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The Situation Room

Trump Versus McConnell; Interview With Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Biden Pushes COVID-19 Relief Plan; Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) Says, Every Source Of Power In State Has Been Compromised Amid Massive Outages And Deadly Deep Freeze; New Study Suggests Pfizer Vaccine Effective Against Coronavirus Variant First Seen In South Africa; Pro-Trump Rally Leaders Still Organizing And Agitating In The Wake Of Deadly Insurrection. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 17, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news on the fight against the troubling COVID-19 variants.

A new study just out suggests the Pfizer vaccine is effective against the fast-spreading strain of the virus first seen in South Africa. Details coming up on that.

Also tonight, President Biden is arguing that the American people support his COVID-19 relief plan, saying polling shows they want everything, everything that's in the package. He's been ramping up his sales pitch, including his participation in CNN's exclusive town hall overnight. But key questions remain.

The White House is now trying to clarify the president's stance on several key issues after shifting messages, the administration now flatly declaring vaccinations for teachers are not required to reopen schools. However, both President Biden and Vice President Harris are stressing that vaccinating teachers should be a priority.

Let's go to our chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, President Biden sounds confident that his relief plan is popular with the American public, even as members of Congress are still grappling with the details.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, this evening, President Biden was meeting with labor leaders in the Oval Office.

And the way he is now framing the stimulus bill, which he is hoping will be on his desk for his signature as soon as next month, is that it would be politically damaging if Republicans vote against it, talking about the polling and what the numbers he's looking at are showing. That's a message that his aides started using a few days ago, and now

President Biden is employing it from the Oval Office. But, Wolf, it also comes as there are new questions facing the White House over where they stand on schools reopening and whether or not teachers need to be vaccinated beforehand, because, of course, the CDC says that's not a requirement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): On track to get his coronavirus relief bill passed by next month, President Biden said today Republicans who don't support it are making a mistake.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked a rhetorical question. Those who oppose the plan, what don't they like? What particular program don't they like?

COLLINS: As lawmakers are putting together the final legislation, Biden said voters are on his side with the $1.9 trillion proposal.

BIDEN: I learned, based on the polling data, they want everything that's in the plan. Not a joke. Everything that's in the plan.

COLLINS: Still dealing with the crisis of the moment, the White House gave its most direct answer yet on whether they believe schools can safely reopen without vaccinating teachers first.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Neither the president nor the vice president believe that it should -- it is a requirement. It's not a requirement to reopen schools, but they believe that teachers should be prioritized.

COLLINS: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki endorsing the conclusion from the CDC after top White House officials had avoided doing so.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The states are making decisions individually about where they will be on the list of who gets vaccinated. I believe they should be a priority. The president believes they should be a priority.

COLLINS: Last night, Biden corrected the record after a top aide defined his goal of reopening a majority of schools within his first 100 days as having kids in class at least one day per week.

BIDEN: That was a mistake in the communication. What I'm talking about is, I said opening the majority of schools in K-8 grade, because they're the easiest to open, the most needed to be open in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay home.

COLLINS: After a second-grader told her mom she was worried about getting COVID-19 and dying, Biden sought to reassure her.

BIDEN: Don't be scared, honey. Don't be scared. You're going to be fine. And we're going to make sure mommy's fine too. COLLINS: Biden pledged that there will be enough vaccine doses for all

Americans by July, but he was less optimistic about when Americans can expect life to return to normal.

BIDEN: By next Christmas, I think we will be in a very different circumstance, God willing, than we are today.

COLLINS: Biden also reiterated his support for raising minimum wage to $15 an hour.

BIDEN: It's about doing it gradually.

COLLINS: Moderate Democrats have said they don't want the raise included in his relief bill, while progressives have pushed for it.

PSAKI: It's up to members of Congress to determine what the final package looks like. It's a priority to the president. That's why he put it in the package.

COLLINS: Biden is also feeling the heat from progressives today after quickly rejecting a plan to wipe away $50,000 in student loan debt.

BIDEN: Because I don't think I have the authority to do it by signing with a pen.

COLLINS: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley disagreed, tweeting that Biden does have the authority to do so with the stroke of a pen, adding "He can and must use it."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And, Wolf, it took a month, but President Biden and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have now finally spoken. That happened this afternoon.

[18:05:01]

And according to Israel's readout, they spoke for about an hour. The White House didn't clarify how long that timeline was, for how long that conversation went.

But there is one notable part in this White House readout, Wolf, that we got of this call, and it's a nod to his predecessor and what they achieved during their last several months in office, specifically Jared Kushner, because it says, during the call that Biden -- quote -- "emphasized U.S. support for the recent normalization of relations between Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's very significant, indeed.

Kaitlan, stay with us.

I want to bring more of our team into this conversation.

Dana Bash, let's start with you. As you heard, Biden continues to push his COVID relief deal, but has that gotten a little lost in the mixed messaging on school reopenings and teacher vaccinations? There's confusion out there.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is confusion about both of those things, about school reopenings.

That has definitely not changed at all. People from the local level to the federal level are not sure exactly how this is working, vaccinations relating to that as well.

But it's all part of the same story. If you talk to the Biden administration, they argue very forcefully that the COVID relief plan is part and parcel of the vaccination rollout and getting more shots in arms and, of course, about schools.

There are certainly people on Capitol Hill who push back not on the vaccine thing. There's pretty bipartisan support for more money to help with the vaccine administration, but on the schools, there are a lot of questions, mostly among Republicans, but among some Democrats, about whether more federal dollars are really going to help with the short-term crisis, which has now been going on for almost a year, Wolf, as you well know, that people are talking about the fact that these schools have too many people.

The population is too high, particularly in high schools, not enough ventilation, small physical size, and so on and so forth. So the argument is that this COVID relief bill won't address that right away.

BLITZER: Yes, it's an important point.

Bakari Sellers is with us as well.

You know, Bakari, President Biden is still trying to thread the needle among Democrats to pass his nearly $2 trillion COVID relief bill, isn't he?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He is.

And I think that when you look at the things such as school reopening, I think we have to flesh that out a little bit more, to Dana's point. We're talking about the simple fact that many schools -- let's take South Carolina, for example -- you still have a corridor of shame, where kids go to school and they have window units for air conditioning. There's not adequate ventilation.

You still have these dilapidated water fountains, these close, tight spaces. And so, yes, we want to get kids back into school, but we also have to give these schools resources whereby they can do the necessary upfits, so that they can reopen.

On things like student loans, for example, I listened to the president of the United States last night. And although I disagree with him on only doing $10,000, and not doing up to $50,000 of student loan cancellation, and I feel like at this point I need to give a caveat to viewers, because I wish he would cancel all of it. I have $100,000 worth of student loan debt.

So, I have to give you that caveat that makes me slightly biased. But I'm one of many who suffers under that burden of student loan debt. He is playing politics with this, and that's through and through. The excuse that you can somehow eliminate $10,000, but not $50,000, is bogus. There's no legality. There's nothing in the law that prevents you from doing that.

But what he is recognizing is that the calls for waiving or -- or waiving $50,000 of student loan debt are louder on Twitter than they are in real life. And he understands that there may be more support down the road for free community college and giving money to historical black colleges and universities.

So, yes, he's juggling all this. But at the end of the day, Democrats want to pass 1.9 trillion, and Republicans don't have much of a plan.

BLITZER: And what about that, Kaitlan?

Is President Biden fazed by the progressive backlash on his plan for student debt forgiveness, for example? Is he worried about what happens among Democrats if he drops that $15 minimum wage from his COVID relief bill?

COLLINS: If you listen to his answer last night, specifically the one about student loan debt, he answered incredibly quickly, that he was not going to be doing the $50,000. He rejected that right out of hand and said, I'm not going to be doing that.

So, I do think we're entering a part of his presidency now that we're moving on from former President Trump and that impeachment trial that was always kind of looming in the background, it is going to be an interesting aspect of Joe Biden's presidency, where he is this moderate candidate, and -- or ran on this moderate platform and now is going to be dealing with progressives.

You saw that tweet from Ayanna Pressley, the congresswoman, saying that he does have the authority to do that. You see what's going on with the minimum wage. Bernie Sanders, progressives like him, are arguing that it should be included in this reconciliation bill, this coronavirus relief bill that's going to be on his desk next month, because I think the concern is that later down the road, they may not be able to get support for it.

[18:10:07]

So, that is going to be a key aspect that the Biden presidency is dealing with, managing these moderate tendencies, with also what progressives are pushing for. And he's already facing the heat from that wing of the party today.

So that is going to be something that's coming up. We're already seeing it play right now, not just with the relief bill, but also with the student loan debt.

BLITZER: That's an important point as well.

Jamie -- Jamie Gangel is with us -- President Biden won the White House with his middle-of-the-road approach. We heard it repeatedly almost on a daily basis during the campaign. Was this clash with progressives inevitable?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

And to your point, Wolf, we heard it on the campaign. There's no question. But guess who got to be president? The middle-of-the-road guy, not the progressives. And just looking back, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, neither one of them is his vice president. Neither one is in his Cabinet.

Joe Biden knows who he is and how he feels he should proceed. That said, I think there are clearly areas where they have reached out to progressives, where they will continue to reach out to progressives. His chief of staff, Ron Klain, is very active in this area.

But at the end of the day, Joe Biden is a moderate, and he will negotiate where he has to, Wolf.

BASH: Can I just add to that, Wolf, real quick?

BLITZER: Yes, of course.

BASH: Because the president gave such a quick and short and crisp response to that question about the $50,000 debt and whether that can be done away with -- the answer was no,-- this is actually a hill he wants to die on, or a fight he wants to pick is probably the better way to put it right now, that this is a place for him to position himself separate from the progressives.

It also allows -- he's been around long enough to know that it also allows other Democrats who are looking for avenues to show that they are progressive, like Chuck Schumer, for example, who you know is worried about a primary in his own Senate race in New York, it allowed him to come out with a statement alongside Elizabeth Warren today to push back on Joe Biden.

That benefits Chuck Schumer, and that is not lost on Joe Biden.

BLITZER: You know, Bakari, getting to raising the minimum wage, right now, it's $7.25 an hour. It's been $7.25 an hour since the last time it was raised back in 2009, almost 12 years ago. It hasn't raised since then.

What Biden is proposing -- and I think he and his team are not necessarily doing a pretty effective job in arguing this -- he wants to gradually raise it to $15 an hour by the year 2025. That's in four years from now.

It will go to $9.50 right after it's signed into law and then there would be annual increases. That seems more reasonable than just saying $15 an hour right now.

SELLERS: You know, Wolf, I actually have to push back on the framing of the question, because people right now are starving. People literally are starving.

People are having to make the decision about whether or not they're going to get their prescription drugs or pay their utility bills. I mean, poverty is something that's been raging in this country for decades upon decades.

And the reason we're still in this predicament is because Democrats and Republicans have failed. Let's go back to Barack Obama. From 2008 to 2010 -- and I'm going to get blown up. I'm sure my phone's going to be ringing off the hook. But you had a Democratic president and they had a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate. And we failed to take care of the American people on this issue.

I wish they would raise it to $15 right now. I understand that there have to be some caveats in there for small businesses to allow them to raise it incrementally. But there's no reason that these companies like McDonald's or Walmart or whoever it may be do not pay their employees a living wage.

Joe Biden is playing the politics perfectly, just as Dana said. The policy ain't that good, but the politics are great. Let me tell you why. Last night, when he picked the fight with Harvard and the elites, or -- and back to student loan debt, in saying I don't want to pay for kids who go to Harvard to school, politically, that's sound.

I mean, that's going to work. That gives Chuck Schumer room to grow. But, policy-wise, that's bad because this is not a conversation about the poor vs. the elites. This is a race equity problem, because we know that the majority of people who carry student loan debt in this country are black, and so -- black and brown.

And so we have to begin to talk about policy issues. And no one is expecting Joe Biden to be FDR. But what we are expecting him to do is, after we went out and won these races in Georgia, we expect him to have a majority in the House and a Senate and go big, and go big on these progressive issues that can help change people's lives today.

[18:15:04]

BLITZER: All right, Bakari, thank you very much. Everybody, thanks very much.

Everybody, stick around. There's more news we're following.

We are going to break down the encouraging new study that suggests the Pfizer vaccine is in fact effective against one of the most concerning COVID-19 variants.

And I will talk live with the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Adam Schiff. He's standing by. There, you see him.

We will discuss plans for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection. Will Trump supporters accept the results?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Tonight, we're getting a new window into the ugly feud between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Trump. Our congressional correspondent, Ryan Nobles, is working the story for

us.

So, Ryan, this feud is further dividing the already fractured GOP. What are you learning about McConnell's thinking?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no doubt about that, Wolf.

And it's going to make it difficult for Republicans as they hope to win back the majority, meaning they have to win in states where, like I am right now, in North Carolina, where there will be an open seat coming up in 2022.

And the tack that we're learning that the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is taking is basically just to ignore the former president, this despite the fact that President Trump has put Mitch McConnell in his crosshairs, attacking him not only personally, but professionally as well, and also pledging to get involved in the upcoming midterm contest, not just in the general election, but in the primary contests as well.

[18:20:16]

Trump looking for candidates that are going to continue to be loyal to him and his agenda. And North Carolina is a perfect example of where something like that could play out.

Of course, Richard Burr, the incumbent senator, who is not running for reelection in 2022, he voted to convict the former president. That means all the Republicans that are now hoping to run for that seat and perhaps win the nomination to the U.S. Senate are being forced to answer tough questions about the former president, his role in the insurrection, and where they see the future of the Republican Party.

This is a conversation that is happening all across the country in a number of these important states that are going to determine the future of the United States Senate. And for Mitch McConnell, who desperately would like to be majority leader again, he is right in the center of it.

And, Wolf, we're being told that his plan is just to ignore the former president. That may not be easy, because, as we saw today, the former president is going to make his opinions known on a wide variety of topics -- Wolf.

BLITZER: He certainly is.

Ryan Nobles reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina, for us.

Thank you, Ryan.

Joining us now, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. What's your reaction to hearing the Senate minority leader laughing

off these attacks from the former president just days after Trump was acquitted in the impeachment trial?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, I'm still, frankly, wrestling with his decision in that impeachment trial to delay the beginning of the trial until Donald Trump was out of office, and then to say, well, we can't constitutionally hold him accountable because he's out of office, and then say, but nonetheless he's guilty.

I found that inexcusable. Clearly, he's trying to somehow thread the needle between discrediting the former president for his role in inciting that insurrection and all the damage he's done to our democracy, but somehow retain the support of Trump voters.

I don't know how you do that. But one thing I think Mitch McConnell does understand, and that is the Republican Party is not going to recover until it purges itself of Donald Trump. It needs to be a party of ideology again, and not simply a cult around Donald Trump.

BLITZER: As you know, Congressman, Democrats, they are moving quickly right now with a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

But Republicans are warning this shouldn't relegate the impeachment and shouldn't necessarily be used to attack the former president. Is it possible for this to be truly bipartisan, this new commission? Is there any chance Trump supporters potentially could accept the results of the investigation?

SCHIFF: It is. It really needs to be a bipartisan, really nonpartisan effort.

And I think it can be done. If you look back at the 9/11 Commission, the Bush administration opposed that effort. A lot of Republicans opposed that effort, because they thought that it would be all about Bush and blaming Bush for 9/11.

Nonetheless, some great commissioners were chosen that had very good leadership. And it came to be the high water mark for any commission. Its recommendations had tremendous buy-in with the public, with the Congress.

A lot of what motivated it, frankly, were the victims of 9/11. And, here, I think there's going to be a similar public demand that this commission be established, but that it also be ruthlessly nonpartisan, that it learn why we were so vulnerable, how this happened. It will grapple, I hope, with the issues of white nationalism, domestic terrorism.

But it will also account for the president's role in inciting that attack on the Capitol.

BLITZER: While I have you, Congressman, let me get your thoughts on some other important issues. Democrats are navigating divisions within their own party right now

over several important issues, a $15 minimum wage, increased student loan forgiveness.

Why is President Biden shooting down progressive ideas, when his middle-of-the-road approach isn't necessarily winning any Republican support on his top priority of this nearly $2 trillion COVID relief package?

SCHIFF: Well, personally, I wish he wasn't, because I think bigger is better.

And it would be, I think, a tremendous thing for young people helping them get out of debt, particularly a lot of young people of color, to forgive as much of that student debt as possible. So, I support going to the whole $50,000 number.

If the president needs time to get his Justice Department set up to do the analysis of what he has the power to forgive, that's one thing. But I wouldn't rule out of hand by any means going big when it comes to forgiveness of debt.

[18:25:03]

It not only will be a great way to help families that are struggling. It will not only be, I think, a shot in the arm in terms of economic stimulus, but it also addresses those equity problems that the president has proposed -- has promised to address.

So, I understand where the president's coming from, but I hope he will reconsider, because I think that would be a tremendous service we could provide as we build the country back better.

BLITZER: You heard the president say in the CNN town hall last night that was a nonstarter, as far as he's concerned.

SCHIFF: I did.

There are some other noises coming from the White House since that indicate maybe he wasn't quite -- he isn't quite as definitive as that and they're still open to it. And we will be working to try to persuade him that this is an area where it would not be wise to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Already, students have such a crushing burden that affects their life choices, affects what they can go into, whether they can follow their passion, whether they can make a living. And I can relate.

For 10 years, my law student loans were more than my rent. But I was going into a profession where I could pay them back. And a lot of Americans don't have that luxury right now.

BLITZER: Are you suggesting that some White House officials are undermining what the president himself said last night?

SCHIFF: No, but I think that there may have been a greater willingness in the White House to entertain something more than $10,000 than the president's remarks would indicate.

I'm hoping that is so. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'm hoping there's flexibility there, because like the package as a whole, I think we need to go big here. The larger threat, I think, is that we go too small, that we prolong the economic suffering, that the recession drag on longer than it needs to.

The recovery has already slowed down. And this is a way of really helping a group of people that need the help right now, and also addressing those issues of inequity that are so persistent.

BLITZER: Congressman Schiff, thank you so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following: more on the study showing the Pfizer COVID vaccine is effective against the virus variant first detected in South Africa.

Plus, we will have the latest on the record cold gripping large portions of the country right now, and how millions of Americans are without power and how they're coping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: We have breaking news out of Texas right now, very disturbing news as the state suffers through a deadly deep freeze and massive power outages. The governor, Greg Abbott, says every source of power in the state has been compromised.

Let's go to our National Correspondent Ed Lavandera. He's joining us from Dallas right now. Ed, the situation is dire for millions of people right now.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is, Wolf. And the sad news here once again tonight is that there's no real clear timeline on when things are going to get better and get everyone back on line. There are about 680 power plants across the state. 180 of those roughly have been taken offline by this winter storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice over): The deep Texas freeze is inflicting pain and frustration across the state. For three days, millions of people have been unable to heat their homes, temperatures dropping to life- threatening levels and causing chaos. Linda Shoemaker had to leave her home for a warm shelter to protect her 101-year-old mother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother said, I'm going to stay home and, you know, cover up with all my quilts. I said, mother, you know, you could freeze in the middle of the night.

LAVANDERA: The bitter cold has now turned to heated anger over the catastrophic failure of the state's power grid. GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Every source of power that the state of Texas has has been compromised.

LAVANDERA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott made the rounds on Texas television news programs to say it's a total failure of the organization known as ERCOT, which runs nearly all of the state's power grid. He's called for an investigation and for executives to resign.

ABBOTT: ERCOT stands for Electric Reliability Council of Texas. And they showed that they were not reliable.

LAVANDERA: Most of Texas runs on its own power grid separate from the rest of the country. State leaders designed it this way to avoid federal regulation. ERCOT officials insist the decision to take power away from millions of homes using controlled outages spared the entire state from a system-wide failure that could have taken months to repair and left even more people freezing.

BILL MAGNESS, CEO, ERCOT: If we had waited and not done outages, not reduced demand to reflect what was going on on the overall system, we could have drifted towards a blackout.

LAVANDERA: According to ERCOT officials, equipment failures at oil and gas plants account for the largest amounts of power knocked offline. Despite that, right-wing pundits have used the Texas freeze to blast the reliability of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. In the middle of this crisis, Governor Abbott went on Fox News.

ABBOTT: This shows how the green new deal would be a deadly deal.

LAVANDERA: But before the governor made that appearance, he was telling Texas news stations that one of the biggest concerns was frozen equipment at natural gas plants, which provides most of the heat for Texas homes.

[18:35:05]

ABBOTT: The power generators froze up and their equipment was incapable of generating power. And then on top of that, the natural gas that flows into those power generators, that has frozen up also.

REP. MARC VEASEY (D-TX): There's no green new deal in Texas. That is a j-o-k-e joke.

LAVANDERA: Democratic Texas Congressman Marc Veasey, says the governor and state Republican leaders are trying to shift blame.

VEASEY: I would say 100 percent of the blame goes to Greg Abbott and the Republicans just for years and years of neglect and mismanagement.

LAVANDERA: In the meantime, Texans like Jose Limon scrambled to survive. Limon recently spent three weeks in a hospital ICU battling COVID-19. He's home now with no electricity, using a generator to power the oxygen machine he needs to breathe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (on camera): And, Wolf, this winter weather storm is also impacting the way coronavirus vaccines are being distributed across the state. Houston Health Department just announcing that the coronavirus vaccine site will be shut down in Houston tomorrow. This is happening in similar -- in a similar way all across the state as these vaccine appointments are being delayed or postponed because of all the messy road conditions and the overall effects of this winter storm here in the state. Wolf?

BLITZER: So dangerous indeed. Ed Lavandera, thanks. Be careful over there.

We're also following breaking news on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against fast-spreading variants. A new study of the Pfizer vaccine was just published. CNN's Alexandra Field has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tonight critical steps forward. New studies suggest the Pfizer vaccine can protect people against new variants of the virus including one first detected in South Africa. Regardless, in a statement Pfizer also said it's also continuing to work toward an updated vaccine or booster once a strain that significantly reduces the protection from the vaccine is identified.

CNN previously reported a similar study on the Moderna vaccine, which also appears effective against variants. This as two new reports from the CDC warn new variants could lead to a rapid rise in new COVID cases.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The continued spread of variants that are more transmissible could jeopardize the progress we have made in the last month if we let our guard down.

FIELD: Progress seen across the country. New COVID cases are plummeting and down precipitously from the peak in early January but still averaging more than 80,000 new cases daily. More progress now hinges on more vaccinations. Dr. Anthony Fauci today pointing to studies showing vaccinations may also reduce the spread of the virus. His message --

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER ON COVID-19: When your turn to get vaccinated comes up, get vaccinated. It will have a very important impact on the dynamics of the outbreak in our country.

FIELD: But the awful winter storm crippling much of the nation now threatens to slow down the pace of vaccinations.

JEFFREY ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: It's having an impact on distribution and deliveries.

FIELD: Mass vaccination sites shutting down in some states.

ZIENTS: What we're encouraging governors and other partners to do is to extend hours once they're able to reopen.

FIELD: The deadly storm also delaying shipments of vaccines across the country, from Florida, where 200,000 Moderna doses haven't arrived, to New York.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): We're going to have to hold back appointments that New Yorkers need because the vaccine isn't arriving.

FIELD: Bad weather isn't the only slowdown.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: By the end of July, we'll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single American.

FIELD: By July, a change from previous estimates.

FAUCI (voice over): We were hoping that it would be by the end of April, but what has happened is that the doses that we were expecting earlier from the J&J likely will not be available for another couple of months after that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (on camera): That Johnson & Johnson vaccine that Dr. Fauci is talking about is expected to receive FDA authorization soon but the federal government is saying that the early shipments of that vaccine will be smaller than they had initially anticipated and that they say accounts for this new expectation that will see vaccines for everyone at the end of July, not as early as April. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, Alexandra Field reporting for us.

There's certainly a lot to discuss about this new vaccine study and the fight against these various variants. Our Chief Medical Correspondent, there you see him, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's standing by. We'll break it all down when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: We're back with the breaking news on the Pfizer vaccine in a new study that suggests it is effective against the COVID-19 strain first seen in South Africa. I want to bring in our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, explain what this new lab study of the Pfizer vaccine actually shows.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's sort of fascinating, Wolf. What they do is they basically engineer the virus with these mutations, such as the South African variant, as you described, and really fully engineer it. So you're seeing all of the various mutations.

And then they basically saying okay, we're going to put it and test it against this vaccine. And what they find is that the amount of antibodies that are produced and are effective against this new virus is lower as compared to the more commonly circulating coronavirus, but not so low that it doesn't still seem to neutralize the virus.

So the mutations clearly seem to have some sort of effect here but not so much that it should necessarily make a difference.

[18:45:02]

Now, it's a lab study, Wolf. I mean, this is all in the lab. You're engineering the virus. You're exposing it to the vaccine in the lab.

But this gives you an idea of just how effective the vaccines might be in real life.

BLITZER: It comes on the heels of another study, Sanjay, showing similar results I take it for the Moderna vaccine? Is that right?

GUPTA: Yeah. So the Moderna one, they did sort of a similar thing. Again, you know, testing the vaccine against this variant, this strain with all the various mutations that it has and they sort of found the same thing. There was plenty of antibody effect but it was less antibody effect than we're seeing against the more commonly circulating coronavirus.

But it's still effective. That's what they found. It was interesting, Wolf. If you look at that study against the strain that's coming from the U.K., the Moderna vaccine seemed to be very effective, which was good news, against the South African variant slightly less effectiveness but still strong enough effect that it should actually still be able to protect people.

BLITZER: That's so, so important. What questions, Sanjay, do you still have about the effect of these and other vaccines against the coronavirus variants?

GUPTA: Yeah, I think -- I think there's two big questions. I mean, we're getting a glimpse of how we're going to continue to evaluate these new strains, these new variants, engineering them, exposing them to the vaccine. But that's in the lab.

So big question is how does that sort of approximate real life? How effective then will these vaccines be at preventing moderate illness in big populations of people?

But also, Wolf, if you remember the Johnson & Johnson data, we had that sort of shown when they released their data they showed how effective Johnson & Johnson vaccine was against protecting from moderate disease and then severe disease. I think, Wolf, if the big question is, if I take this vaccine can I be pretty rest assured that I'm not going to get really sick, that I'm not going to require hospitalization, I'm not going to require death?

With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as you can see there you can feel pretty confident. No hospitalizations or deaths across the board, variant or no variant, with that particular vaccine. Will we have the same sort of benefit from Moderna and Pfizer?

Remember, Wolf, they were trialed before these variants were circulating widely. So this is some of the first data we're seeing now in terms of their effectiveness against the variants.

BLITZER: Well, it is encouraging to see these initial reports.

GUPTA: Yeah.

BLITZER: Sanjay, thank you very much as usual.

Just ahead, we'll take a closer look at how leaders of far right pro- Trump rallies are responding to the deadly Capitol insurrection and what they're planning to do next.

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BLITZER: In the wake of the deadly capitol riot, many of former President Trump's far-right supporters who help organize rallies protesting the election results are continuing their efforts to agitate.

CNN's Brian Todd is working the story for us.

So, Brian, what were you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, some of these high profile Trump supporters still have big audiences and analysts who tracked extremist movements have real concerns about rallies and other events they may hold in the future.

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TODD (voice-over): At a rally of Trump supporters this week in West Palm Beach, Florida, the former president swung by, gave a thumbs up from his limo, and could be seen saying "we love you" from inside the vehicle.

One person who tweeted support for that rally was Amy Kremer, a former Tea Party activist, and founder of the Women for America First Movement.

Kremer spoke at the January 6th event near the White House, which preceded the attack on the Capitol, but there's no indication she was involved in the riot.

AMY KREMER, FOUNDER AND CHAIR, WOMEN FOR AMERICA FIRST: I don't care what they say, sleep Joe Biden did not win this election.

TODD: Kremer tweeted this week, quote, anyone that discounts Trump's supporters, aka, the #MAGA movement, does so at their own peril. We are here to stay and won't be going anywhere. Take note @LeaderMcConnell. Kremer also tweeted this week, quote, the blue check brigade is trying

to get my account shut down because I don't believe the election results.

JARED HOLT, FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL DIGITAL FORENSIC RESEARCH LAB: Despite the attack on the capitol on January 6th, Amy Kremer has not been deterred in spreading the exact same kind of disinformation and conspiracy theories that animated so many people on the ground that participated in that attack.

TODD: Analysts who track this movement say some of Trump's most ardent supporters are still organizing and agitating after January 6th, and even after Trump's acquittal in the impeachment trial. One far right organizer posted on Telegram this week, saying civil war is one possible outcome for him and his followers. And also said, I may call you into service. Stand ready.

HOLT: If he is able to produce the results that he says he wants to produce, which includes organizing rallies next month in several states like Georgia, and Michigan, and Arizona, you know, he could still, you know, pose a significant risk going forward.

TODD: Analysts who track Trump supporters say even if they're fragmented, some extreme elements within that group are worrisome.

JOHN SCOTT-RALTON, SENIOR RESEARCHER, CITIZEN LAB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: Clearly, this is something that appeals to their base, but I think for those of you who watch that violence very closely and have spent the last months analyzing it, it's deeply troubling and a lot of us are concerned about what may happen at the next rally, the next event, given the kind of language just coming out of these people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Responding to our request for comment, Amy Kremer e- mailed us, saying that our inquiry was one reason for what she called record low faith in the media. Kremer said that her group has not held one event since January 6th and is focusing on the future, specifically, quote, furthering the America first agenda and election integrity -- Wolf.

All right. Brian, thank you very, very much.

BLITZER: We'll have more news, right after this.

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BLITZER: Finally tonight, we share more stories from people who died from the coronavirus.

David Zivkovic of Illinois was 54 years old. He was known for his striking personality and sense of humor, remaining resilient and resourceful as he overcame lifelong hardships and disabilities. His sister Susan says David was an avid White Sox fan who lit up when we talked about the team and followed its process. Janie Conley of Georgia was 69. She raised four children with her late

husband Henry and enjoyed traveling, cooking, movies, and the love of family and friends. Her daughter Brigitte (ph) says she had a truly caring spirit and would extend her hand to anyone in need.

May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing.

Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. You can always follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WolfBlitzer. You can tweet the show @CNNSitRoom.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

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