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tv   Inside Politics  CNN  February 19, 2021 9:00am-10:00am PST

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vaccines. a thorough review of the available data says deaths were not related to the covid-19 vaccine, and the deaths in this population, though truly sad and unfortunate, was consistent with the expected death rate in this demographic. i want to emphasize we have implemented the most comprehensive vaccine safety monitoring system in our history, and the data released from the cdc today are reflective of this effort. we will continue to closely monitor these events and report back as more data emerge. i want to be sure you know the facts and not the myths about the vaccine's safety -- about vaccine safety. the fact is they are safe and they will save lives. and that is why we are committed to working with state and local public health partners as well as partners in the private sector to support getting people vaccinated quickly and as safely
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as possible. to help advance our collective efforts to scale vaccines in communities, on monday cdc is conducting a three-day forum on the covid-19 vaccine. the forum will bring together a broad range of governmental and non-governmental partners to share information and best practices on how to build trust and confidence in covid-19 vaccines, how to use data to optimize vaccine implementation, and how to provide practical, real world experience on how to increase vaccination in communities, especially for those with increased risk of covid-19 and for those who may face barriers to vaccination. i'm excited about this forum and the rich dialogue it will stimulate, and i encourage those involved in vaccine efforts to attend the forum. thank you, and i will turn it over to dr. fauci. >> thank you very much, dr.
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walensky. i would like to take a couple minutes reviewing the status of the vaccines and vaccine trials that we have, but then to, as i've done in the past, pick out a question that i believe is being asked more frequently to try to preemptively address it and perhaps generate some discussion. with regard to the trials that we have, as you know, the u.s. government had been involved in the development of and/or facilitation of the testing of three separate platforms represented by six different companies. you're all aware of the data of the moderna and the pfizer biontech which have their uae now having shown a 94 to 95% efficacy. the data from the onset study showed a 72% efficacy in the united states but also was done in south africa and latin america and showed a diminished efficacy against the variant but
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very good against severe disease. that is being reviewed at the fda for the u.s. data. on february 26th, the fda will consult with their independent advisory committee, their verpac, and we should be hearing from them soon. with regard to astrazeneca and the no vax, they are fully enrolled. these are event-driven decisions, so when they reach certain events, they will look at the data and decide if they should go ahead with a request for a uea. now let me briefly address a question that is a very relevant question that we are now more commonly being asked. if you look at the existing trials, those have already gotten an eua, and those we anticipate and hope will get a
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uea, when will we say we can vaccinate children, children in the high school range and children in the elementary school range? you know from pfizer that they started off with a trial of 34,000 individuals down to 16-year-olds and then progressed it down to 12-year-olds. so what they're going to be doing in april, starting in april, they're going to be studying 12-year-olds down to 5 to 6-year-olds. that will take likely one year to get the information on that, likely not until the first quarter. however, we anticipate data on high school age individuals, namely individuals 12 years old to 17 years old by the beginning of the fall. maybe not exactly coinciding with the first day of school, but sometime in the fall we will have that. moderna, as you know, started off with already 18-year-olds.
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they are now currently enrolling 12 to 17-year-olds. so let me take a moment to explain the process of how you get relevant information regarding these younger individuals. this is a representative trial which very likely will reflect other trials. it's a 3,000-person trial, so right off you're not dealing with the 30,000 and 44,000-person trial that gave the efficacy signal in the original moderna and pfizer study. what the trial is, is the trial is what's called a noninferiority by immunogenicity. what they're asking, is it safe in children and does it induce an immune response that's comparable or not inferior to the immune response that we know is associated with efficacy in
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the other trials? and that's the way that trial will go. and then we're starting by the end of march, they will do what's called an age de-escalation study. we're already enrolling on the 12 to 17. they will go to the 6 to 12, then 2 to 6, then six months to two years. again, we will likely get information for high schoolers at some time in the fall, but it is, i would say, more than unlikely we will not have data on elementary school children until at least the first quarter of 2022. similar types of approaches are being taken by the other candidates, the other companies, namely j & j, novavax and jay
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zee. so the bottom line of this is as follows. it is highly likely that sometime in the fall we will have data that will give us the capability of seeing the safety and comparable efficacy in children 12 to 17, 18 years old. again, the final decisions realways leave to the fda. i'm trying to give you a road map of what likely will happen. but then also, with the studies i just mentioned, to getting the information to make the decision in elementary school children almost certainly will not be firmed down until the first quarter of 2022. i will stop there and hand it back to andy. >> thank you, dr. fauci. >> listening here to the daily covid -- three times a week covid briefing by the biden team. we're going to monitor the questions now to see if there is any news and we'll bring it back with you. if we do, the headlines off the top, andy slavitt, the white
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house coordinator, yes, the weather across the country has set the covid-19 delivery down a bit, but like he said, ups and fedex will work with the states now. doses will start shipping to areas where the weather is easing, where roads have been cleared. as early as this evening they hope to make up what they lost this week. dr. walensky, the head of the cdc, talking about the remarkable decline of cases since the peak. january 11 was the peak. down 69% the case count since then. obviously we want to keep that case count down. we just talked to dr. fauci who is trying to explain, number one, there are vaccines safe on the market, but number two, studies are being done to determine are these vaccines safe on school age children? some of that information will be ready this fall for high school students, some elementary.
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let's discuss what we just heard with dr. leana wen. she's a health administrator at the university of boston. the school is one we've discussed repeatedly. when you hear dr. fauci, it makes sense, any drug trial first out on adults. the vaccines are out there now, more coming into the system. but when you hear it will likely be the fall before we know 12 to 18, so high school age kids, and probably the first quarter, if they're lucky, if things stay on track before we ask about elementary-aged children. can you fully reopen schools in september or is it that safe as long as the adults are vaccinated? >> i definitely think that people listening to the timeline that dr. fauci just presented about vaccinating children might be disappointed, because i'm sure some people were hoping we would be able to get our kids vaccinated in time for the next school year. but now we know that's probably not going to happen.
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if we get the child vaccines done for 12-year-olds and above. for high school students, maybe we can do that and have a portion of seniors vaccinated for the next school year r. we need to look at our data. our data shows that children tend to get a lot less ill than adults do, and school could be a number of people having playdates. we need to get our kids back to school in the fall without our kids being vaccinated, but i think it makes it all more important for adults to be vaccinated because that's how we can achieve herd immunity. if kids can't be vaccinated, it makes it more important for everyone around them to be
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vaccinated to protect them. >> you heard dr. walensky say the vaccination is done between the middle of december and the middle of january. we know there is a lot of skepticism out there there are bhoem don'tment to do thisment. 70 million of people have had some fatigue, some headaches, but her message to the american people is what we've seen so far is pretty routine. there's nothing to worry about. the symptoms we're seeing are consistent with flu shots or other diseases. was that, to you, a sign of reassurance? >> very much so. so it's really important to do the safety monitoring studies after the vaccines are already authorized. and that's because the phase 3 studies are done in tens of thousands of people, which is great and that's how we know they are safe and efficacious, but now we have data from millions of people who have received these vaccines. so it's extremely reassuring to
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see that they're safe. having these types of side effects of the arm soreness, fever, fatigue, headache, that means the vaccine is working. it means it's shedding our vaccine immune response. with the presence of severe allergic reactions, it appears it's about the same level as you might get from other types of vaccines. now we know for certain these vaccines are safe and we also know they are so highly protective against covid-19. >> i just to want put the number on it. 6 million doses andy slavitt said they were held because we couldn't ship them out. states were not able to accept them because of power issues, weather issues. those will move as soon as this weekend. dr. wen, thank you. we'll try to deal with this hiccup of bad weather.
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when we come back, joe biden makes two big speeches to the world audience for the first time promising americans are back. those are his words. as we go to break, world leaders have issues with zoom, too. at today's g-7 meeting, germany's angela merkel had an issue with the mute button. >> hi! >> hi. >> can you hear us, angela? that's all right. you need to mute. proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.
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today president joe biden taking the world stage, the message from the president that the policy changes will be big and important. america first or america alone, gone, president biden says. america is back. the trans-atlantic alliance is back is what the president said
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just moments ago. the united states officially rejoining the paris climate accords and new gains are the mission, including on the thorny issue of iran. >> the threat of nuclear p proliferation also continues to require careful diplomacy and cooperation among us. we need transparency and communication to minimize the risk of strategic misunderstanding or mistakes. that's why i said we're prepared to re-engage in negotiations with the p5 plus 1 on iran's nuclear program. >> with us to share their expertise and insights, nick eisen, david axelrod and abby phillip. he's ready to restart a conversation about the iran nuclear deal which the trump administration walked away from. the big debate has been would the new american administration accept going back to the old deal, or does it want
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improvements? what is the state of play on that question? >> yeah, that's still out there. lengthen and strengthen is the language that's used to address ballistic missiles in iran's destabilizing influence in the region. at the moment it's about getting back to the table. the door is still open. the eu is offering to help bring the united states back to that table along with u.k., china, russia, france, germany, the european union, of course, and iran. so that's a way in to the table because there was a standoff, right? iran said the u.s. would have to get rid of all of its sanctions and the u.s. said, no, iran has to come back into compliance before we come back to the table. there is movement, the door is open, and there is certainly on the european side an acceptance and willingness to go further, the recognition that iran's development of ballistic missiles and its destabilizing influence in the region, iraq
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most recently nato troops as well. what position will china and russia take, because they're at the table, toork, on all of tha. that's going to be harder and that's before you factor in iran. that's going to bargain hard and go slow. >> i want to get back to that russian point in a moment. but david, let's talk theoretically. you were in the obama administration and the big focus of president obama was about getting out of iraq, getting out of afghanistan. the question there is it is hard to change a global policy. if you take what the president said about these two incidents today, it would be about face. that donald trump had a way of doing things, we're going to do everything differently. recommitting to the world health organization, the paris climate accord, working through allies
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to continue strategic discussions with russia and china. what do you do in the west wing when you want to signal to the world things are going to be different, but you also don't want to say things from the early days you might have to pull back later on when you start to get your footing? >> well, yeah, look, i think what you heard today is, you're right, the anthises, talked about the importance of alliances. he said that companies need to compete but they also need to work together on global challenges that could sink them all. that is what he deeply believes, so i don't think he ventured anything here that isn't going to be central to his foreign policy. obviously on issues like iran, the devil is in the details, and i notice that he did add a phrase in his speech today at the munich security conference.
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he said he was re-engaging, but he also said we need to address iran's destabilizing activities in the region. so he is adding caveats even as he makes these steps forward. but make no mistake about it, joe biden's view of the world, and it's very well developed over 40-some odd years in the united states senate working on foreign policy issues as vice president, he believes in alliances, and his big mission today was to say, this is a new day and we're ready to work with you again. >> abby, that's a key point david makes because you covered the trump white house. one of the issues then was allies didn't know if they could trust the united states. they didn't know when an envoy or even the secretary of state said something if that person was speaking for the president of the united states. one of the messages joe biden, especially at the munich conference, he said, i've been coming to a meeting for 40 years, you know who i am. even he had to say, i get it. you're not sure you can trust
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the united states. let's move past that. >> -- years of strain have tested the relationship. but the united states is determined -- determined -- to re-engage with europe, to consult with you, to earn back our position of trusted leadership. >> it is strange. he's essentially saying, i understand. we had to earn it back. >> that to me is the most striking thing about what joe biden is trying to do, which is to say not just that you can count on us again, america will be back on the world stage, but that you can count on my administration to have a consistent message. for years under the trump administration, you would hear one adviser saying one thing, the president delivering a completely different message, and it was unpredictable and confusing to world leaders. now, the trump allies would say, you know, as our colleague jim sciutto says, the madman theory of leadership is what made trump a different kind of leader on the global stage, but when you talk to foreign diplomats and
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when you talk -- who world leaders talk about the united states, you definitely get the sense that the lack of predictability actually chipped away at the sense that you can count on the united states to know what their position was and to carry out that position in a consistent way in different parts of the globe and not have one standard for one area of the world and a different standard for another. >> that's an excellent point. nick roberts, it was interesting to listen to president biden saying we diplomats must stick together because we face russia, we face china, we must stick together. what you know about his work, when it comes to standing up to vladimir putin, most leaders say, yes, we need to do that, of course there are issues when it comes to gas and the like. then again, economic relationships come in. listen to how the new president talked about that. >> to push back against the chinese government's economic abuses and coercion that
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undercut the foundations of the economic nation. people must address the same rules, russian recklessness and hacking into computer networks. the united nations across europe and the world has been critical to collecting national security. we must not return to the rigid blocks of the cold war. >> i have to assume, especially from the reaction i receive consistently from ambassadors and other officials in europe during the trump years that that message will be welcomed. however, as you all know, when you get into the details, it gets very complicated. >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, take germany as a great example. pressure on germany to cut its nordstrom 2 pipeline with russia over the human rights abuses of navalny, its opposition leader and others in russia. yet we heard from angela merkel today saying she would support extending the role of german troops as part of that nato mission inside afghanistan
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because that may come to pass. general austin was present and attending the virtual nato defense minister's summit in the past couple of days, and one of the sort of strongest lines to come from the secretary general of nato against staltenburg afterwards was that the united states would work with its allies. that message is permeating. but there was another message that came about today as well, and that was from the secretary general at the u.n. he said, let's not create a bipolar world. let's not go back to a cold war. and in a way, when president biden says we're in a historic moment of inflection between democracies and autocracies, the caveats and spaces have been created for that bipolar world, and briefly europe doesn't quite see it that way and buy into that. why do we know that? because they rushed into a big economic deal with china right before president biden came into office because they knew that
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that's something he would resist because that democracy is working together against china is to manage china and its actions. >> 30 days in. we'll continue to track as we go forward. david axelrod and nick roberts, thank you for joining us. abby phillip is going to stay on. a crisis. half of texas with severe issues. lease the 2021 is 300 for $359 a month for thirty nine months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.
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president biden last hour saying he hopes to visit texas next week, if that trip wouldn't add to the already giant burden of the twin crises facing the state. the electricity is back on, but many are still having issues with water. biden calls on the texas cover to off support. millions of texans are struggling to access water due to broken pipes or an order they should boil their water for safety. 181 million customers still without power and there are 38 confirmed deaths since last thursday. 22 million people under a hard freeze warning overnight. john, what are you seeing?
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>> reporter: the emergency that people have been going through the last four or five days here in texas are now over. operations have returned to at least being stable according to the energy reliability council of texas here. they control the power. but what they've gone through over the past week can't be lost, and this downed power line a symbol of what they've had to go through. obviously this is part of what created so many issues on the front end. it caused people to literally have to burn furniture in their own living rooms just to keep warm in these freezing temperatures. an encouraging sign, though? when you look at the trees, you actually see water dripping. when you look at the roads, you're seeing water flowing, not just ice frozen, indicating that temperatures are going up a little bit, a welcome sign for people here. but the leaders, the officials that control the energy here, are not calling this a success story. >> no, this is not a success story. we understand, we're in the electric business, we know that electricity is essential to
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civilization. and it's awful for us in the business to see systems that can't make electricity available to everyone. so, no, i think we're going to have to look at this very carefully and understand how we can manage the events better as an entire industry. >> reporter: and so while things seem to be getting on the energy front, there are still a lot of hurdles to go before people here see any semblance of normalcy. one, we are expecting to see freezing temperatures again tonight, so some of this water flowing could turn into ice. and secondly, people still don't have water. we are under a citywide boil order here in at least the city of austin, and we were just visiting with a resident moments ago. you turn on that faucet, nothing comes out. people here are being told to think in terms of days, not just hours before that very crucial part of civilization comes back any time soon. john? >> omar jimenez, great to have you and our team on the ground
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during this crisis. appreciate the reporting there. senator ted cruz says he knows his mexico getaway was a big mistake. the texas republican and his family flew off to a cancun resort on sunday while millions of his constituents were without power and water. took a while for the senator to settle on contrition. at first his office wouldn't even confirm he was south of the border. then he said he was taking his wife and daughter and always planned to return back to texas. then he said he originally planned to stay for the weekend and head back over one night only after he realized the political fallout. >> reporter: what were you thinking? >> well, my kids, all of us this week, this has been a hell of a week for texas. i don't like this being used as a distraction from the real issues. >> reporter: do you regret going because of the firestorm or that you left when people here were
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struggling? >> many of the people who are upset with me were upset with me before we started. you can work remotely, that was my intention, but even so, i needed to be here. it was a mistake. >> yeah, it was a mistake. cnn's abby phillip is still with us and abby livingston of the "texas tribune" joins the conversation as well. abby lifrgvingston, good to see you, my friend. i want to follow up with what omar jimenez said were the difficulties on the ground. a tweet from last night, there are busted pipes. getting a plumber will be harder than getting a covid vaccine, and i am not even kidding. what are you hearing from the texas tribune about things getting better, but? >> i'm in d.c., but this has been a difficult week for us because my family, my friends,
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everyone i know in texas has been hindered in some way. the question is the scale. this is something that will go on for a very long time. if your home is floolded, there are not enough plumbers in the state to take care of this issue quickly. just taking a shower is an issue for many texans right now. >> and, abby phillip, that's why this is crazy. this is today's dallas morning news "paying a high price." they think the damage will be higher than hurricane harvey. the headlines have been like this all week, and yet ted cruz thought it was okay to get on a plane with his daughters and his wife to go to cancun. the "new york times" actually has some texts from his wife heidi cruz saying their house was freezing, as miss cruz put it, and she proposed getting away until sunday. she proposed friends join them at the ritz-carlton in cancun,
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where they had stayed many times, noting the room price this week, $309 per night, and its good security. how does he excuse this when he criticized others in the past for taking off at the worst time? >> he tended to blame his kids for the decision he and his wife made. beyond that, he made the point you can work remotely. that is probably true. he's a united states senator, he's not a mayor. at the same time you see other federal lawmakers trying to bridge the gap between individual people, constituents who need help, and the services that they need, the help that they need. there is a role there. i know that because you see others doing it from the top to bottom. so, you know, it was politically stupid and probably a selfish decision on his part. he has the means to fly off to cancun. he probably had the means to get a hotel somewhere nearby his
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house where they could warm up, but clearly not someone thinking that his actions don't have consequences and then realizing at the end of the day that texans are so pissed off about this, whether they're republican or democrat. it's not a good look. >> right, you're a senator, so you can't turn the heat back on, no, but you can do everything to push on the disaster declaration which the president has done -- >> you can pass out water, pass out food. >> right, you can show empathy in the situation. abby, back to the point. here's another piece of what i'll call political dysfunction in the great state of texas. listen higher. this is the mayor, sylvester turner, in the city of houston. the crisis has been huge. you would have thought the mayor of the city woould have had a word or two, but -- >> i haven't talked to the governor at any time during this crisis. >> you're the mayor of houston. the governor of your state
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hasn't reached out to you since this began? >> i have not talked to the governor, but we're pushing forward. >> i had a very similar conversation with the same mayor back early on in the covid crisis when, you know, the cities were reeling. it's a republican governor, you have democratic mayors. texas says you know better than anyone that the conversation is changing politically as we go here. but why not? even last night governor abbott speaks to president biden. the white house puts out a statement saying the two talked. the president is trying to help. he'll do whatever he can to the republican governor. the governor has not acknowledged the conversation with the democratic president of the united states. why? >> i think this is a symptom of just how polarized the state is and how lethal politically interacting with the president could be in a primary. i think back to chris christie and hugging president obama and just the peril of that politically. that said, there are two things about senator cruz that i wanted to touch on. one is that cruz -- the job of a
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senator is very informal in the middle of this crisis. they've got to work with fema on the back end and have to get funds back to the state. but there is a symbolic leadership and the morale of texas is very low. the people i talked to are in tears. the other thing is, i think we have to talk about the role of politicians. i just think so much of politics is now geared toward twitter wars rather than focusing on the issues at hand. there is no more important job right now than coordinating the state of texas. >> amen, amen. just go home. if there's a crisis in your home area and you can be there to help, no matter what you're doing, be home and help. that's the test of leadership. abby livingston, abby phillip, great reporting. embrace trump or ignore him? lindsey graham is packing his golf clubs, so that probably helps you understand his choice.
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this just in from the white house covid response briefing, there is news on the efficacy of the covid vaccine after just one shot. that research fueling new debate about whether you should hold back second shots to allow a person to get a first dose. both dr. fauci and andy slavitt researched this saying, yes, but no changes are coming yet. >> i think it's important that people understand we're not going to be persuaded by one study that happens to grab headlines. we here at the white house will, of course, listen to whatever the scientists have to say and adjust accordingly. >> translation, it's two doses for now. that's the white house policy.
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senator lindsey graham is planning a trip to mar-a-lago, meaning his choice about how to handle the gop dilemma now quite clear. consistently is not a graham strong suit. immediately after the capitol insurrection, you might remember senator graham said he was done with trump. but now cnn has learned that the republican representative has planned to spend time with trump, hoping it will bolster his own presidential legacy. u.n. ambassador nikki haley also wanted a mar-a-lago meeting but president trump refused after she said his conduct was wrong and the republicans should have been more forceful in challenging it. cnn's michael warren is here with more on this krcrossroads moment for the gop. warren, word is he would be
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happy if he never spoke to trump again. now he's off to mar-a-lago. >> reporter: that's right, lindsey graham wants to make this a constructive trip to mar-a-lago to correct the rift that's formed. we can see how mitch mcconnell has really tried to move beyond president trump and believes really the party to win in the future needs to do that. lindsey graham has a different view. he's much more aligned with what congressman kevin mccarthy, the republican leader in the house, wants to do, which is embrace trump, try to keep him in the fold. this is what graham said earlier this week on fox, really disagreeing with mcconnell's strategy of keeping trump at a distance. >> i'm more worried about 2022 than i've ever been. i don't want to eat our own. president trump is the most consequential republican in the party. if mitch mcconnell doesn't understand that, he's missing a
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lot. kevin mccarthy is the leader of the house republicans. he's taken a different approach to president trump. i would advise senator mcconnell to do that. >> reporter: john, this is really about the 2022 primaries, the republican primaries. if you remember this statement from donald trump earlier this week criticizing mcconnell calling him a galvanized soul. there was one thing that really stuck out to republicans about this pledge, some considered it a veiled threat, that trump will back primary challenges in the republican senate primaries, possibly giving republicans candidates that can win in a primary with a donald trump endorsement but can't win in the general election in a lot of these swing states, purple states like pennsylvania, georgia and arizona. this is something, you know, that we've been reporting, that if they don't figure this out soon, this kind of divide in the party, gop leaders fear there could be a major crash ahead as
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some see it rempresents the greatest risk for mcconnell who, despite his power in the senate, isn't as popular with trump voters across the country. that's really what this is all about. there is a disparity there. trump remains popular with republican voters. graham blooelieves if they want win, they need to keep trump in the fold. >> we'll see if it works. michael warren, appreciate the reporting. as you mentioned, a major crash ahead if there are, really, three factions in the republican party. a bill that plans to limit voting access. what it details. that's next. -go talk to him. -yeah, no. plus it's not even like he'd be into me or whatever. ♪ ♪ this could be ♪ hi. you just moved in, right? i would love to tell you about
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all the great savings you can get for bundling your renter's and car insurance with progressive. -oh, i was just -- -oh, tammy. i found your retainer in the dryer. tonight i'll be eating a calzone from doughballs in aurora. (doorbell) rock on. tonight i'll be eating lobster thermidor au gratin. really? sh-yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt. make it two calzones!
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georgia republicans now joining a national gop trend. get this. look for ways to make it harder for you to vote. it's a striking development. remember, turnout was up significantly during last year's pandemic election. but republicans lost a presidency, and then they lost their senate majority when democrats won the two runoff elections. one would think we would celebrate higher turnout in a democracy. but republicans coast to coast now trying to roll back access to voting. according to a report for justice, that report says 28 states now considering new legislation to limit how and who can vote by mail, including
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imposing new photo i.d. requirements. the bill by house republicans in georgia is quite apparent in its goal. that bill calls for limiting voting for an access window and would prohibit voting on other days, including sunday. sunday a high turnout day special counsel formal blacks because they tend to be in churches. steven joins me live. steven, i read your report and i looked at the piece of legislation. it seems pretty apparent here that the proposal is designed to make it harder or restrict turnout by black georgians. is there any other way to read it? >> it's easy to see that because the sponsor of the bill says it is to make things uniform. georgia has 159 counties, many of them smaller, wider, more republican and rural. it seems to be catered towards
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voting for those populations, and some of the changes like limiting access to drop boxes and limiting early voting access sites will predominantly impact the counties that are larger, more diverse and tend to vote democrat. so, yes, many of these proposals would end up making it harder for more democrats to vote. >> and, again, reading through it, there are some proposals in there where you say, good. it talks about having more polling locations or more machines or more poll workers in places that have been crowded. you read those provisions and you say, good, that's wise. but these other provisions that would restrict voting, how popular are they? you have this proposal. is it likely to become law? >> it's an omnibus voting bill that is 48 pages long and touches on a number of things, and so it's a little bit harder to separate out some of those proposals in favor of some of the things that are more popular, but this is introduced into a special committee on election integrity that the state house has.
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we've seen a number of voting bills introduced, and this so far is the biggest one in that chamber. but it does seem likely it will have some sort of traction given the house is controlled by republicans. >> so we can also look at the dynamics. again, this is happening in 28 states since the november election. we see efforts to roll back some of the new access that was granted during the pandemic, more early voting, more mail-in voting, different ways tore people to vote. which, again, across the country led to higher turnout. in your state, of course, because president trump lost and insisted he did not and asked the secretary of state to find votes, and because democrats came in and won those runoffs, there were bruised feelings among republicans there. how much is being driven by that and how much is the divide there among republicans? there are established republicans who say trump lost. we lost both senate races, and i'll say trumpians who are still complaining about november.
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>> some of the provisions in this bill seem to retaliate against republicans about the election. for instance, there is a line there that would try to get rid of mobile voting boxes which is something fulton county, which is where atlanta is, used to have 10 or 20 buses show up to cut down on lines. there is no evidence of fraud. it's the same as any other early voting site, but you have that language in the bill that seems to purposely target something democrats use more. but there are some reforms. you mentioned there are record number of absentee ballots because of the pandemic, and that led to counties' election offices being overwhelmed and questions about security and people requesting things, so there are measures that republican secretary of state brad raffensperger supported, including adding a photo i.d., and what that looks like is people putting their driver's
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license numbers on them, and they will also ask them to put their driver's license numbers on the envelope when they send it. >> stephen lowler, good to have you. brie an nanna keilar picks it ut now. hello, i'mbor brianna keila and i want to welcome the united states and people around the world. the disaster in texas is sending millions on the search for clean water. >> what a nightmare. oh, my god. >> oh, my god. oh, my god! >> the organization that manages texas' power grid is declaring its emergency over with much of the power restored in the state, but now nearly half of texas is under a boil water advisory. that is about 13 million people who are le

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