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The Situation Room

Now: House GOP Weighs Fates Of Greene, Cheney In Test Of Divided Party; Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) Is Interviewed About Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene; U.K. Researchers: Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine May Cut Virus Transmission; One-On-One With New Homeland Security Secretary. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 03, 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]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @Jake Tapper. You can tweet the show @TheLeadCNN. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

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're following breaking news.

Deeply divided House Republicans meeting right now to weigh the fates of two congresswoman. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene under fire for spreading conspiracy theories and extremist social media posts. And Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the number three House Republican, facing bitter backlash for her vote to impeach President Trump.

Meanwhile, over at the White House, President Biden met with top Democrats to discuss his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. The President telling his party to stick together.

Underscoring the urgency the CDC is out with a new forecast projecting that the United States will see as many as 534,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of this month.

Also this hour an exclusive interview with the new Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the first Latino and the first immigrant to head the agency at a critical time for our country.

First, let's go straight to Capitol Hill where there's breaking news. Our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is joining us.

Manu, this key meeting that's underway could shape the future of the Republican Party. Update us on the very latest.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Behind closed doors this meeting is taking place right now.

A divisive debate about the way forward and about efforts by a number of the members in the Republican conference to impeach Donald Trump including the number three Republican Liz Cheney who voted to impeach Donald Trump in the charge of inciting that deadly January 6 riot that occurred here on Capitol Hill. She was -- she addressed her conference as she faced a backlash and a push to ouster from the leadership spot. And she made it very clear she would not apologize for her vote.

She spoke for about eight minutes long behind closed doors, talked about her decision to impeach the president, the former president. Talked about how it was a vote of conscience.

Some members came to her defense. Others spoke out against her and said that her vote did not represent the conference and it's time to move on.

It's still an open question whether or not there'll be actually a vote in the House Republican Conference tonight. It could happen in any minute to vote to decide whether or not she would stay in that leadership position.

Now at the same time, another messy issue they're trying to deal with internally, what to do about Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is the controversial for conspiracy theory freshmen from Georgia who has come under withering criticism for both Republicans and Democrats as their views have come to light over the last several days, questions about whether it's a stripper from her two key committee assignments.

But in a clear indication, the House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has met behind closed doors with Marjorie Taylor Greene but has not said anything publicly broke his silence about the revelation of her comments just moments ago and suggested that the House Republicans would not take action themselves.

He said in a statement, "I understand that Marjorie's comments have caused deep wounds too many. And as a result, I offered Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address those concerns. Instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party."

Now, the question had been whether or not the Republicans move on their own. Some Republicans believe that they should because they don't believe she represents the future or the face of the Republican Party, especially in the light of things that she has said suggesting that the Parkland massacre in Florida, that high school -- that occurred in the high school there was a staged event. Some Republicans including Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota made clear that is not what the Republicans should be saying and they should be taking action against her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER, (R) NORTH DAKOTA: Is she a good face for the Republican Party? She's not. She is very extreme to say the least. The antisemitism, I've never seen anything quite like it.

Antisemitism, school shootings weren't real, I mean, she runs the gamut. The idea that you know, forest fires are started by, you know, Jewish lasers. I mean, it's just so profound so far out there that does make me wonder how she got elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So we're still waiting for an ultimate resolution about what the House Republicans decide to do with Marjorie Taylor Greene and a resolution about what they will do with Liz Cheney. But I can tell you going in, Wolf, a number of these Republicans are still adamant one way or the other in their positions dug in one way or the other in defending some of the actions they took.

One congressman, John Katko, one of the 10 Republican congressmen who voted to impeach Donald Trump told me, I asked him, do you regret your vote in any way? And he said, hell no. Wolf.

[17:05:05]

BLITZER: You know, Manu, when he says, Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, that he offered the Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns, what is he talking about? What did he offer the Democrats?

RAJU: Well, they were talking about a variety of options. One of the options that that he discussed with Hoyer was to remove her from one of our two committee assignments. She sits on the House Budget Committee and the House Education Committee. In particular she's gotten criticism for sitting on the House Education Committee while talking about these wild conspiracies about these school shootings being staged events.

Now, what McCarthy pitched to Hoyer was to remove her simply just from that Budget Committee position. Hoyer did not believe that was the way to go and indicated that Democrats were prepared to move forward themselves.

So this afternoon, the House Rules Committee, move forward with a rule that would set the stage for a floor debate tomorrow to stripper from the committee assignments. And all they need is a simple majority in the House to do that. And the Democrats are in the majority. So they have the power to act on their own to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene tomorrow from her positions, and expect that to happen.

But what you're seeing on the Republican side by McCarthy statement, a vast majority of the members are going to oppose moving forward to strip her from the committee assignments. They're making a procedural argument. They argue it is not the right of Democrats to strip committee member, a member of the committee assignments before they -- about things they did before they were members of Congress. They're warning about the precedent that would set and suggesting that Republicans could act respond in kind if they become the majority party after 2022.

So Wolf, you're seeing a partisan split on this issue. Some Republicans will vote to kick off Marjorie Taylor Greene from those committees, but it's going to largely going to be Democrats moving forward, Wolf. BLITZER: Yes, that's interesting. All right Manu, thank you very much. Don't go too far away. I know you're working your sources. You're getting more information for us. Once you get it, we'll have your right back.

In the meantime, I want to discuss all these late breaking developments with CNN Special Correspondent Jamie Gangel, CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, and Senior Commentator from CNN and former Ohio Governor John Kasich.

So Jamie, as the Republican conferences meeting as we just heard from Manu behind closed doors, take us inside the GOP are well plugged in. What are you hearing? What's going on? Because I understand there is such a bitter, bitter divide.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: To put it simply the Republican Party, this is no longer a reckoning Wolf, the Republican Party is at war with each other. It's just startling to think that at the same moment, Marjorie Taylor Greene is being ineffective embraced by Kevin McCarthy, and Liz Cheney, number three in the leadership is being yelled at by members in that conference.

What we've learned is she made an eight minute speech, that it was calm, yet firm in defense of the Constitution, that she said she would not apologize for her vote. And then after that, we're hearing that there are members who asked very pointed questions, some who got angry. She's also been defended by member Adam Kinzinger, who also was one of the 10 to vote for impeachment.

But I think, Wolf, what we're seeing today is just a shocking moment where the party is -- the future of the party is really at stake.

One last thing, Liz Cheney has said she would like a vote on whether to stay in the leadership. I think that is a sign of her confidence that the vote will go her way. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right.

You know, Dana, you're well plugged in up on Capitol Hill as well, what are you hearing from House Republicans from your sources? I imagine this is not what many of them would like to be dealing with right now.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. And you know, we heard from Jamie and from Jeff Zeleny and Manu and others reporting on the people who are angry at Liz Cheney, and the fact that she's defending herself and obviously feels very good. She has been working the phones, are talking to every member of the conference, and she feels confident that she could get a show of support, and that that would help her with a vote.

But what we're not hearing about is the anger that does exist against Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the fact that that is the big issue before and that is really dividing the Republican conference right now.

And McCarthy, the Republican leader just put out a lengthy statement, saying that he feels good about a conversation he had with her and that she recognizes that she can't act like this now that she's a member of Congress and that she will She said different things before she was there. And then he went after Democrats because Democrats who are in control of the House are going to move to remove her in a big vote tomorrow.

[17:10:14]

So, let me just put this in English. What the House Republican leader right now is suggesting is that he's not dealing with something in a person who is, in all of her statements, is a cancer on the GOP. He's going to let the Democrats do it for him. That is remarkable.

And I'm sure our friend John Kasich, who walked those halls, who served and the Republican conference is not all too pleased about that, and what it means for the GOP.

BLITZER: Well, let's as Governor Kasich, what do you think?

JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR COMMENTATOR: It's insane. OK. I mean, she should be taken off the committee's. And good for Liz Cheney, you know, good for her.

And I've just listened to this. First of all, this is not -- I disagree with Jamie, on one point. This is not the Republican Party. These are House Republicans who are stuck in this room yelling and screaming at each other.

I've been in those conferences, but it was over things like taxes and spendings, and budgets and things like that, not about something that is so ridiculous. And it shows a total lack of leadership.

Frankly, probably ought to make Liz Cheney the head of the Republican Party in the House. Because McCarthy saying he can't make a decision and then he attacks the Democrats, I mean, come on. This is -- that's like child's play. Stand up and be a leader.

This woman, she put out anti-Semitic comments. She denied what had -- the pain that was inflicted on the families of those kids who were shot and killed in those -- in those horrible attacks. What about them? I mean, and to say that Liz Cheney should be disciplined because she thought that the President's, that his actions lead to impeachment, and they want to take her out.

I mean, it makes -- it makes me wonder about -- well, first of all, I don't know what I would do if I were in the house and I were Republican, I'm not sure that I would go to these conferences. I'm not sure I would stay and declare myself a house Republican. I have to think about something else.

Now some of them will say, oh, well, you know, he went for Biden, so therefore, he's not a Republican anyway. Well, let me ask you something, Wolf. I was the chairman of the committee that balance the federal budget, I was the one that was able to do reform inside the federal government. I did -- I did so many things down there that were conservative and now these guys are off on some, I don't even know where they are. They're on some crazy tangent here to give themselves power.

BASH: But that's the point, they are the Republican Party now, Governor. They are -- the House Republicans are very much representative of a very large chunk of the GOP. And until they, you know, unless they do something to say, these views are not OK. And yes, they're speaking out, but take action about it, then talking about conservative fiscal responsibility and all those things, you know, it gets drowned out, don't you think?

KASICH: Dana, I agree with that, Dana. But here's the thing, the Senate Republicans, I mean, Mitch McConnell couldn't put out a stronger statement. And he's saying that this lady is, you know, should be disciplined, should loss committees and the least, and should be isolated.

So he's a pretty big spokesperson, and this gets back to what's going on inside the party. You know, is it a Trump party? Is it not a Trump party? I will tell you this, if it stays a Trump party in the long term, it will not be successful, it will begin to die.

Frankly, it's been dying already. Because a lot of people have left the party. There is a chance for them to get back on their feet.

But if they can't even make a simple decision about this lady, and they can't decide to support Liz Cheney and her vote of consciousness, what does that tell you about those people? Disgraceful.

BLITZER: You know, Jamie, let me get your thoughts. It's hypothetical, obviously. Would the conversation be different if this congresswoman from Georgia, you know, if she were to actually do the right thing and show some remorse, apologize for her very harmful comments that she made, awful comments, the conspiracy theories saying this was before she joined the U.S. House of Representatives, she made a mistake, I apologize, I profusely apologize. She's not apologizing for anything. But if she were to do so it would be a bit different, right?

GANGEL: Yes. I think it would. Absolutely. But she didn't do that.

And in fact, this morning, if you take a look at her Twitter feed, she doubled down. She said no apologies, no going back. I just want to say I like when Dana defends me on the House. The house, no question, Governor Kasich, is a raucous place, as you will know better than anyone.

On the other hand to Dana's point, this does represent a large section of the Republican Party.

[17:15:01]

KASICH: Yes.

GANGEL: And Kevin McCarthy has chosen after January 6 to go down to Mar-a-Lago to him to embrace Donald Trump again and to bring us to this day where Liz Cheney is getting yelled at and Marjorie Taylor Greene is getting a hall pass. BLITZER: You know, and I just want to remind our viewers what Liz Cheney did. She not only voted to impeach Trump, together with nine other House Republicans, but she also said this in explaining her vote. And Governor Kasich, I'll get you to respond then Dana.

She said this, and I'll read her words precisely, "The President of the United States summon this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack." Then she said, "There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."

Governor, obviously, those are powerful, strong words. And so many of her fellow Republicans in the House, they hate those words.

KASICH: It's just unbelievable. And remember, she is the daughter of Dick Cheney who served this country as vice president under George Bush. Maybe people don't know that's, that's your daughter.

But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to discontinue to disagree with these ladies, because this has a profound impact on the party. I know when my wife would say, why didn't you agree with them? I understand what they're saying. But what I'm saying it's not all over in terms of what the party stands for.

This kind of debate, it's what's driven suburban voters away, exurban voters away. And all this politics of fear in the long run, it will not work. And what's happening now is just sets them back in terms of being able to get on their feet, which I'm not sure they can get on their feet. I don't know if they know how to stand. We'll see.

BLITZER: We got to take a quick break. But Dana, button this up for us.

BASH: What we're going to see if there will be a vote tomorrow is every Republican member is going to have to be on the record to support Marjorie Taylor Greene being on these committees or not. If McCarthy dealt with this on his own, he would save them those votes and ads and every single one of the swing districts by Democrats against them if they don't vote against Marjorie Taylor Greene being on those committees.

BLITZER: We're watching what's happening in this closed-door meeting. We're going to update our viewers. We're going to stay on top of it. Guys don't go too far away.

Up next, details of President Biden's meeting today with top Senate Democrats as they strategize how to get some Republican support for the President's massive COVID relief bill. We'll talk about it with the House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

Plus, our exclusive interview with the new Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. We're going to ask him about the threat posed by domestic extremists in the wake of the Capitol siege.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:47]

BLITZER: President Biden huddling with a top Senate Democrats today as he pushes his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is joining us.

Kaitlan, the President met with the Senate Majority leader, the Democratic Committee chairs, tell our viewers what we know about that important meeting.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's the third week of his presidency, and Joe Biden has found himself at the center of these negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over this pandemic relief bill. And he says he's still hopeful he can get Republicans on board.

But during a call with House Democrats today, he said while there is room for compromise, he believes this idea that they are going to go from the $1.9 trillion proposal that he's offered and that $600 billion proposal that Republicans have put forward is, "not in the cards."

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): It was Senate Democrats turn in the Oval Office today.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I welcome all new home, this is their new home, for a while anyway.

COLLINS: After President Biden met with Republicans in those seats two days ago, he sounded hopeful about getting some of them on board with his coronavirus relief package, even as Democrats move forward without them.

BIDEN: Oh, we'll get Republican support. I think we will get some Republicans.

COLLINS: No congressional Republicans have signed on to Biden's plan so far. And Utah Senator Mitt Romney said it's unlikely any Republicans will support the plan if changes aren't made.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY, (R) UTAH: But if it goes forward without any changes from what was originally proposed, I would predict that not a single Republican will support the $1.9 trillion plan.

COLLINS: The President told House Democrats today he won't slash the $1.9 trillion price tag anywhere near the $618 billion that Republicans have suggested.

BIDEN: I'm going to start my administration by breaking the promise to the American people.

COLLINS: Biden also said he won't scale back the $1400 stimulus checks, but he said he was open to targeting them further.

BIDEN: We can't walk away from additional $1400 in direct checks we've proposed because people needed it, and frankly, they've been promised it. Maybe we can -- I think we can better target the number. I'm OK with that.

COLLINS: Noting the slim majority is that Democrats have in Congress, Biden encourage Democrats to remain united.

BIDEN: So let's stick together.

COLLINS: Democrats are barreling ahead with Biden's big proposal, as White House aides are knocking down suggestions from some Republicans that Biden was more willing to negotiate than his staff.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Our members who were in the meeting felt that the President seem to be more interested in that than his staff did.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Absolutely not. I've seen some of those reports, some -- many of them are ludicrous. There is no one who's going to tell him what to do or hold him back from his commitment.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Wolf, as Republicans are accusing Biden of undermining his promise to be bipartisan as soon as he got into office, he was warning Democrats on that call today to stay together, to stay united. Of course, we were seeing plenty of infighting in the Republican Party even going on right now as we speak.

But of course, the question is what this bill is ultimately going to look like. And there are still some Democratic concerns that they are going to have to deal with before we actually see what the end result is going to be.

[17:25:02]

BLITZER: All right Kaitlan, thank you very much. Kaitlan Collins reporting from the White House.

We're joined now by a key member of the House Democratic leadership, South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn. He's the Majority Whip.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

We just got this statement from the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, you've probably heard it, he says Democrats are in his words, "choosing to raise the temperature with this push to remove Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee's calling this a distraction." What's your reaction to what his statement says?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, you know, once again, this is a failure of leadership. I think Kevin McCarthy has demonstrated time and time again, in recent weeks, after haven't seem to have seen the light three weeks ago, he's back now at Mar-a-Lago demonstrating once again, that he cannot divorce himself from Donald Trump. And Donald Trump has expressed support for this member. And so I guess he thinks he needs to support her as well.

I don't know why he thinks it is good to have a woman of her views on the Education Committee. But if that's the way they would like for it to be, then so more than be.

BLITZER: Will, you and your fellow Democrats vote tomorrow to remove her from all of our committee assignments?

CLYBURN: Well, I have not seen the resolutions. Those discussions are taking place. And I think the Rules Committee is going to take something up.

I have no idea what the Rules Committee is going to come out with. I do have some feelings about whether or not we ought to do McCarthy's work. He ought to do his own work. But I'll wait and see how the resolutions read.

BLITZER: Well, he's obviously not -- he's obviously not going to remove her from those two committees. The question is, do you think she should be removed from those two committees? Or do you want to go further and do you think she should be expelled from the House of Representatives?

CLYBURN: I think I'm going to sit here ought to take place. I won't say expulsion. I don't believe that we can do that without having some hearings have been on the record. Official record that is, though I know there's a record that she has out there. But it seems as if the people voted for her being full -- fully aware of her record.

And maybe there's some things they have not heard yet, and such as that to come out in some kind of a hearings or committee meetings, which we have not done. So I'm very reluctant to react emotionally to these things. Let's build a proper record before we ever vote.

BLITZER: We just got a word right now. And I think this is potentially significant that the House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy is not going to move to remove Representative Liz Cheney from her number three position. What's your thoughts on that?

CLYBURN: Once again, it's a failure of leadership on his part. He is the one that removed Steve King some years ago for saying things that were unseemly. This seems to be even more egregious than what Steve King said.

When he removed Steve King, we didn't do it. He did it. We did offer a resolution and I was the author of the resolution, expressing disapproval of his statement supporting white supremacy. And we passed that, but that was us expressing disapproval.

He's so fit to remove him from the committee's. The Democrats didn't do that.

BLITZER: Well, we'll see what happens to Liz Cheney. We'll see what happens to Marjorie Taylor Greene. We'll stay in close touch, Congressmen, with you.

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, thanks so much for joining us.

CLYBURN: Well, thank you very much for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, a grim new forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projecting COVID will kill as many as an additional 85,000 more Americans by the end of this month. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

BLITZER: The breaking news this hour, details are emerging of the House Republican meeting underway right now as deeply divided lawmakers are weighing the fates of Representatives Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sources say Cheney spoke for about eight minutes but did not apologize for voting to impeach the former President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has just released a statement condemning Greene's extremist comments and conspiracy theories which are so wild, but he didn't say anything about what the consequences should be.

Meanwhile, we're also following a very important coronavirus developments, the U.S. death film has now topped 449,000 people with more than 26.5 million cases. CNN's national correspondent Erica Hill has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We are at war with this virus.

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That war is also a race against time.

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We're getting a breather and if this U.K. variant continues to spread as predicted here in the U.S., we are in for some very tough months ahead.

[17:35:01]

HILL (voice-over): More vaccinations could help stop the spread, a boost in supply, and access clear moves in the right direction. All teachers in West Virginia over age 50 are now vaccinated, in New York City, a push to prioritize restaurant workers. But with just 2 percent of the population fully vaccinated, the country still has a long way to go.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: If you want our society to get back to normal, you have to get about 70 to 85 percent of the population vaccinated.

HILL (voice-over): A new study in the U.K. finds AstraZeneca is vaccine which is not yet authorized in the U.S. may also help stop transmission. The study has not been peer reviewed.

RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: This is encouraging and it's not actually totally surprising. It is what we would expect for most of our vaccines.

HILL (voice-over): The numbers continue to move in the right direction. Good news that comes with a warning.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Although we have seen declines in cases and admissions and a recent slowing of deaths, cases remain extraordinarily high, still twice as high as the peak number of cases over the summer.

HILL (voice-over): The CDC's latest ensemble forecast now projects as many as 85,000 additional deaths in the next three weeks.

Meantime, new findings on who is spreading the virus. In the U.S. that dubious honor goes to younger adults. Researchers in London estimating 20 to 49 year olds account for more than 75 percent of new transmissions through mid-August. So should that group have vaccine priority?

DR. UCHE BLACKSTOCK, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: Absolutely not. What we need to do is get the vaccines and the arms that people who are at higher -- highest risk for doing poorly if they're infected.

HILL (voice-over): As more areas loosened restrictions on activities like indoor dining.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NY): We believe that we can make this expansion without leading to undue stress or further stress on our health care system.

HILL (voice-over): One thing experts and officials are not encouraging, Super Bowl parties.

WALENSKY: Not wearing masks and participating in in person social gatherings have contributed to the variant spread. Please watch the Super Bowl safely, gathering only virtually or with the people you live with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Wolf, one more note on AstraZeneca, that vaccine, we just started that Switzerland today actually declined to authorize it, saying that they need more data. They want more information about safety and efficacy. Now In response, the company said it will continue to share new data as it becomes available. And in a statement said quote, it's confident that vaccine is effective, well tolerated, and can have a real impact, Wolf, on the pandemic.

BLITZER: All right, Erica Hill, reporting for us from New York. Erica, thank you very much.

Coming up, a CNN exclusive, the nation's new Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas takes questions from CNN Ana Cabrera on the domestic terrorism threat, reuniting migrant families separated by the Trump administration, and more, that exclusive interview coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:11]

BLITZER: We're watching Capitol Hill right now where House Republicans are more than an hour into a meeting about Representatives Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Stay with us, we'll share with you all the late breaking information.

Also today, it's the first full day on the job for the nation's new Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He's the first Latino, the first immigrant to head the agency in charge of everything from preventing terror attacks to border security, cyber security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, and a whole lot more. Secretary Mayorkas took some time today to speak with CNN's Ana Cabrera earlier this afternoon. Ana is joining us right now. Good work on, Ana. Tell us about your conversation.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, he's only been in the role for about 24 hours. We spoke for about 15 minutes and got some insights into how he's approaching his new job. I asked him about being an immigrant, now in charge of implementing and enforcing immigration policy.

And he told me the cruelty of the prior administration has come to an end. We also talked about the solar wind cyberattack, and I asked about the growing domestic terror threat on the heels of the Capitol insurrection. That's where we started our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: I want to start with the events of January 6th. The U.S. Capitol was attacked for the first time in more than 200 years by our fellow Americans. How will the events of that day inform your approach to your new role as Homeland Security Secretary?

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Ana, let me start on a personal note, if I may. My parents brought my sister and me to this country to enjoy the freedoms of our country, to have the opportunities that a democracy presented.

The Capitol represents one of the pillars of our democracy, and to see the insurrection, to see the horrific acts of January 6th, were not only personally devastating, but a commitment created in me, a commitment to redouble our efforts to fight hate and to fight one of the greatest threats that we face, currently on our homeland, which is the threat of domestic terrorism.

CABRERA: I want to dig into that specifically because DHS put out a bulletin just last week warning of a heightened threat of violent domestic extremism. How imminent is this threat and what is your plan to address it? MAYORKAS: Ana, the threat is persistent. It was exemplified, it was illustrated horrifically by the events of January 6th, the threat of domestic terrorism preceded that terrible day, and it persists to this day. What we in the Department of Homeland Security do is we gather intelligence.

We gather information. We share that with our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners as we collectively in an all of government effort, not just the federal government, but all of government across the country combat hate and the violence that accompanies it.

[17:45:15]

CABRERA: What is the biggest challenge in trying to combat this threat?

MAYORKAS: I think is to identify where the line between hateful rhetoric and hateful action takes place to be well ahead of the action before it occurs and to stop it. Our primary responsibility as the Department of Homeland Security is to protect the safety and security of the American people. And that means taking preventive actions before they occur of course.

CABRERA: Canada just announced today that the Proud Boys would be designated as a terrorist group there. Will you be considering ways to limit the Proud Boys here in the U.S.?

MAYORKAS: I think our focus is on actions that violate our social norms, that violate our laws, and to ensure that those violations don't occur. That is where our focus is going to be.

CABRERA: I want to turn to the topic of immigration because this is an issue that must be personal to you, as you mentioned at the top. Your mom's family fled the Nazis during the holocaust and settled in Cuba where you were born before of course, your family immigrated to the U.S. What does it mean to be the first Latino, the first immigrant to helm the Department of Homeland Security?

MAYORKAS: Ana, it is a privilege. It is an honor. And it is an awesome responsibility. It is an awesome responsibility to demonstrate not only from coast to coast and border to border, but around the world, what this nation can be and what it is. It is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

And I think the President's vision of adhering to our laws and adhering to our values and serving once again as a leader throughout the world, is a vision that I am extraordinarily proud to be a part of an executing.

CABRERA: President Biden just named you to lead a task force to reunite families who were separated at the border during the Trump administration as far back as 2017. And as of last month, there are still hundreds of children who have not been reunited with their families, with their parents. How hard will it be to bring these families back together? Do you have a clear sense yet of just how many families need to be reunited? MAYORKAS: Ana, however hard it is, we will get the job done. I was sworn in as the Secretary of Homeland Security yesterday. I had the privilege of being in the company of the President of the United States. And the President articulated yet again, the urgency and the priority of this mission. The cruelty of the prior administration has come to an end. And now we will demonstrate to the world what we as Americans are.

CABRERA: What was it like for you, on a personal note, to hear the cries we all heard on the tape of the children who were being taken from their parents and their family members?

MAYORKAS: Ana, I am father, I am a husband, I am a son, I am a brother, I have not heard before a pain as acute and heartbreaking as that. And it is our commitment to make sure that pain is not felt again.

CABRERA: President Biden has also launched a review of Trump immigration initiatives, including that remain in Mexico policy. We've been speaking with immigrant advocates who say they don't have answers for their clients who are stuck in limbo at the border. When will those people trapped in life or death situations in some cases get answers?

MAYORKAS: We, Ana, are addressing that with a due urgency as well. The President has articulated clearly that the policy will come to an end and we are tasked with the obligation of operationalizing effectively, intelligently, and carefully the end to that policy. And we are looking at that as recently as earlier today. I myself was involved in those discussions, the urgency of that also cannot be overstated.

[17:50:01]

CABRERA: You use the word empathy. President Biden says it's time to reestablish America's reputation as a haven for people in need. How do you make sure you're doing that, but not unintentionally giving a green light to migrants attempting to cross the border illegally, because there was a huge surge at the southern border when you were deputy DHS Secretary under President Obama?

MAYORKAS: Ana, this returns to the core principle that I articulated earlier, which is, we are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants. We used to lead the world in our stature as a country of refuge. And we will once again lead the world in that regard. We have asylum laws that provide humanitarian relief.

Those who qualify under those laws are entitled to the relief that we extend. Those who do not, will not be able to remain in our country. And we can effectively implement both responsibilities and both opportunities to be both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. That's our core and fundamental obligation.

CABRERA: One of the biggest threats facing everyday Americans today is the pandemic. You oversee FEMA, which is supporting vaccination sites right now providing financial assistance and federal supplies to state and local governments. What does that effort look like? And what more can FEMA and DHS do to increase the number of people getting vaccinated?

MAYORKAS: So this is, again, a significant priority of ours. We as you well know, we have many priorities and because of the talent and dedication of our workforce, we're going to execute on all of them effectively. And the vaccination effort, the bold vision that the President has outlined is but one example of the responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security and the fulfillment of those responsibilities.

Under Bob Fenton's able leadership, the Acting Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management administration, we are setting up vaccine centers throughout the country.

The President outlined the goal of 100 centers in 30 days, and we are well underway. The President outlined an effort to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days, FEMA has dispensed $1.7 billion to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to assist them in that effort. This is an all of government, all of community effort. And we are proud to play a pivotal role in defeating this pandemic once and for all.

CABRERA: We've talked about the domestic security threat. I also want to ask you about an emerging foreign threat to U.S. national security right now. The Russian hack of the U.S. government and American corporations has been described as the modern-day cyber equivalent of Pearl Harbor. And now there's evidence the Chinese have exploited the same vulnerability. What will it take to recover from this attack and to secure the country's cyber infrastructure?

MAYORKAS: Ana, there is no better catalysts, regrettably, for swift and decisive and bold action than an adverse event, which the solar winds hack, the very sophisticated cyberattack that you referenced is.

And we, as a government, working with Congress, are taking a look at what additional funding can be provided to enhance the security and safety of our federal infrastructure, and our federal information systems, and to work with the private sector in a public private partnership to strengthen the hybrid hygiene of critical infrastructure throughout the United States of America.

In the cyber arena specifically, there's a saying that we're only as strong as our weakest link. And we need to strengthen our weakest link to make sure that we as a nation are safe and secure from these pernicious attacks by our adversaries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Now, Mayorkas steps into this role with a lot of experience in the Department. He was Deputy DHS Secretary, as we mentioned, in the Obama administration. Prior to that, he was also the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Some of his predecessors have noted all that experience means he needs no on the ground training. He's also a former federal prosecutor.

But it's his personal story that his supporters say really sets him apart. His mother is from Romania and fled fascism. Several of his Jewish relatives were killed in the holocaust. They landed in Cuba, where his family then experienced communism under the Castro regime.

He knows what it feels like to come to America in pursuit of Democratic ideals and a better future. And that's really what's driving him and his mission to protect the United States from threats abroad and within, Wolf.

[17:55:13]

BLITZER: Excellent, excellent interview, Ana, really moving and you can see how moved, he was talking about his own family experience and how that's impacting his new role as the Secretary of Homeland Security as a child of holocaust survivors. So it has a deep, deep meaning allowed to come to the United States from Cuba after the war, start a new life. It was very, very powerful indeed. Thank you so much, Ana, for bringing us that interview.

CABRERA: Thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.

There's more breaking news we're following. We're learning new information right now about the House GOP meeting, as the divided party considers consequences for one lawmaker who voted to impeach former President Trump and another lawmaker who's made extremist comments spread conspiracy theories and lies.

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