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Queens Opens New Vaccination Site; House Democrats to Introduce Capitol Security Footage Today; Capitol Security Remains on High Alert For Impeachment Trial. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 10, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, right now, about 9.8 million Americans have been fully vaccinated; more than one in 10 Americans have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This is good news. That said, supply does remain one of the biggest challenges.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That is good news. So are these sort of mass vaccination sites, like right here in New York City. Citi Field has been turned into one. Athena Jones, our colleague, joins us from there.

You were there on day one, Athena, right? When they were just getting ready to do this. What are you seeing now, how successful is it?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Poppy. Well, we know that there is real demand here in the borough of Queens for a mass vaccination site like this. We saw a health care worker who was the first in line, she was in line at 6:45 this morning for a site that doesn't open until -- well, didn't open until half an hour ago.

The issue here is supply. We know that this site is only going to be able to offer 200 doses a day for the first four days, so Wednesday through Saturday. That's less than a thousand doses. By comparison, when Yankee Stadium opened last week, they were offering a thousand vaccinations on day one.

We're told by a mayor's spokesperson that that is because Yankee Stadium was getting their vaccine doses through the state. Here at Citi Field, it's coming through the city and they just don't have enough supply to go around. And so there's a real clamoring for these appointments.

Listen to what -- we spoke with a senior citizen from nearby, from Kew Gardens, who talked about getting an appointment and why it was so important for her to be here for her shot today. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUE SENDEK, NEW YORK RESIDENT: I already had COVID, so I'm a little bit nervous because of the reinfection rate, that's the big thing right now. I wasn't as nervous, I was going to wait it out and wait until later on when it's not so urgent, but I thought I'd better get in on it now because of the reinfection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that woman told us that she had a friend helping her get an appointment, basically sitting on the computer, hour after hour, clicking, clicking, clicking until an appointment could be made. And so that's how she was able to get here.

Now, here in Queens, at this site, half of the doses are going to be reserved for eligible Queens residents, like that woman, senior citizens, health care workers, transit workers. There's a long list of eligible residents.

The other half is for taxi drivers and rideshare drivers, anyone who has a Taxi and Limousine Commission license, as well as food service workers, delivery workers and the like.

But still the issue is demand outstripping supply. The mayor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, is expected to be here any minute to make an announcement about supply.

But one reason that leaders here in the city of New York and also in the borough of Queens have been clamoring is that this is one of the boroughs that was hardest hit. It was really the epicenter of the epicenter of the pandemic early on.

HARLOW: That's so true, Athena, thank you. I'm glad they're having some progress there, both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Thank you.

Well, highly contagious COVID variants are spreading across the United States. The CDC this morning estimates 948 cases that are from the variant that was first spotted in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, they've been identified here in the U.S.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and usually those numbers are behind the actual number --

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: -- it takes them time to track them.

But the agency says that does not represent the full future scope of the threat. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

So, Elizabeth, how could these variants change the way we approach vaccinations every year? I mean, that is after we're all lucky enough to get the first vaccination for COVID-19.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. I know it seems so overwhelming to think, wait a minute, you know, as we just saw in Athena's live shot just now, you know, wait a minute, look at what an ordeal it is to be getting the shots just the first time. We're going to have to do this maybe again?

Yes, hopefully we will be better at it: manufacturing will improve, distribution will improve, and it won't be a big deal because at least two of these variants -- the South Africa one and the Brazil one -- are showing us the vaccines just don't work as well against these variants as they do against regular corona, they just don't.

And that's why companies are thinking about making boosters to work against these variants, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson weighing in, saying, yes, I think we're going to have to have boosters. Will it be once a year, will it be some other time frame? We don't know, but certainly a system needs to be set up to make that happen.

And once we do get a system, it really might not be such a big deal and we really don't have a choice. If this virus keeps mutating, we will have to come up with boosters.

So let's talk about that CDC data that you mentioned that looks at variants. What it found is that when you look at the U.K. variant in the U.S., 932 cases, the majority of those are in California and Florida. The vaccine does seem to work well against this U.K. variant, I should note.

[10:35:05]

The South African variant is the -- nine cases have been found in Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia. And Brazil, that variant that was first spotted in Brazil, three cases found in the U.S. in Minnesota and Oklahoma.

So I want to emphasize one thing. Get the vaccine if you can. I don't want people to think, oh, there are these variants, why bother getting vaccinated? Get vaccinated. The vaccine is still going to give you really great protection against coronavirus, get yourself vaccinated if you can -- Poppy, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, particularly against preventing severe disease --

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: -- life-saving -- again, like you say, Elizabeth, we want to keep hitting that message home. Thanks so much.

Well, in just 90 minutes, House impeachment managers will begin presenting their case after a compelling opening argument. Sources say that former President Trump, he's fuming about his team's first day performance. We'll see if that changes. We're on it all, it's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:31]

HARLOW: Well, just over an hour from now, House Democrats will begin making their case against former President Trump in his second impeachment trial, and they're expected to present never-before-seen Capitol security footage of the insurrection on January 6th.

SCIUTTO: That apparently, the new evidence that they've been talking about.

HARLOW: Right.

SCIUTTO: Joining us to discuss, Julian Epstein, chief counsel for House Judiciary Democrats during the Clinton impeachment; and Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast." Thanks to both of you guys.

Jackie, I wonder if I could begin with you. The case yesterday on the constitutional question, largely a visceral one, how bad it was, reminding folks of that, connecting it to the president's comments during and after.

The new evidence, we're learning, is going to be more footage from there. I wonder, is this case about convincing Republican senators or more the public at this point, given that focus?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I think that the conventional wisdom -- which isn't always right -- that the -- a lot of Republicans are immobile, are not going to change their mind on this -- is probably correct. But this is about educating the public.

I was shocked just, you know, my Twitter feed yesterday, how many people hadn't seen some of the things that were in that very visceral -- frankly emotional -- video that they played at the beginning of the arguments yesterday, and were set -- and even Senators hadn't seen a lot of this footage.

You know, because they -- while they experienced it -- may of them experienced it -- they didn't, you know, go back and watch some of the things that were happening in the halls of the Capitol.

So this is an education all around. Whether it will change any minds inside that chamber, that remains to be seen. Bill Cassidy was a really big surprise yesterday, and whether that takes, you know, we'll have to see how the prosecution presents their case.

HARLOW: So, Julian, you were on the other side of this, right? The sort of defense side, in terms of being on the side of House Judiciary Democrats during the Clinton impeachment. In wonder how you would, if you were on that side this time around, have viewed Bill Cassidy's flip, right?

And I get that it's not a vote to convict, but it is a significant change, saying the other team was so bad that switch my (ph) view (ph).

JULIAN EPSTEIN, FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL FOR HOUSE JUDICIARY DEMOCRATS: So it was, and I'll connect that question -- it's an excellent question, Poppy, and I'll connect it to Jim's question. There are really -- and I always remind people this in sort of the impeachment context.

There are two audiences that you're playing to. You're playing to, obviously, the United States senators, but you're also playing to the public audience. So in the Nixon impeachment for example, the reason why it was effectively successful -- even though President Nixon resigned -- was because public sentiment was at about 70 percent pro- impeachment.

The reason that the Clinton impeachment failed and the first Trump impeachment failed, in large part -- or at least in some part, was because the public really was never convinced beyond, say, 50, 55 percent in the case of Trump. And in the case of the original Clinton impeachment, it was 70 percent against impeachment.

So I think what you're seeing with this very powerful presentation yesterday is two things. The public sentiment might (ph) start to move much stronger in favor impeachment, say into the 60 percentile range, which is very important.

It is also driving up the discomfort very significantly of Republican senators who are having to defend the president's incitement to insurrection. It was a very, very bad day for the defense, and the bad news for the defense, Poppy, is that this was supposed to be their best day.

There are cogent arguments that can -- cogent constitutional arguments -- that can be made against impeaching former presidents. Michael Ludwig has made it, Bruce Ackerman of Yale has made it. The defense team didn't make it.

They -- now they have to go to the merits, and they are going to rely on things like the First Amendment defense. And what people don't understand is that this is not a criminal proceeding. The First Amendment defense really isn't that applicable in an impeachment context. High crimes does not mean a criminal violation, it means something very different from your ordinary criminal violation. And the traditional defenses are not available.

SCIUTTO: It's a great point. That was supposed to be their easy day, yesterday.

So on the merits, the president's lawyer went on Fox last night, you know, making the case once again to the public. And he seemed to undermine his own case on the merits of the argument. Listen to his comment here about what the president's public statements did regarding January 6th, and I want to get your reaction.

[10:45:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SCHOEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: They're using rhetoric that's just as inflammatory or more so. The problem is, they don't really have followers, you know, their dedicated followers. And so you know, when they give their speeches --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: So the president's own lawyer, Julian, seems to be saying that the president's rhetoric was inflammatory. And by the way, the problem is his followers listened to him. Is that a good defense?

(CROSSTALK)

KUCINICH: Exactly. I mean, that --

EPSTEIN: Look, look --

KUCINICH: -- I'm laughing, but it's not funny. Go ahead, sorry, Julian.

EPSTEIN: No, no, no. I mean, look, the case is going to be very simple. This president engaged in an effort for 2.5 months to impede the certification, to block the certification of a national election. And when that effort failed, he summoned a violent crowd to the Ellipse, and then directed them to the Capitol. And at least many members of that mob believed that they were acting at his direction in the violent attack on both chambers.

If that -- if you walked into a law school classroom and asked them to give you an example of an abuse of power, they would be hard pressed to find a worse sort of abuse of power by a president.

And again, this sort of First Amendment defense is just not available. If -- you know, if the president were to walk into the Oval Office every morning drunk, Congress would be in its -- would be -- could properly impeach that president for behavior unbecoming of the office.

In the same way, if the president is inciting a -- is inciting a violent insurrection on the Capitol, you don't have to sort of prove under the Brandenburg standard, which a lot of people have talked about, that there was intent or there was a free speech defense. That is an abuse of power, exactly (INAUDIBLE) crime and misdemeanor means under the Constitution.

And that is the case that's going to be made, and Republicans like Cassidy and others are going to have fewer and fewer places to hide after that case is made.

KUCINICH: But -- but I wouldn't underestimate the pull of the Republican base here on these senators. Because even though Cassidy did come out and say what he said and -- as Poppy, you pointed out, this is -- he didn't vote to impeach or to convict. He was admonished by the Louisiana Republican Party.

So the roots that the president with Republicans in spite of all of this are very deep, and the misinformation machine is still churning out there. We saw that in Michigan just yesterday, where you had a state politician say that the Capitol footage was all staged. So it does --

SCIUTO: Yes.

KUCINICH: -- it makes the image that we're seeing -- we're expecting to see today and yesterday all the more important that it gets to the public to dispel this misinformation that is still coursing through the country.

SCIUTTO: It's amazing, the lies that endure. The lies that endure. Jackie, Epstein -- Julian Epstein, Jackie Kucinich, thanks so much to both of you.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: Thank you both very, very much.

EPSTEIN: Thanks for having us back.

[10:48:02]

HARLOW: One month since the deadly insurrection, and law enforcement is still on very high alert around the Capitol and across the country because of the potential for more violence from domestic extremists. The steps taken to secure Capitol Hill, especially during this impeachment trial, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, right now, federal law enforcement is on high alert in the nation's capital as officials worry there could be violence from domestic extremists during the president's second impeachment trial.

SCIUTTO: CNN's Josh Campbell is outside the Capitol building. And Josh, they do not put up this security for no reason, they do it because they think there's a real risk.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This unprecedented show of force is just the latest physical reminder of that continuing threat from domestic extremists, of course stemming from that January 6th attack here at the United States Capitol.

I'm standing in front of a Capitol Police checkpoint, which of course did not exist on that day but this has been set up. Again, these added layers of protection, the standoff that authorities have provided here, blocks between where the public is allowed and where lawmakers are actually inside, preparing for the second day of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Now, it's not just Capitol Police out there, there are also members of the National Guard that have this building completely surrounded. This truly resembles a fortified military compound. These armed members of the National Guard, fanned out again, circling this building in order to be on guard here, just in case there is some type of threat.

Now, thus far, we haven't seen any protests. I'm looking at -- there's one protestor who's wearing a Trump mask and an orange jumpsuit, but there's no additional protestors. There are none of the insurgent type that we saw on January the 6th. But nevertheless, these authorities are on a heightened state of alert just in case.

Now, finally, inside the Capitol building, security there obviously very tight as well. Let me show you this picture that I took yesterday, when I was inside. This shows you the remnants of that domestic terrorist attack that remain there, as a reminder to lawmakers, to members of the staff about what occurred on that day.

Again, authorities are remaining on this heightened state of alert as this impeachment trial continues. They don't want a repeat. They're on guard in case there is any additional threat, which is something that, as you mentioned, is truly unprecedented. We have never seen the United States Capitol look like a military compound -- Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Almost a new normal. Happened for the inauguration, following January 6th, and now for the Senate trial; Josh Campbell up on the Capitol, thanks so much.

HARLOW: Josh, thank you for that reporting.

And thanks to all of you for being with us today, we will see you tomorrow morning. There's still a big day ahead. I'm Poppy Harlow.

[10:55:01]

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. CNN's special live coverage of the second impeachment trial starts right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]