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Sources: Trump Plots 2024 Run and Revenge Ahead of CPAC Speech; President Biden on Brink of First Cabinet Defeat; House to Hold First Hearing on Deadly Capitol Insurrection; Close Ally of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Among Capitol Insurrectionists; Researchers: New Coronavirus Variant Spreading in New York City. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 25, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I've been clear on my views about President Trump. I don't think that he should be playing a role in the future of the party.

[05:59:38]

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Cheney had the courage to speak out, and the party is too afraid to acknowledge it.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (voice-over): There's a healthy amount of fear, not just of the politics of crossing him, but of the ramifications of crossing him, such as the loss of fund- raising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another busy day on Capitol Hill as those looking into what went wrong on January 6 will be testifying in front of the House Appropriations Committee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to hold those accountable who are responsible for January 6 and the big lie that preceded it for the better part of a year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Thursday, February 25, 6 a.m. here in New York.

And we begin with brand-new CNN reporting on former President Donald Trump's future. Multiple sources tell CNN's Kate Bennett that, quote, "Trump's stated goal -- barring impact from ongoing criminal investigations -- is to run for president again in 2024."

Trump is also reportedly plotting revenge against his critics as he prepares to return to the national spotlight this weekend with a big speech at CPAC, the big annual conservatives conference. It gets under way today as the majority in the GOP appears to be all in on Trump, despite his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol that put their lives in danger.

But not all Republicans are on the band wagon. There was this awkward moment yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe President Trump should be speaking -- or, former President Trump should be speaking at CPAC this weekend?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Yes, he should.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congresswoman Cheney?

CHENEY: That's up to CPAC. I've been clear on my views about President Trump, I don't -- I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.

MCCARTHY: On that high note, thank you all very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We also have a brand-new CNN KFile investigation, video that shows an ally and friend of Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene participated in the Capitol insurrection.

Now, what's so telling about this is that Greene suggested it was not Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol; it was Antifa in disguise. Well, maybe Marjorie Taylor Greene should have asked the friend of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said on video, quote, "It was Trump supporters that did that. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself." Nothing subtle about that.

Of course, maybe Greene knew that, which would mean she lied. A new big lie to add to the big, big lie.

Our Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill. And Lauren, our friend Kate Bennett reports that the former president's stated goal is to run for president in 2024. How's that going to land with Republicans today?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll get a lot better sense of it as CPAC begins today. And really, this is underscoring the deep divisions within the Republican Party.

President Trump, or former President Trump, is expected to speak over the weekend at that event. What the reception will be to that speech, well, that's still an open question.

And all of this comes as Joe Biden is facing his own struggles with the U.S. Senate Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOX (voice-over): On Capitol Hill, House Republican leaders openly clashing over former President Donald Trump's role in their party, as the Conservative Political Action Conference begins today. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe President Trump should be

speaking, or former President Trump should be speaking at CPAC this weekend?

MCCARTHY: Yes, he should.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congresswoman Cheney?

CHENEY: That's up to CPAC. I've been clear on my views about President Trump. I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.

FOX: While top Republicans continue to fight about Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is encouraging the GOP to stay united in opposing President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

MCCARTHY: This bill is too costly, too corrupt, and too liberal.

FOX: The House expected to pass the relief bill tomorrow, while Democrats are still divided over including Biden's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

DEL. STACEY PLASKETT (D-U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS): We're going to pull it together for the American people moving forward. And I think that, while we may have some trepidations about some of the line items, Democrats are unified in realizing that we have got to get money to people now.

FOX: With two Senate Democrats opposing that increase, getting the president's bill through the Senate will be more difficult, but Democratic leaders still remain optimistic.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Well, if congressional Republicans want to oppose all that, my response is, good luck. The country needs this final push.

FOX: This as a frustrated Biden is slowly building his cabinet.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't so much blame it on the Senate. I blame it on the failure to have a transition that was rational.

FOX: With a paper-thin margin in the Senate, divisions within the Democratic Party are putting some of Biden's picks on the line. Neera Tanden's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget could fail after Senator Joe Manchin announced his opposition. The White House is waiting to hear how moderate Senator Kyrsten Sinema will vote, and it will need help from at least one Republican senator, like Lisa Murkowski, who is still undecided on Tanden.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The stage we're in is working to continue to fight for her nomination and, as you know, it's a numbers game.

[06:05:05] FOX: Sources tell CNN the Biden administration is conceding that Tanden's nomination could fail, as two Senate committees postponed a vote on her nomination.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): It's really sad to see someone with her ability being denied an opportunity to serve this nation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: And Senator Lisa Murkowski expressing some serious concerns about Tanden's past social media posts saying that she's worried that the country and senators themselves are getting numb to derogatory tweets -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Lauren, thanks very much.

In just a few hours, the House holds its first hearing on the deadly insurrection at its U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers will hear testimony from the acting chief of the Capitol Police and the acting House sergeant at arms.

CNN's Whitney Wild live in Washington with a preview -- Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the testimony from the acting chief is so important, because at the time of the insurrection, she was actually the head of intelligence and operations. So her main job was intelligence leading up to the insurrection and then physical security for the building, so presumably deeply involved in the preparations.

What she's going to say, based on her written testimony, is that there were as many as four security assessments leading up to January 6. The final assessment indicated violence, which prompted her and her team to actually shore up quite a bit of security surrounding specific members of Congress.

For example, adding agents at congressional leadership homes; adding agents to their details; additionally, adding SWAT teams on the ground that day. The list of things they did also includes staging evacuation vehicles for members of Congress.

So in her testimony, she's going to say, look, we knew that there could be violence, and we were going to take it very seriously.

However, what she's also going to say in her testimony is that they prepared for a violent protest. No one told them to prepare for a battle.

Additionally, we're going to hear from the now acting House sergeant at arms, Timothy Blodgett. He's going to point out a contradiction, that if our viewers have been listening carefully, they've probably recognized, as well, John. That there is this difference between or seems to be a distinction between what USCP knew and what they thought.

So we've heard over and over that they knew there could be violence, but what they thought was this protest would reflect other MAGA marches from November and December, in which there was actually very little violence.

Timothy Blodgett today is going to point out that contradiction, which actually, John, appeared in the very intelligence document they were working from.

BERMAN: It's a really interesting distinction. I will be curious to see how he explains that.

So Whitney, CNN also has this new reporting about a friend of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who apparently on video participated in the siege, and this is despite the fact that Greene spread this false flag notion that it wasn't Trump supporters who staged this insurrection.

WILD: Exactly. It's another example of some people who are succumbing to these conspiracy theories just can't seem to get their stories straight.

She's out there saying that this was not Trump supporters, that these were leftists who had infiltrated Trump supporters and purported to be Trump supports; and they were the ones who went into Capitol Hill.

In fact, her very close ally, again, Anthony Aguero, who she's worked with on policies such as immigration and the border wall, he's on video saying, Nope, this was Trump supporters. Here is him in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY AGUERO, ALLY OF MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: We were all there. It was not Antifa, and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: So there you have it. And that's actually something we've heard in other court filings, John. Some of these Trump supporters actually offended that anybody would have thought it was Antifa, because they maintain it was Trump supporters inside that building that day, John.

BERMAN: It's almost as if Marjorie Taylor Greene is making stuff up, making stuff up. Whitney Wild, thank you very much for that reporting.

All right. We also have new reporting this morning on how the former president plans to exact revenge, his plans for 2024, and a surprising change in status for Ivanka Trump, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:18]

CAMEROTA: Developing this morning, new reporting from CNN's Kate Bennett on former President Donald Trump's future.

According to multiple sources, quote, "Trump's stated goal -- barring impact from ongoing criminal investigation -- is to run for president again in 2024."

Lauren Fox is back with us right now. So Lauren, of course. I mean, should we be surprised, No. 1? This is -- I think he's done the calculation and figured out that the best way to maintain relevance over the next four years, is to announce that's running for president. Whether he ultimately does or doesn't, who knows?

But doesn't this kind of ruin the day of people like Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz and Mike Pence and all of the people who themselves have presidential ambitions?

FOX: Well, I think, you know, Alisyn, this was the worst kept secret in Washington. Right? It's not like Trump was trying to hide his political ambitions. He is trying to stay a major voice in the party.

And, you know, his ally, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has made it clear every time he's talked to the press that he thinks that Trump is not going away.

Now, I think ultimately, people like Cotton, people like Cruz should feel a little comfortable with the fact that there are many conservative Republican senators and House members who may have trouble supporting Trump if he were to run again.

I'm thinking specifically of someone like Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, one of the first U.S. senators to back Trump's campaign when he ran in 2016 but someone who has told me repeatedly that he would have a harder time supporting Trump if he were to run for president in 2024.

There is a lane, there is an opening for others to challenge Trump. Will they be successful? I think that is the hard question to answer right now, just given the dynamics of the party and how much is really influx, Alisyn.

[06:15:14]

BERMAN: I have to say, I'm not sure the question right now is can anyone beat him. That's a question for down the line.

I'm most fascinated by what this news does today and for the next year, even before there's a race, Toluse. This is a real kick in the teeth -- and maybe not just the teeth -- for these Republicans who are thinking about running.

But it's also a complication for every Republican who's up where Lauren is today on Capitol Hill. If Trump is going to flirt with running for president -- and we don't know how much or how explicit he'll be on Sunday -- but this just freezes them completely. This just limits what they can do.

This just means that they get what they paid for here. And while there may be some trying to escape his shadow, every move they make, every breath they take --

CAMEROTA: Keep going. BERMAN: -- you know, he'll be watching them, Toluse. He will. And it's

a problem for them.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is a problem. It's a problem for any of these Republicans who have eyes on trying to run for president in 2024. There are a lot of very ambitious Republican, many of them in the Senate, who have their own political futures in mind.

But as long as President Trump is playing around with the idea of running again, they have no -- no chance, essentially, but to cozy up to him, try to win his favor, and see that maybe he will just flirt with the idea of running.

They'll be, essentially (AUDIO GAP) -- I'm not running for president in 2024. They are frozen in place. They cannot plot their political future -- (AUDIO GAP) -- eight, ten years down the road and not many Republican senators want to think that far in the future. They are ambitious. They want to see themselves climbing the ladder.

And President Trump is making it very hard for them to do that by essentially staying in the party, staying as the head of the party, at least as the leader of the party for now, because he's the most well- known and the most, in the Republican Party, well-liked force right now among the base. And if you don't have the base with you, then you can't really mount a presidential run.

So the president is freezing out the field, and it seems like he's happy to do that. He's happy to be the king maker. He wants to exact revenge. He wants to show that he has the most power within the party. And forcing some of these ambitious senators to be loyal to him by -- by showing that he could run again is the way that he's doing it at this moment. And it seems to be, like, the way he wants to do it going forward, all the way through the midterms and potentially into the next presidential race.

CAMEROTA: Of course, the caveat, Lauren, is barring any ongoing criminal investigation. Well, OK, I mean, that's a huge open question, because there are ongoing criminal investigations that could get in the way. But what Toluse referred to is his exacting revenge. Who is he going to seek revenge on?

FOX: Well, you can certainly see that he is already deeply frustrated with for -- with majority -- or excuse me, former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, current Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over his comments in December over the election.

The two men have not spoken since December, and given the fact that McConnell has made it crystal-clear he is ready to move on, that is someone that Donald Trump is going to be looking at to exact revenge on.

And that means what is the one thing that McConnell cares about more deeply than anything else? It is winning back the U.S. Senate. And I think one of the concerns for Republicans that I am talking to is what game does Trump play in trying to primary either senators who are running or primary candidates that McConnell hand-selects to run in some of these states? That is the place that you are going to see this intraparty schism, this intraparty war play out in real time. Primary challenges against Senate candidates that McConnell selects very carefully, by way. That's going to be the toughest fight, I think, for McConnell moving forward.

Because remember, if you pick a candidate, if you support a primary candidate that is talking about conspiracy theories, that person might be able to win a Republican primary. But what happens when they go up against a candidate, a Democrat in a general election? That's where things get tricky.

I think one of the races to be watching is Senator Roy Blunt, of course, in Missouri. He's a close ally of McConnell's. He is someone who is really toeing the line, being very careful about what he says about the former president. But obviously, he's up for re-election in the state of Missouri. That is going to be a race worth watching -- Alisyn and John.

BERMAN: So Toluse, as things stand this morning, it looks that, if President Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package is going to pass, it will pass with just Democratic votes. There's no sign that any Republican is going to sign onto that.

Seems to me that there are risks or repercussions for both the White House and Republicans here. If every Republican votes against a bill, which right now looks like it's overwhelmingly popular with the American people, that might be a risk for them. But also for this president, who ran and preached unity, just having Democratic votes is an issue, too.

OLORUNNIPA: President Biden, when he was campaigning for office, essentially said, I've been in the Senate, I've been in Washington. I know how to get deals done. I know how to bring both parties to the table.

Now, the risk for him, if he moves forward with this massive progressive bill of $1.9 trillion without getting any Republican support, will be whether or not people hold him accountable for whether he held up his end of the bargain of trying to reach out to Republicans or trying to be bipartisan.

Whether or not the single meeting that he had with Republicans a few weeks ago was enough. Whether or not there was enough of an effort to bring about bipartisanship in his first major legislative initiative.

Now, Republicans also face a major risk, as well, because this is a popular proposal. It does include $1,400 checks for the majority of Americans. That has proved to be a very popular provision.

And there are already ads being run against Republicans who have voted against stimulus in the past and who are signing up to vote against this stimulus, essentially saying that these Republicans are against giving money to the American people in the -- in a pandemic, at a time when there is a lot of economic angst in the country. So there's risk on both sides. It seems like Biden and his

administration has taken the position that it's more risky to not do a big package, more risky to try to waste time sort of negotiating and maybe not even getting very many Republicans on board. It's a better effort for them to try to get as much as they can get done and sell it as much as possible and maybe hold some Republicans accountable for not voting for something that right now is relatively popular and could help bring the economy back.

So it seems like both sides have made their calculations of what's the smart political move. We'll have to wait until the midterms to find out which side is right. But they both have risk and reward on both sides of the ledger.

CAMEROTA: Toluse, Lauren, thank you both very much.

Now to this story that we have to tell you about. There's a new coronavirus strain, and it is spreading in New York City. So what researchers know about this strain and whether it responds to vaccines. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:42]

BERMAN: Developing overnight, a new strain of coronavirus is spreading rapidly in New York City. This is according to two teams of researchers, who say the strain has a mutation that may weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.

Joining us now, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He's a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University.

Dr. Reiner, I want to make clear one thing here. It's here, and it has been here for months, according to these researchers. So I want people to keep that in mind, particularly as the positivity rate continues to go down in New York and New York City, and the case rate continues to go down.

So it's been going down, even with the presence and the growth of this possible new variant. But what concerns does the existence of this variant, if in fact, it might be resistant to vaccines, mean?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, first of all, we have a saying in medicine that you only find what you look for. And we're now finally looking for these variants.

The last week of the last administration, we -- the CDC only did 400 genomic sequencing on viral isolates. This week, we did 9,000 genomic sequences. So we're now really looking for these variants, and when you look for them, you find them.

So what are the implications going forward? Look, I think it's clear that we're going to need booster shots at some point. I think we're going to need to start thinking about the coronavirus the way we think about the flu. The flu shot we get every year is different, and it's constructed to

work for the strains that are coming to this country. And that's what we're going to have, I think, going forward with the coronavirus.

These particular variants appear to be, perhaps, more transmissible. Maybe, you know, there are mutations that affect the potency of the vaccines. We'll have to see.

But I need the public to understand that you're going to hear almost every day about a new variant somewhere in the United States, because we're looking for them.

The predominant variant, the one that has been -- raised the most alarm, the U.K. variant, 117, is completely susceptible to all the vaccines that are currently on the market or that are coming on the market in the United States.

And everything we know that works to prevent transmission of these viruses, all of our mitigation strategies -- wearing masks, social distancing, keeping your hands away from your eyes, staying out of crowded places -- works against these variants.

And you're right, things are getting better. The number that the public should look at is hospitalizations. It's the number with the least amount of day-to-day variation, and it continues to drop in this country 1 percent to 2 percent. Another drop of another 1,000 people hospitalized yesterday.

Things are getting better, but we want to be vigilant. Now we finally have an alarm system that works. Good.

CAMEROTA: Is there something about COVID-19 that makes it have more variants? In other words, does the flu -- I mean, I understand that we keep getting flu shots every year, but does the flu mutate as much as this and become more transmissible with each new variant?

REINER: Well, all viruses -- all viruses mutate. These RNA viruses make a lot of mistakes when they replicate. And when you have a tremendous amount of transmission. You know, we've had around the world hundreds of millions of people become infected with this virus. There's a lot of opportunity for the virus to make mistakes.