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U.K. Regulator Approves Pediatric Pfizer Vaccine for 5 to 11- Year-Olds; Airplane Makers Call on Biden to Delay Rollout of 5G Cell Service; Biden Meets with CEOs, Cabinet Members on Fixing Supply Chain. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 22, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:02]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: But should they take what they can get?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They certainly should take what they can get but they should not necessarily assume that what's on the table is all they can get. Don't forget in June, Manchin came out full guns blazing in the same kind of way against the voting reform bill that passed the House, HR-1, wrote an op-ed in one of the West Virginia papers, denouncing it up and down. Democrats then negotiated with him over the summer and reached a surprisingly congenial agreement in the fall on the bill that is still hanging fire depending on whether Manchin and Sinema, again, all roads lead back to them, will change the filibuster, will let Democrats pass it.

Giving up on the child tax credit would be an enormous sacrifice for Democrats. In a state like West Virginia, it's going to -- the projections are it will cut childhood poverty in half. But on the other hand, Jim, their strategy always assumed they were going to have to pass it on a standalone sooner or later. I mean, the reconciliation bill that passed the House only extended it for one year. So, they were betting they could come back and pass this later no matter what. And if that's what it comes to get the climate, health care and universal pre-K investments, I mean, there may be Democrats certainly in the White House who say, all right, let's take that risk and force Republicans to vote down this child tax credit.

SCIUTTO: Just very quickly here, Biden is saying again Manchin and I, the other Joe and I can come to a deal here. But Biden had already promised, reassured Democrats, progressives, moderates, I got this, right? And Joe didn't come through. I mean, what is Biden's credibility among Democrats right now on this?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. I mean, look, most of the ire is at Manchin at the moment. I mean, most Democrats are saying not that Joe Biden misled them but that Joe Manchin misled Joe Biden. But that history looms over this. I mean, when Biden says, we're going to do this, as you say, he has said that before. Look, there is a deal to be had. It's not clear to me how it isn't in Manchin's interest to kind of sink the Democratic prospects in '22 and '24. Don't forget he's on the ballot in '24. And the issue is not only the question of enthusiasm among the base that would be depressed if their core domestic economic agenda is derailed. You've probably recorded on -- you've seen the estimates from the Wall Street economists that growth would be significantly affected. I mean, there would be a Manchin slowdown in 2022 and 2023 if this bill is sunk. And it's just hard to see how that this is ultimately in the interest of any incumbent.

He's told Democrats he prefers no bill but recognizes that doing so would sink the Biden presidency. He said that privately in the past. If that's still operative, there's a road to a deal. If not, then it's a brick wall.

SCIUTTO: We'll watch. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Jim.

Still ahead, a look at how the rest of the globe is tackling omicron. France and the U.K. taking steps to get children vaccinated now. We're going to be live in Europe.

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[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: Just in, a U.K. regulator has now approved a pediatric version of the Pfizer vaccine for children 5 to 11. The agency's chief executive says the vaccine met expected standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from London. Just one of the measures U.K. officials taking to tackle the virus, we, of course, have that vaccine already here. How is it being taken up there?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jim, I know across the world people are bracing for that storm of omicron. But here in the U.K. it's already arrived. We are absolutely in the eye of the storm. Record-breaking case numbers in recent days, tens of thousands of people testing positive for COVID-19. And the prime minister has vowed no new restrictions before Christmas. So, health officials taking steps to bolster their defenses against omicron.

So, you mentioned one of the key ones there, young people aged between 5 and 11 now approved for a child vaccination from Pfizer. Authorities are going to start recommending that to children in that age group who are particularly vulnerable. You also now have the COVID isolation period is being reduced from ten days to seven days as long as you test negative on a lateral flow test for those sixth and seventh day. That's just to keep the country running essentially because so many critical services are not running due to the number of positive cases. And that's particularly important in the health care industry.

You also have the U.K. government today securing two contracts. That's going to bring about 4 million -- more than 4 million doses of antivirals that will be here in the country starting next year to help people who are COVID positive and vulnerable from winding up in ICU, from winding up seriously sick. And then, of course, the key thing is the booster program. It's really like a wartime effort here, Jim. You have troops involved, thousands of vaccinators fanned out across the country. If you see a line outside anywhere, it's not about Christmas shopping, it's people getting their booster jabs.

But here is the big question, Jim. We simply don't know. We have these tens of thousands of positive cases every single day. We simply don't know how many of them are going to wind up in hospital in a couple weeks' time. I know everyone watching how the U.K. health system fares because we're ahead of the curve on this one, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Salma, Abdelaziz, thanks so much.

In France, the country is reporting nearly 73,000 new COVID infections on Monday, the highest number of daily infections reported all year, so similar to what we're seeing in the U.S., and their too pushed to vaccinate children now.

[10:40:03]

CNN's Cyril Vanier is in Paris. As that campaign rolls out, I mean, what age group is eligible? And I'm also curious what the take-up is there. You had a lot of parents here who were reluctant to do it. CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. And there are a lot of

parents here in France who are also wondering whether they're going to vaccinate their children. As of today, children age 5 to 11 are eligible to receive a Pfizer vaccine here in France. Until now, children with weakened immune systems were eligible. But now that's been opened up to the entire age group. I have children age 8 and 11. So, I'll be one of the parents asking myself that question.

And, anecdotally, I've seen that my son has been sent home from school twice already since the beginning of the year because their class had to be shut down on account of multiple infections within their level, the teachers also being infected. So, we can see that schools are a place, a venue where COVID circulates widely, and the statistics and the health ministry numbers tell us that the virus is very prevalent among that particular age group, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the government wanted to open up vaccination to 5 to 11- year-olds, that and the fact that they just want to widen the pool of people who can get a vaccine generally.

So, France is 75 percent vaccinated. We know about 10 percent of the country roughly still resistant to getting a shot. That leaves 15 percent of the country. Well, now, a lot of them, these children, 5 to 11, can also get it. So, the government hoping to really increase that 75 percent vaccination coverage over the coming months as parents start to get their kids vaccinated. And you know what, the health minister actually took example after the U.S., saying, look, they've had 7 million children vaccinated there, only a handful of serious side effects.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the data has been very good. Cyril Vanier, thanks so much.

Well, two of the nation's largest airplane manufacturers are asking the White House president to stop the rollout of 5G cell service next week, why they say that new technology puts some flight systems in jeopardy.

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

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[10:45:00]

SCIUTTO: 5G cell service is set to launch in the U.S. next week. Experts say it's faster, more reliable and it could change the way people live and work. But America's largest aircraft makers are warning it could interfere with some flight instruments and, therefore, make flights unsafe.

CNN's Pete Muntean explains why they want the Biden administration to at least delay the rollout of 5G service.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is the newest issue that could impact your safety in the sky. Airlines are warning that radio waves from soon to be turned on high-speed phone service could interfere with key instruments that pilots use to land.

In this simulator of Original Airliner, I saw how automatic warnings could stop and flight displays give confusing, mismatched readings.

TOM PETERSON, EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY: What would you do? You just go around --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And figure it out.

PETERSON: And cause a big bottleneck.

MUNTEAN: In a new letter, the CEOs of Boeing and Airbus America are telling the Biden administration that interference from 5G cell transmitters near airports could adversely affect the ability of aircraft to safely operate. On Capitol Hill last week, airline executives called it their number one issue.

REPORTER: How concerned should passengers be? How scared should they be about this?

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: Well, the passengers will be safe but it will be really damaging to customers, I mean, hundreds of thousands of customers a day impacted by this.

MUNTEAN: Providers such as AT&T and Verizon plan to turn on 5G in just weeks on January 5th with the promise of speeding up cell data in 46 markets. But major airlines say the signals could slow down hundreds of thousands of flights. A new analysis from industry group Airlines for America says 345,000 flights could be delayed or diverted each year, affecting 32 million passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very accurately -- (END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Breaking in here, this is President Biden addressing supply chain issues in this country. Let's listen in.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: -- of any president in the last 50 years, nearly 6 million new jobs, a record number for a new president because of my staff and cabinet. Unemployment down to 4.2 percent, three years ahead of the predicted time it would take to get to that number. Applicants for new small businesses up 30 percent compared to before the pandemic, and the fastest economic growth in nearly 40 years. There's more as well.

Today, America is the only leading economy in the world where household incomes and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic, even accounting for price increases.

The economy I inherited nearly a year ago wasn't just in crisis. It wasn't working for working people. That's the reason I ran. It's about time the middle class and working class people got a shot.

[10:50:02]

Year after year, economic growth is too low, wages for the middle class were stagnant and a number of people starting new small businesses was declining. Over this year, we've acted, from the American rescue plan to the bipartisan infrastructure law, to change this trajectory, to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.

By the way, when that occurs, wealthy people do very, very well. We're not trying to punish anybody. They do very well. Working people in this country, the wages and benefits they deserve, it's about time they start to see it. To create an economy with more innovation and faster growth, and we're making progress. We've got a way to go, we're making progress.

Still atop of mind for me is what is top of mind for so many families, the pinch of prices and the cost. Look, addressing these costs has been and will continue to be my top priority the entire administration. And the way to do this is not to slow down our economic turnaround, not to step back from all this progress, but to build on it. We can and we will address prices by expanding productivity capacity in our economy so we move more goods to market, get more Americans working, encouraging more investments in innovation and making sure American consumers see those benefits at the store and at the pump when they go to fill up their cars.

Let me describe three specific areas I'm focusing on. First, supply chains, and I owe a lot to the business people on this call, on this Zoom. Earlier this fall, we heard a lot of dire warnings about supply chain problems leading to a crisis around the holidays. So, we acted, a lot of recommendations of the people that you see on the screen here. I wish we were able to do this in person. We brought together business and labor leaders to solve problems, and the much-predicted crisis didn't occur. Packages are moving. Gifts are being delivered. Shelves are not empty.

Experts in this field look at two statistics for retail inventories, which is how many good retailers have on hand and the phrase on-shelf availability, which measures how many goods are actually on the shelves there to be purchased. Today, retail inventories are up 3 percent from last year. Inventories are healthy, and on-shelf availability before the pandemic was about 91 percent. Today, it's at 90 percent, 90 percent.

I'm sure you can go and find some shelf where it's empty because of particularly sort of gift's are very popularity, I don't know, but 90 percent availability. And delivery times for this season for FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service are faster than before the pandemic, even as Americans have purchased a record amount of goods. This in part due to the progress we've made at our nation's ports, which are now moving historic amounts of goods.

After working with our administration, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have nearly cut in half the number of those great big containers you see sitting on a dock for more than eight days. This is striking progress since November. In fact, right now the number of containers moving through our ports is higher than ever. It's because we've sped up -- we, because when I sat down and talked with the folks running the ports and the longshoremen, they agreed to speed up every step in the process, the ports, the train, the trucking.

My bipartisan infrastructure law, there's $17 billion to speed up and modernize our ports. And tomorrow, the Department of Transportation is going to announce over $200 million in grants to ports nationwide. And we're making significant investment in freight rail as well. And we're also working to unstick bottlenecks between the ports and the stores by getting more trucks moving all around the country.

We've heard a lot about the need for more truck drivers, and it's real. And we've gotten to work to address that. For example, I see Marty Walsh, my labor secretary, Marty, you've done a hell of a job, pal, cutting the red tape so that companies can set up registered apprenticeships for truck drivers in two days instead of two months, which it was before you took over. These apprenticeships are going to help drivers get trained better and faster and help companies retain drivers in a field that has a lot of turnover. So, I'm eager to hear about the new partnerships with trucking companies and states to get more truckers on the road and into good paying jobs.

[10:55:00]

We also need to build resilience into our supply chains. We can never again be left vulnerable the way we were in the early days of COVID- 19. One important way to do this is to make more things here in America. That has been a goal of mine since day one of my administration. We've gotten more than 300,000 U.S. manufacturing job, more than 300,000 added since I took office January 20th. And we're going to keep at it, because the more of what we buy in America should be also made in America.

The second area, protecting American consumers. Take gas prices. Months ago I saw oil production wasn't keeping up with the demand as the world started to get moving again, which could drive up prices at the expense of our consumers. That's why I worked with international partners to coordinate the release of oil from our oil reserves and theirs. Now, gas prices are coming down, more than ten cents a gallon nationally. Gas prices in 21 states now are at their historic averages before the pandemic, historic averages. That's good news for Americans hitting the road this week.

But beyond energy, we need to make sure that there's a robust competition across industries. Competing is what encourages companies to innovate, encourages them to invest, to build and offer lower prices. I'm going to be convening my competition council next year, after January, to keep pushing for more bold action because healthy competition is the hallmark of healthy capitalism.

Thirdly, I'm working to reduce the largest cost burdening household budgets, and the biggest weapon in my arsenal is the Build Back Better, which will reduce what families have to pay for prescription drugs, for health care, for child care and so much more. The bill is paid fully, fully paid for. It won't increase the deficit and nobody making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes.

Top economic forecasters from Wall Street firms reinforced just this week that failing to act on the Build Back Better plan will mean less economic growth. Let me say it again. Not a liberal think tank, Wall Street. Failing to make these investments is going to slow growth, not increase it.

Look, if we, in fact, seize this opportunity, I think we can lower costs for families getting more people working and lower price pressures long-term. And we're going to keep working on all these fronts because it is so clearly what American families need right now.

I'm going to now turn this over -- there's much more to say, but maybe I've already said too much. I want to have an interchange with you guys. But now, I want to turn it over to Brian Deese to begin this meeting. I may have some questions, in fairness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. And we will move immediately into the first section of the agenda to focus on ports and logistics, the progress made and additional steps to go forward. And we'll hear from John Porcari --

SCIUTTO: Okay. You've been hearing the president there meeting with CEOs to discuss ongoing challenges to the global supply chain.

Our Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans with me now. Christine, you heard President Biden there describe progress in fixing supply chain bottlenecks. Is that what we're seeing out there?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are seeing that through time start to get a little quicker. We've seen that the government has provided these funding for these pop-up container yards to try to get goods moving. So, yes, we are seeing some progress. But on the other side of that, you have inflation running at a 40-year high. So, there's a real imperative from the administration to work with industry to try to clear up these bottlenecks, bottlenecks that, by the way, are the downside of a pandemic reopening so quickly. You have all these consumers with pent- up demand for things.

So, we've just never seen a situation like this, the president ticking through all the reasons to be optimistic in the COVID economy. He's right about growth this year. It's very, very strong. The jobs market is strong but people don't feel it because of inflation and because just some of the pains that we feel in the everyday economy.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, that's the headline of The Wall Street Journal today, right, is the U.S. economy is booming and outpacing Europe and China and contributing to the supply chain issues.

ROMANS: Yes. And people don't believe that the economy is booming too. And that's one of the things I think you're hearing the administration try to pivot to say, hey, it's not like the last administration where the president would take personal credit for a stock market high. This White House doesn't do that. Now, they're trying to calibrate and tell people, hey, things are good and we're fixing the parts that aren't.

[11:00:03]

SCIUTTO: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. And thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. I hope you're having a --