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The Situation Room
Biden Tries to Keep Democrats Unified; President Biden Touts Vaccine Production; Texans Facing Another Night of Record Cold, 14.9 Million Hit by Water Crisis after Power Debacle; White House Says, Backlog of 6 Million Vaccine Doses Due to Severe Weather; Trump Weighing Speech to Conservatives Next Week Amid GOP Feud; Justice Department Indicts More Oath Keepers Associates in Largest Insurrection Conspiracy Charged to Date. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired February 19, 2021 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:32]
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, nearly 15 million Texans are suffering, as the storm-battered state faces another night of record cold weather, after days without power. The big crisis now, severe water shortages that are impacting nearly half of Texas residents.
On top of that, the governor just confirmed 165,000 homes still do not have electricity, at least 50 deaths are confirmed in Texas and eight other states hit by the brutal winter weather. Snow and ice have also created a backlog of about six million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine nationwide.
President Biden acknowledged the weather slowdown as he toured a Pfizer vaccine plant in Michigan just a little while ago. This hour, I will get an update on the delays with a senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team, Andy Slavitt. He will join us live.
But, right now, let's go to our national correspondent, Ed Lavandera. He's in Dallas, which has been hit so hard.
Ed, so many Texans are struggling right now simply to get ahold of some drinkable water, as this weather nightmare continues tonight.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Wolf.
And at the end of what has been a miserable week in this state, we have learned that 26 people have died, most of those victims from hypothermia and exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning. And even though the temperatures are rising, the worst is not over, as millions of people will spend the weekend just trying to find water.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): A military plane transporting 84,000 bottles of water from California landed in Galveston, Texas. Thousands of people are driving through massive food and water distribution sites in Houston and San Antonio.
SYLVIA HILL, TEXAS RESIDENT: I don't think any of us was expecting this, for it to be like this. So it's all about survival right now, until it start getting warm.
AALIYAH DIEW, TEXAS RESIDENT: No water. It's real bad. And I have a 7- year-old. And it's like -- it's tough.
LAVANDERA: Some 16 million Texans are battling water disruptions, as more than 1,200 public water systems across the state are fighting to fix disruptions caused by the winter storm and power grid failure.
The worst of the Texas freeze is over. State officials say the power grid emergency is now under control.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We want to make sure that whatever happened in ERCOT falling shot never happens again.
LAVANDERA: Governor Greg Abbott is now calling on state lawmakers to pay for power plant weatherization upgrades.
ABBOTT: To ensure that all the machinery that froze up and was unable to generate the power you need, that may require funding. The state of Texas should step up and provide that funding.
LAVANDERA: There are still tens of thousands of people without power in Texas but getting those people back online will require utility crews to repair damage inflicted by the historic winter storm. And that could take several more days to repair.
BILL MAGNESS, CEO, ERCOT: I really want to acknowledge just the immense human suffering that we saw throughout this event. When people lose power, there are heartbreaking consequences.
LAVANDERA: Seven people around the town of Abilene died from weather- related causes. A volunteer found an elderly couple in their home. It was 12 degrees inside.
CANDE FLORES, ABILENE, TEXAS, FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: They had been reluctant to leave their home. And so, it was 24 hours later, she went back to take them food, and found the husband deceased in bed.
LAVANDERA: As if battling a massive power outage and in temperatures wasn't enough, residents like Melissa Webb in the San Antonio area apartment complex could only watch as fire destroyed their homes.
MELISSA WEBB, FIRE VICTIM: I haven't been able to go to work all week long. And now anything that we have in there is gone.
QUESTION: As the water pressure was, as you mentioned, the...
LAVANDERA: Part of the building collapsed as a reporter interviewed a firefighter. Frozen fire hydrants and failing water supply hampered efforts by firefighters to put out the flames.
Cities are battling crisis after crisis. Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano says his city's wastewater system was knocked offline for an hour this week, which sent sewage seeping into some low-lying parts of the city.
MAYOR BRUNO LOZANO (D-TX), DEL RIO: This is something that it's beyond historical, beyond unprecedented. It's a chain reaction of worst-case scenario of worst-case scenarios.
LAVANDERA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has renewed calls for an investigation of ERCOT, the agency that runs the state's power grid system, and has also called for its executives to resign.
[18:05:06]
Bill Magness, the CEO of ERCOT, answered those questions on CNN.
QUESTION: How can you keep your job after a week like this?
MAGNESS: We're going to go and explain the steps we took and how that played into the entire situation on the electric grid. If that's the outcome, that's the outcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, Wolf, talking about weatherizing power plants across the state has become an in vogue and popular position this week.
But many critics of state officials here this week have been saying that state lawmakers and statewide officials have had many opportunities over the years to do just those things. And they're wondering why it took a catastrophe like this week to make it popular once again -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, it's awful, awful.
Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.
Let's go to the CNN Severe Weather Center right now. Our meteorologist Jennifer Gray is joining us.
Jennifer, how much longer will this winter misery last for Texas and indeed for other parts of the country?
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're right.
Well, we're starting to warm up. We do have one more night where temperatures are going to be in the deep freeze. As just like Ed said, the domino effect of what happened because of the weather is far from over.
But we will be warming up in the coming days. You can see temperatures right now, 51 in Houston. We're still in the 30s in Dallas, the 30s in Shreveport. We do have a hard freeze warning and place for tonight, so one more night a very cold temperatures. We could actually break more than 30 cold temperature records tonight. But after that, things will get much, much better.
Look at the high temperatures tomorrow, almost 60 degrees in Houston, 46 in Dallas, 54 in Austin, looking better, almost 60 degrees in San Antonio. This is what's left of the system. We still have snow for some of the big cities in the Northeast, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, starting to wind down, as this system says goodbye to the U.S.
And look at this, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, nothing on the radar. That is a beautiful sight this evening, finally getting rid of all of that snow.
Here is Dallas. Look at that almost, 70 degrees by the time we get to Thursday, 65 on Wednesday, so temperatures are looking much, much better across the board, Houston hitting 71 on Sunday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jennifer Gray, thank you very, very much.
Let's get some more on all of this.
Joining us now the Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
Judge Hidalgo, thank you so much for joining us.
I know, as we just heard, some progress has been made restoring power. But, clearly, you're by no means out of the woods, at least not yet. What are your top concerns right now?
LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, JUDGE: Right now, Wolf, it's the cascading effects from the extended power outages, first water.
About 3.3 million residents in Harris County have some sort of water issue, that's the Houston area. Either they have water, but they can't drink it because they're under a boil-water notice caused by low pressure, or their pipes have burst and they don't have any water.
The supply chains are catching up for grocery stores. But we're still waiting for that to happen. And, more broadly, folks are just exhausted. You know, folks are shell-shocked from what happened. They have been battered. They're barely beginning to recover.
And we're just beginning to learn the extent of the toll. The latest information I have is 10 hypothermia deaths in Harris County alone. We have got 600 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, other deaths as well from carbon monoxide poisoning, very frustrated and just exhausted residents. And they have been resilient.
They have been as tough as it gets. But it's a lot.
BLITZER: Harris County is the largest county in Texas, I think the third largest county in the country, population-wise.
How long will it take, Judge Hidalgo, to restore water and deal with all the damage from the pipes bursting?
HIDALGO: That's a challenging thing with the water, right, is we need to finish repairing those pipes. It may be still a few days.
And even when they get repaired, you have to wait 24 hours, because a sample of the water needs to be taken. When that pressure is down, bacteria seeps into the water. And so we have to wait, test it, and then you can lift the boil-water notices.
So, it's still going to be a few days. We're working with all our cities and our municipal utility districts to get that done. But it can't come to folks quickly enough.
And a lot of folks -- you can think, OK, well, maybe they could just go out and buy some water. But, as you heard, some folks are just -- they can't afford a lot of this right now, food, water, basic necessities. They have missed a week's work. They already were in a tough position because of COVID.
And now their roof has fallen in, their pipes have burst, they have all -- they're feeling these impacts. It's very much like a winter version of Harvey. It's not something you flip a switch on. Recovery is going to take a while.
[18:10:08]
BLITZER: I know you have asked the White House for additional assistance. So, what do you need? And have you gotten a specific response?
HIDALGO: I'm extremely grateful to the Biden administration. The state of Texas as well lead the advocacy on this.
And, of course, we were in touch with the Biden administration on the major disaster declaration that has been announced by -- reported on, now that the president will be issuing. So that, we hope, is going to provide some relief. We don't have the details. But the extent of the damage surely is into at least the tens of millions of dollars just for pumps alone is our estimate.
And then you have to think about all these people's homes who don't have insurance. We need support on food. If folks want to contribute, the Houston Food Bank is a great place to support. And just generally, these folks need -- deserve answers. They deserve answers.
After we appreciate how strong they have been, we need to ask, what went wrong? Why was the Texas grid not prepared? And what public policy decisions led to this? Because this, in many ways, was a manmade disaster. And the extent of the tragedy is not something we can simply overlook.
We have got to have answers and have changes.
BLITZER: I spoke with the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, and he told me he hasn't spoken with Governor Abbott yet. The governor hasn't called him. Have you spoken with the governor?
HIDALGO: I have spoken with the governor. Our teams have been in touch.
When disaster strikes like this, we have to work very closely to get resources here. The challenge, of course, is, the roads were impassable for a large part of this. And so, in many ways, we have been on our own. There are still requests we have made that we're waiting on.
And we understand other jurisdictions are pulling him in other directions, too. I mean, this has impacted all of Texas, because the grid was not prepared. And I do think the state needs to answer questions about what kind of oversight, or lack thereof, there was.
But, yes, we have been in touch, and especially in touch around the federal disaster declaration that we know we needed for the state.
BLITZER: You got that from the federal government, from the president and the White House.
All right, Judge Lina Hidalgo, good luck to you. And good luck to everyone in Harris County right now. We will stay in touch. Thank you very much for joining us.
HIDALGO: Thank you.
BLITZER: Just ahead: President Biden says he's optimistic that every American will be able to get a COVID vaccine by this summer, but he won't say when life will return to normal.
Plus: What's the Biden administration doing to tackle vaccine delivery delays amid this historic winter storm? I will discuss that and more with Andy Slavitt. He's a senior adviser to the president's COVID response team.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:16:42]
BLITZER: Tonight, President Biden is reminding Americans that he's hopeful we will get back to a more normal way of life by the end of the year. But he stresses he can't make a firm commitment on that, given so many unpredictable factors in this pandemic.
Let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Phil Mattingly.
Phil, the president toured a vaccine plant in Michigan just a little while ago.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf, using that backdrop to tell what the administration views as a clear success in the uptick in vaccinations week over week since they took office.
But there's also a reality here. One, President Biden acknowledges there is a long path ahead, and it's uncertain just how quickly things will fully get better.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): We're going to beat this. We're going to beat this. MATTINGLY (voice-over): Tonight, President Joe Biden touting the one
thing that can bring in to the nightmare that is coronavirus.
BIDEN: If there's one message to cut through to everyone in this country, it's this: The vaccines are safe. Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and available. That's how to beat this pandemic.
MATTINGLY: Biden touring a Pfizer plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the largest in the company's network engaged in manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine.
BIDEN: I believe we will be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. God willing, this Christmas will be different than last. But I can't make that commitment to you.
MATTINGLY: While also pausing to recognize the cost, as the death toll nears 500,000.
BIDEN: That is almost 70,000 more than all the Americans who died in World War II over a four-year period.
MATTINGLY: And challenging Republicans who oppose his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan.
BIDEN: What would they have me cut? What would they have me leave out? Should we not invest $20 billion to vaccinate the nation? Should we not invest $290 million to extend unemployment insurance for the 11 million Americans are unemployed, so they can get by while they get back to work?
MATTINGLY: For Biden, a day spent straddling the dual challenges of domestic and foreign policy, the president in remarks to the Munich Security Conference putting an exclamation point on a dramatic shift in U.S. posture.
BIDEN: America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back. And we are not looking backward. We are looking forward together.
MATTINGLY: With subtle, but crystal-clear digs at his predecessor, as the White House seeks to reestablish America's closest alliances.
BIDEN: Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values. They're not transactional. They're not extractive.
MATTINGLY: Biden seeking to unify allies to confront clear challenges from China.
BIDEN: You know, we must prepare together for long-term strategic competition with China.
MATTINGLY: And ever-present Trump Russia.
BIDEN: Addressing recklessness, Russian recklessness, and hacking into computer networks in the United States and across Europe and the world has become critical to protecting collective security.
MATTINGLY: But also making clear the administration's through line, leading with diplomacy.
[18:20:05]
A prime example, Iran, where China and Russia will be crucial to next steps on the Iran nuclear deal.
BIDEN: That's why we said we're prepared to reengage in negotiations with the P5-plus-one on Iran's nuclear program.
MATTINGLY: With the U.S. taking a significant first step in opening the door to meeting with Tehran, while making negotiating priorities beyond the deal itself clear.
BIDEN: We must also address Iran's destabilizing activities across the Middle East.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And, Wolf, just a short while ago, we learned one of President Biden's key nominees, Neera Tanden, the nominee to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, was dealt a blow to her nomination when West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin said he would oppose her.
But now President Biden telling our colleague Kaitlan Collins just a short while ago he's standing by her. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Oh, I think we're going to find the votes to get her confirmed.
QUESTION: So, you're not going to pull her nomination?
BIDEN: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Wolf, no hesitation there.
But the reality for Democrats, the reality for this White House is, they are going to need Republican votes in order to get Neera Tanden across the finish line.
As of now significant, skepticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill they will get them, but the administration from the president on down making clear they're going to try over the course of the coming weeks -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, Phil Mattingly, at the White House for us.
Let's discuss with CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. Abby, as you know, in the last hour, I spoke to Senator Bernie
Sanders. He wouldn't actually commit to supporting Neera Tanden. President Biden made it clear he's not backing down.
Is her nomination, though, doomed?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't know that it's doomed just yet, because it's not clear that she has absolutely no Republican support.
But it certainly signals that it's in deep trouble. And we already knew that it would be, that her nomination was likely to be one of the ones that would have the harder time getting through.
And it's not surprising also that Bernie Sanders wouldn't commit to that, because a lot -- there has been a longstanding tension between Tanden and Sanders, and a lot of Sanders supporters who don't support the kind of advocacy that Tanden did when she ran the Center For American Progress.
So, that tension is real, and it's still there. But so many of Biden's other nominations have gotten some Republican support. I think the jury is still out on whether some of the more moderate Republican senators would be willing to vote for her, in the interest of giving the president his nominees, which is a principle that, for the Senate, a lot of senators have stood by for a long time.
BLITZER: Well, that's an important point.
Bakari, Senator Manchin of West Virginia, he's a moderate Democrat. He's also a key player in passing the president's COVID relief bill. He doesn't want that $15 minimum wage provision in the deal. How do you see this playing out?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I think that Senator Manchin still has some heartburn from Vice President Harris going to West Virginia and pushing him to support the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which he ended up voting for to go through the budget reconciliation process.
I was a little bit disappointed in Senator Manchin today, like many people, because Senator Manchin is the same person who supported Jeff sessions and many other Donald Trump appointees, but tweets of Neera Tanden, although she's brilliant, don't make her palatable?
And when you look -- when you talk about things like the minimum wage, I mean, you have a state like West Virginia where the governor of West Virginia, who is a Republican on some days, a Democrat on others, but the Republican governor wants to go further and bigger in terms of providing for the citizens of this country than Joe Manchin.
I don't have any problems with Joe Manchin. I think that we are a big tent party, the Democratic Party, but I hope that Joe Manchin starts to put the American people first, instead of trying to play this (INAUDIBLE) role, where he can fence-sit and choose which politics he wants to play on any given day. We need $15 minimum wage. And, of course, like I said the other night
to you, Wolf, I would want it today. But I understand that there are concerns about small businesses. I understand that there are concerns about low and small market cap businesses.
So, yes, adjust it over time, but there's no reason -- which Democrats are trying to sell -- but there's no reason for Joe Manchin to say no to a $15 minimum wage. But there was also no reason for him to vote for Jeff Sessions and not vote for Neera Tanden.
BLITZER: Abby, Senator Sanders also told me in the last hour it's not the White House that matters so much on this one when it comes to the $15 minimum wage. He says it's up to Congress to decide, the parliamentarian and others.
If it is included, though, in the bill, do you think it will pass?
PHILLIP: Well, I think this is where Joe Manchin starts to matter again, frankly.
And, as Bakari pointed out, Joe Manchin is signaling that he is going to be perhaps as serious as a problem for Joe Biden as many of the Republican senators on the other side of the aisle. And the -- in fact, the Tanden nomination is just a signal of things to come.
So, there are some real questions about whether a $15 minimum wage is something that Manchin would support. There's a question about whether mansion would support it not just because of the minimum wage issue, but also for the procedural reasons that he wants to make sure that they're not running afoul of the rules of the Senate by putting it in there.
[18:25:15]
And Bernie -- Senator Sanders is right that it is up to the Senate. It's up to the parliamentarian, but that decision and how Democrats push that is going to also factor into Manchin's decision-making in terms of whether he will ultimately support the bill.
So, it's really on a razor's edge right now, and that's why, in some ways, I think he's trying to send a clear signal to the Biden administration that they need to take his opposition and his concerns very seriously right now.
BLITZER: I quickly want to get your thoughts, Bakari.
As you know, while Democrats are debating among themselves, we're learning about some new Republican efforts, specifically in Florida and Georgia, to make it harder for people to vote. Is this building off of former President Trump's big lie?
SELLERS: It is building off the big lie, but this is something that Republicans, particularly in Southern legislatures, with the influence of organizations like ALEC, have been doing for years.
One of the things they're attempting to do in Georgia is prevent people from early-voting on the Sunday prior to election. And we all know down South that that's Souls to the Polls Sunday, when a large amount of black folk go to the polls directly after church.
There is definitely a racial impetus for doing this and keeping black folks from voting. Let's just be blunt about it.
But this also goes to show why this Democratic Party and their majority has to go big. We have to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, so that we will have some teeth in monitoring these discriminatory practices that these state legislatures are doing when it comes to voting rights.
BLITZER: All right, Bakari and Abby, guys, thanks very much.
An important note to our viewers. Be sure to watch Abby this weekend, as she anchors "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY" 8:00 a.m. Eastern only here on CNN. I'm a regular watcher myself.
Just ahead: How quickly will the vaccine rollout get back on track, after weather delays and other setbacks?
I will speak live with a top Biden adviser on the pandemic. There you see him, Andy Slavitt. He will join us live from the White House. We have got lots of questions.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
BLITZER: We're following the winter weather emergency in Texas as the state braces for yet another night of bitter cold. Tonight, nearly 15 million Texans are scrambling simply to find water as the crisis shifts from the power grid debacle to disruptions in the water supply. Frigid weather is causing serious problems across so much of the United States, including delays in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
We have more on that from CNN's Alexandra Field.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All 50 states now feeling the impact of the deadly winter storm. 6 million vaccine doses now delayed. Shipments of more than 700,000 shots to California alone still haven't arrived, creating a ripple effect and leaving people who need shots waiting.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We're working with provider network, complicated 1,100-plus providers in the state, a lot of increase -- a lot of calls, a lot of stress.
MICHELE ROBERTS, ACTING ASSISTANT. HEALTH SECRETARY, WASHINGTON STATE: We estimate more than 90 percent of this week's allocation will arrive late because of the weather out east. FIELD: Weather derailing every part of the process from vaccine manufacturing sites to distribution hubs, power outages across the country affecting as many as 13 vaccination sites. Until the power is back, they can't get new supplies.
But 1.4 million doses are final on the move again today. Health officials say UPS and FedEx will make Saturday and Sunday deliveries this week, and they're tasking states with making up for lost time next week.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): It appears that next week we're going to be trying to double up.
DR. MARC BOOM, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HOUSTON METHODIST: It will be a little slower than usual. But we'll catch up.
FIELD: The delays coming just as so many states across the country were starting to close the gap between doses received and shots in arms. 37 states now say they've administered more than 75 percent of what they've received. Four states are over 90 percent.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We've now got over 200 vaccine distribution sites. We're ready for more. We have been told to expect a significant increase.
FIELD: The latest estimates suggest the U.S. is in for a big increase in vaccines. If Pfizer and Moderna are able to provide what they've promised in the next three months, the U.S. should have three times as many shots on hand. New study suggests even a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine could be highly effective, but Dr. Anthony Fauci says just one is just too risky.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The reason is even though you can get a fair degree of, quote, protection after a single dose, it clearly is not durable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (on camera): And also, on the vaccine front, Dr. Anthony Fauci is saying tonight that we may have results by the fall from vaccine trials involving high school age students. That's when we would learn the safety data there, perhaps around the time that they're going back to school. Trials in younger students are following that though, so we aren't likely to have data from those trials involving elementary-age students until the first quarter of 2022, something so many families are waiting for. Wolf?
BLITZER: Certainly are, Alexandra Field reporting for us, thank you.
Joining us now, Andy Slavitt, he's the Senior Adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team. Andy, thank you so much for joining us.
I know you have said this weather crisis led to a backlog of about 6 million coronavirus doses. How does the administration plan to recover from these delays and when can you guarantee all of these vaccines will get to where they are obviously so desperately needed?
[18:35:08]
ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: Well, we had a good day today, thankfully, 1.85 million vaccines were administered today. That's a good sign. I talked to the governors and the weather folks around the country, but governors particularly in Kentucky and other places. Things are moving back to normal.
What it's going to mean though is next week, we're going to be shipping -- certainly next week, starting tomorrow, Saturday, we're going to be shipping more doses than states have ever received before because we're going to be shipping this week's doses and next week's doses.
We know this means for all the governors and all the states that have said we want more vaccines, that they're going to have to be ready, they're going to have to make more appointments, they're going to have to extend their hours. And we're really hoping everybody pulls together because the country together can get us back on track. And we're going to do our part by getting these vaccines out starting this weekend and over the next couple of days.
BLITZER: And when you say 1.8 million vaccines have been administered, you mean 1.8 million people actually got a shot? Is that right?
SLAVITT: Exactly, yes, 1.85 million.
BLITZER: Well, that's actually a huge number.
Researchers in Israel and Canada say a single dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is enough to significantly reduce disease. Should the Biden administration, do you believe, Andy, should it consider at least shifting to a one-dose model so that more people can get at least one shot of the vaccine?
SLAVITT: Although one thing that I have learned over the last year is to be careful with the single headline study reports. They're all interesting and promising, and sometimes they tell us what we want to believe and sometimes we have to look a little bit deeper.
I think the thing that Dr. Fauci told me and that the FDA told me about the Israel study that they're looking at is that in Israel, we already have a much higher degree of herd immunity than we have here in the U.S. So it's not surprising to see that kind of result. So they have to be able to understand that.
And I think as you reported, Dr. Fauci said, it's not a matter of whether or not the first vaccine has some effect but it's a matter of how durable it is. It is particularly a matter of how durable it is against these variants.
And he's quite confident, as are the other scientists I've talked to, that two doses of the mRNA vaccines, the Moderna and the Pfizer, are strong against to the variants and are strong against durability, one dose, not nearly as much. Bottom line is, the advice from the scientists continues to be get your second dose and, of course, as science goes, they'll continue to study the data, and if they learn something which causes them to change their mind, they'll do that, and we'll adjust our strategy accordingly, if that were to happen.
BLITZER: Once this third vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Andy, is authorized, we expect it to be authorized fairly soon, millions, millions more doses are immediately going to be added to the nation's supply. Should the states get rid of the priority system as a result and open vaccine access up to anyone who wants it to get more shots into arms as quickly as possible?
SLAVITT: Well, I don't think we're going to be quite at the point and say the vaccine were to be approved at the beginning of March, and that I'm not suggesting that it will be, but let's say it were, we won't be at that point yet where we are out of our shortage situation.
The J&J vaccine will continue to ramp. The data on the vaccine from a quality and an efficacy and a safety standpoint looks really good. We'll see if we can get that confirmed from the FDA. But I think we're still going to be in a situation for a little while, realistically, where states won't be able to open up the vaccine to just anybody. But hopefully that's not too long away either.
BLITZER: Can you give us a ballpark, when you say a little while, not too long away, how long do you think before the states open it up to everyone?
SLAVITT: Well, I don't want to give a false sense of precision. But you know, we obviously model these things all the time and some of it is dependent on how quickly people want to sign up for vaccines. Some of it is dependent upon how quickly certain groups sign up for vaccines. But certainly you can imagine a situation over the course of the spring, where things are opened up to more groups, if not, to everybody.
So we're talking about months, we're not talking about days or weeks. And we're certainly not talking about the back half of the year.
BLITZER: Let's hope the said Johnson & Johnson vaccine gets this emergency use authorization, because that's one shot as opposed to the two.
Pfizer now says, by the way, its vaccine can be stored in normal freezers up to two weeks. That would decrease reliance on those ultra- cold freezers. So when will the FDA approve these updated storage guidelines? How will it make it easier to get these doses distributed to every corner of the country?
SLAVITT: Well, I think the FDA -- I know they're looking at the data right now. I spoke to them today. I think they're going to be able to act on it soon.
[18:40:01] But there is one thing that I think is confusing that I want to make sure is clear, is the study was very specifically about the storage of the vaccine, not the transportation or the distribution of the vaccine, that we don't yet have data on. So it would, of course, be a very significant benefit to be able to store it at lower temperatures.
But we also have to -- it would be even better if we could learn that it could be transported at lower temperatures. And that we don't know yet.
BLITZER: As you know, there are other pharmaceutical companies, Merck, for example, being one of them, that are able to manufacture these complex vaccines. Is the Biden administration, Andy, considering requiring or somehow incentivizing Merck or other pharmaceutical companies to start manufacturing the Pfizer, Moderna or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, for that matter, to increase supply to the American people?
SLAVITT: Well, certainly, nothing to announce here. But I would tell you that every option is on the table. We are having conversations, good, collaborative conversations with everybody that has manufacturing capacity, pharmaceutical companies, contractor manufacturers, about all the potential combinations that would speed the amount of vaccines that come to the market, that come to the American public and that get produced. And everybody is being very collaborative. But we don't have any announcements on that front. But you know that the public should know that we're working on every possibility.
BLITZER: It certainly is a possibility. We also just heard from President Biden, and he stressed the safety of these vaccines. But this is so disturbing. One-third of U.S. military service members who are eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine have opted not to get the shot. Where is the messaging failing on this point? Because I'm a former Pentagon Correspondent, I'm really worried about this. How do you fix it?
SLAVITT: I remember that. I'm old enough to remember that. The -- so, look, the thing that I think is important is to try not to overreact or underreact to news about people on their first go-round deciding not to take the vaccine. There are indeed a number of people that want to just wait and see what happens when other people take the vaccine. That's a perfectly reasonable stance. And the good news is that we've given 55-plus million doses and, you know, we've had fewer than a hundred even temporary allergic reactions. So I think we can be -- I think confident that as more and more time goes on, more and more people will choose to take the vaccine.
And, of course, people also have legitimate questions, and it's important that if they have a legitimate question about the vaccine, they not be ostracized as being anti-vax or anything like that, but they may just want to have their questions answered. So our job, and you'll see us doing this in a much bigger way, particularly over the course of March when we have many more vaccines, is to have real communications, structured dialogue with people that they trust, straight answers, and then make sure that the disinformation, the disinformation, and the rumors don't play in.
That's why today Dr. Walensky from the CDC gave a very thorough report about the safety of the vaccine so far. And she will tell it like it is all the way through, and I think that will build trust.
BLITZER: And I think I speak to all of our viewers when I say, we're grateful to those Monday, Wednesday, Friday briefings that you guys have with Dr. Walensky, Dr. Fauci, Jeff Zients. They are so, so important, that we get specific scientific medical information. Andy Slavitt, thank you so much for what you're doing, thanks for joining us.
SLAVITT: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: As Republicans feud among themselves, former President Trump is considering his first big speech since leaving the White House. We've got new information.
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[18:48:08]
BLITZER: Donald Trump may be on the brink of announcing his first big speech since the end of his presidency. We're told he's considering whether to speak to members of the Conservative Political Action Committee, CPAC, next week.
Let's bring in two prominent Republicans, CNN's senior commentator and former Ohio governor, John Kasich, and CNN political commentator, former U.S. senator, Jeff Flake.
Jeff, is this what the Republican Party needs right now, to hear from Donald Trump at CPAC?
JEFF FLAKE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I think it's the last thing the Republican Party needs. It may propel a few primary candidates forward. But it's not going to help Republicans win general elections. Particularly in the states where, you know, the important elections are. So, no, it's not what we need at all.
BLITZER: John Kasich, what do you think, do you want to hear what the former president has to say?
JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Come on, Wolf, why do you ask me a question like that? You know what the answer is. You know, it's interesting, one of my friends pointed out, I don't know how we miss this at times.
But with Trump as the president, with his rhetoric and his division, Republicans lost the United States House. They lost the U.S. Senate. And they lost the White House. Now, that's three out of three, you know?
So they added some people to the court. I recognize that. That's for sure. But when you keep losing these races, it means that your message isn't working. It's really a message of division. It's a negative populism that pits
one group of people against another, blaming one group for the problems that somebody else has. That's why I didn't, for five years I objected to Donald Trump. So, no, we don't need to hear any more.
And I give a little credit to Mitch McConnell, I think his direction has been two things. One is, I don't know him very well, Jeff does, but Mitch is from Kentucky, and he understands what's appropriate in terms of our country.
[18:50:04]
It's sort of embedded in that.
And secondly, I think he wants a group of candidates who are going to be, you know, are going to be smart and positive and hopeful and not people who are going to be extreme that can't win. So I think it's a twofer for McConnell and he deserves some credit for this.
BLITZER: As you know, Jeff Flake, Senator Lindsey Graham is heading to Florida tomorrow to meet with Trump in order to try to ease tensions within the Republican Party. You know Lindsey Graham. You know him well. You serve with him for years.
Will he be successful in bridging this Trump/Mitch McConnell divide?
FLAKE: No, no, he won't. Donald Trump is going to do what he wants to do, and he's very upset at Mitch McConnell, and that's okay, as long as he doesn't dominate elections going forward. Mitch was burned badly by what happened in Georgia, all Republicans were. We lost two seats that we should have won, and lost them mostly because the president simply wouldn't accept his election loss, and wouldn't get beyond it.
So the notion that Trump is going to help Republicans in the Senate regain their majority is just laughable, and Mitch McConnell knows that.
BLITZER: You know, John Kasich, as you know, Lindsey Graham is now the third prominent Republican lawmaker to travel to Mar-a-Lago in the last three weeks. He likely won't be the last to make that trip to Palm Beach to meet with the former president, will he?
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: John Kasich, go ahead.
KASICH: I really don't. I can't -- yeah, I can't predict who will go down there, Wolf.
But, look, the Republican Party is in trouble, and I know that Jeff has tweeted about this, there's not the ideas on health care, the wealth gap, the environment, what we do with death. I'm not necessarily for these candidates, but I know I'm sure, again, the Democrats, I'm against them and I hear it all the time.
I mean, when I tell people that, you know, I knew Nancy Pelosi was always nice to me, they can't believe it. I mean, just normal people get so upset about it. And you cannot win elections over time by just being against somebody else.
And it isn't right anyway. That's sort of a cancel culture. If they don't think the way I think, let's cancel them out.
And, Wolf, that's not the way that you were raised, it's not the way I was raised, it's not, you know, it's not the way that Jeff was raised either. I mean, we have a right to disagree and have arguments, but that's all part of the ball game. That's part of being an American.
Some of the things I learned best was on the ball field, when we used to argue about whether the ball was fair or foul. But we love one another. So, in America, whoever you are, just don't turn off that person that doesn't happen to agree with you. Embrace them.
Remember, love your neighbor as you want your neighbor to love you, plain and simple.
BLITZER: Let me give Jeff Flake the final word. Go ahead.
FLAKE: No, there's nothing to be gained from doing this pilgrim pilgrimage. I don't think the president is going to be redeemed after what happened particularly on January 6th, and ever since the election happened. So, I think we can stop humiliating ourselves by going down there, and I hope we stop.
BLITZER: Jeff Flake, John Kasich, guys, thanks very much for joining us.
Just ahead, more associates for the far right group the Oath Keepers are charged in connection with the Capitol riot. We'll be right back.
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[18:56:29]
BLITZER: We're following breaking news in the investigation into the Capitol riot. Prosecutors are revealing new indictments against associates of the Oath Keepers militia group.
CNN's Brian Todd is joining us right now.
Brian, what are you learning?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that this means that six new defendants with alleged ties to the Oath Keepers now faced charges. We have new information tonight on how the Oath Keeps and another far right group the Proud Boys are under increasing pressure. Today, allegations of conspiracy against members of the far right militia group, the Oath Keepers, have expanded, adding six new defendants with alleged ties to the group.
Prosecutors have identified several alleged members of the Oath Keepers seen here entering the Capitol in formation in tactical gear, including Sandra Parker. Prosecutors have said members of the group coordinated and planned before the January 6 attack, and even during it. They believe one of the group's leaders that day was Jessica Watkins.
According to court documents, Watkins communicated on a walkie-talkie like app during the riot. Quote, we have a good group. We have about 30 to 40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan. Another voice says this is everything we f-ing trained for.
Watkins has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile tonight, Dominic Pezzola, the man seen breaking a window at the Capitol with the police shield on January 6, who the Justice Department says is associated with the far right extremist group the Proud Boys, seems to be distancing himself from the group. His lawyer saying his association with the Proud Boys was minimal. The lawyer indicates Pezzola is about to plead guilty, but his case files mention another witness who has cooperated with federal investigators to share details on the Proud Boys.
JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: People are going to start to crack and we are going to get more information. When things start to go down, people start to get charged, they all think about what's best for them.
TODD: Tonight, a source tells CNN Capitol police have told lawmakers that ominous looking razor wire fencing around the Capitol should remain in place, at least until September, due to lingering security concerns related to threats against members of Congress.
Some in Congress have clearly been unhappy with the fencing, eager for a return to normal.
REP. SCOTT DESJARLAIS (R-TN): It's really discouraging to see the razor wire, the fencing, the image that it sends to the world.
TODD: Weeks after the Capitol insurrection, law enforcement and homeland security officials are not reporting any credible, specific threats. But they're still tracking online chatter about potential violence in Washington and against members of Congress.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We know there's a clear and present danger that is facing these lawmakers. They're now become direct targets of anti-government and anti-establishment militia style extremists.
TODD: Now, military officials say nearly 5,000 National Guard troops will remain in Washington at least through March 12th.
LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We'll continue to assess the threats as we go forward, and decisions will be based upon, you know, what we believe is credible or not. My plan is not to keep them one day longer than is necessary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): Meanwhile, House investigators have received the first batch of documents they requested from the FBI and intelligence agencies related to security failures on January 6.
And get ready for more bombshells next week. That's when congressional committees will start to hold public hearings on the attack and we already know that former Capitol Hill Police Chief Steven Sund, and acting Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee plan to testify -- Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll be watching that closely.
Brian Todd, excellent reporting. Thank you.
And 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. You can always tweet the show @CNNSitRoom.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
