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Pelosi Backs Away from Putting More Dems than Republicans on Jan 6 Commission, Now Says Issues is "Easily Negotiated"; CPAC Set to Indulge Lies about 2020 Election as Large Number of GOP Lawmakers Stand by Trump's False Claims; Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is Interviewed about January 6 Commission, $15 Minimum Wage; Awaiting Key Ruling on Whether Biden's Proposed $15 Minimum Wage Raise can be Included in Relief Bill. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 25, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @JakeTapper. You can tweet the show @theleadcnn. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I'll see you tomorrow.

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. The FDA has just now given the green light to Pfizer to ship and store its coronavirus vaccine at warmer temperatures than previously required after the company submitted new data. That move is expected to have a significant impact on availability across the country.

We're also following new developments on the congressional hearings on the deadly January 6 Capitol siege, 50 days ago today. The acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief telling angry lawmakers the department did not follow protocols largely because officers were simply overwhelmed. She also warned that militia groups involved in the insurrection want to, "blow up the Capitol."

And President Biden addresses a joint session of Congress.

Also, tonight, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference begins in Orlando, with former President Trump's false claims about the 2020 elections, playing a prominent role on the agenda. And those lies are still backed up by a sizable number of House and Senate Republicans, CNN spoke to, who are simply refusing to debunk those lies.

Let's begin our coverage this hour with more on the very disturbing new details emerging from today's hearing on Capitol Hill, the hearing on the siege. Our Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider is working the story for us.

Jessica, today marks, as I said, 50 days since that horrible attack. Update our viewers of what we're learning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the acting Chief of Capitol Police acknowledging today there were major communications and preparation failures, but still insisting that no intelligence indicated the scale of the attack that we saw in the Capitol. And the acting chief is also warning tonight, threats against the Capitol persist.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SCHEIDER (voice-over): Tonight, growing frustration from lawmakers/

REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): Why wouldn't we have been prepared for the worst-case scenario? That's what the average American is sitting home thinking about.

REP. KAY GRANGER (R-TX): What I'm hearing is the same old stuff and pointing fingers and it looks like protecting jobs.

SCHEIDER: The acting Chief of Capitol Police and the acting Sergeant at Arms were in the hot seat getting grilled on their lack of preparedness January 6, and the total breakdown in communication to Capitol Police officers that day.

REP. JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER (R-WA): It was very clear that their head pieces, like the communications pieces, they were getting no actual real communication. They were getting no leadership. They were getting no direction. They had -- there was no coordination and you could see the fear in their eyes.

SCHEIDER: Acting Chief Pittman admitted there were failures.

ACTING CHIEF YOGANANDA PITTMAN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: When there's a breakdown, you look for those commanders with boots on the ground to provide that instruction. That did not happen primarily because those operational commanders at the time were so overwhelmed. On January 6, our Incident Command protocols were not adhered to, as they should have.

SCHEIDER: But Pittman also pushed back to the disbelief of the committee that even if leadership had seen that FBI bulletin that warned rioters pledge to go to war at the Capitol, Capitol Police would not have planned any differently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if it had moved up the chain, you wouldn't have done anything different?

PITTMAN: That is correct, sir. We do not believe that that document in and of itself would have changed our posture. We believe it was consistent with the information and intelligence that we already had.

SCHEIDER: For the first time, Pittman disclosed the estimated number of rioters who descended on the Capitol grounds and those who made it inside.

PITTMAN: I think that we were well in excess of 10,000 that traverse the grounds. But as far as the numbers that actually came into the building, we estimate that that was approximately 800 demonstrators. SCHEIDER: And Pittman warn that the fencing and security will remain around the Capitol for now, because the threat from extremists is still looming.

PITTMAN: They want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct Nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified.

It's prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SCHEIDER: And because of that, we're also learning tonight the fencing around the Capitol will remain for now because of those continued threats from extremists. But it is all coming at a steep cost. Congresswoman Herrera Beutler says it amounts to $2 million per week. Wolf.

[17:05:00]

BLITZER: Jessica Schneider, a very alarming testimony today. Thank you very, very much.

Meanwhile, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now backing away from previous plans to give Democrats a bigger role and an independent commission charged with investigating the Capitol siege. Let's go to our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.

Manu, the Speaker is facing a lot of pressure over whether there will be an even split between Democrats and Republicans on this proposed commission investigating the January 6 attack. What's the latest?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Speaker Pelosi actually initially suggested seven Democrats and four Republicans would sit on this commission to investigate the January 6 attacks. Republicans balked at that, demanding even split, and even some Democrats suggested there should be an even split just like the 9/11 Commission that was formed to look at the September 11, 2001 attacks.

And now the Speaker suggesting that could be negotiated, suggesting there could be a deal to cut it evenly, essentially, between Republicans and Democrats. But she says there's a significant disagreement about the scope of the investigation in the wake of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's comments yesterday saying that the investigation could either be narrow what he said to look at the Capitol, or he said we could potentially do something broader to analyze, the "full scope of political violence here in our country." And today, the Speaker pushed back on the Republican leaders' comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The point is the scope. If you don't know your why, if you don't have your purpose as to what the purpose of this is, then the rest of it is not the important part of the conversation.

It's about domestic terrorism. We want to solve this. And now, I want -- we'll do anything to have it be bipartisan. So as your point is that it would be well received by the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Wolf, it was it needs to be bipartisan in order to get it passed in the United States Senate. They want to actually create a law to establish this commission that would have subpoena power, but in order to create a law, they would have to overcome any objections in the U.S. Senate, meaning 60 senators will have to overcut to advance legislation. Ten Republicans joining at least 50 Democrats if we were to go down that way. So Nancy Pelosi knows she has to cut a bipartisan deal, but they are moving on a fast track. They want to get this done over the next couple of weeks, potentially by early March. But of course, Wolf, they need a deal to do just that.

BLITZER: They certainly do. You know, despite seeing some division within the Republican Party, Manu, you have some new reporting, and I think it's significant about how Republicans are still rallying around the former president and his false claims about election fraud. Tell our viewers what you're learning.

RAJU: Yes, Wolf. For all the talk about a party divided here on Capitol Hill, most Republicans are siding with Donald Trump in refusing to bat away his election lies, that the election was stolen, that there was rigged and the like. And this comes before Donald Trump is set to talk to the conservative political activists on Sunday in Orlando in which he could very well repeat those same election lies, something he has said even in the aftermath of the January 6 riot, even in the aftermath of being impeached for inciting an insurrection.

But in talking to more than two dozen House and Senate Republicans, an overwhelming theme is this, the Republicans either agree with Donald Trump, say that the election was stolen or say that there is some level of irregularities that need to be investigated or offered no pushback whatsoever. And a House Republican side, it shows why the top two House Republican leaders have gone down tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago, align themselves with Donald Trump. And the number two Republican, Steve Scalise, refusing himself to say over the weekend whether or not the election was stolen.

And one example of that Wolf, one Republican Congressman Brian Mast of Florida, I asked him about Donald Trump's role in inciting the January 6 riot, he said, here's how I know the President didn't play a role here, he said. Because if the President did, he said, there'll be a million of people in the Capitol, not 1000s of people. And I said, well, what about the election being stolen? He said, I think there's some real inaccuracies that we are investigating.

And Wolf that was a theme among House Republicans in particular over the last several days here. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's pretty disturbing. All right, Manu, thank you very much. Let's get some more in all the breaking news. Our Chief National Correspondent John King is with us and our Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger is with us as well.

You know, John, the Speaker Pelosi now appears to be opening the door to revising the structure of this proposed January 6 Commission. Why was it her first instinct to start out with a truly bipartisan commission equal number of Democrats and Republicans?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Part of it, Wolf, is her anger, her personal anger and our institutional anger at what happened. And so, her instinct was something that she could control, that as Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi is saying (ph) something that she would have more power over, but now you see a reasonable compromise insight possibly. We're all old enough. We've all been here long enough to remember the old Washington.

Pelosi gives on the membership. Republicans give on the scope. You have your panel, it's evenly divided. It goes forward like the 9/11 commission. It looks at the insurrection. So, you could see that potentially happening.

[17:10:00]

Here's my question about whether it will happen, Wolf. There are a number of Republicans, even Republicans who privately and some who publicly condemned the president's post election lie, condemned the president bringing that crowd here on January 6 who wants to win in 2022. And think about the timetable for a month-long commission going alongside when these trials are playing out, the people charged in the insurrection, a lot of testimony that could be damaging to the Republicans and Trump.

So, the politics of what this commission might learn will cause some Republican reluctance to cut what should be an obvious deal.

BLITZER: Because this Commission presumably would investigate what Trump's role was in inciting the rioters.

You know, Gloria, we haven't heard directly, at least not yet, from President Biden about his thoughts about the partisan makeup of this proposed commission. Do you think he'll push the Speaker to make it truly bipartisan?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think he probably will. And the reason I think that is that we heard from Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, very close to the President kind of channeling the President probably saying, I think you ought to have a makeup that's half Democrat, half Republican.

My question is, who's going to be able to lead this commission, we're all old enough to remember the 9/11 Commission, which was very well respected. And it was led by two people that were considered above politics, although they were former politicians. You know, Governor, Tim Kaine of New Jersey, a Republican House member, Lee Hamilton, a Democrat. And they led a bipartisan commission, and they led it well.

And I think at this point, it's very hard to think of anybody internally from the Congress who could lead something like this. So, I'm hopeful that they're getting together a list of statesmen from both parties who might be able to do a credible job here, because that's really what's needed.

BLITZER: You know, John, Trump is set to reemerge at the conservative gathering CPAC this coming Sunday. And it's been a while now since he spoken publicly. What do you think we're in for?

KING: We're in for the big lie. We're in for the president, the former president, saying he remains the kingmaker of the Republican Party. And for the former president to make clear that he thinks if you watch his blessing in that former Republican Party you side with him on these questions on the continuing big lie about 2020.

And that's why Manu's reporting that you just heard is so important right there, because so many Republicans, even Republicans, Wolf, again, this is the hypocrisy, the cynicism of this town right now, even Republicans who privately tell all three of us, the president, what he did was harmful, what he did was reckless. They see the potential because the margins are so narrow in both the House and the Senate to get power back in 2022. They also see a continuing fight with Donald Trump as something that could prevent them from getting that power.

So this is much more about power in the Republican Party than about principle. And as the former president reemerges, that's one of the reasons. They understand. David Perdue, the former Georgia senator met with him the other day. He said if you're going to run in 2020, to support me in the big lie, attack your Republican Governor Brian Kemp. Most Republicans want no part of that, but they do want their power back.

BLITZER: That's a good point.

You know, Gloria, as Manu just reported so many Republican lawmakers up on Capitol Hill, they still refuse to debunk Trump's conspiracies.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: Is this all about simply pleasing Trump because it's hard to believe that really, many of them believe what they're uttering?

BORGER: Yes. It is about pleasing Trump. And as John was saying, it's about self-preservation. They don't want to get primaried on the right. They're afraid of the president threatening them. And they want to win reelection.

I think if they were to look at the larger picture, they would say we need to move on. We need to talk about the future. We would hope that the President would instead talk about things like say Biden's immigration policy, which they disagree with. We would hope that Donald Trump would talk about the next generation of Republicans.

I mean, we all remember when CPAC used to be a place where it was cattle call for Republican presidential candidates and they would be sized up by conservatives in the party. But CPAC is not about conservatism anymore. CPAC is about Trumpism and Donald Trump and so they will follow him right off the cliff if that is where they lead. He leads them in the future. In the short term, it could help them. But in the long term, they're playing to a shrinking base.

BLITZER: I've looked at the list of speakers, I know you have, John, as well, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the CPAC conference. When you look closely at the list, who's invited to speak, who's going to be speaking. The final speaker will be Trump as we know. Are there any Republicans who don't support Trump in prominent speaking roles at this conference?

KING: No, there are some who are less vetoed about it. But then I think the keyway to look at it is there are none who are challenging Trump. You do not see -- I'm not that Mitt Romney would go, not that Ben Sasse would go, but they're not even invited.

You don't see anyone that -- Gloria makes a key point, CPAC was founded back in the wake of Barry Goldwater's loss a long time ago. William F. Buckley was part of the origin. It was the rabble-rousing conservatives who wanted to challenge the establishment but challenged them on policy. Challenge them the direction of the party. There's none of that right now.

[17:15:03]

So when you see Governor DeSantis of Florida, when you see Senator Cruz, are all of them going to go down there and hug and, you know, hug Donald Trump? Probably not. But are any of them going to go and directly defy him? I would not expect much of that, if any.

BORGER: This isn't about the direction of the party, right John? I mean, this is about just making sure they can get reelected.

They're not talking about policy. They're talking about what happened in November and trying to convince a greater and greater portion of the electorate that they ought to get out there for revenge on the Democrats.

BLITZER: Yes.

KING: Yes.

BLITZER: All of us are old enough to remember Ronald Reagan when he spoke about the Republicans being a big tent party. Well, it's emerging right now, more like a small tent party.

All right guys, thank you very, very much.

Up next, a close ally of President Biden breaks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and backs a purely bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol siege. We're going to talk about that and more with the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He's standing by live.

Plus, more on the breaking pandemic news, Pfizer, now clear to ship and storage COVID-19 vaccine at warmer temperatures, which should, should increase availability across the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

BLITZER: We're breaking news over at the White House right now where President Biden is pushing his twin priorities of ramping up COVID vaccinations across the country and getting his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through Congress. Let's go to our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, tell us more.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, today what we saw was President Biden marking a milestone of vaccinations since he's been in office. And that comes, of course, as there's been a lot of excitement in the United States over the possible release of a third vaccine, which the administration is hoping can only help them ramp up those vaccination numbers that they were touting today.

But we should note that President Biden also had a word of caution while he was speaking today, saying that this is not a victory lap because this is also far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Today, President Biden marking the 50 million vaccine shot since he took office.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fifty million shots in just 37 days since I've become president.

COLLINS: Biden is now halfway to his goal of 100 million shots and his first 100 days, an aim some skeptics said could have been higher and another vaccine on the horizon could make it easier to pick up the pace.

BIDEN: If the FDA approves the use of this new vaccine, we haven't planned to roll it out as quickly as Johnson and Johnson can make it.

COLLINS: Despite the progress, Biden said he's not celebrating yet.

BIDEN: This is not a victory lap. Everything is not fixed. We have a long way to go.

COLLINS: With a slim majority in the House, Democrats are preparing to pass Biden's coronavirus relief bill tomorrow and hand it off to the Senate where a massive fight is brewing.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): One Republican member said that the American rescue plan was to the left of Lenin. Seriously, to the left of Lenin. The American people have all heard it before and they know the country needs help.

COLLINS: All eyes in Washington are on the little-known Senate parliamentarian who will decide any minute whether Biden's proposed $15 minimum wage can be included in the bill. PELOSI: I feel that we have a very, very strong argument and we have a very big need in our country to pass the minimum wage.

It could be any moment, if you hear -- I don't have a phone here, if you hear before I do, let me know. OK?

COLLINS: The Senate confirmed Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm today,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nomination is confirmed.

COLLINS: But the fate of his budget office nominee still hangs in the balance.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: She apologized for her past comments.

COLLINS: Neera Tanden is facing a possible failed nomination for her public and often personal criticisms of lawmakers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did the President and the transition team underestimate how much of a problem her tweets would become?

PSAKI: The President nominated Neera Tanden because she is qualified, because she's experienced.

COLLINS: Despite the opposition to Tanden's nomination, Biden's Chief of Staff Ron Klain is making a last minute push to get her confirmed.

RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: She's a great candidate for the job, and certainly we're fighting our guts out to get her confirmed.

COLLINS: Senator Joe Manchin plunged Tanden's nomination into turmoil after he said he would vote against her, revealing the sway moderate Democrats could hold over Biden's agenda.

KLAIN: Look, Senator Manchin, he doesn't answer to us at the White House. He answers to the people of West Virginia.

It's our job to make the case, it's their job to decide and vote.

COLLINS: Now, the White House must find at least one Republican to vote for Tanden. GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski hasn't said which way she'll vote. And after she was seeing meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he told reporters, "We talked about issues we both care about. That's all I'm going to say."

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Wolf, on top of that, we have just learned that President Biden has now spoken with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. That comes is we were told that he was expected to warn him that the U.S. is soon going to release an intelligence report on the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who of course, was dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey a few years ago. And we were told that he was going to warn him about the release of that report, which is widely expected to point the finger at the king son, the crown prince who typically was the one that President Trump spoke to.

But the White House has said President Biden is not going to be interacting with him. He is going to be talking to the king when they speak.

And in the readout that we got from the White House, it does not explicitly mention Jamal Khashoggi's name, but it instead says that "The President noted positively the recent release of several Saudi- American activists." And it says that he "affirmed the importance of the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law."

Wolf, we've asked explicitly if he did bring up this coming intelligence report, and we'll let you know if the White House gets back to us.

BLITZER: All right, good. We'll do some more reporting on that. Thank you very much, Kaitlan Collins at the White House.

We're joined now by the House Majority Leader, Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

We got several issues I want to get to. But let me get your thoughts on the January 6 proposed commission looking into the January 6 Capitol riot. The Speaker Nancy Pelosi now appears to be backing away from her initial proposal that would have given Democrats a lopsided seven to four majority on this proposed commission. Should the commission be evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats so the American public will have confidence in its conclusions?

[17:25:19]

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): I think it should be composed of people that the American people will have confidence, and that's for sure. And we need a commission. We need to know the who, where, when, and why of January 6, what led up to it, who helped incited, who perpetrated it, and what we need to do to prevent a second occurrence of such an action. So I think that those are the questions that are relevant.

The Speaker and the Minority Leader are speaking about the makeup of the commission. And I know the Speaker, I think, also talked to Senator McConnell about it. But we need a commission. I think we're going to authorize a commission in the near term. And that commission needs to be one that's credible, and has the possibility of convincing the American people that their findings are following and adherence and trust,

BLITZER: Because you and I well remember the 9/11 Commission after the 9/11 terrorist attack, and that was now being seen as a potential model for this new commission. Why not follow the same standards for this January 6 Commission? In other words, let there be an equal number of appointees from Democrat, the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership, as opposed to seven to four in favor of the Democrats, which was Pelosi's original recommendation? HOYER: Well, Wolf, I think what the Speaker is worried about and we'll all be worried about is that the commission will in fact, reach a conclusion. Unfortunately, we've seen since 9/11, and I was here at 9/11, obviously, and I'm here now, a real deterioration in bipartisanship, no matter what the facts are. And we saw that on January 6, we saw it leading up to January 6, where facts became fake news for a lot of people. And in fact, members voted on the floor to deny, in fact, the facts that everybody agreed were true and that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won.

So, the Speaker's concern, I think, is a real one, that we want a commission that can come to conclusions and make recommendations. I'm not going to get into the numbers. That's for the Speaker and the Minority Leader to work out. I'm hopeful that they do that soon. I'm hopeful that we will have a commission that will have trust on both sides of the aisle, because that is essential.

And getting to that point in time, I think, is what we needed to be doing.

BLITZER: I want to move on to another important issue, the minimum wage. But I just want to be precise on this, are you committed, or you're not committed to a commission that's equally balanced, bipartisan, equal number of appointees from the Democratic leadership, equal number of appointees from the Republican leadership? I just want to get your thought.

HOYER: Wolf, you've asked that question three times? And my answer is the same. I want to see a commission. I'm not going to get into the numbers. But I want to see a commission that is able to come to a conclusion that is not a partisan commission.

You mentioned Governor Kaine and Mr. Hamilton, neither one of them were hardline partisans, and they looked for the truth, not the Democratic truth or the Republican truth, they look for the truth. And what we need on this commission is that to happen, not partisan denial of truth and facts.

BLITZER: All right. Let's move on and talk about the minimum wage right now.

As you know, the Senate parliamentarian could rule at any moment now, whether the minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by the year 2025, will be allowed in the COVID relief bill. What is the plan if the parliamentarian rules against them?

HOYER: Well, we haven't made that decision yet, because a part of that decision will be based upon, if we include the minimum wage does that allow eliminate the privilege that the bill would have and therefore be able to pass with 51 votes? That is a critical part. The Republicans thought that was critical part with reference to both the Affordable Care Act and to their tax bill. We think it's critical, dealing with this assistance, to family's assistance, to businesses assistance and to the vaccine process, and to getting COVID-19 in under control and getting our economy back up and running. So, we're going to make that decision based upon whether or not including the minimum wage would have an adverse effect on the position of the reconciliation bill to be able to be passed with 51 votes.

[17:30:00]

BLITZER: Even if the wage increase is allowed by the parliamentarian, Congressman, some Democrats in the Senate say they'd rather see a smaller increase, something like $11 an hour, right now it's $7.25. It's been like that since 2009, which is obviously, way too low. Is that something you'd support a compromise instead of going right immediately to, over the next few years, to $15 an hour, let it increase at least to $11 an hour?

HOYER: Well, when you say immediately, Wolf, if your network said we're going to give you a raise in 2025, you would not think that immediately.

BLITZER: No, I'm not saying that's immediately, I'm saying that's gradually. Right now, the proposal that President Biden has put forward at 7.25, right now would go up to $9.50 immediately, then you can see the charts and then in 2022 --

HOYER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- $11, 2023 $12.50, 2024 $14, 2025 $15, so you see the gradual increase up to $15 an hour.

HOYER: Yes. And your question was, would I'd be for reducing that level, and then leaving it at that point in time. The problem with doing that is that we went from 2009 to 2021 with no increase in the minimum wage. There's no American can live on $7.25 --

BLITZER: That's correct.

HOYER: -- period (ph). So, it needs to be raised. We passed a bill, as you know, in the last Congress that raised it to $15 an hour on a graduated scale. I'm very much for that. We must increase the minimum wage. It is shameful that the richest country on Earth, we have people who are working 40 hours a week and living in poverty, that's not acceptable. And so, I would hope if, in fact, the minimum wage can be included in this bill, we want that done. And I would hope a couple of our Democrats would say, well, this would not be my perfect, but it will be something that I can support because so much critical investment in vaccines and testing and tracing, so much critical investment in our families and their nutrition, and rental assistance and mortgage assistance, small business assistance, airline assistance.

I mean, this is a huge bill, and for someone to vote against this bill, simply because they got a level that it's higher than they wanted on minimum wage, I think would be unfortunate show. One way or the other, clearly, number one, Wolf, as I've told you, we want to maintain the privilege of this bill so it can pass with 51 votes.

BLITZER: Yes.

HOYER: It doesn't have 60 votes. BLITZER: Right now, we're waiting momentarily to see what the parliamentarian has decided, that could be so, so critical. I think all of us agree $7.25 an hour since 2009, that is obviously, you're still living in poverty if you're working 40 hours a week.

Representative Hoyer, let's stay in touch continue this conversation down the road because at stake right now is so much. Thanks so much for joining us.

HOYER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following here in The Situation Room. We're getting details right now of a decision just made by the FDA that's expected to make more coronavirus vaccines available to more Americans and quickly. And we're also getting more in President Biden's virtual meeting with the nation's governors. I'll be joined by one of those governors who took part, Connecticut's Ned Lamont.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:51]

BLITZER: Breaking news tonight, the FDA now allowing more flexible shipping and storage conditions for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine after the company submitted new data showing it can be done at warmer temperatures. This is significant. The move is expected to make vaccines more widely and easily available across the country. CNN's Amara Walker has more on the latest pandemic news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the battle against the spread of COVID-19, new variants of the virus making the race to get Americans vaccinated all the more urgent.

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH: Today, what we're seeing is a barrage of these new variants coming forward.

WALKER (voice-over): A newly identified COVID-19 variant in New York and the Northeast has experts increasingly concerned along with another rapidly spreading homegrown variant found in California.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Viruses evolve and mutate all the time. But many of those variants, they just kind of fizzle out. We have to keep an eye on this. It could be that this New York variant is more transmissible and that's definitely a cause for concern.

WALKER (voice-over): At least 45 states have confirmed cases of COVID- 19 variants, according to the CDC. The seven-day daily average has ticked up to more than 72,000 new cases. In the last month, hospitalizations have decreased by 51 percent and daily COVID deaths dropped 30 percent. But the seven-day daily average has remained relatively unchanged at more than 72,000 new cases and 3,200 deaths were recorded Wednesday. A new CDC forecast released Wednesday projects the daily COVID-19 death rate will continue to slow in the coming weeks. But they're also preparing for all scenarios including the possibility of another surge.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: My best guess based on very little data is that our vaccines are going to continue to work just fine against this varied. But let's be honest, we don't know --

WALKER (voice-over): Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna are testing out new strategies to get ahead of these variants. Pfizer announced this morning they are testing how well a third vaccine dose targets new coronavirus variants. And Moderna announced it was producing a version of its vaccine to protect against mutations found in the variant first identified in South Africa. The company said the formula will be tested as a booster shot and a primary vaccine against the strain for individuals who have yet to be vaccinated.

[17:40:04]

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We might ask that you consider waiting, so that others who don't have any immunity could get vaccinated before you.

WALKER (voice-over): But if you have already had COVID-19, the CDC Director is also asking people who've already been exposed to wait for others to get the vaccine first, although it's not officially a CDC guideline.

And with more than 20 million Americans having been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, the U.S. is one step closer to having a third vaccine to distribute, after a vaccination like Pfizer and Moderna do. The White House adding you should get any vaccine that's available.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: The sooner we get vaccine into the arms of individual, whatever that vaccine is, once it gets by the FDA for an EUA, if it's available to you, get it.

WALKER (voice-over): The FDA could sign off on emergency use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as early as Friday but getting shots in arms still moving slower than hoped. Georgia this week opened four mass vaccination sites around the state, but they're not seeing the numbers they had planned on.

CHRIS STALLINGS, DIR. GEORGIA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND HOMELAND SECURITY AGENCY: Don't think we're going to get quite there because we're just not getting the turnout in some of our places.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And Georgia Emergency Management Agency Director, they're referring to low turnout at a mass vaccination site in Albany, just three hours southwest of Atlanta here. And the Governor Brian Kemp, just a couple of hours ago, announcing that he will be expanding eligibility to include among others, educators, and K through 12 staff. Back to you, Wolf. BLITZER: All right, that's encouraging. Amara Walker, thank you very much.

Let's get some more in all of these. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us. Sanjay, this move, first of all, allowing the Pfizer vaccine to be stored at higher temperatures. How much of a potential game changer could this be?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think this is significant, Wolf. You -- when you think about this vaccine and had to be transported and stored at the super cold temperatures, negative 60 to negative 80 degrees Celsius, most places just simply couldn't handle that. So, the fact that, you know, that's going to be easier to transport and store is important. Once it arrives at a location and is thawed, that can be done in a normal refrigerator, after it's diluted, it can be in a normal refrigerator. So I think it's going to make it accessible to places that otherwise, you know, would have had a hard time utilizing the Pfizer vaccine.

BLITZER: Yes, that's really significant, I think. Meanwhile, President Biden, as you know, Sanjay, just marked the 50 million coronavirus vaccine, given since he took office on January 20th. How much do you expect the rate of vaccinations now to increase once this new Johnson & Johnson becomes the third approved vaccine here in the United States?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, I think it's going to make a difference, not as much right away as we had originally hoped because there's not as many doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if it's authorized, that'll be immediately available. But 20 million doses, they say by March, end of March, 100 million doses over the summer, so it'll make a difference.

You know, Wolf, the thing that really struck me about the 50 million people who have received a vaccine, we have the numbers, we can show that, you know, the people who are the most vulnerable, these vaccines help people from getting sick being hospitalized or dying. What you find is that, you know, people over the age of 65, about 50 percent now have received at least one shot. Over 75, who are the most vulnerable, 60 percent.

And Wolf, you remember when we talk about long-term care facilities, about a third roughly, more than that of deaths in this country have come from residents in those facilities. That has to be a priority. And the number of 50 million matters, but the fact that 75 percent of those residents, I think matters even more, because the vaccine has to be delivered to the people who would benefit from it the most.

BLITZER: That's absolutely right and it's so significant. Sanjay, thank you very, very much.

Meanwhile, President Biden just wrapped up a virtual meeting with the nation's governors to discuss the coronavirus crisis. Let's discuss what happened with Connecticut's Democratic Governor Ned Lamont. He's joining us right now. Governor Lamont, thanks so much for joining us. How did the conversation, the discussion go? GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): Hey, Wolf, nice to see you. I'd say the President was very upbeat, and I'd say the governors overwhelmingly were upbeat. I mean, in the last 37 days since the inauguration of the amount of vaccine doses, the Connecticut received has doubled. And you mentioned Johnson & Johnson, we're going to get an additional 30,000 doses next week. And I think that gave people a sense of confidence or infection rates are going down, and more and more the most vulnerable populations are getting vaccinated.

BLITZER: But this is no time to let up at all and I'm sure you agree with me. I just checked more than 3,200 Americans died yesterday from the virus. Those numbers are still awful whether it's 70,000 new cases a day, 80,000 or 100,000, people still have to realize this is a pandemic that's unfolding. I'm sure that came through during the conversation you had with the President.

[17:45:08]

LAMONT: Wolf, I did. And you were just saying that down in Georgia and Governor Kemp, he's got the mass vaccination facilities and sometimes not all the people is showing up. And we went through this with testing in the summer when people started getting a little more relaxed. This is the time to make sure you take this virus particularly seriously, because we have our best chance to break the back of COVID.

BLITZER: People got to keep wearing those masks and they got to social distance, no time to let up at all. As you know, Governor, researchers, they say they've now found what they're describing as our worrying new coronavirus variant in New York City and elsewhere in the northeast. You're not very far from New York. Are you testing for this variant in Connecticut? What are you doing to protect your residents from it?

LAMONT: You know, we are watching this like a hawk when New York sneezes Connecticut can catch cold and that happened as you remember back in April. So it's a fast infectious variant. Right now, it looks like the vaccines work against it. So, what I'm really trying to do is get as many people especially most vulnerable people vaccinated fast. So we have some protection against this.

BLITZER: Do you have enough doses in Connecticut right now to do that?

LAMONT: No, no, but we're getting more and more every week and we're getting more and more people vaccinated. We got over half of our population, over 65 has been vaccinated. So we're getting there.

BLITZER: Well, that's encouraging. Johnson & Johnson as, you know, it's vaccine it's expected to be authorized for use -- emergency use here in the United States within the next few days. Connecticut starts receiving more coronavirus vaccine doses. Will you do away with the priority system as you get more doses so that anyone who wants a shot no matter their age, their pre-existing conditions can simply get one?

LAMONT: Yes, Wolf, we will get rid of that as soon as we can. But right now, you know, we have -- you know, three quarters of our population is still looking to get vaccinated. And the way the CDC had defined it, that would have been over half of our population. So we're -- right now, we still have our prioritization list just so people get an appointment. But I'd say within six to eight weeks, the doors will be open, everybody will have the opportunity to get vaccinated.

BLITZER: I'm sure all your residents in Connecticut will be thrilled when that happens. Governor Ned Lamont, good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in Connecticut. Thanks so much for joining us.

LAMONT: Nice to see you, Wolf.

BLITZER: There's more breaking news next here in The Situation Room. An important, very important phone conversation between President Biden and the Saudi King has just cleared the way for the release of a U.S. intelligence report on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

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[17:51:54]

BLITZER: There's more breaking news tonight, President Biden has now spoken by phone with the Saudi Arabian King, clearing the way for the release of a long-awaited U.S. intelligence report on the killing of the Saudi journalist, The Washington Post Columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Let's go to our Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt, who's working the story for us. Alex, how much is writing on this phone conversation that President Biden had with Saudi King Salman?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it was such a highly anticipated call that we certainly have to look at it as an important element in setting the tone for this relationship going forward. By no means, is it going to be the definitive element you've been discussing this phone call on your show? And what was clear was that this was a perfectly pleasant conversation between two world leaders. They talked about their historical relationship, they talked about working together.

But, Wolf, we have to take this in the grander scheme of things and look at this, both from an optics point of view and also from a substantial point of view. This is one of America's closest allies in the world, certainly in the Middle East, and it took more than a month for President Biden to call his counterpart and that is notable. When it came time for Biden administration official to call the de facto ruler of the Saudi kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince known as MBS, who is believed to have ordered this killing of Jamal Khashoggi, who wasn't the president who called him, it wasn't the vice president who called him, it was the secretary of defense.

So, these are small things, but they have to be - they'd have to be highlighted. They are important. And then on the subsystem side of things, we have heard from the White House say that there is going to be a recalibration of this relationship. We heard from the State Department today saying there's going to be accountability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

We have seen a significant cooling, if you will, of the relationship certainly when it comes -- when it's compared to the Trump administration. We have seen -- the Biden administration say that they are going to stop the support for the Saudi war in Yemen, that they are going to review the arm sales to Saudi Arabia. At the same time, there are things that will continue because the U.S. needs to work with Saudi Arabia on Iran, on energy issues, on counterterrorism, the list goes on. So there will be a shift, but it remains to be seen how significant that will be. Wolf?

BLITZER: How much more could we learn from this unclassified intelligence report, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will be releasing this report on the killing of Khashoggi?

MARQUARDT: Well, we have to start from this bar that the CIA has assessed with high confidence that it was MBS who killed Jamal Khashoggi. So the question now is how much more detail, how much more evidence is given? Is there a smoking gun? Is there a text message? Is there a phone call, an e-mail? Something that shows that MBS ordered this killing.

Now, the law that requires this report to come out, this unclassified report from the Director of National Intelligence simply says that they have to give -- show evidence of -- for the roles of the officials who were behind this killing. How much detail will be given? We have to wait and see.

Senator Tim Kaine who was from Virginia, where Jamal Khashoggi lived, he said that he expects to be completely unsurprised, Wolf, but at the same time he said he expects to be sickened. Wolf?

[17:55:10]

BLITZER: We'll read it once it comes out. Alex, thanks very, very much.

There's more breaking news we're following. We're getting details of a key new decision by the FDA expected to make coronavirus vaccines more widely and easily available across the United States.

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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in The United States and around the world. I'm Bill Blitzer in The Situation Room with breaking news.