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Grisham: I Think Ivanka "Tried To Tell Him To Stop" On 1/6; CDC Studies: Boosters Provide Best Protection Against Omicron; Poll: 45 Percent Of Adult Approve Of Biden's Handling Of Pandemic. Aired 12:30- 1p ET

Aired January 21, 2022 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: It's just -- it's, well, so that's why this Committee's work is so important, though, because Trump is still telling his people that day is not what everyone else says it was.

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He is telling him that. And, John, I do think that when you sort of stack up the events of the last few days, I mean, you listen to the former president speaking as he did, in that interview. You really do get a picture of a guy who's, yes, thinking about the future, planning a comeback, but who is so trapped in the past. And in the past, specifically, of the aftermath of the 2020 election, it's a super important period. We should all focus on. It should be studied for a century to come. I don't know that it's a terribly a captivating theory of a political comeback to say, I'm going to keep on litigating the election where I got a beat pretty bad. And when you talk to Republicans, we're thinking of running in 2024, with or without Trump. And even when you talk to people who are generally sympathetic to Trump, there is this sense that the guy is just driving himself further and further back into the past.

KING: And part of the -- what the Committee is doing that I think is fascinating, MJ, is trying to get the inner circle including now the former president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, asking her to cooperate voluntarily. We heard throughout the Trump presidency. You know, Ivanka Trump was the voice of reason or when people were failing to get his attention, they would turn. We know on that day, Keith Kellogg, former aide to the Vice President Pence has told the committee, he went to Ivanka Trump to try to get her to convince her father to demand the people leave the Capitol. Stephanie Grisham was a White House aide. She says Ivanka Trump could be a pretty important witness. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: It doesn't surprise me at all when I saw the testimony from Keith Kellogg saying that they kept asking her to go in and be the voice of reason. I don't know that day what exactly happened with her, what her role was. But I believe she probably went in there and tried to tell him to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I guess one of the questions is if the voluntary ask is turned down, does the Committee get aggressive, try a subpoena.

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps. But I think regardless of what continues to happen with this investigation, it is very, very clear that as we get more information from people around Trump, as there are more headlines about what actually transpired, everything is sort of a generally bolstering what we know the reality that President, former President Trump and his allies were so deeply and intimately involved in trying to discredit the election results.

And obviously, as the former president, remain sort of the political leader of the party, or at the very least, a perceived political leader of the party, this is going to remain a party that needs to continue answering the question of, are you a party that stands for and supports sort of the core political, Democratic pillars of this country?

I will say, though, on the other side of this, for the other party, this is not the election integrity issue. It's not necessarily an easy issue for the Democrats as we saw with President Biden and his press conference. Yes, it is an issue that is being used to sort of rally their base up. But there is a delicate balancing act and a messaging strategy that is tough for them to thread the needle on sometimes, right? You don't want to sort of sow doubt about upcoming elections and then end up having the effect of turning people away from voting. If there were people that were going to vote to begin with, they hear the President go up there and speak without confidence about upcoming elections. You don't know what kind of effect that could have.

KING: You do not. And Melanie, you would assume, or you would think in a pre-Trump world maybe that if you went through the litany of things I just went through, the setbacks, the questions about Donald Trump and Donald Trump, innocent until proven guilty applies to everybody, including the former president of the United States. But you would think that people would want to take a little bit of distance, right? But even those who we know do not like Trump, do not like to talk about him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that former President Donald Trump will be a help to you in the midterm elections?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I think the midterm election almost certainly is going to be a referendum on the party in power. And all Republicans believe me of all stripes will be together voting to send this administration a strong message this November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Leader McConnell has a remarkably good ability to not have heard the word Trump was even mentioned.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Oh, he's great. He's a master. He does the same thing to us in the Capitol who will try to ask some questions about Trump, and he says, nice try. But look, it just shows he sees no political upside to bashing the president. He hasn't walked back his comments about Trump. He hasn't talked to the former president since January 6th. And you see why, look what happened to Liz Cheney over in the House Republican leadership. She continually pushed back against Trump's election lies and she was booted from the leadership, so you see why McConnell is walking that thin line right now. But even so he's been able to so far heat off these calls for a challenger that's coming from Trump world right now.

[12:35:00]

KING: And that's one of the reasons he is so circumspect, I guess.

Up next for us, COVID and its numbing math, record hospitalizations and a case explosion in the past month.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: There's some important new COVID vaccine research to share today. First, though some numbers to make clear just how explosive the Omicron variant is right now, let me put this up as we take a look at it right here. This is cases all the way back to the beginning, nearly 70 million Americans, that's what you see here. Nearly 70 million Americans had the coronavirus in the 732 days, all the way back here since the first infection was recorded in the United States.

[12:40:14]

But get this look to the right of your screen here. More than 25 percent of these cases, more than 25 percent, 18 million, are just from the past 28 days, 5 million of those cases, just from the last week alone. Let's get some insights now and expertise from Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. So, Dr. Hotez when you see those numbers, 5 million cases just in the last week, it makes all the more important what we just heard from the CDC, which is this study of vaccines and then boosters and their effectiveness against Omicron. Looking at 88,000 hospitalizations in 10 states, the CDC says boosters are 90 percent effective if you only have two shots, that's 57 percent effective. So, the numbers don't lie. That's pretty striking. Get a booster you are a lot safer. Here's another piece of the study about emergency rooms, right? Are boosters effective at preventing Omicron emergency room and urgent care visits? This is 200,000 visits looked at across 10 states, boosters 82 percent effective two shots only 38 percent effective, the data crystal clear and yet we still lagging and getting Americans boosted.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: Yes, I mean, I think we're not really paying the price in this country from some very poor messaging around the urgency of boosters. You know, John, we've been talking since last year or even before then, we've -- I've always said this is a three-dose vaccine. And yet, the CDC and the Advisory Committee still clung to saying two doses is fully immunized. And we are paying the price for that. I think we're seeing that two doses is not holding up well for emergency room visits, it's not holding up well, for hospitalizations, we only have 24 to 25 percent of the country that's gotten three doses. And yet we still boast about the 60 some odd percent that's quote fully immunized, which means two doses.

So again, we have to do a hardcore press here about boosting again. And even then, John, that's -- this is all best-case scenario, because we are seeing according to Imperial College London, some waning after even getting that booster. So that's going to be the next big issue that we're going to have to tackle. But for now, let's focus on getting everybody boosted.

KING: Well, why do you talk about that next big issue, we'll get into details in just a minute, I -- the reason it's so urgent is because of this. On the one hand, you can look at cases by region. I bring this up right now. And if you look at where Omicron hit first, which is the northeast, that's the yellow line, you do start to see cases going down. Now it's still at 100,000 a day in that region. That's still a big number, but it's down from the peak. But if you look at the south, where you live, the numbers are high. In the Midwest, they're still significantly high as they go that way. So that's one way to look at and you can say, oh, well Omicron hit first in the Northeast. So just wait a couple of weeks and those other places will come down.

But then if you look at this, if you look at the transmission rate of COVID in the country right now, the red map. There are more than 3,200 counties in the country, more than 3,200 counties. Only eight do not have high transmission of COVID right now that is mind blowing.

HOTEZ: Yes, no, this is an incredibly transmissible virus agent, getting up there with measles in terms of transmissibility, which is the most transmissible agent that we know. The hope is that if it's like the U.K., if the trends in New York continue that will soon be reflected in the rest of the country so that by as we go through the month of February, the number of cases starts to go down precipitously. But then there's a lot of discussion in the scientific community about what happens then. There are those who feel that Omicron is acting like some form of herd immunity. I personally do not think so. I think it's going to behave like other upper respiratory Coronaviruses produced very short-term protection unless you've gotten vaccinated on top of it.

And then we're going to be vulnerable yet again to the new variant that arises out of the African continent or Southeast Asia or Latin America, like all the other variants of concern have emerged unless we make a commitment to vaccinate the country. So, I've been pushing the White House and HHS, come up with a longer term game plan, because I still think their viewpoints are still very focused in terms of weeks, not in terms of months or years.

KING: That's sober view but an important view. Dr. Hotez as always thank you so much, sir.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

[12:44:24] KING: Up next, how you see things at the start of this midterm campaign year? An inside look at recent focus groups reveals some Democratic frustration with President Biden and some conflicting Republican emotions about Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We share polling with you all the time. I hope we also make clear it is just one way to measure public opinion and it has its limits. A helpful next step is to use polling to then guide conversations with key voting groups. You learn a lot more face-to- face. So, what do Democrats say at this moment and are Republicans eager for a Trump comeback?

Republican pollster and strategist, Kristen Soltis Anderson joins us, grateful for your time. So I'm going to show start with a number. As I said numbers polls tell us some things and then we get more. This is Biden's handling of the coronavirus and you just see the COVID pandemic. You just see the approval rating way down from where he started, the disapproval rating up, which means some Democrats are either changing their mind about the President or at least getting frustrated translate that into what you see in focus groups from Democrats or Biden leaning voters who might now have some doubts or questions.

[12:50:07]

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well voters across the political spectrum, including many Republicans are very anxious about the spread of COVID-19. And we know that Biden, you know, came into office, not just with reasonably high job approval, but with job approval on COVID that was about 10 points higher than his job approval overall. But I think there really was a sense this summer that we were past this, the vaccines were here, and it was time to turn the page and move on.

And yet, over the holidays, it became clear, we're not ready to turn that page. And so, the shortage of tests, the massive spread of the virus, it feels like we're back at square one almost. And that has led even some voters that really like Joe Biden generally to say, I don't feel like we've done as much as we can to contain this virus.

KING: Now I will flip to the Republican conversations now, because I'm fascinated by some of your notes about these. This is an NBC polling number. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, do you consider yourself more supportive of the Republican Party or Donald Trump? And as you can see more of the Republicans right now say party, not Trump, that's a change. That is a change in the -- in your focus groups you talk about how there's a Republicans feel safer, warmer, more confident in their vote for Trump based on Biden's performance. But you also see some less some evidence that perhaps that doesn't translate it to 2024. Explain.

ANDERSON: That's exactly right. So I did some -- I did a focus group for "The New York Times" about two weeks ago, mostly focused on January 6th. But at one point, the question of Donald Trump running again in 2024 came up. And these were voters who by and large, had voted for Trump in 2020. They liked him a lot. They were very sympathetic to his position and his role in the Republican Party as a leader, they liked him. But they said, you know, I might be open to fresh leadership. They weren't looking for someone who's going to break with Trump or say, I don't like Trump, let's turn the page.

But someone who could carry on, the kind of fighting spirit that they felt Donald Trump had, perhaps a lot of his policy agenda, but might be a fresh face and a new voice, they were open to it. And so you do see that Donald Trump sort of hold over the party where most Republicans said, I'm a Trump supporter first, and I'm a Republican second, that dynamics changed a little bit with him being out of office for the last year. It's not that he's not a major figure in the party. But it's that Republicans are open to hearing from some other voices as well.

KING: That'll be fascinating to see how that trend continues as you continue these conversations. So let me bring you back to the here and now, your Republican strategist, I want to make that clear to our viewers, that you're leaning Republican. So you want Republicans to win in the midterm elections were early in the election, midterm election year. Listen to Kevin McCarthy. He wants to be speaker, which means he wants Republicans to take back the House. Listen to how broad he thinks the battlefield is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: After looking at New Jersey and Virginia, remember, President Biden won New Jersey a year prior by 16 points. He won Virginia by 10. So I would say any Democrat who sits in a seat where Biden won by 16 or less, it's a competitive seat. And we should challenge him. Our best state in the last election was California.

KING: His job publicly is to be overly optimistic. I get that completely. You're leading a campaign. You want to say every seat in play. Is -- but is the battlefield as broad as he just said, are Republicans competitive in as many places, as he says they are?

ANDERSON: If the election were held today, he's exactly right. Republicans have every reason to feel very confident about their current political standing. Voters are not reflecting very well on Biden's are one year into his term, his approval ratings aren't great. They're actually right about where Donald Trump's we're at one year into his term. And we know how that midterm turned out.

You know, the President's party always has a tough time. So, Republicans have a million reasons to feel good. However, there's, of course, a chance that we get to November and the economy's looking a little better, gas prices have come down. Maybe inflation is stopped. Maybe COVID really does become a thing of the past. If those things all come to pass, those will be positive for Democrats. I still think Republicans are very much favored in November. And if the election were held today, it would be a red wave, I think almost no question. But there are still a lot of things that could change between now and November. KING: Which is why we will keep talking about them and bring you back between now and November, Kristen Soltis Anderson, grateful, grateful for your time today. Thank you.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

[12:54:19]

Up next for us, the annual March for Life is taking place in Washington right now. And we have a brand-new look at public opinion 49 years after the landmark Roe vs. Wade abortion rights ruling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Don't forget if you missed the show or listen again, you can catch our podcast. To listen, scan the QR code right there in the corner of your screen or search Inside Politics wherever you get your podcast. Topping our political radar today, the March for Life is back in Washington today. It's the largest anti-abortion rally in the country. And it comes just one day before the 49th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Roe versus Wade that ruling of course guarantee the constitutional right to abortion.

So brand new CNN polling out this hour finds 30 percent of Americans want Roe completely overturned, 69 percent of you oppose that. Starting tomorrow essential travelers crossing into the United States from Canada and Mexico will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. American citizens and permanent residents will not need to show proof of vaccination.

This month, Canada imposed its own vaccine mandate for U.S. truck drivers crossing the Canadian border. And you can now for free at home COVID-19 tests by phone. The White House launching a hotline this morning, that's an expansion of the website launched earlier this week. People can request for at home tests for household. The White House expects those tests to ship to you in about seven to 12 days.

[13:00:14]

Thanks for joining us in Inside Politics today. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.