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Trump's Impeachment Defense Strategy; Interview With White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield; Divided Republican Party?; Biden Signs New Immigration Executive Orders, Establishes Task Force To Reunite Separated Families; Around 100,000 People In The U.S. Have Died Of COVID-19 So Far This Year; Investigators Struggle To Build Case In Death Of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 02, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:47]

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.

Tonight, a divided Republican Party is facing a major test of what it stands for in the aftermath of the Trump presidency. The House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, expected to meet very soon with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is under a lot of fire right now for spreading dangerous and false conspiracy theories and lies.

Senate Republican leaders, including the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is now condemning what he calls Greene's loony lies, saying they're a cancer on the GOP, as Democrats are working to throw her off committees.

All this comes a week before the second Trump impeachment trial. House Democrats laid out their case today, saying the former president's blame for the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol is unmistakable. Trump's lawyers are resorting to the argument that the Senate has absolutely no constitutional authority to try him after leaving office.

Also tonight, the White House says President Biden hasn't budged on his $1.9 trillion price tag for COVID-19 relief after meeting with Republican senators last night.

This hour, I will talk with the White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield. We have lots of questions for her.

But, first, let's go to our congressional correspondent, Ryan Nobles.

Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene expected to meet, we're told, fairly soon, just ahead of a critical meeting of House Republicans tomorrow. Update our viewers.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

There is a growing course of Republican senators that are condemning Marjorie Taylor Greene and her past statements about controversial conspiracy theories. It all comes ahead of a meeting with the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, we expect to happen very soon.

And the outcome of that meeting could tell us a lot about the future of the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES (voice-over): A showdown on Capitol Hill over the soul of the Republican Party.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Fight to restore to the integrity and the value of the Republican Party, and tell people the truth.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): President Trump won by a landslide.

NOBLES: At the center of this fight, freshman Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has promoted bring conspiracy theories, including one that the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, was staged, and indicated support for executing top Democratic lawmakers.

The Republican House leader, Kevin McCarthy, is set to meet with Greene tonight, as Democrats threaten to remove her from committee assignments if McCarthy does not act.

REP. TED DEUTCH (D-FL): I can't tell you what's in Kevin's mind. I don't understand the lack of leadership.

NOBLES: As McCarthy and other House Republican leaders stay mostly silent about Greene, the top Republican in the Senate calling the congresswoman out, though not by name, Mitch McConnell releasing a statement Monday evening saying: "Loony lies and conspiracy theories are a cancer for the Republican Party and our country."

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I did yesterday express myself on that particular new member of the House, and I think I adequately spoke out about how I feel about any effort to define the Republican Party in such a way.

NOBLES: Several GOP senators today following McConnell's lead.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I agree with him entirely. We have to move beyond what someone thinks might be true because it is on the Internet into what is true, as best as we can understand it.

NOBLES: Greene responding with defiance, calling McConnell -- quote -- "the real cancer in the Republican Party," even as she appears to walk back some of her conspiratorial views.

GREENE: These are not red flag incidents. They are not fake. And it is terrible the loss that these families go through.

NOBLES: All this leaving McCarthy in a tight spot, as he seeks to navigate the path forward with Donald Trump no longer in office, but still a political force within the GOP.

Republicans also facing a battle over the impeachment of Trump after 10 GOP members voting to impeach, among them Liz Cheney, the number three Republican in the House, who is drawing backlash at home and from fellow GOP members who want her removed from leadership.

[18:05:02]

But Cheney is getting cover from McConnell, who praised her courage, as well as Trump ally Lindsey Graham.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): On national security, she's one of the smartest people I have ever known. She's a solid, reliable conservative woman. We need more of them. So, that's my view of Liz Cheney, to extent it matters.

NOBLES: House Republicans are scheduled to meet Wednesday behind closed doors in what is expected to be a tense meeting, as the party grapples with its internal divisions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: And so the question tonight is, what could come out of this meeting between McCarthy and Greene that would allow her to continue to stay on these committees that Democrats want to push her out of?

McCarthy is hoping that she can convince Greene to have some level of contrition and walk back some of these controversial statements. But, Wolf, there is no sign that Greene is heading in that direction. She remains defiant, even up to the 11th hour, and it seems pretty clear that this showdown is going to lead to a very tense meeting Wednesday here on Capitol Hill with House Republicans.

BLITZER: Yes, she has to do a full-throated apology to the American people. She has to acknowledge that what she said was stupid and wrong and awful. She has to apologize big time if she hopes to have some sort of, some sort of political future in the House Republican Party over there.

All right, Ryan, thank you very, very much.

Let's go to the Trump impeachment trial scheduled to begin next week on the Senate floor, both sides detailing the arguments they will make next week.

Let's go to our chief domestic correspondent, Jim Acosta.

Jim, Democratic impeachment managers, they are set to present what they call unmistakable evidence of Trump's guilt.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

And Donald Trump's impeachment team is arguing the former president cannot be impeached because he's no longer in office. But the fact is, he was still president when he was impeached. It's his trial that's taking place during his post-presidency.

But House Democrats already have a response for that, saying there is no January exception to the Constitution. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Donald Trump's impeachment lawyers are trying to build a wall of their own, separating the bloody siege at the Capitol on January 6 and the then president's words before the riot.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will stop the steal.

ACOSTA: In its response to the impeachment allegations brought by House Democrats, the Trump defense team writes: "It is denied that the 45th president engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States," adding: "The 45th president exercised his First Amendment right under the Constitution to express his belief that the election results were suspect."

DAVID SCHOEN, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: This is a very, very dangerous road to take with respect to the First Amendment, putting it risk any passionate political speaker, which is really against everything we believe in, in this country.

ACOSTA: As for Trump's instructions to the crowd to -- quote -- "fight like hell":

TRUMP: And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

ACOSTA: His lawyer stated: "It is denied that the phrase, 'If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore,' had anything to do with the action at the Capitol, as it was clearly about the need to fight for election security in general."

In their filing, which misspells United States on the first page, Trump's attorneys insist he never tried to subvert the certification of the election results. But that's not true, as he pressured state election officials.

TRUMP: So, what are we going to do here? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellow, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.

ACOSTA: Even his vice president to do his bidding.

TRUMP: And if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you.

ACOSTA: House Democrats plan to use clips of Trump's speech...

TRUMP: You'll never take back our country with weakness.

You have to show strength. And you have to be strong.

ACOSTA: ... as well as comments made by his violent supporters...

UNIDENTIFIED RIOTER: Stand down. You're outnumbered. There's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) million of us out there. And we are listening to Trump, your boss. ACOSTA: ... to prove the former president instigated the riot, writing: "If provoking and insurrectionary riot against a joint session of Congress after losing an election is not an impeachable offense, it is hard to imagine what would be."

As for the claim made by Trump's lawyers that he can't be tried after leaving office, the Democrats counter: "There is no January exception to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution."

Still, some Democrats worry this Trump trial will end like the last one.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I'm very worried about going through this trial and having the punchline at the end being Trump acquitted again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, Trump clearly won the battle with his own lawyers over whether to include the ex-president's bogus claims that the election was stolen from him.

Trump advisers say he remains obsessed with that big lie, even as his own pollster has concluded the former president lost the election because, in part, he was so dishonest -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jim, thank you.

Jim Acosta reporting for us.

Let's get some more on the disarray in the GOP.

Joining us, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, and former Republican Senator Jeff Flake. He's now a CNN political commentator.

Jeff, the -- I want to begin with the disarray on full display within the Republican Party right now. One top one Republican senator sees it as a choice between conservative principles and conspiracy theories.

[18:10:07]

How does the Republican Party move forward?

JEFF FLAKE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it is a pretty stark difference, if you think, whose side do I want to be on, Liz Cheney or Marjorie Taylor Greene?

I mean, which -- where do you think the party will likely grow more? Or where do I want to be as an elected official? It is pretty stark, and that's what Republicans are facing right now.

BLITZER: What do you think, Gloria?

What is the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, really considering as he prepares to meet that, we're told, very soon with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene? GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, first of

all, he's considering his own political future, because he'd like to become speaker of the House. And he's got to figure out a way to do that.

One of the people he needs, he believes, to help him do that is Donald Trump, who has embraced Marjorie Taylor Greene, spoke with her recently. She tweeted about a great conversation.

He has to -- as you were saying earlier, he has to figure out a way that Marjorie Taylor Greene can say, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, and convince enough people that that is true.

I do believe, however, that she is going to have to have some kind of punishment. They took Steve King off his committees. They're going to have to do something for Marjorie Taylor Greene that will make one- half of his party OK and it will anger the other half. So it's not an enviable position.

But he's the one who kind of let this fester.

BLITZER: The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Jeff, a man you know well, you worked with him closely, he issued a rare and scathing rebuke of Greene.

He says her loony lies are a cancer on the Republican Party. How much weight do those words hold with Republicans in the House? Forget about the Senate for a moment.

FLAKE: Well, Mitch McConnell doesn't like to come out on these things. And then, when he does, it should mean something. And I think it will.

I think House Republicans are faced with, do we want the Democrats to do this? Do we want them to exact punishment? Or should we take care of our own? And I think the right precedent was set with Steve King. After statements made a few years ago in favor of white supremacists, they took him off his committees, and then his voters removed him.

And that would be a good model here. And so the fact that Mitch McConnell has come out, when he doesn't like to do so and doesn't often do so, should mean something. And I thought it was an excellent statement.

BLITZER: Just -- guys, stand by for a moment.

I want to bring in our senior legal analyst, Laura Coates, as we turn to the Trump impeachment trial, which starts next week, a week from today, in fact, on the Senate floor.

Laura, in the newly released impeachment trial brief, House impeachment managers, they laid out over some 70-plus pages their plans to argue that the former president is singularly responsible for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

What does this first glimpse of their legal strategy tell you? LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That they are prepared to launch a holistic attack to what they have anticipated as being primarily about the First Amendment and how this is not protected speech, that this was inciting a riot, and that he himself was the connecting point between the statements at the rally, what happened at the insurrection, and possibly his comments afterwards as well.

It's a very strong brief that anticipated all the things that their return brief mentioned and more, and actually speaks about this being not only an exercise of oversight, but also a vindication of the First Amendment.

They tied it to voting and how, if a president is able to simply try to retain power and try to sic the masses on a co-equal branch of government when he loses, then what does the First Amendment really mean after all? It's a very interesting argument, and one where they're trying to guard against that notion of an exercise in futility.

BLITZER: You know, Jeff, the House impeachment managers, the Democratic brief is 77 pages. The president, the former president's lawyers brief is 14 pages.

And, basically, what Trump's legal team is arguing is that the impeachment trial in the Senate is simply unconstitutional because he's no longer a sitting president of the United States. How strong do you believe that defense is?

FLAKE: Well, obviously, they're looking at the number of Republicans who voted to basically stop the trial, the 45 Republicans.

But the Democrats, I think the impeachment managers are smart to do what they have done, to basically draw a line between all the activities from the election loss onward, and to say, this was a culmination of all of it, and the fact that the president was impeached when he was still in office.

The trial is happening afterwards, but the impeachment was when he was in office. So, I think that they have done the right thing as impeachment managed.

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: You know, Gloria, Trump's lawyers, they're arguing he was simply exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. How do you think that argument is going to be received by the senators, all 100 senators, who make up the jury in this trial?

BORGER: Look, I think they're going to be more likely to say that you can impeach him because he's already out of office than they would take to the First Amendment argument.

First of all, this president, I have to kind of chuckle, has not been known as somebody who talks about the First Amendment a lot, who preaches the First Amendment. Remember, the media is the enemy of the people and all the rest of it. And you cannot provoke a lawless mob attacking the Capitol just

because you figure, like, you lost an election unfairly and you're a sore loser. The Constitution does not specify that.

And so I think I think that argument is not as strong for them as the procedural argument, nor is the argument that they put in their brief that this president was elected on an unfair election and that Donald Trump had every reason to believe that.

BLITZER: What do you think, Laura, of the president's legal team, the former president, I should say, his legal team, his -- their arguments?

COATES: I think it's extraordinarily weak.

I think it's a convenient off-ramp to try to allow for the Republican members of the Senate not to have to vote on the primary issue of his conduct, essentially saying, hey, let's not go there. Let's not talk about what I have done. I shouldn't be here in the first place.

It doesn't really go to the meat of the matter, especially when you consider that they laid out in the House impeachment branch the Senate has been -- has decided that it could actually impeach and try a former official since 17, what, 98?

I mean, that does not bode well for an argument that says, as long as you have impeached prior to the person leaving office, that you can't continue to convict and/or disqualify or even -- perhaps even acquit after they have left office.

So I don't think it bodes well. But it does fall in line with what they hope will be the case.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Jeff, because you need 17 Republican senators to convict, to convict, assuming all 50 Democratic senators vote to convict.

How many of the Republican senators you think will actually vote to convict?

FLAKE: I think you will have a few more than the five who voted to continue with the trial. But I doubt that you're going to get to 17.

But it's important, not only that he's convicted, but, if he's not, for at least Republicans to make statements afterwards saying, we didn't believe it was constitutional to impeach him, but, boy, this is not where we ought to be as a country, and he is wrong.

And I assume the impeachment managers will liberally use statements from people like Kevin McCarthy, who said the president bears responsibility, as well as Liz Cheney saying that he assembled the mob and lit the match.

So, I think, if there's not impeachment, there's got to be statements from Republicans that we have got to move away from this guy. We have got to move away from Trump and Trumpism. BLITZER: If you were still in the Senate, would you vote to convict?

FLAKE: Yes, I would.

BLITZER: All right. Jeff Flake, thank you very much.

Laura Coates, Gloria Borger, guys, thank you.

Just ahead, I will talk live with the White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield. There she is. She's on the North Lawn of the White House. We got a lot to discuss about the president's COVID relief package, whether there's still hope for Republican support.

And we have breaking news on the COVID-19 vaccine and how it may actually impact the spread of the virus.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:22:28]

BLITZER: We're back with breaking news, President Biden signing new executive orders just a little while ago, as part of this push to undo Trump era policies.

Let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Phil Mattingly.

Phil, President Biden really stressed that he's trying to repair what was done in executive orders by his predecessor.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a central point of context for this administration as they move forward on several fronts, but perhaps most importantly on immigration.

Today, President Biden signing three executive orders, including one that would create a task force trying to reunite children separated during President Trump's zero tolerance policy. The Trump administration pursued that on the grounds of deterrence.

The Biden administration has made very clear that getting to the core of that reuniting as many as 600 or more children who still don't know where their parents are is a crucial component of what they want to be doing in the weeks and months ahead.

A couple of other pieces of the executive orders as well, trying to roll back or at least set the stage for rolling back Trump administration priorities, and Biden making clear that the executive orders are just part of this process. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to make it clear there's a lot of talk, with good reason, about the number of executive orders that I have signed.

I'm not making new law. I'm eliminating bad policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And, Wolf, shortly after those orders were signed, Alejandro Mayorkas was sworn in as the secretary of homeland security, confirmed today by the Senate. He will play a crucial role in everything the Biden administration is doing on immigration, the head of DHS the first confirmed head of DHS since 2019, also the first immigrant to run the Department of Homeland Security -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting, indeed.

Twenty-four hours after President Biden met with those 10 Republicans in the White House for more than two hours, where do things stand right now on COVID relief?

MATTINGLY: Wolf, before the meeting with the 10 Republicans, the White House top line was $1.9 trillion, a very detailed plan with significant planks, that they made clear they wanted to stay in the plan.

After the meeting with the 10 Republican senators, the White House top line is $1.9 trillion, with a very detailed plan, with a series of planks that the White House wants to stay in the detailed plan.

Look, everybody who was involved in the two-hour meeting last night says it was a good discussion, it was a constructive discussion, the Republicans very appreciative, they said, of the president's time.

But the reality remains the same. The two sides are just extremely divergent on the policy front right now. And the Biden administration, the president on down has made clear they prefer to go big, rather than go small and perhaps reach a bipartisan deal with Republicans that have put $618 billion the table.

[18:25:00]

So, the reality right now both here at the White House and in Capitol Hill is Democrats, President Biden on down, are pushing forward on $1.9 trillion.

If Republicans want to negotiate on certain pieces of that, they are certainly open to that. But the idea of coming down significantly or removing key pieces of that proposal right now seems very off the table -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Phil, thank you very much, Phil Mattingly at the White House.

Let's stay at the White House.

The White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield, is joining us right now.

Kate, thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations on your new job. KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thanks for

having me.

BLITZER: Let's talk about what we just heard from Phil.

Despite President Biden's long meeting, more than two hours last night, with these 10 Senate Republicans on this emergency COVID relief plan, is it now full steam ahead passing this legislation with a 50- vote threshold, without requiring any Republican votes?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, we can still do this with bipartisan support. I think that's a really important thing for people to understand.

Just because a bill moves forward in reconciliation, which is what that process is called, doesn't mean the Republicans can't vote for it. If you look at, for example, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the CHIP program, that's a program that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support on a reconciliation bill.

So, President Biden's hope is that we are still going to get Republican support for this package. What he is unwilling to do, though, is to slow the process down or to put forward a package that he doesn't believe meets the needs of the moment or the needs of this crisis.

He's put forward a package that includes $1,400 checks to ensure that people like a teacher making $60,000 a year get some of this direct relief. He's put forward a plan that includes billions in funding for vaccinations to ensure that we're getting shots in American arms.

And he's put forward a plan that includes money to help small businesses. This was a point of consensus in the meeting that he had last night with Republican senators.

So, there are points of consensus here. And one thing I would say is, this plan enjoys bipartisan support from the American people. There's a new poll today that showed that over two-thirds of the country supports President Biden's COVID relief plan.

So, he's going to move urgently and quickly. He's hopeful Republicans will come along. But his priority first and foremost is getting this help to the people who need it.

BLITZER: As you know -- as you know better than I do, President Biden did join with Senate Democrats virtually earlier this afternoon.

Do you believe he has all of the Democrats, all 50 of those Democrats, in line with him on this COVID relief deal, because he needs -- assuming the Republicans won't vote for it, he needs all 50?

BEDINGFIELD: We believe that Democrats and Republicans, frankly, but we believe that Democrats all across -- representing states all across the country are looking at this crisis in their backyards. They're seeing what their constituents need, that they need the direct relief, they need the money to get schools open. The cost of -- they're feeling that the cost of inaction here is enormous. It's massive. There was a CBO report yesterday that showed that, if we do nothing, that we're not going to reach pre-pandemic employment levels until 2024. That is not -- that is unacceptable. That is years from now. That's an eternity for people who are struggling, who are trying to put food on the table and to make their rent payments.

So, we believe and we hope that elected officials on both sides of the aisle are looking at this crisis, that they're acknowledging that this package is what people need to be able to get back to work, to be able to get shots in arms.

And the other thing I'd say, Wolf, is, as we were putting this package together, we weren't trying to hit a top-line number. We were talking to governors, to mayors all across the country from both sides of the aisle, who were telling us what their constituents need.

BLITZER: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: And so that's what drove the creation of this package. It's really a package that's designed to meet the urgent crisis that we're facing.

BLITZER: But I ask the question, Kate, because even some moderate Democrats have raised some concerns about the stimulus checks, the $1,400 check.

Senator Joe Manchin, as you know, said he wants checks targeted to people who need it most, not people who will just put it in a savings account, people who haven't lost their jobs.

Would -- President Biden considering lowering the amount for who's eligible, who's eligible to get those checks?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, he has signaled that this is something he's willing to consider. He wants to ensure that these checks go to the people who need them most.

So, he has said this is something that he is willing to take a look at. But he believes strongly that people all across the country who need this $1,400, that we need to move quickly, we need to get it out the door and to people who need it.

So, this is something he's willing to look at. But I would also say this is in the context of a larger package that is designed to help the people who need it most. It will extend unemployment insurance ahead of -- we're coming up middle of March on the unemployment insurance cliff, where these -- these benefits are going to expire for people who need them.

So, this entire package is tailored to get people who need it most the help. So, he has signaled that he is open to looking at tailoring the checks, but he strongly believes that these $1,400 -- excuse me -- these $1,400 checks need to get out the door to the people who need them. [18:30:01]

BLITZER: Including the people who have not lost their jobs, who are still making money. I know the check is $75,000 and under though for individuals, $150,000 for a couple, for example. But if they're working and they haven't lost their jobs, should they still get that $1,400?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, savings is also important. I mean, you're going to be looking at people who, after the -- now almost year of this public health crisis and economic crisis are going to need to pay back rent, are going to need to make payments they haven't been able to make over the course of this crisis.

So, you know, saving the money in and of itself, you know, is also something that is important and that is economically beneficial and is helpful to the economy writ large. I mean, the other big piece of this package is about ensuring that we are supporting economic growth across the board and that we're getting our economy moving again.

So, you know, he is -- as I say, his focus is on getting this money to the people who need it most. He is open to working with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans to tailor the checks to ensure that they are going to the people who really need them.

BLITZER: Yes. And Senator Manchin has made that point repeatedly. He commented, by the way, on Vice President Kamala Harris doing some interviews with West Virginia local media on the COVID relief bill, saying it was a mistake, but in his words, we now move on.

Does the White House agree that that decision to send the vice president to do these local interviews in West Virginia, Arizona, where Krysten Sinema, a moderate Democrat, represents Arizona, does the White House believe that was potentially awkward or a mistake?

BEDINGFIELD: No, not at all. Look, Wolf, we are going out across the country to make the case for this package. We are doing local media all across the country to make sure we're reaching Americans directly, that we're making the case for this package and that working to get the American rescue plan passed.

Now, of course, we are working very closely. We're going to continue to work very closely with senators hopefully on both sides of the aisle, certainly on the Democratic side of the aisle, and, again, after last night's meeting, hopefully on the Republican side of the aisle too, to get this passed. They are going to be important partners in getting this done.

But we go out and make our case directly to the American people through local media. We did it, you may remember well, we did it during the campaign. We think it's a really important way to make sure that Americans are hearing directly from us and Vice President Harris is obviously one of the most valuable spokespeople that we have. And so she is going to continue to go out and make the case directly, as is the rest of the administration. BLITZER: They certainly are. Let's talk a little about immigration. The president took several steps today, including creating a task force to reunite separated families. There are, what, 600 children who still have not been reunited with their mothers or their fathers.

But beyond that, this launches a rebuke of Trump policies without any immediate changes for migrants, let's say, stuck in limbo. When will those vulnerable people get answers on their fate?

BEDINGFIELD: We are moving as quickly as possible. As you say, the president today signed an executive order directing the director of -- the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to chair up this task force, to work to move quickly, to begin to try this -- to undertake this daunting task of returning these children to their families.

You know, there are approximately 600 to 700 children who need -- desperately need to be reunited with their families. We are moving as quickly as possible and we'll use every lever available to us to make that happen. This is all part of President Biden's commitment to restore humanity and humane values to our immigration policy.

This is something he promised on the campaign trail. It is something he delivered immediately as soon as he got to the White House.

So this is, you know, I think for everybody who witnessed those children being torn apart from their parents at the border, it was horrifying, it's unacceptable, it's immoral and it is something that President Biden has moved today to try to begin to rectify as soon as possible.

BLITZER: Yes, it was so, so awful to see those little kids separated from their mothers and their fathers. Let's hope they can be reunited with their parents as soon as possible. Kate Bedingfield, thank you so much for joining us.

BEDINGFIELD: Thank you for having me, Wolf. I appreciate it.

BLITZER: Thank you. Just ahead, an alarming new measure of the horrific toll from COVID-19, just one month and two days into 2021.

We will also breakdown a new study suggesting that people already infected with the coronavirus may need only one dose of the vaccine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: We're following breaking news on the coronavirus pandemic. New numbers show that, so far this year, February 2nd, 100,000 people here in the United States already have died from the virus, in January and now the first two days of February, this as we're learning about the potential benefits and drawbacks of COVID vaccines.

CNN National Correspondent Erica Hill is following all of the developments. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Local pharmacies now next in line to administer vaccines.

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and it is an important component to delivering vaccines equitably.

HILL: The Biden administration will begin shipping directly to pharmacies next week, part of a long promised plan to expand access. CVS says it's ready in 11 states. Walgreens announcing plans for 14 states and cities and Puerto Rico.

[18:40:01]

Those doses part of a 20 percent boost in production, which also means more for states.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): The demand is very, very much there, which is what we knew it would be.

HILL: While the pace is getting better, nearly two-thirds of distributed doses are now in arms, supply remains a hurdle. This site in Phoenix can accommodate 10,000 to 12,000 shots a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to do my part.

HILL: But for now, there is only enough vaccine for 500 a day.

DR. DARA CHRIST, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: What we're hearing is that we're going to be at about this same level for the next few weeks.

HILL: 16 lanes up and running at the Texas Motor Speedway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very impressive.

HILL: The state's largest drive through vaccination site where officials say they can process 1,000 people an hour.

MATT RICHARDSON, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS: We do know that we have several thousand second doses that are coming due, and so we will be allocating those second doses.

HILL: Moderna asking the FDA for permission to increase the number of doses in each vial from 10 to 15.

A new study suggests just one dose may be enough for people who already had the virus, but --

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Previous infection does not seem to protect you against re-infection at least with the South African variant.

HILL: -- prompting new urgency. DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: When we have to deliver 500 million immunizations between now and late spring, early summer to get ahead of these variants and it's going to be tough.

HILL: A drop in new cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates prompting some areas to loosen restrictions on indoor dining.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels good. It's nice to be out.

HILL: Even extending bar hours.

JOSHUA PEMBERTON, NASHVILLE UNDERGROUND: What it allows us to do is hire more people and bring more of our employees back to work.

HILL: Though experts warn this reprieve may not last.

ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The variants are here. They're circulating, and they are going to cause a large spike in cases.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL (on camera): And just an interesting note we're learning about out of U.K., we know vaccines can keep you from getting sick, but what hasn't been clear, Wolf, is if they can keep you from spreading the virus to others. So, meaning, if you are exposed, can you still be a carrier? Well, early results from a study at AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.K. show that vaccine not only protects you but it may actually stop you from spreading the virus, which could be a very big deal. Wolf?

BLITZER: It would be a huge deal. All right, Erica, thank you very much.

Let's bring in our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Let me get your immediate reaction to that breaking news that the vaccine from Oxford-AstraZeneca might have the substantial impact on the transmission of the virus. How important is this new data?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think this is very important, Wolf. I mean, we want to obviously have a vaccine that primarily reduces the likelihood that someone is going to get sick. I mean, that's what people want. I mean, if you are carrying virus, you don't know it, that's not as big a problem. But if it also can reduce the transmission, that's fundamentally what can help bring this pandemic to an end.

And if you look at the data around this Oxford-AstraZeneca study, small numbers still, but it showed basically after the two doses, people were decreasing the likelihood of it coming back with a positive PCR test by about half. So they're not carrying the virus in their nose and mouth as much, they're not transmitting it as much. That would be significant. Hopefully, we see those same sort of results from the other vaccines as well. BLITZER: Well, let me just press you on this, Sanjay. Right now, if you get the two doses of the Pfizer, the Moderna and let's say all of a sudden you get COVID, you have no symptoms at all, you have no idea that you have COVID, can you still transmit it to loved ones and to friends?

GUPTA: Well, the answer is it's possibly that you -- possible that you can still do that. I think, Wolf, what is interesting, and this is an important point, when they did these trials, Moderna and Pfizer, what they were looking for, what they call the primary end point, was were people getting sick or not. That was what they were really looking for.

I think it's quite possible when you go back and you like swab people after the first dose, swab them again after the second dose, they are going to be far less likely to be carrying the virus. Oxford AstraZeneca, they showed that. They have that data. With Moderna and Pfizer, that may well be the case, but they just haven't shown that yet.

It kind of makes sense, right, Wolf? You got antibodies, these proteins fighting the virus, it's probably going to decrease your viral load and make it less likely for you to transmit it but, obviously, we need the evidence to prove that that is true.

BLITZER: And so at least for the time being, even if you get both doses of these vaccines, you should still wear a mask, right?

GUPTA: Absolutely. You have got to still wear a mask until we can show that the viral transmission is essentially slowed way down because keep in mind, Wolf, there are still people out there who are not going to be vaccinated who, if you pass the virus on to them, they could still get sick and they could still require hospitalization, all the things that we have been talking about.

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So until we're confident that we've really lowered viral transmission, you got to wear masks.

BLITZER: Yes, so, so important. All right, Sanjay, thank you very much.

Just ahead, new developments emerging right now in the capitol riot investigation, including a decision on charges for the officer who shot a woman who died.

We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: Tonight, investigators are struggling to build a murder case in the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick who died one day after being attacked by rioters during the January 6th insurrection.

CNN's Brian Todd is working the story for us. So, Brian, what's the latest? What are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tonight, CNN has new information that investigators in the death of Officer Sicknick are frustrated by a lack of evidence.

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We're going to have more details on that in just a moment. But we also have new details tonight on the shooting death of a rioter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Investigators have recommended that prosecutors not bring charges against a U.S. capitol police officer in the fatal shooting of capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, people familiar with the matter tells CNN tonight.

But the sources say a final decision has not been made.

CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: Deadly force can only be used in the defense of your life or the life of another. And in this case, the other would have been members of Congress.

TODD: A spokesperson for the D.C. Metropolitan Police told CNN it's irresponsible to jump to conclusions until the investigation is over. An FBI affidavit in the case of alleged rioter Zachary Alam gives a clear picture of the circumstances around Ashli Babbitt's shooting. Alam allegedly punched and kicked the glass panels of the closed door to a hall that led to the house chamber, tried to smash it with a helmet and shouted expletives in the faces of police officers.

The affidavit says after Alam smashed a window, Babbitt was shot and then Alam backed away. Alam could not be reached for comment by CNN.

RAMSEY: You could tell from videos that it was a chaotic moment. There was a lot of banging. It would have been easy to mistake one of those bangs for a being gun shot.

TODD: Meanwhile, this woman in a pink hat helping to operate a battering ram to smash a window has been identified and interviewed by "The New Yorker", although she's lying low. The magazine says she was also shouting direction to other rioters.

"The New Yorker" says she's a 40-year-old mother of eight from western Pennsylvania. She told the magazine she was being spontaneous, was not part of any plot and, quote, listen, if somebody doesn't help and direct people then do more people die?

JOHN SCOTT-RALTON, RESEARCHER, CITIZEN LAB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: So many of the people who showed up at the capitol were not long term 20, 30-year lifetime conservative Republican voters. At some point, they got radicalized. A lot of that seems to have happened online and in her case, we can actually see it playing out right across her Facebook. TODD: Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has given a

harrowing account of her experience on January 6th. On Instagram live, Ocasio-Cortez said a man came into her office unannounced and banged on doors, the man she thought was a rioter she says turned out to be capitol police officer.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Screams and these yells of "Where is she? Where is she?" And so, I go down and I just -- I mean, I thought I was going to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): And as we mentioned, investigators do appear to be struggling to build a murder case in the case of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, apparently frustrated by a lack of evidence that can prove that someone caused his death. Law enforcement officials familiar with the matter telling CNN that investigators have pored through video and photographs showing Sicknick engaging with rioters, but they have not been able to identify the specific moment when he suffered his fatal injuries.

Officer Sicknick is lying in honor in the rotunda in the U.S. Capitol starting tonight, in just a couple of hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian. Thank you very much.

Just ahead, we're going to get a live report from Moscow, as people protest the sentencing of the Russian opposition leader to more than two years behind bars.

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[18:57:52]

BLITZER: Hundreds of protesters have been detained in Moscow as they call for the release of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny after he was sentenced today to more than two years in jail. The court says he violated his probation by leaving the country after being poisoned with a nerve agent last year.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen. He is joining us live from Moscow right now.

So, Fred, what's the very latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf.

Yeah, after Navalny was sentenced to those two and a half and more years in jail, his supporters called on the people that support Alexei Navalny to come to the area that I'm in right now, to come to the area around the Kremlin. However, the Russian authorities and Vladimir Putin had something waiting for them and the entire Kremlin were surrounded by Russian riot police and they sent squads of riot police into the streets around here that then detained almost anybody that they could find. We ourselves witnessed dozens of detentions. We saw some of those

folks out here and treated very harshly by the riot police in total. In total, I just got the recent number, Wolf. More than a thousand people today detained in Moscow in the Russian capital alone and that's according to independent organizations.

It certainly came after a remarkable trial that took place in a Moscow court where Alexei Navalny, as he spoke, ripped into Vladimir Putin calling him Putin the poisoner and saying that is what he will be remembered as. He called this trial that happened here a sham trial.

Wolf, some of the things Alexei Navalny said in jail are things that are very dangerous things to say in Russia especially in a public setting like that. And as you already mentioned, the court then decided that Alexei Navalny was going to spend considerable amount of time behind bars at least two and a half years, probably even a little more as a suspended sentence that he had already been under was turned into a real jail sentence.

We've heard from Alexei Navalny's legal team, they say they're going to file an appeal, and this is quite a blow for Alexei Navalny and his supporters vow the demonstrations will continue -- Wolf.

BLITZER: They will continue and we are seeing a lot, a lot of young people in those demonstrations, as you well know, be careful over there, Fred Pleitgen on the scene for us, as he always is, live from Moscow.

To our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. You can always follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WolfBlitzer. Tweet the show @CNNSitRoom.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

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