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Trump Puts Out Blistering Statement Attacking McConnell; Soon: Biden To Pitch Pandemic Relief Plan Directly To Public In CNN Town Hall; Leading House Dem, NAACP Sue Trump For Conspiracy To Incite U.S. Capitol Riot; U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 487,000 With 27.7 Million Cases As Country Sees Lowest Number Of New Cases Since October; Government Opens First Two Federally Administered Vaccination Sites. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 16, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:24]

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.

In just a few hours, President Biden will make his case for his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, speaking directly to the American people at the CNN presidential town hall, his first since taking office. All of this amidst the worsening economic crisis.

We're also following the first lawsuit against a former President Trump since he left office, a leading House Democrat and the NAACP now accused him in a civil suit of conspiring with far right groups to incite the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Let's begin our coverage this hour at the scene of tonight's CNN presidential town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is on the scene for us.

Kaitlan, this is President Biden's first official trip and first town hall since taking office.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is Wolf. It's his first domestic major trip where you're going to see he's actually interacting with voters here in Wisconsin as he is taking these questions. And the larger effort of this for the White House, if you talk to his top aides is to pitch that economic relief plan that he has been trying to sell to lawmakers in Washington and to governors and local officials. But now he is going to be taking it to voters directly here tonight answering their questions about that.

But Wolf, of course, there are other topics that are also going to come up including that promise from President Biden on the campaign trail to govern with unity, but also those questions about the vaccine distribution and what his administration is doing to ramp it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President is going to continue working on getting the American rescue plan passed. That is his top priority.

COLLINS (voice-over): Hoping to return attention to his COVID-19 relief bill, President Biden is hitting the road this week as he attempts to build public support.

PSAKI: This is an opportunity, as you noted to go out and have a conversation with the people of Wisconsin, people who agree with them people, who disagree with them.

COLLINS: At a CNN Town Hall and Milwaukee, Biden will pitch his plan directly to voters as he struggles to get Republican support, a decision the White House says they could come to regret.

PSAKI: I'm not sure what numbers Senator McConnell is looking at. But the American people have been clear what they're looking for. And if they make a decision, Republicans in Congress, Senator McConnell to vote against the will of their constituents, I would suggest you ask them why that's smart politically for them to do.

COLLINS: But Democrats are also still divided over what the final version of this bill should look like. Right now, it includes stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits, and a $15 federal minimum wage that has become a sticking point between moderate Democrats and progressives.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): So I'm going to fight as hard as I can. And I believe that we will succeed in including the minimum wage and the reconciliation bill.

COLLINS: President Biden has disagreed and predicted the wage increase may not make it into the final version.

PSAKI: He thinks it's a long past time to raise the minimum wage, but we'll let the process see itself through.

COLLINS: Today the Biden administration extended a federal moratorium on home foreclosures, while also expanding assistance for those who are behind on their mortgage payments because of the pandemic.

PSAKI: These critical protections were due to expire in March. But as part of today's announcement, the foreclosure moratorium and the mortgage forbearance enrollment window will be extended through June 30th.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, Biden's top health officials are raising new questions about when all Americans will be able to get a vaccine. Last week Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that would happen in April. But today, he changed that timeline.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That was predicated on J&J, the Johnson product having a considerably more doses than now we know they're going to have. So that timeline will probably be prolonged maybe into mid to late May and early June.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And Wolf, we should note that Democrats do not have long to resolve their differences when it comes to this coronavirus relief bill because the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told his colleagues today that they do expect to vote on that by the end of next week. That means it will be in the Senate's hands after that. They could have final passage of this by March 8 and that means it would be on President Biden's desk by the second weekend of March.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. All right, Kaitlan Collins on the scene, of course, in Milwaukee. Thank you very much.

And stay with CNN later tonight, our presidential Town Hall starts at 9 p.m. Eastern with Anderson Cooper moderating in Milwaukee.

[17:05:02]

There's more breaking news coming into the Situation Room right now. Former President Trump attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a statement he just put out. Let's go to our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.

Manu, a truly scathing rebuke of McConnell by the former president.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, completely excoriating the former Republican leader, or the current Republican leader of the Senate by the former president. A pretty remarkable attack against Mitch McConnell, who played a central role during Donald Trump's term in office pushing through his nominees, Supreme Court nominees.

And it was a key ally but a major falling out over Donald Trump's role in the run up to the January 6 riot in the Capitol in which Mitch McConnell went to the Senate floor and blamed and blasted Donald Trump over his role, his handling of the riot and said the president -- the former president bears moral responsibility for what happened.

And even raised the specter that Donald Trump could face legal jeopardy for everything that he did in the run up to the riot, even though Mitch McConnell voted to acquit Donald Trump in Saturday during the impeachment trial. But nevertheless, the former president out with a lengthy statement railing, Mitch McConnell.

I'll read you part of it here he calls Mitch -- he says "Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican senators are going to stay with them, they will not win again. He will never do what needs to be done or what is right for our country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First."

That last line critical, because what Mitch McConnell's aim is over the next year or so is to regain the Senate Majority that they lost in the -- after the January 5 runoff where two Democrats picked up those two seats leading to a 50-50. Senate that Democrats now control. Mitch McConnell has said that he wants to push for candidates who he views as electable, whether they're backed by Donald Trump or not.

But Donald Trump is making it clear here that he plans to engage and put himself in the middle of these Senate primaries, making it a loyalty test of sorts between Donald Trump, the former president, his policies as well as Mitch McConnell. So we'll see how that plays out in key states where Republicans are eager to take back the Senate.

And Wolf the question too, for Mitch McConnell is how does he respond? He has not backed down from his criticism of Donald Trump, writing in the "Wall Street Journal" over the weekend, "There's no question former President Trump bears moral responsibilities. His supporters stormed the capital because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world's largest megaphone. His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable. But impeachment is not some final moral tribunal."

He also Wolf blames Donald Trump for his suggestion, his conspiracies that the election was stolen and rigged as a reason why they lost in Georgia. So a lot of blame going around here. But tonight, a scathing rebuke by the former president against the most powerful elected Republican who's currently an officeholder here in Washington. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a really amazing. I just read the statement that the former President put out, Manu. Among other things, he gets very personal in attacking McConnell. He says Mitch is a dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack. And if Republican senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again.

He then rails against Mitch McConnell, he says he's no -- he has no credibility on China because of his family's substantial Chinese business holdings. How's this going to play with Republican senators?

RAJU: Well, I think Republican senators, as they've done for four years with Donald Trump when he was president, was to ignore the Trump controversies. Undoubtedly, they'll be asked questions by reporters like me about these comments. Most of them will likely side, they'll say they're supportive of Mitch McConnell, but there are a handful who are critical of what McConnell has said about Donald Trump.

Ron Johnson for one, the Wisconsin Republican senator criticized that he did not appreciate what McConnell said in his criticism of Donald Trump. There are some Republicans who agree with what Ron Johnson is saying, but there are others who agree with Mitch McConnell. They don't -- they believe that Donald Trump bears responsibility, even though they voted to acquit the former president.

But it just goes to show you what this party still badly split over Trump even after the impeachment trial just a few days ago. It shows you that Trump's influence will continue to linger as a party tries to figure out its way forward, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Scathing attack by the former president against Mitch McConnell.

Manu, thank you very, very much.

Let's dig deeper into all of this joining us now, Jeff Zeleny, Abby Phillip, John King and Dana Bash.

John, just got that long statement from the former president attacking Mitch McConnell. And as I said, very personal terms, saying McConnell will never do what is right for our country. That's a direct quote. What's your reaction?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: My reaction is, here's your proof positive. There are some Republicans who thought, oh, he would stay on the sideline. Oh, he will try to be a team player. Here's your proof that the former president thinks he still runs the Republican Party. And here's the proof that if you criticize him as Mitch McConnell did on the Senate floor after the impeachment trial ended on Saturday, he will come after you.

[17:10:08]

So now comes the test, A, does Donald Trump back it up? Does he have the discipline? Will he raise the financial resources? Will he hit the road in 2022? And will he and Mitch McConnell have a fight?

Mitch McConnell went through this a few years back over Tea Party nominees. This ups the stakes quite dramatically to go up against a former president who we know has lost power in Washington, his legacy is indelibly stained in a negative way, but he still has great loyalty among the Republican base.

This has been a question for the Republicans. Will Trump go quietly or will he try to pick and get involved in every fight? Today he tells us he wants to fight, Wolf. That's a problem for the party, which would prefer to organize, get ready for 22 -- 2022, focus on opposing the Biden agenda, a key points, maybe cooperating, another points.

Guess what? They have a Trump problem? It's not going anywhere.

BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right.

Dana, McConnell, he has been trying to have it both ways, voting to acquit Trump but at the same time he has a moral responsibility the former president for the Capitol attack. Clearly he's either with Trump or against Trump, right?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's in never Neverland right now, which isn't an interesting place to be when you are the effective leader of your party right now. I mean, he's the highest ranking, elected Republican on the national stage. And the fact that he said what he said, I mean, certainly his speech was blistering, but it was definitely undercut by his vote. And we talked a lot about that on Saturday as this was all taking place.

As that speech was happening, I was getting text from some senior Republican saying that they thought he might have been going too far. That he was clearly picking a fight with Donald Trump. And the former president counter Punch as he is.

So you know, as he's done so many times before, you know, as messy as it seems right now, I will remind you, Wolf, and everybody on this panel knows that for four years, Mitch McConnell spent his time getting as much as he could out of a Trump presidency. And for Mitch McConnell, that means the federal bench. And he filled the federal bench with as many conservatives as he could. It was -- I believe it was a history making number.

And so if you're Mitch McConnell, insurrection is aside, which is hard to do. But if you kind of take that aside for one second, he believes he's getting the last laugh in terms of his, almost his life's goal, filling the court and being the majority leader, which he did lose.

BLITZER: Yes, three U.S. Supreme Court justices out of nine.

BASH: Exactly.

BLITZER: That's pretty impressive.

Abby, in this blistering statement from Trump, he advances his big lie about the election. He rails against McConnell. From your perspective, Abby, how dangerous is all of this? What's going on?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Oh, well, I do want to, I think direct a lot of people to what Trump actually is going to do, which I think the answer to that question is we don't know yet. He mentioned in the statement that he's going to back primary challengers on the Republican side who will advance his priorities. I think, right now, the -- where we are is we'll see, how does that materialize? I think that's where McConnell and Trump may be on two different sides of the politics here.

Mitch McConnell wants to be in the majority again, and he's going to be focusing on getting Republicans elected, Republicans beating Democrats in general elections. Trump is going to be focused on getting Republicans to beat other Republicans in primaries. That's going to be I think, the common challenge.

And I think we'll have to see, we'll have to judge what the consequences are of this kind of statement based on what he's, you know, the former president is actually able to accomplish Will he be able to get primary challengers in some of these states? Will those primary challengers actually win? Not just their primaries, but their general election races?

I think those are very unanswered questions, because as John has said, no matter what he says from Mar-a-Lago, Trump is a weakened figure in American politics, he is twice impeached. He is a deeply unpopular. He was when he left office and still remains deeply unpopular.

And that's not an environment in which he can really be calling the shots when he has really no actual position of power. And it's all about what he can actually do to carry out these threats that he's been making from his from his Florida mansion.

BLITZER: You know, Jeff, let me switch gears for a moment here. You're there Milwaukee, Wisconsin where President Biden will make his case for the COVID relief bill. That's coming up in our CNN Town Hall later tonight. Who is he hoping to win over, because there are a couple, let's say

Democrats who may be on this, maybe disagreeing with him on a couple of the issues as far as the overall plan is concerned. He's trying to get some Republican support that so far doesn't look like he's got any if at all?

[17:15:01]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what he's doing clearly is trying to build public support for his plan and really starting it by showing that his administration is in control. They have a handle on the coronavirus, and yes there are some issues with the vaccination rollout. But by and large, they believe that they are doing an OK job and things are improving week by week.

So that's his first step trying to project, you know, that he is in control of this and trying to, you know, certainly build public support. They hope that public support transfers to support in the House or Senate.

It is unlikely to get a lot of Republican support. You know, it's possible that there won't be any Republican support.

But when you talk to voters, as I've been doing for the last couple days here, they're not that concerned about a bipartisan bill necessarily. They want COVID relief, they want economic relief, they want the vaccinations to move faster. So, this is something that the public is with the President on, no question all.

But Wolf, I'm just struck by, as we're talking about former President Trump, these are related issues. I am not at all surprised by the timing of this. President Trump has been out of the spotlight, he's injecting himself back into the spotlight here.

But I've also been speaking with some people who voted for President Trump. And I was actually surprised that they want to see President Biden do well. At least some of them that I spoke to, they said, look, we're praying for his success.

I talked to a woman from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, who voted for President Trump, she believed he would do a better job. Now she believes he needs to step aside.

So the question is, how many of those Trump voters are out there? How many of them, you know, are ready for the former president to take his leave so the current president can solve the problem? And that is a big question here.

But for President Biden, this is his opportunity to try and seize the spotlight and show that he's in command of all these issues. So he'll be listening here tonight, as well as, you know, answering questions and talking.

BLITZER: John, this 2 trillion, nearly $2 trillion COVID relief package that the President wants to push through, the House and the Senate, assuming he gets no Republican support at all, in either the House or the Senate, is it a done deal? Is he guaranteed and have the Democrats on board, all 50 in the Senate and all the Democrats in the House?

KING: There are going to be some hard feelings and some bruises along the way. But whether you talk to progressives in the House or more centrist in the Senate, in the Democratic Party, they get this. They get it's not only Joe Biden's first test as president, it's their first test as governing in Washington.

So there's going to be a dust up over the minimum wage, there's going to be a dust up over exactly who gets stimulus checks and who doesn't get stimulus checks. How do you target them and scale them back?

There are a couple other policy fights will be litigated. The House Budget Committee is working on it this week, and the Senate will take up after that. But the Democrats get this, Wolf, maybe the new president scales this back a little bit. And it's 1.6, not 1.9. Maybe it's somewhere in the middle. Democrats get it.

They need to pass this. They need to put a victory on Joe Biden's desk on the number one facing the country, problem facing the country, his number one promise in the campaign. It won't be pretty, it'll be messy, there might be some hard feelings afterwards, but Democrats get this.

I think the bigger question is what happens after this, right? Can Democrats stay together on issue two, issue three and issue four? But I'm not saying there aren't differences within the party over how to do this, but they are unified on the idea. This is important, especially now if you have another Republican civil war blowing up, prove you can govern.

BLITZER: That's an important point.

All right, guys, standby. Everybody, standby. There's more news we're following here in the Situation Room. The former President Donald Trump slapped with a civil lawsuit by a Democratic congressman and the NAACP accusing him of conspiracy in the Capitol siege.

Plus, how the country's COVID crisis finally appears to be improving somewhat. We'll be right back.

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[17:22:29]

BLITZER: Former President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is no longer representing him in any legal matters. That news coming the same day a leading House Democrat announced he's suing, suing both Trump and Giuliani for conspiracy to incite the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is joining us right now.

So Jessica, what's the latest? Update our viewers. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well as for this Rudy Giuliani statement, Wolf, if it was short and Curt from Trump's team that Giuliani is out. It's unclear, though, if this is connected to this lawsuit that was filed by Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson today.

So this is a suit that is troublesome for the former president on two separate fronts here. First, this is a serious civil lawsuit that accuses Trump and Giuliani of conspiring with these far right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to incite that Capitol insurrection. The lawsuit, it traces Trump's rhetoric over the course of several months, and it links it to the threatening and violent action by members of these groups. Not only at the Capitol, but also earlier last year when they threatened other government officials on issues that Trump spoke out forcefully on like COVID lockdowns.

And second Wolf, this case is significant because it could subject the president -- former President and others to depositions and the disclosure of other crucial information that could expose some more details on what exactly Trump knew about this attack, Wolf.

BLITZER: Jessica, how difficult will this conspiracy charge be to prove, I know you've spoken to experts?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. And the attorneys say they acknowledged this is an uphill battle here.

So Congressman Thompson, he's suing under this statute that was intended to actually combat the violence of the KKK in the Post-Civil War era self. So it has not been used often for litigation, and certainly not in this context.

But the congressman's claim here is that Trump conspired to stop Congressman Thompson and other members of Congress from doing their job that day, which was to certify the election. And that is actually exactly what this portion of the statute protects. It protects officials from intimidation and threats.

Thompson talked out today and he's putting the lawsuit in personal terms, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D) MISSISSIPI: Everybody who had a security detail was escorted out of the facility. And members of Congress who didn't have to remain in the gallery to dawn gas mask and basically what we thought was to feel (ph) ourselves because we really didn't know what was going on.

[17:25:09]

I am privileged to partner with the NAACP to have my day in court so that the perpetrators of putting members of Congress at risk can be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHNEIDER: And Bennie Thompson there trying to hold Rudy Giuliani and Trump accountable.

Wolf, we have reached out to Rudy Giuliani for comment on this lawsuit. As for Team Trump, they are pushing back, as you can imagine, reiterating their stance that Trump did not incite or conspired to incite this violence.

And finally, Wolf, I have learned that this lawsuit could only grow several more members of Congress, they are expected to sign on to this suit as plaintiffs in the coming days. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thank you very much. Jessica Schneider reporting.

The former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is joining us right now for some analysis.

So, Anne, thanks very much for joining us.

How strong is this case? What more could we learn through this litigation?

ANNE MILGRAM, PROFESSOR, NYU LAW SCHOOL: Thanks, Wolf, for having me.

I agree with Jessica, I think that this is a serious lawsuit. It's brought by the NAACP and Joe sellers, who is a prominent well known civil rights attorney. And it starts the process of the litigation by laying out exactly what Jessica said, the course of conduct that Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani engaged in. And then it goes through details about the day itself on January 6, and actions by the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys to enter and siege the Capitol.

What is really important, there are a couple really important pieces of this case. The first is that the legal standard is a lot lower than in a criminal case. It's preponderance of the evidence. And so that means it's a civil trial, a civil case, and the bar is not as high as it is as it would be in a criminal prosecution.

In terms of what we'll learn, it's -- what will happen is Donald Trump will say this lawsuit shouldn't come against me because I was acting as president. But it's very clear that if he's guilty of this conduct, that that would not be consistent with his oath as President.

And so we're going to see some back and forth from the lawyers. But it is very possible that the President or his allies, people who were surrounding him get deposed about this, and that we learn a lot more about what the President did on January 6.

BLITZER: I've heard some legal experts say that, as far as a deposition of Trump is concerned, he could argue he was the sitting President of the United States at the time, this would be confidential information, there would be an executive ability for him to not sit down for a deposition. Obviously, Giuliani would not have that opportunity. But what do you think? MILGRAM: Well, it's a really interesting question, because remember, executive privilege is really only for when the President is making critical decisions about the United States government, right?

It's not for every single piece of political advice, it wouldn't necessarily be applicable in the context of a political election or trying to overturn the election. So, it's really -- the president always goes to executive privilege. It's not clear to me that that's a strong argument here. But I do think he'll argue it.

And again, I think he'll argue I have immunity because I was acting as president. In some ways, the lawsuit already understands that that's going to be one of the arguments because they say he was not acting within his official duties or in his official capacity when he did this.

And also, if he were -- if he was talking to others outside of the U.S. government, which is very possible here, if he was talking to Rudy Giuliani or others, there would be no executive privilege.

BLITZER: Yes. I've read -- now read this 32 page lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Bennie Thompson versus Trump, Giuliani, Proud Boys, International Oath Keepers. It's 32 pages, as I said. Very, very interesting, indeed. We'll continue to follow up.

Anne Milgram, thank you very much for that.

MILGRAM: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up. Dr. Anthony Fauci changes the timeline for when all Americans will be able to get a COVID vaccine.

Plus, we'll have more tonight's CNN presidential Town Hall. And what we expect to hear from President Biden about pandemic relief.

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[17:33:36]

BLITZER: Tonight, the U.S. coronavirus death toll is top 487,000 people with more than 27.7 million confirmed cases in the U.S. But after a devastating surge following the holiday, some of the numbers are actually finally starting to go down in the right direction right now. But now, Dr. Anthony Fauci is pushing back the timeline for when all Americans can expect to get a vaccine. CNN's Alexandra Field is joining us from New York right now. Alexandra, there are some hopeful signs tonight, right?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf. You may not be able to get a vaccine quite as quickly as you had wanted to, but the good news from the Biden administration this evening, is that they are increasing the weekly shipment to states of vaccines up to 13.5 million. That coupled with the falling number of new cases across the country has public health officials saying, yes, we are moving in the right direction but with new variants they warn, we are not out of the woods yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): Today, a more hopeful picture emerging across America every state but one trending in the right direction.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: I think we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But at best, we're just -- it's a start.

FIELD (voice-over): Hospitalizations are at less than half the peak in early January. Deaths nationwide, their lowest since November.

OFFIT: One possibility is that you're starting to see some evidence for herd immunity or population immunity.

FIELD (voice-over): But not all experts agree the worst is behind us. White House Senior COVID Adviser Andy Slavitt warning the numbers could be misleading.

[17:35:05]

ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 SENIOR ADVISER: We should be assuming that the next wave of case growth to the extent that we have it, it's going to B117 and that's something that I think everybody has to be even more cautious about.

FIELD (voice-over): B117, the variant first identified in the U.K. is expected to be the dominant strain in the states by March.

JEREMY KAMIL, VIROLOGIST: And our country has really not done enough to keep up to date or keep up tabs on what the virus is doing. I think the bigger message is that we need to be doing a better job and a more even job sequencing the virus so we can know whether there are changes to be concerned about.

FIELD (voice-over): The vaccines currently available in the United States from Pfizer and Moderna are believed to be effective against the U.K. strain. On average, 1.7 million shots are now making their way into arms, far more are needed.

PAUL FARROW, WAUKESHA COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Our goal is to provide a thousand vaccines a day, seven days a week. The only limitation we currently have is getting the vaccine.

FIELD (voice-over): In a letter to the White House, the National Governors Association is calling for better coordination between the Biden administration and the states in distributing vaccines. Just as severe winter weather deals another blow to those working with what they do have.

Vaccination sites from the Midwest to Florida announcing delays and postponements. Officials in one Texas county managed to salvage 8,000 shots after the power went out.

ROBERTA SCHWARTZ, EXECUTIVE V.P., HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL: They were able to get these vaccines that needed to be utilized very quickly into arms and not waste them.

FIELD (voice-over): The federal government opening the first two federally administered vaccination sites today. They've promised a hundred such sites in Biden's first 100 days. Dr. Anthony Fauci now saying it could be May or June before vaccines are available to the general public, farther out than the previous April estimate.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: We've got to continue with the public health measures. As much as, you know, we've been doing it for a long time and people are fatigued with it. We've got to continue until we get it so low, that it's no longer a threat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: And while Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging that we should all proceed with caution, the rush to return to normal is evident in America's airports. More than 5 million people flew over the last five days, Wolf, that is the most travel we have seen since the holiday season. The CDC is still telling people that if they must travel, they should test one to three days before and again three to five days after. Wolf?

BLITZER: And make sure they all wear masks. That is so, so important. Alexandra Field, thank you very much for that report.

Let's get some more in all of these. Our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us. Sanjay, Dr. Fauci now says it could be maybe May or early June before vaccines are available to the general population here in the U.S. Not April, as he had previously said, for those who are anxiously awaiting vaccination. Can you explain why this timeline is now delayed?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it has a lot to do with what happens with Johnson & Johnson. You know, as you know, Wolf, where there's a Emergency Use Authorization that may be given for that vaccine. And the United States government has purchased 100 million doses.

Now, we knew those 100 million doses, were going to arrive in totality by the end of June. But it wasn't clear, you know, at what pace they would sort of roll out. Would you have, you know, a significant number right away? The bottom line is it sounds like there's not as many doses as they initially thought that they might be up to 20 million in April, for example, as what we're hearing.

They thought it'd be a lot higher than that. So, I think that's accounting for a lot of it. When we do the math, Wolf, we look at the current distribution, about 55 million doses per month. If you add in the Johnson & Johnson doses by the end of June, then is when you really should get to that population immunity.

You know, 75 percent of the country having received a vaccine. It may ramp up and go more quickly between now and then. But if things stay in a steady state as they are right now, that's probably when you're going to get to that point, Wolf. BLITZER: But the problem is, you know, Pfizer, Moderna have been approved Emergency Use Authorization here in the U.S., more than 55 billion doses of these two vaccines have already been administered. But Johnson & Johnson, one dose is all as needed, but that hasn't even been approved yet, right?

GUPTA: No, it hasn't not. And that's a big -- we should not get ahead of ourselves here. We've looked at the data. As, you know, Wolf, we saw the data that Johnson & Johnson released, it looks very promising. The way that this unfolds, Wolf, we've seen it twice before now.

On February 26th, the FDA Advisory Committee will basically meet, that will be a public meeting. Everyone can -- anyone can watch that meeting. They basically then make a recommendation to the FDA, the larger organization about whether or not they should be authorized.

And if it goes like it did with Moderna and Pfizer, that takes place pretty rapidly. So, probably by the end of the month, early March, you would know from the FDA if it's been authorized, and then the CDC weighs in as they did with the previous vaccines and says, OK, this is the vaccine, who should get it, where should it go? Answer all those questions. So within the next few weeks, if it's going to be authorized, that's probably what's going to happen.

[17:40:06]

BLITZER: Yes. And once it's authorized, that's good news because there'll be another option for a lot of people who want to get a shot. What changes can be made, Sanjay, to the vaccine manufacturing process to try to pick up the pace a bit?

GUPTA: I think there's three main things. You know, in the beginning, you remember, Wolf, there was more vaccine that was being distributed. It was the percentage that you see on the right side of the screen was a much lower percentage, it's closer to 75 percent, 77 percent now of the vaccines that have been distributed or actually being administered.

But you still got to make sure it's going to the right places. So, if it's going to pharmacies, there's communities around there that don't have big, big pharmacies in their neighborhoods. So you got to make sure these community centers are getting vaccines as well.

On the production side, you know, you got to make sure, you know, you have enough of the basic raw ingredients. This was interesting to me. You know, you have vaccines that require some basic ingredients, and everybody on the planet right now wants these ingredients. They got to make sure they have enough of that.

And then basically, as Andy Slavitt described it to me, getting rid of any inefficiencies, any bottlenecks, making sure you have the vials and the syringes and that everything is going along smoothly. These numbers that Alexandra Field was just talking about going from now up to 13.5 million a week, how did that happen? Largely because of forcing efficiencies in that system.

BLITZER: Yes. It's so, so important. Sanjay, thank you very, very much as always.

Coming up, Capitol riot suspects appear in court today. What we're learning, we got new information and we're also awaiting President Biden's departure from Milwaukee in tonight's CNN Presidential Town Hall.

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[17:45:49]

BLITZER: At least a dozen suspects had court appearances today in relation with the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. Among them a leader of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group, who says she waited for former President Trump's direction before allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol. Let's go to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz, he's joining us right now. Shimon, this seems like a brisk pace for these various court proceedings.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and they're just moving along here. Keep in mind, Wolf, we have more than 200 defendants now in this case, about 215 now that are in the legal system, that are in the court system. So almost on a daily basis, we're going to see this kind of activity, and as you said, more than a dozen, about 15 cases today in court.

Most of them fighting to get released, a lot of them are being held as they wait their court dates. A lot of them don't even have any kind of bail at this point. Judges are waiting to decide on whether or not they're going to release them. And as you said, one of the people that did have a court appearance today was a woman by the name of Jessica Watkins.

Of course, she is alleged to have been one of the leaders in this conspiracy with the Oath Keepers. And then also there was this new video that came out showing some of the Oath Keepers, officials say, are Oath Keepers lined up information inside the Capitol. A big focus, obviously for investigators is the conspiracy charges and the Oath Keepers.

And also keep in mind, Wolf, we have not even yet seen all of the video that authorities and the FBI have been reviewing a lot of the body worn camera videos, some of the more frightening incidents between police and a lot of the riders that has yet to be made public.

We've seen snippets of it in court documents, but the FBI is continuing to review those videos, still looking to identify, dozens of suspects in connection with the insurrection. So, a lot still going on here, Wolf. As we're going to see on a daily basis, a lot of these cases winding our way through the court.

BLITZER: Shimon, standby. The President, President Biden just moments ago left the White House for Marine One. I want to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I wanted to go up because there's a lot going on in Wisconsin, there's cold as the devil up there. They got a lot to deal with. And Anderson Cooper said he wanted to do a town hall up there and I'm happy to do it. So thank you all. Stay warm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you think that Mitch McConnell said that opposing COVID relief will unify Republicans? What do you say to that?

BIDEN: May unify Republicans, it will hurt America badly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so there you see the President taking a couple of questions from reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. He's got to be -- he's boarding Marine One. Take that short 10-minute flight to Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C. in suburban Maryland, then aboard Air Force One to fly to Milwaukee for tonight's town hall that CNN will be hosting. Anderson Cooper, the moderator at 9:00 p.m. Eastern later tonight. So we'll, of course, have extensive live coverage leading up to the town hall. We'll watch it all unfold.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans are without power as record breaking cold grip so much of the nation. And we're counting down once again to tonight's CNN Presidential Town Hall where President Biden will try to sell to the American people his pandemic relief plan.

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[17:51:48]

BLITZER: So there you see the President, he's at Joint Base Andrews, he flew over from the South Lawn of the White House on Marine One. Now he's aboard Air Force One, will make the trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the town hall, the CNN Town Hall 9:00 p.m. Eastern later tonight. We'll, of course, get ready for that.

Meanwhile, we're following the record breaking cold and golfing so much of the United States tonight. CNN Meteorologist Tom Sater has the latest forecast for us. Tom, I understand millions of Americans are getting walloped by snow, ice, frigid temperatures. So many are also without power. What's the latest?

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, this is more than just a once in a generation storm with cold snow and ice. I mean, we're breaking records that go back 30 years, 50 years, even over 100 years. Take a look at the current readings right now. Notice the numbers in Kansas City, 11 degrees, in Oklahoma the same, 17 in Dallas. This is an improvement over the last couple of days.

However we're not through with this yet. The departure from normal, this Arctic air mass all the way down into Mexico, the temperature is 43 degrees cooler than it should be in Oklahoma City. When you continue to look at our record cold in just the last seven days, the records we have shattered, 535 record lows. When it comes to the cold record highs, almost 1,400 of them.

And look at these numbers, Hastings dropped down to minus 30 degrees, Wolf, that goes back into the 1870s and 1880s, even for Fayetteville. Oklahoma City dropping to minus 14 and 1899 is before Oklahoma even became a state in 1907. Dallas for only the second time dropping to minus 2 degrees and we look at the snow cover since this record has been kept, this category in 2003 This is the greatest coverage across the lower 48 at 73 percent. And there are more warnings on the way.

BLITZER: So you think this is going to continue for several more days. What do you think?

SATER: Well, right now the biggest issue we've got are the power outages and there's another round of snow and ice that will be just as crippling. The power outages, Wolf, have been meandering from 3.5 million to 4.5 million, and again, it's from coast to coast from Oregon all the way to Virginia. Here are the warnings right now. Again, this is the next batch of warnings and watch us through the Tennessee Valley to your area in the Mid Atlantic.

Heavy snow 8, 10, 12 inches parts of eastern Texas, Oklahoma and most of Arkansas and then it's the ice, again, it's Eastern areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and through the Tennessee Valley and could hit very hard parts of -- or parts of Virginia, North Carolina that still have areas without power. So, the issue here with the snowfall as well, not only were those areas that are without power mainly in Texas will they stay without power, this is going to keep crews from even getting in and restoring the power.

Heavy rainfall stays to the south, again, that heavy snowfall really concerned about the icing. Even for you, Wolf, you can see a quarter of an inch of ice then it changes over to 4 to 6 inches of snow before it ends as ice. But this band of ice that you see here a significant, there'll be enough snow to shuttle all the way up into New York City. It's not over with, some could be without power for over a week.

BLITZER: Yes, I got an advisory earlier today. We could get 46 inches of snow here in the D.C. area as well. We'll be ready for that as we often are.

[17:55:06]

All right, our Meteorologist Tom Sater, thank you very much.

Coming up, President Biden now on his way to Milwaukee for tonight's CNN Presidential Town Hall as he tries to gain support for his massive pandemic relief plan.

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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. We're counting down to a major event right here on CNN. In just a few hours, President Biden will join Anderson Cooper for a CNN Town Hall live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.