK, Jeremy, when is the president going to the Hill? And what does he plan to do there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're expecting President Biden to arrive on Capitol Hill around 3:30 this afternoon, and he's going to be addressing the House Democratic Caucus.

This is the president's most visible, most public push yet to try and bridge that multitrillion-dollar divide between these two factions of the Democratic Party, which is really holding up the entirety, the most important parts of President Biden's legislative agenda.

Now, the question is, how is the president going to make this case today? We know that he has taken different approaches over the course of the last week, where he has really doubled down on his engagement, at times, trying to cajole lawmakers, at times, trying to understand their concerns, understand their perspective, and speak to them directly from that point of view.

At other times, he's tried to inject some kind of pragmatism, reminding people of what is at stake in these negotiations, as he tries to salvage his agenda here and get it through a very, very divided Democratic Caucus on Capitol Hill.

So I think you can expect a combination of those things, perhaps, from the president, but certainly he is going to be reminding his party of what is at stake here as they prepare to get ready for the 2022 midterm elections.

Democrats and certainly White House officials here believe that they need some kind of legislative accomplishment to be able to run on, not just for the president, but for the party as a whole, especially as they eye those midterms next year.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Ryan, what is the latest on the vote for that infrastructure bill?

I mean, we heard it was definitely happening yesterday. And then at midnight last night, Speaker Pelosi said it's definitely happening today.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, that is probably the question I have gotten the most often this week is that exact question. When is this vote going to happen?

And the simple answer to that is, we do not know. And when I say we do not know, I'm including the people making that decision, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and others. They're still trying to hash this agreement out. And the simple fact of the matter is, they do not have enough votes to pass the bipartisan infrastructure package at this stage.

And they still need to come to some sort of agreement on the much broader $3.5 trillion social safety net package. And progressives have held firm on that stance for weeks. And they seemed to be in that same place this morning as well.

Listen to what Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez said going into a meeting of the Democratic Caucus today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Is a framework enough, an agreed-upon framework?

(CROSSTALK)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We need to vote. We need to be real. Are we going to deliver universal pre-K to this country or not? Are we going to expand health care to our seniors and include vision and dental or not?

Are we going to invest in housing, so that people back home in NYCHA can actually get hot water in wintertime or not? That's what we need to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So, what she said there is the most difficult position that the House Democrats could find themselves in. And there are many progressives that believe no vote on the infrastructure plan until they get a vote on the reconciliation package, that social safety net package, in the United States Senate.

Well, that is certainly not happening today. That could take weeks. The question, Alisyn, is the House speaker able to come up with a framework that guarantees something will be passed in some point in the future that peels enough of those progressives off to get it over the finish line?

She hasn't been able to do it yet. We will see if today is the day she can finally make it happen.

CAMEROTA: OK, we will stand by for developments.

Ryan Nobles and Jeremy Diamond, thank you both.

[14:05:02]

Joining me now, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash. She's also co-anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION." And CNN political commentator Errol Louis, political anchor for Spectrum News.

Great to see both of you.

Errol, what can President Biden do to break this logjam today, when he goes to the hill?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: His mere presence will really help seal the deal. And that's why he's there.

It's kind of hard to look the president in the eye and say, no, I'm not going to help you with your agenda. We're in the same party. I ran with you as a running mate. I touted all of the different things that you want to put in your agenda. And yet I don't have the courage to do it.

It's going to be a real gut-check moment for members of the Democratic Conference, who say that they're going to stand on principle and threaten to sink some of his agenda. It's really, really hard to make that happen. I think also, though, the president is going to sort of make clear politically what's at stake.

These are measures that in most polls come in between 49 and 60 percent popularity with the American people. He's -- I'm sure he's got the numbers for individual districts and individual states as well. He will be able to look them in the eye and say, listen, this is what your people want. This is what your people need. This is what you promised, and we collectively as a Democratic Party promised.

Are you still going to sink this legislation and put all of this at risk? I think it's an important question. And the president is going to be there to ask it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: OK, Dana, yes, please.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, just based on what I'm hearing from some Democratic sources, particularly in the House, that is that there is -- part of the confusion and frustration that I am hearing and that they are projecting is based on the fact that there are different messages being sent to different groups from the White House, depending on who is sending that message.

And whether that's intentional or not, unclear, meaning, progressives, keep fighting, moderates, keep fighting. So if they're both fighting for what they want to believe in, then they're all dug in.

So the way to change that is to have the president himself come and say, this is -- there's no mixed messages here. This is what I want. This is what we should try to get. This is where we need to be coalescing.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I also sort of feel like it's important to have both sides in the same room.

BASH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I don't know if there's a plan for that, Dana.

But, I mean, you're right. Everybody hears a different message from the president. At least that's what they report to us when they come out.

But, Dana, one more thing. Is Nancy Pelosi saying different math than the rest of us are seeing? So she was so certain -- or she, I guess, projected confidence yesterday that she would have this vote. At midnight last night, she promised that today there'd be a vote, but the math still doesn't add up. BASH: Right. The math doesn't add up, because the progressives, who

said yesterday and the day before that and the day before that they will not vote for the bipartisan traditional infrastructure bill that they support because they don't feel comfortable that they're going to get what they want and what they say Americans need and were promised by the Democrats from the other bill, that hasn't changed yet.

What is different is that they appear to be talking more to each other and less past each other. But you bring up a really good point, Alisyn. And that is one that I have been asking, and I haven't gotten a real answer to for the past week or two weeks, which is, President Biden knows how to negotiate. He knows how to make a deal.

He's done it umpteen times in his life across the aisle and within his party. Why is he doing this in such a siloed way? Why doesn't he sit down, get a piece of paper, get a legal pad, get a pencil, have Joe Manchin on one side and Pramila Jayapal on the other and figure it out, figure it out?

What do you want? What do you want? What can you live with? What can you live with? Let's do it. Boom, boom.

I think the answer, the real answer is, if he fails, then he fails. And -- but it seems as though we are at the point where those siloed conversations have run their course and they need to get people together.

CAMEROTA: Maybe that is what we will do today, pros and cons and just hash it out on that legal pad as well.

Errol, another thing. We talk all about the recalcitrant progressives, why don't they get on board, the recalcitrant moderates, why don't they say what they want? We don't talk I think as much about the recalcitrant Republicans.

All the Republicans or the majority of Republicans in the House are willing to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure bill and all of the millions is the estimate of jobs that that would create just to prove a point?

I mean, let me play for you what Kevin McCarthy said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Where do you think your members are?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think the majority of overwhelming amount of our members are going to vote no, because they don't view it as an infrastructure bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:08]

CAMEROTA: Why don't they view it the way the Republicans in the Senate viewed it as an infrastructure bill? LOUIS: You know, unfortunately, they appear to be viewing it entirely in political terms. They're viewing it as the path to getting the majority back in the midterms next year.

And it's sad. I'm really glad you raised this, Alisyn, because we should not just surrender and accept that we're going to have one party rule, and then the other party rules, and you never have cooperation, and you never have true bipartisan governance.

We have got to get back to that. We're in some ways no better off than we were when we were in the days of deadlock in prior congresses. This is not a responsible way to govern. And we haven't reached the point because the Democrats haven't gotten their act together yet.

But, traditionally, at this stage, there'd be at least some conversation about what Republican members of Congress are going to lose if this fails. This can't just be seen as a political failure for Democrats or for President Biden.

There are lots and lots of people in lots of lots of districts that could use lower prescription drug prices, and could use help for community colleges and the whole rest of what's in the package. For them to, I guess, get away with just sitting on the sidelines and refusing to govern is really unprecedented and in some way shameful.

BASH: Errol's talking about the social safety net part, the part of the bill that they haven't negotiating -- and it's just the Democrats.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BASH: What's even more stunning is that what Republican leaders in the House are saying is that they are whipping against the bipartisan roads and bridges infrastructure bill that passed with unbelievable Republican support, including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in the United States Senate.

And there's one reason why they're whipping against it, Donald Trump, because he doesn't want to give Joe Biden a win.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, nobody asks for your party affiliation when you cross a bridge. So it seems like that could be useful for everybody.

But, Dana Bash, Errol Louis, thank you both very much.

OK, a potential game-changer in the fight against COVID-19. Doctors may soon have the first pill that is effective against targeting coronavirus after you have it.

Plus, teachers in New York have only a couple hours left to get at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose or get fired. So we're going to speak with one of the teachers who has to make a decision in the next two hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:17:00]

CAMEROTA: Pharmaceutical giant Merck says they have created a pill that can cut the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 in half, and they will seek emergency use authorization from the FDA as soon as possible.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now.

Elizabeth, this is promising. What do we know about this pill?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is promising.

In fact, these numbers look so promising. And, granted, they're only off a press release. But, still, the numbers look so promising that when a data monitoring board -- and they're seeing everything. They're seeing all sorts of stuff we're not seeing. When they saw the numbers from this clinical trial, they actually cut the clinical trial short.

They said, this is looking so good, we need to end this so that Merck can apply to the FDA for emergency use authorization. So let's take a look at these numbers. So, Merck took more than 700 people and half of them were given -- these are people who did not have COVID. Half of them were given this antiviral drug, and about half were given a placebo, which is a pill that does nothing.

The folks who got the placebo at the end of a month, at the end of the month, 45 of them whom hospitalized and eight of them died. Those who got the antiviral drug, though, at the end of the month, 28 were hospitalized, which is a much lower number, and zero died.

So that really is telling you something. Now this is for people who are in the very early stages. These folks had all had a positive COVID test just in the last five days. They were not in the hospital. Let's take a listen to what Dr. Anthony Fauci has said about this and also Jeff Zients with the White House COVID response team.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: The news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news.

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: If approved, I think the right way to think about this is, this is a potential additional tool in our toolbox to protect people from the worst outcomes of COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now, Dr. Fauci went on to say that he expects Merck to submit data to the FDA imminently.

Now, one note. There is another drug that people can be given in the very early stages of COVID. And it works very well. But it's delivered by an I.V. or by shots, much more difficult, much more complicated to deliver. This is just a pill. Your family doctor could call in a prescription -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And just to be clear, this shouldn't replace getting vaccinated. This is not in lieu of that.

COHEN: Right.

CAMEROTA: This is just good news for people who possibly get sick. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for all that information.

COHEN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: OK, moments ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will add COVID-19 vaccination for eligible students to the immunizations required for in person school attendance.

CNN's Dan Simon joins me now.

So, Dan, who does this apply to? And when does it go into effect?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Alisyn.

We are at the James Denman Middle School in San Francisco, where the governor just made this very noteworthy announcement. He indicated over the last few days that this would likely be coming. And, today, he made it official that if you are a student in the state of California, that you need to be vaccinated in order to attend in person learning.

[14:20:09]

Now, this follows what some other school districts throughout California had done in the past couple of weeks, including in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego. Now this is going to be mandated statewide, and the governor making the argument that you already need to be vaccinated against a whole host of diseases.

And here's what he had to say just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We already mandate 10 vaccines. In so many ways, this is the most -- well, this is a significant amount announcement, but it's probably the most predictable announcement.

We have to remind people that this is well-established territory for our kids. For decades and decades, our kids and parents have been bringing our kids into the doctor's office or getting them to the school nurse and getting vaccinated, keeping them healthy, keeping them safe. We just are adding one additional thing to the list, so the rest of us can move beyond this pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIMON: Now, in terms of the timing for all this, this is going to be worked in terms of a phase-in approach, first, of course, for 12 to 17.

Once the FDA grants full approval for that age cohort, you will then need to be vaccinated, then, of course, later for 5 to 11 years of age. And in terms of how this is going to be met throughout the nation, Alisyn, I think it's pretty predictable. Some throughout the country will meet this news with applause and admiration, others not so much -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Dan Simon, thank you.

In New York City, the deadline for public school teachers to get a COVID vaccine is now just a few hours away. Some teachers are still asking the Supreme Court to step in and try to block this mandate. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says that, as of today, 93 percent of the city's teachers are vaccinated.

Teachers who do not comply by 5:00 p.m. will be placed on unpaid administrative leave and could be fired.

Joining us now is Stephanie Edmonds. She's in New York City teacher who has decided not to get vaccinated.

Stephanie, thanks so much for being here.

As I understand it, after years of teaching, did you just teach your final class a few minutes ago, you just wrapped up?

STEPHANIE EDMONDS, TEACHER: I did just finish a class. So, sorry if I'm a little bit emotional right now. I do have one more after this.

But unless anything major changes over the weekend, it does seem like this will be my last class with the New York City Department of Education. It most likely won't be my last class ever.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I hear you.

I mean, but I also hear that you are emotional. This, you say, has been the hardest decision of your life. So why aren't you getting vaccinated?

EDMONDS: Personally, I have a deep, deeply held religious objection.

I believe that this goes against my faith. It's a betrayal of my faith in God. And for that reason, I have decided not to. But I'm speaking out today for teachers who have a whole host of objections, whether they be religious, medical, philosophical.

And I'm actually part of the class-action lawsuit that you're referring to that has the special Supreme Court hearing over this weekend. And I am hoping that perhaps there will be some justice.

CAMEROTA: As I understand it, you're Jewish. And so just help us understand, where in Judaism does it say that you can't be vaccinated? EDMONDS: So, there is -- Judaism is not a monolith, like all

religions. I mean, I'm a history teacher. Even just a basic look at history will show us that people of the same religious faith do not often agree.

And while, in Judaism, there is no specific tenet, as there isn't for much of life, especially in the modern world, we can look to it for guidance. So I have done what I suggest other people to do, consult with your family, pray.

And this is the decision that I have come to between me and God. And it was -- it was not -- it's not an easy decision, in the face of doing what I love and being so dedicated and really caring about my students.

Over the past three weeks, I have built relationships with the students who -- my current students, but the seniors, I have had them -- I have known them for four years. I have deep relationships with a lot of these students. And it breaks my heart to leave them.

And, especially, I don't know who's going to replace me, and I know that there's no way that they can put a sub in here that does what I do, that does what so many of these teachers do. And when we talk about safety, sure, COVID is something that we should be keeping in mind.

[14:25:00]

However, there's so many more aspects of safety to these kids' lives. And one of them is having a teacher that understands what goes on in here, has a relationship with them, and is -- I remember being a young teacher. Now, like, I don't even think about teaching. I think about everything else that goes into this job that's beyond just teaching the content.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I hear you.

And you -- just to be clear, you're a social studies teacher, a 10th grade social studies teacher. So, as you say, you have known these kids for a long time.

So, just so I understand something, because this is so hard for you, what worries you about the COVID vaccine? What part scares you?

EDMONDS: So, like I said, my objection is a religiously held objection.

I had my hearing yesterday with the Department of Education and the union rep and my lawyer and the arbitrator. And we discussed that there. And so I'm waiting to hear back on that decision. I'm praying hard on it, and hoping.

But unless anything changes, come Monday, they have decided that I'm a threat to public health. And I think that goes against some of the very basic values of this country. Of course, we need to balance freedom and safety. But I would say this is an overstep of freedom. We have gone too far.

CAMEROTA: Well, look, we have seen cases where teachers have sickened their students with COVID, and then the students who weren't old enough to get vaccinated and brought it home to their families.

So, this isn't -- they're not just making this up. We have seen cases of that happening.

But just so I -- again, so I understand, Stephanie, I mean, Judaism believes in modern science, in modern medicine and being able to protect yourself. Did you, for instance, ever get the polio vaccine? Did you get the measles vaccine? Did you get the diphtheria vaccine?

EDMONDS: So I would say, I got those when I was a kid.

And I obviously didn't have a choice in that. That was a choice that was kind of made for me. However, upon further research, particularly over these last 18 months, and really leaning on my faith, as I have throughout my life in very difficult times, I would say, when COVID hit, I went to a very dark place.

And from there, again, I lean into my faith. And, yes, this is the decision that I have come to in consultation with God. So, now that I realize I would think again about some of these other ones as well.

CAMEROTA: Well, Stephanie Edmonds, we really appreciate your time, and we will be watching closely to see what happens, but it sounds like nothing is going to change your mind between now and 5:00 p.m.

EDMONDS: Yes, it was hard to come to my decision. But once I did, I have faith, deep faith in that.

And wherever this path leads me, I know it's where I'm supposed to be going. So perhaps it will be back here or perhaps it will be to another classroom somewhere else.

CAMEROTA: Stephanie Edmonds, thank you for your time. We appreciate hearing your story.

EDMONDS: I appreciate you telling it. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Now to this, new bodycam video released from that encounter between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie and police. Hear what she says about their fight and what led up to this moment.

And we're now learning more about the search for Brian.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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