Will slow down even further. All encouraging signs in the battle against this virus that has stretched the better part of a year now as cnns amber walker reports. Reporter a third vaccine on the horizon in the u. S. We will waste no time getting this lifesaving vaccine into the arms of americans. Reporter the food and Drug Administration announcing today the Johnson Johnson vaccine meets requirements for emergency use authorization, which could come as early as friday. The White House Covid Task force wednesday saying theyve already started preparing for distribution. If authorized were ready to roll out this vaccine without delay. If an eua is issued we expect 4 million doses of Johnson Johnson next week. Reporter thats less than what the white house was originally expecting. We were surprised to learn that Johnson Johnson was behind on their manufacturing. It was noted earlier to be about 10 million and now its more like 3 to 4 million doses that they would be ready to ship next week. Reporter experts say they expect the potential third vabs even to expand access and get more people vaccinated faster because its a single dose. My suspicion is that its going to start with those people who are lower risk for severe disease to begin w people without comorbidities, people who are younger, the general population. Reporter Johnson Johnson told Congress Tuesday theyre ready for the rollout. We will have 20 million doses of the vaccine to be made available by the end of march. Reporter adding to the 220 million doses that pfizer and moderna have pledged to make ready for shipment in the same timeframe after some initial delays in manufacturing. We did initially experience some problems with the initial rampup of our vaccine. Reporter Record Vaccine Supply is get ting to states ths week and the white house is encouraging sites to be open 24 hours a day to get more shots in arms, the Task Force Says they will mobilize 1200 National Guardsmen to serve as vaccinators. Even with progress on the vaccine front, the white house today also announcing they will distribute 25 million masks, beginning next month, to get them to some of the most vulnerable. Many lowincome Americans Still lack Affordable Access to this basic protection. Reporter jake, this just in. Moderna is Testing Vaccine Boosters to combat the South African variant. Another dose of good news. I do want to mention were here at the delta flight museum. This is where the Georgia National guard has been deployed as one of four mass vaccination sites in the state of georgia. Theyve been here to support the vaccination efforts. I should also mention despite the fact that weve been seeing a downward trend in coronavirus cases, experts say that they predict a surge in april or may, all the more reason why we should all be Wearing Masks at all times and also practicing Social Distancing. Jake . Amber, thank you so much. Lets bring in chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta now. If the j j vaccine gets emergency use authorization, which is anticipated, this will be the only single dose vaccine in the u. S. I could see somebody theoretically preferring a single dose over the twodose vaccines from pfizer and moderna. I assume your advice to anyone watching is just get whatever vaccine is available. Yeah. I think thats right, jake. Were still in the situation where the demand outstrips the supply. But i think we do have to be thoughtful about this when we think about these vaccines. That will be part of the job of the committee that will advise the cdc on this, if this is authorized. For example, we know its a good vaccine in terms of preventing severe illness, maybe not quite as effective as the moderna or pfizer vaccine. Will we hear a scenario where maybe this would be recommended for people who are not as vulnerable to severe illness, people under the age of 60 . Because its a single dose, should it be reserved for people who are more transient, less likely to show up for a second dose . This is the sort of thoughtfulness that needs to go into distributing this. As the supply increases i think it will be really important for the cdc to be thoughtful about how they recommend this vaccine and other vaccines that follow based on those unique characteristics. White house Covid Task Force weighed in on j js Production Problems that forced the revised estimates on its vaccine delivery. Take a listen. I think theyre in a better place now. Weve helped them with equipment and raw materials. I think, you know, it was disappointing when we arrived. I think the progress is real and we look forward to continuing to work with the company to accelerate their delivery in their capacity. Johnson johnson now says that their company can push out 100 million doses by the summer. How solid is that estimate . Well, you know, i spent a good chunk of the morning, jake, talking to people on the manufacturing side of that vaccine. Look, theyre very confident. I mean, it is clear that the numbers out of the gate are lower than i think what they anticipated. And theres all sorts of Different Reasons for that, as was explained to me. Theres sort of three phases. Get the wrong ingredients, do the manufacturing and the fill and finish sort of component of it. And a combination of those three things sort oflet led to these estimates that are lower than what we expected. To your question, they are very confident. 20 million doses by march and 100 million doses by june and possibly even quicker than that. Keep in mind, contextually, jake, when we talk about doses for the United States, they are planning on making a billion doses by the end of 2021. I bring that up only to give you a sense of their overall manufacturing capacity. Singledose vaccine was 85 effective against severe illness in the u. S. And notably also in south africa where that highly contagious variant also quickly spread. It also prevented hospitalizations and deaths. Explain what these kind of Efficacy Results tell you. I think what it basically means is that for the situation that people care about the most, am i going to get really sick from this, possibly need to be hospitalized or die, this is a good vaccine. Itses very protective against that. But it also shows the sort of fade effect that the variants have on these vaccines and why many of these companies, including Johnson Johnson, are thinking maybe do we need to add a booster shot . Do we need to retool our vaccines . There is a difference, obviously, in south africa, where people being trialed there were predominantly affected with the variant circulating in south africa. We now know the variants make a difference but not necessarily in terms of things that people care about the most. I will say another thing, jake. Buried in the aaddendum of the 62 pages that came out today was very early data that this vaccine also seems to decrease the likelihood of becoming infected. Right . Vaccines we know protect you from getting sick. A longstanding question, how long are they at preventing you from getting infected . 70 against actually getting infected as well. Thats something well really follow, jake. Thats a measure of whether or not youre contagious, so whether or not you have to wear a mask when you go to school. Say youre a teacher, get the j j vaccine. You go in. You dont have to wear a mask if youre not infectious. Is that what youre talking about . Yeah, thats the ultimate point. Right now the guidance says you have to wear a mask even if youre vaccinated. You could still carry the virus, could still transmitt it. Were getting increasing evidence of what this vaccine does in terms of you becoming infected and transmitting it. So far, early data looks promising from joh Johnson Johnson. Nearly a year after this pandemic hit the u. S. , sanjay, were finally bending the curve in a significant way. Last month sevenday averages in covid deaths has dropped 40 . Hospitalizations down 52 , average of daily cases down about 59 . So whats working here . Make sense of t amber just told us in the Previous Report there is sxeked to be a surge in april and may. Why would that be . Well, first of all, just contextually, because you and i have been report ing on this so long, if you look at those curves you just put up, its one of these psychological things. Youre right, all these numbers are coming down. Were still at or higher than the peaks from before. These peaks that we couldnt even imagine before. Were still at numbers that are higher than that, but the trend is favorable. And thats good. I think theres a couple of things to come in mind. Ive been talking to epidemiologists about this, trying to make sense of it. One thing you have to remember, people who have been in longterm care facilities, nursing homes, theyve increasingly been vaccinated. They accounted for about 35 of overall deaths in this country. If you go back to the early part of the pandemic till now, more than a third of deaths occur in that small group of people. Theyve largely been vaccinated. The numbers may still go up because the variants that are transm transmissible, but the death rates, jake, may not. Things got awkward when the number one and number three House Republicans both were asked about donald trump and the role he should play in the party. Plus, new information about how bad tiger woods injuries are. 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The white house says it is still fighting for neera tanden to lead the Office Of Management And Budget despite the fact that two key votes were canceled today, signaling there were democratic fears there is not enough support for tanden to clear those hurdles as Kaitlan Collins now reports. Reporter President Bidens pick to run the Budget Office now in jeopardy. President biden, what makes you so sure that neera tanden will be confirmed . Thank you, thank you. Abruptly postponing the vote today with no explanation, a sign her nomination is on the verge of failing. Clearly, there is a trem dins amount going on right now. Reporter the white house says they have no plans to pull tandens nomination for now. Theres one nominee to lead the budget department. Her name is neera tanden. Thats who were continuing to fate for. Reporter two critical senators are Keirsten Sinema and lisa murkowski. The white house is watching them closely. Its a numbers game, right . Its a number of getting one republican to support her nomination. Scheduled to vote friday on the trillion dollar Coronavirus Relief plan. All eyes in washington are now on the littleknown Senate Parliamentarian who will decide soon whether bidens proposed 15 minimum wage can be included. Sharply divided about whether it should be in the bill at all. In my humble opinion Building Back better includes a 15 minimum wage. Reporter Republican Leaders are urging their members to oppose the bill unanimously. I think all republicans believe in three simple things. They want a bill thatp puts us back to work, Back To School and back to health. This bill is too costly, too corrupt and too liberal. Jake, there was a bit of a notable moment in the oval office earlier when President Biden was meeting with this Bipartisan Group of lawmakers, talking about the United States supply chain. Some of those republican lawmakers who were in the room are the same ones who were either slow to recognize his victory or questioned it during that period following the election in november. So i asked him now that you have these republicans sitting here in the oval office with you, meeting on your agenda, do they now recognize that you are the legitimate president . He just smiled, jake, and he said that you will have to ask them. Kaitlan collins, youre a Mischief Maker at the white house. Thanks so much. In our Politics Lead, House Republican leader Kevin Mccarthy refused to answer when asked if he agreed with his colleague, the number three republican in the house, congresswoman liz cheney, who said that the proposed 9 11style commission looking into the january 6th on the capitol, whether it should investigate trumps role in inciting the insurrection. Cheney says yes. Mccarthy wouldnt answer. Ryan nobles joins me now. What do we know about the makeup of this commission sh. Reporter we know theres a big divide between republicans and democrats about who should sit on this panel and ultimately what their mission should be. That played out in real time between Mitch Mcconnell and House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy to sshlly widen the scope of this commission, have it look beyond just the events of january 6th itself, but what led to those events and even include some of the findings by the fbi and other agencies that have determined that this was planned ahead of time and it could have come from White Supremacist elements. Republicans believe that the commissions scope should be very narrow. Right now, they are blocking at the proposed legislation thats being put forward by speaker nancy pelosi, but steny hoyer, the House Majority leader, said he hopes to have a vote on this bill in the house by the middle of march. Jake . Ryan, theres this phone call that mccarthy had with trump on the day of the insurrection. Weve heard about it from colleagues of Kevin Mccarthy. Trump suggested he was siding with the violent insurrectionists. Mccarthy was asked about the call today. What did he have to say . He basically just didnt answer, jake. He did not, at all, dispute the account from congressman jamie herera butler. He also did not confirm it. He just said he didnt want to talk about it and wanted to move on. Mccarthy continuing to walk this fine line when it comes to President Trump. Niamalika henderson joins me now, with gloria borger. Take a listen. Yes, he should. Thats up to cpac. Ive been clear about my views about President Trump and the extent to which following january 6th i dont think he should be playing a role in the party. On that high note, thank you all very much. What do you think, nichlt a . What do you think this says about the Party Divisions . Listen, there is a division. Its a very unequal division. Mccarthy side of this, obv obviously, with trump is probably about 80 to 85 , where the party is. Theyre firmly in trumps camp. And youve got liz cheney who really is trying to be the kind of leader of the posttrump party. You know, thats really the rump of the party. Maybe 20, 15 of the party. This, i think, is the fight that well see play out again. Its a very uneven fight, unequal fight in so many ways. But that is what were going to see. Well see it 2022 and likely in 2024, whether or not donald trump runs in 2024 for the republican nomination. There still is going to be a huge trumpist wing of the Party Represented by any number of people who are vying for that nomination. It is quite interesting to see liz cheney there. This is the moment that i think a lot of republicans in the house caucus wanted to prevent, this sort of mixed messaging from the leaders of the party. Thats why they at any time want liz cheney in that number three position, but she is really sticking to her principles and to her guns in terms of saying that the party should move beyond donald trump. Gloria, this division, we see it all over the place. Senator ron johnson from wisconsin share this had conspiracy theory, bonkers. Yeah. That the insurrectionists at the capitol were not Trump Supporters but provocateurs and fake Trump Supporters. Its contradicted to all Law Enforcement. To that, Adam Kinzinger said its disgraceful, its a disgrace to the people. Its dangerous and it must stop. I should note this is not a split just between trumpist and nontrumpists or conservatives versus moderates. To put it plainly, its subscribers to lies and conspiracy theories, like ron johnson and Kevin Mccarthy and people, conservatives who just acknowledge facts and reality, like Adam Kinzinger and liz cheney. Its the truth versus lies and the difference between ron johnson and kinzinger and cheney is that ron johnson is doing this because he can, because its easy, because hes trying to appease a Political Base that he feels that he needs, for whatever reason, hes trying to make the former president happy so he will like him and that will help his political career. What kinzinger and cheney are doing is much more courageous. What struck me about liz cheney is her spine. This woman, if she had to answer the question, could have just said, no, i dont think he ought to speak at cpac, ive made my views known, as she said, and end it there. No, she didnt. She said exactly what her views were, which is that donald trump should have nothing to do with the future of the republican party. This puts her in great political peril in her district, which went 70 for donald trump. It puts Adam Kinzinger in great political peril as well in his district. They know what theyre doing. They are laying their careers on the line because they believe it is in service to the country and the party as opposed to people like ron johnson, who are just lying because they can and because its easy for them to appease. Theres also a third group of republicans, i should say, which is the truth teller, the liars and all the people who know better. Thats right. Who are keeping their mouths shut. Interestingly today, nichlt a, were learning donald trump jr. Was deposed by the d. C. Attorney general, doing an investigation into the use of inaugural funds from 2017. The manhattan d. A. Has subpoenaed records related to Steve Bannons Crowd Funding for that border wall. More reminders that Law Enforcement will continue to be busy working on investigating the trumpsters for quite some time. Thats right. Donald trump, of course, going to face this same sort of scrutiny as well, whether its in georgia, whether its whats going on with his finances in new york as well. You know, its just a reminder about all of the people caught up in Donald Trumps web who ended up facing some sort of penalty, some sort of court case, some sort of scrutiny. Donald trump, so far, has escaped that. Well see how long that lasts. He always talked about hiring the best people, and a lot of those people ended up showing themselves to be quite corrupt. Somebody like steve bannon, of course, was pardoned by the president. There is more to come in terms of his legal troubles and well have to see how that plays out, as well as of donald trump jr. Niamalika henderson, gloria borger, thank you. New information about the tiger woods car crash. Why theyre focusing on the suvs black box data recorder. Stay with us. vo welcome to the next, next level. This phone paired with 5g Ultra Wideband wow vo the new Samsung Galaxy s21 is here and its on verizon 5g Ultra Wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. Available in parts of many cities. Its not just a great network. Its ridiculously fast. vo stream your favorite shows in ultra hd. Im so excited about this. Streaming is crystal clear. Select unlimited plans get the disney bundle included and discovery on us. Yes buy Samsung Galaxy s21 5g. Get one on us. Only on verizon. New projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. Claim your Seventy Five Dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. In the sports lead today, tiger woods is awake and responsive, and recovering after a lengthy Emergency Surgery on his right leg which included the insertion of a rod, screws and pins. His left leg was also injured. The sheriffs deputy who found woods yesterday said that the golf great was conscious and, after he had been pulled by fr his suv by emergency responders, was unable to stand on his own. Woods was traveling at a high speed before the crash tuesday morning. As kyung lah reports, the sheriff says the golf legends survival is nothing short of a miracle. Reporter the investigation into tiger woods crash will look at speed. How quickly the suv was traveling down this road when the golfer lost control. Were hoping, obviously, this black box will have some information about the speed. It may be a factor in this accident. Reporter this winding, Downhill Road is known as a local trouble spot. Deputies did not find skid marks or indications of brakes used or any evidence of impairment. Deputies say the engineering of the suv, air bags and seat belt likely saved woods life. We have a rollover with someone trapped. Reporter responding officers found woods trapped in the wreckage of the highspeed, singlecar rollover. The hospital says his legs were broken in multiple places. Surgeons inserted a rod to stabilize fractures exposed to open air, bones especially in his right foot and ankle needed screws and pins. Surgeons worked to relieve Muscle Swelling and pressure. These surgeons likely believed if they did not perform one of those procedures to release that pressure, they were actually worried that he could lose the limb, that amputation might have been necessary. Reporter woods family says he is awake, responsive and recovering in the hospital. Emotion continues to more in from the sports world. We love him. And, you know, any time someone that you care deeply about is hurt, it hurts. And its not me. Its everybody out here. Reporter to those marking the barrierbreaking figure in a sport largely dominated by white athletes. There were some people who were able to look at tiger woods and understand black excellence in this arena in a way they hadnt understood it before. I had come to a realization i would never play competitive golf again. Reporter woods has faced potentially careerending injuries before. This video, featuring woods from a health care company, explains his comeback from one of his five back surgeries. A reminder that even after this devastating accident, Tiger Woods Cannot be counted out yet. I went from accepting it and having a peace of mind that i would never, ever do this again to all of a sudden monkeying around with my kids with the green coat, just hanging around the living room. That is just wild. Now the l. A. County sheriffs says they are not looking at filing a Reckless Driving Charge against tiger woods calling this, quote, purely an accident. Were getting this context from authorities, jake. On this particular stretch of roadway, there have been 13 accidents since january of 2020. Thats averaging to one a month. Jake . Kyung lah, thank you so much. Invisible weapon targeting the brain sickening cia officers. One of them now speak bth torture he lives with daily after a night in moscow. Stay with us. Or this. Or even this. Weve seen and covered it. So, call 1800farmers and get a quote today. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum Cyber Attacks are relentlessly advancing. To end them, cybereason built a Cyber Security solution so advanced. It can end attacks today on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. And deliver futureready protection, keeping you sharp for tomorrow. Join us, the defenders, in our mission. Cybereason. End Cyber Attacks. From endpoints to everywhere. Covids still a threat. And on reopening schools, we know what happens when we dont put safety first. Ignore proper ventilation or rates of community spread, and the virus worsens. Fail to provide masks or class sizes that allow for Social Distancing, and classrooms close back down. A successful reopening requires real safety and accountability measures. Including prioritizing vaccines for educators. Parents and educators agree reopen schools. Putting safety first. In our world lead today, in a rare interview, we are hearing from a cia agent who was attacked, not with a gun or a poison. Not by terrorists or a narco criminal gang. But with a mysterious, Invisible Weapon that terrorizes its victims with a lifetime of excruciating headaches. The attack apparently used against american diplomats in cuba as well, starting in late 2016, is thus now called Havanna Syndrome and has perplexed doctors for years. The man who is to be the new cia director was asked how to handle these attacks. I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible case of vertigo. The room was spinning. I wanted to throw up. Reporter former Intelligence Officer at the cia was hit in 2017 by an invisible attack in a moscow hotel. I had been in places like iraq, afghanistan. I had been shot at. By far this was the most terrifying experience in my life. Reporter a mystery thats plagued the u. S. Intelligence community and the State Department for years. An attack which Brain Experts now say was likely the result of a microwave weapon, hitting american personnel in cuba, china, russia and other places around the globe. The u. S. Government has not identified the perpetrator, but current and former u. S. Officials believe russia is to blame. The russian government did not respond to cnns request for comment. The attack impacted his balance, sight and hearing. The pain has never wholly subsided. I couldnt make it through the day, not even close. Ive had a headache every day since that night in moscow. Its never gone away, day and night. He had to retire early. For a dedicated cia officer, who spent his entire Career Fighting Terrorists in the middle east, it hasnt been ease toy accept that an invisible strike took him out of the game. I rather would have been shot this is a silent wound. You would have rather been shot . Absolutely. Why . Its something i could have shown people. I had a really hard time initially at the agency because people didnt necessarily the senior medical staff didnt necessarily believe me. Reporter he had to fight to get extra health care. Just this month he finished specialized treatment at walter reed medical center, more than three years after that traumatic night in moscow. When they provided me a piece of paper with a diagnosis that said i had a traumatic brain injury i had tears in my eyes. Reporter some 40 u. S. Government officials have experienced symptoms similar to his. In 2017, the u. S. Embassy in cuba slashed its staff because the attacks were so pervasive. A newly declassified state Department Report points to systemic disorganization when the department began handling this crisis during the trump administration. New hampshire senator jean shaheen has been fighting to get answers about who did this. If we dont hold those responsible accountable then we can be sure its going to continue to happen. Thats a National Security risk to the United States and to our personnel. Reporter according to u. S. Intelligence documents obtained by cnn, russia has been developing this Microwave Attack Capability for decades. Today, bill burns telling congress i will have no higher priority than taking care of people, of colleagues and their families. I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of who is responsible for the attacks. Reporter polymeropolis created a superman mask, thrusting a dagger through the skull to represent the headaches that have changed him. The cia agency s. E. A. L. Cracked. The family was emotional when he showed them his project. Dad, youre still my superman, my daughter and son said to me. Before the attack happened, how would you describe your relationship with the agency in one or two words . A love affair. After . A divorce. With perhaps some reconciliation in the future, i would hope. Reporter now, jake, i have just learned from a u. S. Official that the cia has set up its firstever task force in recent months to handle these suspected microwave attacks. The official explains to me they are going to use the breadth of resources at the cia to ensure there is a team and process in place to address any future incidents. We should note the cia spokesperson Timothy Barrett says the agencys top priority has always been and continues to be the wellbeing of the folks out in the field, of the Intelligence Officers. This is going to be something that well stay on because this truly needs to be a whole of government approach if the process is going to work here and if those who are hit are going to get what they need. Kylie atwood, thank you for that important story. Coming up, 17 veterans, 17 die by suicide every single day. The risk only growing in the isolation of the pandemic. What is the Biden Administration going to do to help . Well have an interview with the new secretary of Veterans Affairs, his first interview on tv, next. Orning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. Hey now, youre an allstar, get your game on, go play and im gonna eh, eh, eh. Hey now, youre a rock star, get the show on, get paid and All That Glitters is gold applebees 1 boneless wings with any handcrafted burger. If youre on medicare, or retiring soon, making sure you have the right Medicare Coverage is important. So Call Unitedhealthcare and take advantage of a wide choice of plans including an aarp Medicare Advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. It can combine your hospital and doctor coverage with Prescription Drug coverage, and more, all for a low monthly premium or in some areas, no plan premium at all. Take advantage of 0 copays on all Primary Care Doctor visits, all virtual visits, and preventive dental care. Plus 0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions. And with renew active, enjoy a free gym membership. So Call Unitedhealthcare and take advantage of the variety of plans we offer, including ppo plans that let you see any doctor who accepts medicare, without a referral. If youre on medicare or retiring soon, Call Unitedhealthcare or go online today. Want to save hundreds on your wireless bill . If youre on medicare or retiring soon, with Xfinity Mobile you can. How about saving hundreds on the new Samsung Galaxy s21 ultra 5g . You can do that too. All on the most reliable network. Sure thing and with fast nationwide 5g included at no extra cost. Weve got you covered. So join the carrier rated 1 in customer satisfaction. And get a new Samsung Galaxy starting at 17 a month. Learn more at xfinitymobile. Com or visit your local xfinity store today. Breaking news in our Politics Lead moments ago at a senate hearing. The director im sorry, the director of health at the department of Veterans Affairs announced that the center, the v. A. , will have the capacity to distribute almost 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines to veterans next week. That would be an increase from the capacity of around 125,000 doses. Secretary of the department of Veterans Affairs Dennis Mcdonough joins me now for his first interview. I know theres a lot of concern of getting vaccines to veterans in rural areas and getting all veterans willing to get vaccinated. Senator moran, ranking republican on the committee, said hes worried that by agreeing to vaccinate others besides adjjust veterans, such veteran caregivers. By stepping aside and going just after the Veterans First that the v. A. May be taking on too much. What do you think . Jake, thanks for having me on the show. The priority that were placing right now is to ensure that the 6 million veterans who count on v. A. To get their care will be vaccinated, and that is how were prioritizing all the doses that were getting now. And were moving that aggressive the supply that we get aggressively through v. A. Facilities across the country, including in kansas and in montana, for example, two rural states where were really try ing to push, using unique and innovative efforts to get out to rural areas, including in senator morans state. There have been individual instances where other front line workers, for example, u. S. Capitol police, have sought vaccination support. Weve given them that. Dhs, department of homeland security, personnel have sought support. Weve given them that. That does not come at any cost to our ability to move doses, needles into arms for our veterans and particularly our most vulnerable veterans. Are the dhs, Capitol Police and others that youre agreeing to vaccinate, are they veteran employees or just Government Employees . Many of them are veterans, jake. But, in fact, these are memoranda of understanding or agreements that v. A. Has signed with those federal agencies to ensure that people on the front lines again, many of them veterans, though not all carr carrying out critical functions are vaccinated. So, you know, say thats around 11,000 people. Weve now vaccinated about a little over 1. 1 million veterans. That will give you a sense of the priority, jake. Again when we get the vaccine, were moving it out into veterans arms within, you know, three to four days in some cases. In all cases were using that supply within seven days. Okay. So im very pleased with how were doing. Theres work to be done, to be certain, jake, including a rural and highly rural areas, and were prioritizing that now with new, innovative efforts. Okay. But were also making sure that were vaccinating all veterans. Yeah. So that will continue to be a priority of our. President trump signed the v. A. Mission act in 2018 that expanded the v. A. Choice act that president obama signed, allowing more veterans to see private doctors instead of going through the v. A. Health system. Right. A big question facing you right now, do you plan to keep the standards implemented under President Trump or are you going to impose more restrictions . Thats a good question, jake. Theres not an immediate decision to make about the standards question. The thing im focused on is the law dictates that best medical outcome for the veteran dictate whether and where that veteran be allowed to get care. So, were going to make sure that we are driven by that, best medical outcome for our vets, first and foremost. Then were going to make sure that we make decisions such that we not only get that best medical outcome but that we also maintain the integrity and the strength of the v. A. System. Its the only integrated Health Care System in the country. It provides a full slate of services for our veterans including i know well talk about this Critical Mental Health care. Yeah. Well continue to do that, jake. That means we have to make investments in the system Going Forward and that will be a priority for us. So, viewers of the show might remember when you were on in 2014, when you were white house chief of staff, and i had some aggressive questions for you about veterans who were dying while waiting for care. Yes, you did. And the Obama Administration was, at the sitime, slow to respond. This was a year after a letter from the chairman of the House Committee raised these issues. Lets play part of that exchange. How many stories like this, how many letters like this, how many dead veterans do you need before somebody asked the question within the white house, maybe this guy isnt the best steward of these veterans . That question, jake, is are we doing everything we can, every day, to get the veterans the care and opportunities . But youre not. This letter was sent a year ago and you ignored it. We have been working aggressively to ensure that not only is health care expanded, opportunities made more ready it our vets but that people are held to account, as rick is doing in this case. Well continue to do that. So my question i dont have any questions for you about that incident, per se, other than i know that that was a moment in a crisis that affected you deeply emotionally as well as on an intellectual and policy level. Im wondering, what did you learn from that crisis that you can now use as v. A. Secretary to help veterans, as i know you want to . Well, jake, thanks so much for the question. One of the reasons i wanted to come talk to you is because i think our veterans know i know that i know that youre somebody who has given a lot of your own time to the questions facing veterans. As difficult as that exchange was with you back in 2014, i always knew that it was informed by your deep commitment to these questions for our veterans. So, thats the first point. Second point is this, jake. The thing i learned from that is the need for a good, wellfunctioning organization to have good news, good or bad, Travel Crisply through the organization. If something is not functioning well in the v. A. , i want to know about it. I want to be on top of an agency that is comfortable sharing bad news. Not only comfortable but understands its their responsibility to share bad news and then i take that and act with dispatch on it. That will be my intention as the leader of this organization, to make sure that our organization knows that im here to help accept risk and to address it, not to hide it and not to try to bury it. Thats the second thing. And then the third thing, jake, is we want to make sure we have accountability in a situation like that. Congress changed the laws in 2018, as youve indicated, that would now allow for more accountable activity from the secretary on top of this agency and, if needed, i will use that, those accountability mechanisms. So i hope, first of all, that thank you for your remarks. I know you care deeply about veterans and i know you want to do right by them. I hope you come back a lot to the show. One last question for you. There are so many things i didnt get to and hope i can get to you next time you come back, which i hope is frequently. This job of v. A. Secretary, this is not a career enhancer. No one goes to become secretary of Veterans Affairs, as opposed to an ambassador or, you know, secretary to the u. N. , nobody goes from this job and leaves clean. Its an incredibly tough job. Its an agency my mom work for the record the v. A. In philadelphia, as you know. Its full of wonderful people, but theres a lot of dysfunction in it thats decades old. Why did you want this job . Because you know its a tough, tough gig. Jake, you know, the people like your mom, unbelievable patriots populate this department. Many of them not just patriots but also veterans themselves. And the opportunity to join forces with the capability in this department, to fulfill a fundamental responsibility, what President Biden calls the sacred obligation of the country to care for our veterans and their families, their survivors and their caregivers, is an honor, absolutely an honor of a lifetime. Is it hard . Yeah, but hard things are hard and important things are hard. And the opportunity to be part of an effort to make good on our promises to the people that you wrote about in your book, that you report on every day, who have given so much to this country is the honor of a lifetime. So am i going to get dirtied up in this . Yeah, probably. But it pales in comparison to the sacrifices that our vets have made, that our active duty forces are making today and will be making tomorrow and next week and next month and next year. And to be part of fulfilling those promises is an absolute honor that i could not pass up. Let me just ask you before you go, the annual v. A. Report on veteran Suicide Prevention found more than 17 veterans die by suicide every single day. It even warns that the coronavirus pandemic, quote, may result in increased feelings of loneliness, sadness, fear and anxiety, constant references to mortality, Social Distancing from friends and loved ones, economic recession, job loss and disruption of daily routines, unquote. So, this is now in your lap. What is the v. A. Going to do to make sure veterans know that there are Mental Health resources available, to eliminate the stigma surrounding ask asking for help, which i should not exist but does, perhaps especially among veterans. What are you going to do . Yeah. Jake, were going to make it a priority, as youve suggested. Were going to fight this s stigma. Mental health is part of whole health. We have to make that clear publicly, as you do so well, so often. We have to use the new tools that congress has given us. They just enacted the hanan act, bipartisan newly enacted statute that allows us to give grants into communities to draw on the community to work with everybody at risk or feeling those kinds of feelings that you just talked about. And so were going to use the new tools that congress has given us. Were going to continue the investments that we have been making over these last many years. I just spent the day today with every locale in the country where v. A. Is operating. Hospital leaders. And this was one of the Priority Issues in addition to the pandemic that we spent part of that hour reporting on. Thats the kind of attention and focus it needs. Let me just say one last thing, jake. We have to go, denis. Any Veteran Feeling at risk, 800273talk. 18002738255. Theres resources for veterans out there. Theres no stigma here. No stigma at all. Get treatment. Thank you so much. Well hold you accountable. Were always here to help you in your mission as well, in protecting our veterans. Our coverage on cnn continues right now. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were following breaking news. The white house just announcing that President Biden has extended the National Emergency proclamation, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, into a