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Biden Admin Will End Support For Saudi-Led Campaign In Yemen; W.H.: Biden Supports Canceling $10k Of School Debt Per Person; House To Vote On Removing Rep. Greene From Committee Assignments; McCarthy Says He Doesn't Know What QAnon Is, Despite Denouncing It In August. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 04, 2021 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Here to discuss what we just heard in the Biden agenda looking ahead, Catherine Lucey of The Wall Street Journal, CNN's Kylie Atwood, and CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson. Kylie, let me start with you on the foreign policy news. We are going through this Biden reset just about every policy in the United States government, especially the compass points of foreign policy, thought it was significant, not only the policy shift when it comes to Yemen, but the language Jake Sullivan used essentially saying, it's -- we will have a policy of no surprises, meaning we picked up the phone and we talked to the UAE and we talked to the Saudis, but we're going in a very different direction.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We're learning a few things out of that briefing about, you know, what President Biden is going to say when he visits the State Department here. You know, the main thing that he's going to focus on, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said this is that their foreign policy is going to be led by diplomacy that's why he's coming to the State Department today. And as you said, they did announce that the U.S. is going to be ending offensive support for what is ongoing in Yemen right now. And that is a very significant decision.

Now, this is something that President Biden promised to do on the campaign trail. This is something that Democrats have been pushing him to do. And Secretary of State Tony Blinken said, this is something they'd move on pretty quickly. But as you said, this means a whole thing, certain missiles, certain elements of U.S., a munitions that were being sent to the UAE, in Saudi Arabia. And as you said, they did pick up the phone call -- the phone, and they did call the Emirates (ph) and the Saudis to tell them this was coming.

The other hugely significant news that we're hearing out of that briefing today is that the U.S. redeployment of U.S. military officials, folks who were in Germany are now going to be halted. So there's a re-looking at where the military presence should be globally. And that's a review that the Secretary of Defense is going to be conducting.

And then the third thing I think is important to note is that the Biden administration is also going to be announcing a new path, a higher number on the number of refugees that are allowed to come into the United States. Now, those numbers had hit historic lows in the Trump administration, 15,000 in his final year. And so, this is something that the Biden administration wants to focus on bringing in more refugees at a time when there are so many crises internationally.

KING: And Catherine Lucey, another big reset is in COVID policy and domestic policy. And you could sense this, a little bit of tension developing in the sense that the new CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, has said the data supports sending kids back to schools, even if teachers have not been vaccinated yet. She says the data tells us that their schools do not become super spreader sites, if you will. And that yes, you would prefer to have teachers vaccinated, you would prefer to have other mitigation efforts in place, but that children should be going back to school.

This potentially, we've seen it in Chicago, we've seen it in some other jurisdictions could lead to the President and he was asked today specifically, who would he choose, and that's a false choice. Let's be clear about that. There are other questions as well. But there are teachers unions who's saying we are not ready to do that just yet. That is a pressure point probably days or a few weeks down the road.

CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: That's right, John, this is a tricky issue for the administration. They've made very clear that they want to reopen a majority of K through 8 schools in the first 100 days. And how they're trying to focus that energy is that they're saying they're pushing for more funding, more funding to go to schools, four things like PPE for ventilation, for staffing, whatever they need to open safely.

But they are under pressure, and Republicans see an opening here as at least some parents are going frustrated by schools not opening and are really, you know, questioning whether they're doing enough and whether there should be more pressure put on teachers unions. And so I think you're right, the situation in Chicago, you know, could become a sort of a focus point here as they try and walk this line.

KING: And it's interesting (INAUDIBLE) since day 16. So you have this giant reset in the government. And we're watching the Trump administration stop having these briefings --

LUCEY: Yes.

KING: -- because the President was his own spokesman, the former President now but if the Trump tweets were the White House briefings, they stopped having them. Now you see Jen Psaki trying to reiterate and reinforce the President's priorities when it comes to COVID relief, but until Congress acts every day, Senator Romney has a new plan today. Will the White House consider that? Some Democrats want blanket forgiveness of student debt. Jen Psaki says the President supports $10,000 for every American who has federal student debt and would like legislation on that front. So she's trying not to negotiate from the podium, but sometimes she gets drawn into it.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: No, I think that's right. And you saw her trip up on a couple of issues earlier on. She obviously is getting used to this press corps, used to some of the issues that are coming up. But you do see the tension there. We talked about schools, sort of teachers unions, who we should remember, represent teachers, teachers versus kids and what that means for the Biden administration.

Another question about whether or not this administration whether or not Biden has talked to any House Republicans about COVID relief, and you saw her say there. She didn't have any meetings or calls to announce with Kevin McCarthy because, of course, there is this talk about whether or not there be a bipartisan bill.

[12:35:18]

Typically, that's thought of, can you get a couple of senators on board, and the House is sort of not even in the picture in terms of getting on board with this $1.9 trillion relief package. But, listen, it is good that she is doing these briefings, they're informative to the public, they're helpful to reporters as well, particularly as the public still goes through this awful, awful COVID pandemic, which has horrible health implications for people looking at maybe 500,000, 550,000 people dying. And then, of course, the record unemployment numbers that we're seeing the claims that we saw, most recently. So helpful. But, again, it's a tricky job she has.

KING: It is a tricky job. And Kylie, one of the calculations is that the Biden team does want to show again, around the world and around the United States, we have changed the compass point, we are changing direction, we're changing the way we do things, and we're changing the policies from the Trump presidency, however, you also want to get it right. And so when it comes to issues like you heard tough words from Jake Sullivan there about Russia, you heard tough words about the treatment of Uyghur refugees in China, Uyghur prisoners, we should call them in China. But they're also saying we're going to consult with our allies before we take big steps. The Iran nuclear accords came up as well.

How do they draw the sweet spot there at the State Department about, we have a new team, we have a different approach. But we want to make sure we consult, get everybody on the same page before we act?

ATWOOD: Yes, that's right, John. And I think the way that they're trying to do that is by doing just exactly what they did today, announcing a few foreign policy decisions or reviews that are ongoing, and then really digging into the details here at the State Department and saying that they're doing that alongside allies, and then actually doing it, picking up the phone and calling allies around the world as they devise things such as, you know, their North Korea policy or their policy on Afghanistan or their policy on Russia. They want to take action with allies. So they're actually making those phone calls so that they can do that.

And while they are reviewing all of these things, they are announcing some really consequential foreign policy decisions that will define the Biden administration out of the gates here. We saw that in the first week of President Biden's tenure, of course, when he rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, when the U.S. got back into the World Health Organization that Trump had ditched on his way out. So, these are things that they are, you know, reversing from the Trump era, but there are also things that they are really looking at in depth so that they can figure out a full, full some policy approach that really works.

KING: Oh, yes, with the State Department. Catherine Lucey, grateful for your reporting and insights as well and she is going to stay with us.

Up next, House Republicans face a very public test on whether they welcome Marjorie Taylor Greene and her views into the GOP. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy offers this message to his House colleagues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: As far as I'm concerned, she's not in my tent. She discredits us, and she should not be considered a part of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:18]

KING: A private GOP family meeting last night sets up a very public test today for every single Republican House member. The test is this, are you OK with what freshmen lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene believes? An afternoon vote will decide if the Congresswoman who subscribes to the QAnon conspiracies has questioned if 911 was somehow an inside job and who openly traffics in anti-Semitic tropes keeps her committee positions.

Last night, the House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy says Greene did offer behind closed doors apology to her fellow Republicans and he says, that should be enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I denounce all those comments that were brought up, everybody and she came to the -- she came inside our conference and announced them as well. She said she was wrong. She has reached out in other ways and forms inside our chambers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So should she come out (INAUDIBLE) apologize for her past comments?

MCCARTHY: That's exactly what she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Publicly though --

MCCARTHY: That's what she did inside our conference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Kevin McCarthy says all as well, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last hour says, no, it is not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: It's just so unfortunate. You would think that the Republican leadership in the Congress would have some sense of responsibility to this institution as they did when they did not see Representative King of Iowa two years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Nian-Malika Henderson is still with us, and joining our conversation is CNN's Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill. Manu, the Democrats are forcing this vote because they say the Republicans refuse to clean up their own mess.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely right. They wanted Kevin McCarthy to do it themselves. Typically, if a member gets into hot water one, the party deals with itself. They don't rely on the full body, the full chamber to act. We saw that happened with Steve King, the Iowa Republican Congressman who made racist comments many over the years, ultimately, one was enough. And that Republicans internally pushed him out of the committee. They are not doing that with Marjorie Taylor Greene, in large part, well, mainly because her comments were made before she became a member of Congress.

Now, she, as you noted, made some comments privately last night to denounce apparently or past views or just say that they don't represent who she is. We have not heard her say that publicly though, and that's a big question. Also, the question is the precedent this vote would set? Some Democrats, I'm talking to John, are concerned about the precedent if Republicans take the majority, will they come after their members?

So earlier today, John, I asked the Speaker Nancy Pelosi about if she has any concerns about the precedent it would take -- it would set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU (on-camera): Are you worried at all about the precedent that it would say --

PELOSI: No, not at all. Not at all. If any of our members threatened the safety of other members, we'd be the first ones to take them off the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:45:08]

RAJU: And she said, I'm done, and she walked off from there. It's pretty clear they believe that they should take action for both because of what she has said, but politically too, Democrats see an advantage here in trying to link Republicans with QAnon, the fringe conspiracy theory, they believe that they want to put Republicans on the record voting this afternoon in support of keeping on the committee's expect that to become subject of heavy democratic campaign attacks.

I'm told, John, on a conference call yesterday, the top Democrat who's in charge of the House Campaign Committee, Sean Patrick Maloney said they plan to link Republicans with QAnon of the heavy ad campaign. So this is certainly part of this strategy in trying to moving her off the committees this afternoon, John.

KING: And Nia-Malika Henderson, one way Congresswoman Greene could alleviate this situation, or at least try to, is to speak publicly. Let's accept Leader McCarthy's word that she stood up and she said, I'm sorry and she said that she was wrong. Let's assume that happened. But we can't though, the problem is we can't until it happens publicly, when she goes to the floor.

I just want you to listen here. She did do interview with a conservative television network or internet network this week, where she did say Parkland happened, that the school shooting happened where she has, in the past, questioned whether that was somehow a staged event, a false flag event, that is not. Listen to her here. This is with conservative Dinesh D'Souza. And it's interesting when you listen to the language.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): 911 happened, we all saw it happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 911 was done by Osama bin Laden and he score (ph) the radical Muslims.

GREENE: Osama bin Laden absolutely, 19 terrorists that hijacked airplanes. And, you know, there's nothing wrong with asking questions. And that's all I've done is ask questions. This grave sin that I am being crucified for in the public square is for reading about things, posting about them and asking questions on Facebook in 2018. And they are outraged that I dare commit such as then and use my freedom of speech and just ask questions about things that I had read about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Ask questions about things I have read about, meaning, she asked questions, did a plane really fly into the Pentagon. I lived across from the Pentagon in an apartment when 911 happened. A plane flew into the Pentagon, people died. As she has liked social media post that suggests the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, should be killed. So, yes, you have a freedom of speech, but especially if you're going to get involved in positions of responsibility with that freedom, and that right comes responsibility.

HENDERSON: Right. Positions of responsibility, positions of power, positions of visibility. And we saw last night that she doesn't really seem to have any remorse, certainly no gratitude towards the leadership that really moved to kind of save her from getting move from these positions by Republicans. She essentially came out and said, you know, the leadership is weak, Kevin McCarthy is all talk and no action. And we should, also anytime we talk about the conspiracy theorist like her, the theories that she espouses, particularly QAnon, it's incredibly dangerous. The FBI has said that this represents a domestic terrorism threat. So it's not just this sort of friends' crazy talk. There is real danger here and we saw that, of course, on January 6th. Many of those folks were QAnon conspiracy theorists.

And listen, Kevin McCarthy can all of a sudden pretend he doesn't know what QAnon is. He has in the past denounced it. So I imagined he knew about it at some point, but now he's trying to say oh, what's Q-on? I don't even know how to pronounce it. He's got a members who are QAnon conspiracy theorists in his caucus.

KING: Right, and that's an absolute critical point. We saw in the insurrection that if you mainstream these views, they have consequences.

HENDERSON: Yes.

KING: And deadly consequences and horrific consequences. Marjorie Taylor Greene, I'm told to speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives right now, we are tracking that to see what she says and if there is maybe perhaps some contrition to come.

But, Manu Raju, to the point that Nia-Malika Henderson just raised about Kevin McCarthy, his title is leader. I'm sorry, you don't earn the title when you debate yourself. Here's Kevin McCarthy last night versus Kevin McCarthy last summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: I think it would be helpful if you could hear exactly what she told all of us, denouncing QAnon, I don't know if I say it right. I don't even know what it is.

There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party. I do not support it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Does he really think that we're stupid that Republican voters, his voters are stupid, that we're not going to go back and look at what he has said in the past? And this fits this pattern. Remember back when the Mueller report came out. Lindsey Graham said, I'm not even going to read the Mueller report. He was chairman of the committee. For four years of Trump tweets, you would ask Republicans about him, they say, I'm not going to pay attention to those. Those were the official words of the President of the United States.

If they're not going to do their homework and study big issues of the days or if they're just going to flat out lie and say they don't know what QAnon is, why should we listen to them on anything?

[12:50:01]

RAJU: Of course he knows what QAnon is. He's a member of the Gang of Eight that receives highly classified information on Capitol Hill. He knows the controversy, he knows the conspiracies. He knows what happened on January 6th, he knows how that is linked to Marjorie Taylor Greene, the promotion of that theory stuff that she did in the past. There's no question about it.

This is another indication of McCarthy --

KING: Manu, I'm sorry to interrupt you, so we can listen to Congresswoman Taylor Greene.

GREENE: -- and I say this to everyone. Any source of information that is a mix of truth and a mix of lies is dangerous no matter what it is saying, what party it is helping, anything or any country it's about, it's dangerous. And these are the things that happen on the left and the right. And it's -- it is a true problem in our country.

So I walked away from those things and I decided I'm going to do what I've done all my life, I'm going to work hard and try to solve the problems that I'm upset about. So I started getting involved in politics. You see, school shootings are absolutely real. And every child that is lost, those families mourn it. I understand how terrible it is because when I was 16 years old in 11th grade, my school was a gun-free school zone. And one of my school mates brought guns to school and took our entire school hostage. And that happened right down the hall from my classroom.

I know the fear that David Hogg had that day, I know the fear that these kids have. And this is why -- and I say this sincerely with all my heart because I love our kids, every single one of your children, all of our children -- I truly believe that children at school should never be left unprotected. I believe they should be just as protected as we were with 30,000 National Guardsmen. Our children our future, and they're our most precious resource.

I also want to tell you, 911 absolutely happened. I remember that day crying all day long watching it on the news. And it's a tragedy for anyone to say it didn't happen. And so that I definitely want to tell you, I do not believe that it's fake. I also want to tell you that we've got to do better.

You see, big media companies can take teeny-tiny pieces of words that I've said that you have said. any of us and can portray us and to someone that we're not. And that is wrong. Cancel culture is a real thing. It is very real. And when big tech companies like Twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn. This is a problem. This is a terrible, terrible thing.

But yet, when I say that, I absolutely believe with all my heart, that God's creation is he created them male and female, and that should not be denied. When I am censored for saying those type of things, that is wrong.

You see, here's the real situation. I decided to run for Congress because I wanted to help our country. I want Americans to have our American dream. I want to protect our freedoms. This is what I ran for Congress on. I never once said during my entire campaign, QAnon. I never once said any of the things that I am being accused of today during my campaign. I never said any of these things since I have been elected for Congress.

These were words of the past. And these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values. Here's what I can tell you. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. And I'll tell you why. I believe in God with all my heart, and I'm so grateful to be humbled, to be reminded that I'm a sinner, and that Jesus died on the cross to forgive me for my sins. And this is something that I absolutely rejoice in today, to tell you all, and I think it's important for all of us to remember, none of us are perfect. None of us are. And none of us can even come close to earning our way into heaven just by our acts in our works. But it's only through the grace of God.

And this is why I will tell you as a member of this Congress, the 117th Congress, I'm a passionate person. I'm a competitor. I'm a fighter. I will work with you for good things for the people of this country. But the things I will not stand for is abortion. I think it's the worst thing this country has ever committed. And if we were to say in God we trust how do we murder, God's creation in the womb.

Another thing I will say to this body is I want to work with all of you for our people. It should be America First always, always and there's nothing wrong with that.

[12:55:06]

And if this Congress is to tolerate members that condone riots that have hurt American people, attack police officers, occupied federal property, burned businesses and cities, but yet once to condemn me and crucify me in the public square for words that I said, and I regret a few years ago, then I think we're in a real big problem, a very big problem.

What shall we do as Americans? Shall we stay divided like this? Will we allow the media that is just as guilty as QAnon presenting truth and lies to divide us? Will we allow ourselves to be addicted to hate and hating one another? I hope not. Because that's not the future I want for my children and it's not the future I want for any of your children. I yield back my time. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gentlewoman's time has expired. The gentleman from Oklahoma --

KING: Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene there speaking on the House floor saying words that many Republicans wish she had said weeks and weeks and months ago, saying she regrets words of the past. She said, words of the past they do not represent me now. She said, I'm a sinner and she asked for forgiveness. She said these words -- things that she should not be held accountable for words she said or words that she liked, social media posts that she liked back in 2018.

CNN's Manu Raju is still us up on Capitol Hill and Nia-Malika Henderson here with me in studio. Manu, there's a vote later today to strip her of her committees. So she goes to the floor and she says I regret this. She says she was wrong to believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory. She's essentially saying, I'm a sinner and I have made mistakes.

Again, a very important statement from the Congresswoman, we should make that clear. She is standing up on the floor, and at least now finally saying these things, questioning 911, questioning school shootings, were wrong and were mistakes. The question many people will ask was, why now? Why only today when you're about to be stripped of your committees?

RAJU: Yes, she could have done this over the last several days, she refused to do so instead saying that she would not apologize, raising money off of it, telling people to stand with her, getting back up from Donald Trump, getting back up ultimately from the House Republican Conference, making a pitch internally, but she did not come on say that publicly. And this train has left the station already. They're voting this afternoon to begin that process, there's going to be a procedural vote file with the actual vote by the full House to strip her from her to committee assignments.

Now the question is, does this pitch appeal to any Democrats? Because the Democrats have the votes to strip her from her committees. I don't expect many Republicans to vote with the Democrats. Most will side with her. The -- most Republicans will side with her. So will any Democrats decide, look, she apologize, maybe we should give her a second chance. Maybe we should vote on the Republican side and see what happens as she becomes a member of Congress, given she said this before she was a member. Now she says this doesn't represent our views, even though she said these things just a couple years ago.

At the moment, I'm not expecting that to change the dynamic. It's still expected that she will lose those two committee spots. But this moment could give some Democrats, let's say, a reason to think about what the action they're taking here. But, again, the question, John, why not say this last week where this could have headed off this effort on the floor of the House, because Democrats in part move forward because she had not backed away from her statements and dug in.

KING: Right. We would be having a very different conversation, we would not be having this conversation actually if she had said this the day after she was elected, if she had said this the first day she came to Washington. And she said, I just want to make something clear, because I know things in my past have been controversial. And I have many critics, justifiably so because of them.

Nia-Malika Henderson, is this about -- this is what she said about QAnon. "I was allowed to believe things that weren't true. And I would ask questions about them and talk about them. And that is absolutely what I regret. Because if it weren't for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn't be standing here today. And you couldn't point a finger and accuse me of doing anything wrong."

So there was contrition, there was regret. But I was allowed to believe things that weren't true. No, you believed things that weren't true. You weren't allowed. You allowed yourself. You know, there's obviously an intelligent woman who allowed herself didn't do the homework, you see something that posted by the QAnon do a little homework, you realize it's quackery.

HENDERSON: And it sounds like she's still QAnon. I mean, I think what we don't understand about conspiracy theories, in theories, if we're not in them, is the ways in which they talk and maybe dog whistle certain things that we don't necessarily understand because we're not knee-deep in them. I think what's dangerous about this moment is she's still conspiracy theorists. But she's sort of wrapping it in the language of conservative talk. She talked, you know, for instance, about God creating man and woman, that really is sort of being anti- transgender.

She talked about gun-free zones and essentially saying that that is why the shootings happen.

[13:00:00]