Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

U.S. Averaging 55 K+ New COVID Cases, 693 Deaths Per Day; Nearly 30 Percent of U.S. Fully Vaccinated, Averaging 2.7 Million Shots Per Day; Soon: CDC, Biden Announce New Guidance on Wearing Masks Outdoors; White House COVID Response Team Holds Briefing; CDC Chief: U.S. Seeing "Hopeful Decline" in COVID Cases. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired April 27, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: A very sad example of the misinformation that is being speed out there. Leila (ph) thank you very much for spotlighting and bring into sight. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us at this hour. I'm Kate Bolduan. John King picks up our coverage right now.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, everybody and welcome to Inside Politics. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you so much for sharing your day with us. Some big COVID news is just moments away.

The president's medical team gives a Coronavirus briefing. And we are told it is ready to say that Americans who are fully vaccinated under most circumstances do not need a mask when outdoors. The shift in the government's guidance comes at a potential tipping point.

Cases are down again, but so is the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations. The president himself will address the pandemic this afternoon. And again, we are told he will emphasize that getting a vaccine means getting back to normal sooner.

There's also some big political news today. New census numbers mean seven house seats will soon change states and the shifts benefit Republicans. The House Republican retreat designed as a unity meeting is instead exposing the party sharp divide over Donald Trump and the insurrection.

And as President Biden nears the 100 day mark this word today of a White House plan to target rich tax evaders. The White House says giving the IRS $80 billion for this crackdown will bring in some $700 billion to help pay for Biden initiatives.

Let's begin the hour though with this big COVID news and with CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House, Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is going to be significant news. So what we're going to hear first is from the CDC Director announcing these changes this new guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. And then in a little bit, we'll see President Biden himself talking about it as well. And tying it of course, to his entire COVID-19 strategy of course, he

was the one who put that 100 day math guidance in place. When he took office, he couldn't require it. But he was saying if people would wear a mask for 100 days, they would be taking steps in the right direction.

So expect him to reflect on that messaging since its day 98 of his first 100 days in office. And so I think what you're really going to hear a few different measures from the CDC Director in a few moments. But what really people have been asking about and has become a pretty big question for people who are fully vaccinated is why they are still wearing a mask outside.

And if that's still necessary so we don't know what the final language of this guidance is going to look like, John. But we do expect it to be along those lines, lessening those restrictions and those guidelines.

And so the question will be whether or not states follow suits and so many of them still have outdoor mask restrictions in place. That's the thing to look for. But I really think overall, what you're trying to see the administration tie this to is that if you are vaccinated you can return to a more normal lifestyle.

And that is not a message that has always been clear. So far from the administration, it was a big question about earlier guidance on vaccinated people and where that really stood and how clear that was.

But I do think it's something that they are trying to make clear now that you are starting to see we are getting to this point where vaccine hesitancy is becoming the concern not people who are trying to get a vaccine and can't get one.

Now the concern is people who aren't interested in getting a vaccine or don't want to get one right now. And the HHS Secretary was on CBS earlier today. And he directly made it clear saying if you are vaccinated, you do get to return to a more normal lifestyle.

But if not, he was saying that you're not only still posing a danger to other people, you're still in danger yourself. So it was in trying to encourage people to get vaccinated in that manner. And so we'll see if the rest of the health team, the advisors that we're about to hear from CDC Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci as well.

And see what their messages about this new guidance and how it changes lifestyle for people who are fully vaccinated at this point.

KING: We'll be listening in just moments Kaitlan Collins left at the White House, appreciate that. It is an interesting message you want to get back to normal, we'll get in line get your shot. Let's go through the numbers as we look at just where we are right now.

If you look at the case timeline cases are down 47,691 new infections yesterday down and it seems great from the winter peak, the horrific winter peak averaging 55,000 new infections a day right now a little above that averaging 55,000. That was above 70,000. Not that long ago. So there's no question the

case count is down. The experts were telling you about 40,000 still too high. They want to cut that in half and more and shove it down. But that is some progress over the last couple of weeks.

If you look at the pace of vaccines progress here. Remember we peaked on April 10, 4.6 million. The pace of people getting vaccines though this is where the hesitancy issue comes in some of its access, but this is where hesitancy comes into play.

The pace now down to set 2.7 million vaccines, new shots a day 2.7 million. That is down was about 3 million here and you see the peak day they're approaching five.

If you look at this by states where you live in the country, you want your state to be darker. 36 percent in New Mexico fully vaccinated 35 percent in South Dakota 36 percent up here in Maine.

Again, talking about this almost every day, the weaker states if you will get people vaccinated down here in the Southeast Mississippi, 22 Alabama, 22 Georgia, and 22 Utah 22. We'll look more closely at that in a minute. But as you see they're approaching 96 million Americans fully vaccinated.

[12:05:00]

KING: Take a look at this vaccine snapshot right here. 29 percent of the population 29 percent of the American population is fully vaccinated. Among adults 18 and over its 37 percent fully vaccinated.

Among those in the older end of the spectrum 65 and older, nearly 70 percent had been fully vaccinated. At this point, let's bring in our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta into the conversation.

Sanjay when you look at these percentages 37 percent of adults fully vaccinated 68 percent almost 70 percent of those 65 or older. This is a statement about the vaccine rollout. Are we ready for some significant changes because of these numbers?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think so John. I mean, I think people have often thought about this idea of getting to this herd immunity or community immunity as sort of the final destination.

But we knew that along the way, as increasingly, as the increasing vaccination numbers happened, that there would be these gradations of sort of lifting some of the recommendations you know, so that's part of what we're going to hear today.

And it shouldn't be surprising in terms of some of the stuff Kaitlan was just talking about what people are going to be able to do now that they're vaccinated, especially outdoors.

A couple things I want to show you. First of all, when you look overall at the death rates, you just mentioned this, we already in a low now, the lowest sort of seven day average over the last nine months now.

We knew that as we started to increasingly vaccinate people, deaths would come down first, because we're vaccinating the most vulnerable at a higher pace. Hospitalizations coming down a little bit, but they should come down even more.

And then ultimately cases. So it's almost backwards. We think of cases, hospitalizations, deaths because of the vaccination you got to kind of look at this backwards.

One thing I do want to point out, John, when it comes to hesitancy, there's a nuance here as well. We can see what's happening in terms of people getting their second shots or their first shots.

We know now the people showing up for their second shot seem to be increasing overall outpacing a little bit what we're seeing in the first shot. Yes, just like you have there, John.

KING: Right. It's interesting when you see this is the daily rates and we had 2 million people at least getting a one dose back here. Now that's down a little bit so people are still getting shots, but not at the pace they were just some time ago.

That's one place to look at, obviously here. That's why you're going to hear that I think on this briefing we're going to hear Sanjay, you heard it from Mr. Passera, the HHS Secretary this morning, you got to get a shot. You want to get back to normal, you got to get your vaccine.

Let's just look at the current CDC guidelines. If you're fully vaccinated, the CDC as of right now, we're going to wait to see what the changes are says you can visit our there's if you're fully vaccinated indoors without a mask, you're fine as long as you're awfully vaccine says you can pick one unvaccinated friend and neighbor, somebody you can go to one unvaccinated household if you can limit it to that if you're vaccinated.

You can avoid quarantine after travel if you're vaccinated. But it still says the CDC says you should not visit people at severe risk indoors without mask or attend large gatherings. What is your sense of as more as a higher percentage gets vaccinated? What can you loosen up a little bit?

GUPTA: I think the things in the - shouldn't column probably are going to mostly stay in - shouldn't column for now. I think there's two areas that there's really going to focus on. One is just being outside, we know that if you look at the numbers of new cases, fewer than 10 percent of them are actually coming from outdoor viral transfer.

And we know the risk of viral transmissions much higher indoors. So I think the idea that if you're vaccinated, you probably don't need to wear a mask outside. Especially if you're with members of your own household that that's - that part is I think we've known that for some time. And I think the recommendations are going to sort of reflect that. I

think a big question as well has been outdoor dining. A lot of people now the weather's getting nicer, can you go to an outdoor restaurant, you're vaccinated, people that you're going with outside your household are vaccinated?

What's the CDC going to say about that? And then also, even within healthcare settings, what is going to be allowable within healthcare settings? These are some of the areas that we're certainly looking for.

You just showed a map for a second John of the country as a whole. And this is going to be the caveat, I think the big caveat. Viral transmission in the red spots, you know, the caveat, you're going to hear no surprise basically, is this.

Do you live in an area where if you come in contact with other people, you are likely to breathe in their air and they are likely to be carrying the virus.

The more likely that scenario is and those red spots there on the map, the less likely the recommendations are going to be loosened as much there. Eventually it'll happen. But that's going to be slower there.

KING: Right. When you look at this map, it implies you know, if you're in these yellow areas, you're pretty safe. If you're in these red areas require some personal responsibility. Am I vaccinated, OK, but where am I going?

Who am I with, you know, what are the circumstances and all that it's a - it's a personal risk. The government can tell you so much but this is a personal responsibility of understanding your current circumstances, right?

GUPTA: That absolutely that - that's the thing and some of this is just going to be, you know, frankly common sense. You know, these recommendations are just those recommendations.

[12:10:00]

GUPTA: In some places, you see people being, you know, loosening the recommendations on their own, despite what the state or the county or the city is saying. In other places, it's the other way around, you've had places, John where mask mandates have been lifted.

And there's still a lot of mask adherence. If people pay attention and this sort of information that you're showing is readily available to people figure out what the viral transmission is in your area. If it's still spiking high again, you're going to get there. But I don't think you're going to be there yet. We'll see what the CDC, what the new recommendations are nationally. But I think for everybody, this is going to be a local decision.

KING: Right. And this is one map Sanjay that gives you a sense of it depends where you live. And sometimes even within a state, it depends where you live within a state. That's one way to look at it. Let's take a look at it this way. This is a map of vaccine hesitancy,

this is government data. And the darker the shading this is America divided by counties, I often look at counties in terms of red and blue. That's how we do elections.

But if you look at the counties now, the darker the county is the higher - higher percentage of people who are hesitant to get that vaccine people are not coming out, I can tell you looking at this and it's pretty common sense.

You look at the deepest red down here, you look at the deepest red out there. That is rural America and it is largely Republican America.

GUPTA: This is - this is one of these things having reported on so many different outbreaks you know, for a couple decades now, how strictly this sort of breaks down, you know, by party.

You know, it's - it's pretty striking, you see what the hesitancy is among Republicans versus Democrats. It's considerably higher you know, 150, 160 percent higher among Republicans. So that's going to be an area of focus.

And if we if we don't get to this, this herd immunity 75 percent of the country roughly being inoculated, it's this is just going to draw out the process even longer.

KING: But I just want to focus on these numbers. You mentioned that because this is stunning when you look at it, I understand political divides in the country. Life should not be a political issue. Safety of your community and your family should not be a political issue.

80 percent, 79 percent of Democrats say they're willing or they've already received their COVID vaccine, only 46 percent fewer than half of Republicans say I'm give it to me or I already got it. Right, you see this if you add up the 35 percent of Republicans say they will only get it Sanjay as if they're required to do it or they definitely will not get it.

And another 19 percent say wait and see. That is more than half of Republicans who are hesitant to use one word.

GUPTA: And that - that's going to be a big challenge in terms of actually getting to that point where we feel like enough of the country is protected. You're now hearing as a result, when I talked to scientists and trial investigators about this, they say, look, now we realize that we're going to need to go to 12 to 15 year olds.

Because if you say 12 and older in this country represent 85 percent of the population. So maybe we need to go to 12 year olds.

But then even then you find that still if 20 percent across the board of the country is hesitant and about half of parents right now say they'd be willing to get their kids vaccinated, you realize that you have to go even younger, which John is why they're now starting to trial and seven year old and up. So that you see sort of the pattern here how deep and how young, do we have to go in order to possibly make enough people not only eligible, but going to go ahead and get the vaccine?

KING: Well let me posit a question to you focused on this more than half of Republicans who say, probably not or hell no when it comes to getting a COVID vaccine. More than half of Republicans say that. Some Republicans get their information from other sources.

They might have lived through a four year presidential administration where the president constantly questioned science and constantly question the government. Or they might watch another network in primetime, where one of its anchors last night said that if you see a child outside wearing a mask threatened to call social services on that child's parents, he went on to say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So next time you see someone in a mask on the sidewalk or on the bike path, do not hesitate, ask politely but firmly, would you please take off your mask? Science shows there is no reason for you to be wearing it. Your mask is making me uncomfortable.

We should do that. And we should keep doing it until wearing a mask outside is roughly as socially accepted as lighting a marble on an elevator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Helpful or not?

GUPTA: Not at all. I mean, it's wrong. It's not helpful and it's probably dangerous. I mean, the idea that he's equating this with cigarette smoking is just ludicrous. I mean, people are wearing masks because they don't want to continue to be a source of the spread of the Coronavirus.

We're still 10s of 1000s of people becoming newly infected every day hundreds of people still dying. Yes, the numbers are getting better. But the longer we keep hearing, terrible, dangerous rhetoric like that, the longer this is going to take. I mean how many more people will need to become infected hospitalized and die.

[12:15:00]

GUPTA: Let me make one thing clear, because I think this is a point of misunderstanding sometimes the issue with - if you're vaccinated, the idea that you are far less likely to get sick. And that's great. I mean, these are really protective vaccines, I mean, up to 95 percent protective.

But could the virus still be something that is in your body and that you could potentially still spread to others? Yes, that's the issue. And is that more likely to happen? If there's a lot of virus that's in the air that's out there, yes. That's why in these red places in the country, where you see the viral

transmission is quite high. That's the real concern. Let me even punctuate it a bit further, John, because I mean, I think objective data is important when we get to the point where we're below 10,000, perhaps cases per day.

And that's a little bit of an arbitrary number. But when you get below that number, that's when you feel like, OK, we're no longer just trying to mitigate this, this pandemic, we can actually contain it. We can get our arms and hands around this thing and start to feel like we have it contained.

Until then we are going to continue to play catch up, we've been playing catch up for 14,15 months now, we'll continue to play catch up. And I'm optimistic about how things look. But John, they called the end game in India just a month ago in March and now they're at over 300,000 new cases per day.

I'm not - I hope that doesn't happen here. And again, I'm optimistic that it won't. But that's exactly the scenario we're trying to avoid. And masks even more than vaccines at least in the short run, can be really effective.

Masks can protect you against the variants can protect you from potentially spreading, whether the virus is a variant or the more commonly circulating virus. So what he said is dangerous. And I think he knows that and he's contradicted himself, because I've heard him say the exact opposite in the past.

KING: I also run counter to the idea that I believe that the conservative movement that individuals should be able to make their own choices. And if you want to wear a mask, you should be able to wear a mask. We could argue the science of the other side.

Another time, but I would love Dr. Gupta 47,000. I said, that's progress. I've been at this a long time looking at these numbers, it'd great. It'd be great to have you here today. We're at 10,000 or below and I hope that day is in the near future Dr. Sanjay Gupta, grateful for the reporting and insights.

We'll remind everybody we're standing by for a new briefing from the White House COVID team and it's actually starting right now let's go to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, SR. ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: Our press briefing calls from three days per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday going forward to twice per week on Tuesdays and Fridays. As we enter the next phase of our COVID-19 response, transparency with you is vital. And you'll continue to see this transparency in a variety of formats.

We will continue to bring you updates on our progress, the public health messages and the stories behind the science, health equity and our efforts to improve confidence in an access to vaccines and of course, continue to take your questions.

Joining me today are Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci. I'll turn to them after I provide an update on some key areas of interest. We had a call today as we do every Tuesday with all the Governors.

The call we had just now was led by Jeff Zients and Health and Medical experts. And today's call, we thank the Governors for their leadership to date, which has helped us to deliver at least one shot to now more than 54 percent of all adults in the country.

We also outline the path forward as we move into the next phase for vaccination program where everyone 16 and over is eligible to get vaccinated. Of particular interest on the call was a discussion on how to best help college students get themselves vaccinated.

This is a topic of keen interest to Governor's because many students who are getting the Moderna or Pfizer two dose vaccines might need to get their second shot at the location where they reside during the summer often in another state.

We at the federal government strongly support the work of states to focus on helping students to at least begin the vaccination process during the remaining school year. College students lead lives that make physical isolation somehow a little more challenging.

I say this with the knowledge of having one college student that is as well as a recent graduate and now in his 20s. And a vaccine seems like the best way not for that not to battle their impulse to socialize.

So we are very supportive of states in their effort to improve access and make it even easier for their students to get their shots. To do our part, we shared with Governors that will be ensuring that pharmacies in the federal pharmacy program do not have residency requirements in place so that students who do return home can get their second dose in that home state.

[12:20:00]

SLAVITT: Now in fact, most pharmacies administering shots will now offer anyone a second dose. Regardless of where they got their first seems like a good opportunity to remind you to get your second shot, if it's your time and if you haven't.

We also discussed this week's vaccine allocation on the call. This week, nearly 30 million doses will go out across channels with the vast majority going to states, tribes and territories. And we reminded Governors that the federal government stands ready to help states put shots in the arms as quickly as possible.

And we continue to conduct one on one session with their teams each day throughout the week. I want to turn to the global situation and briefly address the recent COVID-19 surge in India. First of all, we stand with the country of India during this very trying and tragic search.

Over the weekend, we shared that we are working to deploy resources and supplies including therapeutics, rapid testing kits, ventilators, PP and raw materials that are needed to manufacture vaccines in India.

And CDC which has a long history of working with in India and public health measures we'll be deploying a strike team to the country to support the public health efforts there. We are committed to helping India through this difficult time.

In addition yesterday we announced that given the strong portfolio of approved highly effective and safe vaccines here in the United States, we're looking at the options to share AstraZeneca vaccines with other countries as they become available.

This should amount to around 60 million doses or so over the next two months. The AstraZeneca vaccine is highly safe and effective and approved in many parts of the world. Instead it is - since it is not approved for use in the U.S. we do not need to use the AstraZeneca vaccine here during the next few months.

We have sufficient supply of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to accommodate our needs in the U.S.. In closing before I hand it over to Dr. Walensky. Vaccines are now broadly available, accessible and are located within five miles of 90 percent of Americans.

If you are 16 or above and have not been vaccinated, the scenes around the world should help convince you that now's the time. Your risk from being unvaccinated is too high. Please make an appointment today. And with that, I will turn it to Dr. Walensky.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Thank you and good afternoon and I'm so glad to be back with you all again today. Let's begin with an overview of the data. Yesterday, CDC reported over 34,600 cases of COVID19.

Our seven day average is just over 54,400 cases per day. And this represents a really hopeful decline of about 21 percent from our prior seven day average. The seven day average of hospital admissions is just over 5100, again a positive sign with a decrease of about 9 percent from the previous seven day period.

And the seven day average of daily deaths also declined about six to about 660 per day, a decrease of about 6 percent. Each day, more and more Americans are rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated and likely contributing to these very positive trends.

We regularly share with you the benefits of vaccination, the efficacy in preventing infection and the decreases we see in hospitalizations and deaths. These are incredibly important benefits of vaccination. And there are so many more.

I know that the quarantine and shutdowns throughout the pandemic have been exhausting. I know that we all miss the things that we used to do before the pandemic. And I know that we all want to get back to doing those things that we love and soon.

Today is another day we can take a step back to the normalcy of before. Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do. Today, I'm going to tell you some of the things you can do if you are fully vaccinated.

Again as a reminder, the CDC defines fully vaccinated as 14 days after your second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or 14 days after your single dose of a J&J vaccine.

[12:25:00]

DR. WALENSKY: Today CDC is updating our recommendations for fully vaccinated people and providing guiding principles and sample activities to give people who are fully vaccinated a way to assess their own risk for COVID-19 and determine what situations are safe.

If you are fully vaccinated things are much safer for you than those who are not yet fully vaccinated. This guidance will help you, your family and your neighbors make decisions based on the latest science and allow you to safely get back to things you love to do.

I am optimistic that people will use this information to take personal responsibility to protect them and to protect others. And I hope well, I encourage people to get fully vaccinated. There are many situations where fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask, particularly if they are outdoors, as shown by the graphic on the right.

If you are fully vaccinated and want to attend a small outdoor gathering with people who are vaccinated and unvaccinated or dying at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households, the science shows if you're vaccinated, you can do so safely on masks.

On the CDC website we have posted examples of numerous outdoor activities that are safe to do without a mask if you are fully vaccinated. Generally for vaccinated people, outdoor activities without a mask are safe.

However, we continue to recommend masking in crowded outdoor settings and venues such as packed stadiums and concerts where there is decreased ability to maintain physical distance and where many unvaccinated people may also be present.

We will continue to recommend this until widespread vaccination is achieved. Now let's talk about what you can do indoors. Here again, we have unvaccinated people and their risk on the left, where nothing has changed, risk is indicated and masking is required.

We then show the markedly decreased risk for vaccinated people on the right. Given what we know about COVID-19 vaccines and their efficacy, it is also safe for those who are fully vaccinated to return to the activities they love doing inside while wearing a mask.

The guiding principles we released today and the illustrative examples compare the safety of several activities if you are vaccinated or not. And the difference is clear. As we gather more and more data on the real world efficacy of vaccines, we know that masks fully vaccinated people can safely attend worship services inside, go to an indoor restaurant or bar and even participate in an indoor exercise class. Although these vaccines are extremely effective, we know that the

virus spreads very well indoors until more people are vaccinated. And while we still have more than 50,000 cases a day mask use indoors will provide extra protection.

The examples today show that when you are fully vaccinated, you can return to many activities safely and most of them outdoors and are masked and begin to get back to normal. And the more people who are vaccinated, the more steps we can take towards spending time with people we love doing the things we love to enjoy.

I hope this message is encouraging for you. It shows just how powerful these vaccines are in our efforts to end this pandemic and why we are asking everyone to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. The science is clear.

The COVID-19 vaccines have been through many transparent, rigorous processes that continue to prove they are safe and effective. If you haven't already, please get vaccinated. In some communities, you can find walk up venues that have advanced appointments or wherever appointments aren't even necessary.

To see more details about what we released today including the evidence and science behind these recommendations. And to learn more about the activities you can safely do when you are fully vaccinated, please go to cdc.gov. Thank you and I'll now turn things over to Dr. Fauci.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Thank you very much Dr. Walensky. I'd like to spend just the next couple of minutes talking about the subject of variance and the role of vaccination in protecting against variants.

Can I have the first slide please? So we're going to look at evidence from clinical trials and when they're not available from laboratory studies, as well as real world experience to indicate the degree of -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:30:00]