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The Situation Room
Interview With Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); Biden Blasts Governors Eliminating COVID Restrictions; Right-Wing Extremists Planning Another Attack?; Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) Not Going To Resign Amid Harassment Allegations, Apologizes For Actions That Made People Feel 'Uncomfortable'; Report: Former White House Physician Jackson Made Sexual Comments, Drank Alcohol While Serving As White House Doctor. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 03, 2021 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:13]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
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 this hour.
The House of Representatives is scrapping its session tomorrow, and U.S. Capitol Police are on high alert for a possible plot to breach the U.S. Capitol in the hours ahead, this as we're learning new details about security failures during the deadly insurrection less than two months ago.
The D.C. National Guard commander telling senators it took the Pentagon over three hours to approve sending troops to the Capitol following a frantic plea for help by the Capitol Police chief.
Also tonight, President Biden is slamming what he calls Neanderthal thinking about COVID-19. He says Texas and Mississippi are making a big mistake by lifting mask mandates and other restrictions right now.
And in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is speaking out about allegations of sexual harassment. He says he's not resigning, but he is apologizing for acting in a way that -- quote -- "made people feel uncomfortable."
Let's go right to our justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider.
She's working on this important story for us.
Jessica, another potential threat, hard to believe, to the U.S. Capitol as we speak right now, as Congress continues to investigate the attack of January 6.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Wolf.
And we have just learned that the House has changed its voting schedule because of these threats. Members will stay late tonight, instead of coming back tomorrow.
And that's all after the joint bulletin from the FBI and DHS warning that violent extremists want to take control of the Capitol and remove Democratic lawmakers tomorrow. It comes as agencies are being told to take these threats seriously.
And, today, the commander for the D.C. National Guard laid out this troubling timeline from January 6.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM WALKER, COMMANDING GENERAL, NATIONAL GUARD: I was frustrated.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The commander of the D.C. National Guard taking on top Pentagon officials, disputing their contention that the Guard was deployed to the Capitol at sprint speed, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told reporters Monday, according to The Washington Post.
WALKER: The approval for Chief Sund's request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense and be relayed to me by Army senior leaders at 5:08 p.m., about three hours and 19 minutes later.
SCHNEIDER: Walker said the call first came to him from then Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund around 1:49 p.m., minutes before riders broke into the Capitol.
WALKER: Chief Sund, his voice cracking with emotion, indicated that there was a dire emergency at the Capitol. And he requested the immediate assistance of as many available National Guardsmen that I could muster.
SCHNEIDER: But Walker couldn't deploy his forces without authorization from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of defense. And when Walker did ask for approval, he says he was met with resistance.
WALKER: The Army senior leaders did not think that it looked good, it would be a good optic. They further stated that it could -- it could incite the crowd.
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Was the issue of optics ever brought up by Army leadership when the U.S. D.C. National Guard was deployed during the summer of 2020?
WALKER: It was never discussed the week of June. It was never discussed July 4, when we were supporting the city. It was never discussed August 28 when we supported the city.
PETERS: Did you think that was unusual?
WALKER: I did.
SCHNEIDER: While the request for troops was going up the chain of command, Walker said dozens of his men and women were ready and waiting. PETERS: What would have been the impact of sending those 155 right
around that 2:00 time frame?
WALKER: That number could have made a difference. We could help extend the perimeter and help push back the crowd.
SCHNEIDER: Once the troops were finally deployed, they arrived within 20 minutes, well after the peak of violence. Today's hearing unfolded as the Capitol remains fortified, and intelligence officials are warning about a possible plot to breach the Capitol on Thursday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warning of increased chatter among extremists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threats are ongoing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: And now with these continued questions about the timeline of National Guard deployment, Republican Senator Rob Portman now wants former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to also testify, though no word yet on when or if they will appear before the committee.
But, Wolf, former Secretary Miller still has not spoken out about the details of that day.
BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thanks very much.
Let's discuss with CNN's chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. He's a CNN senior law enforcement analyst. Jessica is sticking around to help us appreciate what's going on as well.
You know, Andrew, these plots targeting Congress tomorrow, tomorrow, stem from this re bizarre, crazy QAnon conspiracy.
[18:05:04]
How do you assess this threat level right now? Because, as you heard, the House of Representatives was supposed to be in session tomorrow, but out of an abundance of fear right now, they have decided they won't be in session tomorrow.
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: An abundance of fear, Wolf, or an abundance of caution.
And I think, in light of our experience on January 6, it's entirely appropriate for Congress and our law enforcement authorities to take this information with an abundance of caution.
I don't think it's likely that anyone has high confidence that a mob of QAnon supporters are going to attack the Capitol tomorrow, but the mere prevalence of the chatter, the talk about it, the specific date that's been used, these are all good indicators that law enforcement and intelligence use to make a decision to communicate that sort of threat to the folks that might be hurt and give them an opportunity to protect themselves.
That's exactly what didn't happen on January 5.
BLITZER: Yes. And the big difference right now, if they are thinking of attacking the U.S. Capitol -- and let's hope they're not -- there are, what, still about 5,000 heavily armed National Guard troops all around the Capitol Complex. If they want to take up with them, they're going to be in big, big trouble.
Gloria, the House actually moved up a vote tonight so they won't be in session tomorrow. The lawmakers, they're nervous right now. They're returning -- they returned to work obviously after the January 6 attack.
But, as you and I know -- and we have seen it -- the U.S. Capitol today is not what it used to be.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. No. It's a fortress.
And I think, once burned, twice shy, as Andy McCabe was just saying. You saw what happened on January 6. They don't want to give that an opportunity to happen again. And I think they're being really cautious here. And I don't blame them for doing so.
I gather the Senate is still going to be voting. But I think the House is saying, look, if we could get our work done tonight, we're going to try and get our work done tonight. And why shouldn't they? They were victimized on January 6. They remember it.
And they don't want to go through it again. And they have to pay attention to the notices they're getting from the Capitol Police.
BLITZER: You know, Jessica, the -- this will be a test of whether lessons have actually been learned since January 6.
I know you're doing a lot of reporting on this. Isn't that right?
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
And I think Andy alluded to it. We're seeing these lessons learned in real time, because the chatter that these intelligence officials are seeing, they are taking this very seriously. And new tonight, Wolf, we're actually learning that DHS officials, they held a call today with state and local law enforcement officials all over the country.
And their message was this. They said, you need to change the way that you interpret this information. Rather than just looking at whether something, is it a specific and credible threat, you need to look at this information that we're distributing and maybe change your security posture, change the way you're organizing your force.
We heard from Yogananda Pittman. She said earlier this week that even if they had gotten some of those details in that FBI bulletin, they wouldn't have changed the way they operated. And DHS is saying tonight, that's the wrong approach here. You need to take all of these threats and all this chatter pretty seriously. And we're seeing that at the Capitol tonight, Wolf.
BLITZER: She's the Capitol Police chief, Pittman.
We got new details, Andrew, on the January 6 response during the testimony today. There was this delay -- this is hard to believe -- more than three hours in deploying the National Guard. The commanding general was constrained in what he could do without permission. There was a discussion of -- quote -- "optics."
They were nervous about how it would look on January 6 if National Guard troops went up to Capitol Hill. What does that tell you?
MCCABE: Really fascinating testimony today, Wolf.
And there are really two issues at play there. First, there was a quick reaction force of National Guardsmen, which is typically available to the commander and which had been basically held back. On the 5th, he was instructed by his -- by the secretary of the Army that he did not have authority to deploy that force as needed. That slowed them down.
And also he didn't have the authority to redeploy the National Guardsmen who were out doing things like traffic control. It's inexplicable to me, Wolf, because this community of law enforcement and military that's charged with protecting the Capitol and D.C. is very highly integrated.
The relationships are well-built. I'm sure they had a very well- developed plan in place for the inauguration, which was just two weeks later. So, why they went into this event with such a low security posture is an enduring question and one that we really need to get to the bottom of.
BLITZER: You know, Gloria, it emerged today the former Vice President Mike Pence, as we all remember, he was actually targeted in that Capitol attack.
But, today, he's now saying in this op-ed that he wrote that he shares the concerns of millions of Americans, in his words, about the integrity of the 2020 election. He claims that there were significant voting irregularities. The FBI director says that's not true.
[18:10:15]
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are not aware of any widespread evidence of voter fraud, much less that would have affected the outcome in the presidential election.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Former Attorney General Bill Barr said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."
So, why is Pence now signing off on this conspiracy theory that led to the Capitol siege, even though he presided over a joint session of Congress to certify that Biden won in the Electoral College?
BORGER: OK. Let's make this clear. Disinformation and lies about election fraud threatened Mike Pence's life directly.
People were there in the hallways of the Congress screaming, "Hang Mike Pence." There was a noose outside. They were going after him. Now he writes this op-ed. And I think it's kind of the official pivot for Mike Pence. He can't sign on totally to the rigged election, because we know where he was on certification. He didn't do what Donald Trump wanted him to do.
But here comes the pivot. OK, I'm not going to say it's a rigged election. But what I can say is that, in the future, we have to make sure that we don't allow -- we increase voter restrictions, so that we make sure that the so-called irregularities, of which there were next to none, and they were enacted because people needed to find a way to vote during the pandemic, i.e., absentee ballots -- so he's kind of saying, OK, we have to make sure that you vote in the right way next time.
And that's how he's going to try to walk around this, so he has a political future.
BLITZER: All right, guys, everybody, stand by. There's more news we're following as well.
Let's go over to the White House right now, where President Biden is criticizing states that are lifting COVID-19 restrictions and compromising on who will get COVID relief checks.
Our chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is over at the White House for us.
The president, Jeff, has been continuing a sales pitch for COVID relief tonight. Update our viewers on the latest.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, just a few moments ago, President Biden finished speaking with House Democrats, urging them to stay united on this $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending bill.
He also said there are going to be some small compromises along the way, including tonight, we are learning, a limited number of checks being paid out to high-income Americans in those stimulus payments. Now, as the White House is keeping its focus on Capitol Hill, President Biden had strong words today for leaders of Texas and other states opening quickly. He called it Neanderthal thinking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanks for coming in.
ZELENY (voice-over): President Biden striking a compromise tonight with moderate Democrats to limit the Americans eligible fire stimulus check in hopes of pushing the COVID relief bill across the finish line.
As the Senate begins debating the measure, the White House agreeing to more narrowly target the spending on those most impacted by the economic fallout. Under the plan, people earning more than $80,000 or household incomes over $160,000 would no longer get a $1,400 check.
BIDEN: These masks make a difference.
ZELENY: In the Oval Office today the president blasting officials in Texas, Mississippi, and other states that are lifting all COVID-19 restrictions.
BIDEN: The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters.
ZELENY: But the White House is focusing considerable attention on Capitol Hill, trying to carefully thread a political needle of addressing the concerns of moderate Democrats without alienating progressives.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What he has been firm on is that the package needs to be large enough to meet the scope of the twin crises we're facing, COVID and the economic downturn.
ZELENY: But the bottom line is that some Americans who receive the assistance under President Trump may not in the Biden administration.
PSAKI: He has been firm on the importance of the $1,400 checks going out to Americans. And he has fought for that tooth and nail. And that is a bar for him. And he has also been firm on the thresholds at which Americans should receive those checks.
ZELENY: Tonight, the president speaking virtually to House Democrats, trying to impress upon them the importance of keeping their coalition united to pass the legislation that not a single Republican is expected to support.
BIDEN: A diverse caucus isn't a divided caucus. Staying unified as we complete this process of passing the American Rescue Plan won't just make a difference in our fight against COVID-19 and our efforts to rebuild the economy. It will also show the American people we're capable of coming together for what matters most to them.
[18:15:12]
ZELENY: A day after pledging to have enough vaccine for all Americans by the end of May, the president urged caution in the weeks ahead. He warned other states against dialing back restrictions too quickly. BIDEN: It's critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow
the science. Wash your hands, hot water. Do it frequently. Wear a mask and stay socially distanced. And I know you all know that. I wish the heck some of our elected officials knew it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: And we are learning tonight now the Senate debate will not begin this evening. In fact, it will not begin until tomorrow at the earliest.
The cost estimates, those technical estimates are still not in tonight, Wolf. So our Capitol Hill team is learning that this debate is not going to happen until tomorrow, at the earliest. But, again, some Republicans are calling on -- or demanding, rather, the reading of this entire bill.
So this bill now will not pass at the earliest, if it does, until the weekend most likely.
BLITZER: The bill is, what, 600 pages or so.
ZELENY: Indeed.
BLITZER: And they say it could take 10 hours to read that.
ZELENY: Right.
BLITZER: Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thank you very much.
Just ahead, I will speak with the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Senator Mark Warner. There you see him. I will ask him what he's learning about these possible plots to attack the U.S. Capitol tomorrow.
And did Governor Andrew Cuomo's newest apology do anything to ease the political crisis he's facing over sexual harassment allegations?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:28]
BLITZER: We're following breaking news on a potential threat to the U.S. Capitol tomorrow.
The House of Representatives opting to cancel a session and reschedule a key vote for tonight, after confirmation of the possible plot.
Let's discuss with Senator Mark Warner. He's the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Senator, thanks so much for joining us.
What do we know? What do you guys know about these possible plots targeting the U.S. Capitol, linked to this crazy conspiracy theory about March 4? SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Well, Wolf, first of all, the intelligence
that I have seen that's now been released to the press, it's, I think, a bit of an overabundance of caution. At least, I'm hopeful.
Your viewers may wonder, why March 4? That was the historic moment of inauguration. And some of these slightly crazy folks are believing -- I don't know whether the former president is going to materialize or they are going to have some other action where things will dramatically change.
That being said, we have to take this notion seriously. Let me be clear that there is a great deal of enhanced security around the Capitol. We have fences. There are still National Guard troops. There's a level of security that I hope and pray will not have to continue much longer.
We have not seen any evidence of accumulation of crowds coming into the city. And this mostly seems to be Internet chatter.
But, that being said, Wolf, we need to realize that domestic violent extremists, the kind that attacked the Capitol on January 6, didn't start then. They didn't start simply when Donald Trump. Close to four years ago in my state, in Virginia, some of your viewers may remember the Unite the Right Rally, where people were again killed due to these kind of domestic violent extremists.
These organizations, the FBI have called out for the last couple of years as being a domestic threat.
I believe in many ways they didn't get the attention that was warranted because we had a White House that wanted to turn a blind eye to this kind of threat. And it begs more often the question why we're still disappointed with both the DHS and FBI testimony today, where they're still talking about what they hope to do in the future in terms of looking after these groups, going to outside experts, going to what we call in the intelligence world open source materials to do a better job of monitoring.
The fact that we're still talking about ramping up their surveillance now, years after this threat is out here, leaves me more than a little bit concerned.
BLITZER: Yes, yesterday, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, he said these rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, he called it domestic terrorism.
The head of the D.C. National Guard testified today that it took more than three hours for the Pentagon to actually deploy the National Guard troops, who were ready to be deployed on January 6, that it was very unusual that he would need permission, that Army leaders were worried about what he described as -- quote -- "optics. "
Did politics influence their response?
WARNER: Wolf, I don't know the answer to that. I do know that having been in contact with the FBI leadership the day
before, on January 5 and throughout January 6, it sure seemed to me more than a little fishy in terms of how the White House was reacting.
We have now seen evidence, clearly, that the then President Donald Trump didn't give a hoot about the not only safety and security of all the members of Congress, but, quite honestly, of his own vice president, of Vice President Pence, who, if the marauders and insurrectionists had taken a different turn, they might have come upon Donald Trump -- or come upon Mike Pence, the very individual that the crowd had been rallied into saying "Hang Mike Pence."
So I would not be surprised if there was delays coming out of that White House, or not at least any kind of attention to detail about getting the troops, getting the relief to the Capitol that day.
It is all the more reason why I think we need the kind of 9/11-style independent commission, frankly, not made up of members of Congress. It ought to be broadly bipartisan. Frankly, we ought to even have -- both parties ought to be able to, in a sense, almost exclude a couple of members that they -- if they were too far outside the boundaries.
[18:25:01]
It ought to be former members, not current members, because until we get a trusted, full accounting of what happened on January 6, and then have committees like mine, the Intelligence Committee, not in an effort to kind of go after Donald Trump, but to go after this ongoing threat of domestic violent extremists, until we look at them, realize that many of these groups have connections and ties to anti-government extremists in Europe, that, oftentimes, these groups are also, at least on the Web, encouraged by entities coming out of Russia, this is a problem that's not going to -- it didn't start January 6.
It's not going to go away tomorrow. We need to give it the level of serious attention that it deserves.
BLITZER: We got to learn the lessons, so it doesn't happen again.
Senator Warner, thanks so much for joining us.
WARNER: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Just ahead, we're getting new reaction to Governor Andrew Cuomo's apology. What will it mean for his defense against the sexual harassment allegations?
And will the lifting of COVID restrictions in Texas help trigger a new surge? We're going to discuss the science and the governor's defiance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
BLITZER: Tonight, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is rejecting calls for his resignation while trying to address the outrage he's facing over allegations of sexual harassment. CNN National Correspondent Brynn Gingras has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New York Governor Andrew Cuomo apologizing amid allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted advances from three women.
CUOMO: It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it. And frankly, I am embarrassed by it. And that's not easy to say. But that's the truth.
GINGRAS: The governor also making it clear he's not going anywhere.
CUOMO: I'm not going to resign.
GINGRAS: And denying claims of inappropriate behavior.
CUOMO: I never touched anyone inappropriately. I never touched anyone inappropriately.
GINGRAS: Cuomo's appearance the first time we've seen him since the women came forward with their claims all in the last week. Two of the accusers are former members of Cuomo's staff. A lawyer for Charlotte Bennett, who says the governor asked her personal questions about her romantic life, not buying Cuomo's apology, saying his press conference was full of falsehoods and inaccurate information.
The governor repeatedly said he had no idea he made anyone uncomfortable. My client, Charlotte Bennett, reported his sexually harassing behavior immediately to his chief of staff and chief counsel. We are confident that they made him aware of her complaint.
A third woman, Anna Ruch, told The New York Times she met the governor at a wedding reception in 2019. She says the governor asked if he could kiss her. Their encounter seemingly captured in this photo taken by a friend.
CUOMO: You can go find hundreds of pictures of me kissing people, men, women. It is my usual and customary way of greeting. However, what I also understand is it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter my intent. What it matters is if anybody was offended by it.
STATE SEN. ALESSANDRA BIAGGI (D-NY): It's really important for us to be able to hold our own accountable.
GINGRAS: New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi saying she would like to see the governor resign. So would a few of her fellow state Democrats. The state majority leader not going so far, responding to Cuomo's apology on CNN.
STATE SEN. ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS (D-NY): He's saying that nothing inappropriate happened. If the investigation shows something inappropriate did happen I think he would have to resign. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS (on camera): And now the investigation, Cuomo says he will cooperate with that investigation and he asked all New Yorkers today to hold judgment until the findings are released. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Brynn, thank you very much, Brynn Gingras in New York for us. Let's get some more on all of this, CNN Senior Legal Analyst, former Federal Prosecutor Laura Coates is joining us. What's your reaction, Laura, to what we heard today from the governor?
LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's very difficult to maintain a presumption of innocence in the court of public opinion. People will have their views about the sincerity of the apology, about the unequivocal statements. And, of course, it does open him up to the investigation, being able to test the very things he was so adamant that he did not do. For example, not touching anyone inappropriately or what he knew and whether he was aware that somebody was uncomfortable.
These are going to be parts of the different courses of action that will be taken and investigative routes by the investigators about when he knew, what he did, what he did about it, and of course what the other people in his administration were doing. It's not just going to be about the individual conversation but what happened afterwards as well.
BLITZER: The governor began his news conference today by noting that lawyers say he shouldn't say anything until this review is over but he said he wanted New Yorkers to hear directly from him. What did you make of that disclaimer?
COATES: Well, I mean, the right to be silent is easier said than done. It's a part of law and order we know. But we know in real-time with a politician like himself who held almost daily press briefings. People knew to be accustomed to hearing from the governor, to now be silent and only issue written statements can seem very vetting, can seem as though he is perhaps shielding himself from something, no matter how legally prudent it must be, there is the optics and the political optics at play here.
[18:35:08]
But as I say, he was very adamant.
One thing I did find surprising, that we normally have seen when you have somebody who is the recipient of the allegations has been that they will have an apology full of caveats and they will hedge and they will victim blame. You didn't get that sense here today. It hasn't satisfied the victims. It hasn't satisfied those who made -- are waiting to hear the full investigation as well. But there was something different about his statements here.
But, again, the investigation is about due process and I'm looking for the actual results of that and the meaningful opportunity for all parties to be heard. BLITZER: Laura Coates helping us understand what's going on. Thank you, Laura, very much.
Just ahead, new warnings from health officials about the lifting of COVID restrictions in Texas. Could the entire country suffer because of it? Stand by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
BLITZER: The Biden administration is raising red flags tonight about plans to lift COVID-19 restrictions in Texas and Mississippi. The president calls it Neanderthal thinking.
CNN National Correspondent Erica Hill has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We at the CDC have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions.
ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And yet the new plan in Texas, masks out, customers in.
JOANNA PEREZ, CUSTOMER: It's been a year. I think it's enough. You know, people can make their own decisions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we open the state on the 10th I'm telling you before the end of March, we're going to have problems.
HILL: New cases in Texas up 20 percent in the past week, skyrocketing 62 percent in Mississippi, with just announced similar rollbacks.
MAYOR CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA (D-JACKSON, MS): It is against the advice of our health experts and it is premature. No one celebrates victory in the third quarter.
HILL: Some of the nation's largest companies plan to keep mask requirements in place for customers and employees in both states.
While hospitalizations continue to decline nationwide and new cases in nursing homes are down nearly 90 percent in the past eight weeks, daily reported deaths still hovering around 2,000. The CDC's latest ensemble forecast projects as many as 47,000 additional lives could be lost in the next three weeks, making these shots all the more important.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is real hope.
HILL: J&J's single dose vaccine arriving at sites around the country today. New York City using its allotment to add more appointments at three sites, including Yankee Stadium and the Javits Center, allowing them to operate 24/7.
DAVE CHOKSHI, NEW YORK CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We have found that when we make it easier for people to access the vaccine, uptake has been strong.
HILL: Local pharmacies joining the effort.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of the older people don't trust to get a Kleenex and stuff but they trust the pharmacist.
HILL: As larger FEMA sites also come online. This one in Florida ready to administer 3,000 shots a day. Over 26 million people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated and more supply is coming. But --
WALENSKY: How this plays out is up to us. The next three months are pivotal.
HILL: All the more reason, experts say, to stick with what works.
DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: If you mask appropriately and do the best that you can to sort of physically distance, it's as powerful as the vaccine, frankly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL (on camera): Wolf, the CDC just updated its numbers. Now nearly 27 million people in this country are fully vaccinated. But what the CDC has not updated is its guidance on what people who are fully vaccinated can now do. We are expecting it this week. There was some hope it would be released tomorrow. But an official has just told CNN it's not coming tomorrow.
But what we do understand is that it will likely include guidance telling those who've been fully vaccinated to limit their social gatherings to small groups with other fully vaccinated people at home and when out in public continue to wear a mask and social distance. But, again, still no real guidance yet, official guidance from the CDC hopefully by the end of the week, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right let's hope. Erica, thank you very much.
We're joined now by the former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. Dr. Frieden, thanks so much for joining us.
You just heard the current CDC director reinforce the agency's position that now is certainly not the time to lift these restrictions, as they're doing in Texas and Mississippi right now. As a former CDC director yourself, what's your message to elected officials who are ignoring the concerns and the science?
DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: Well, hang in there. We're in a good place but we're not safe yet. We're rolling out the vaccine. You're seeing the vaccine already saving a lot of lives in nursing homes and other vulnerable populations. But our cases are still spreading at a high rate and the risk of variants is very real. So we need to hang in there a few more months so we can get to a much safer place. As one of your earlier commentators said, nobody should declare a victory in the third quarter.
BLITZER: Yes. You're absolutely right. We've gone this long, a whole year. A few more months we can go and continue the precautions.
A new CDC forecast, by the way, projects, and you just heard it in Erica's report, the U.S. could see 564,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths by the end of this month. Even though Americans are getting vaccinated every day and that's so, so good, so important, the threat of this deadly virus remains, right?
[18:45:04]
FRIEDEN: Absolutely. I do expect the death rate to fall substantially during the month of March because of vaccination. But we're talking about really big numbers. These are thousands of deaths a day. And even if it gets down to much less than that, it's still a deadly virus.
Even with vaccines rolling out, it would be the equivalent of a really severe respiratory virus, much less deadly but still severe.
Wolf, you asked about some of the Texas changes. I think you can make an argument about this business or that business being open. But it's indefensible to stop a mask mandate.
Mask mandate is not restricting anyone's liberty. Mask mandate means that you may not inadvertently spread virus to someone that results in someone's death. So there are certain things that we need to keep up and one of them is keep masking up.
BLITZER: Yeah. If you're walking around in a crowd and you're not wearing a mask, that is so, so selfish because you could be asymptomatic but you could be transmitting the virus, right?
FRIEDEN: Absolutely. And if you want to say, well, outdoors, there's very little risk, I think you can make that argument. But indoors, if you're going in to buy some groceries or buy something in a store and you're not wearing a mask even if the staff person is wearing a mask, they're not nearly as safe as they would be if both of you were masked up.
BLITZER: Yeah, just keep wearing those masks. They are so, so critically important.
Dr. Frieden, thank you so much for joining us.
FRIEDEN: Thank you.
BLITZER: Just ahead, the former White House doctor turned congressman on damage control right now after a truly stunning report about his conduct while he was responsible for the health of the president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:51:10]
BLITZER: Tonight, aides to Congressman Ronny Jackson are scrambling to contain the fallout from a truly blistering report about his conduct as White House physician. CNN was first to report the findings, including accounts that Jackson drank alcohol and was abusive on the job.
Brian Todd is joining us right now.
Brian, this report suggests Jackson abused his power while treating the most powerful of patients.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It strongly suggests those things, Wolf. The report cites accounts from 80 witnesses, the vast majority of home have jarring accounts of Dr. Jackson's behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. RONNY JACKSON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: Good afternoon, everyone.
TODD (voice-over): He was the person most responsible for the health of three presidents, but a scathing new report characterizes former White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, as a verbally abusive boss and as careless with substance use while on duty.
NORM EISEN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ETHICS CZAR: These are extremely serious findings from an ethics perspective.
TODD: The report, released today by the Defense Department's inspector general, alleges Jackson while serving as White House physician under Presidents Trump and Obama routinely screamed at subordinates, intimidated and belittled them, sometimes calling them idiots, lazy F- ers and Motherf-ers, and that he made sexual and denigrating comments about a female subordinate. The report citing a witness who alleged that during a 2014 trip to Asia, Jackson said to subordinate who was not present at the time had, quote, great T's and what a nice A, that he would like to see more of her tatoos.
On the same trip, the report cites witnesses saying Jackson pounded on a female subordinate's hotel door while drunk in the middle of the night. When she opened it, she alleges Jackson told her, I need you, I need you to come to my room.
Witnesses were concerned that Jackson was so loud at that moment that President Obama might be disturbed.
Dr. William Lang, former White House physician under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush worked with Dr. Jackson at the White House.
DR. WILLIAM LANG, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I led the hiring process for him and had the opportunity to work with him as a colleague and a subordinate for over a year, never did I see anything that I would have thought would lead to these kinds of behaviors.
TODD: The inspector general's report alleges Dr. Jackson routinely violated protocols for White House doctors drinking alcohol on presidential trips, that he appeared to be drunk on duty during at least one trip with Obama, and at least six witnesses, all of them medical personnel, told investigators that Jackson took the prescription-strength sleeping drug Ambien on long flights while on duty to provide care for government officials, including the president.
That witnesses said they were concern because Ambien often leaves users drowsy.
EISEN: If the president's physician is misusing alcohol or misusing Ambien on a presidential trip, and if there's a medical emergency, the doctor may not be able to provide medical services needed to help the president or to save the president. If that happened, it is extremely serious to our national security.
TODD: Jackson just elected in November as a Republican congressman from Texas told CNN in a statement Democrats are using the inspector general's report to rehash untrue attacks on his integrity, and, quote, I take my professional responsibility with respect to prescription drug practices seriously, and I flat-out reject any allegations that I consumed alcohol while on duty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Representatives for former president Trump have not commented to CNN about the latest release of the report, but when the allegations first came out about three years ago, Trump called them, quote, false accusations about a great man. A spokeswoman for former President Obama said Mr. Obama would not be commenting on the inspector general's report -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Brian Todd, excellent reporting.
[18:55:00]
Thank you very much.
And we'll have more news right after this.
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[18:59:10]
BLITZER: Finally tonight, we share more stories of people who died from the coronavirus.
Rose Asberry of Georgia was 60 years old. She raised six children with her husband Bruce. They had three of their own and took in her brother's three children following his death. She cared for her sister with Downs syndrome as well.
Lloyd McCaskill of North Carolina was 93. He was known as one of the last country doctors serving a rural, multicultural community and refusing to have segregated facilities back in the '50s and '60s. His grandson describes him as a legend who brought joy and laughter to those he healed.
May they all rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.
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 tweet the show @CNNSitRoom.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
