Leo Terrell: Cuomo nursing home 'misconduct' should be investigated

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Leo Terrell: Cuomo nursing home 'misconduct' should be investigated

FOX News contributor debates NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams over the governor's pandemic response on 'The Story'

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum," February 19, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: Thank you very much, you guys. Good to see you both Sandra and John. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Martha McCallum on a snowy Friday. And we have a lot of stories breaking this afternoon.

At this moment, the President at the Pfizer vaccine plant in Portage, Michigan, you remember this place. This is where they first started rolling out vaccines in December, which of course was a historic moment for the country.

The White House now says that they're going to have enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of July. That's most of the country. And a new study says that the Pfizer vaccine is 85 percent effective after just one dose.

It also turns out that it holds up very well in just normal freezers. That with a huge drop in cases down almost 75 percent over the last six weeks, begs the question, why isn't the White House all over proclaiming this very good news?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By next Christmas, I think we'll be in a very different circumstance, God-willing than we are today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Next Christmas? Is this characterization part of a push to keep the heat on passing a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill? That's one of the big questions out there today, despite the estimated $1 trillion from the last one that is still not spent.

Now, Dr. Marty Makary, a frequent guest here, and a Public Health Expert from John Hopkins wrote a very powerful piece in the Wall Street Journal. That is a must read on this.

He says, "We will have herd immunity in this country by April." And then he goes and lays out the science on that. And he will lay all that out for you on why he thinks we're going to have herd immunity in April, which is just a couple of months away. He's here in just a moment.

We're also very glad to have the former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie with us on this big story today. We're also keeping a live, an eye, I should say, the live event that I just mentioned President about to speak at the Pfizer plant on COVID and where we are. So, we're going to take you live with that, as well as that gets underway.

But first, let's go to Dr. Marty Makary, who is also a Fox News Medical Contributor. Doctor, great to see you, you say in this piece that it's time to be honest about what is happening, really with COVID in America. What do you mean by that?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Martha, I think any scientist has to look at a 75 percent reduction in cases over the last six weeks and ask what's happening because it cannot be explained by the vaccines, it cannot be explained by a sudden change of behavior.

Herd immunity is not binary, Martha. It's not an all or nothing thing. And as more people get infected, and as there's more natural immunity out there, there are fewer people left who are susceptible. And what we're seeing is that herd immunity has already kicked in.

It's on a slope to be at very low levels of infection by April and we add to that vaccinated immunity, we're about to see a very steep decline. And I think it's important to plan accordingly.

MACCALLUM: So, you point out, and there was a U.K. study done on this that one of the biggest mistakes here has been that the vast underestimation of the number of Americans who've had it, because people see that 29 million, 28 million cases in America, you think that number is, is too low by how much?

MAKARY: Well, first of all, you're right, people are looking at the trackers and say 28 million, and that's the number of people with infection. But that's only confirmed. And we've only been confirming about one in four, to one in 10 cases. And if you, look, if you live in a community where everyone has access, and they get anxious, they run out get tested, you might think well, but most people are getting tested.

Most Americans don't live like that. Most people have had major barriers to testing. And that 28 million cumulative total, it probably represents one in 6.5 actual infections out there. We know from the U.K. now and from European studies that even if you never had symptoms, you felt great the entire time, but were close to someone or exposed or you live with somebody who had, your T-cells, which are very good immune cells have been activated.

And looking at antibodies does not capture activated T-cells. There are more people with activated T-cells than there are with antibodies.

MACCALLUM: All right. I mean, I just want to go back there. You just said something really big, which never gets talked about. So, everybody thinks either you had it, you're one of the 29 million or and you have or you might have antibodies because you had it and people who have antibodies can get tested for that and know it. But you're saying that there's a huge part of the population who may have been exposed to it or may have been exposed to a prior virus that elevated their T-cells. So, essentially, they won't get it. They can't get it. They're immune from getting it. There's about 320 million Americans in this country. How many people do you think are now immune from COVID?

MAKARY: I think at least 180 million just using the general extrapolation of number of confirmed cases, to number of people who probably had it and didn't have access to testing. Look, for example, at the mathematics, about one in 600 Americans have died of COVID. And we know the case fatality rates, about one in 400. That means about two-thirds of the country is represented right now in the current death tolls.

So, we generally think that T-cell activation is a powerful form of immunity. Europeans believe it a lot better than we do. And when we start to add in a lot of vaccinated immunity, which by this week will be 15 percent of Americans, and by the end of April, as much as 40 to 45 percent of Americans. That's a powerful deterrent, herd immunity is not binary. It may have already started to kick in.

MACCALLUM: All right. So, what -- you're saying something that is so different from what Dr. Fauci said. He said, we're not going to see any real immunity until probably July or August in this country. You just heard from the President, he said, things are not going to get back to normal until at least Christmas. So, you know, are they concerned about this variant? Are they wanting to keep the pressure on to get this very large financial bill passed? What's the disconnect?

MAKARY: Well, I don't know the motives. I've got to assume the best in people. But yes, I have these conversations all the time with the medical community in half, say, you know, Marty, that's a good point, I believe those studies. And the other half say that they're just dismissive of natural immunity, because there's no randomized control trial. Well, you can't randomize a country to not get the infection.

And the reality is that the reinfection rates from after prior infection are very low. They're less than one percent. And when they do happen, they're mild cases. So, natural immunity is powerful. It works. India may already be at herd immunity levels. At one town in Brazil, I talked about in the piece, has already reached herd immunity levels. That's where we are.

MACCALLUM: Yes. All right. Dr. Makary, it's always great to have you with us. You make a lot of sense. And as again, I direct everybody to your piece in The Wall Street Journal that says that we're likely to reach immunity by April. And just a couple months, we'll see if you're right, and we certainly hope you are. Thank you very much. Good to see you, Doctor.

MAKARY: Thanks, Martha. You too.

MACCALLUM: So, this week, Dr. Fauci, said that vaccinating teachers across the United States before reopening schools is non workable. Teachers Unions continue to insist that they will not go back until that happens. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, telling the Biden ministration in a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, "follow the science, not the Teachers Unions."

Governor Christie, always good to have you with us. Thank you very much for joining us today. And I want to ask you about your piece.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Thanks, Martha.

MACCALLUM: But, but first of all, you know, from a political perspective, you just listen to Dr. Marty Makary, why do you think there's such a disconnect; why is the president saying you know, we're going to be in in the thick of this until next Christmas? And we're hearing such a different thing from some of the some of the science community.

CHRISTIE: Well, I think President Biden's made a decision politically, that what got President Trump in trouble, in his view, was saying this was going to go away much more quickly than it did. That, you know, over promising the end of the pandemic. So, he's going to under promise, the end of the pandemic, so that when it ends sooner, people think that he did a good job and did the responsible thing. I think, you know, it's just a political judgment on his part. And like much of what the Biden administration is doing now, it's reactive, reactive to what the, what the Trump administration did.

MACCALLUM: Do you think that they need to have that sort of hanging over everything in order to get this $1.9 trillion package passed, despite the fact that we have all this money that's already out there?

CHRISTIE: Listen, there's $900 billion as you know, Martha, that we passed already, that hasn't even been distributed yet.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

CHRISTIE: And so, I think everybody needs to take a deep breath, look at what really needs to be done to help small business in this country, to help vaccine distribution. The things that are directly related to COVID. You know, increase the minimum wage has nothing to do with COVID. And so, we need to get this thing narrowed to a point where it deals with the issues we need to deal with.

MACCALLUM: All right, so I have a picture of you talking to a member of the Teachers Union. We know that you've had a lot of run-ins with them over the years because you don't necessarily agree with their politics and what their priorities. And then let's take a look at this chart. Relief funding for schools appropriated since last year, $67.5 billion, 4.4 billion has been spent. And yet, you've got Nancy Pelosi and the Unions both saying we can't possibly open these schools without more money, why?

CHRISTIE: Listen, this is the type of baloney that is going to make parents blood boil all across this country and it should. Anybody in political life right now Martha who is not saying follow the science, from the journal, the American Medical Association, and reopen our schools safe immediately is a political leader who doesn't deserve to be in the job they're in.

Now, I've got against these unions as you just mentioned, during my time as governor, you were in New Jersey, you saw it, you need to stand up and stand up for what's right. We need to put our children and the parents first. And if there was real danger here, no one would want people to go back to school. But the statistics, the science, we were told all through the campaign, Martha, follow the science.

Well, now we don't want to follow the science because the Teachers Union are telling the Democrats not to; they're manipulating the CDC. And we need political leaders and parents to join together and stand up against this because if they don't, our children will go another year without being in school, if it's left up to these unions.

MACCALLUM: Yes, I am. It's a great point, I recommend everybody read the piece that you wrote in the Wall Street Journal. And I would just point out in closing, that the head of KIPP, one of the charter schools, said that he worries a lot when the kids have a snow day in normal times, because of the learning loss from a snow day. They've now been out for almost a year. And he is recommending a nationwide push for summer school across the whole country, which I think is an idea that needs a lot of consideration and quickly, to get that up and running. Governor, always good to see you, sir. Thank you so much for being here. Come back soon.

CHRISTIE: And Martha, Martha, one last thing.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

CHRISTIE: The mental health effects on our children over the long term, the mental health effects are going to be incalculable. We need to get them back in school and get them back learning and get them back socializing. Because otherwise, we're going to wind up with what we're seeing across the country: higher suicide rates among children, higher drug abuse rates among children. That's got to end and the Teachers Union has to get out of the way and let the science guide our decisions.

MACCALLUM: Yes, and put the children and their health first before the union. Thank you very much, Governor. That's a great point. I'm glad you made it. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you, sir.

CHRISTIE: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, we are waiting. You bet. Thank you so much. We're waiting for the President in Michigan as we turn to another breaking story here. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo -- are we going to take a break right here guys? All right, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to talk about Governor Cuomo when we come back right after this. Let's go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, Andrew Cuomo says that mistakes and lies and politics confused families of loved ones who died of COVID in the nursing homes. The New York Governor, who is under a tremendous amount of heat right now came out today and basically blamed politics, media outlets, lawmakers, he said people on Twitter pumping conspiracy theories all kinds of other places that he's pointing the blame here. He says it was misinformation about what happened to some of our state's most vulnerable population. Leo Terrell and New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in a moment. But first to Correspondent Bryan Llenas, who joins us live from Brooklyn with what happened in this, in this briefing today from the governor. Hi Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. We'll look, a day after being called a bully by Republicans and Democrats in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo a defiant Governor Andrew Cuomo, came out today and dismiss the COVID-19 nursing home scandal affecting his administration as well as vowing to go after anyone including the media who he says is lying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I was not aggressive enough in knocking down the falsity. We were busy. We were doing our job. We're trying to save lives. I'm not going to make that mistake again. If you're lying to the people of the state of New York, I'm going to call it out. If you are lying in a report, I'm going to call it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: Governor Cuomo is facing a ton of pressure. New York lawmakers are looking to form an impeachment commission and may strip the Governor of his pandemic emergency powers. The FBI is reportedly investigating whether the administration purposely withheld nursing home data and nine U.S. senators are demanding public hearings.

Just last month, New York's Attorney General released a report finding the Governor's administration had been underreporting deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. The report also found Cuomo's controversial March 25th order may have led to more deaths. It mandated COVID-19 positive patients who were released from hospitals could not be denied from nursing homes. Yet today, New York's Health Commissioner defended that very policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HOWARD ZUCKER, NEW YORK HEALTH COMMISSIONER: 132 facilities that never took a COVID mission from a hospital still had COVID fatalities. March 25th was not the driver of COVID infections, it was not the driver of COVID fatalities. The facts are the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: Undermining the Governor's allegation that this is nothing but a political witch hunt, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez releasing a statement about an hour ago, calling for a quote full investigation into the governor. Martha.

MACCALLUM: Very interesting. Bryan Llenas, thank you so much. So, let's bring in Leo Terrell, Civil Rights and Constitutional Attorney and Fox News Contributor and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, great to have both of you with us, gentlemen. Thanks for being here.

So, today, you know, Leo, the, the Governor continues to try to sort of fix this situation. He's in a real pickle, and he's got a ton of pressure on him right now. And he keeps sort of pointing the blame and in other directions.

Today, he went after the media, went after people on Twitter, saying that it was pretty much their fault that, that this misperception in his mind got so -- became so pervasive.

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Martha, he's in denial and you know he has no credibility. The American public does not believe him. He needs to look in the mirror and look at himself. You got bipartisan criticism regarding this, and he refuses to acknowledge any wall. OK, if he's going to take that route, then let's have the independent investigation. The FBI, be Attorney General for the state of New York Democrat.

And you have bipartisan criticism in his own state legislature. Thank goodness for Janice Dean. Because I'll tell you right now, Martha, this is going to have to be resolved by way of a independent investigation. One final note, Joe Biden cannot, should not give him a lifeline. Let that FBI investigation go through. Let's see what happens. But every time Andrew Cuomo speaks, he loses credibility because he's in denial of his misconduct.

MACCALLUM: Yes, you mentioned Janice Dean, let's play what she had to say with Bryan Kilmeade on his radio show on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANICE DEAN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: Well, who knew that Governor Cuomo would be the one that, that unites Republicans and Democrats, but it seems to be happening. You know, they're coming across party lines, and they're and they're saying, let's, let's have justice on behalf of these families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Yes Jumaane, there are, I think, 10, 12 members of the New York assembly Democrats, we've spoken to some of them who are speaking out against the Governor here. Is this uniting Republicans and Democrats against him?

JUMAANE WILLIAMS, NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC ADVOCATE: Well, you know, to be clear, the federal government, the leadership was absolutely abysmal for the first 10 months last year, in this pandemic. I want to be clear about that. But that doesn't absolve the errors and the mistakes of local leaders, like Governor Andrew Cuomo. And to be clear, we've been calling for DOJ investigations since last year.

And it's unfortunate that, you know, this pandemic has exposed so much from homelessness, to violence, to food insecurity. It's also exposing who Andrew Cuomo is, and who he has always been. He's been very Trumpian, for a long time. He's been more competent at it. But I also want to say that while I appreciate folks helping to hold accountability, I would ask that folks who don't check their party affiliation before they ask for accountability, take the lead here, because there are many folks from the Republican party and media, who, for the past four years, have been absolutely silent. So, I appreciate your accountability. You know, no, pushing this for a while should take the lead.

TERRELL: You know, Martha, if I may. You know, I think those Democratic talking points are disingenuous. If you're going to talk about the Republican administration, you and the whole public knows about that naval ship there for Andrew Cuomo. You have the jet, the Jacob Javits Center, therefore, Mario Cuomo -- excuse me, Andrew Cuomo. My point is simply this: to use Democratic talking points and attack Republicans in general. That's what Cuomo did today. I think it's wrong. Let's focus on. Let's focus on Cuomo's conduct.

WILLIAMS: You have no point, sir.

TERRELL: I have no point. OK.

WILLIAMS: Every step of the way, Andrew Cuomo, including that ship. So, you should do some research.

TERRELL: I have done some research.

WILLIAMS: All I'm saying is you should have been there for the past four years. I'm happy to be here now. I'm happy Democrats are here now.

TERRELL: Sir, we're talking about a governor who is denied his conduct, and you're not talking about that.

WILLIAMS: You have no moral authority here.

TERRELL: Somehow, somehow, I'm not the issue. We're talking about the Governor of New York, and you're ignoring that. Talk about the governor.

WILLIAMS: You should have joined me in the past four years.

TERRELL: I should've joined you? No, we're talking about Governor Cuomo.

WILLIAMS: -- for about eight years since --

(CROSSTALK)

TERRELL: See, see, see those are talking points.

MACCALLUM: Jumaane, hold on one second. Jumaane, you know, to Leo's point, you know, you can talk about the past and we can talk about the present in this particular instance. You know, it's Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, who is now coming under a lot of scrutiny.

And frankly, he's coming under by a lot of people who praised him up and down. He got an Emmy for his, you know, daily news conferences. He did a wrote a book on what an amazing leader he was, he sold a poster that showed, you know, this artistic rendering of what an amazing job he did.

And the fact is that, you know, and people have compared this to what happened to Nixon, there's something that is up something that sort of flips when you start getting Democrats and Republicans together to say, you know what, I'm sorry, I'm going to hold the rest of this conversation for another moment, because we do want to hear what President Biden has to say right now. He's at the Pfizer plant, speaking about COVID and we're going to take you there live. Thank you, gentlemen, very much. Here's President Biden.

BIDEN: Thank you very much. Thank you (INAUDIDBLE) for the, the credit you give me I really don't deserve. This is this a case of life and death. We're talking about people's lives. I want to, I want you to know that once we beat the COVID, we're going to do everything we can and cancer as we know it.

I've asked Dr. Eric Lander, a renowned Harvard MIT Scientist, to co-lead the Presidential Council of Advisors in Science and Technology, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. These are White House offices that bring together the country's top scientists and address their most pressing needs.

They'll be part of administration's work to develop a DARPA-like advanced research effort on cancer and other diseases, just like there is DARPA and the Defense Department that develops the breakthroughs to protect our country. This administration is going to be guided by science, to save lives and to make lives better. That's why I wanted to come here, Albert, thank you, and thank all the workers here in Kalamazoo. I'm here to thank my good friend Governor Whitmer, and she has become a good and close friend.

Governor's been on the front lines of this pandemic as well for a long time, and I think she's doing an incredible job under very difficult circumstances. And Michigan is also fortunate to have my buddy Gary Peters as United States senator and Debbie Stabenow. Gary's here. Gary has been a workhorse and making sure that we move through this funding to get things done, because he understands better than anyone. It's about urgency, the urgency of the moment. So, Gary, thank you, Senator, thank you for all you're doing.

Last week, I toured the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I met world class doctors, scientists and researchers who were critical for discovering the vaccines in record time. I remember when we first started talking about this asking Dr. Fauci and others it could take up to several years, maybe as many as six or eight years to find, find a vaccine. It's a miracle of science and the brilliant minds that we have around us. And now, its second miracle, the miracle of manufacturing to produce hundreds of millions of doses -- let me say that, again, hundreds of millions of doses.

I came here because I want the American people to understand the extraordinary, extraordinary work that's being done to undertake the most difficult operational challenges this nation has ever faced. And let me say parenthetically, that it's not enough that we find cures for Americans, there needs to be a cure is that the world is able to take part because you can't build a wall or fence high enough to keep a pandemic out. On our tour, I met a few of your nearly 3000 workers Albert.

Experts manage ingredients that come in from different cities and states, experts handling 3-D modeling and artificial intelligence to ensure that every dose is properly crafted. Experts ensuring environment, a sterile environments, so that each vial each and every one is safe and free of contaminants. All this is followed by extensive safety and quality control inspection, then carefully -- we walk by a freezer farm then that then keeps those doses viable so they can be shipped.

This is an incredibly complex process. And at every stop safety is the utmost priority. The whole process takes teamwork, precision, and round- the-clock focus. Machinist, operating some of the most advanced equipment in the world. Working side by side with chemists, biologists, pioneering technologies, that less than a year ago were a little more than theories and aspirations.

It takes a partnership in our view between the federal government and all the companies and universities contributing to the vaccine effort. Just over four weeks ago, America had no real plan to vaccinate most of the country, my predecessors, as my mother would say, God love them, failed to order enough vaccines; failed to mobilize the effort to administer the shots. Failed to set up vaccine centers. That changed the moment we took office.

I directed Jeff Science, my COVID-19 Response Coordinator to lead my administration's work with the vaccine manufacturers to buy more vaccines and to speed up delivery. Albert referenced it earlier. I want to thank him for making it happen.

Because we work together, we're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July. And doesn't mean it'll be in all Americans arms, but enough vaccine will be available by that time. These orders allow facilities like this one to plan ahead, accelerate to production schedules.

Here's what else we did. When we discovered the vaccine manufacturers, working -- prioritized when it came to scrutinizing and securing supplies they needed, we fix that problem and got them what they needed. Were also used the Defense Production Act to speed up the supply chain for key equipment, like fill pumps and filters. This has already helped increase vaccine production. In fact, on our tour today, they showed me a critical piece of machinery they didn't have before. Now they do, and it's allowing them to ramp up production.

And as we increase supply, we're carrying out a clear plan to get shots into the arms of 300 million Americans or more. And I know people want confidence that it's safe. Well, I just toured and it's -- where it's being made. It takes more time to do the check for safety than it does actually to make the vaccine. That's how facilities they are.

And listen to Dr. Fauci. Dr. Fauci assured me the COVID-19 vaccines were safe. That's why several weeks ago I went through the rigorous scientific review. That's why I took my vaccine shot publicly, to demonstrate to the American people that I know and believe it's safe. That's why Vice President Harris also received a shot publicly.

We all know there's some histories or some hesitancy about taking this vaccine. We all know there's history in this country of having subjected certain communities to terrible medical abuses in the past. But if there's one message to cut through to everyone in this country is this, the vaccines are safe. Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and available. That's how to beat this pandemic.

We're making progress. We deployed more vaccinators, the people who put the vaccine in your arm. We're now making it possible for retired doctors and nurses to come back and under law administer these shots. We've put new vaccinators in the field. These include over 800 medical personnel from our Commissioned Corps at the Department of Health and Human Services and personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Defense Department National Guard. We're literally lined up -- we're lining up thousands of vaccinators, because it's one thing that the vaccine is very different to get into someone's arms.

We're also creating more places for people to get vaccinated. We provided $3 billion to states, territories and tribes to create hundreds of new vaccination centers to ramp up and ramp up the existing ones that now that are there.

Right here in Michigan with Governor Whitmer, FEMA has provided tens of millions of dollars to bolster the state's community vaccination centers. From the National Guard at the Expo Center here in Kalamazoo, to the TNT -- excuse me, the TCF center in Detroit, to parking lots in churches across the state. We've worked with governors in California, Texas, New York, more to come to stand up massive, mass vaccine sites and stadiums. There'll be open 24/7 in arenas and community centers.

It's an effort that's on top of the federal government covering the full cost for the state's use of their National Guard's for pandemic efforts. And you suggested I do that a while ago and I promised you I'd do it and we did it.

We also started shipping vaccines directly to thousands of local pharmacies across the country, so eligible folks can get the COVID-19 shot like they would a flu shot. Here in Michigan, that's already more than 220 pharmacies like Rite Aid and Myers, in more than 130 cities in Michigan. And that's just the beginning. It's only been four weeks.

And for folks who aren't near pharmacy or mass vaccination centers, we're deploying mobile clinics. These are special vehicles and pop up clinics that meet folks where they live, folks who don't have access to transportation to get the shots. We're also supplying vaccines to community health centers, federal community health centers to reach those who are hit the hardest. Black, Latinos, Native Americans and rural communities, which have higher rates of COVID infections and deaths than any other group.

Here in Michigan, we're already partnered with community health centers serving more than 370,000 patients in 11 cities across the state as. That's because you guys have pointed out where they were and why it was so important, and how we get to, as Gary talks about, get to the people most in need and the people most dying from COVID.

It's important to ensure everyone is treated equally and those hardest hit, get the care they deserve. We're now at a point where you've seen the average daily number of people vaccinated nearly double, from the week before I took office, to about 1.7 million average per day getting a shot.

We're on track to surpass my commitment. You may remember when I said in my first 100 days just before I was inaugurated, which seemed like 100 days, anyway, first 100 days before I was inaugurated, that we did administer 100 million shots, in my first 100 days. But we're on the path to do that, we're averaging 1.7 million a day, soon will be at 50 million. And I'm confident we'll exceed the number.

But that's just the floor, we have to keep going. But despite the progress, we're still in the teeth of a pandemic. New strains are emerging. In a few days, we'll cross 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, 500,000. That is almost 70,000 more than all the Americans who died in World War II over a four year period.

All the sorrow, all the heartache, all the pain. And while we wait for everyone to get vaccinated, we still need you to wash your hands stay socially distance and mask up to help save lives. That's why with the authority I have as president, I signed an executive order, the only authority I have to require this, to require masking on all federal property, all modes of travel like planes, trains and buses. We've been calling on governors and mayors, and local officials, Republicans and Democrats to institute mask mandates within their jurisdictions, just like governor Whitmer has done here in Michigan.

Look, I know it's inconvenient but you're making a difference when you do it. Everything we do matters. We need everyone to do their part for themselves for their loved ones and, yes, for your country. It's a patriotic duty. We need Congress to pass my American Rescue Plan that deals with the immediate crisis, the urgency.

Now, critics say my plan is too big that it cost $1.9 trillion. That's too much. Let me ask them. What would they have me cut? What would they have me leave out? Should we not invest $20 billion to vaccinate the nation? Should we not invest $290 million to extend unemployment insurance for the 11 million Americans who are unemployed so they can get by, while they get back to work? Should we not invest $50 billion to help small businesses stay open, when tens of thousands have had to close permanently? Should we not invest? And by the way, they make up half the employment in America. Should we not invest $130 million to help schools across the nation open safely?

Right now, 24 million adults, 11 million children don't have enough food to eat. And unless you think I'm exaggerating, think of those scenes you've seen on the television. With cars lined up with seemed like miles to wait, to have someone put a box of food in their trunk. People will never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever thought they would need help, and through no fault of their own or in that circumstance.

If we don't pass the American Rescue Plan, 40 million Americans will lose nutritional assistance through a program we call SNAP, the old food stamp program. Should we not invest $3 million, $3 billion to keep families from going hungry? One in five Americans are behind in the rent, one in 10 are behind in their mortgage, how many people do you know that will go to bed tonight staring to the ceiling say God what is going to happen? I don't keep my job if I don't have my unemployment check. What's happen to me? I'm losing my health insurance, what do I do?

This is United States of America for God's sake. We invest in people. We're in need. Do we not invest $35 billion to help people keep a roof over their heads? I could go on but you get the point.

I'm grateful that the Senate and the House are moving quickly, not prepared to hear their ideas how to make the package better and make it cheaper. I'm open to that. We have to make clear who is helped and who is heard. And my hope is that the Republicans in Congress listen to their constituents.

According to the polls, there is overwhelming bipartisan support. The vast majority of American people, more than 70% of the American people, with all the polls you all conduct, including the majority of Republicans, want us to act and act big, and quickly and support the plan.

Major economists, left, right and center, say we should focus on smart investments we can make now in jobs and our people got long term economic damage to our nation, and to strengthen the economic competitiveness going forward. In fact, an analysis by the Wall Street firm Moody's estimates that if we pass my American Rescue Plan, the economy will create 7 million jobs this year, this year.

We've also been in constant contact with mayors and governors, county officials, members of Congress, both parties, both parties. I've met with them in my office. I've met with them on the internet, I'm Zooming on with them, both parties in every state. And guess what, they agree we have to act now.

I got a letter from more than 400 mayors from big cities and small towns, they understand we're not going to get our economy back in shape, and the millions of people back to work and that we beat this virus. That's why the American Rescue Plan puts $160 million -- billion into more testing and tracing, manufacturing and distribution, and setting up vaccination sites.

Everything is needed to get vaccines in the people's arms, which is the most difficult logistical effort the United States is undertaken in peacetime. It includes 4 billion for new manufacturing plants. So we're ready to manufacture vaccines in the future. We don't have to wait.

I want to close with what I said before. I'll always be straight with you. I said a minute ago, I'll give it to you straight from the shoulders, Roosevelt said, because the American people can take the truth. They can handle anything. I can't give you a date when this crisis will end, but I can tell you we're doing everything possible to have that day come sooner rather than later.

And all of you here are doing some of the most important work in this facility, right here, that can be done. And I know this is personal. I walked in today and I won't say who came up to me, but one of the people in this building came up to me and said, my father in law is dying from COVID. I said, can I call him? He said, no, he couldn't take a call. He says keep him in his prayers, please.

How many of you know somebody who's in real trouble or has passed? How many people do you know who sat down to breakfast this morning and looked at an empty chair across the table? You've seen the devastation of this virus in your family, your community, but you're stepping up. You're saving lives here, lives of your loved ones, your neighbors and fellow Americans. You're showing how this town, this state, this country takes care of our own. Leave nobody behind.

We can do anything when we do it together. I believe we're on the road, I promise you. I know we'll run into bumps. It's not going to be easy here to the end, but we're going to beat this. We're going to beat this.

May God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Our thank you and your people for all you do.

MACCALLUM: All right. President Biden in Portage, Michigan today, at the Pfizer manufacturing plant where they rolled out the first doses in December and have amped it up in a remarkable way. And we're going to have, he said, all Americans by the end of July, we'd be able to get a vaccine by that point?

Also interesting just to note a couple of things from his statements just now. He said it could have taken six to eight years to get a vaccine, but that was -- I'm listening.

BIDEN: We will have ordered much of what you have been distributed, over 600 million doses by the end of July, July 29 is the expected date. That could change. Look what's happening with the weather now, for example, slowing up to distribution right now. But I believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year, and God willing, this Christmas will be different than last. But I can't make that commitment to you.

There are other strains of the virus. We don't know what could happen in terms of production rates, things can change. But we're doing everything the science has indicated we should do, and people are stepping up to get everything done that has to be done. We're going to have debates about whether or not, for example, I can't set nationally who gets in line, when and first. That's a decision the states make. I can recommend, I can say what I've said like I'm the guy that said we should lower to 65 years of age. I think 35 states have done that or more.

I think that, for example, I think it's critically important to get our kids back to school. I think it's really important because of the psychological damage being done and the loss of time. A kid loses semester when they're in fifth grade, it means they're not just a semester behind, they may be a year and a half behind all the difficulty. You were at that town meeting I have where that little girl was worried that, you know, her mommy -- told her mommy she worried maybe she's going to die. So there's a lot, I think it's important we get people back in school.

There's a difference, for example, according to science now. Between -- kids between the ages of three and probably 12 years old, in terms of whether they can absorb in or communicate to disease than it is for kids who are 15, 16, 17, 18 years old who congregate more together. It's harder in a high school than it is in a grammar school. We know certain things are necessary, social distancing, smaller class sizes, ventilation, testing and the possibility that staff whether it's the staff taking care of the sanitary conditions in the school, or simply you've heard me say this before, bus drivers.

Open the schools, we need more buses and bus drivers. We can't put kids packed in a bus, sit next to one another. So we know the things that have to be done. The question is, the order in which we do them is going to determined on what moves the quickest and where the need is the greatest. Obviously, we still have to focus on first responders, our doctors, our nurses, those delivering the services.

But the reason I bother to bore you with that detail, is to try to explain to the American people that this is a process, that we know now the fundamental basic elements. The fundamental basic elements are that before you get the shot and after, if you get the shots and after, social distancing saves lives, wearing mask saves lives, making sure that you wash your hands with hot water saves lives. This is not hyperbole. This is not a political statement. It's reality. The science has demonstrated that.

We also know that it's one thing to have a vaccine available. The problem was how you get into people's arms and not enough people vaccinate all the great hospitals in the state. And in my state, they can line up and give people but they can't possibly handle the volume that is needed. So what do you do? You get more people qualified to give vaccinations. The quicker you can open up places, and people can come up and demonstrate they're on the pecking order, they're ready for their shot and they're qualify. Keeping places open 24/7 makes a lot of sense but you need people to do it.

So we all know the basic things that have to happen now. We also know that there are things that intervene, things happen. Weather, people get ill, people get confused.

There's a lot of people who don't -- are unable. You know, I you've heard me say before, you know, my little granddaughter can use that cell phone of hers to do more in about 12 seconds than I can do it in an hour. But a lot of people aren't able to, a lot of people who need the help. They say will get online, well they don't have the means to get online. They may not have, you know, the ability to get online, and they may not know how to do it.

Talk about everybody is, you know, most people are within five miles of a pharmacy. Well, if you're living alone and you're a 68-year-old woman, and you're in a minority neighborhood, and there's no bus service, you might as well be 500 miles away. That's why we're leaning out. And, Gary, you talked to me about it, getting mobile vans to go out.

So we know the kinds of things have to be done, but there has never ever, ever, ever been a logistical challenge as consequential we're trying to do. But we're getting it done, and as my mom would say, with the grace of God and goodwill of neighbors, we're going to save a lot of lives. Thank you very much.

MACCALLUM: All right. I wanted to go back there and make sure that we got that Q&A from President Biden at Pfizer, at the plant in Michigan today. He said even before and after you get the shot that you should social distance and wear masks. He said, weather and illness and confusion can lead to some people not being able to get the shot or not knowing where to go for the shot. He said they're trying to clarify that. Didn't give any credit to Operation Warp Speed here this afternoon, although he said that it was a miracle of science that Pfizer got that vaccine ready to go in about a year, under a year, actually.

But he said that the prior administration did not leave them enough in terms of distribution. He said we fix the problem. So, you know, a bit of back and forth there on who's to blame for some of the slowness and the rollout now.

So all right, we want to get one more topic in with you this afternoon. The President also addressed Iran today, after taking steps to reenter the nuclear deal when the White House remains largely silent on Monday's missile attack against a US-led military base in Northern Iraq that killed a military contractor and wounded a US service member.

So let's bring in KT McFarland, former Deputy National Security Advisor for the Trump administration. KT, good to have you watching all this with us this afternoon, thank you so much for being here.

So, you know, I mean, we all talked a lot about the advances that were made in the Trump administration and the Abraham Accords. And the shifting of the dynamic in the Middle East, that now you had Israel engaging in trade in relations with the UAE and Bahrain, and the Arab states, and increasing some communication with Saudi Arabia as well. What happens to that if you start to turn your attention back to Iran and bring them back into the fold?

KT MCFARLAND, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: You know, the odd thing about this is if President Biden does carry out what he's talking about doing rejoining the Iranian nuclear deal, favoring Iran over others in the region, having an anti-Israel policy and an anti-Arab policy. The odd result is it'll probably force Israel and the Arab countries closer together.

They're already trading, as you pointed out, they already have diplomatic relations, and they potentially have a military relationship, I don't know. The problem I have, though, with all of the Biden foreign policy, look, he's a good and decent man, but his deeds never match the words. He talks about getting tough with Iran. He talks about the Iran nuclear deal. The Iran nuclear deal, (inaudible) Iran have nuclear weapons within a decade.

So again, the deeds don't back up the words. The words are great, but there's nothing there. And that's my problem with Iran, with China, with NATO, with Russia. Great words, no deeds.

MACCALLUM: Yes. You know, in terms of energy, the changing in the fracking leases and, you know, some of the changes that have been made in terms of energy in the Biden administration. I mean, that's a good thing for Russia, it's a good thing for China, you've got oil prices really going through the roof, because it looks like that that dynamic has returned, right?

MCFARLAND: Yes. I mean, we're going back to the good old days of the Biden administration -- the Obama administration, right, when we were dependent upon Middle East oil, when gasoline was very high, when energy prices were very high, when American manufacturing was not competitive because of those energy prices. And so, by -- they're closely tied together, Martha. Our economic policy, our foreign policy, our energy policy and our foreign policy particularly in the Middle East.

If the United States has to go back to depending upon Middle East oil, we are going to get sucked right back in to the tribal warfare that they've had there for hundreds of years. In fact, President Biden's already sent American troops back into Syria. I mean, I'm not so sure that good old days of the Obama administration are going to be such good old days now. They're going to destroy the American economy, put American security at risk, and only enrich China and embolden Iran.

MACCALLUM: Quickly. This is a quick stop from President Biden during the Munich Security Conference today. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We must also address Iran's destabilizing activities across the Middle East. And we're going to work in close cooperation with our European and other partners as we proceed. We'll also work together to lock down fissile and radiological material to prevent terrorist groups from acquiring and using them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: He also went on to say that America is back. I speak as the President of the United States and I tell the world that America is back. Quick thought on that, KT.

MCFARLAND: Well, all the deeds don't match the words. Rejoining the Iran nuclear deal is going to allow Iran to have nuclear weapons and it's not going to stop terrorism in the region.

MACCALLUM: KT McFarland, thank you very much, KT. Always good to see you. Thanks for being here.

MCFARLAND: Thanks.

MACCALLUM: A lot of breaking news this afternoon on "The Story," including some breaking celebrity news right after this. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Hmm, sad news for Kim and Kanye fans. Just moments ago, Fox News confirms that Kim Kardashian has officially filed for divorce from her husband Kanye West after almost seven years of marriage. Sources say that the situation is amicable. There you have it, Kim and Kanye, done.

That's it for us. We'll see you back here on Monday. Have a great day, everybody.

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