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Trump to Speak at CPAC; Answers to Coronavirus Questions; Prince Harry's New Interview. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 26, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A lot of people I'm sure are feeling that way, Alisyn. And this will be dangled out there as red meat for the base I would imagine for the next two to three years. And I expect that's what we will hear from the former president Sunday when he speaks to CPAC.

And I agree with S.E. on a lot of the points she made about CPAC. The founding principles of the group is about conservativism, the Constitution, limited government and fiscal responsibility, and that is what got them going. But over the years, it has become a lot more about bedazzled jackets and men in their patriotic costumes.

But the important thing to keep in mind, these are solid Republicans. This is the big, huge part of the Republican base, now President Trump's base, and they do have an important role moving forward in terms of keeping Republicans on board and keeping people motivated.

One of the things I remember from CPAC, I got a huge poster of Ronald Reagan. I have it on my office, in here on my wall, and he was a big factor in CPAC. And I wish we could get back to more of that because Ronald Reagan spent every single day building converts. And, unfortunately, Donald Trump makes enemies. Donald -- Ronald Reagan spent every day building the Republican Party. Unfortunately, Trump spends a lot of time tearing it down. And Ronald Reagan was much more secure in who he was. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is a little bit more about his own ego.

So it would be helpful if CPAC and the party could get more of the Gipper and less of the Trumper moving forward because as a Republican, quite frankly, I'm tired of not winning. And that was a big promise from Donald Trump is winning. And we've lost the House, the Senate and the White House under his leadership. And we need to take the policies that unite us and make us strong and move forward with that with a lot less of the tone and tenor that we have under the former president.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: You didn't see Ronald Reagan in a bedazzled jacket.

Alice, while I have you, quickly, what did you think of Ted Cruz's trip to Mexico? I mean I'm only asking because you know him so well. What was that about? STEWART: It was a huge mistake and he recognizes it. Alisyn, I was

shocked when I heard that he had done that because it's really, honestly, it's not like him. He, as part of being an elected official, he does enjoy the part of being accountable to his constituents. After Hurricane Harvey, he rolled up his sleeves and helped them in the sweltering heat with water and helping with their homes and their businesses. So I was really surprised that he did that.

He, obviously, recognized that. He got on the first plane back and came back and got to work to help out his constituents.

But I will say this, he is a good man that made a bad decision, and he's going to be working really hard to make up for that. And I hope that the people of Texas understand that and let him make amends on that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, he recognized it after he was busted. I just want to add that -- add that proviso there.

STEWART: Right. Right.

CAMEROTA: So how about that Mitch McConnell, S.E.?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So Mitch McConnell, who, you know, after the impeachment said that Trump was responsible for what happened on January 6th. He said it had been a disgraceful dereliction of duty and that he provoked the murderous mob.

CUPP: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Then yesterday, last night, he said this about Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: If the president was the party's nominee, would you support him?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Oh, the nominee of the party? Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: He wants a disgrace to be the nominee of the party? Or he would support a disgrace?

CUPP: Apparently (ph).

CAMEROTA: What is that, S.E.?

CUPP: Yes. I think this is a really good sort of cautionary tale to folks watching the machinations of the Republican Party, including those of us in the media. And I remember just last week, the Mitch McConnell/Donald Trump feud was described by many as this battle over the soul -- for the soul of the Republican Party. And let me tell you, it is not much of a battle. Just look at the CPAC rundown. Just listen to Mitch McConnell turn tail.

Trump has already won this battle. The -- you know, the Republican Party knows exactly who it is and where it wants to go right now. There's no imaginary battle. Trump is its leader. Mitch McConnell still knows that. And we have to take these people at their word and look at their actions and deeds and the people that they're promoting and the people they're trying to exclude.

Look at the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and then look at the Liz Cheneys. This is where Republicans want to go. And it looks, by all accounts, like they -- they will get to.

CAMEROTA: Alice Stewart, S.E. Cupp, we always appreciate getting both your perspectives. Thank you very much.

STEWART: Thanks, Alisyn.

CUPP: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: As more Americans get vaccinated, of course they have questions.

[08:35:00]

And Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the answers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An FDA panel meets this morning to decide on granting Emergency Use Authorization to Johnson & Johnson's single dose coronavirus vaccine. As of now, 14 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Nearly 7 percent, fully vaccinated.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta here to answer some of your questions.

Sanjay, we thought we'd ask people to write in because there are a lot of questions, especially with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine about to come online. So here we go.

This comes from Lisa in Chicago. Do you need to wear a mask if you've been vaccinated and are around some other people who are vaccinated?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is one of the most common questions and the official guidance is still, yes. But I can tell you, I've been talking to lots of people about this and I think we're going to -- we're going to hear a change in recommendations on that. It's low risk.

[08:40:00]

I think here's the way to think about it. You can feel pretty confident you're not going to get sick if you've been vaccinated. Could you still potentially be holding the virus, carrying the virus and potentially transmit it? Yes. It seems low likelihood, but, yes. So let's say you've all gotten together, vaccinated, great. You feel

confident you're not going to get sick. But once you leave that gathering, you certainly do need to wear your mask because now you could be carrying the virus and you don't want to spread it to somebody who's not vaccinated. I think that's the simplest way to think about it. It's really more about your obligation to others even more so than protecting yourself at that point.

CAMEROTA: That's really helpful. But as we get more data, that might change. I mean that guidance might change. And as you say, as you've been telling us all week, there might be new data on this coming -- new guidance coming soon.

GUPTA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sanjay, here -- this is from Laurie in Arizona. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one dose and slightly less effective than Moderna and Pfizer. Why not give a second dose of Johnson's vaccine?

GUPTA: Yes, Laurie, so that's being trialed right now. I mean they started a second dose trial back in November. So we should be getting some of that data soon.

Here's what's interesting, and I've spoken to some of the people from Johnson & Johnson about this. What they find is that after you get the single dose that your immunity steadily increases. They sort of looked at it up to 28 days, but they find that the immunity continues to improve up to 57 days.

So the question is, at that point, so basically two months later, should you get a second shot? That's going to be one of the questions they're trying to answer.

But the balance is this, how much more immunity do you get because of that second shot? Because there's all sorts of logistical challenges. It's obviously easier to give a one shot sort of regimen. So it's got to be a significant benefit that you get from that second shot, they just don't know the answer to that yet.

The one shot does a pretty good job. Again, nobody died who received the vaccine. Nobody was hospitalized at one month. So I think the things that matter the most are being achieved with that one shot from Johnson & Johnson.

BERMAN: All right, this comes from Cory who is from Earth, I guess.

CAMEROTA: That's good. Good start.

BERMAN: I'm currently enrolled in asymptomatic testing on a weekly basis with my employer. Once I get the second vaccine shot will/should I continue testing?

GUPTA: Cory, yes. The answer is yes. I mean this is the exact data, probably more than anything else, that we need to know within the next couple of months. Again, we know the vaccines do a great job, all of these vaccines, towards preventing hospitalizations and deaths and preventing you from getting seriously ill. But it is this other thing. You are asymptomatic. You have no symptoms. But did the vaccine also prevent you from becoming infected? You wouldn't know it because you have no symptoms, but, Cory, if you continue to get tested, other people continue to get tested after these vaccines, that's how we're going to sort of figure out for sure whether or not the vaccine is preventing infection.

Look, when enough people in the country have been vaccinated, then you can basically say I'm very confident that even if I'm carrying the virus and spread it to somebody, they're not going to get sick. And that will be an important measure as well. But for now, it's really important to know that the vaccine, in addition to preventing symptoms, prevents you from potentially being a carrier of this virus as well.

CAMEROTA: OK, this next one comes from Nicole, who I believe speaks for all earthlings when she asks, we need strong guidance on what's OK to do post vaccination. It's clear that you still need to wash your hands, wear a mask and socially distance but it's not clear if you can travel, go shopping and do other things you may not have been doing, especially visiting family who may not be vaccinated or who may have health compromised and not vaccinated yet.

So can you -- after you're vaccinated, can you resume your old, daily activities?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I think that if the idea is this, and I'll just frame it like this and then you can -- you can sort of figure out what you could do, you should feel very confident that you're not going to get sick. And that is not to be underestimated. My parents, it's a psychological sort of -- as well as physical relief.

But you could still be a carrier. I mean that is the bottom line right now. Hopefully data over the next few months shows that your likelihood of carrying the virus is so low that, you know, it's not that big a risk. But for now, I think, you know, you can do activities if you follow by these same guidelines that we've been talking about. You just have to imagine, I could potentially still be carrying the virus in my nose and my mouth. That's why you wear a mask. That's why you still keep some physical distance from people.

Can you get on a plane? Yes, perhaps. Can you go shopping? As long as you maintain those same guidelines, which I think are going to be in place for a while.

We'll probably get to the point, is my guess, over the spring and summer, where the transmission rates come down so low that we'll have some sort of functional herd immunity and we may see some relaxing of the guidelines.

[08:45:03]

But I don't know that it's going to be linear. Meaning, that when we go back into the winter of next year, they may say, at least for a period of time, you know, limit indoor gatherings, wear masks again, things like that. So we may sort of have this toggling for a little bit of time. But that's the sort of way to think about it. Being vaccinated is great, but you do have this obligation to others to not spread the virus to them.

BERMAN: That's a nice way of putting it, Sanjay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

So this week we launched CNN Heroes for 2021 and celebrating the 15th anniversary of the CNN Heroes campaign. A decade and a half of inspiring moments and stories of everyday people who are changing the world.

We begin with an update on the man at the center of the most inspiring moment you selected from last year, Patrick Hutchinson, a London father and grandfather who rescued a vulnerable man caught in the middle of a street protest that turned ugly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK HUTCHINSON, CNN HERO: There was a lot of unrest. There was a lot of frustration. I didn't see color. I just saw somebody who needed help. I just had the presence of mind to just scoop him up, put him on my shoulder. And I had a message ping up on my phone. It was my sister. She said, it's gone viral. You're going viral.

I've spoken to the likes of Reverend Al Sharpton, Prince Harry. I've been on the cover of "Men's Health," BBC News. I've been on ITV, CNN, CNBC. I've received a humanitarian award. I've had Michelle Obama write a message on her Instagram. It hasn't stopped and it's still going.

We started United To Change And Inspire. And we call it UTCAI. We're inspiring other people to be the change in the world that you want to see. Go out there and do what's right. Don't stand by and watch certain things unfold when you know that you have the ability to do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can hear Patrick's full story at cnnheroes.com.

And while you're there, nominate your own CNN Hero.

Well, you actually just heard him mentioned in that, Prince Harry, like you've never seen him before. This is a deeply revealing interview. You want to know what Harry thinks about "The Crown"?

CAMEROTA: Oh, I do.

BERMAN: It's a big deal. I'm telling you. He opens up. We learned a lot. More, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:36]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRINCE HARRY: It was a really difficult environment as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like. And it was destroying my mental health.

JAMES CORDEN: Really?

PRINCE HARRY: I was like, this is toxic.

CORDEN: Yes.

PRINCE HARRY: So I did what any husband and what any father would do is I -- I need to get my family out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Prince Harry opening up about why he stepped away from his royal duties in a revealing new interview with James Corden.

CNN's Max Foster is live for us in London with the highlights.

This is so interesting to see him in that setting and to hear him talk so openly, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so there were those very honest, serious parts of the interview. But actually it was just really good fun. And it's a side of Harry that we've seen off camera before but not on camera. So it's a whole new side of him for many people to see. And it shows how much he's thriving really and how released I think he feels from leaving the formality of the royal family.

So you see James Corden pick him up on the double decker bus. They have tea on the top deck. You know, he's making fun of himself being a royal. And there are some revelation as well, Alisyn. We learned that Meghan calls him Haz (ph), and they have, indeed, watched "The Crown." Everyone wanted to know, didn't they?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORDEN: And how do you feel about "The Crown"?

PRINCE HARRY: They don't pretend to be news. It's fictional. But it's loosely based on the truth.

CORDEN: Yes.

PRINCE HARRY: Of course, it's not strictly accurate, of course.

CORDEN: Of course it's not.

PRINCE: HARRY: But loosely --

CORDEN: But you do think, loosely, it does feel like --

PRINCE HARRY: It gives -- it gives -- it gives you a rough idea about what -- what that lifestyle and what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what -- what can come from that.

I'm way more comfortable with "The Crown" than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: John thinks it's the biggest, the most newsworthy part of the interview.

BERMAN: I do. "The Crown" eviscerates the royal family. It just does. And if Prince Harry is out there saying that, you know, he watches "The Crown" and, you know, it's fictional but it's not so far off.

CAMEROTA: It's not as bad as the tabloids basically.

BERMAN: I have to tell you, I think that's important.

CAMEROTA: Max, what else did he say, if anything, about Meghan and Archie?

FOSTER: Well, this is, you know, the most sensitive topic for Harry, as you described at the top. He is highly protective of his family. And he protects their privacy fiercely. But James Corden went there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORDEN: When did you know that Meghan was the one?

PRINCE HARRY: The second date, I was starting to think, wow, this is pretty special. It was just the fact -- the way that we -- we hit it off with each other and we were just so comfortable in each other's company.

CORDEN: How are you finding fatherhood?

PRINCE HARRY: My son is now just over a year and a half. He is hysterical. He's got the most amazing personality. He's already putting three, four words together. He's already sing songs.

CORDEN: What was his first words?

PRINCE HARRY: Crocodile.

CORDEN: Crocodile.

PRINCE HARRY: Three syllables.

CORDEN: That's a big word!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Max, I have to say, if this is part of a PR -- really, you know, project from Meghan and Harry, and if it's meant to go up against what's coming out of London, it's incredibly effective. I mean they're winning. This is really compelling, endearing stuff. And to prove that point even more, I mean walk us through what we see from Prince Harry and James Corden at the end.

FOSTER: There are some that wouldn't say they're winning, but they're certainly winning in their own way, I think.

[08:55:03]

They're doing what they want to do.

And have a look at this at the end. Obviously, I don't know quite what James Corden was thinking, but he went on to an obstacle course against Prince Harry, who was in the military. He's a really fit guy. You can probably imagine how this plays out.

But, again, as you say, Harry, as we've never seen him before. This is painting a picture of how they want to be portrayed in future. They're normal people who happen to be royal and they do still want to change the world and have this public service. And I think we're going to see a very different interview, however, with Oprah Winfrey next week on the Sunday, a big sit-down going into the depths of why they left the royal family. I think that's going to be much more revelatory.

But this is the sort of imagery I think you'll see of them coming up in the future.

CAMEROTA: One second into that James Corden was rethinking that entire stunt. He was screaming throughout the whole thing.

Max, thank you very much. That was great.

All right, we will see President Biden leaving the White House just minutes from now. He is heading to Texas.

And CNN's coverage continues, next.

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