Biden announces US set to buy 200M additional vaccine doses

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Biden announces US set to buy 200M additional vaccine doses

FOX News White House correspondent Peter Doocy has the latest on 'Special Report'

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" January 26, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR (on camera): I think the ninja kid cut the
fruit for the hippo. OK, Dana, thank you.

Good evening. Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier.

Breaking tonight, President Biden says the fight against the coronavirus is
now a wartime effort that the government is buying an additional 200
million doses of vaccine. President Biden saying the vaccine program he
inherited from his predecessor was in worse shape than he expected.

Today, the president laid out several new goals for his COVID program and
several harsh warnings a short time ago.

We have Fox team coverage. Gillian Turner examines the mixed messages
coming from the government about the pandemic. Garrett Tenney highlights
the contentious battle over whether students and teachers should return to
classrooms.

But we begin with White House Correspondent Peter Doocy live in the North
Lawn with the latest on the new president strategy announcement. Good
evening, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good
evening, Bret. President Biden just explained how he plans to backup big
talk about getting 300 million Americans vaccinated in part with these 200
million new doses of vaccine the U.S. government just bought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's a hundred million more
doses of Pfizer and a hundred million more doses of Moderna. 200 million
more doses in the federal government had previously secured, not in hand
yet but ordered. We expect these additional 200 million doses to be
delivered this summer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY (on camera): President Biden also says that for the next several
months, masks and not vaccines are the best defense against COVID. And the
things are going to get worse before they get better.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president and his team have
been working around the clock over the past six days to make meaningful
progress on vaccinating as many people as possible.

DOOCY (voice over): And looking at the first 100 days yesterday, President
Biden appeared to officially raise the bar.

BIDEN: I think we may be able to get that to 150 -- 1.5 million a day
rather than one million a day.

DOOCY: But President Biden apparently wasn't officially raising the bar.

PSAKI: The president didn't actually say the new goal is. The president
said I hope we can do even more than that, and that is certainly of course
his hope.

DOOCY: White House announced they are increasing vaccine supply to states
by almost 20 percent to 10 million doses. HHS is buying an additional 100
million Pfizer doses and 100 million Moderna doses and will give states a
three week heads up about what's coming.

It took the Biden White House days to sort current inventory out using a
government database called Tiberius.

PSAKI: We do have an assessment as a reference Tiberius, which is quite a
name for this website I will say. Sounds like a magical creature a little
bit to me.

DOOCY: Vaccine inventory isn't their only issue though.

PSAKI: We are assessing every day where the holes are, where the gaps are,
what the holdups are. It's not just supply, it is beyond that. It's also
having the number of vaccinators we need, the number of vaccine
distribution sites we need, those are all issues.

DOOCY: President Biden addressed racial equity today.

BIDEN: We are not just a nation of morally deprived because of systemic
racism. We're also less prosperous, we're less successful, we're less
secure.

DOOCY: Signing four more executive orders to address racism in federal
housing policies, and Justice Department use of private prisons and
xenophobia toward Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

BIDEN: We need to make the issue of racial equity, not just an issue for
any one department of government, it has to be the business of the whole of
government.

DOOCY: The point person will be domestic policy adviser Susan Rice.

SUSAN RICE, DIRECTOR, DOMESTIC POLICY COUNCIL: These are desperate times
for so many Americans, and all Americans need urgent federal action to meet
this moment.

DOOCY: Biden had his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today
and the White House says Biden talked about the SolarWinds hack of U.S.
networks, reports of Russian boundaries on U.S. soldiers and interference
in the 2020 election.

PSAKI: His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act
firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions
by Russia.

DOOCY: And Biden told Fox News they talked about something else.

Mr. President (INAUDIBLE)

BIDEN: You.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY (on camera): That is very kind of President Putin, thank you very
much for having President Biden pass along the kind words. It's also the
latest example that we have from Biden's first week in office. But the new
president despite the whole weight of everything going on around him is a
jokester, Bret.

BAIER: Peter, the Biden administration is dealing with something that is no
joke, a major setback tonight when it comes to the executive order on
immigration.

DOOCY: Yes, one of those first week immigration orders last week the Biden
signed was a pause on deportations for pretty much anybody that came into
the country before November for 100 days. Texas sued and a federal judge
sided with them telling the Biden administration they can't do this right
now because they had not given enough concrete evidence that it is
something that is necessary.

I just got a statement from a White House spokesman who is saying, we're
confident that as the case proceeds, it will be clear that this measure was
wholly appropriate. But Biden's whole immigration policy is not blown
because construction on the southern border wall is supposed to stop by
tomorrow, Bret.

BAIER: Peter Doocy live in the North Lawn. Peter, thank you.

There continues to be uncertainty tonight over when the new Congress will
get down to work on a new coronavirus relief bill. Fox News has learned it
could be the first week in March before things get serious up on Capitol
Hill. But we do know there is division along party lines when it comes to
spending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Anything we do related to coronavirus needs to be
targeted, it needs to be fiscally responsible, it needs to take into
consideration the fact that every dollar that we spend is a borrowed
dollar.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Time is of the essence to address this crisis.
We're keeping all options open on the table, including using budget
reconciliation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: The price tag for the president's current plan is almost $2
trillion.

There's a huge debate in many communities likely yours about whether
children and teachers should return to the classrooms. One of the places
where the controversy is very intense is Chicago. That's where
correspondent Garrett Tenney is tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Across the
country students are struggling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My kids have really suffered through this process.

TENNEY: Grades are down, attendance is down, and school officials say kids
need to be back in the classroom to fix it.

In many of the nation's largest cities, the push for return to in person
learning is facing stiff resistance from teachers' unions.

In Chicago, K-8 public school teachers are refusing the city's order to be
in their classrooms by tomorrow and demanding that all instruction stay
online until teachers are vaccinated.

ALYSSA RODRIGUEZ, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER: Without being given access to a
vaccine quickly and timely, we are putting our students and more exposure
and more risk and then we're bringing that home to our families.
 
TENNEY: The science, however, tells a different story. New research from
the CDC published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association
found no evidence that schools transmit the virus at a higher rate than the
general community. And concluded: with good prevention, we can safely
reopen and keep open more schools.

Despite that, teachers' unions across the country are refusing to return to
the classroom over what they say are safety concerns.

CHERYL BOST, PRESIDENT, MARYLAND EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: There's nobody that
wants to get back into our schools more than our education employees who
have been doing a heroic jobs during this pandemic.

TENNEY: In San Francisco, district officials were forced to scrap plans to
reopen this week because they couldn't reach an agreement with the union.

And in Baltimore, public school leaders are going ahead with a plan to
reopen next month despite union protest after data showed more than half of
students in grades three to 12 failed the class during remote learning.

LINDSEY BURKE, DIRECTOR, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: One thing that this pandemic
has demonstrated, unfortunately, is the tremendous amounts of power that
teachers' unions continue to wield.

TENNEY: The resistance from unions is complicating President Joe Biden's
goal to have a majority of K-8 schools open within his first hundred days.

Further complicating that effort, Biden's pick for Deputy Secretary of
Education Cindy Marten has twice canceled plans to reopen the San Diego
Unified School District in her role as superintendent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TENNEY (on camera): Here in Chicago, negotiations are ongoing over teachers
returning to the classroom. If there is no agreement by tomorrow morning,
the union says teachers won't show up. And if the district blocks them from
teaching online, they'll go on strike, Bret.

BAIER: Garrett Tenney in Chicago. Gary, thank you.

So, are there mixed messages about whether the nation is turning the corner
in the coronavirus pandemic fight? Correspondent Gillian Turner tells us it
depends who's doing the talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Time is of the essence.

GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Millions of
Americans nationwide are confused about when they can get vaccinated.

The government's mixed messaging on when all Americans can expect to be
vaccinated has persisted for months.

BIDEN: I think we'll be able to do that this spring. And but it's going to
be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we've ever tried in this
country.

TURNER: But then Dr. Fauci said this:

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASES: Logistically, by the time you get doses into everyone who might
want it, it will take several months which will go into the end of the
summer. And I've been saying that probably by the end of the summer, you
could get everybody vaccinated.

TURNER: At the current rate of about a million Americans vaccinated per
day, it would take the U.S. about 10 months to vaccinate all Americans.

There's also worry the U.S. is running out of vaccine doses faster than
planned. One Biden official sounded optimistic.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: When we first
announced, you know, a hundred million vaccine in a hundred days, it was
called it was said to be too ambitious. We're probably going to exceed that
goal.

TURNER: But Biden CDC director acknowledged the problem head on over the
weekend.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND
PREVENTION: The supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint
early on.

TURNER: The reality is that as of today, the CDC has distributed 44.3
million doses, but only about half 23.5 million have been administered.
Moderna and Pfizer both committed to delivery of 100 million doses each by
the end of March.

According to HHS, they've been averaging 4.3 million per week. At this
rate, Big Pharma would need to nearly double their weekly deliveries to
reach their goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER (on camera): Experts today are telling Fox News that a certain
degree of confusion here was inevitable given this vaccine campaign is the
largest in U.S. history and a lot of the data really does vary by state.
The problem is now that millions of Americans are left wondering whether
the mixed messaging from public officials isn't making the situation more
difficult, Bret.

BAIER: Gillian, thank you.

Let's talk about where we are right now in the pandemic. Joining us, Dr.
Marc Siegel professor of medicine at New York University Langone Medical
Center and a Fox News contributor. Dr. Siegel, thanks for being here.

You know, you heard the president today. Are you encouraged by what you
heard from President Biden on the ramping up of vaccine production and
distribution?

DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I am. And I
like the idea of 600 million doses. And I like Moderna's promise to get a
hundred million in March and Pfizer a hundred million in March.

And I talked to David Kessler last week, who was overseeing Operation Warp
Speed under Biden, and he said, look, it's not like building a car here.
The problem has occurred at the production plants. It's gone slow because
this vaccine's never been made before but it's starting to ramp up now, and
I think you're going to see more and more.

Over a million doses a day in people's arms already. I think that can get
to the 1.5 million a day that President Biden is suggesting.

I think the key though, comes on the production side. And I think they're
also (INAUDIBLE) Bret, starting to iron out the problems on the other end,
the administration part, making it more flexible, who gets the doses not
discarding doses, making sure that everybody over 65 is prioritized. This
is going in the right direction.

And then, Johnson & Johnson says, hey, if we get approved in two weeks,
we're going to have a hundred million doses by May. And you know what?
That's a very easy vaccine to get into poorer neighborhoods to get to
people that you can't get to otherwise, that's another priority right now.
And I think that we're really heading in the right direction.

BAIER: You know, you have this concern among some officials, and I've
talked to a few about vaccination hesitancy, and especially in elderly and
black communities.

You have added to that some folks out there like Robert F. Kennedy, who
tweeted out just the other day, Hank Aaron's tragic death is part of a wave
of suspicious deaths among elderly closely following administration of
COVID vaccines. He received the Moderna vaccine on January 5th to inspire
black Americans to get the vaccine out the defender.

So, he's somehow linking that to his death, which we have not found to be
true.

SIEGEL: This is a deeply disturbing thing you're bringing up now. I would
start by saying, Bret, right now, there's so much excitement for people who
want the vaccine who can have it, that that's leading the way. But when
that's overcome and everybody's at the front of the line, then we're going
to get hit with this message from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this message of
vaccine hesitancy and fear when in fact, it's COVID that we need to be
afraid of, not this vaccine.

The safety datas on this vaccine as Dr. Kessler told me has been
incredible. And look at Israel, 128,000 people, only 20 cases of COVID,
once 108 -- 128,000 people had gotten the Pfizer vaccine. This is a very
effective, very safe vaccine. And Dr. Fauci is right, it's the way out of
this pandemic.

The war is going to be between us who believed in this vaccine and that
it's the light at the end of the tunnel, and those who are trying to set up
these roadblocks based on fear and lack of science. The vaccine hesitancy
or the anti-vaxxers is an anti-scientific movement.

BAIER: Last thing, we just did a piece out of Chicago about schools and
where we are. It's not just Chicago, it's in communities all across
America, about this battle to get back to school and the hesitancy to do
that. What do you say about that?

SIEGEL: Well, the science says that there's very little spread in schools,
you know, among children and from children to teachers. And one of the keys
though of overcoming the fear is going to be to get all the teachers
vaccinated. And they're one beat (PH), meaning they're lining up now.

Get the teachers vaccinated in Chicago. And Chicago spent $100 million on
the public school system. So, we need distancing. We need masking. We need
really frequent rapid testing, especially if teachers and we need everybody
to be compliant. And I think the school should be open because the cost,
the tremendous cost to children in terms of socialization and everything
they missed by not being at school needs to be factored in as well.

BAIER: Dr. Siegel, as always, thank you.

SIEGEL: Thank you, Bret.

BAIER: Still ahead, is America becoming a surveillance state? What does
that mean anyway? We'll take a look.

And up next, the Democratic mayor of Portland pepper sprays one of his
critics. We'll tell you why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How dare you! You are ashamed! (INAUDIBLE), do you think
that we're going to forget about you? We never going to forget you, Teddy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: You may have experienced trouble with your Internet today and you
have plenty of company. Millions of users across the northeast reported
widespread outages. Verizon reported a cut fiber in Brooklyn, it's not
clear if that was responsible for the entire outage or not.

Stocks were off today. The Dow lost 23, the S&P 500 was down six. The
NASDAQ fell nine.

Police in Portland, Oregon are investigating a hit-and-run driver accused
of killing an elderly woman and injuring at least five other people during
a 15-block rampage. Authorities say the man finally crashed the car and try
to flee on foot, but neighbors there surrounded him until officers could
wrestle him into custody.

Speaking of Portland tonight, Portland's democratic mayor is defending his
decision to pepper spray a man who confronted him about not wearing a mask
while dining in a restaurant. Ted Wheeler says he feared for his safety.

Chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt is in Los Angeles with the story tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For
nearly nine months since Portland has endured protest, riots, and the
pandemic, Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler has been front and center the face
of a city in turmoil. Tear gassed by federal agents as he stood with Black
Lives Matter protesters. Later, criticized by some of those same protesters
for not doing enough to tackle police reform. Criticized too for strict
pandemic lockdowns, targeted by others for not doing enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you having a good night on the town?

TED WHEELER, MAYOR OF PORTLAND, OREGON: I think you need to (INAUDIBLE) --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're enjoying some -- I think you need to do your job
as a -- mayor.

HUNT: That was on January 6th as the mayor was dining out. By this past
Sunday, it seems the mayor had had enough and apparently fought back. There
is an audio recording of the confrontation but no video that we have seen
as yet.

WHEELER: We were six feet apart and we were eating and drinking.

HUNT: Wheeler told police he was confronted by a man outside a restaurant
and berated by that man for not wearing a mask inside the restaurant. At
first, the mayor tried to explain that it is not required to wear masks
while eating at a restaurant. The man continued to argue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, mayor, thanks for ruining our city.

HUNT: Moments later, the mayor, according to a statement he made to police,
pepper-sprayed the man, whom the mayor alleges was getting very close to
him and not wearing a mask.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just pepper-sprayed me for no reason at all.

HUNT: Former Portland mayor, Sam Adams, who was with Wheeler argued with
the man.

SAM ADAMS, FORMER MAYOR OF PORTLAND, OREGON: HE asked you to back away and
you didn't.

HUNT: Mayor Wheeler has said little publicly about the incident.

WHEELER: I filed a police report and that's all I can tell you right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT (on camera): Mayor Wheeler has consistently supported the rights of
anyone in his city to protest, but is also said he condemns violence in the
name of any cause. Bret.

BAIER: Jonathan, thank you.

Up next, the real sign today of just how difficult getting a conviction on
impeachment may be, we'll take you to Capitol Hill. First, here is what
some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight.

Fox 6 in Birmingham, Alabama, a search and rescue efforts continue
following a tornado touched down that killed a 14-year-old boy sheltering
with his family in the basement of their home.

The tornado left a swath of destruction 10 miles long in the suburbs north
of Birmingham. 30 people were injured.

Fox 2 in Detroit as the city says it will dismiss most misdemeanor
citations issued last spring during several days of protests against police
brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Most of the
tickets were for curfew violations.

And this is a live look at Orlando from our affiliate Fox 35. One of the
big stories there tonight. We're learning which individuals are paying $55
million apiece for the first U.S. led private space station trip.

The mission will be commanded by a former NASA astronaut. The three crew
members are a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, a
Canadian financier, and an Israeli businessman.

That is tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT.
We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The Senate has confirmed the president's pick to be the nation's top
diplomat. Antony Blinken was approved by 78 to 22-vote to be Secretary of
State. All of the no votes came from Republicans.

Senators have been sworn in for the second impeachment trial of former
President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): Do you solemnly swear that in all things are
pertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, former
president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice
according to the Constitutional and laws, so help you God?

AMERICAN CROWD: I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: The procedure was led by Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy,
who as president pro tem of the Senate will preside over that trial in a
move that signaled just how hard it could be to get a conviction.

Shortly after being sworn in, Republicans forced a vote on a resolution
declaring the trial illegal, led by Senator Rand Paul. 45 Republicans
supported that. Democrats need 17 Republicans to vote to convict former
President Trump.

A short time ago, we should mention a spokesman for Senator Leahy said he
was taken to a local hospital for evaluation after complaining of not
feeling well. We wish him well tonight.

The more than 3,000 members of the D.C. National Guard currently in
Washington, D.C. will be extended through the end of March. A National
Guard spokesperson has confirmed that to Fox News, there are concerns about
security in the district following the Capitol riot and during the Trump
impeachment trial.

Justice Department officials say they are looking closely at evidence
related to sedition charges in connection with the Capitol riot. The U.S.
attorney for the District of Columbia predicts the probe will be, in his
words, it will bear fruit very soon.

An FBI official says the agency has devoted specialized teams into the
killing of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick and the San Diego woman
who was fatally shot while inside the Capitol.

We're told there have been 400 subject case files opened, 138 arrests, 150
federal charges filed along with another 50 charges filed in superior court
so far.

The Capitol riot has some calling for increased surveillance and tougher
domestic terrorism laws. That brings up the usual conflict between security
and freedom. A report tonight from Lucas Tomlinson at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over):
Growing fears on Capitol Hill of overreach. One former Democratic lawmaker
and one-time presidential candidate warns of a growing police state inside
the U.S.

TULSI GABBARD, (D-HI) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:  Let's be clear, the
John Brennans, Adam Schiffs, and oligarchs in big tech who are trying to
undermine our constitutionally protected rights and turn our country into a
police state with KGB style surveillance are also domestic enemies, and
much more powerful, and therefore dangerous then the mob that storm the
capital.

TOMLINSON:  Tulsi Gabbard's comments come days after the former CIA
Director John Brennan said the new Biden administration should focus on
crushing what he called a pro-Trump insurgency in the wake of the January
6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR:  It brings together an unholy alliance
frequent of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots,
racists, nativists, even libertarians.

TOMLINSON:  The White House outlined its first steps.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  The rise of domestic violent
extremism is a serious and growing national security threat. The Biden
administration will confront this threat with the necessary resources and
resolve.

TOMLINSON:  This comes as FOX has learned the FBI is reviewing
congressional requests for investigations into the role Parler, Facebook,
and Twitter played in the Capitol riot. In a letter to the FBI, New York
Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney wants the Bureau to investigate
Parler's part in acting as a potential facilitator of the violence.

"It is clear that Parler houses additional evidence critical to
investigations on the attack of the Capitol. Questions have also been
raised about Parler's financing and its ties to Russia."

(END VIDEO TAPE)

TOMLINSON:  Parler says it welcomes any potential FBI investigation.
Twitter, Facebook, and Google have not immediately responded to requests
for comment about Gabbard's remarks. Bret?

BAIER:  Lucas Tomlinson at the Pentagon. Lucas, thank you.

Fox Corporation cochairman and NewsCorp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch
is condemning cancel culture as a quote, awful woke orthodoxy suppressing
free speech around the globe. Murdoch made those remarks as he accepted a
lifetime achievement award from the Australia Day Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUPERT MURDOCH, FOX CORPORATION CO-CHAIRMAN:  This rigidly enforced
conformity, aided and abetted by so-called social media, is a straitjacket
on sensibility. Too many people have fought too hard in too many places for
freedom of speech to be suppressed by this awful woke orthodoxy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Murdoch also encouraged young people to be ambitious, but never
smug, in order to be successful.

Up next, the panel reacts to President Biden's latest strategy on fighting
the coronavirus pandemic.

First, Beyond Our Borders tonight, Iran warns the Biden administration it
will not have an indefinite period of time to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal
between Tehran and world powers. Iran also saying it expects Washington to
swiftly lift crippling economic sanctions that former President Trump
imposed after withdrawing from the accord.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte resigns after a key coalition ally pulls his
party's support over Conte's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The
Premier is hoping to get the support of Italy's president to try to form a
new coalition government there.

Just some of the other stories Beyond Our Borders tonight. We'll be right
back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I can announce that we will
increase overall weekly vaccination distributions to states, tribes, and
territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses. We
believe that we'll be able soon to confirm the purchase of an additional
100 million doses for each of the two FDA authorized vaccines, Pfizer and
Moderna. That's 100 million more doses of Pfizer and 100 million more doses
of Moderna. We expect these additional 200 million doses to be delivered
this summer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  President Biden late this afternoon talking about the COVID
strategy and stepping up production and the purchase of vaccines. Let's
bring in our panel, Harold Ford Jr., former Tennessee Congressman, CEO of
Empowerment and Inclusion Capital, Katie Pavlich, news editor at
Townhall.com , and Charles Hurt, opinion editor for "The Washington Times."
Katie, they are rolling out new efforts to get the vaccine to different
places around the country. And the question is, is this going to happen
quickly? The timeline has kind of changed over the past few days.

KATIE PAVLICH, NEWS EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM  :  Right, that's the big question.
And now that the Biden administration is in charge of this massive
bureaucratic process of different agencies having to get orders in for the
vaccine and then distributing them, you see the Biden administration, the
press secretary, and Joe Biden downplaying expectations a bit, trying to
make sure that if it doesn't go as quickly as they have said, that they
have something the fall back on.

But it's interesting to look at this from the state perspective as well.
You have the Biden administration saying that the Trump administration left
them in a very difficult place without giving a lot of details about the
distribution process, and now you have Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
pushing back on the White House and what they have said about vaccine
distribution there. And of course, we've seen in recent weeks places in New
York throwing away doses of the vaccine.

So there is this partnership that has to happen between the federal
government and the states, and many states are doing a better job of
distributing it to the people who need it the most. But when it comes to
the responsibility of who is in charge of making sure it gets distributed
properly and quickly, the old standard was that was the federal
government's job, that it wasn't necessarily the state's job to get this
done quickly. It was up to the feds. So if the Biden administration is
going to be held to that standard, we'll have to see how the rollout goes
in the next couple of days. They keep saying that there is this ambitious
goal of 100 million vaccines, but that's already the goal that we have now.
So they are, again, downplaying expectations just in case they can't get
this off the ground quickly enough.

BAIER:  Yes, and just to illustrate that timeline, take a listen over the
past couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I think we'll be able to do
that this spring. But it's going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds
anything we've ever tried in this country. But I think we can do that.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  The president didn't actually say
the new goal is. The president said I hope we can do even more than that.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASES:  Logistically, by the time you get doses into everyone who might
want it, it will take several months, which will go into the end of the
summer. And I've been saying that probably by the end of the summer, you
can get everybody vaccinated. But the availability for people in any
category will likely be by April.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Bottom line, it's a tough job to get all those shots in arms,
Harold, and it's a logistical challenge.

HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE:  Without question.
Thanks for having me on. I think this speaks to a couple of things. One, I
know the Biden administration wishes they could have been a little better
coordination and faster coordination with regard to a transition. Two, this
speaks to and screams to why we need to pass a very targeted COVID relief
package. I would agree with those who argue that these stimulus check
should not go to families earning over $150,000, a husband and wife or a
family and a households.

And three, I think it yells to what you say, Bret. We all have to
understand what roles we have to play, which makes me think even more so
that maybe they should be a coordinated federal effort. I hear Governor
DeSantis make some of the comments and statements he's making. He could be
right. I hear Governor Cuomo and Governor DeWine making some of the
statements, Governor DeWine of Ohio. It might be best to have a federal
coordinated effort. That way we know who to hold responsible and
accountable, and if it's not happening at a faster rate, then maybe we
switch up.

But I think we may need to rethink how we do this over the next several
months to ensure that we can make this less hard, because I would agree
with you, this is a hard, hard exercise, without question.

BAIER:  Yes, in the meantime, Charlie, the numbers on the coronavirus are,
at least in the short term, getting better. The cases are down, deaths are
down, trending in the right direction, at least.

CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "WASHINGTON TIMES":  Yes, well, of course
that is the nature of pandemics. It goes in cycles. What sort of amusing
about this is, of course, for the past eight, nine months, we've been
hearing from Democrats who said that this is all about the federal
government, this is all about Donald Trump and his failure to fix the
virus, when in fact it is a lot more complicated than that.

And as Katie pointed out, there is a lot of problems of distributions of
the vaccines is at the state level, where it should be, by the way, because
when you have it at the state levels, you allow the different governments
to try different things and to figure out the best strategies, and if
somebody is doing it the right way, other states can follow suit and do and
benefit from that experimentation.

But over the weekend we heard President Biden say, well, there is not a
whole lot I can do about the trajectory, which I think he is to some degree
correct, and certainly the federal government isn't the only answer and
isn't going to be able to get us out completely of this entire thing.
You're going to have to get, eventually get kids back to school, you're
going to have to get people back to work, you are going to have to open
back up and let the economy take care of much of this.

BAIER:  It's interesting to listen to some Democratic governors and mayors
who were pro-big lockdown now saying it's not feasible economically for
their states or cities.

Hold on, I want to play the soundbite about schools and getting kids back,
and this is just such a huge story for communities all over the country.
Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY CHILDRESS PRICE, CHICAGO TEACHER:  There is no clear plan for us.
We want to return to school, but we want to return to school safely. This
is a management and structural access issue, and it's inequitable.

RANDI WEINGARTEN, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS:  Unless we have a
variant like what happened in Great Britain or Germany that created those
kinds of lockdowns because of the transmissibility, I think we can actually
make President Biden's goal real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Hopefully, Katie, we can, but there are some communities where the
teachers are getting bumped up in line to get the vaccine, and they are
still not opening those schools.

PAVLICH:  I don't think we can underestimate how much damage the teachers'
unions are doing to generations of children. The fact is that there are a
number of private schools around the country that have been open for months
and months, teaching kids and having them in the classroom in a fashion
that allows them to thrive in their own environments. And you have teachers
in Fairfax County, for example, demanding that they get put at the front of
the vaccine line, ahead of seniors, for example, with the health care
workers, and they got vaccinated. Now they are still demanding that they do
not go back to school in person this year.

It really is quite amazing to watch, especially when you have a number of
teachers who are being held hostage by these teachers' unions who want to
be back in the schools. You have a number of school districts across the
country reporting a severe increase in suicides from children who are
committing suicide due to the results of this failed half-and-half or all-
digital learning process. They are failing at a 90 percent rate. And yet
you have teachers' unions giving demands, for example with the vaccine, the
demand is then met so they can go back to schools, and then they move the
goalposts.

And all the while the most vulnerable populations, special needs children
and the poorest children in our country are going to suffer the most for
decades. This is not just going to be a short-term problem here.

BAIER:  Yes, I understand the fears of teachers, especially those with
preexisting conditions, but there is a lot to go over here. It's a story
we'll cover for a long time. Listen, we will review the president's latest
executive orders when we come back with the panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I've got to get the votes.
I've got to get the votes. That's why -- the one thing, I have this strange
notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my
Democratic friends even occasionally say, well, if you don't get the votes
by executive order you're going to do something. Things you can't do by
executive order unless you're a dictator. We are a democracy. We need
consensus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Well, yes. But when you win the presidency, we have seen in recent
times, that you do issue some executive orders. This has been a flurry of
executive orders. President Biden issuing in the first week, January 20th
to the 26th, 17 executive orders. And you see compared to President Trump,
Obama and President Bush. Actually, if you add the actions in orders, it's
up to 35.

So there has been a flurry of activity on a host of different topics. We're
back with our panel. Harold, what about this? It's obviously a very tight
majority for Democrats in the Senate and the House. The biggest things in
government happens through Congress, but these executive orders have run
the gamut.

FORD:  So he's doing, as you've just stated, look at his three most recent
predecessors, every time you get a new president, what he does. The sign a
bunch of orders to undo some things and to try to jumpstart their
administration. Without question, the sustainable legislation has to be
done in Congress.

I am convinced that if you think of our last four presidents, there has not
been a president more purpose built for finding compromise and consensus in
the Senate. There has not been a president that we've had in our last four
who has had a better relationship with the Senate majority and Senate
minority leader and the speaker then this president.

So I'm not concerned too much that he is not going to try to work with
Congress. There are people raising concerns about the kinds of things he's
done. I've heard some concerns about the climate change efforts. I'll
remind people that we're not going to move quickly away from a fossil fuel
based economy, but people and investors are shifting toward a clean energy
economy and are rewarding clean energy producers. And in fact, the richest
man in the world, Elon Musk, he builds electric cars and sends people to
space. He doesn't go drilling for oil and gas.

I think President Biden is on to something here, and I don't think we
should interpret this to mean that he's not going to try to pass things
through Congress. In fact, I think he's the best politician we've had 20 to
30 years --

BAIER:  But we saw this topic come up at the last debate. And this was,
Charlie, the back and forth over are you going to kill the oil and gas
industry. Just today, Representative Jodey Arrington from Texas sent a
letter cosigned by 36 members saying "At your inauguration, you spoke of
healing, unity, and a path forward for the United States, but shortly
thereafter you made several unilateral orders that will eliminate millions
of jobs for working Americans. The oil and gas producers across the country
provide millions of high paying jobs and a safe and affordable supply of
energy." He goes on. Charlie, besides the Keystone XL pipeline, there are
gas permits and all kinds of things that are coming out of these actions.

HURT:  Yes, and the drilling on public lands, and of course, the Paris
Climate Accord, which does an awful lot to undermine U.S. energy
independence and companies that can give us that sort of independence. And
for a guy who didn't run on -- he didn't lay out a particularly clear
platform in his campaign during 2020, but one of the few things that he
made very clear campaign promises about was about protecting our energy
sector.

And the other thing, the other area that I think is disturbing about what
Biden is up to is literary with the flick of a pen, he has eliminated
thousands of jobs, whether it is the XL pipeline or the stopping of Trump's
wall. That's literally thousands of jobs that people had two weeks ago that
have vaporized because of his executive actions.

And I hope that Harold is right, and I think it would be very wise of Biden
to try to work with Congress, but when I look at those things, I'm not
terribly hopeful about it.

BAIER:  Katie, I'll get to you next panel. When we come back, a sneak peek
at tomorrow's headlines tonight. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER:  Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines, maybe. We're back
with the panel. Harold, your thoughts?

FORD:  I thought, with the country in peril, obstruction is bad politics
for the reasons we stated tonight, but clearly tomorrow is going to say
nobody got elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame tonight. So I missed that
one.

BAIER:  How about that, nobody, 17 ballots. All right,, Charlie?

HURT:  President Biden's halt of the border wall is illegal. And Congress
appropriated $1.3 billion a year to build 300 miles of it, and if he
doesn't carry it out, he will be violating the same law that got Donald
Trump impeached.

BAIER:  Katie, your headline?

PAVLICH:  My headline is SPECIAL REPORT anchor Bret Baier wrestles an
alligator while trying to recover a golf ball in Florida.

BAIER:  Wow, really, that's quite a headline. Fake news, but quite a
headline.

HURT:  I want to see the video.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER:  I did see that one guy in Florida, he got the dog out of the
alligator. That's good stuff.

PAVLICH:  The bar is high.

BAIER:  All right, panel, thank you very much, I appreciate it. Maybe, you
never know.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL
REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. FOX NEWS PRIMETIME hosted by Maria
Bartiromo starts in about 15 seconds. But Maria, I understand you have the
former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on your show tonight.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  Yes, Bret, we do.

END

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