Transcripts For CNNW New Day With Alisyn Camerota And John Berman 20210122

Breaking news. New data out this morning. The hospitalization rate has continued to tick down. Theres a real discernible difference and downward trend in hospitalizations. Thats good news. But professor Michael Osterholm and others are looking at the new variants were seeing around the world and in some cases in the United States, and they are concerned we could see a new surge, a new wave from these new variants. How real should that fear be this morning . Well, you always have to maintain that as a possibility, john. Im not exactly sure that thats going to happen. We do have variants in this country right now. The uk variant is in several states. It has not become dominant. It might. Thats the reason why you have to watch it carefully as we go from january into february. And really take a good look. But as dr. Osterholm said and its a real possibility that with the variants here we may have strains that transmit more efficiently. The best thing you can do about that is to uniformly adhere to the Public Health recommendations weve spoken of time and again from the wearing of masks to the washing of hands to avoiding congregate settings. Thats the kind of thing that prevents surges, regardless of what the type of virus, the mutant of virus or what have yous there. They came out with a 21page summary of the strategy. The number one thing, the number one goal of the new Biden White House in terms of battling the pandemic is to restore trust with the American People. Why is it necessary to say that . Well, i think that that was really good making that number one because what weve had, john, theres no secret, weve had a lot of divisiveness, facts that were very, very clear that were questioned. People were not trusting what Health Officials were saying. There was great divisiveness. Masking became a political issue. What the president was saying, right from the getgo, lets reset this. Lets everybody get on the same page. Trust each other. Let the science speak. He made the analogy of a war. Thats quite comparable to world war ii. Thats the reason weve got to restore trust and restore a unified approach. Did the lack of candor, the lack of facts in some cases over the last year cost lives . You know, it very likely did. I dont want that to be a sound bite, but if you just look at that, you can see that when youre starting to go down paths not based on any science at all and weve been there before. I dont want to rehash it. That is not helpful at all. Particularly when youre in the situation of almost being in a crisis with the number of cases and hospitalizations and deaths we have. When you Start Talking about things that make no sense medically and scientifically, that clearly is not helpful. So the new White House Coronavirus coordinator, jeffrey zients, told mj lee for almost a year now, americans could not look to the federal government for any strategy. How fair is that . Well, you know, there was a strategy that we had when i was on the Coronavirus Task force. It wasnt articulated well, but there was a fractionation of it. There was a strategy that we knew that we were talking about, but the separation of the federal government and the states, i thought, and i had said back then, months and months ago, i thought that was really a lesion. You dont want the federal government to do everything and you dont want the states to do everything. But what we saw a lot of was saying, okay, states, do what you want to do. And states were doing things that clearly were not the right direction. And thats unfortunate. So the best thing to do is to have a plan, have the federal government interact with the states in a synergistic, cooperative, collaborative way, helping them with resources and a plan, at the same time, respecting the individual issues that any individual state might have. The cdc updated his guidance last night suggesting you can get your second dose of the vaccine up to six weeks after the first dose. Right. You told chris cuomo last night that youre taking a chance if you do that. Again, the cdc is saying one thing. You are saying another. How isnt that confusing to the American People . John, no. Okay. Let me explain. The data that is from the Clinical Trials says if you get a moderna dose, first dose, you get it 28 days. If you get a pfizer, you get it 21 days. Thats what the Clinical Trial says. Thats the optimal. What the cdc is saying, sometimes the situation is stressed where its very difficult to be exactly on time. So were saying you can probably do it six weeks later, namely, two additional weeks. Quite frankly, immunologically, i dont think thats going to make a big difference. It doesnt coincide with the precise data, but from a practical standpoint, i dont see a big problem with that if the situation on the ground means the stress is such you cant precisely do 28 days or 21 days. Theres no disagreement at all between me and the cdc. They are saying practically speaking, if you got to do that, it very likely is not going to make a big difference. Great interview there. Joining us now is cnns chief medical expert dr. Sanjay gupta. Can you explain that last part there about the second dose because i am still confused. Why is the cdc veering from, i guess, just the hard science of exactly what date and dose youre supposed to get. Yeah, no, it is a little confusing. I think what they are responding to is the fact that theres still been a difficult rollout with this vaccine and there may be certain situations and this is a question that i get all the time as well. There may be certain situations where, and we can show you the specific scenarios where people may not be able to get the same dose of the vaccine that they first got for various reasons. One is that it just may not be available. Two is that sometimes people are not clear. They may not remember what first dose they got. You get a card when you get your first dose. Youre supposed to hang onto that. For some reason, if its unknown if you get a second dose of a different vaccine in these circumstances, thats acceptable. Or if you were accidentally given a different second dose. Its not going to people get really worried about that. Understandably. But, you know, i think theres two things going on here. One is this idea, obviously, of the fact that theres still this rollout issue with the vaccine and you may run into situations like you just saw on the screen, but the other is the trust. Number one in this new pandemic playbook is restoring trust. If you start to deviate from what the data shows in some way, might that erode trust . Maybe its okay scientifically, it makes sense. These are both mrna vaccines. But you dont want to do anything to erode the trust. This came up when there was discussion about decreasing the dose of the Moderna Vaccine because a smaller dose seemed to generate the same antibodies so why not give less of the vaccine . That will make it spread out more, but they came back and said, no, were going to stick to the science on this. It will erode the trust if we start to deviate from that. Having watched that when dr. Fauci said, john, no, i think he spoke for everyone who has ever known me. Sanjay, one other aspect of this, which i found very interesting. I talked about the Johnson Johnson vaccine, which we are going to get some data from soon. And theres a lot of expectation here because the Johnson Johnson vaccine is a single dose. It doesnt require the refrigeration. What dr. Fauci he seemed optimistic about it in general, although i dont know that hes seen the data on it yet. None of us have. He suggested the efficacy rate, he will be happy if the efficacy rate of the Johnson Johnson vaccine is near moderna and pfizer, which is way over 90 at this point. He says if its 20 less than that, maybe in the 70s, then there would be some concern. What did you hear in his explanation there . Yeah, i heard the same thing. Just to give you more context. Remember, even before the moderna and Pfizer Vaccines were authorized, the fda said this is back earlier last year, they said theyd accept 50 potential efficacy to authorize a vaccine. Then the numbers came out on moderna and pfizer and they were much higher in the 90s. So thats sort of set the bar. Ive been doing a lot of reporting about these various vaccines. I talked to the head of the vaccine project for j j yesterday. We dont have the data, but the phase one and phase two data look very promising. The vaccine seems to generate a lot of these same antibodies that were talking about. This is a different type of vaccine. Instead of mrna, they are using essentially a human cold virus and they basically strip out the material inside that cold virus and put in this coronavirus spike protein and thats how they are thats what they are doing to deliver the vaccine. But theyre quite optimistic about it. So i think we might see data on that next week. And the reason next week, and people will remember this, is that that will mark basically two months of safety data. The fda is requiring two months of safety data. Weve been marking the calendar. That twomonth period will come next week. So we could see this j j data fairly quickly. One shot can be stored in a refrigerator for months. Doesnt need this cold storage. And 100 million doses potentially available from a company that can manufacture a lot of doses. Thats potentially good news. One other thing ill add and theyve been recruiting patients for that trial in south africa where this variant that weve been talking about has been circulating. So if its working in that population, thats another piece of news. Another nugget to sort of tuck away in terms of how it might work against these new variants. Sanjay, thank you very much. Appreciate it. This morning, seven Senate Democrats want to launch an ethics investigation into two republican colleagues over their role in inciting the capitol insurrection. One of the seven democrats joins us next. Seven Senate Democrats are calling for an ethics investigation into republican senators josh hawley and ted cruz in the aftermath of the capitol insurrection. The seven senators write, by proceed with their objection to the electors after the violent attacks, senator cruz and hawley lent legitimacy to the mobs cause and made future violence more likely. Joining us now is democratic senator mazie hirono, one of the senators calling for the ethics probe. Senator hirono, good morning. Good morning. What do you want to see happen to senators hawley and cruz . Were asking the Ethics Committee of the senate to investigate their role in attempting to overturn the results of a free and fair election. In fact, going into the january 6th count, they were very proud of the leadership role they were taking in trying to overturn the free and fair results. So now were asking for an investigation into Improper Conduct by these two senators leading to the insurrection in the capitol and five people dying and many people injured. Do you have information that there was more than the fact that they just challenged and denied the Election Results . Do you have some sort of information that they were somehow in cahoots with the insurrectionists . I know that some of the questions youre asking is, did they encourage the insurrection . Did they coordinate with the organizers of the rally . Did they receive donations from any of the organizers who funded the rally . Do you have any evidence of that . That is why were asking for an investigation to ascertain whether those aspects of the inquiry that we pointed out are there. But you have to look at the totality of the circumstances. Its not as though these two senators decided, well, were going to challenge the vote count. No, its a totality of the circumstances of months of the president calling the Election Results in question, putting forth the big lie, capital b, capital l, big lie. And these two senators were very much in concert with the president in pushing this big lie. Frankly, leading to the insurrection and all of the terrible things that happened on january 6th. So from what you do know this is not just a one off. From what you do know, before the investigation, what do you want to see happen to them . The investigation if the Ethics Commission determines that there is evidence that should lead to some kind of consequences, then thats the recommendation they will make, including expulsion. These two senators have been called on to resign by a number of senators, as well as people in their own community, as well as europes in their states. But apparently theyre not about to resign because theyre very proud of their role going into january 6th, and they continue to raise money off their posture. Its very clearly they were doing this for their political interests. Their own political interests. Last night, congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez was on with chris cuomo, and she basically felt you should take action sooner, particularly if the senate trial of donald trump were going to be held up. Heres what she said last night. Hey, if they want to delay it, lets bring up a vote to expel ted cruz and josh hawley from the senate. If weve got time on our hands, then we should be actually bringing justice to the members of congress and the members of the senate who also helped support this insurrection. How about that, senator . Do you want to see a vote to expel . This should follow an investigation. And so theres a process. The senator we have a responsibility to question the behavior of senators. And the way to do that is through an Ethics Committee investigation and review. And thats what were pursuing. What do you think about senator mcconnells proposed timeline for trial for donald trump, what we know, what hes suggesting, january 28th, they would issue a summons to trump. February 4th, he gets to answer the articles of impeachment. February 11th, he can submit his pretrial brief. February 13th, the house can submit their rebuttal. What do you think of that . Hes submitting a time frame for the democrats to review, and whats thats happening. Were not interested in delaying the trial of this president and his inciting to insurrection, but at the same time if were going to take that kind of time, i want to make sure that President Bidens nominees have hearings and that we can get on with putting them in place so that they can conduct the business of doing things that will actually help people. And thats what President Biden is doing with his proposals right now. I want to ask you about what happened to these thousands of National Guard troops yesterday. They were at the u. S. Capitol to protect lawmakers and the capitol. Yes. And they were banished for some reason by someone to this parking garage. Heres the cnn reporting on it. Pictures provided showed guardsmen sitting or lying down in areas cordoned off with caution tape. Some appeared to be sleeping by resting against concrete pillars in the garage just a few feet from parked cars. There was one electrical outlet and one bathroom with two stalls for 5,000 troops. Do you understand who sent them away from the capitol and to this parking garage . Here they are, the National Guardsmen from every state in the country, including 200 from hawaii. And i had just that day, that afternoon, thanked the hawaii guardsmen for coming to our aid and to protect all of us. So this decision, when we found out about it, provoked a lot of outrage. Were making inquiries with the sergeant at arms, the Capitol Police. Who made this decision . And there is need for accountability because this should never have happened. And apparently by midnight, they were no longer in the garages, but as i said, this should never have happened. Want to know who made the decision and why. Yes. And you havent gotten any answers on that yet . So far not. We are making our inquiries. As you know, President Biden is calling for bipartisanship. He says thats his priority. Thats his preference. Are you yes. Are you seeing any change in your colleagues moods in terms of being open to working together that perhaps you hadnt seen for the past years . Well, so far, the beginnings are, in my view, not that great because President Biden has put forth his recovery assistance, as we are in the middle of a pandemic and millions of people are suffering. So already the republicans are shooting those proposals down. And he also put forth an immigration proposal that the republicans are busy shooting down. And so, yes, were going to have debates. And the good thing about the democrats being in charge is that these issues are actually going to be brought to the floor of the senate for debate, which is what should be happening, and vote. Something that never happened when Mitch Mcconnell was setting the agenda. Much of his agenda just consisted of hundreds and hundreds of nominees for judicial positions for life. And so were actually going to bring forth for a vote and debate, as i said now, that democrats are in control. Substantive legislation intended to help us recover from this pandemic and also to get control of this pandemic. We only have a couple of seconds. What do you want to see happen with the filibuster . I am open to filibuster reform because as the democrats bring forth these kind of substantive legislation, we need to get on with things. We are in the middle of a crisis, economic crisis, Health Care Crisis. And Mitch Mcconnell would like to be able to veto through the filibuster every single one of these legislations until he gets what he wants. So that is not a power that we should be handing over to him. So i am open to filibuster reform so that we can get on with the business of helping the people of our country. Senator mazie hirono, thank you. Aloha. President biden wants a bipartisan deal for coronavirus relief. Can he get it . The white house is weighing in this morning. Thats next. I feel like were forgetting something. Let me check. Xfinity home gives you peace of mind from anywhere with professionally monitored Home Security built around you. No, i think were good. Good. So when youre away, you dont have to worry. The tent. We forgot. The tent. Except about that. Xfinity home. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Hey look, i found the tent get xfinity home with no Term Contract required. Click or call today. He thinks we can get to a bipartisan package. At the same time, were not going to take tools off the table because addressing this is what he was elected to do. Thats White House Press secretary jen psaki moments ago talking for the president s push for a relief package for struggling americans. He wants 1. 9 trillion, and he wants republicans to sign on. The question is, will they, and how long is he willing to wait to find out . Joining us to talk, natasha of the grio and john harwood. The Biden White House is facing questions about their willingness to negotiate with republicans or even talk to republicans. They are two days in. Theyre two days in. I get that people want answers and get impatient, but its not like theyve been trying for months and months to no avail. How much time do you think theyre willing to give this . Well, some, but i dont think theyre going to take the approach that president obama took, for example, in 2009 to negotiating with republicans on the health care package. Remember, because we all covered it, john, president obama tried to lure republican cooperation over an extended period. Finally discovered that he could not get any on the Health Care Bill and they moved ahead with a democrats only package. And thats what they had to do and it put constraints on how they could operate and what was in the final package, but that was the best they could do. In this case, joe bidens personal preference is to negotiate a bipartisan deal. That also would give him more flexibility. If they simply want to add this package to the deficit, which is their approach at the moment, it is easier to do that if you pass through ordinary legislation because the special procedural protections that would let you do it with democratic votes alone would require you to limit the amount that you add to the deficit. They dont want to do that. So i think theres a push and pull there. Theyre going to wait and see how Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell figure out how to get this power sharing agreement in the senate, what the rules for the impeachment trial are going to be. But i think were in a period of some weeks where they try to make this attempt to get 60 votes and get this done. Natasha, now republicans want to be deficit hawks . Now they think we dont remember three weeks ago when under Donald Trumps watch, the deficit or debt ran up by 7 trillion . I mean, now when americans are struggling . And, look, yes, 1. 9 trillion. Thats a dizzying amount. Yes, i like to pay my credit card every month. I believe in that. But now theyve decided to draw a line in the sand after everything that the u. S. Has spent money on for the past four years . Yeah, it feels a little unfair as if, you know, the rules are for you and the rules are not for me, right . We talk about unity and accountability and it seems like these things are crashing up against each other. Democrats are in a tricky situation. They are walking a tight rope because they know they only have a narrow majority in the senate. And they still need gop support in many ways. And i think that President Biden, he promised that he would be a person who could bring both parties together and could get things done. So its almost as if hes trying to stay out of it. Hes trying to say that bipartisanship is still possible and holding out hope. We know that a Bipartisan Group of 16 senators is supposed to speak with an aide from the white house at some point this weekend about coronavirus relief. So there are these slivers of hope, but again, the gop, so many members of the gop gave their congratulations at the inauguration and then it was back to business as usual. And i think that americans who are suffering right now, who cannot pay rent, who dont have enough food to eat, this is not what they want to hear. They want to hear things are getting done, whether its from the executive branch or from congress. There was a saying that bill clinton used to like to say and Hillary Clinton talked about it in the state department also. Its that hes willing to get caught trying to do Something Like this. Being seen as trying to do it is an end in and of itself. Why . Well, because the message that biden wants to communicate as reflected in his inaugural address is we can work together. Obviously, the country is bitterly divided along partisan lines. Obviously, theres going to be the partisan clashes that we have come to expect for decades on almost every major piece of legislation. But in this unique moment, the National Crisis over covid, the economic crisis that is generated by covid, joe biden thinks the combination of his personal qualities, his relationships, a quarter century in the senate with Mitch Mcconnell, served with onefourth of the current Republican Caucus in the senate. He believes he can do this. Believes the circumstances of the moment make that possible, which is why i think hes going to try, not for months but for weeks. And that leads us to the Upcoming Senate trial for former president donald trump. And every single day new information comes out about how bad that insurrection was. What happened inside. Every day we see new video. We just played one this morning of a Capitol Police officer being hit with a hockey stick. That guy was arrested, were happy to report. And so the investigation continues. But at the same time, it sounds like some of the republicans who felt very strongly that there should be justice right after that insurrection may be singing a different tune. Here are senators Lindsey Graham and kievin mccarthy. The president bears responsibility for wednesdays attack on congress by mob rioters. Do you believe that former President Trump provoked i dont believe he provoked if you listen to what he said at the rally. But today, first thing youll see, all i can say is count me out. Enough is enough. The people who defiled the capitol, they did that, not me, not donald trump. Just amazing what happens over the course of two weeks, natasha. Yeah, theres a lot of power in spin. And these particular members of the gop, its almost as if they are counting on americans to have both a short Attention Span and a lot of amnesia, right . So we go from this call for healing. People being pressured to finally acknowledge that theyve allowed donald trump to run amok, right, and to challenge every aspect of our democracy to now that weve had an inauguration and, you know, weve had fireworks. We can suddenly just move forward and let bygones be bygones. But i think nancy pelosi, her life was at risk along with so many members of congress. I dont think that theyre going to let this be forgotten. So perhaps there may be a delay and people are starting to change their tune, but they feel they have a very strong case. And the evidence was recorded on camera. We watched it. We witnessed it. So its a matter of getting to this trial while also just walking this tightrope, understanding how were still in the senate. But the trial is going to happen, and they are hoping they can hold donald trump accountable. Natasha, john harwood, thanks to both of you. President biden will unveil his Economic Relief plans today. Whats inside . Whats in it for you . Thats next. 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One that tries to push the administration toward ultimately raising the minimum wage to 15 for federal workers. The other expands assistance to americans in need. Food assistance. Joining me, chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans and International Business anchor and correspondent julia chatterley. Romans, whats the basic message and goal of what the white house is doing today . The idea ais to get money an help to people who may have been left behind here. In this white house document released to reporters, they use the word inequality at least a dozen times. The idea is that not everybody is suffering the same, and theres a lot of suffering in the coronavirus epidemic. And they want to help families with children. They want to get more money for kids who are out of school who are missing meals because they were getting their calories at school. Want to get more money for them. 8 million Americans Still need their stimulus checks. Want to go to the department of Treasury Department and figure out how they can fix whatever problems are holding those checks back from people who desperately need them. Change some rules over at the va so youre not trying to get overpayments paid back from people who are veterans who have bills to pay, trying to expand how many people can get extra snap benefits, an extra 100 a week for families with two or three kids. Just getting the government to work better to get the aid into the hands of the people who need it. So whats the problem, julia, with getting this passed . This is a president basically thats acting like hes inherited an economic catastrophe. Hes right. Thats exactly what hes got here. And i think the whole of Congress Need to understand that. The easy part here is the executive orders. The harder part is Getting Congress to accept that we remain in an economic catastrophe and acting to provide more stimulus. And were already hearing pushback. I think one of the best examples of what were seeing here, and i always say this. F forget the average numbers. For get the unemployment number has come down from some of the peaks. For the lowest quarter of earners, the Unemployment Rate is still above 20 . Weve got 30 million americans saying they cant put enough food on the table. These are the things Congress Need to remember and act on. The question is, will they . This is the hold back. Moodys analytics said if we can only agree this 1. 9 trillion worth of distimulus, we could recover 7. 5 million of the jobs were still down. Were still down 10 million from the beginning of the pandemic, this year alone. Guys, i dont know what to say. Every reason for doing this spending is there. Congress need to step up and do it. Add to what theyve already done. When the new jobs numbers came in yesterday, one thing that really hit was that joe biden is inheriting the worst job market of any modern president. And its three crises. A political crises, crisis of the division thats in our country. Theres a Health Care Crisis and a jobs crisis. And there are three Different Things happening at once here. I cant remember in modern memory a president having to come in to such a shock. And, remember, this is a Vice President when he took the oath of office, the economy was falling apart then, too, and we learned a lesson from that. If you dont act robustly and you dont spend enough, you will have a slow recovery. It will hold back the recovery for everyone. We know that. That happened. Already youre hearing these whispers from deficit hawks and its so hypocritical. Julia, now theyre going to be deficit hawks . Well, i mean, to be fair, some of them have been all along, quite frankly. Its a crazy level of spending. Lets be clear. I came into this crisis as a relatively conservative economist. Christine, i remember you and i saying we think its going to take 4 to 5 trillion to fill the gap being created by this crisis. If we get this 1. 9 trillion, it will be around 5 trillion even more that they spent. Its crazy. Get over it. Covid is crazy. Weve never seen anything like this. And we have to act accordingly. Quite frankly, the bill will be huge. We have to figure that out later. For now, we have to tackle the crisis. The depression that for Many Americans is still the case in this country. Thats the only thing we have to focus on right now. Julia chatterley, Christine Romans, thank you. Heres what else to watch today. Whats so funny, john . Dont we all need a little calm . Meanwhile, that u. S. Capitol Police Officer who defended lawmakers from that violent mob is being hailed as a hero. How he went beyond the call of duty, next. U. S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman has been hailed as a hero for leading the insurrectionists that stormed the capitol away from the senate chamber. Suzanne malveaux tells us how he went beyond the call of duty. The acting Deputy Senate sergeant at arms, United States Capitol Police officer private first class eugene o. Goodman. Reporter u. S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, honored at the inauguration of President Biden with the announcement of a new promotion. Receiving applause and the honor of escorting Kamala Harris to the u. S. Capitol platform for her swearing in. It was just two weeks ago to the day from the inauguration goodman was captured on video confronting an angry mob that breached the u. S. Capitol. Goodman, the lone africanamerican Police Officer stationed at the senate side of the u. S. Capitol approached by a group of mostly white rioters armed with weapons, confederate flags and chants of overturning the election. For 85 terrorizing seconds, goodman solely held back the angry rioters. Overwhelmed by the crowd, retreating up a flight of stairs but not fleeing. Instead goodman luring the mob away from the Senate Chambers. Goodman chose to bait the rioters to follow him in the opposite direction while calling for backup. All the while exercising restraint by keeping his weapon harnessed. Literally kind of made himself bait to take those, you know, terrorists away from where the senators would be. Reporter five people died since the insurrection. Two of them fellow officers. Goodman is being hailed for going beyond the call of duty. Potentially saving many lives with his quick thinking and courage. Its so harrowing the selfless sacrifice that he made. He put his life entirely on the line. Reporter a trio of bipartisan lawmakers introducing legislation to award the native of southeast washington with a congressional gold medal. But for him, that mob would have gone another direction and i think the news stories would have been quite different and tragic. Reporter a decorated iraq combat veteran and member of the 101st airborne division. Goodman was a hero long before the capitol hill siege. Fellow officers tell cnn goodmans combat training played a significant role in his actions. Awards include achievement and good conduct, medals for his service in the global war on terror, combat and air assault. Praise poured in from around the world, including those from the 18th Airborne Corps who tweeted, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman is rightfully being hailed as a hero after single handedly holding back rioters from entering the Senate Chambers last week. An iraq combat vet and member of this corps. Eugene was a hero long before last wednesday. Hoping to present one of the most distinguished honors a civilian can receive is not the only thank you these lawmakers wish to share with officer goodman. I would give him a giant hug and thank him. He looked after and took care of and protected so many lives that day. Hell never understand the gratitude so many of us have for his service. Reporter suzanne malveaux, cnn, washington. Ive thought about him so many times and what he must have experienced when he saw that sea of bloodthirsty, you know, rioters coming towards him and how he didnt back down. How he handled it. It was remarkable. And the applause you heard on that stage during the inauguration. There was all of a sudden this burst of cheers. And it was for him. That was nice to see. Some of the biggest applause was for him. Its been an historic week to say the least for president joe biden, for Vice President Kamala Harris and it turns out for senator Bernie Sanders. Memes of sanders at the inauguration have gone wild. People commenting on his body language and mittens that seem to suggest hes almost as crusty a new englander as john berman. Hes from vermont. Here he is sharing some chocolate with forrest gump right there. Then hanging out with the breakfast club. Here he is as e. T. The truth is were all of them. Here he is, game of thrones. Winter is coming. Bernie is coming. This is the day that you were off. You took a day off and Bernie Sanders actually was my coanchor that day. He did a great job. He was compelling. T. Is cold in the studio. The posture better than your regular coanchor. And youre also laughing at his jokes which never happens with your regular coanchor. No, he was fantastic. We hope hell come back. You know who got robbed. Janet yellen was dressed in a similar way. Was she . With quite as color of mittens . She was wearing this jacket all bundled up. Maybe it was the mittens. I think its the mittens. And theres a story like who made them for him and why they are so warming, frankly. There they are. Theyre knit, john. Theyre knit, okay . Thank you, everyone, for being with us all week. Bernie would have handled that better. He would have handled the witty re repart ae better. Cnns coverage continues after this break. Its hard to explain what depression feels like. But i can tell you what it feels like when someone offers to help. 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President biden is using his second full day in office to take on the challenges facing millions of americans in economic need. Hes set to sign two more executive orders today to provide more assistance to those struggling in this pandemic. And today here is where we stand. The death toll, 410,000 people in this country have died from covid, but dr. Anthony fauci tells cnn this morning that number could have been lower if the Trump Administration had been more honest about the virus. He said straight out lives could have been saved. Fauci untethered now from fears of repercussions for simply telling the truth. He laid out the facts on vaccines today. We have the latest on all those headlines, what it means for you. And were following the latest on capitol hill. House democrats reportedly in discussions to hand over the article of impeachment against the former President Trump to the senate. Mitch mcconnell, however, is pushing to move the timeline on a trial back at least a couple of weeks. He says the senate shoul