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Source: VP Pence Not Ruling Out 25th Amendment Option; House Democrats Plan To Introduce Impeachment Resolution Monday; More Than Two Million New Cases, 24K Deaths Already This Year; Republicans Split On Future With Trump; New Arrests In Connection With Deadly Capitol Riot; Chicago-Area Police Kill Suspect In Deadly Shooting Spree; Vulnerable Seniors Frustrated With Florida's Vaccine Rollout. Aired 7- 8a ET

Aired January 10, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:01]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We took a lot of time on the Bills there. Why do you think we did that?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I wanted to lead with it, the segment break even, at the top of the A block. But, you know, but we settle for what we can get.

PAUL: Coy used to play for the Bills for any of you who may not know. Well deserved, his time there. We are grateful to have you here, Coy.

WIRE: Thank you both.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Spanx on a sperm whale. That will be coming back at some point.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Coy Wire, thanks so much.

WIRE: Thanks, guys.

PAUL: All right. Your next hour of NEW DAY starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pence isn't ruling out an effort to use the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. The two men have not spoken since Wednesday's attack on the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats are pushing full steam ahead to give President Trump the dubious distinction of being the only president in American history who will be impeached twice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More fallout when it comes to trying to change the election results in Georgia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president also called the secretary of state's top investigator who was investigating allegations of voter fraud in that state. He told him that he would be a national hero if indeed he did so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weekly tallies of COVID-19 have never been higher. Already more than 2 million new COVID cases have been confirmed this month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I'm concerned about is that there is still a population of folks that are super anxious about this vaccine and most likely that's the population that needs it the most.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

PAUL: Beautiful morning shot there. I hope the sun is rising wherever you are, as we are waking up to some new friction, growing friction, it seems, between the president and his vice president.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, a source close to Vice President Mike Pence tells CNN that invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office is still on the table.

Now, another source says the two have not even spoken since the attack.

Also hanging over the West Wing, impeachment. A House Democrat leading that effort says the article against Trump for incitement of insurrection has 180 Democratic co-sponsors and some Republicans to sign on, too. The plan is to introduce that resolution tomorrow.

PAUL: The question is, is there enough time to do so? Republican Senator Pat Toomey says the president, quote, committed impeachable offenses but he doesn't think it's possible or practical, he says, to force him out early at this point.

We have so much to get to. CNN's Sarah Westwood is at the White House right now.

So, we know that the vice president and president, as we said, they are not talking. The 25th Amendment back on the table according to the vice president. What do you know about the mood and what is happening at the West Wing right now?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Christi, the relationship between President Trump and Vice President Pence appears to be at an all-time low after four years of the two of them never publicly disagreeing on anything at all. But these tensions are spilling into public view after the events of Wednesday. Like you guys mentioned, they haven't spoken since that day and President Trump did not call to check on the vice president a as he was hiding in the Capitol from the insurrectionists ho were storming the building, some calling his name.

Trump has also not commented publicly on the death threats that have been directed at Pence on social media. President Trump is said to be angry that Pence performed his constitutional duty to certify the election results, did not give in to the president's demands to circumvent that process. Pence is said to be disappointed and saddened by the president's behavior so far.

So, a rare rift between the two of them. Deepening that is the fact that Pence has said he will attend President-elect Biden's inauguration on January 20th, and Trump used one of his final tweets before his Twitter account was taken away to announce he would not attend the inauguration, becoming the first sitting president since 1869 to skip the inauguration of his successor.

Pence is also not taking the 25th Amendment off the table. Pence aides acknowledge there are risks to keeping that option alive and to impeachment, that the president could behave more erratically given those threats, but the option is preserved in order to ensure if Trump's behavior becomes any more erratic, there are options to get him out of office, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about the potential impeachment trial over in the Senate and the legal options, for the representation I should say, for the president.

WESTWOOD: Victor, we know that President Trump is considering Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz to join his legal defense team for impeachment. It's notable because Rudy Giuliani has played a leading role in promoting the conspiracy theories that are at the heart of the reason why Trump is being impeached in the first place.

This legal team will look different than the one that defended him before the first impeachment. People like Jay Sekulow and White House counsel Pat Cipollone are not expected to participate this time around. In fact, sources say that Cipollone is actually considering resigning after this week's events. But this is, of course, a very real threat to are even considering joining the Democratic effort to impeach him, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood at the White House. Thanks so much.

PAUL: Also new this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling lawmakers to prepare to return to Washington next week, which, of course, is another sign that House Democrats most likely are going to move to impeach the president.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to CNN national correspondent Susanne Malveaux. She's on Capitol Hill.

Suzanne, this is moving forward, moving forward quickly. And I want, if you can, discuss if there is going to be expansion. We heard from Leader Clyburn that he potentially wants the Georgia call included there.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, it could be numerous accounts on these articles of impeachment, but there are some who feel like it should be as narrow as possibly, so they can move as quickly as possible. But we did hear from Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter to her colleague, saying stand by, be ready to travel here to Washington for potential vote. That potential vote could be on that article of impeachment, the incitement of an insurrection.

It's every clear that Democrats, House Democrats and quietly some Republicans at least want something, something done to hold the president accountable. As you know, the House has the sole power of impeachment. So that is one of the options here.

It is not the first option that Nancy Pelosi would like. She would rather see the president resign or have the vice president the majority of the cabinet invoking that 25th Amendment. But that is not likely.

So here's what she is saying to her colleagues. She says it's absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable. There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the president.

There are many people who believe that that, in fact, is the case, and Republicans have also been speaking out saying, yes, the president must be held accountable. But here is where they differ. They have not explicitly said that impeachment is the way to go. Some are saying invoke the 25th Amendment, resignation, impeachable offenses.

But we don't know yet whether or not there are any Republicans who would sign off on this. But there are signs a great disapproval of the president's behavior. Senator Pat Toomey is one of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): I have so say I think the president's behavior this week does disqualify him from serving. But we've got ten days left, 11 days left. He is not going to be serving after that time.

One of the things I'm concerned about, frankly, is whether the House would completely politicize something. I do think the president committed impeachable offenses but I don't know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The House Intelligence Committee Chief Adam Schiff, who was the one who brought up the last case of impeachment against the president in 2019, has expressed some concerns about the possibility of whether or not the new president, Joe Biden, would be able to accomplish the things that he need to accomplish in the first weeks and months of his presidency with this impeachment trial, if it were to go forward. There are others who are saying the same.

And then there's a small group of Republicans, a letter sent to the President-elect Joe Biden led by Representative Ken Buck, a Republican of Colorado, and his colleagues imploring the new president to ask Nancy Pelosi to stand down with the impeachment inquiry saying they think it's unnecessary and that it is not -- it would be inflammatory in terms of trying to bring people together -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, always good to see you. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: We have two experts to walk us through it now.

Michel Moore, former U.S. attorney for the middle district of Georgia.

And Norm Eisen, he served as counsel for the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee during the first, I guess we call it the first impeachment of President Trump. He's also a former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Gentlemen, welcome back, and good morning to you.

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Guys, good morning to you.

NORM EISEN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Michael, let me start with you. I will give you two names. I want you just to respond. Alan Dershowitz, Rudy Giuliani as potentially the attorneys who defend the president in this upcoming very likely impeachment.

MOORE: I think probably just to say that the circus continues. Probably get some better hair dye. That would be my response. This is just a joke.

I mean, you know, you are taking somebody who has been so instrumental in spreading the lies, the mistruths. He has gone around the country and lost all essentially credibility with the courts.

Now, the courts all over the country, the lawsuits they have filed and the efforts they made when you talk about Rudy Giuliani. You have watched a guy fall from some height of reputation down to really sort of the bottom of the stack.

[07:10:06]

And I think even the idea that he would appear in something this serious, we are talking about constitutional provisions and insurrection, makes just sort of further, perpetrates the joke that the president's case is.

BLACKWELL: And, Ambassador Eisen, the idea that Giuliani would be representing the president to defend him against in incitement of insurrection charge went on that same stage, Rudy Giuliani suggested trial by combat.

EISEN: Rudy Giuliani has been the president's henchman for the insurrection, including the pattern of lies that have gone on, Victor, for months, which have inflamed people, deluded them and falsely made them believe that the election was stolen when no such thing happened. That's what drove that rage of the protesters, as well as Giuliani's words and Trump's.

So to have Giuliani appear now as your lawyer is really just pouring gasoline on on a burning flame. He should be there as a witness to the insurrection. Not as a lawyer.

BLACKWELL: Let me stay with you. You wrote a piece for "The Washington Post" this weekend and the title of it is "The riot happened because the Senate acquitted Trump" and you ended with this. Perhaps, speaking of the senators, Republicans mostly, perhaps they have learned a lesson from last year, even if the president has not.

Do you think there is a plausible two-thirds vote to convict once the Dems take control?

EISEN: Well, as a trial lawyer, one of our adages is you never know what's going to happen until you go to trial. And I won't predict now if we can get the two-thirds that we need. We'd need to pick up the 17 from the Republican Party to convict.

But, Victor, we have never had a president who has done anything like this. I wouldn't have thought he could have done worse than what we impeached him for, the Ukraine call and his misconduct. Now, he has led a violent insurrection against his own government. The words are clear. The images are there for everybody to see.

So we've seen some statements from Republican senators. And if he is put on trial with impeachment charges, we will have to wait and see how that turns out.

BLACKWELL: Michael, the White House team reports that the president has talked with his aides about the ability to pardon himself, since 2017, the beginning of this administration.

What's your view on his ability to pardon himself specifically in connection with what happened on Wednesday?

MOORE: Well, the question of a self-pardon is so are up in the air. The courts haven't addressed it. I have some questions on whether or not it would extend to the point of a president essentially trying to overthrow his own government.

When you read the Constitution, you read those sections and you look at sort of the framer documents that are there, the documents from the Founding Fathers, you see that the effort was to avoid a monarch. And so my believe is when you really get into the law, you will see hopefully some of the many judges that the president has appointed, they consider themselves strict constructionists and federalists, that they will look back at that and say, in essence, not have an all- powerful king, which would mean you couldn't have someone to come in, overthrow his own government, move forward.

Think about this, if he has been impeached, he didn't want to be impeached, so he sent a bomb down to the U.S. Senate so they couldn't vote on impeachment. Could he pardon himself for that? I think the clear answer is no.

So, when you take an extreme like that, you got somebody here who has clearly been involved in inciting an insurrection who has encouraged his people to do violent acts. I just have a hard time believing the courts would stand for that. BLACKWELL: So, Michael, we know of a second -- there is so much -- a

second call from President Trump to Georgia officials about trying to overturn the election. He reportedly told an elections investigator in Cobb County to, quote, find the fraud, and then that person would be a national hero. I want you to listen to House majority whip James Clyburn on how that should play in what happens over the next few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): I am getting a little sick and tired of us allowing things like that just let it go. We should not let that go. That is very fundamental. So if you are going to have articles of impeachment, I think it's got to cover that action as well.

[07:15:04]

This is not just about Trump. This is about this democracy that we all hold dear. And we ought not ignore what he attempted to do with that vote down in Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I am going to come to both of you with this. But, first, Michael, first, do you think that's the right way to go, and does that complicate, obviously, the timeline, but any possibility of conviction?

MOORE: I absolutely agree with him. It's absolutely the right way to go. You know, I filed a complaint with the state elections board over the same thing when he called the secretary of state. Then you had the president speak, obviously, to an investigator claiming he is a hero.

Now you have him call and talk to the secretary and try to pressure him, both with criminal prosecution, with fears of sort unknown things, sort of a godfather sort of type call that was out there. So, I think it's the right way to go. To answer your second question, it will not slow things down because these are state offenses.

So, you can have a state prosecutor here in Georgia look at the calls, look at the efforts to subvert the election process, to influence an election official, and they could be moving on a separate track rather than the impeachment track dealing with the insurrection.

So, there are really two distinct happenings. They are two distinct prosecutors. They are two distinct jurisdictions. And there is no reason that can't go on simultaneously and they absolutely should look at it.

BLACKWELL: Norm, I'm sorry, Mr. Ambassador?

EISEN: Well, you do have both federal and state election fraud potential crimes in virtue of the president's calls into Georgia. The most outrageous is the Raffensperger call, the demand to find over 11,000 votes, exactly one more than needed to deliver the election, and then the threat of criminal prosecution. That plugs into the impeachment because it's part of the pattern,

maybe the worst part of the pattern of stoking these, this theory that the election was stolen, that led to the violent mob whipped up by the president. But it can be prosecuted under federal and state law, and I think is it should be criminally investigated. I agree with Michael, fast.

BLACKWELL: We are going to wrap up here, but just a couple of seconds.

Mr. Ambassador, you were participating the first impeachment. Do you know, have you been asked to participate in what could be the second impeachment?

EISEN: Well, I am not going to get into the plans for what the next impeachment may be. Let's see how that plays out, whether impeachment, 25th Amendment. Let's see how that plays out in the days ahead.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you very much. Michel Moore and former ambassador Norm Eisen, thank you both.

MOORE: Great to be with you.

BLACKWELL: And the ambassador is the author of --

EISEN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: You're welcome very much -- the author of "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" on the 25th Amendment."

PAUL: So, Pfizer says it's ready to meet the demand of the Biden administration. The drugmaker prepared, they say, to release millions of doses of its coronavirus vaccine. The question is, how could that complicate the goal of getting everyone the second dose that they need?

BLACKWELL: Plus, more arrests have been made in connection with the riots on Wednesday, including this man. He was happily trying to carry out Speaker Pelosi's lectern.

The latest on the search for more suspects, we've got that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:46]

BLACKWELL: More than 2 million new coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S. since the start of this year.

PAUL: Now, we want to put this in perspective in terms of what we are dealing with right now. Nearly 270,000 of those cases were reported just yesterday alone.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is with us now.

I know that they say one the keys here is to scramble, to get as many people vaccinated as they can. The question is how to do that, is that right?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, one of the answers, Christi, is by setting up some of these drive-thru vaccination centers that we are seeing pop up across the country. You will see one in Atlanta in a second. First behind me, this old army supply terminal in Brooklyn, New York, starting today will be taking those appointments rather to -- for people to be able to get that vaccine.

Originally, health care workers as well as front line workers and also other individuals have been able to get that shot, but we do know that starting tomorrow, now people over the age of 75 will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccination. The city of New York hoping that will allow them to get closer to that goal of vaccinating a million people by next month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Drive up, sleeve up, done. At this pop-up vaccination drive-through east of Atlanta, there has been a steady stream of first responders and health care workers eager to get the COVID-19 vaccine they preregistered for.

DR. SANDRA ELIZABETH FORD, DEKALB COUNTY, ILLINOIS DISTRICT HEALTH DIRECTOR: It's almost like a contest, when you open up, and everyone is rushing into to sign up at the same time.

SANDOVAL: That's been the problem here and at any many mass vaccination locations across the country. High demand means appointments may be hard to get. Come Monday, DeKalb County first responders and people over 65 will be eligible to get their shots as well.

Like other parts of the country, DeKalb County officials are facing the challenge of establishing confidence in the vaccine among some African Americans, among Latinos, even a few health care workers says Dr. Elizabeth Ford.

FORD: What I am concerned about is there is still a population of folks that are super anxious about this vaccine and most likely that's the population that needs it the most.

BELINDA WILLIAMS, VACCINATED FRONTLINE WORKER: I understand fully where those reservations come from.

[07:25:01]

I understand the history. I understand where it's coming from. But I still had to do what was best for me, my family, and those that I serve.

SANDOVAL: Pfizer, maker of one of the two vaccines currently authorized in the U.S. says it's ready to send out millions of vaccines each day. This comes after President-elect Joe Biden pledged to release all available doses as soon as he takes office, breaking from the Trump administration's approach of holding back half of vaccine productions to ensure second doses are available. DR. CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: What we are trying

to do here is simplify the distribution. In a sense, we have been getting in our own way making things overly complicated, and so long as there are not any manufacturing glitches, we are confident that the supply of vaccine will be there when people return for their second dose.

SANDOVAL: Biden's team says CDC guidance regarding second doses will stay the same. Recipients of Pfizer's version should go back for theirs 21 days after the first shot, 28 for those with Moderna's. Meanwhile, weekly tallies of COVID-19 have never been higher, already more than 2 million new COVID-19 cases confirmed this month.

On Saturday, Arizona surpassed 10,000 total COVID-19 deaths while Texas reported a record number of hospitalizations for the seventh day in a row.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (on camera): Nationally, the average of new COVID cases is certainly just jaw-dropping. This week alone, averaging about 247,000 a day. That is the highest it's ever been. And just to add some perspective, that is four times higher than what we saw during the summer spike. Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Polo Sandoval, appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, next up, Republicans are demanding that the president resign after last week's riots. Was it the final element for the GOP, or is President Trump's hold on the party here to stay?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:13]

PAUL: So the Republican Party has spent years avoiding a confrontation with the president, but after losing the presidency and the House and the Senate and now facing the second impeachment scandal, excuse me, some are asking, what do they have to lose?

"New York Times" political correspondent Alex Burns is with us now. He's the co-author of a piece titled, Republicans splinter over whether to make a full break from Trump.

So I want to ask you about something that you wrote, Alex, and good morning to you, in your latest article. You wrote this. Having lost the presidency in the House and Senate on Mr. Trump's watch, Republicans are so deeply divided that many are insisting they must fully break from the president to rebound.

The question is, Alex, how plausible is it that that would happen?

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Christi, I think it's highly plausible that you will see prominent members of the party take steps to distance themselves from the president that we have not seen them to do before. In the past, when Republicans separate from the president, it's been only in a really narrow sort of tactical ways and moderate members of the House and Senate.

We have heard a level of anger within the party the last few days with the back-to-back loss of the Senate and then the attack on the Capitol that puts this in a different category. And I would look first to how the party handles an upcoming impeachment process and any other accountability steps that are taken in the House, that there was really never any chance of the last time there was an impeachment process that any Republicans except for Mitt Romney would vote to convict the president.

I think there is an expectation this time Mitt Romney would not be alone, although perhaps not in really ample company. And then, beyond that, Christi, I think it's a matter of looking at how Republicans handle the president's efforts if there are, if he does make these efforts, and I think we assume he will, to shape the policy agenda and political lineup of the party going into 2021 and 2022.

As a former president, if he makes these pronouncements, as we know him to have made often over the last four years, does anyone care?

PAUL: And that's one of the questions, too. Is there any indication how influential he will be once he leaves office to the Republican Party specifically?

BURNS: You know, I think it's a really open question. I think the foundational assumption within the GOP is that most Republican voters still like at least enough things about President Trump that he is likely to be quite influential, particularly in primary elections, where it's really the hardcore party base that shows up.

But, on the other hand, we have never really seen President Trump personally put a whole lot of effort and sustained attention and discipline into driving a message and building a political infrastructure for himself outside the context of the White House and the 2016 presidential election, and staying relevant as a former president is a taller order than just sort of lobbing bombs from the West Wing.

PAUL: Well, and especially you wonder how you do it now that he's been -- that he's been silenced on Twitter and other platforms. You wonder where he is going to take that voice.

You did mention in your piece, too, the Great Depression. You mentioned Watergate.

Are you suggesting what happened at the Capitol on Wednesday rises to those historical markers?

BURNS: I think my co-author and I are suggesting that what happened at the Capitol was sort of the capstone of a period of turbulence in this country that, yeah, absolutely, rises to the level of the Great Depression and Watergate as a political trauma for voters that they associate with one party. That for a generation after the Great Depression, Republicans had to campaign in the shadow of President Hoover. That is the kind of stain that leaders in the party are deeply

concerned about right now because the image of a violence mob assaulting one of the bastions of American democracy egged on by the president of the United States is not the kind of image that anyone expects to fade quickly in the minds of voters.

PAUL: Well, I think some of the more recent video that's coming out that shows us what happened inside the Capitol, and then President Trump not flying the flag at half-staff for the policeman who died and not mentioning the funerals and focusing on those that are going to be happening for the five people who died, it definitely does make people wonder. I know that Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Pat Toomey are both being vocal right now about the consequences for President Trump.

Murkowski says he should resign. Toomey says he has committed impeachable offenses. He doesn't know if impeachment is the way to go.

But how do these two senators shape the mood and movement of Republicans in the Senate right now?

BURNS: Well, I think they are saying out loud what a lot of other senators are feeling and expressing privately according to my reporting. And they are, of course, somewhat more liberated than other Republican senators. Senator Toomey is not running for re-election. Senator Murkowski is kind of an institution in her home state of Alaska, has always been independent lawmaker.

But they are not the only folks in the Republican Senate conference speaking like that. I can say that with total certainty. I think, Christi, you mentioned additional video that we are seeing of the details of the assault on the Capitol. These are episodes that lawmakers themselves saw in many cases in real time.

And what they saw with their own two eyes during the mob attack on Wednesday is an experience that has risen for many of them to the level of personal trauma. And so, I don't think that we can overstate the gravity with which members of Congress in both parties, but I think on the Republican side especially in the Senate, are experiencing the aftermath of Wednesday.

PAUL: There are several news outlets reporting President Trump's considering creating his own social media site after Twitter permanently banned him. We know that that was his primary outlet to reach his followers.

But how likely do you think that could be as we look ahead to his grip on the Republican Party?

BURNS: Well, I think we have heard interest from the president and the people around him for years in creating some kind of media entity to help advance his personal political and business interests. I don't think that would be a great surprise.

Social media is hard though. Anybody who has been involved in creating and managing a social media company will tell you that it is not something for people who are not serious about building and maintaining large and complicated organizations, and organizations, by the way, that have a lot of legal exposure. It would be an irony if a president who campaigned against section 230 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the law that -- a provision the law that shields these companies for things that are said on their platforms.

If the president has tried to demolish Section 230 ended up being a businessman in the private sector shielded by that provision from a liability for what happens on his site.

PAUL: Very good point. Alex Burns, it's always good to have you with us. Thank you, sir.

BURNS: Thanks a lot.

BLACKWELL: At least 83 people have been arrested in connection to the attack on the Capitol, and a growing list of charges are giving new understanding to the extremist element in the crowd.

CNN's Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent Evan Perez has more on the FBI's search for suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Federal authorities around the country are working through the weekend hunting down some of the people involved in Wednesday's terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. We know of at least 18 arrests on federal charges and dozens more are facing charges in local court here in Washington.

Among those arrests are Adam Johnson, arrested in his home state of Florida. He is seen in pictures carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern. Also arrested Jacob Chansley in Arizona, seen in video inside the Capitol wearing face paint and a bear skin hat. The FBI says that Chansley told them he came to Washington because Donald Trump called for supporters to come and he organized a group to heed the president's call to action.

Another member of the mob facing charges, Derrick Evans, a delegate in the West Virginia legislature and he announced that he is resigning his seat.

Five people died in Wednesday's mob scene, including a capitol police officer, who was attacked by the pro-Trump crowd. Prosecutors have laid out serious charges against some suspects, including against a man who drove from Alabama with a truck allegedly carrying bombs and a handgun and a rifle. Another man arrested with firearms allegedly told friends he came to kill Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And speaking of that man, special military honors may be coming for Officer Brian Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol police officer killed in last week's deadly riot.

[07:40:08]

BLACKWELL: Sicknick was a staff sergeant for the New Jersey Air National Guard, served two deployments. Military officials confirm the secretary of the army supports Sicknick receiving posthumous special honors and a burial at Arlington National Cemetery if the family would like that to happen. Flags at the Capitol have been lowered to half- staff in honor of Mr. Sicknick. He was 42 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We have this just in from the Chicago area.

Evanston Police say they've shot and killed a suspect in a series of shootings.

[07:45:04]

That series of shootings happened yesterday. Investigators say the suspect killed at least three people and injured four others before he was shot himself. A security guard and a University of Chicago student are among those shot and killed.

Right now, investigators say the shootings appear to be random.

BLACKWELL: After the riots on Capitol Hill, the FAA is warning rowdy and unruly travelers not to misbehave on flights. There have been incidents involving Trump supporters shouting down flight attendants and other passengers.

And Senator Mitt Romney was one of those passengers who was accosted with chants of a traitor during his flight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Traitor! Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The FAA says that passengers who disrupt flights could face jail time and up to $35,000 in fines.

PAUL: Well, seniors in Florida are apparently getting frustrated with the vaccine rollout.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, Florida reported daily increases of more than 19,000 cases in the last two days.

CNN's Rosa Flores reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Floridians have been writing angry emails to local officials.

MAYOR STEVE GELLER, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: There is no excuse for this. You have had months to get a real plan in order. FLORES: Steve Geller, the mayor of hard-hit Broward County, says he is

blamed for the jammed phone lines and crashed websites used by seniors to make appointments for the vaccine.

Was it the county?

GELLER: No, it was the Florida Department of Health in Broward County.

FLORES: In other words, he says the state of Florida and its chief executive, Governor Ron DeSantis, didn't have a good plan when two weeks ago he issued an executive order allowing seniors 65 and over to get the life-saving shot, joining front line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

GELLER: Inadvertently appears to have given seniors the inaccurate belief that they can register immediately for the vaccine and that they can all receive vaccinations now.

FLORES: An expectation, Geller says, that had thousands of Floridians around the state waiting in long lines, some sleeping outside.

When CNN asked DeSantis what went wrong --

Governor, what has gone wrong with the rollout of the vaccine that we have seen phone lines jammed, websites crashing.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: A lot of demand. I think at the end of the day --

(CROSSTALK)

FLORES: If I could finish my question.

DESANTIS: Excuse me, excuse me, you just said what has gone wrong. So, I'm answering the question.

FLORES: If I could complete the question, though --

DESANTIS: So, are you going to give a speech or are you going to answer -- ask a question?

FLORES: With all due respect --

DESANTIS: You asked the question --

FLORES: The governor blamed hospitals and high demand for the vaccine.

DESANTIS: Because we distributed vaccines to hospitals and the hospitals said first come, first served. If you show up, we'll do it. They didn't use the registration system. There wasn't anything that was done and there is a lot of demand for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see you, big girl. Yes, I do.

FLORES: Caught in the middle of the blame game, vulnerable seniors like Jack and Joyce Fish (ph) in Palm Beach County. Both in their 80s with Joyce battling multiple myeloma.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very frustrating. I guess that would be the best word.

FLORES: They want to get the vaccine to meet their new great- granddaughter born in New York in the middle of the pandemic. After struggling with the clogged vaccine system for two weeks, Joyce still doesn't have an appointment. Jack, a military veteran, just learned from the V.A. he can get the shot in a few weeks.

Marie Shriner (ph) is 92, lives in an assisted-living facility near Tampa and her family doesn't know when she is getting hers.

WENDY WALSH, MOM IN ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY: In Florida, we were told by our governor that the, you know, the health care workers would be first, and then they would be doing the assisted-living facilities and nursing homes.

FLORES: Her daughter Wendy says she made hundreds of duels government agencies, has left messages an still doesn't know who is in charge of the rollout.

As her frustration turned to anger, she went to the top and called the governor's office.

WALSH: I would like to know the answer to the question, why weren't these facilities given the shots before the general public?

FLORES: But says she didn't get an answer.

During his latest press conference in Miami, I tried to pose that same question to Governor DeSantis.

Governor, can you please take another question about assisted living facilities?

He didn't take my question, but moments before he deflected responsibility for the poor rollout.

DESANTIS: It's not all through the state. I mean, that's, I think, what people don't understand. For us to direct every dose that goes for hospitals and all that would be a total Charlie Foxtrot, okay? Let me tell you. It would not work well.

FLORES: And the governor might be right. This is what the vaccine distribution looked like in St. John's County when the state in charge.

And this is what it looks like now. County officials took over days ago.

[07:50:00]

The long lines are gone, and people are walking into prescheduled appointments. States around the country have had issues rolling out the vaccine,

with less than a third of the 21 million doses distributed used to far. The man leading the federal vaccine effort says he wants more state leaders to follow in DeSantis' footsteps by broadening who gets the vaccine and expanding distribution.

ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We would much rather see states move as quickly as possible and use every possible avenue to meet demand as places like Florida are trying to do.

FLORES: DeSantis is making the shot available at testing sites, grocery stores and places of worship, but for vulnerable seniors who thought they were first in line --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish there was a magic way.

FLORES: -- the frustration is just the same.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Well, just ahead, they're sisters and they share a special bond and now they're creating this example together in the fight against coronavirus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:11]

PAUL: So three sisters from New York are all nurse us fighting on the front lines against the virus. The COVID -- the coronavirus, obviously. They received their second dose of the vaccine together, like they do everything else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALTHEA SCOTT-BONAPARTE, PATIENT CARE DIRECTOR: We travel together, we like to spend time together, and COVID has kind of put a damper on that. So we felt that together we are going to come together to fight this. So since we do everything together, it stands that we should have this vaccine together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: They got vaccinated for their mom, a former nurse, who they haven't seen in months. The Scott sisters all work at the same New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital helping patients who are suffering from COVID. We thank them so much for everything that they're doing and all of you, all of you teams out there that are doing it.

And we thank you, too, for being part of our morning. We hope that you make some good memories today.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and remember tonight at 10:00, join Wolf Blitzer for "The Trump Insurrection: 24 Hours that Shook America." It's a look at what happened at the Capitol and what happens next.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" is up next.