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McAuliffe, Youngkin Make Final Pitch To Virginia Voters In Tight Race; NYC Reports 91 Percent Of City's Workforce Now Vaccinated; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) Discusses Manchin Not Supporting Spending Bill Without "Greater Clarity" On Its Effects. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 01, 2021 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: You've seen, as we've gotten closer, polls have tightened, Youngkin has talked up and his supporters have gotten excited about the fact that they're in this race.

And that is why, I think, he is nationalizing this contest, trying to make this about more than about just the Commonwealth of Virginia.

McAuliffe will be stumping here in Richmond. He also has an event later in northern Virginia. Youngkin has been crisscrossing the state as well today.

And both of them tomorrow will spend most of the day in northern Virginia as they watch votes come in -- Victor, Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK, thank you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Thank you, Dan.

Jessica Taylor is an editor for The Cook Political Report. And CNN White House correspondent, John Harwood, is back with us.

John, let's start with you and this tele-rally happening tonight that former President Trump will call into. Glenn Youngkin will not be part of it.

We know that McAuliffe has been tying Youngkin to Trump or trying to do that over the last couple of weeks.

The decision not to be a part of that, how much does that tell us about the fine line that Youngkin is trying to walk? And what does that mean in the final hours of this race?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it tells us a lot. Glenn Youngkin is trying to be a minimally Trumpy Republican. He doesn't want the galvanizing effect that Donald Trump has on Democratic voters. Because what Republicans have in this race is a much more enthused and energized base.

Democrats are down. And Joe Biden is down. His approval is well under 50 percent, struggling with all kinds of issues. And we have this consistent pattern that has gone on for four decades.

Ten out of the last 11 gubernatorial elections have been won by the party that is not occupying the White House.

So it is -- it would be natural for the Republican to win the race.

It is true that Virginia's gotten more Democratic over the years. Nevertheless, that is a very consistent and stable pattern.

Glenn Youngkin is capitalizing. And he's trying to do it by both rallying the typical more rural conservative base in Virginia, traditional conservatives, and those moderate suburban voters.

And a key to getting those moderate suburban voters is not closely identifying himself with Donald Trump. And Glenn Youngkin has done that fairly successfully so far.

CAMEROTA: Jessica, is it possible the Democrats are misreading the issues on the top of Virginia voters' minds? Because when you look at the polling, neither Trump or the Build Back Better plan or the D.C. wrangling is at the top of the list.

Here's the latest, from "The Washington Post." Education is number one on this list.

And I mean, that is what Glenn Youngkin has leaned into so much about the school board, the angry school board meetings and everything.

And then the economy. And you could define that however you want.

Then coronavirus, with all of the mandates and vaccines and everything.

Then abortion, crime, taxes. And then something else gets a big number at 16 percent.

Is seems like Glenn Youngkin has embraced this education thing in a way I'm not sure that Terry McAuliffe has.

JESSICA TAYLOR, EDITOR, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Right. That big push started after their last debate when Terry McAuliffe was talking about a law that he vetoed that would have allowed parents to -- to opt out of certain text for students.

And he said, no, I don't think that parents should be telling schools what they teach. And I think that was a pivotal moment. You've seen the Youngkin campaign go on air immediately with that. It is flooding the airwaves.

And you have these, I think, upset parents, it is sort of a perfect storm after COVID and wanting them to go back, wanting them to be safe and not wanting masks.

You have really -- it is a passionate issue, education is. And it is one that typically Democrats have a clear advantage on. But right now, the polling shows that it is tied. And I think McAuliffe thought that COVID with the Delta surge would be

more of an issue. They pressed home how they support vaccine mandates and mask mandates. And that is a popular position in Virginia.

I think they thought that would motivate Democratic voters in the same way that helped Gavin Newsom in the final weeks of California.

But California is not Virginia. This is a state that has trended blue.

But ultimately, it is Youngkin that I think has seized on what is most, I think, politically salient issue of the time and hammered that home.

And McAuliffe, for a long time, he I think -- I've heard from Democrats they waited too long to respond after that debate moment. And I think that could end up being maybe the most pivotal moment of the campaign.

BLACKWELL: John, after hearing what he just heard from Senator Manchin on how far Democrats, the factions of the party are apart from passing this legislation, Terry McAuliffe has blamed a lot of the frustration within the Democratic Party in Virginia on that in-fighting.

Considering the polling we just saw, is there any indication that that is why potentially the race narrowed or is that just blame shifting?

HARWOOD: I suspect it is more blame shifting than anything else. Yes, Washington looks to be a mess right now and that is contributed to Joe Biden's problems.

But I think larger issues are at play in that.

[14:35:02]

First of all, the nation has been set back on the coronavirus and that is one of the things that hurt Joe Biden.

Secondly, you have concerns about economy and inflation and the supply chain issues, which are weighing on the Virginia voters as they are on voters everywhere else, whether or not Terry McAuliffe has anything to do with them.

So the broader environment is really bad for Democrats right now.

And one of the advantages of that education issue, you were just discussing with Jessica, is that it serves to allow Glenn Youngkin to appeal both to conservatives and moderates.

The issue about banning particular books that upset students, that is something that conservatives, who like culture wars, appeal to.

But he's talking about increasing funding for education. And that is something that modern suburbanites, that have trended Democratic over the last several elections, that they -- appeals to them, too.

So it is a convenient two-for for Glenn Youngkin to talk about education and that is one big asset for him.

BLACKWELL: John Harwood, Jessica Taylor, thank you.

And tomorrow is election night in America. The stakes, as we have set them, are high in the race for governor in Virginia and New Jersey. And of course, we're watching that race for mayor of New York. Our special live coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

CAMEROTA: OK, the CDC is set to discuss whether to give parents the green light to vaccinate their children against COVID. We have all of the latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:10]

CAMEROTA: Tomorrow, the CDC will vote on whether to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. If the CDC director signs off, shots could begin on Wednesday.

Meantime, Moderna's plans for a child vaccine have been delayed over CDC concerns about heart safety.

And there's this grim new milestone in the pandemic. More than five million people around the world have died from COVID-19.

CNN's Alexandra Field has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Since we announced the mandate just days ago, 22,472 new vaccinations among our city employees.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More proof the mandates are working, 91 percent of New York City's municipal workforce is now vaccinated.

Police and EMS and sanitation workers and the fire department seeing big gains since the mayor announced the mandate 12 days ago.

DE BLASIO: Anyone who hasn't so far, there's still a chance to fix it. Come in and get vaccinated. Come back to work because we need everyone to do their job and we need everybody to be safe.

FIELD: Still, 9,000 city workers who didn't get the shot are now at home on unpaid leave.

Mayor Bill De Blasio said there have been no interruptions to police, sanitation and fire services, and no firehouses closed.

But the firefighters union is still pushing back against the city's mandate.

ANDY ANSBRO, PRESIDENT, UNIFORMED FIRE OFFICER ASSOCIATION OF GREATER NEW YORK: We're hoping fire coverage is not impinged upon but it is hard to say at this time.

FIELD: The battle is playing out against the backdrop of a big milestone. The White House said 80 percent of adults in the U.S. have received their first shot.

Nearly 70 percent of adults are now fully vaccinated. New COVID cases continue to fall. And hospitalizations are under 50,000 for the first time in three months.

Tomorrow, CDC advisers are set to discuss whether to recommend Pfizer's vaccine for kids as young as 5.

Meanwhile, Moderna gets a yellow light. The drugmaker, who is seeking an FDA emergency use authorization to give its vaccine to children and teens between 12 and 17, said that the FDA wants more time to review the risk of heart inflammation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is really showing us that safety signals and our observations are really working. This is what happens when we pay very close attention to vaccines and how they are being administered.

FIELD: In another big push to show how safe vaccines are, the science community come out to debunk the myth that COVID could cause infertility.

The American Academy of Pediatrics putting out a statement, saying, "Unfounded claims linking COVID-19 vaccines to infertility has been scientifically disproven."

And adding, "Similarly, there's no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine effects puberty."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has revealed she tested positive for COVID. She's not currently traveling with the president.

She said she was last with President Biden last Tuesday. At the time, she was outside and wearing a mask. Physicians agree there's a very low likelihood that she could have transmitted the virus.

The president is triple vaccinated, well protected, and did test negative just yesterday.

BLACKWELL: All right, Alexandra Field, thank you.

[14:44:27]

Breaking news on Capitol Hill. Senator Manchin just said that he will not support the president's spending bill. Says he has a long way to go there. We'll talk to the chair of the Progressive Caucus, Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Let's go back to Capitol Hill where, moments ago, moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin dealt a major setback to the president's massive social spending bill.

Senator Manchin said he will not support the spending bill before he can get what he calls greater clarity on how it impacts the economy and the nation's debt.

He's urging House Democrats to first pass the infrastructure bill before he'll consider supporting the larger social spending bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Holding this bill hostage is not going to work and getting my support for reconciliation bill.

Throughout the last three months, I have been straightforward about my concerns that I will not support a reconciliation package that expands social programs and irresponsibly adds to our $29 trillion in national debt that no one seems to care about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:50:05]

BLACKWELL: The Senator's stunning announcement comes a day after progressive Democrats signaled they were likely to back the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the social safety net bill when they come up for a vote.

Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from Washington State. She is, of course, the leader of the Progressive Caucus.

Congresswoman, thank you for being with me.

First, you know, we heard at the end of last week, you said that you could see the end. We heard from your colleagues that you're within inches.

After what we heard from Senator Manchin today, where are you?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Well, Victor, it's good to see you.

And I think where we are is working very hard to get both the bills through the House and feeling very good about that.

Now, we have the text. We spent the weekend reviewing the text. We had a big meeting of the Progressive Caucus yesterday.

And I think that we are ready, pending some final negotiations on things we care very much about, immigration and prescription drug pricing. We know Senators are still negotiating that. Some details on childcare.

Those are the last pieces. And once we have those, we will be happy to vote both of those bills, both the infrastructure bill, and the Build Back Better bill through the House.

And I'm hoping that can happen as soon as tomorrow or the next day. We are ready to get this transformational change to people.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman, you say you're ready and there may just be a few final pieces from you.

What we heard from Senator Manchin sounds like he's far from the pieces. He said some of the spending are shell games and budget gimmicks.

Let's be clear, shell game is a scam, which he equates to some of the proposals you have. Where he says, how can I vote for this without knowing how much it costs.

So Senator Manchin doesn't appear to be that close. Are you having any conversations with him to help get him closer to a deal?

JAYAPAL: Victor, I'm letting the president have those conversations. The president came to the caucus and assured us that he would get 51 votes in the Senate for this deal that he has been negotiating with Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema.

We had a deal several months ago. Those two Senators weren't there yet. We understand we have to get 50 votes. We continue to compromise but make sure we have a truly transformational bill, which I believe we have.

The president thinks he can get 51 votes for the bill. We're going to trust him, do our work in the House, and let the Senate do its work.

We're tired of just being -- continuing to go wait for one or two people. We trust the president that he will get 51 votes for this.

And we will pass both bills through the House as soon as we have these final negotiations wrapped up.

BLACKWELL: I want just your reaction to those words from the Senator where he calls them shell games and budget gimmicks. To that, you say what?

JAYAPAL: I don't think it's necessary for me to comment on it because it's so far outside the scope of what has been happening.

And, you know, I would just urge everybody to keep tempers down. It sometimes this happens in final negotiations.

And I, again, am going to make sure that we deliver what we said we would, which is progressives will vote for the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act.

And we will trust the president that he is going to get 51 votes for this bill that we have negotiated in good faith with all the Senators on. And that's what I -- that's what I'm focused on.

BLACKWELL: Senator Manchin also says, holding, as he says, the bipartisan infrastructure bill hostage will not urge him, convince him to vote for the larger spending bill. Is there potentially any change in strategy where you would vote for

that bill or the members of your caucus would vote for that bill, before a Senate on the larger social safety net bill?

JAYAPAL: We never called for a Senate -- we had called for a Senate vote some time ago. We backed off that position in deference to the president and with trust to the two Senators and the rest of the Senate.

We now have said that we will vote for both bills in the House together. And that's what we're going to do. That's what we are ready to do.

And so I hope that the Senators who have been negotiating in good faith with the president of the United States, as the president is in Glasgow talking about how important it is that we make significant investments in climate change and do many of the things that we're talking about doing.

I hope that every Senator, including those that want to speak about where we are in negotiations, understands that we are getting ready to pass through the House of Representatives a bill with $550 billion in investing and taking on climate change.

[14:55:03]

Bringing down carbon emissions significantly so we can get to the reductions, goals over of emissions that the president is talking about and that the world expects us to see.

That's our job, pass both bills in the House and rely on the president to get the 51 votes he committed to when he came to speak to us. And I trust the president.

BLACKWELL: Do you have any indication that Senator Manchin supports that $550 billion for climate?

JAYAPAL: I just can't speak for him. I'm sorry, Victor, I know you want me to. I can't speak for him. I don't know.

BLACKWELL: Have you had conversations with him about that at all?

JAYAPAL: I have had conversations with him. But again, my understanding is he has been negotiating with the White House this entire time.

He has generated, you know, in a place where we have 96 percent of Democrats in the House, Senate, and White House agreeing on a $3.5 trillion package.

The Senator has got an lot of concessions because we need 50 votes in the Senate.

I've got to trust that the president had all the information in front of him when he said he could get 51 votes in the Senate for this package that we're voting on. BLACKWELL: All right. We just got a statement from the president,

through press secretary, Jen Psaki, where he says -- and I'm paraphrasing -- he's confident that he will get the support from Joe Manchin.

So we'll see how that continues to work out as --

JAYAPAL: That's right --

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: -- says they are still negotiating there.

Let me ask you, your view on the decision to do this today. You mentioned the $555 billion that's in this package.

The president is at COP26 in Scotland where he's trying to convince the rest of the world that the U.S. is leading here when, back here at home, Senator Manchin decides on this day to say we're far from a deal on this massive, historic even, investment in fighting the climate crisis.

JAYAPAL: I don't understand it. I can't speak for it.

I will just say sometimes tempers get a little flared toward the end of negotiations. I hope that's all this is because we plan to vote these two bills through. And we plan to rely on the president to get the 51 votes in the Senate for what we vote through.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about prescription drug pricing and the effort to lower that.

Was it in the initial framework that you enthusiastically endorsed last week? We know that there have been conversations between Speaker Pelosi and Senator Kyrsten Sinema about that.

Is that getting closer to potentially being added back on to or part of this larger bill?

JAYAPAL: Well, we're very encouraged by the fact that we heard that there are good conversations going on. And we very much, you know, said at the time we endorse the framework.

But we also enthusiastically supported any additive elements, whether it was prescription drug pricing or, at the time, paid leave. I know Senator Gillibrand was working on that.

I had several Senators text me over the weekend. And I said, we'll enthusiastically push for anything you can get 50 votes in the Senate for.

I know Senator Sanders is pushing hard on the prescription drug piece.

And our frontliners in the most vulnerable districts in the House and across the country understand that this is such an important piece of what we need to get done. And I really hope, even if we can't do everything, let's make a start on really doing some meaningful changes. It's got to be meaningful. If it's not meaningful, it's not worth it.

If there are meaningful things we can get done together, just to get a start on lowering prescription drug pricing, that's what 90 percent of Americans want us to do.

And we have to give them real relief on the costs of prescription drugs.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman, over the weekend and heading into what we heard from Senator Manchin, the president gave the suggestion that Democrats were going to get it done, that you were close, much like you did at the end of the week.

We've got this statement from the president in which he says he's confident he will get Joe Manchin.

Has the president read how far apart the two parts are here, considering that just a couple of days ago, we were hearing from the president that you all were within a few inches of finishing this?

JAYAPAL: I don't think the president has misread this. I think he and the White House team have been in very close touch with both Senators.

And I think that the president, came to us, and he said this to me a couple of weeks ago, that when he came to me, it would be with the confidence that he could achieve this.

He wouldn't say that unless he knew he could get it done.

They spent several weeks negotiating this with the two Senators and with all of us.

And I think, now we have the text, as we have called for, we are, you know, we have reviewed everything. We feel very, very good about what's in this package.

[15:00:00]

It really is transformative, the Build Back Better Act, and the infrastructure bill, together.