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The Situation Room
Biden Signs "Wartime" Action on COVID, Including New Mask Mandates & Quarantine for Intl. Travelers; Fauci: It's a "Liberating Feeling" to "Talk about what You Know" During White House Briefing; Biden Vows 100 Million COVD Vaccinations in 100 Days; McConnell Wants to Delay Trump Impeachment Trial until February, Tells Colleagues He is in no Rush. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 21, 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]
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And you know, what was conveyed to me. And I don't think we discussed this yesterday was that we've had a lot of outreach, some privately, some publicly from a range of businesses and private sector entities. And we certainly welcome that. And we'll be considering all of those offers and what makes the most sense in our plans and proposals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, because there are some Trump officials saying they were never offered help from Amazon. And so they're essentially saying they think this was a political call for Amazon to wait, while flies are hanging in the balance. But you're saying that that's not the case?
PSAKI: I'm not aware of the timeline of when Amazon reached out. That sounds like a question for Amazon to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you think about all the pardons that Trump handed out on his way out the door? And do you know if the DOJ or anyone is reviewing any of those?
PSAKI: Well, as you know, we nominated an attorney general just a couple of weeks ago, Merrick Garland, we're eager to get him confirmed in the coming weeks, hopefully soon.
We -- our view on the pardons, Jennifer, is that it's not the way it's not a model for how a Biden Justice Department would work. It's not a model, I should say, for how President Biden would use his own power. He would use his own power far more judiciously. But we are looking forward.
And most important for us and for him is that the Justice Department, as we look ahead is independent, makes decisions of their own accord, including their review of any investigations or judicial steps that have been taken.
Thank you. OK. Sure.
I think we're about to conclude here, but because it's my second day, let's take two more questions. Go ahead, and it's back (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How about the pardon attorneys?
PSAKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the President going to listen to the pardon attorney? President Bush told President Obama that he should use the pardon power early on.
But we know that the pardon power has been in disrepute last week, because of President Trump's pardons. What -- is President Biden trying to lose the power quickly forge? I mean, we said judiciously. What's his take on to this?
PSAKI: Well, judiciously, and I'm not saying you're conveying this, but just for clarity is not meant to convey speed. It's just meant to convey how he approaches it.
As you know, he has a long history on judicial issues having served as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee many years ago. But on day two, I don't have any prediction for you in terms of how he would use a pardon attorneys or the role, but he has great respect for and value for independence, as you know, and for the role of the judiciary and the independence of that role.
OK, last to ask a question.
Sorry, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate it. I'm going to bounce off, here a conversation that may or may not have happened. Can you tell us with President Biden spoken to the Fed Chair Jay Powell? If he hasn't? Does he have any plans on speaking to him at any point in the near future?
And generally speaking, how does the President view the stewardship of the Fed chair during this economic crisis?
PSAKI: I don't have any calls to read out for you or to predict for you with the chairman of the Federal Reserve. He clearly has a great deal of respect and value for the Federal Reserve in the role they've played historically given he nominated the former chair to serve as the first female Treasury secretary. But I don't have anything more for you and convince you to get more for you from our economic team.
Thank you, everyone. I'll see you again tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Jen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Jen.
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've just been listening to the second White House briefing of the Biden administration as it puts the worsening coronavirus pandemic front and center on its first full day in power.
Just before the briefing, by the way, President Biden rolled out his national strategy to fight the COVID crisis. It includes a plan to administer 100 million vaccines during his first 100 days in office. And an executive order mandating masks on federal properties.
The President's plan comes as the U.S. has surpassed 408,000 COVID deaths and almost 25 million confirmed cases. Exactly, exactly one year after the first case was confirmed in this country.
I want to go straight to the White House. Our Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly is joining us.
Phil, we not only heard from the new president earlier in the day, we heard from the press secretary. But we also heard at this briefing that went on for almost an hour. We also heard from his top medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. For viewers who are just tuning in right now, update our viewers on the major developments.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, I think if you look or watch over the course of the last 58 minutes, and what was a very wide ranging briefing from Jen Psaki, and in the beginning from Dr. Anthony Fauci, one thing kept coming back to the center and that was the administration's focus on trying to fight and curb the pandemic. In fact, the President himself saying earlier today that the administration was taking this as a wartime footing as it attempted to address what it believed were several shortfalls and how their predecessors addressed the pandemic.
[17:05:12]
And what you've seen over the course of the last two days, including with 10 executive actions today is administration that's pushing a whole of government approach, a series of federal actions to try and expand the federal government's role in trying to address a pandemic that the President and his top advisors acknowledge is going to get worse before it gets better.
Among the issues that were addressed earlier today, with the actions taken by the president, were masking on the Federal Transit System, particularly on Interstate travel, or an effort to push more of an infrastructure on the vaccines themselves. A series of issues across the board, when it comes to testing, when it comes to information gathering, when it comes to trying to address racial inequities that are driven and exacerbated by this pandemic. All of those things being put front and center by the administration.
But Wolf, as you noted, it was extremely interesting to watch Dr. Anthony Fauci as he came up at some level acting, I think, in some ways that he was relieved with the new administration and his ability to discuss not just the science behind the decisions that have been made up to this point, his timeline for things in terms of when herd immunity might actually occur. If 70 percent to 80 percent of Americans do end up getting vaccinated.
He believes sometime by the summer, or the beginning of the fall, that the American people would be able to start moving back towards some type of normalcy.
But also acknowledging and I'm paraphrasing here, I don't have the exact quote that essentially with this new administration, if you don't know the answer to something, don't answer the question, clearly signaling a shift. And that lines up, Wolf, with what we've seen from administration officials from the president on down over the course of the last 48 hours. And that is they are attempting to turn the page. They want the pandemic to be the focal point of everything they do.
And while that press briefing went through a number of different issues, whether it was foreign policy, whether it was legislative issues, any number of things that were brought up for Press Secretary Jen Psaki to answer, everything continued to come back to what the President has focused on and what the President has said, Wolf, which is that nothing can really go forward in the country until the pandemic is gotten under control.
BLITZER: You know, Phil, it's interesting, because Dr. Fauci was rather blunt, I thought, in making it clear. He sort of feels liberated right now.
He could speak his mind. And during the Trump administration. He never wanted to really contradict the President of the United States, who was saying all sorts of things not based on science. Hydroxychloroquine, we all remember that.
I want you to listen and I want our viewers to listen to Dr. Fauci making this point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It was very clear that there were things that were said be at regarding things like hydroxychloroquine, and other things like that. That really was an uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact.
I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president. So it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something, and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it.
The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak. It is somewhat of a liberating feeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You know, Phil, I thought that was pretty significant. He was rather blunt, right?
MATTINGLY: Yes, no question about it. But I think he's also saying something that everybody with two eyes was able to watch over the course of the last year, Wolf, whether it was the president's -- prior president, President Trump's briefings that he had for several weeks at a time where he would contradict his scientists, where he would undercut not just Dr. Fauci but Dr. Deborah Birx as well undercut his own coronavirus team that was working, that was led by Vice President Mike Pence. It was something that we saw on a regular basis.
And I also think it's worth underscoring that this is a different approach on an ideological level.
Two, the prior administration made very clear that while they were willing to set up some semblance of a federal infrastructure, they wanted the states to take the lead on most everything that was happening. And to some degree that led to patchwork efforts to address specific issues, that led to certain holes state by state, implementing different measures whether it went from masking down to how vaccines were distributed.
And this administration has made very clear they want this to be centered through the federal government. Not that it will have a hand in absolutely everything that happens, but it will serve to some degree as a clearinghouse as to what's going to happen going forward.
Now, the real question, Wolf, going forward is whether or not that's going to be effective. The administration clearly thinks it will be, but the administration has also said over the course of the last couple of days a couple of things, one that it's going to get worse before it gets better. And two, they believe that they weren't left with a ton to work with as they attempt to put this new infrastructure into place.
I do want to make one point though, Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked about stories regarding whether or not anything was left for them in terms of an infrastructure when it comes to vaccine distribution.
And he made clear that it's not as if they are starting from scratch. There are elements from the prior administration's efforts, particularly as it relates to what used to be known as Operation Warp Speed that this administration is able to work off of.
[17:10:08]
But he also made clear that what you're seeing from the federal government, without any question about it according to Dr. Fauci, is a ramp up. And I think that's something that the President on down through his advisors has made clear will be the focal point going forward. Ramping up on all fronts, whether it's testing, whether it's vaccine distribution, whether it's information gathering, trying to ensure that there's a central place where all of this is coming into, and a central place that can help dictate the recovery here or at least the efforts to fight a pandemic that is just ravaged the country over the course of the last 365 days, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right, Dr. Fauci, suggesting they're not necessarily starting from scratch. They are ready to build on what they have. But there's a whole new national program that they want to get going.
Phil, standby. I want to get some analysis. Joining us right now, our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, our Chief National Correspondent, the anchor of "Inside Politics," John King, and our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
So Sanjay, give us your reaction to this new plan laid out by President by?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, he's hitting all the right notes. I mean, certainly, you know, and that press briefing, which by the way, was the first COVID, sort of focused press briefing since November 19, I thought was very factual, very evidence based, very honest.
But there's some specific things that President Biden talked about ahead of that press briefing that are significant. I mean, you know, as Phil Mattingly just mentioned 10 executive actions that significant, a specific role for FEMA in terms of getting these community vaccination centers out there, 100 of them, they say within a month, specific role for CDC in terms of getting retail pharmacies by February 7 or February 8, according to President Biden. Being able to satisfy vaccination needs in certain communities to your pharmacy. A specific role for HHS in terms of creating more vaccinators, because that was a rate limiting step.
Remember Wolf, just not enough people to actually pushing the vaccines into people's arms. So those were things that President Biden talked about, as well as the fact that there will be testing required for people who travel interstate via planes or trains or buses, that there will be testing required in quarantine if you fly into this country, from internationally, from another country.
So, there were a lots of specifics, Wolf, that we've been hearing pieces about for some time. But, again, Wolf since November 19, there hasn't been a COVID briefing like this. So it felt like a lot. But it was all the notes that we've been talking about for some time, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. And Dr. Fauci was speaking and answering the reporters' questions for almost a half an hour that in and of itself, I thought, was significant that they decided to put Dr. Fauci out front and center for this first up COVID debriefing over at the White House.
You know, Gloria, we also heard Dr. Fauci speak candidly, just now about the differences between the Trump administration and the new Biden administration. He's clearly feeling liberated to speak his mind, offer scientific evidence, do his job, isn't he?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, he is. And aside from talking about the fiasco with hydroxychloroquine, he also said something else that was quite interesting to me. He was making the case about the difference between the current administration and the previous administration. He said, one of the differences is that if you don't know the answer here, you don't guess. You can say that you just don't know the answer. And then you try and figure it out.
So what he was saying is, well, there are a lot of folks in the previous administration when they didn't know, they kind of made believe like they knew. And that was a real problem, I think, for him as someone who believes in the science.
BLITZER: You know, John, what did you make of the contrast that the President and Dr. Fauci, for that matter, both tried to set today with the previous Trump administration, not just in style, but in substance?
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Science matters, facts matter, truth matters, and we trust the American people to hear hard truth sometimes.
Remember, President Trump, Wolf, we've been through this for the past year. I think Sanjay is point that there hasn't been a briefing at the White House and so long. That's the, you know, that's the central, that's the CEO of the United States government.
President Trump didn't want to have those briefings, because the news was tough, the news was hard. And he just wanted to wipe it away, right? This -- the former president said, it would not be a pandemic, we have 15 cases would soon be down to zero. It was going to disappear last April. This president is acknowledging it's going to get worse before it gets better. And I'm going to trust the scientists.
The fact that it was Dr. Fauci taking questions and Joe Biden was not over his shoulder, President Biden was out over shoulder because President Biden is comfortable in his own skin, let the experts talk about it. That's his wheelhouse. Let's do it.
Now with that comes accountability. But it was really fascinating to see you have respect of government now, respect in experts.
In the Trump administration, for example, when they finally got to using the Defense Production Act, it was Peter Navarro, a trade advisor in the White House. President Biden is saying no, we have a government, we have experts, we have departments that know how to do these things. So, it's the building blocks of trust and respect both for government and trying to rebuild trust with the American people.
[17:15:14]
We all got to a point and Sanjay is more expert at this than I am, where you weren't sure you could believe anything coming out of the Trump administration because you knew they were afraid of the President. And you knew they were winging it to Gloria's point. They're trying to rebuild trust and credibility and faith in science.
BLITZER: Yes, I think that's an important point.
You know, Sanjay, I wonder what your reaction was when you -- we just heard Dr. Fauci, a man you know very well, I know him very well about not being afraid to contradict the president.
GUPTA: Yes, in fact, I was just texting with him even after that, that briefing about that exact point.
I mean, look, it's -- spend half your time or all your time, frankly, as a medical reporter fact checking. I mean, that's what we were doing. It was very hard to move the knowledge tree forward, because we just had to continuously stutter step through these things. And that was -- that was challenging.
And Dr. Fauci knew that he needed to eat and he was uncomfortable, openly contradicting the president, although he did it. But this is, as Gloria pointed out, liberating for him.
And, and liberating is great. But it also means we move forward. We can actually start to move forward. Talking about important things, like the seven day average of new cases, maybe going down. Seven day average of hospitalizations, maybe going down.
Is this an aberration? We're going to keep a close eye on that.
What does this mean for death rates? What about these variants? How are we going to monitor for these variants? Do the vaccines work against these? These are big, important questions.
We never get around to really addressing the big important questions that can aid not only help address this pandemic, but also, you know, move the knowledge tree forward. So, I was really struck by that.
I mean, you know, I just have to say after a year of covering this, it's been frustrating that, you know, you spend so much your time trying to figure out of what you just heard was the truth or not.
I really had no doubt about that today. And as a result, I think our reporting will improve this idea that the vaccines work specific way, our reporting will improve on all those facets of it.
BORGER: Can I just add one thing to what Sanjay is saying?
What struck me today was, you know, this notion of we're going to put 100 million vaccines in the arms of people, but in 100 days. Lots of experts, I think, including maybe Sanjay, we're saying well, that's very doable. In fact, it may be a low number.
And so, we're used to administration that said, we're great, we can do this, we can do that. And they didn't deliver.
I'm kind of wondering whether they under promised here a little bit so they can over produce, which is -- or overachieve, which is kind of an old political trick, but it sure works.
BLITZER: What did you think, Sanjay? A 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days of the Biden administration. Remember, you need two shots. So that would be 50 million people, let's say, by what, the end of April, something like that. That sounds very reasonable.
I think the U.S., at least based on what I've been hearing could do a lot better than that.
GUPTA: Yes. I think this is going to be -- this is one of those examples of things we are going to continue to drill down on.
The answer is, yes, I think -- I think we can -- that is a very reasonable and they may be under promising and with the hope of over delivering to Gloria's point. But, you know, why I say that it's based on conversations with lots of people from vaccine makers to the national retail pharmacy chains.
You know, if you look at what the capacity is, and they're going to need funding, and they're going to need resources like Jen Psaki was talking about, but if they get all that, pharmacies can do 100 million doses potentially per month, the pharmacies alone. Add into that, these community centers that can reach areas that are more difficult to reach.
FEMA, again, according to President Biden says by -- within a month, there should be 100 of these community centers around the country. Perhaps the National Guard setting up these large vaccination centers as well, vaccination fairs.
I really think it's very doable. And I would even go so far as to say we have to do better than a million shots a day. Because as you said, Wolf, you know, 50 million people, we need to be getting to 250 million people roughly five times that.
I can tell you that there's other vaccines that are very likely to come online, like Johnson and Johnson, Oxford, AstraZeneca, that will help. But I think we probably need to be a bit more audacious in these goals.
BLITZER: Yes. I totally agree. And I was very encouraged to hear that they are going to activate FEMA in the struggle, activate the military in this struggle and work with everybody to try to get as many vaccinations as possible.
You know, there were other important issues, John, that came up. Things clearly, you're going to get a bit tougher and a very sharply divided Congress and narrow Democratic majority in the House, very narrow. A tie basically in the Senate, although the Democrats will be the majority because the vice president will break that tie.
[17:20:00]
Where has this $1.9 trillion COVID relief package? It's certainly a keystone of the Biden promise to tackle the epidemic. Where is it headed from your perspective? Is it going to be an early test of the President's pledge to foster unity and bipartisanship?
KING: Absolutely, it is. And you could see Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary using her State Department experience here to try to be diplomatic.
You know, from the previous administration, the Obama administration, one point -- the 1.9. That's negotiable. We're open to new ideas. But, but the new president believes, you know, opening schools is a bipartisan issue. Getting aid to state and local governments is a bipartisan issue.
So, Republicans oppose some of this, Wolf. They opposed during the Trump administration, when the House tried to have the state local funding. So Joe Biden's going to have to get in a room.
And here's where I think it's really interesting to see, Joe Biden thinks we can go back to the old way, or at least many of the old ways. In the old days, if you're a democratic president, if you could peel off, say Republican leaning groups like the Chamber of Commerce, if you could get all the mayors, if you could get some Republican governors involved, you sort of do an end around of the national Republicans in Washington.
Can Joe Biden put together one of those old coalition's to get some of it. And then the question is, you know, where's he willing to give? Where is he willing to give?
A lot of Republicans were critical or are critical of democratic governors and democratic mayors who have their schools closed. So can Joe Biden say, I want to reopen schools, we're on the same page here, but you have to help me, it's going to take money, it's going to take more testing. So this is a -- this is a defining test. He was able to be that guy cutting deals, in some cases back in the Obama days.
Washington's different. It doesn't go somewhat back to normal with Trump gone. Are we stuck in that rut? This is a textbook example on a signature issue for this president.
Succeeding here opens the door to bipartisanship on other issues. Failing here would be an early problem.
BLITZER: Certainly. I'm anxious to see when President Biden invites the congressional leadership, the Democrats and the Republicans over to the White House, sit down, have an important meeting and discuss many of these critically important issues. I know he wants to work on a bipartisan basis. Let's see if that is doable.
All right, everybody stand by. There's a lot more breaking news we're following including how President Trump's impeachment trial fits into an already daunting agenda facing Congress.
Plus, there are new developments we're watching in the effort to make a third COVID vaccine available to Americans. Americans are facing hurdles right now, enormous hurdles, simply to get a shot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:26:05]
BLITZER: Report breaking news up on Capitol Hill right now, Senator Mitch McConnell is now in the minority rather than the majority leader is signaling he wants to put off an impeachment trial in the Senate, impeachment trial for former President Trump until next month.
Let's go to our Chief Congressional Correspondent Raju for more.
Update our viewers, Manu.
MANU RAJU, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader is making it very clear that he wants to give the new president -- former President Donald Trump's impeachment team time to prepare for the trial. And he is proposing to the Democratic leader to push back consideration of the, whether or not to convict the former president, wait until sometime in February. He's suggesting according to multiple sources to wait for two weeks to begin this trial.
Now we are told that the president, the former President Donald Trump has selected an attorney of South Carolina based, attorney in the lead on his impeachment team. We are also expecting more names on that team.
That's been one reason why Democrats in the House yet to send over that article of impeachment from the House to the Senate that would prompt the trial to determine whether or not Donald Trump should be convicted on a charge of inciting an insurrection that led to this deadly riot here on Capitol Hill on January 6.
Now, McConnell can't do this on his own. He needs support from Democrats in order to delay this trial. Pelosi would have to agree not to send that article of impeachment over to the Senate. And Chuck Schumer, the new Senate majority leader would also have to agree with Mitch McConnell to push back the timing of the trial until later.
Now, our colleague Ted Barrett, just as Mitch McConnell, if the Democrats have gotten back to him about his proposal, he said that he has not heard back yet from the Democrats, Wolf. So, some questions about the timing of this.
And also questions if Mitch McConnell were to vote to convict Donald Trump, what would his power like be, a top the Senate Republican conference and talking to number of Republican senators. Some are very concerned that he could vote to convict, even warning that he could lose his leadership position if he does break from the party line.
So, McConnell facing a lot of pressure for the moment he's trying to give the Trump team more time to prepare. We'll see if the democrats agree, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. That'll be a critically important issue, whether they delay the start of this impeachment trial.
As you also know, Manu, President Biden is looking to the Senate to work quickly in confirming his critically important Cabinet nominees. Update our viewers on the latest. Where do things stand?
RAJU: Well, it's still an open question how quickly the things will move on his nominations. He's only had Avril Haines be the director of national intelligence confirmed last night.
Just moments ago, the Senate approved a waiver that would allow the former General Lloyd Austin to serve as a defense secretary because he has served as the waiver to allow him to control the department that supposed to be run by a civilians. That waiver has been approved. But they still need to confirm his nomination. It's a question when that will happen, perhaps tomorrow.
Janet Yellen, the -- who's been nominated as the President Biden's Treasury Secretary also is up for a vote. She could be confirmed soon. But, Wolf, question because the Senate has not officially passed a power-sharing agreement that spells out how exactly the Senate will be organized. And as a result, Republicans still control key Senate Committees, because they're operating under last Congress's rules when the Republicans were in the majority at that time.
So as a result, if there is no deal on a power sharing agreement, the Cabinet nominees could be stalled for some time and less Republicans and Democrats agree to move them quickly.
So a lot of questions about when Joe Biden will be able to get his cabinet done quickly and whether or not Republicans will go along with Democrats and whether or not they will be able to cut that deal to ensure this 50-50 Senate can operate, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, but they move very quickly at Admiral Haines. She was confirmed to be the director of national intelligence, first woman to lead the U.S. intelligence community. And it was an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. We'll see what happens.
Our chief and congratulations, Manu. Manu is now our Chief White House -- excuse me, our chief congressional correspondent. Thanks so much for all the great work that you do. We are so, so grateful.
[17:30:00]
RAJU: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's discuss all the challenges facing the new Congress right now. Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, he's a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, is this proposal by McConnell to delay the impeachment trial until February a few weeks, a couple of weeks, three weeks, let's see. Is that something you think your fellow Democrats could support?
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Wolf, I think Democrats will be open to considering a delay that allows former President Trump time to assemble his legal team and his defense for the impeachment trial, if we are making progress on confirming the very talented, seasoned and diverse team that President Joe Biden has nominated to serve in his Cabinet. As you just mentioned, we confirmed Avril Haines to be Director of National Intelligence last night. We have had confirmation hearings and should be able to proceed tomorrow with confirmation for the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security. These are critical positions to have filled in most administrations for decades. They are filled at the very beginning of the administration.
So, I would expect that we'd be more receptive to this delay, if we are continuing to do the work of the Senate in confirming the senior members of the Cabinet across all departments.
BLITZER: So, it sounds like that's actually doable if they go ahead and start confirming these key Cabinet positions, you would be willing to wait two or three weeks to actually begin the impeachment trial. And it would make sense from the Trump people's consideration, they want to be able to prepare for this. They've just hired a new lawyer to help the President. It's only fair probably to give them some time to prepare.
COONS: But, Wolf, let's be clear. Not just the members of the Cabinet that I listed that are the most significant in terms of national security and foreign policy. There are dozens of senior members of the administration who need to be confirmed and deserve to be confirmed. If we continue to make progress in that direction, then I think this is a good step. If not, you'll quickly find Democrats frustrated and insisting that we move ahead with the accountability that could be delivered by an impeachment (INAUDIBLE)
BLITZER: So, it sounds, correct me if I'm wrong, Senator, because there's almost like a quid pro quo. You go ahead and confirm these Cabinet positions, sub-Cabinet positions, you move quickly on that, the impeachment, the article of impeachment will be delayed, won't be sent over for two or three weeks.
COONS: Well, as you --
BLITZER: Is that a fair assessment?
COONS: It is. As you saw today, Wolf, President Biden has been preparing for months to be ready for this moment, knowing that our country is in a crisis that the pandemic is raging out of control, that it's at its worst point ever, knowing that there is a massive vaccination campaign that needs to be rolled out. I'm surprised to discover no detailed plan for that vaccination. The administration needs to be able to move forward, to move forward filling senior vacancies and Cabinet positions all across the government and to move forward with a bold plan of action. President Biden laid out last week his American rescue plan.
BLITZER: On the top priority for the new Biden administration -- we're talking about the coronavirus pandemic -- CNN has learned the Biden team says there's really no substantive vaccine distribution plan to work off of from the Trump administration. But look at this, more than 17 million vaccinations have been completed. The Biden administration is trying to lower expectations. Is the Biden administration is simply trying to lower expectations ahead of this difficult push, because even Dr. Fauci just said at this briefing, they are working off some elements of the previous administration, but they want to do it better.
COONS: Wolf, what you saw in that press briefing this afternoon is a renewed commitment by this incoming administration to truth and to science. And if that means, in part saying what you don't know, and then under promising and over delivering, I think that would be a refreshing change from what we all went through over the last four years. As you just said, the incoming administration discovered there was no thorough and detailed vaccination plan.
Shocking that in the two months since the election, outgoing President Donald Trump basically abdicated his responsibilities. As the pandemic raged out of control, he spent his time golfing and tweeting and spinning up conspiracy theories that led to that tragic assault on the Capitol now two weeks ago. Instead, he should have been preparing and finalizing a vaccination plan. So, I don't think the Biden team is in any way intentionally under promising. I think they recognize just how deep a hole we're in and how difficult it's going to be to get our country out of this pandemic mess.
BLITZER: Yes, I was encouraged to hear that the administration wants to activate FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which deals with hurricane, aftermath, tornado, stuff like that flooding. That they now want to activate FEMA, they want to activate the military, they want to get things going. I've been talking about that for months.
[17:35:09]
I never knew with all the Americans who are dying more than 400,000 right now, I think 407,000, 408,000 Americans, maybe as President Biden says maybe a half a million within a month or so. Why hasn't -- why haven't all of the assets of the federal government, military, civilian than activated to deal with this?
COONS: Say, Wolf, all along, I had expected that President Trump would use tools at his disposal, like the Defense Production Act, to ramp up testing, to ramp up PPE, to meet the very real needs of our country, and he didn't, he failed to. I thought the incoming administration would have a detailed plan for vaccination. They don't.
The one positive I can say is we do have two highly effective and safe vaccines now being distributed, possibly soon a third or fourth, but we have a lot of work to do. In addition to the resources you just mentioned as you know, I've long been an advocate for national service for the AmeriCorps program to be a part of how we address hunger and nutrition challenges, public health and education. There are so many things for which we need more folks. We have a tired and overextended healthcare system and service. We need to bring more folks to bear from the National Guard to national service to get this done and to get us back to a healthy, stable and prosperous nation.
BLITZER: Yes, and 4,500 Americans died just yesterday, 4,500 Americans digest yesterday from this COVID. It's getting worse and worse. This is a huge challenge. Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us.
COONS: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Coming up, more arrests in the Capitol riot. Standby, we've got new information for you on that. Plus, will the coronavirus vaccines protect against the new variants showing up around the world?
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[17:41:21]
BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following, the National Guard Bureau just announcing that most, most of the 25,000 troops deployed to Washington in the wake of the Capitol siege and ahead of the inauguration will be sent home in the next five to 10 days. Let's go to our Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is working the story for us. Alex, it's what been two weeks since the insurrection up at the -- on Capitol Hill, what's the latest on the investigation and the arrests?
ALEX MARQUARDT, SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Just over two weeks, it's hard to believe that the number of arrests and charges is growing by the day. So far, they range from unlawful entry to the Capitol to assault and could go up to murder for the death of that U.S. Capitol Police Officer. Now so far, around 120 people have been arrested and charged and that's just federal charges, Wolf, that doesn't include local charges.
Federal investigators expecting in the end hundreds of people to be charged. Now, we're getting new names all the time, new cases all the time. Let's tick through some of the most notable ones that we've just come across. One is the leader of the far-right pro-Trump group, the Proud Boys. His name is Joseph Randall Biggs. He was arrested in Florida. He's accused of essentially inciting violence, organizing violent members who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
He posted on Parler, which is that social media site popular with conservatives, to telling people to blend in, that's in terms of their clothing. Now the FBI thinks that he and others used earpieces to communicate through walkie-talkie type devices during the siege on the Capitol. He was -- Biggs was released on bond in Florida.
Next is Samuel Fisher from New York. He's a 35-year-old. And following the rights of the Capitol, he posted some horrible messages on Facebook. I want to read you just some of them. He wrote, "People died but it was f-ing great if you ask me. I got tear gassed and pepper sprayed. Seeing cops literally run was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life". Just despicable messages there, Wolf. Fisher has not pled guilty. Apparently, he doesn't intend to, according to his lawyer, he's not yet entered a plea.
And then there's another New Yorker who is central to all of these. His name is Patrick McCaughey. And we have to warn you some of the video we're about to show is graphic. Now he is accused of assaulting that police officer at the Capitol, Daniel Hodges. And our viewers will remember Hodges. He was the one caught in that mass of people, crushed in that doorway, bloodied and calling out for help. You can see it right there just horrible, horrible scenes.
Hodges spoke with CNN later on telling us these were true believers in the worst way and he said that one attacker was practically foaming at the mouth. So those are just three of the arrests and charges that we have seen in the past few hours and days. We also heard from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today speaking to this idea that this allegation that some Democratic members have made that Republican members of Congress either wittingly or unwittingly helped writers, people who eventually went on to be writers, get a tour of the Capitol and get the lay of the land essentially.
Listen to what she said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): If people did aid in a bit, there will be more than just comments from their colleagues here. There'll be prosecution if they aided and abetted an insurrection which people died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: So there will be prosecution if it's found that they aided and abetted those people. She did go on to say that the people who had attacked the Capitol on January 6th were given aid and comfort by certain members who were convinced to embrace a lie, Wolf?
[17:45:04]
BLITZER: Alex Marquardt with the pretty detailed report as usual. Thank you very much.
We're also following global reaction to President Biden's inauguration. The President plans to speak with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tomorrow, a new President's first contact with a world leader always gets lots of attention because of what it says about the new administration's priorities.
Let's get some more from CNN's Paula Newton is joining us in Ottawa right now. Paula, what are you hearing?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Biden choosing to call Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the first leader who will call in his presidency. This is really not surprising. It's a return to tradition, and a recognition of how close these two allies are.
Still, in his first few hours in office, President Biden signed an executive order that canceled the Keystone XL pipeline. This was important to Justin Trudeau, important to Canadians, taking Canadian energy into the United States, that's dead now a thousand jobs in Canada gone pretty much on the spot. And that really is a salvo to the rest of America's allies to say, look, while this may not be the America first doctrine of Donald Trump, it is certainly by American doctrine, and it really shows how little wiggle room the Biden administration has in terms of trying to deal with, not just his base, but domestic politics.
Having said that, President Biden, Justin Trudeau, have a very warm personal relationship. And certainly Canada will welcome that return to multilateralism that President Biden is promising. Wolf?
BLITZER: That's a lot. Paula Newton, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls President Biden's inauguration a step forward for the United States. The new President also was winning praise for reversing the Trump era decision to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization. CNN's Nic Robertson is in London for us. Nic, tell us more.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Wolf, the director general of the World Health Organization says that he is glad that the United States has decided to remain in what he describes as the family of nations. But the WHO, the foreign minister in New Zealand has said that it's important for countries to work together for the people and the planet. The United States has been a big financial contributor, has played a significant leadership role of the WHO in the past, and the big effort that the WHO at the moment is to bring support to poorer nations around the world to help give them tests and treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus pandemic. So, a very significant mood as far as the move by President Biden, as far as the director general at the WHO was concerned, Wolf.
BLITZER: Very significant indeed. Nic Robertson, thank you very much.
Another one of President Biden's first executive actions committed the U.S. to rejoining the Paris Climate Accord. President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the global agreement to limit emissions to fight global warming. CNN', Melissa Bell is in Paris for us. Melissa, tell us about the reaction there.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, if it was with a tweet of congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that Emmanuel Macron made plain his excitement at being able to work together once again, congratulating the United States on rejoining the Paris Agreement. Ever since Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal, Emmanuel Macron has really positioned himself as a champion of the deal. Of course, it will take a month for the U.S. to formally rejoin and after that, the work will lie ahead since the targets that were fixed back in 2015 are to be re-negotiated in November. But for now, a great deal of excitement here in Europe that the United States should at least be back in the conversation, Wolf.
BLITZER: Interesting. All right, thank you very much, Melissa Bell in Paris.
Coming up, the disturbing results of a new study about whether the current vaccines will protect against coronavirus variants. We'll be right back.
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[17:52:25]
BLITZER: The breaking pandemic news tonight, the U.S. coronavirus death toll now topping 409,000 people with nearly 25 million confirmed cases. These terrible numbers come exactly one year after the first known case here in the United States was confirmed. CNN's Nick Watt is in Los Angeles with more on the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California, it could take about five more months to vaccinate 75 percent of the over 65s if the current sluggish rate continues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get on the ball guys there, we're out here.
WATT (voice-over): New York State has just two or three days worth of doses on hand.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D)-NY: You will see a constant pattern of basically running out waiting for the next week's allocation and then starting up again. If the nation continues at the sluggish rate, it'll be more than a year before 75 percent of American adults are fully vaccinated.
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: This needs to be all hands on deck, really a wartime effort
WATT (voice-over): You just heard the new President actually has a detailed plan and more vaccines are coming likely among them a single dose option from Johnson & Johnson. But will vaccines work against the various variants?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: From the reports we have literally as of today, it appears that the vaccines will still be effective against them. With the caveat in mind, you want to pay close attention to it.
WATT (voice-over): Nationally, average new case counts are falling for now, rising in just one state, Virginia.
FAUCI: Right now, it looks like it might actually be plateauing.
WATT (voice-over): But the more contagious variants could change that.
FAUCI: The one that is in the U.K. appears to have a greater degree of transmissibility about twice as much.
MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, BIDEN CORONAVIRUS ADVISER: I worry desperately in the next six to 12 weeks we're going to see a situation with this pandemic unlike anything we've seen yet to date. And that is really a challenge that I don't think most people realize yet.
WATT (voice-over): Inauguration Day a near record COVID death toll reported, 4,375 dead. Now, among the dead, the sign language interpreter at COVID briefings in Hawaii. Patty Sue Cole was also a mother and a grandmother.
LORNA MOUTON RIFF, PATTY'S SISTER: The virus just took hold in her body and ravaged it.
WATT (voice-over): The CDC now projects this nation could reach over half a million COVID dead, maybe 100,000 more lives lost before Valentine's Day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[17:55:11]
WATT: And as you mentioned, Wolf, a year to the day since the first confirmed case up there in Washington State since there -- since then, more than 24 million cases more than 400,000 dead in this country. Yes, the vaccines are here, but for far too many, the rollout it'll just come too late.
BLITZER: Yes.
WATT: Wolf?
BLITZER: Getting worse as we speak. Nick Watt reporting, thank you.
There's more breaking news we're following. On his first full day in office, President Biden order sweeping action to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
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