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Inside Politics
CDC Chief: "I Would Encourage All Parents To Get Their Kids Vaccinated"; House GOP Expected To Oust Liz Cheney From Leadership Tomorrow; Violence Escalates Between Israelis And Palestinians. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired May 11, 2021 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: In Georgia today, a big change in the COVID vaccine rollout. Teenagers not old enough to drive getting shots at a drive up vaccine site, parents at the wheel of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB LANEY, 14-YEAR-OLD IN LINE FOR COVID VACCINE: My friend got COVID and it looked really bad and I just did not want to get it.
CAMERON CARRION, 14-YEAR-OLD PFIZER VACCINE RECIPIENT: I'm really missing most of my teenage years. And I just need like to go out just something, just to get out the house.
KIMBERLY HAUGHTON, SON RECEIVED PFIZER VACCINE: This morning when I saw your first segment out here, I ran immediately, got him up out of the bed, and came here immediately and we got through like less than 10 minutes and he got it, he received it, and show the world baby, show the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The FDA gave its green light yesterday, the formal CDC vote on recommended Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids aged 12 to 15, excuse me, is actually tomorrow. The agency's director this morning getting quite personal on her call to get kids vaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I recognize that there some parents want to sort of see how it goes first, but I'm encouraging all parents to get their children vaccinated. Some parents want to be first. But I'm also encouraging children to ask for the vaccine. I have a 16-year-old myself and I can tell you he wanted to get the vaccine. He wants his life back. These kids want to go back to school. They want to go back to the things they love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: With us now to share his expertise and insights, Dr. Christoph Diasio. He's a pediatrician and president of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. Doctor, it's great to see you today. You just heard Dr. Walensky there. You saw those two 14 year olds in Georgia getting the shot in the arm. I assume this is going to be a busy piece of your practice. What is the number one question you get from parents when they're asking, you know, is it safety? Is it something else? Should I bring in my teenager?
DR. CHRISTOPH DIASIO, PRESIDENT, NORTH CAROLINA PEDIATRIC SOCIETY: I think you know there's lots of concern. I mean, honestly right now with the recent announcements, we're not really dealing with hesitancy as much as we are dealing with how to meet demand that people really wanting to come in and get protected.
[12:35:03]
But to answer your question, most hesitancy I think is related to how is it developed so quickly. And I think the answer to that is that this has been the plan. We've spent a lot of time and effort over the years developing the infrastructure to be able to develop a vaccine quickly. And we've had this massive success. I mean, this is something to celebrate.
KING: It is something to celebrate. I'm with you 100 percent on that. And so what you have I understand from the staff, your phones have been ringing off the hook today, people coming in, that's what we will see, the people who've been waiting, who are eager, who believe in the science will line up right away. And then after that, give -- we'll circle back in a week or two and see what's happening now.
I just want to show you this poll from this is from Axios and Ipsos back earlier in the month, 49 percent say totally likely to get a vaccine for their children as quickly as possible, 49 percent say totally, not likely. So how do you deal with that bottom half? What do you think is the best way to answer -- to approach someone who is hesitant and say, hear me out? What are the two or three points that wins them -- win them over?
DIASIO: I think it comes down to empathy. I mean, this is new. This is scary, right? And so I think we have to start from a place of mutual respect, talking about the fact that I understand why you're concerned about the vaccine. But I also understand how terrible this disease has been, how many moments that is robbed from us. I mean, literally baptisms, weddings, funerals, not being able to gather together more or celebrates life events. And this vaccine gives us the ability to do that.
And I think when you start thinking about the cost of the disease and what it's done and the fear of the disease, with this vaccine, we can move at a different direction and really get on the other side of this.
KING: Another very important issue I assume to you personally in your practice that came up at the hearing this morning was the kids because of COVID, because of restrictions, because of keep everybody apart, kids have fallen behind on getting their other vaccines that we normally get in life. I want you to listen to Dr. Walensky, a lot of people ask me, well, if they show up for a COVID vaccine, can you catch them up? Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALENSKY: Unfortunately, we actually don't have data on whether we can co-administer the COVID-19 vaccine and other routine immunizations. We need to take this outreach and make sure that we are reaching these communities and not only conveying the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but if we are not able to co-administer them to make sure we get back to these children and be able to co-administer their routine vaccines that they have lost before the school year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Is that your experience that you have a backlog of other vaccines in addition to trying to get kids in to get a COVID shot?
DIASIO: Certainly both in our practice and national data showed that the well visits didn't drop that much in the younger ages. But at the older ages, they certainly did, so DTaP, HPV vaccine, meningococcal vaccine, things like that. But, you know, honestly, primary care has been doing recall for children overdue for vaccines for years, this is something we know how to do and we're good at it.
And so if it becomes a -- we give you one vaccine today, we set up your recall appointment, we call you if you don't come in, we send you letters. This is a basic part of primary care. It's not easy, and we're all tired, but it's something that we do every day.
KING: We know you're all tired, Dr. Diasio. But we're grateful for your work and work and the work of your colleagues across the country. And thank you for your time today, Sir.
DIASIO: Thank you. It's exciting time. We're really excited to go on offense by the way.
KING: I'm glad to hear that go on offense fun. I like the way you put that. I might steal that. Thank you Dr. Diasio.
[12:38:24]
Coming up for us, the House GOP leader says Republicans embrace debate, that same GOP leader trying right now to dump Liz Cheney for speaking her mind.
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KING: Few big political headlines. We'll move around the table here starting with the plant House Republican vote tomorrow to dump Liz Cheney from the leadership team. She's being removed for daring to speak out and to speak the truth about Donald Trump and his 2020 election lies. Yet the man pushing her out, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said this in a letter to colleagues yesterday. We are a big tent party. Unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate. Still with me Phil Mattingly and Julie Pace. Ha?
JULIE PACE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & ASST. MANAGING DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATED PRESS: A little bit of disconnect there. I would argue between his words and the actions that we're going to see tomorrow. I mean, the reality is that they could be a big tent on certain policies, but they are not a big tent when it comes to this question in the House. On the House side, they're not a big tent when it comes to this question of do you support Donald Trump and do you support what he pushed this lie after the election.
KING: It is more of a debate over in the Senate. I just want to show you some quotes here from our CNN team. Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa. Cancel culture is cancel culture, no matter how you look at it. Lindsey Graham says you're just not going to be a leader in the party if you're anti-Trump. He was anti-Trump once but I guess he learned a lesson. Senator Mitt Romney, it will do nothing but drive some people away from our party. Senator John Thune, we want to be united, we want to win in '22, that's kind of a punt. And let me add in Republican Governor here, Asa Hutchinson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): Former President Trump is dividing our party. And so it's important that we not unite with somebody who is dividing our party. I don't believe Liz Cheney should be ousted for a vote of conscience. I believe that we need to concentrate on more things that bring us together than to separate us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The House Republicans are trying to end a controversy. Cheney disagrees with most of them. Are they creating a controversy in trying to end one?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, I feel like we've done this now for five years or somebody's like, well, we just do this to pacify the former president, then we'll be able to move on and really talk about tax policy or something else and it never, you've never move on because he is the center of everything no matter what, whether you like it or not. I think, look, the bottom line, the center responses are good.
I think Senate Republicans are pretty tortured on this one and don't want any part of it whatsoever. And that underscores the reality for the Republican Party generally. This isn't about because President Trump is around that you're -- you need him to gain voters. Obviously, when he's on the ticket Republicans have done better. That's true.
[12:45:16]
The reality is he'll destroy the party, if you try and cast him aside. And so it's, how do you delicately balance? And I think that's what Lindsey Graham is gotten a lot of flack for what he's had to say. But I think there's an element of truth to it in the sense of, you can't have him outside the tent. If you put him outside the tent, he will destroy the party. And that is the calculation they've made. It's a calculation based on a lie from January 6th, but it is a calculation that they feel like they made. And frankly, it's a calculation they made for the better part of the last five years. KING: Good luck. California, there's money from heaven and there's money from Washington. All this Republican money, I mean the federal money is now going out to the states. Gavin Newsom has a recall election. He says with this money, maybe I can now send checks to California, and it's about $600 right before a recall election. He's happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): This time last year, we announced a $54.3 billion projected shortfall. Today, we are announcing a projected $75.7 billion budget surplus. We are now in a position to roll out $100 plus billion comeback plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Nice to be in a position to spend right before an election.
PACE: Yes. There's some advantages to being the incumbent, including using your office to be able to do things like this where you can actually in this case put money in people's pockets. So I think that Newsom is going to lean into every opportunity that he has during this recall to take steps like this. And this is kind of the Joe Biden argument. You know, if people feel good economically, if they feel like there is money in their pocket, then they can overlook a lot of other things.
KING: Caitlyn Jenner told our colleague, Dana Bash, she did not vote in the 2020 elections. She skipped it. Does that hurt you when you're trying -- she's a candidate and the recall election, does that hurt you skipping an election when you want to tell people, elect me, your leader?
MATTINGLY: Traditionally, I mean, I don't like that. I mean the hard part of this question is honestly I've stopped trying to gauge what actually sticks now over the course of the last four or five years. I think the kind of broader issue, and Dana's interview is very good and I think very revealing about where Caitlyn Jenner as a political entity or somebody who's trying to become a politician. And that is, don't necessarily assume that because Caitlyn Jenner has 100 percent name I.D. and because she's a celebrity and because a celebrity once won a governor's race in California tied to a recall that she's not just, not probably not going to challenge Gavin Newsom, she may not be the Republican who emerges out of that group.
And I think it's just worth watching. I think people are paying close attention. Obviously, California has moved in a different direction from when the recall first really started to gain steam, Gavin Newsom as well. And don't necessarily just make the assumption that a celebrity will always win. That's been a safe assumption for the last four or five years. But I don't think the case --
KING: I think we've learned anything in the last five years. We should be make no assumptions. Just make no assumptions. Just watch.
Up next, a critical debate today for another big item on the Democrats agenda.
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[12:52:44]
KING: Topping our political radar today, Senate Democrats moving forward with a sweeping proposal to rewrite U.S. election laws, For the People Act being debated in the Senate Rules Committee today would change campaign finance laws and regulate early voting and voting registration. The legislation is aimed at countering voter restrictions passed by Republicans at the state level. It has already passed the Democratic controlled House that faces a very uphill fight in the 50-50 Senate.
And this startling discovery this weekend on the southern border, a reminder of the Biden immigration challenge. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found five unaccompanied migrant children on Sunday. The oldest was just seven years old, the youngest, just 11 months. The children did not require medical attention.
[12:53:26]
Up next for us, the latest on the escalating violence in Israel.
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KING: Violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem escalating into rocket attacks from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. Palestinians report more than two dozen deaths and over 100 injuries from the airstrikes. Israel says 15 militants were killed. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us now from the Israeli city of Ashkelon where two Israelis were killed. Hadas, what's the latest?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, I'm standing outside of a building that was directly hit by one of those rockets earlier today in the early hours in the morning. I'll have my cameraman pan up so you can see the impact of that rocket. And over the last 24 hours, around 500 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel.
As you noted emerging services here say two Israelis were killed in Ashkelon, 17 injured. Israel has responded with a hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza saying they're targeting Gazan militants. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza saying 28 Palestinians have been killed, including nine children and more than 120 injured.
The Israeli military saying that it has killed 20 militants, including in the last few hours, the commander of the Islamic Jihad anti-tank missile unit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in a video statement that Hamas will be hit in a way that they didn't anticipate.
And Gaza militants have been saying that these recent rockets attacks are in direct response to what we've been seeing in Jerusalem over the past few days, very violent clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound and the Al-Aqsa Mosque between Palestinians and Israeli police that have left hundreds upon hundreds of Palestinian injured, as well as several Israeli police officers, as well as tensions in the Shaikh Jeera (ph) neighborhood of East Jerusalem where several Palestinian families are facing possible evictions as part of a long running legal battle that has really become a flashpoint for Palestinians in this region.
But the tensions, John, here have been absolutely soaring. And the community here has not seen rockets like this, has not seen military action like this in several years, John.
[13:00:03]
KING: Hadas Gold, grateful for the live reporting at this dicey time. Stay safe as you continue to bring us the news. And thank you for joining us stay Inside Politics. See you back here this time tomorrow. Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now. Have a good day.
