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Biden Says COVID Relief Bill Needs to Pass "No Ifs, Ands or Buts," Doesn't Rule Out Dems Acting Alone; J&J Vaccine 66 Percent Effective Preventing Moderate And Severe Disease; FBI: Pipe Bombs were Filled with Explosive Powder, Rigged to Egg Timers and Fully Functional; Biden: Seeking Bipartisan Bill But "COVID Relief Has To Pass"; Pentagon Close To Reaching Agreement With FEMA To Provide Around 450,000 COVID-19 Vaccination Days. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 29, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:20]

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.

The manhunt is intensifying right now for the suspect seen here planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters right near Capitol Hill in Washington. The FBI now saying they were planted the night before the insurrection at the Capitol.

Also, tonight, President Biden making it clear that a COVID relief bill must get passed. In his words, "no ifs, ands or buts." Lawmakers are struggling to come to any sort of agreement. And President Biden won't rule out Democrats acting alone to bring relief to millions of Americans.

This, as Johnson & Johnson is revealing that its COVID vaccine proved 66 percent effect and at preventing moderate and severe disease but 85 percent effective against severe disease.

Let's start with the latest on the sprawling investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jessica - correspondent Jessica Schneider is working the story for us. Jessica, the manhunt for whoever planted those bombs is clearly intensifying.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It is, Wolf. The FBI does have new clues, but the suspect is still out there. And there's concern from law enforcement tonight that he or she might be plotting even more bombings out there.

Now, this comes as we're getting a glimpse inside the Capitol insurrection from a police officer's perspective. But a warning here, this video is graphic and quite disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): A major mystery mounts tonight. Who planted the two pipe bombs blocks away from the Capitol near the Republican and Democratic National Committee offices? "The Washington Post" obtaining surveillance video from an alley nearby, believed to show the suspect on the way to plant the devices the night of January 5th. The FBI says they were put in place between 7:30 and 8:30 the night before the Capitol insurrection.

PETER LICATA, FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: This was preplanned. This was intentional and deliberate.

SCHNEIDER: The FBI has now upped the reward for information on the suspect three times. It now stands at $100,000. They're also revealing more details about the two pipe bombs. They were each eight inches long, filled with explosive powder and rigged to egg timers. They were fully functional but never went off. And now law enforcements believe they could have been diversionary devices designed to take crucial support away from the Capitol just as the rioters were arriving.

ASHAN BENEDICT, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ATF WASHINGTON FIELD DIVISION (via telephone): This person may not be from the region. They may be from across the country. And they could potentially be building more bombs right now.

SCHNEIDER: And we're now seeing more chaos and violence captured on police body cam. The new video tonight is exposing how Capitol police came under extreme attack.

Police moved forward with body shields, trying to keep back rioters yielding a stick, also a hockey stick and even a crutch lunging at police.

While the frenzy unfolds on the west side Capitol steps, one man can be heard yelling out "She's dead." But the madness doesn't subside. A rioter is seen repeatedly striking police, another kicking officers. Eventually, one rioter seems to try to rip an officer's baton away, pulling the officer.

All the while, the rioters rejoice on the violence they're inflicting. Video like this has been slowly emerging in the three weeks since the Capitol insurrection, laying the groundwork for prosecutors' cases against the more than 160 people they have charged federally so far.

Now, as new images of the January 6th attack are unearthed, officials are grappling with how to secure the Capitol long term. The acting chief of Capitol police proposing permanent fencing around the ones easily accessible Capitol building but some lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans are pushing back.

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): We shouldn't turn the home of our Democracy into a fortress. We don't want the Capitol to become a green zone that is unwelcoming and indeed hostile to constituents and journalists. This should be open -- safely open to the public.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jessica Schneider reporting. I want to go live to Capitol Hill. The Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been meeting with National Guard troops. There you can see them over there, still several thousand up on the Capitol, protecting members of Congress. There's a huge, huge perimeter now, fence and all sorts of barriers around the Capitol. You can see there he is. That's just moments ago, General Austin, retired General Austin.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting with the troops, thanking them, which is really important.

[17:05:01]

These troops are probably still more than 5,000 National Guard troops up on Capitol Hill, several thousand deployed not too far away, they can come back if necessary. And these are -- you can see more live pictures coming in from what is happening there, beginning to move away.

We're going to continue to monitor this situation up on Capitol Hill. But you can see the Defense secretary, the new Defense secretary, thanking the men and women of the National Guard for protecting Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, there's growing disarray up on Capitol Hill inside the Republican Party as lawmakers are facing a lot of fallout from the tumultuous final weeks of the Trump presidency.

Let's go to our chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju. Manu, some Republican lawmakers are under a lot of attack right now from their own colleagues.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, from voting to impeach Donald Trump, 10 of them did just that. Donald Trump has been out of office for nine days. But it's very clear this party is still reeling about Trump's tenure, trying to figure out whether or not they are still the party of Trump. Others trying to distance themselves from the former president and the top Republican in the House aligning himself closely with the president -- with the former president while some Republican freshmen facing backlash from both House Democrats and Republicans about their past views.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (voice-over): Donald Trump may be gone from Washington, but Republicans still trying to pick up the pieces from his tumultuous tenure in office. At the center of one storm, the third ranking House Republican Liz Cheney, who joined nine of her GOP colleagues this month in voting to impeach Trump, sparking an effort from Trump's staunchest defenders to oust her from her leadership job and defeat her in next year's Wyoming primary.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I love Wyoming.

RAJU: Sources tell CNN that Trump is obsessed with taking down Cheney. Even his eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr. howling into a rally yesterday seeking Cheney's defeat.

DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And since the people of Wyoming are clearly not thrilled with Liz Cheney, let's find someone who can replace her and actually do that job well.

RAJU: The battle over Cheney's future could come to a head next week when Republicans meet behind closed doors, which many expect to turn into a venting session.

REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI): If Liz Cheney is the person who suffers the most from the events on January 6th politically, it will be a very sad, sad day for my party. We can't be a party of conspiracy theories.

RAJU: That comment a reference to controversial freshman Marjorie Taylor Greene who won a seat in Northwest Georgia last fall despite her past promotion of a QAnon conspiracy theory. Greene has been under fire after past social media posts have come to light, including one 2018 comment where she indicated that the horrific massacre at a Parkland Florida high school was a staged operation. And there has been outrage over a video showing her harassing a Parkland survivor.

Those revelations along with CNN Kfile's reporting of her post showing support for executing prominent Democrats in 2018 and 2019 prompting Democratic calls that she be expelled from the House or at least kicked off the Education and Labor Committee.

But House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has been quiet. Instead, attempting to get back into Trump's good graces after initially saying Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot. And then later walking it back. And after visiting the former president yesterday at his Florida golf club, saying he wants Trump's help to take back the House in 2022.

Amid the swirl in controversy, Greene stressing to her constituents that she's with Trump.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): President Trump did not cause the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.

RAJU: The tension spilling out in the halls of the Capitol, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowing freshman Democrat Cori Bush to move her office away from Greene after the two got into an altercation in the hallway with Bush scolding Greene for not wearing a mask.

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): Follow the rules and put on a mask!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop (INAUDIBLE)

GREENE: You know what? Don't yell at people. Stop being a hypocrite.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): And Wolf, that altercation happened earlier this month. House members have actually been gone this past week even as the tension has just been building. They come back next week. And lot of members are concerned about their personal safety.

That is expected to come to head. Also, that will come to head is Liz Cheney's future. That debate behind closed doors will be on Wednesday, expected Cheney and her defenders to say that she was doing what she believed was right. It was a vote of conscience to vote to impeach Donald Trump. Her critics are going to come after her. Her supporters believe she will ultimately have the votes to prevail but the Trump defenders are coming at her strong and they are not indicating they're going to back down any time soon.

BLITZER: Do her colleagues or Republican colleagues note, Marjorie Taylor Greene, that she has espoused all sorts of really ugly anti- Semitic rants over the past few years as well?

[17:10:04]

RAJU: Yes, a lot of them have and they knew about it during the time of her primary last year. And after she won her run-off against a Republican opponent, many of those colleagues set aside their concerns about their views, got behind her as she was on her way to becoming a congresswoman. They hoped that she would be part of the team, as some of them described to me late last year, Wolf.

The question is, what will they do now? Will they try to strip her from any committee assignments? Kevin McCarthy is not indicating that is what he plans to do. He says he plans to have a discussion with her, he said that through a spokesman. We have not yet heard from the Republican leader himself.

BLITZER: Yes. Well, let's wait to hear what he has to say. I wonder what he's going to say about all the anti-Semitism that she has espoused.

All right. Manu, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on all of this. Our senior political correspondent Abby Phillip is with us, our chief political correspondent Dana Bash is with us as well.

Dana, how significant is this split, the disarray we're seeing in the Republican Party right now?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very significant. Look, we have, over the years, covered a lot of really, really big policy differences within the Republican Party. Even some personality differences, political differences, but nothing like this. Nothing that gets to the core of, frankly, reality and the core of whether or not the party is going to espouse conspiracy theories, things that are just flat wrong, fantasies, which is what this lawmaker espouses.

Never mind, as you said to Manu, anti-Semitism. The things that she has said about children. It goes on and on and on and on. And the thing is that she's not alone. But even if she were - even if she were, the most prominent, which she obviously is right now, the fact that we are hearing the sound of silence from Republican leaders about her behavior, about her past comments is really telling as to not even so much just the split within the Republican Party but the paralysis among Republican leaders about doing the job that actually fulfills the term and the post leader as opposed to being worried about the base and about people who believe things that led to and allowed the assault on the Capitol on the 6th. BLITZER: Yes. It's really horrible. She blamed Jewish conspiracy, Abby, for the wildfires out in California a couple of years ago. Really disgusting. What does it say, Abby, that the Republicans who held Trump accountable for the deadly riot are now facing really severe backlash, like Liz Cheney, for example? Someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, at least as of right now, is getting a pass, was even put on a very prestigious Education and Labor Committee.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Talk about contrast. I mean, you know, there were some Republican leaders, namely Kevin McCarthy in the House, who tried to kind of walk this fine line, saying he thought what happened on January 6th was reprehensible. President Trump deserved the blame for it. But then he immediately walked that back. And not only did he do that, but he went, and he paid filthy to the person who is the most responsible for threatening retribution against his own members when he went down to Mar-a-Lago to visit former President Trump.

And so, he can't have it both ways. You cannot both endorse the person who is inciting a civil war within your own party and then tell your members to stop attacking each other. This is the fundamental problem that Republicans face. It is not going to be possible to do both. You cannot have a party with Liz Cheney and with others who are going to vote their conscience and also are going to speak up against these conspiracy theories.

But also back up someone, an outside force at this point, who is causing a rift but also is responsible, frankly, for Marjorie Taylor Greene being such a prominent voice. She is someone who is in Congress, in part because people within the White House last year did not want to do more to condemn her. The president invited her to the White House on multiple occasions. They made a decision that she was going to be part of their party.

So, he's responsible for that. And by you know Kevin McCarthy going down there and saying, you know, we are the party of Trump. He is basically saying we are also the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene.

BLITZER: Yes. You know, Dana, do you think this disarray within the Republican Party has been there but was effectively just drowned out by all the chaos created every day by President Trump?

[17:15:00]

There were different forms of disarray, of splits if you will. Just like there are different forms of real ideological differences within the Democratic Party. But again, this isn't ideological. This isn't about do I want tax cuts or not, this isn't about whether or not I'm for abortion rights or not, which are very important, but compared to these more mundane differences.

This is the difference between right and wrong. And the fact that the Republican leadership is not standing up and saying this is wrong, at the bare minimum why should somebody who, you know, questions whether or not first graders were assassinated. Now, it was three -- many, many years ago around December, middle of December. And put her on the Education Committee. Or even three years ago, February 14th, Parkland. I mean, put them on the Education Committee. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense at all.

BLITZER: It certainly doesn't. You know, Abby, it goes beyond politics, though. What is so worrisome, it is hard to believe this is happening but some Democratic members, increasing numbers are saying they're actually frightened. They are worried about their own security. They're worried about the security of their staff, their families as a result of this.

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, I think at this point, the environment on Capitol Hill is incredibly toxic, as Manu just laid out. And it would be one thing if this were just about, you know, people feeling like their colleagues were unfriendly to them. But one of the problems is that there are members in the House, specifically Marjorie Taylor Greene, who we keep talking about, who have espoused specific acts of violence against other members. That is what is undergirding this problem.

And then on top of that, many of these members refusing to leave their firearms you know somewhere else other than on the House floor, refusing to go through metal detectors. There is a real sense of concern there. And also, the lack of remorse and condemnation, frankly, for what happened on January 6th, I think, adds to the feeling among Democratic members that their colleagues do not sufficiently understand that -- you know that they were put at risk on that day, and that their lives were in jeopardy. Many of them have launched accusations that other members on the Republican side were sympathetic to the people who rioted.

So again, I mean, I don't know what's going to fix that. But that is the reality of the situation. And it's very different from any kind of policy dispute or personality dispute because of what happened January 6th.

We just want to alert our viewers to be sure to join Abby, Sunday morning, 8:00 a.m. Eastern for "Inside Politics," Sunday. And then join Dana at 9:00 a.m. Eastern for "State of the Union." Among Dana's guests, Brian Deese, senators Elizabeth Warren, Rob Portman, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Two excellent, excellent shows, guys. I'll be watching as I always do every Sunday morning on my treadmill getting a little sweat at the same time.

Up next, details of a new COVID-19 vaccine that could go before the FDA next week. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:22:18]

BLITZER: We're following the coronavirus crisis tonight. Death toll has topped 435,000 people here in the United States. And the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has surpassed 25.8 million. And for the second straight day in a row more than 4,000 Americans lost their lives to the virus. There are also important, very important vaccine developments unfolding. CNN's Nick Watt has the latest from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Global trial data is in. Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine is safe and 66 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe illness, 85 percent effective against severe disease.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There were essentially no hospitalizations or deaths in the vaccine group.

WATT: Some context; the flu vaccine reduces the risk of illness by between 40 and 60 percent.

DR. MATHAI MAMMEN, GLOBAL HEAD OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, JANSSEN DIVISION OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON: Our topline result is that we have 85 percent protection against disease that matters.

WATT: Johnson & Johnson will apply for FDA emergency use authorization mid to late next week. Their commitment is 100 million doses for Americans by June.

MAMMEN: We're very much on track to deliver. Our plan is to have supplies immediately upon launch.

WATT: Yes, this vaccine was less effective than Pfizer and Moderna in trials but.

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: For many clinics out there, this is going to be the ideal vaccine to have. One dose, stable vaccine, use it.

WATT: Meanwhile Dr. Fauci says those more contagious coronavirus variants might be dominant in the U.S. by late March. The strain first found in the UK now confirmed in 28 states.

FAUCI: This is a wake-up call to all of us. We will continue to see the evolution of mutants.

WATT: The strain first found in South Africa now found in South Carolina assumed to be spreading in the country.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: By the time someone has symptoms, gets a test, has a positive result and we get the sequence our opportunity for doing real case control and contact tracing is largely gone. And so, I think, and I believe that we should be treating every case as if it's a variant during this pandemic right now.

WATT: they are working on getting that data in real-time. Meanwhile, those University of Washington modelers project these variants might add up to an additional 85,000 deaths in America by May.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WATT (on camera): And, of course, what is on many people's minds, when can more kids get back into school safely?

[17:25:00]

And this was interesting from Dr. Fauci this morning. He said tests are underway on the safety and efficacy of these vaccines for children. And he said, hopefully late spring, early summer, at least some kids will be authorized to get these vaccines. Now whether there's enough supply, Wolf, that is a whole different question.

BLITZER: Let's hope there will be. All right. Nick Watt reporting for us. Thanks very much.

Let's get some analysis from CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, emergency room physician, former Baltimore City health commissioner. Dr. Wen, are you encouraged by the results from this Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Actually, I am very encouraged by this, noting that so far all we have are the -- is the press release. We don't have the actual data yet. All we have is the press release from the company.

But I think the most important number we should be focused on is this 85 percent number, this idea that this one-dose vaccine is able to prevent 85 percent of severe illness. Because that's what people are concerned about. They don't care if they get a cold. They're concerned about whether they get severe enough illness that they end up in the hospital.

And actually, in this case, people who receive this one-dose vaccine, no one was hospitalized, no one died. Also, remarkable, is that this study was, in part, done in South Africa. And so, those with the South African variant appear to be protected from severe disease, which is also really significant.

BLITZER: The problem, though, is that they're going to see that 66 percent number and they're going to compare it to the 95 percent number that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been providing, and they're going to get nervous, right?

WEN: That's right. I have already heard from many people who said, well, why would I get a vaccine that's 66 percent effective compared to 95 percent effective? First of all, we don't have the supplies of the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine. It's not as if there are plentiful supplies of everything and somebody can choose.

Right now, with this escalating pandemic, with these variants that are -- that could become dominant as early as March, we really need to focus on getting as many shots in arms as possible. And if we have this single-dose vaccine that can be stored very easily, transported very easily, is inexpensive, is available, people should get whatever vaccine is available to you. One dose of something that protects you pretty well is much better than no dose that's given. BLITZER: I understand you took part - you've taken part in the Johnson & Johnson trial, but you don't know if you got the vaccine or if you got a placebo. When you look at the problem right now, are people going to be worried that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not going to give them enough immunity compared to the others?

WEN: Yes. Again, it's important for us to look at the results that come out when the company applies for authorization officially. And to your point, Wolf, I did. I am a participant in the clinical trial as a volunteer. And so, I got something. It's a blinded trial so I don't know if I got the placebo or the vaccine.

But I think at the end of the day, people really need to focus on the fact that we're at a time of severe supply constraints, and we need to stop transmission of the virus. And so, masking, avoiding gatherings, et cetera, will do then.

But also getting the vaccine in our arms will be important. And it may well be that maybe you initially get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or whatever vaccine is available to you. If we end up finding a better vaccine, you get that in time.

BLITZER: When will you find out if you got the placebo or the real vaccine?

WEN: Probably not for a while but I haven't been told officially yet.

BLITZER: But in the meantime, you can't go and get a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, is that right?

WEN: If I did, I would be violating the trial, the integrity of the trial. And so, I decided to participate in the trial and I'm going to see this through.

BLITZER: You're a good volunteer, indeed. You're in an important position. Thank you so much, Dr. Wen, for joining us.

WEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, President Biden ramps up the pressure for action on his coronavirus relief package. But will the Democrats have to go it alone without any Republican support? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:33:29]

BLITZER: President Biden is wrapping up pressure on Congress to pass his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. He says, we have to act now, direct quote, even if it means going without bipartisan support. I've got some more from our Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The risk is not doing too much. The risk is not doing enough.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden ramping up the push for his cornerstone legislative priority.

BIDEN: People will badly, badly hurt if we don't pass it package.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. One Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, amid a week of poor economic data, says is urgently needed.

JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: We need to act now. And the benefits of acting now and acting big will far outweigh the costs.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): But that decision to act big has created unified resistance from the congressional GOP. Biden himself has been on the phone with Senate Republicans calling Republican senators Rob Portman and Susan Collins to pitch his plan. Sources tell CNN, all as his team continues its own Capitol Hill lobbying blitz on the package.

BIDEN: I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): And the White House making clear they will be taking their case outside of Washington as well in a COVID safe manner.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're having to take a number of creative steps to do that, whether that's direct television or local media or from the front President, the Vice President and others were doing that. Whether it is engaging with governors and local elected officials to ensure that we're answering all of the questions they have.

[17:35:08]

MATTINGLY (voice-over): All as to this point, Biden's primary action has been solely executive. 42 actions in his first nine days, a reflection of his push to undo much of his predecessor's work, even as he presses Congress to do their own.

PSAKI: He's the first to tell you, as he said many times publicly, he is not going to take executive action alone. That's why he's put forward a number of packages that he's actively working with members of both parties to move forward on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And, Wolf, it was President Biden himself that during the campaign was often pushing back against his Democratic primary challengers about the scope and scale for which they wanted to pursue executive actions, all kinds of underscoring the reality right now. There's stuff President Biden can do with a pin, but it won't last much longer than his term in the office. It is legislation through Congress that he needs. And right now, what he needs is that $1.9 trillion stimulus package. BLITZER: All right, Phil, thank you very much. Phil Mattingly reporting from the White House.

Let's discuss with the former Massachusetts, Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy. He's now a brand new CNN Political Commentator. This is his first appearance in that capacity with us here on CNN, and he's here in The Situation Room. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome to CNN. Should Democrats push this through along strict party lines, or make more of an effort to try to gain at least some bipartisan support?

JOE KENNEDY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Wolf, it's a pleasure. And thanks for having me. Look, I think the President strategy here is exactly right. He came into office a year into a crisis, found that there was no plan. By the way, Republican senators were in control of the Senate at that time. They essentially put the brakes on a plan for Democrats to try to go big. They scaled that project down.

How much longer than the American public have to wait until the federal government is willing to marshal all the resources necessary to get us through this crisis? And so, you've got President Biden who's saying, look, we want to work together, we want to be bipartisan, come to the table and work through something. But if you're not, we're not going to let the country get mired even longer in the midst of a global pandemic any longer than we have to. And we're going to go big, and we're going to go bold as he should, and as I think this country needs and wants,

BLITZER: But even some Democrats disagree there, they don't all seem to be on the same page about this relief package right now, Congressman. Is it time for President Biden to insert himself into this debate in a more public way to get if he's just going to do it with 50 Democrats? And the Vice President as president of the Senate breaking a time, let's say, is -- does he have to do some more work to avoid what could be at least some bipartisan support?

KENNEDY: Wolf, how often in your years of covering Capitol Hill have Democrats been united on much, right, welcome to a Democratic Party? There's divergence of such opinion, that's a good thing. That's what happens when you actually have a big tent party, that's fine. Does there need to be more work perhaps to try to coalesce a consensus around this? Sure.

As Phil reported, the President has been in office for nine days. That being said, there's broad agreement, not just within Democrats, but around the general public that more needs to be done. You've got a President that's trying to do everything in his capacity and to do so. You got an administration that when they came into office nine days ago, there wasn't even a count of how many vaccines there were. They had to spend the last week trying to figure out how many vaccines were available so they could figure out how to distribute them.

They inherited an absolute disaster after a year, and to have Senate Republicans who were in charge then to try to sit there and say, hey, wait a minute, we're not, you know, we're not so sure we buy into this. You've had a year of a global crisis to still not have a plan, and to then try to paint this as some sort of obstruction by a Biden administration? You got to be kidding.

BLITZER: As you know, President Biden has now signed more than 35 executive orders, actions, memorandum. And during his first week and a half or so in office, he's facing some criticism from the right for relying on these executive actions. Will you'd like to see the White House focus more on potential collaborative legislative efforts?

KENNEDY: I think the White House needs to focus on both, and I think that's what you're seeing. This is a an effort by a Biden administration to come in and move as quickly as the President can and as legal authorities will allow to try to reorient the trajectory of this country, and also extending a hand to Republicans. But learning the lessons of Biden administration where you saw -- excuse me, I mean, Obama administration, we saw President Obama literally bend over backwards to try to get Republican buy in that have that be installed day after day, week after week, year after year. And so, you've got a President Biden who's saying, look, we want to work together.

Well, here's a hand in friendship, here's a hand of experience. Here's a hand that knows that if you can get bipartisan agreement, that's actually a stronger, more resilient way to drive that change. But we're not going to just mortgage for years in office. We're not going to mortgage the fact that the American public is in dire need of assistance on the -- for nature notion of bipartisanship.

[17:40:10]

Wolf, bipartisanship is not the goal. The goal is relief for the American public. Bipartisanship hopefully is the way to get there, but that depends on Republicans being willing to come to the table. If they're not willing to do that with Joe Biden, show me who they'd be willing to do with.

BLITZER: All right. Former Congressman Joe Kennedy, our newest CNN Political Contributor, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome once again to CNN.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, amid the urgent manhunt for whoever plays pipe bombs at both the Democratic and Republican headquarters on the day of the Capitol insurrection, maybe the night before, newly released body cam video shows just how brutal of the rioters were. We're going to share that with you.

Plus, we're getting word that the Pentagon and FEMA are very near to an agreement from members of the U.S. military to help Americans get coronavirus vaccinations finally.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This is an important development that we're just getting information on the Pentagon now very close to reaching a formal agreement with FEMA that could see up to 10,000 military troops administering around 450,000 COVID vaccine shots a day. Let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann who's working this story for us. Oren, these troops would be deployed to vaccination centers across the country. This is so, so potentially significant. Update our viewers on what you're learning.

[17:45:09]

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And if DoD is able to hit these numbers in the agreement with FEMA is worked out, become an enormous part of the Biden administration's effort to administer vaccines. But this agreement isn't finalized yet between FEMA and the Pentagon. Here's where it stands right now, FEMA is looking for 10,000 troops to be used across 100 vaccination teams, 50 of those will be giving 6,000 shots a day, the other 53,000 shots a day. If you do the math there, it comes to 450,000 shots a day, that would be a massive increase as the Biden administration looks to get out more of these vaccines and get people to administer them.

Of course, even the FEMA realizes these are big numbers they're looking for, especially in terms of the number of vaccines and shots issued per day. So, they say it'll be an incremental build up to this number. And, of course, the Pentagon still has to agree to this deployment and make it work. So far, the signaling, especially from Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, is that, of course they're going to answer the FEMA request. All the tasks and the final numbers simply need to be worked out but will become an enormous part of the administration's effort to try to administer vaccines as quickly as possible.

As for who would be, would it be National Guardsmen, active duty or reserve? That still remains an open question, that is still a decision Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin needs to make as he looks at these requests, and that examination and analysis process of this request continues. As for right now, the troops helping out our national guardsmen, some 23,000 across the country, helping out some 260 vaccination sites. They're administering according to the National Guard Bureau, and National Guard officials, some 51,000 shots a day. That number everyone is well aware. It could go up in terms of the number of National Guardsmen as we wait to see where the Pentagon stands on famous latest requests and how soon this will be approved to get those troops out there in helping, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, this would be so, so important. I've been suggesting for weeks, if not months, in a hurricane, tornadoes, if there's a natural disaster, fires, they activate FEMA, they activate the military, they get things done. This is a crisis. 4,000 Americans every day are dying, they got to move quickly. The commander in chief has to order this deployment right away to get the military, especially those medical units in the army, the Navy, Marine Corps, the Air Force, they got to get those medical units out there and they got to start giving those shots.

Oren Liebermann, thank you very much for this update.

Coming up, the urgent manhunt for whoever plays pipe bombs at both the Democratic and Republican headquarters here in the nation's Capitol just before the Capitol insurrection.

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[17:52:00]

BLITZER: Authorities still haven't caught whoever planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic and the Republican parties here in Washington only blocks away, by the way, from the U.S. Capitol. Today, the FBI confirmed the bombs were actually planted the night before the Capitol riot.

Let's get some insight from former CIA counterterrorism Official Phil Mudd. Phil, the Washington Post obtained this really stark video of the suspect in the alley right behind the Republican National Committee headquarters here in Washington. There you see the suspect with a backpack. What does it say to you that this guy is still on the loose?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Says a couple things. First, if you look at the video and the timestamping on the video, it tells me he won't be on the loose forever because they know exactly when this was planted. They can look at video from a neighborhood. They can try to determine whether this person took the metro into this area based on video from metro stations. They can timestamp it and try to find people who were in the same area from that riot at the same time and ask them for identification.

But it says one more thing to your point, Wolf, and that is this person took some effort to obscure themselves. You're looking at someone who tries to ensure that their face doesn't appear on video. In my judgment, that's purposeful. Contrast this, for example, to what we've seen in the past, for example, in the Boston bombing when people didn't do that. So, I think the person probably thought a little bit about what they were doing. But bottom line, they're going to get caught eventually.

BLITZER: We also have a new look at the very disturbing violence scene that unfolded on the Capitol on January 6th. This video which will show our viewers from the body cam of Metro D.C. police officer, it's really graphic. I want to warn our viewers about that. What does it tell you about the mentality of this horrendous bomb?

MUDD: When you look at what was happening on January 6th, people are talking about whether the President tried to inspire people to go to that location. I look at this and say the people who showed up there already -- and we know this from some of the information that's appeared in the past few weeks -- that people already showed up there with intent. In my judgment, based on what you're seeing in this video, you don't have people who decided on the spur of the moment, maybe we shouldn't walk down the street and demonstrated the Capitol.

One of the most difficult things to understand in this environment is not what they did. It was the intent behind what they did. I don't believe you can get that number of people with that level of violence without them having to say beforehand, we want to go do something that may go ugly. To me, it says a lot about intention, what they wanted to do beforehand, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it says the same thing to me too. Phil, thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers, join me tomorrow night Saturday night for a CNN Special Report, The Trump Insurrection 24 Hours That Shook America. That's in 11:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Plus, coming up, the intensifying manhunt for that suspect who did plant pipe bombs at Democratic and Republican Party headquarters the night before the attack on the Capitol, we have new information.

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[17:59:35]

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. We're following a growing manhunt right now for the suspect seen in this video on the night the suspect allegedly placed pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters here in Washington. According to the FBI, the bombs were planted the night before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.

We're also following new developments in the stalled negotiations over a desperately needed COVID relief package. President Biden says the bill must be passed, quote, no ifs, ands or buts.