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23 Democrats Leaving at End of Term in Wave of Departures; New Data Shows Omicron May Be Less Likely to Cause Severe Lung Disease. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 21, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

MIGUEL CARDONA, EDUCATION SECRETARY: We have a year's worth of experience. We have vaccination efforts happening for children ages five and up. We have better testing. Our students deserve five days a week, in-person learning instruction, and that's why I think (ph).

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Part of the measures to keep them safe, one, for instance, let's take them off, is wearing masks. As you know, you have some states and communities that are barring those mandates. What do you do about that?

CARDONA: Well, the goal is to have students safely in the classroom. We don't want quarantines. No one benefits when they're quarantined. Parents have to leave work or late notice, the change of schedule. And we know masks prevent the spread of COVID-19. So, when there are policies in place that prevent that, I think those policies are going to come under question because it's hurting parents' abilities to be at work and most importantly it's hurting our students' ability to be engaged with their peers and with their teachers, where they learn best.

SCIUTTO: It was notable on this network this morning, Dr. Fauci said that there is some consideration at the NIH of shortening the required quarantine time from ten days to five days, particularly for health care workers. And I wonder do you see a similar possibility for students and perhaps teachers as well, shortening the required quarantine to be clear for those who have been vaccinated? Is that under consideration?

CARDONA: You know, as we move forward, and we learn how to thrive during a pandemic, we have to evolve our thinking and make sure we're being led by science and ultimately making sure our students and our staff are safe. And that's why I'm pleased that the CDC announced the test-to stay program, which shortens quarantine for student who might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

I do think we're going to continue to learn more about how to get our students and faculty in schools quicker and safer, and we should take every effort to limit quarantine where possible.

SCIUTTO: The Biden administration, as you know, is going to -- the president is going to announce today half a billion tests being sent out, or at least offered to be sent out for people who ask for them free of charge to get a handle on this, right? Has there been any discussion of expanding testing for students, particularly in the midst of the omicron wave and providing tests like this not only to families with children but to schools?

CARDONA: Yes, there has been. And, you know, I appreciate the leadership here of the president. I think we went from 47 percent of our schools open full-time in March to over 99 percent now because of the hard work of our educators across the country but also because the president prioritized vaccines for educators.

So, similarly, he's taken a strong approach ensuring that tests are available. And, yes, we're working closely with our partners at HHS to ensure that tests are available for our schools, for our students, so that they could stay in school and make sure we're not spreading COVID in schools.

SCIUTTO: I wonder, looking back, and granted hindsight is 20/20, of course, you learn as you go. Is one of the lessons of this pandemic that the U.S. went too far in terms of remote learning in the midst of the pandemic, particularly what we've learned about how few students -- and I don't want to minimize those who did catch this, young people, and some who sadly died -- but that it was a low percentage who suffered serious illness from COVID. Is that something that, in retrospect, do you think, it was overdone?

CARDONA: Absolutely not. And I'm not only speaking as an educator but as a parent. Not only did we want to make sure we protected our children and our staff, with information that we know now but we didn't know then. But I think it's important to inform folks that children can carry it and they could spread it to their grandparents, they could spread it to a family members. Back at a time we didn't have vaccines, we lost so many lives.

And I believe that precautions that we took were necessary, but we're a year removed from that. We know what works. We know how to protect ourselves. There's no reason our schools should be going remote fully. We need to keep our kids in the classroom.

SCIUTTO: There are a lot of parents watching right now. I imagine some of them welcome the news of you saying, you know, you guys want to keep folks in school, you want to keep kids in school for in-person learning. You're looking at a lot of data here. As you say, you run a department but you're also a parent. How should they view the arrival of omicron so quickly and how much they have to take steps to protect their kids?

CARDONA: The message has been the same. And I applaud the parents who, at the beginning of the pandemic, turned into quasi-educators as well. And they've had to adjust their work schedule. We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to protect our students. So, what hasn't changed? Are the mitigation strategies that we know work?

So, parents, what I would say is, as you're having conversations with your children, remind them the importance of mitigation strategies. We can all do our part so that our schools stay open full-time.

SCIUTTO: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, thanks for taking the time this morning.

[10:35:00]

CARDONA: Glad to be with you. Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And still ahead this hour, a wave of Democrats in the House are retiring. It's adding to some tension inside the caucus. Could the party's slim hold on power be at real risk now?

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SCIUTTO: 23 Democrats are now planning to leave the House, either retiring or running for other offices, at the end of the term next year. They're part of a growing wave of Democrats headed for the door amid low morale and also concerns the party will get really roughed up during midterms.

[10:40:05]

Here with me now to discuss, CNN Senior Political Analyst Kirsten Powers and Republican Strategist and CNN Political Commentator Alice Stewart. Good to have you both on this morning.

Kirsten, if I could begin with you, I mean, this typically happens when folks read the tea leaves and they're like not a good year for Democrats. That said, we did see a lot of Republicans retire pre-2020. They actually did better than many expected in the House. But there are a lot of other signals here, including on the generic ballot. Is it a fait accompli, 2022 is disastrous for Democrats?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, as you know, Jim, historically speaking, the party that's in power in the White House typically does not do well in the midterm elections, in the first midterm election. And so the expectation would be based on historic trends that the Democrats wouldn't do well. So, I think that we have to always keep that in mind when we're talking about this.

So, it's not always, you know -- a lot of people will try to make it -- I mean, there's a razor-thin majority as it is. So, if the Democrats were to lose the majority, people would make it into a referendum on the Democratic Party, and I think we have to keep the historical lens very clear that that would be the normal thing to happen for them to lose states, right? So, that's the typical thing.

I do think, you know, every member is retiring for a different reason, but a lot of times they are -- when they retire, it is because some people are, like, I don't want to be in the minority or they feel like it's become too toxic or their district is being -- the lines are being redrawn. That's the situation for some of them.

But the net-net of it is it's not great news for the Democratic Party because they have such a narrow majority.

SCIUTTO: Alice Stewart, do Republicans smell blood in the water here?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, clearly, and it's evidenced by the large numbers that we're seeing. And Kirsten is right, history is not positive for the party in power. But this is a real unprecedented jump from a sinking ship and the reasons are quite simple. What we see in the current Democratic Party, there is low morale and accomplishment to-date, and there's also high anticipation, high anxiety about what redistricting will mean and the thought of losing power.

Many of these that are stepping down, as Kirsten said, for different reasons, some are fear, not being in power, they not only lose control in the House but important seats, they lose their gavel in many of these committee assignment, and that's not a positive thing.

What has happened, what we're seeing is that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has really taken hold and really got a lot of influence. And that has to be frustrating for a lot of the moderate Democrats. Joe Manchin on the Senate side is a case in point.

But what they need to do is, I think, focus on the constituents they have back in their district and serving the constituents in their district and not think about party-wide in Washington, D.C., and what's best for the people of the district, because those are the people that they are sworn to serve in Washington, D.C.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And we have seen, interestingly, some Democratic members -- revolt is too strong a word -- but straying from the DCCC's kind of messaging for 2022.

Okay. Alice brought up Joe Manchin, Kirsten Powers. You might have heard of him. I want to play a clip of him on if there is still a place for him in the Democratic Party and get your thoughts. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there still a place for you in the Democratic Party?

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV) (voice over): Well, I would like to hope that they're still Democrats that feel like I do. I said I'm socially, I'm fiscally responsible and socially compassionate.

Now, if there's no Democrats like that, then they have to push me wherever they want me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: He raised the possibility there of being pushed too, and there's a lot of flak being directed his way here. I mean, is there a place for him? Do you sense him flirting with, if not the Republican Party, then possible independence?

POWERS: I could see him becoming an independent and caucusing with the Democrats. And I don't think that would be a horrible thing. I think that it would probably be more accurately reflect who he is and what he believes. I don't think he's a Republican. He clearly supports a lot of things that Republicans don't support. So -- but I do think that he clearly is different than a lot of other Democrats. We can see moderates in the House, for example, did support Build Back Better, right. So it's not just that he's a moderate.

And I was kind of laughing, the idea -- I love you, Alice, but the idea that, you know, the person who's frustrated is Joe Manchin because progressives are in control. I mean, Joe Manchin is controlling everything, right? So, it's like that there's no situation where Joe Manchin isn't having influence. He's holding the party hostage to his belief.

[10:45:02]

And I do think we are at point now, based on the reporting that's out there, if it's accurate, what he has proposed to President Biden, at this point, I think Democrats should just accept what he wants because the things that he has put forward -- again, we're going on reporting -- would still be a really big deal. So, the things that he does support in terms of universal pre-K, I mean, that's a big deal and money for climate change and those kinds of things. And so if that's real, I think it's better to get something rather than nothing.

SCIUTTO: Alice, please go ahead.

STEWART: Sure, I share the cinema (ph). I love you, Kirsten, as well, but I do recall the Democratic Party, as Joe Manchin said, is fiscally conservative and socially compassionate. And that's exactly what he is demonstrating here and his frustration with the broad scope of the Build Back Better. He has been consistent in where he is on this package, and the fact that the Democrats are attacking him and questioning his character and saying he's been not truthful in this process, they're attacking him at his own peril because he has been consistent on this. And I think the progressives and the way they're going about this, they're never going to get him to yes if they continue to attack his character.

SCIUTTO: We did have a Democrat on who made that very point. Dean Phillips made that point yesterday, doing so at their own peril. But, sorry, Kirsten, before we go.

POWERS: I mean, I -- we don't have enough time to get into whether -- I don't think he's been consistent and that I think some of his behavior especially in the last couple days has really been a betrayal both to the president and to commitments that he made. And I don't think most of what's being said is an attack. I think it's a criticism. And I think that's part of public life, right?

He's a big boy. He's a U.S. senator. And these are serious issues. And these are serious issues that affect real people. And so this isn't about people disliking Joe Manchin. It's about people being concerned about Americans who need some help and some relief.

SCIUTTO: Kirsten Powers, Alice Stewart, we're going to have to leave it there. Thanks so much to both of you. And happy holidays to both you.

POWERS: Happy holidays to you. STEWART: You, too, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead this hour, lawmakers in Israel have banned citizens from traveling here to the U.S. The latest moves to curb the spread of omicron. We're going to take you to the region, next.

But, first, here is a look at some other events we're watching today.

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[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: This is just in to CNN. New data on the potential severity of the omicron variant, preliminary research from the U.K., Japan, and South Africa found that the new strain may be less likely to cause severe disease in the lungs, less likely. Governments across Europe and in Israel are considering new restrictions, however, in an effort to slow the spread of omicron.

CNN's correspondents are covering the global response.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: I'm Elliott Gotkine in Jerusalem, where Israeli lawmakers have approved adding ten more countries to its red no-fly list, including the United States and Canada. From 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Tuesday, that's midnight local time, these countries will be off-limits for Israelis unless they get special permission. Israel has been steadily adding nations to its red list in a bid to reduce the spread of the omicron variant. Most of its 220 confirmed omicron cases were imported by travelers entering the country.

And as Israel's fifth wave of COVID unfolds, senior ministers have been discussing additional restrictions. According to public radio, they've raised a number of proposals, including putting further limits on large gatherings, extending the list of places requiring a green pass to prove vaccination or recovery, and ending free antigen tests for unvaccinated children.

On Monday, the country's daily COVID caseload jumped 30 percent to more than 1,300, that's a two-month high. The R coefficient, as the number of people infected by each COVID sufferer, jumped to 1.28, its highest level since August.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin. Various European countries are already struggling with the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Germany is also bracing and a new German government is saying that it wants to take action.

Now, the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, he is meeting with state leaders today and they want to put in place a flurry of new measures to try and at least slow down the spread of omicron.

The centerpiece of all this is restrictions on public gatherings. They want public gatherings to be limited to no more than ten people, even if those people are vaccinated.

Now, all of this is not set to take hold for Christmas. However, after Christmas and, of course, will severely restrict New Year's celebrations here in Germany as large-scale celebrations will be all but impossible, especially since all this goes hand-in-hand with a ban on fireworks that the Germans have put in place.

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: I'm Nada Bashir in London, where many are still questioning whether or not new COVID-19 restrictions will be put into force ahead Christmas.

[10:55:07]

New Year's Eve celebrations in London have now been canceled amid concerns over a surge in the number of coronavirus cases being reported, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan declaring a major incident in the capital over the weekend.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his government is monitoring the situation hour by hour, stressing that the government must reserve the right to implement further measures if needed to protect public health. At this stage, though, the government says it's sticking to its plan B measures.

SCIUTTO: Thank you, Nada Bashir, Elliott Gotkine and Fred Pletigen. Thanks to all of you as well for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts after a quick break.

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