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Defense Secretary Austin, General Milley Hold Press Briefing; 91-Plus Million Americans Live in County with "High" COVID Transmission; Former Trump Surgeon General Urges CDC Reversal; Miami- Dade Officials Plead for Vaccinations, Masks in Crowds; Gen. Milley Briefs After Book Revealed Trump Coup Fears; Another Trump Ally Indicted, Jailed on Illegal Lobbying Charges; McCarthy Speaks After Pulling All 1/6 Select Committee Picks. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 21, 2021 - 13:30   ET

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


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[13:31:15]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Happening now, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joints Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Mark Milley, set to speak with reporters at the Pentagon. You can see it's just begun.

General Milley will be facing questions just a week after we learned he and other top officials came up with a plan in the event that then- President Trump tried to attempt a coup post-election.

Not clear if he will answer questions about that. But we are going to monitor this with you. And we will take these comments live if, in fact, some are made.

So stay with us. We'll continue to monitor that.

Meantime, we are also keeping a close watch on COVID-19 in this country. Cases are surging, fueled by the highly-contagious Delta variant, which now accounts for 83 percent of sequenced samples in the United States.

That is a massive jump from just two weeks ago when it was responsible for 50 percent of those cases.

As of today, nearly 30 percent of the population, some 91 million people, are living in a county that is considered to have high COVID transmission rate.

That has a number of public health officials concerned and asking the CDC to step up its approach and guidance.

Dr. Jerome Adams, who served under President Trump, has been pushing for revised guidance. He's posted an op-ed in the "Washington Post" noting that his initial masking guidance was changed and it's time for the CDC to do the same.

Calling on the agency to, quote, "urgently revise its guidance to vaccinate and to mask in places where cases are rising, yet vaccination rates remain low.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is in Miami where local officials are actually issuing their own public health guidance.

Leyla, what are they asking of the public?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, I have spoken to doctors and nurses and COVID-19 patients in their hospital beds. Every single one of them told me you want to make sure you get the vaccine.

Let's look at the numbers here in Florida.

When you look at the cases, Florida is leading the nation with just this month nearly 85,000 cases. Then you look at the deaths and it's more than 600 this month.

Here at Jackson Health System, they've actually raised their COVID-19 threat alert to high.

There was a clear sense of frustration among health care workers who say, look, it feels like here we go again. And now we have PPE. We have vaccines.

But we're seeing so many patients come in that are unvaccinated. And 90 percent of their patients are unvaccinated. You look at the ICU, 95 percent of them are unvaccinated.

Governor Ron DeSantis just spoke at a press conference and he, too, is pushing for vaccinations, saying this is the best way to combat this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you are vaccinated, fully vaccinated, the chance of you getting seriously ill or dying from COVID is effectively zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: So that is what he is publicly saying in terms of his message. But he's doing that while also taking issue with the masks.

You know, he is saying this at the same time he retweets supporters who were saying, "Don't Fauci my Florida," on products that are being sold.

The CDC guidance right now is, if you are vaccinated, you can resume your activities without wearing that mask or physically distancing.

But when you talk to health care workers, they'll tell you a big part of that problem is you have a lot of unvaccinated individuals pretty much behaving like the CDC is recommending for vaccinated people. People who don't have the vaccine are still going into big groups and

not physically distancing or wearing masks -- Erica?

[13:35:03]

HILL: Leyla Santiago, with the latest for us.

Leyla, thank you.

I also want to bring in two medical experts as we take a look at these two new developments.

Dr. Leana Wen is a CNN medical analyst. She's the former health commissioner for the state of Baltimore.

Dr. Andi Shane, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Emory University School of Medicine and the medical director of infectious disease at Children's Health Care of Atlanta.

Dr. Wen, as we look at this, we have talked about this so often. But you have the former surgeon general saying, look I was wrong before, I revised my advice on masks, it is time for the CDC to do the same.

Number one, what are the chances you think that will happen? And, number two, is it too late?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I really hope the CDC will change their guidance as well.

The bedrock of good public health is you're constantly reevaluating depending on the circumstances on the ground. The situation has changed dramatically since when the CDC first issued their guidance for fully vaccinated people in May.

We're now seeing a rise in COVID cases in all 50 states. We now also have the Delta variant that we know is a lot more contagious.

By the way, we don't yet know, if you're fully vaccinated and you get the Delta variant, are you able to transmit it to others.

Out of abundance of caution, the CDC needs to change their guidance immediately so that it takes into account protection for everyone.

We have a pandemic among the unvaccinated. The problem is it's spilling over to those who are vaccinated.

I wish the CDC would say, in places where unvaccinated and vaccinated people are mixing, unless you're asking for proof of vaccination, everybody needs to go back to wearing masks indoors.

HILL: As we look at all of this, it's so interesting because there's so much talk about kids at this point. All of those under 12 don't have the option of getting the vaccine.

Dr. Shane, children now account for one in six new cases. A number of schools are heading back to school in the next few weeks. The guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics that came out on

Monday is for universal masking, regardless of vaccination status in schools.

But the reality is at least nine states now have bans on mask requirements in public schools.

I'm curious, Dr. Shane, looking at that this morning, what is your biggest concern about what we may see in the coming weeks among children?

DR. ANDI SHANE, INTERIM DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE, CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE OF ATLANTA: That's a great question. Thank you.

I think, just as Dr. Wen emphasized, it is extremely important we are now entering what seems to be a third wave.

Because so many children under the age of 12 cannot be protected with vaccination, universal masking is really the best option to protect our entire community.

Bottom line really is that in-person education and in-person schooling is best for our children and our community.

So anything that we can do to optimize that, which includes universal mask wearing, is really the best way to protect our children and our communities.

HILL: There's so much to talk about, when more children and younger children will be eligible for the vaccine. We know that data from the current trials is expected late fall/early winter. Of course, that's just the data.

The process to gain an EUA could take far longer than that.

Dr. Shane, this process was fairly quick when it came to an emergency use authorization for adults.

Why is it taking longer to have that data and, hopefully, that EUA for children?

SHANE: Yes, thanks, Erica.

One of the big challenges is that children are not just little adults. So the different ages and different weights.

So one of the big challenges has been trying to determine the most efficacious and the safest dose for children. It's not a one-size- fits-all situation.

Working backwards, from oldest children, first, to youngest children, figuring out exactly what the best dose is has been one of the most time-consuming aspects of the trials in children. HILL: As we look at the different vaccines -- Dr. Wen, I know you

received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There's a study that it may require a booster to protect against variants.

There seems to be a lot of concern over boosters. I have this sense from people that boosters are looked at as a bad thing. We've all had a number of different boosters in our lives with the various vaccines we've had.

Is there anything that should concern us about the need for a booster, Dr. Wen?

WEN: We always thought, at some point, one of two things might happen. One is that immunity might wane over time. Two is there may be variants developing for which the vaccines we have may be less effective.

In the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is the one-dose vaccine, there's contradictory evidence at this point

There are two different studies, one by the Johnson & Johnson manufacturer, one by independent researchers that has not been peer reviewed, that show different things about whether people with the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine may benefit from another dose.

[13:40:04]

I think, at this point, we're in this gray zone where our federal health authorities are not able to make a recommendation because we don't have this data.

I will tell you, as a clinician, if I have a patient who is particularly vulnerable, elderly, chronic medical conditions or exposed to high-risk situations because they live at home with unvaccinated people, I would remember to those people, if they got the Johnson & Johnson, to get an mRNA booster, one dose of the mRNA booster shot at this time.

However, for the general public, who are generally healthy, I would not make that recommendation at this time because we don't know the risk versus benefit for that group.

It's challenging because we're in this gray area where there's no clear answer.

Patients, if they're worried, should be talking to their individual physician about guidance for boosters at this point.

HILL: So interesting.

Dr. Wen, and Dr. Andi Shane, really appreciate your insight. Thank you both.

I want to bring you back now to our breaking news. House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, pulling all of his picks for the January 6th Select Committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of those recommendations, Jim Banks and Jim Jordan, for statements they have made.

Stay with us. We'll have the very latest.

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HILL: We want to bring you now -- you see Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking there.

We've been monitoring this press conference with him and, of course, General Mark Milley. His first comments since what we have heard talk about how there was potential preparation for a possible coup from President Trump in the wake of the election.

I want to play you a moment. He was just asked about that by a reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: That note is in place.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

AUSTIN: After August, our focus, as we've said, is on those threats that present -- those elements that present a threat to the United States of America.

It will be a counterterrorism focus there. And that's currently where we stand. We have not changed that.

But make no mistake, we remain committed to helping the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government going forward.

And we are doing what we said we were going to do in terms of putting the pieces in place to ensure we can provide that support.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thanks for the question.

I know there's a lot of interest out there in all of these books out there quoting me and lots of others, et cetera I'm not going to comment on what's in any of those books.

Let me just say this though. I always personally provided the best military professional advice to President Trump previously, to President Biden or any other president.

[13:45:03]

I also provide the best advice to the secretary of defense, whoever is the secretary of defense. And I do that for the National Security Council as well.

I will speak also for this one time on behalf of the Joints Chiefs. The same applies to them. We always adhered to providing best professional military advice, bar none.

It was candid, honest on every single occasion. We did that all the time every time.

The other thing I think is important to note here is that I, the other members of the Joints Chiefs, and all of us in uniform, we take an oath, an oath to a document, an oath to the Constitution of the United States, and not one time did we violate that.

The entire time, from time of commissioning to today, I can say with certainty that every one of us maintained our oath of allegiance to that document, the Constitution, everything that's contained within it.

And we also maintain the tradition of civilian control of the military. We did that without fail.

We also maintained the tradition of an apolitical military. We did that then, we do that now, and we will do that forever, all the time.

AUSTIN: I would like to add a comment to that, Bob.

I've known the chairman for a long time. We fought together. We've served a couple of times in the same unit.

I'm not guessing at his character. He doesn't have a political bone in his body. I think -- I clearly have tremendous faith and confidence in the chairman.

What I want to make sure we do is maintain our focus on the threats ahead, maintain our focus on our facing challenge with China, and all the things that we're trying to do to make sure this force is ready to meet the challenges of the future.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Secretary Austin, on Afghan, are you concerned that as the Taliban gain ground, that al Qaeda will be able to move back in and --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: You've just been listening to the first comments we've heard from General Milley since all of these accounts have come out in different books about what happened during his time when former President Trump was still in office.

Saying very clearly he's not going to comment except to say he has always provided the best military advice to any secretary of defense, president, the national security administration or Joints Chiefs under any administration.

I want to bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Oren Liebermann.

Oren, as we look at all of this, I notice he also made a point to say that he took an oath. He took an oath to the Constitution of the United States.

The defense secretary jumping in there at the end as well to back him up, saying there isn't a political bone in his body. OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That was an important

point and one where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin showed very publicly that he is very much behind Joint Chiefs chairman, General Mark Milley, when it comes to this specific issue.

The point that General Milley made about taking an oath to the Constitution and not to a king, not to a leader, not to a monarch but to a document, to the Constitution, is one he has emphasized repeatedly.

It's a statement of fact. That's in the oath of service. It's one that, in this charged political environment, in this charged environment, has taken a political overtone.

It's important that he came back to it and said this is not a political statement, this is how he views his job.

It is his job to give what he called the best professional military advice not only to the former president, President Trump, but to this president, Joe Biden, as well as to the defense secretary, the National Security Council.

That is his job as he sees it and his job as his oath of service to the Constitution. It is an oath he said he would never violate.

He did something he rarely does. He spoke on behalf of the Joints Chiefs and said all of them have taken this oath and all of them stick to it in giving their best professional military advice as leaders, as commanders, as generals, to their superiors, to the civilian leadership of the military.

That is how he views his role, as an apolitical role.

Then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who came back in and said they have worked together in the past and there isn't a political bone in General Milley's body, showing the support the Joint Chiefs chairman has.

He was very much expecting, General Mark Milley, a question about these recent books. Certainly, they made some headlines with some very dramatic revelations about the closing months of the Trump administration.

So you have the position he's put out before --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: Oren, just a second. I want to go back to that press conference live. I think we're hearing a little bit more.

MILLEY: We don't arbitrate elections. That's the job of the judiciary and the legislature and the American people. It's not the job of the U.S. military.

We stay out of politics. We're an apolitical institution. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you concerned some of these comments

attributed to you are making it -- pulling you more into politics than you necessarily - your office should be?

AUSTIN: Let me make a comment here. It's really important to me that this department remain apolitical.

[13:50:02]

And so we're going do everything within our power to make sure that our troops, our leadership, both civilian and military, remain focused on the task at hand and understand that they are not a part of the political apparatus there.

So we will remain apolitical.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, and, General, closer to home, you've got a yawning gap in leadership among the weapons bureaucracy here. You don't have an undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment. You're seven months into the administration --

HILL: We're going to bring back in Oren Liebermann now.

Oren, we caught the tail end of that.

But a question about comments that are out there that have been attributed to General Mark Milley and what the impact of those comments.

I'm sure it's something that's certainly being discussed behind closed doors at the Pentagon.

LIEBERMANN: Absolutely. Everyone here is aware that those have been used as a political tool, as a political football in this charged environment.

But you saw the position of the two leaders essentially of the military, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs and defense secretary. It certainly doesn't look like they want to engage on this.

They basically say they view their job as apolitical. They say those comments weren't meant to be taken in a political light.

Obviously, they were interpreted that way as those who wanted to use them to attack either General Milley or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

They see that as, OK, that's how it's been used. But that's not how they view their job or their role in the past or going forward.

They are trying to say, look, it is our job to give our best professional military advice. That's what they say they did in the past, that's what they say they continue to do, and will do in the future despite these books.

It was very clear the Joint Chiefs chairman didn't want to engage or wouldn't engage in confirming the revelations within those recently published books.

HILL: Oren Liebermann, with the latest for us.

Oren, thank you.

Stay with us. We are also monitoring another live event. You see this podium here. We are waiting to hear from House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy. We're told that the five Republican members who he recommended for that select committee will be with him. We'll bring you that.

Stay with us.

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[13:57:09]

HILL: We are waiting here to hear from minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, after Speaker Pelosi rejected two of his picks, two of his Republican picks for the January 6 Select Committee.

We're told that he will be joined at that podium by all five representatives he recommended, not just representative Jim Banks and Jim Jordan, who were rejected by the House speaker.

We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

In the meantime, I want to get you caught up on another story we're following closely. Former advisor, friend, in fact, chairman of President Trump's Inaugural Committee -- you see him in the spotlight -- is now in federal custody.

FBI agents arrested Tom Barrack yesterday, charging him in a seven seven-count indictment for acting as an agent of a foreign government.

Joining us to explain those charges and also what comes next, CNN senior legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, Elie Honig.

Elie, walk us through the charges here.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Erica, there are two types of charges lodged against Tom Barrack here.

First of all, violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Sometimes you'll hear that called FARA.

Really that means three things. First of all, that Barrack was engaged in lobbying the U.S. government, in this case directly to former President Donald Trump.

Secondly, that he was doing it on behalf of a foreign country, the United Arab Emirates, UAE.

And third, that he did it without registering. That's what makes this a crime. It endangers our national security to have somebody lobbying powerful

government officials without disclosing that they're actually working for a foreign country.

Also the feds here have charged Barrack with obstruction of justice and false statements for lying to the FBI about the nature of the work that he was doing for the UAE.

HILL: How strong does this evidence look to you, Elie? And also what options does Barrack have right now?

HONIG: The evidence looks really strong, Erica. It's mostly based on e-mails and texts that Barrack sent.

Anybody that gets charged with a crime has three basic options. One, you can always go to trial. That's a major risk for anyone in the federal system.

The vast majority of federal trials end up in conviction. If he is convicted, he's going to jail for a significant amount of time.

Two, he can just plead guilty, hope for the best, but he's running a significant risk of jail time there.

Three, the best way he can protect himself is by cooperating. That means he has to give up any crime he knows about from anybody else in order to save himself.

Remember, he was the chair of the Inaugural Committee, which has been investigated by DOJ in the past. So there's at least some smoke there.

HILL: Elie Honig, appreciate it.

Your timing is perfect because I want to take you now straight to Capitol Hill where we'll listen in to minority leader, Kevin McCarthy.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Speaker Pelosi has taken the unprecedented step of denying the minority party's picks for the select committee on January 6.

[13:59:51]

This represents something that has not happened in the House before for a select committee by the historian. It's an egregious abuse of power. Pelosi has broken this institution.

Denying the voice of members who have served in the military. Jim Banks, a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan.