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New Day Saturday

Millions In Texas Without Water Following Power Crisis; Domestic Violence Shelter Evacuated Due To Winter Storm Damage; White House Works To Surge Vaccine Shipments After Weather Delays; White House Unveils Sweeping Immigration Bill That Faces Uphill Climb In Congress; Justice Department Indicts More Oath Keepers Associates, Says Some Appeared To Take Cues From Then-President Trump; Prince Harry, Meghan Won't Return As Working Members Of Royal Family. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired February 20, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Travelers Rest, South Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Wine, beer, I eat what I like. That's what I took away from it that story. That's what I took away.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We were talking about that.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: So, now you know what you need to be 111 years old.

BLACKWELL: That's the secret. Next hour NEW DAY starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst of the Texas freeze is over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here for about 30 years, and I've never seen them like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When people lose power. There are heartbreaking consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we know just how badly this weather is delaying vaccinations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a backlog of about 6 million doses due to the weather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The delays coming just as so many states across the country. We're starting to close the gap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We continue to see a five week decline in COVID cases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Biden preparing to take a crack at his next legislative battle.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is a reasonable path to citizenship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the President's more modern politics on this play on other issues.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Austin, can we do this send this? Send a note to President Biden, because the answer is we do it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

PAUL: I know it's cold, but I hope you all see the sun wherever you happen to be waking up this morning. That is a beautiful shot of Atlanta at this hour, 7:01. But this morning, there are millions of people in Texas who are waking up again to these below freezing temperatures after that brutal winter storm hit this week.

BLACKWELL: Yes, power has been restored to most of the state but more than 14 million Texans either do not have running water in their homes or they have to boil the water that they do have. And officials say, it could be days before the water issues are resolved. Now. You know this storm crippled the state's power grid, shut down coronavirus vaccine sites, and killed more than two dozen people.

PAUL: There's some good news here. Temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days. We're hoping for that relief.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Natasha Chen is in Houston watching what's happening there. So, close to 125,000 people were without power yesterday, about 4.3 million outages were reported during the peak of the storm. What numbers do you have now?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, and Christi, things are improving greatly. And right now, we are looking at Texas outages at just under 83,000 customers out of power right now. You can see though that there are a lot of other states on that list continuing to deal with power outages as well as the storm has really affected so many across the country.

And now that the power is coming back, the problem turns to the water crisis as you're talking about. More than 1300 water systems affecting 62 percent of Texas have been affected. Lots of people calling into their cities about burst water pipes. And, and really this concern that a lot of folks don't have the means to go and purchase bottled water. Maybe if they still don't have power, they can't even boil their water. So, that's why we're at a food bank right now that's expected to do a distribution today.

Now, a lot of the attention also is turning to what caused this dire of a situation this week. ERCOT, that's the agency overseeing the flow of power for most of Texas isn't getting a lot of these questions there. There's going to be an investigation into what happened, and a lot of people are saying that what we're seeing this week is a somewhat a result of Texas's decisions to not be part of the national grid and the deregulation of energy in 1999. And the mayor of Houston was a state lawmaker at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: I know you were part of the legislature in 99, when energy generation was deregulated. Do you have second thoughts about that now?

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D-TX), HOUSTON: No, no, in 99, I thought we made the right decision. Senate Bill seven, I remember to this day. But I also recognize that there needed to be tweaks. And that's why in 2011, you know, I filed a bill that specifically called for greater oversight of the Public Utility Commission over ERCOT. And I specifically said in that bill, to mandate that ERCOT has enough energy capacity to prevent blackouts. It was specifically intended for this situation. But the powers that be never gave that bill a hearing. If that bill had been put in place in 2011, we would not be dealing with this situation now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And so, Mayor Turner says that ERCOT can't be the only scapegoat in this situation for what he calls just lack of leadership across the state from the governor on down to state lawmakers. So, of course, all of that is going to be discussed in in the coming days, weeks ahead. But the immediate problem, again, is all these people who now have verse pipes, no running Water hospitals with no running water. Emergency crews having to fight fires with lack of water, cities telling people to conserve taking quick showers and don't wash your cars. So that's a right now this coming, this weekend what people are dealing with in Texas.

[07:05:17]

PAUL: What a mess. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. And listen, there are several parts of Texas recovering from the damage that storm caused on the electrical grid. But let's talk about El Paso, because that city was able to avoid power outages and a water shortage. CNN's Dianne Gallagher explains how they did so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No power, no water. It's been the same story across the state of Texas this week. Well, most of it,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're freezing in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Rio Grande Valley, we're very, very lucky.

GALLAGHER: The reason the lights never really went out in a major way here in El Paso is a bit more complicated and rooted in experience. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had gas shortages, water shortages, power outages.

GALLAGHER: Ralph Loya, like everyone else in El Paso can't forget the 2011 Deep Freeze.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a catastrophe that hit the city that we just weren't prepared for.

GALLAGHER: El Paso Electric Company, Senior Vice President of Operations, Steve Buraczyk, was in the control room 10 years ago, this month, when it all came crashing down.

STEVE BURACZYK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY: We actually had over three days where the temperature in El Paso never got above freezing. And we lost most of our local units. Those impacts lasted for weeks and weeks after. So, we made that decision that we were going to harden our assets that we were going to invest in new technology and invest in new infrastructure.

GALLAGHER: The winterize plant that Manager Albert Montano is showing us around today exists in part because of that big freeze.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were designed to run in the summer. But there's these few times where we have an overnight low that we really got to get all the systems up and ready. Then our team was able to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lot easier like with a brand new plant, because now we're designing it for minus 10. You have the top technology, it's state of the art. And so, you can design in these redundant systems.

GALLAGHER: And built in redundancies that needed to be tapped into this week when natural gas supply dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we went into diesel operations with the first unit on Monday of this week, and that's when we started seeing issues with gas pipeline pressure.

GALLAGHER: But another reason El Paso isn't in the dark, it's located so far from other Lone Star cities, that it's not on the same power grid is 90 percent of the rest of Texas. There were three power grids in the country: western, that's what El Paso was on, Eastern, and Texas, the only state to have its own grid, in part to avoid certain federal regulations. This week, the Texas system which is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, failed, and has faced accusations of being unprepared for the storm.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I'm taking responsibility for the current status of ERCOT. Again, I find what's happened unacceptable.

GALLAGHER: Planning for a once in a decade storm is expensive, but it is possible and worth it says El Paso Electric if it prevents disasters like what we're seeing in Texas this week.

BURACZYK: When we saw what happened to our community in 2011, we made a decision and we said never again.

GALLAGHER (on camera): Now, this doesn't mean that that winter storm was not challenging here in El Paso. In fact, they had employees working around the clock making sure that this city did not suffer the same fate as others in this state. They did say that about 3,000 households lost power, but fewer than 900 were for more than five minutes. And they say that almost every household had power back on within a few hours. Dianne Gallagher, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Diane, thank you so much. You know, it's not just people with homes and businesses who are hurting because of this winter weather. There are community groups that help people in need, and now they themselves, those groups are in need. Paige Flink, is one of them. She's CEO of the Family Place, it's a shelter that helps survivors of domestic violence. They're in Dallas. So Paige, thank you so, so much for being with us. I understand that you didn't have any power or heat for a couple of days. There were bursting pipes. Let me ask you, first and foremost, how are the women and children you serve holding up right now and where are they?

PAIGE FLINK, CEO, FAMILY PLACE: Actually, it's wonderful. Yesterday afternoon, we moved them into an extended stay hotel, they all had a soft, soft, warm bed. And I can't tell you how relieved they were to be able to put their heads on that pillow last night.

PAUL: And how relieved you must be as well. Talk to us about what you've been through this week.

FLINK: You know, it's really after trying to deal with the pandemic, and then to turn to this and know that we had suffering people that were freezing in our shelter and transitional housing program. It's really emotional for all of us because -- and we didn't know every day what was going to happen. And also we feel so responsive to help these people fleeing domestic violence, so it's been, it's been hard.

[07:10:04]

PAUL: Well, looking at some of the pictures that you've shared with us of the damage at your facility, what are you looking at in terms of what needs to be fixed, a timeline to do so in a cost to do so?

FLINK: Yes, so we expect to not be in our facility, which is the largest shelter in the state of Texas. We don't expect to be there for at least 12 weeks. And we walked yesterday with the insurance adjuster and the construction companies really going to help us and, you know, we'll start at the mitigation of drying everything out, which takes days, and then we will start the repairs.

And so, the expense for being in the hotels is the one that's totally unfunded. And so, you know, 12 weeks, I have 50 rooms, right now, 123 people sleeping right now, and I could expect that to be $150,000 to $200,000 just, just for that part of it and the construction and repair, we really don't know once until we've negotiated with the insurance company. PAUL: How do you -- talk to me about that moment that, that everything was happening, and, and how were the kids that are in your care? How are the women and the people in your care that I mean, they, they left some really horrific situations at home, abusive situations? So, we know they're strong, we know that they're courageous, but help us understand what those moments were like.

FLINT: We made the decision mid-Tuesday morning, and started in the process of trying to find the buses and the places how we were going to get, where we were going. And then suddenly, the ceiling started bursting in. So, we had told the clients to start packing their things, and then you could hear the women yelling, my ceiling just fell in.

And so, they brought their documents, some of them are brought, you know, everything that they have. And so, and then some have brought nothing, you know, it's really such a variety, but you could just hear the screaming throughout the building. And then we're trying to get them to stay calm and orderly get on five city buses to move. And so, the kids were terrified that they don't know where they're going, you know, they've been in this place, even though it was cold and dark for days.

They knew where they were. And they trusted us to take them to the next place. And so, they're very resilient, you're right, but one sweet little boy got off the bus and walked into the church and immediately he threw up on the floor. He was just so and so -- our staff has really been heroic and helping the families deal with that as well.

PAUL: Paige Flink, you are doing such important work, thank you so much for sharing with us what you're going through and we know your, your most urgent need obviously is then making sure that those people can stay in those hotels for the next 12 weeks. That is a lot to take on. Paige, thank you again.

FLINK: Thank you.

PAUL: And if you or someone you know needs help escaping an abusive relationship. If you're in the Dallas area, you can call the Family Places crisis hotline. It's 214-941-1991. And for more information about how you can help Texas winter storm victims, go to CNN.com/Impact, we have some options for you there, and thank you for doing so.

BLACKWELL: The number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. is getting close to 500,000. President Biden says that he sees some reason to be optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Also, hear what he says about vaccine production.

PAUL: Also, the growing divide among parents on whether to reopen schools and how to effectively do it the co-founder of the National Parents Union is with us live just ahead.

[07:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, the Biden administration faces a coronavirus messaging challenge here. How to reassure people about vaccines and give clarity as to when we might finally get back to our pre-pandemic normal, if that ever comes back?

BLACKWELL: The President tried to solve that with a trip to Michigan yesterday for a speech that was both about setting expectations and steering clear, though of big promises. CNN's Jasmine Wright is at the White House for us this morning. Those are trucks. There's Jasmine Wright. There we go. We had the wrong shot. There you go, Jasmine. So, what was the President's message?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, personally, Biden really sought to project two messages to the American people. One, that his administration is on top of this vaccine rollout. And two, that vaccines are safe to take. Now, as the Biden administration attempts to ramp up its production of the vaccine, there's some concern that if widely available, not enough, Americans are going to be taking this vaccine.

So, that event that we saw President Biden at yesterday, in Portage Michigan, touring that Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant, going through the aisles looking at how those vaccines are stored. That was an attempt to ease some of those concerns. Also, at that manufacturing plant, Biden declined to put a timeline on when he believes things in this country will get back to normal, citing those unforeseen pandemic circumstances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. And God willing, this Christmas will be different than last. But I can't make that commitment to you. There are other strains of the virus. We don't know what could happen in terms of production rates, things can change. But we're doing everything the science has indicated we should do, and people are stepping up to get everything done, that has to be done.

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WRIGHT: Now, also in those remarks President Biden look to put pressure on Republicans to come on board with his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill at this moment. No Senate Republicans have said that they will publicly support this bill. And if it does get passed, it looks like it will be done along party lines with no bipartisan support. Victor, Christi.

[07:20:22]

PAUL: And we know the vaccine rollout has had some problems this week because of the weather, winter weather, particularly in Texas and the chaos there. We know the President talked to his acting FEMA director and the Governor of Texas. What are you learning this morning about the White House response?

WRIGHT: Yes, well presented, Biden offered the full weight of the federal government and FEMA to respond to these deadly, deadly winter storms that we're seeing in Texas and other southern states. Yesterday, as you said, Christi, he spoke with his acting FEMA director really instructing him to use those federal governments in the administration's response. Also, he spoke twice this week to the Texas Governor saying that he would sign that major disaster declaration, but also, you know, in terms of when President Biden could go, he told reporters that he would like to go but only when his visit wouldn't be a further burden on Texas resources. Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Jasmine Wright, always good to see you, ma'am. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jasmine. So, President Biden is also trying to clear up the stance on reopening schools. He said yesterday that it is critically important to get kids back into classrooms. He said, the psychological damage and the loss of time, those are the primary reasons. And his latest push comes as the CDC Director says there are opportunities for in person learning at all stages of community spread of the virus.

Joining me now: Keri Rodriguez, Co-Founder of the National Parents Union. Keri, good morning to you. We waited weeks for the CDC to come out with this guidance. Now, that it's out, it seems like there's an inability to get on the same page from communication from the White House. Are you satisfied with what you're hearing from this administration as it relates to the guidance?

KERI RODRIGUEZ, CO-FOUNDER, NATIONAL PARENTS UNION: Well, it seems to depend on the day. We have been pushing for a Marshall Plan for an equity infused educational recovery, meaning the first 100 days, we wanted President Biden to be hitting the ground running, to really prioritizing getting our kids back in school for the families who are comfortable having their kids back in school. We were promised that the CDC recommendations, were going to be free from politics. But unfortunately, there's a lot of politics being put into play on the ground. So, parents and families are kind of left scrambling at this point.

BLACKWELL: You know, the President talked about that last time. And I think he was speaking about what, what you call your group calls that learning loss from especially the, the students and families that are members of your organization. Students have been either virtual since last March or dealing with some patchwork. I know that that is a major issue for your group. You relate that to the administration helping students get back on track. Talk to us about that? RODRIGUEZ: Well, the problem is, is from the very beginning of the pandemic, it's been very clear that our schools have been scrambling to try to figure this out. And I think, you know, parents and families across the country were willing to give school systems some grace in the first couple of months. They kind of left us to fend for ourselves last summer, we were hoping we'd have robust plans and some stability coming into this year. But at every turn, there's been fumbling.

There's been political note, good negotiations with by people who don't have any expertise around infectious disease. And we were all waiting with bated breath to get these CDC recommendations to hopefully get the experience of scientists and doctors to set us on the right path. The problem is, 40 percent of families are not ready to send their kids back into schools because they don't trust the people giving the guidance. It's very similar what we're seeing around vaccinations, about 40 percent of American families are not ready to say they're willing to have their kids vaccinated.

So, a lot of this comes down to trust. Both trust and mistrust is earned. And in that we're seeing, you know, people just you know, injecting a lot of politics instead of just relying on the science. Black and Brown families especially are saying we'd rather keep our kids home, we'd rather have the stability of having remote learning, so at least we can keep our kids safe from the coronavirus. Well, you have a whole other chunk of families about 40 percent of American families. Another chunk of that 40 percent say, no, no, no, we want the schools open immediately.

So, what this comes down to is really making sure we have strong political leadership that we're having, we're seeing. Our elected officials really trusting the guidance that they're getting from the CDC, and that that guidance is followed on the local level, then parents and families might be able to rebuild the competence that we've lost.

[07:25:01]

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's hard to expect that your school will have all of the cleaning supplies and the PPE when -- and I attended elementary schools that didn't have soap in the bathroom or didn't have paper towels there. And now you're going to tell me you've got everything that's necessary to keep everybody safe? You know, that is, understandably a reason that many families do not trust sending their students back in and why we see that disparity. Let me ask you about teachers and the vaccinations. I know that your group believes that vaccinate -- the number of teachers, their percentage of teachers, their vaccine regimen should be public to parents, how do you balance that and, and privacy rights?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, I'm a mom of five little boys. And every single day, I've got to make a decision as to what I'm willing to risk. Am I more afraid of the virus? Or am I more afraid of the damage being done to my babies every single day? And that's what it comes down to. For me to have trust, I need to have information.

And unfortunately, many schools across the country have not done an effective job of telling us when our kids may have come in contact with COVID-19 or given us information about school reopening in a way that makes sense so that we can have trust and again, you know, know that PPP, PPE is available and know that HV/AC systems are updated. But at the same time, we're willing to be partners and fight to make sure that teachers have vaccinations.

But we want to make sure that those vaccinated teachers were aware that when we're sending our children into the classroom, that they're going to be kept safe. So, we need to have a commonsense conversation around what information parents need to have to feel comfortable. I have an easier time finding out if my kid has been exposed to head lice or strep throat than I do have COVID-19. That's just crazy in the moment that we're in right now.

BLACKWELL: Keri Rodriguez, the National Parents Union. Thank you so much for being with us and talking us through some of the, the issues that still school districts, states are trying to navigate their way through. We appreciate your insight.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Christi.

PAUL: So, this week, Democratic lawmakers released a Biden-backed sweeping immigration reform bill. Up next, we're getting details about that proposal what it would mean for the millions of undocumented immigrants who are living in America right now.

[07:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So, four weeks into his presidency, President Biden is tackling an issue Washington has grappled with for decades. We're talking about immigration, of course.

He's unveiled these sweeping legislations that would create an eight- year path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. And it includes a $4 billion investment into Central America to create legal and safer pathways for migrants. This is the most far-reaching immigration legislation attempted by an administration in three decades.

So, let's talk to Thomas Kaplan about that. He's political reporter for The New York Times. Thomas, always good to see you. Talk to us about the centerpiece of the legislation, this eight-year path to citizenship. What are you hearing about support or lack thereof for that core piece in particular?

THOMAS KAPLAN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: So, this is a very tough political issue. We've seen attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform in Congress over the past two decades. We saw how it went in the administration of George W. Bush. We saw how it went in the administration of Barack Obama. It's very politically difficult, and that particular piece is at the core of that. If you look at how Republicans are already responding to the Biden and democratic proposal, you already have people calling this amnesty. That path to citizenship is really essential from a democratic point of view to any kind of big immigration bill. But at the same time, having that in the bill immediately will prompt folks on the right to call this amnesty and makes this such a politically treacherous issue.

PAUL: There's another element of this that is going to broke up the ears of the Republicans, and that is what is absent. There really isn't strong border enforcement. There are measures in that regard in this bill. So, I'm kind of wondering what -- do you think that was deliberate on their part, I guess when they were crafting this legislation?

KAPLAN: Yes. I mean, you're seeing really the polar opposite approach from what we saw from the Trump administration. Instead of focusing on physical barriers, building the wall, that's not the democratic approach. That was very unpopular among Democrats in the past four years, and that's not something they're going to pursue here.

But as you pointed out, the absence of focus on border security, that then raises problems with Republicans.

That there are some elements in the bill focusing on technology along the border, infrastructure at courts of entry. But it's not what Republicans who were enthusiastic about building the wall, it's not what they want, and it speaks to why finding a bipartisan consensus on comprehensive immigration reform is just such a difficult thing to imagine.

PAUL: I think the word you used there is really smart, comprehensive reform. Because Senator Menendez even admitted, getting 10 Republicans on board with this is a stretch. That it most likely will not happen. And the Democrats need 60 votes, of course, to overcome the filibuster.

Would it have been beneficial or would it be beneficial to attempt to some sort of deal with issues that might come in smaller doses, say, that are directly targeted to smaller groups such as the DREAMers?

KAPLAN: Yes. It's an interesting strategy question. And I think that's going to be the -- one of the big things we see discussed in the coming weeks and months. And it's something that definitely is a possibility that Democrats, instead of trying to pursue the broad solution on immigration which obviously has politically been so challenging, you look at just a specific population, a narrower population.

DREAMers, you mentioned. The young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. That would be a population where there's -- it's easier to build political support, particularly among Republicans to do something narrower to address that issue. And that could be a way to get something done if you deem a full-scale overhaul the immigration system, just something that's not politically feasible.

[07:35:38]

PAUL: And there's always the question of how soon will this even be addressed with the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that is really at the forefront of all of this.

Thom -- Thomas Kaplan, grateful as always to have you with us. Thank you.

KAPLAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Up next, new indictments of alleged far-right extremists, who investigators said, participated in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your president? Who's your president? Who's your president?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The Justice Department is filing the most sweeping conspiracy charges to date related to the deadly insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. They charged nine suspected members of the right-wing extremist group, the Oath Keepers.

PAUL: A prosecutor say, the nine defendants from four different states allegedly coordinated plans to go to Washington, breach the Capitol, and disrupt the certification of the presidential election. Here is CNN Sarah Seidner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Members of the extremist anti-government Oath Keepers --

AMERICAN CROWD: Treason! Treason!

SIDNER: -- were a part of this siege.

AMERICAN CROWD: Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!

SIDNER: They are seen in combat gear, brazenly bragging about breaching the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Overran the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the (INAUDIBLE) Capitol.

SIDNER: The extremist paramilitary group is known for recruiting current and former members of the military and law enforcement. It has emerged as one of the groups that is a major focus of federal investigators.

The FBI is trying to hunt down the suspects in these photos, some of whom are wearing Oath Keeper gear.

These three alleged Oath Keepers and military veterans: Jessica Watkins, Donovan Crowl, and Thomas Caldwell were the first to face significant conspiracy charges related to the Capitol attack.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): The leader of a militia group known as the Oath Keepers received messages while he was at the Capitol.

SIDNER: The federal claims against the accused Oath Keepers even mentioned during the second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump.

SWALWELL: The leader was given directions to where representatives were thought to be sheltering, and instructions to, "turn on gas, seal them in."

SIDNER: An accused leader of the group that day, Caldwell, denies any involvement with the Oath Keepers. His attorney claims the FBI has shown no evidence of him inside the Capitol.

In court papers, his lawyer says he worked for the FBI and has held a top security clearance since 1979.

AMERICAN CROWD: USA! USA!

SIDNER: But this is also Caldwell, talking about members of Congress on January 6th.

THOMAS CALDWELL, CHARGED IN CAPITOL RIOT: Every single (INAUDIBLE) in there is a traitor. Every single one.

SIDNER: A source with inside knowledge of how the Oath Keepers operate told CNN about a dozen members were in federal law enforcement, but purposely kept off the group's official membership database.

SIDNER (on camera): Would it be a surprise that someone who was in federal law enforcement was a member of the Oath Keepers?

ALEX FRIEDFELD, INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCHER, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Unfortunately not, right? For years, Oath Keepers have been targeting, you know, military and law enforcement personnel, especially at the federal level with their messaging recruitments.

SIDNER: Federal prosecutors say just days before the attack, Caldwell discussed with another extremist bringing weapons across the Potomac via boat.

"We could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by. Load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms."

Federal agents say he also sent messages to accused Oath Keepers Crowl and Watkins. In this one, to Crowl, he says, "I will probably do pre- strike on the 5th." "Maybe can do some night hunting." And then mentions when his Oath Keeper friends from North Carolina will show up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want Trump!

SIDNER (voice-over): In video from January 6th, it appears the three may not have been acting alone. Watkins is seen with others marching towards the Capitol. The FBI said she was part of a group of eight to 10 people all wearing paramilitary gear and Oath Keeper paraphernalia, signifying their affiliation with the conspiracy-fueled anti- government group.

Here she is again, behind the guy with the eye patch, the leader and founder of the Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes in the November Trump rally in D.C.

Two months later, Rhodes is seen outside the Capitol during the attack. He has not been charged with any crime. He was clear on his Oath Keepers mission in D.C.

STEWART RHODES, LEADER AND FOUNDER, OATH KEEPERS: Our mission there is, as we stated on in our call to action to go to D.C., is what's we always do: protect people, protect venues, protect events. That's it. You know, do VIP escorts.

SIDNER: And some did, appearing to stand guard with Trump adviser Roger Stone. This is Oath Keeper Roberto Minuta of New Jersey, according to several people who know him.

Later that day, Minuta is seen yelling at police outside the Capitol. Soon after, a man wearing the same goggles and clothing is seen breaching the Capitol.

Despite the mounting evidence and manhunt for some of these Oath Keepers, this is Rhodes, 24 days after the siege, talking about the current government.

[07:45:08]

RHODES: So, there's going to be resistance. The only question is, is what will be the spark.

SIDNER: Rhodes is still spewing the lie that the election was stolen, and egging on his followers to act.

RHODES: You've got to declare this regime to be illegitimate, you've got to declare everything comes out of King Biden's mouth as illegitimate and null and void from inception because he is not a legitimate president.

FRIEDFELD: He is continuing to use violent rhetoric and spread conspiracies that frame, you know, today's events in a way that necessitate action on the part of his followers.

SIDNER: Though Rhodes says it was a mistake for people to actually go inside the Capitol that day --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep pushing! SIDNER: -- even in light of the insurrection, his rhetoric has not changed.

RHODES: They have plans for us that they know we'll rebel against. And they're afraid because there are 365 million of us, we outnumber them vastly, and we're armed, well well-armed. So, they have a problem, and so they're afraid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): So, in total, there are nine people who are either affiliated or members of the oath keepers according to federal prosecutors who have now been indicted.

We were not able to get in touch with the six people who were newly indicted, we did, however, reach out to Jessica Watkins' public defender. She did not return our request for comment. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Sara Sidner, thank you for that report.

PAUL: Thank you, Sarah.

So, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are putting more distance between themselves and the royal family. The question is what's changing now that they've officially split from the crown?

[07:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So, the royal split is official. Now, Buckingham Palace announced Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex, have agreed with Queen Elizabeth, they will not return as working members of the royal family.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Diane Clehane, she is the Royals Editor for the lifestyle magazine Best Life. Diane, good morning to you. Let's start here.

(CROSSTALK)

DIANE CLEHANE, ROYALS EDITOR, BEST LIFE DIGITAL MAGAZINE: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, they will retain their duke and duchess titles.

CLEHANE: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Prince Harry is still sixth in line to the British throne. So, what, what are they losing? What are they giving up by no longer being working members of the royal family?

CLEHANE: Well, the biggest issue for Harry was that he was hoping at the official one-year review, which was to be last next month. That he would get back the titles he'd lost and retain the military titles that he had. So, that was a real bone in contention.

And as soon as it started circulating, sources were telling me that he was going to fight for those titles. And as soon as that sort of gained momentum, Buckingham Palace came out and said, no, that's not going to happen.

So, what I was told happened was that Harry made a phone call to his grandmother prior to this official review. And they discussed it and she basically told him in no uncertain terms that she -- he -- she was not going to give them back to him.

And so, they sort of took the step ahead and said that well, then, we're going to resign our titles. And I think it was really more of a sense of they want to take control of the situation. And that's sort of what happened.

But what happened yesterday was quite interesting because after the statement was announced from Buckingham Palace, Meghan and Harry came out and said, well, we're going to continue our service because service is universal. And that's caused a lot of hard feelings and some real anger behind the palace walls.

PAUL: I was just going to ask what does this mean for the personal relationships. What do we know about the personal relationships between Harry and Meghan, and, you know, his brother and her sister- in-law?

CLEHANE: Well, I think things are really very tense. The queen as I think everyone can really see has given Harry a very wide berth. They left this sort of period of review was going to be they were hoping that Harry and Meghan would say, OK, we're going to come back, we're going to do some of these things that we had, you know, sort of stepped away from. And most of the people that sort of are inside the palace never expected that to happen.

So, when they first left, it was tremendously difficult for all concerned. But over the past year, I really think that it's grown more contentious because there have been many, many conversations.

The Netflix deal, the Spotify deal. That wasn't discussed with the palace before they made that announcement. So, the queen is really in a place where she, I think, is very disappointed and saddened.

And then, of course, you have the extra layer of Philip being in the hospital. 99 years old, he's been in the hospital, he's going to continue to be in the hospital next week. And Harry's always been super close to him. So, that's a real disappointment.

As far as William and Harry go, this may be sort of the final tear that makes their relationship basically irreparable. It's never going to be the same. And I think that this is something that's going to sit between them for forever.

BLACKWELL: You mentioned there just for a second, Prince Philip sent to a hospital in London as a precautionary measure. What more do you know about his condition? CLEHANE: Well, it's interesting he hadn't been admitted to the hospital prior to this, until, since December 1999. So, I mean they call them the iron duke, and I'm sure they don't -- they don't do that for nothing. So, I was told that he walked into the hospital of his own -- on his own steam, but he is remaining there for four days.

So, there's obviously some concern. I mean he is 99 after all. And this is just a really difficult time for them. Everyone's been separated, Philip is in the hospital, the queen now has to deal with this sort of big bombshell.

So, I think it's quite difficult for them at this time.

PAUL: Diane Clehane, we appreciate you keeping us up to date on everything. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

CLEHANE: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: So, the power is back on for most Texans, but the really low frozen temperatures and ice have created a new crisis. More than half the state is without clean drinking water. We're live from Houston just ahead.

[07:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow night on CNN, Stanley Tucci heads to Rome. He is looking for perfect pasta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY TUCCI, AWARD-WINNING ACTOR AND BEST-SELLING COOKBOOK AUTHOR: We would normally use pancetta (PH), but the taste is totally different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.

TUCCI (TEXT): What do the customers prefer? Cacio e pepe? Amatriciana -- which one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TEXT): Right now carbonara seems more loved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TEXT): I prefer this one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TEXT): He has the Roman face.

TUCCI (TEXT): Yes, truly Roman. Like Julius Caesar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)