Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Tonight: Biden Delivers First Prime-Time Address after Signing Historic COVID Relief Bill into Law; CNN Poll: 77 Percent Americans Now Say Worst of Pandemic behind us; U.S. Tops 530,000 COVID Deaths And Nearing 30 Million Cases As The World Marks One Year Of The Pandemic; Prince Williams Says Royals Not Racist, Has Not Spoken To Harry Yet; Judge Reinstates Third-Degree Murder Charge Against Ex- Policeman Derek Chauvin In Death Of George Floyd; New Charges Against A Former Marine One Crewmember. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 11, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And another sad story that hits close to home here at CNN, my colleague and friend Andrew Kaczynski and his wife, they lost their beautiful baby Francesca (ph), or as they called her "Beans" on Christmas Eve to a rare form of brain cancer. Today would have been Beans his first birthday. You can honor her by joining Team Beans. You can get a beanie by going to teambeans.shop, teambeans.shop. All proceeds will help fight childhood cancer. Our coverage continues now on CNN.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room.

We're following breaking news. President Biden just hours away from delivering his first prime-time address to the nation after signing the nearly $2 trillion COVID relief bill into law. The President signature clears the way now for massive amounts of aid to begin flowing, including direct payments of up to $1,400 that could land in some people's bank accounts as soon as this weekend.

This comes exactly one year after the World Health Organization declared a coronavirus pandemic that so far has claimed more than 530,000 American lives and infected almost 30 million people in the U.S. alone. By contrast a year ago, today, there were just 1,100 known cases here in the United States, underscoring the viruses, devastating spread across the country and indeed around the world.

And the CDC has just confirmed to CNN that data suggests 2020 was the deadliest year in U.S. history with a 50 percent increase in the death rate due to the pandemic.

Let's start our coverage this hour over at the White House. Our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is joining us right now.

Kaitlan, we're told the President has been working on tonight's important speech for a week. What's the latest?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. And his top aides say he's been editing it line by line because he wants to be able to properly convey to the American people what exactly is in this massive stimulus bill. It's $1.9 trillion and it's something that President Biden signed earlier this afternoon, earlier than expected, actually, because the bill got here quicker from Capitol Hill than aides thought it was going to. But right now, they said he signed it this afternoon instead of like he was supposed to tomorrow, because they said he has no time to waste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all. Appreciate it.

COLLINS (voice-over): With that signature, Joe Biden ceiling a defining moment of his presidency today.

BIDEN: It was historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country. And given the people in this nation, working people, middle class folks, people have built the country a fighting chance.

COLLINS: Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill a day earlier than expected and the White House now says eligible Americans will start receiving stimulus checks within days.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: People can expect to start seeing direct deposits hit their bank accounts as early as this weekend.

COLLINS: Next, President Biden, Vice President Harris and their spouses will crisscross the country to tout their first major piece of legislation.

PSAKI: It was important to the President to visit not just blue states, but also red states, purple states.

COLLINS: But first, Biden will address the nation in primetime tonight to mark the anniversary of the coronavirus crisis, still killing almost 1,500 Americans per day.

PSAKI: He also wants to provide a sense of hope and what's possible if we abide by the guidelines, if when you have access to a vaccine, you get the vaccine. What people can look forward to.

COLLINS: Biden speech coming exactly one year to the day after this one.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The vast majority of Americans the risk is very, very low.

COLLINS: Biden has tied his coronavirus relief bill to overturn to normal and the White House will host a signing ceremony tomorrow that no Republicans were invited to, given no Republicans voted for it.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The American people already built a parade that's been marching towards victory. Democrats just want to sprint in front of the parade and claim credit. COLLINS: One Republican senator, Roger Wicker of Mississippi even touted money in the bill for independent restaurant owners without mentioning he voted against it.

(on camera): What is President Biden's response to those Republicans like Senator Wicker?

PSAKI: Well, we invite them to work with us on the agenda moving forward because clearly the bill that the President just signed into law is something that the American people are excited about.

COLLINS (voice-over): Meanwhile, in an effort to address vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. all living former presidents and first ladies appeared in a new public service announcement urging Americans to get vaccinated.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This vaccine means hope. It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really looking forward to his going opening day in Texas Rangers stadium with a full stadium.

[17:05:01]

COLLINS: All former presidents participated, that is except one, Donald and Melania Trump quietly received the vaccine before leaving the White House in January but did not use the opportunity to convince their supporters to join them.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Wolf, we should note that the effects of President Biden's signature are already reaching Wall Street. You saw earlier as the stock market was closing. The Dow and the S&P 500 are hitting record highs. It seems to be doing away with some of those jitters that you had been seeing, the concerns about maybe this bill could cause some inflation to happen in the future.

But we should note, this is a day of several major moments for President Biden not just signing that legislation or that prime-time address that's coming up, but also his attorney general, Merrick Garland, is about to be sworn in by the Vice President in just a few moments at the Department of Justice.

BLITZER: Lot's going on. All right, Kaitlan, thanks very much.

We're also learning what Americans make of the pandemic one year into it. Our Political Director David Chalian is joining us right now. He's got results from our new exclusive CNN poll.

David, walk us through these new CNN polls, what they mean for President Biden's primetime address later tonight.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, when President Biden goes before the nation tonight, he's going before a nation that is largely seeing the worst of this coronavirus crisis in the rearview mirror. Take a look at this, in our brand new poll conducted by SSRS, 77 percent of Americans in this poll say that the worst is behind us, 19 percent say the worst is yet to come.

Look at the dramatic change we've seen in people seeing the worst behind us, it stacks up across time. If you see here on the next slide, 77 percent say so now that the worst is behind us. Just in January, that was 26 points lower. Only 49 percent of Americans said the worst was behind. So you see this dramatic optimism.

Also, in terms of asking folks about what the most important issue facing the country is. Well, coronavirus, still tops the list. But now it's only at 30 percent. It's right there with political divisions at 25 percent, the economy at 20 percent.

Again, just in January, that -- coronavirus was seen by many more people as the most important issue. Forty-six percent of Americans, just in January, said it was most important, that's down now. And the country thinks that Joe Biden is the man to be able to get them through to the other side.

When we asked about confidence in his ability to lead the country out of the crisis, 42 percent have a lot of confidence, 25 percent have some. And that together, 67 percent, Wolf, nearly two thirds of Americans in this poll have confidence in Joe Biden to get the U.S. through the tunnel to the light that everyone keeps talking about at the end of it, Well.

BLITZER: You're very interesting. You know, David, one year ago, tonight, former President Trump gave his own pandemic address, declaring and I'm quoting him now, "The virus will not have a chance against us." That's what he said. That is not, of course, been the case.

How much of tonight's address will be about trying to restore public trust in government leadership?

CHALIAN: Well, tonight's address is going to have to thread the needle. I just showed you, he's talking to a hopeful nation one ready to put the crisis behind them. And yet, there's concern out there, right, about some of the variants. And so, making sure that all those mitigation efforts just don't disappear. That's going to be one piece of the speech tonight.

But to your point, Wolf, not just tonight, but in the days ahead. Joe Biden is going to take the success of the package he got through Congress, take the good news about vaccinations, and head out to the country and try to do exactly what you said, get remind them that government can work for them. And hopefully, if you're Joe Biden, he hopes to build more political capital to then take this into the rest of his agenda.

BLITZER: All right, David, thank you very much. Important numbers, indeed.

Let's get some more in all of this. The White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield is joining us from the North Lawn of the White House.

Kate, thank you so much for joining us. I know there's a lot going on right now.

And as you well know, President Biden, he sign this nearly $2 trillion COVID relief bill into law today. But already 10 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, there are signs the jobs recovery is gaining some impressive steam. Why does the country need a relief bill of this enormous size?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Because this is not the time to take our foot off the gas. This is this money. And this bill is going to ensure that we can continue to get Americans vaccinated, it's going to provide the money to ensure that we can stand up additional mass vaccination sites and additional community health centers where people can get vaccinated. It's going to provide the money to help ensure that we can get schools open. Its money that's going to help schools be able to afford the mitigation measures that they need to ensure that students and teachers can be safe.

So, you know, and then on top of that, you also have families who've been suffering, who've been struggling for a year under this crisis. They're going to get direct checks of $1,400. They're going to see an expansion of the child tax credit. They're going to see an expansion of the earned income tax credit.

So, this is money that is going to help People get through the bridge to recovery. And it's incredibly important.

[17:10:04]

BLITZER: It's very important. But is the President, Kate, concerned about the enormous debt the American people are accruing right now?

BEDINGFIELD: What we've seen time and again, Wolf, is that economists say that the risk of doing too little is much greater than the risk of doing too much. Right now, we've had a year of unprecedented crisis, we've had millions of people who've lost their jobs, we have families who haven't been able to send their kids to school for a year, and we need to take decisive action, which is what President Biden did today, signing this bill, to ensure that we're going to have the resources that we need to get the country moving again. So, the risk here was always in doing too little not in doing too much. President Biden laid out even before he came into office, I think it was six days before he came into office, laid out the contours of this plan.

And across the course of working to get it pass, 75 percent of the country, agreed with him and said this is what we need to ensure that we're going to be able to get our economy moving again. So, President Biden was thrilled to be able to sign this today and to ensure that these benefits start moving to people right away.

BLITZER: As you heard from David Chalian, the new CNN poll shows seven in 10 Americans say "The worst is now behind us." Does President Biden agree? BEDINGFIELD: You're going to hear him speak tonight, Wolf, and you're going to hear him acknowledge the pain and the suffering that we've been through for the last year. But you're also, to your question, you're going to hear him strike an optimistic tone.

Now, that obviously, that doesn't mean that we can let up now. I think what we've heard from Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walinsky is, this moment is not the moment to be less vigilant. We've got to continue to mask when in public, we've got to continue to socially distance because the actions that we take now are going to help us get one big step closer to normal.

And so, this is not the moment to relax our vigilance. And you'll hear the President speak to that tonight. But to your question, he's going to lay out an optimistic vision for the next few months. He's going to talk about the next phases of his plan to get this virus under control, and to ensure that we can get back to normal and to doing the things that we love with the people that we love.

BLITZER: And let's not forget about 1,500 Americans are still dying almost every single day from this coronavirus. So, that that that continues.

Ahead of the President's primetime address tonight, Kate, the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is accusing the President of taking what he's calling a victory lap. Is that what this is all about tonight?

BEDINGFIELD: He is going to -- tonight, you're going to see him kick off a few weeks here where he's going to really focus on making sure that people understand how they're going to benefit from this bill. We're -- now we move to the implementation phase, and we move to ensuring that we're getting this money out the door quickly and efficiently.

This is something as you know, well, Wolf that the President did when he was vice president when he oversaw the implementation of the Recovery Act, and President Obama called him Sheriff Joe. So, now we move into implementation and to making sure that people understand on a granular level how this money is going to help them and their communities.

So, again, is this a victory lap? No, this is about talking to the American people, and helping them understand how this bill is going to make a real difference in their lives.

BLITZER: Implementation is so, so important, because a lot of us remember the serious issues with the rollout of the first COVID relief bills during the Trump administration with instances of massive fraud, more than a million stimulus checks going out to people who had passed away. How do you avoid those same things happening this time around?

BEDINGFIELD: Extreme vigilance. This is something again, that President Biden has a lot of experience with having overseen the implementation of the Recovery Act with less than 1 percent of waste, fraud and abuse. It requires attention to detail, which is something that the President is extremely focused on.

He knows having been the person in 2009, who picked up the phone to call mayors and governors and say, this project doesn't meet the requirements. This is not a project that can be funded by the Recovery Act.

So, he has great experience again, Sheriff Joe, he has great experience ensuring that this money is spent efficiently and spent well. It's something that he's incredibly focused on and that we're focused on as an administration.

BLITZER: It is so, so important because 10s of millions of Americans are relying on this money right now. They need it. It is critically important.

The White House Communications Director, Kate Bedingfield, thanks so much for joining us.

BEDINGFIELD: Thanks for having me, Wolf. I appreciate it.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Up next, a third-degree murder charge reinstated against the former police officer charged in the death of George Floyd.

Plus, Prince William's first public response to claims by his brother, sister in law of racism in the royal family. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:30]

BLITZER: All right, breaking news, President Biden addressing the nation tonight after signing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill earlier today, he signed it into law.

With us now to look ahead to the President's speech, our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, and our Chief National Correspondent John King, the anchor of CNN's "Inside Politics."

John, the White House moved up the signing of this bill to today. How eager is the President to have this first legislative victory under his belt?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: He is most eager. And when he addresses the country tonight, now he can say signed it. Now he can say the first checks will arrive as early as this weekend. The gears of government can't kick in until the legislation is signed into law. So why wait? Why sit on it?

Congress centered in the original plan was tomorrow. They'll still have a bit of a celebration tomorrow. But the President knows and your interview with Kate Bedingfield just proved his senior staff knows, this is now about accountability.

Think of how many things the former president said during the pandemic that just simply were not true. It won't be a pandemic, where 15 cases will soon be down to zero. It'll disappear in April.

You have a president now who is accountable, people are more optimistic. And those poll numbers David Chalian laid out, that we're going to a better place. But the President has to prove tonight. Number one, I promised you a big vaccine rollout. We're making progress, it's going to get even better. Number two, I promise you tangible help in these tough economic times. You're going to see it in days and weeks.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a good point.

You know, Gloria, the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argues the popularity of this bill he says will be temporary. Do Republicans have a good counter argument when so many 10s of millions of Americans are about to get some real help?

[17:20:02]

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, if they do, I haven't heard it yet. Look, they're fighting the last war and we know what the last war was. That was a stimulus package from 2009, which was much less popular, Barack Obama did not go out and sell it the way that Joe Biden is going to go out and sell this package. And that stimulus bill was a lot and awful lot about bailing out the banks.

This is about putting money in your pocket. This is about getting children out of poverty. This is about getting vaccines into your arms. So, the bill itself is much more tangible to people, because they have been suffering over the last year.

So, what Joe Biden is going to do is go out there and not just tell them what's going to be in the bill. He's going to go out there and tell them how they can use the bill to their advantage and how they can make government work for them again,

BLITZER: The President, John, he plans to sell this bill, obviously, tonight, this prime-time address. But does he also need to be very careful not to declare victory to avoid what we call a mission accomplished moment?

KING: Yes, he does. And we know from the President himself and what he has said in recent days, and from his staff, he has no intention to do that. He does want to say progress is being made, both on the public health front through the vaccinations, not only more vaccine supply, but more people out there to help, put those shots in arms. And now with the Relief Act, he wants to promise that economic health is coming.

But Wolf, you make a key point, the messaging challenge for the President is very delicate, actually. And he does want people to be more optimistic, he does want them to be convinced, they can trust their government now. The conversation you're having with Kate Bedingfield, when a president says something, you can trust it, when we tell you help is coming, it is coming, check your bank or check your mailbox. In just a few days or a week you'll see it. But we've lost more than 500,000 of our friends and neighbors. That means 10s of millions of Americans have lost someone they know and someone they love. The President has to honor that and say things are going to get better.

But he's also going to ask Americans in some ways, my words, not his, ignore your governor, right? Be careful. Keep wearing a mask. If you want to have a July 4, you got to hang in with us through Memorial Day. Again, that's my paraphrasing of what I expect and what I'm told we'll hear from the President tonight.

But that's a delicate balance. He wants people to feel better, but don't rush out and celebrate yet or else it'll get worse again.

BLITZER: Yes. Go ahead, Gloria.

BORGER: And he has to -- he, you know, he has to sort of say to the American public, that the Republicans were wrong on this, that this isn't just another liberal Democratic wish list. This is something that is geared to helping people in this country who have been living in a crisis for the last year.

And while Republicans are out there, now, Mitch McConnell today saying, you know, the Democrats are just running to get ahead of the parade because things were beginning to turn around and you didn't really need a package that's this big. The President has to tell the American public, this is why it's this big, and it's going to help you. And this is why the Republicans are wrong. And I'm sorry that they didn't vote for it. Maybe I'll get them on board next time we have a legislative package.

BLITZER: We're getting some live pictures of Merrick Garland being sworn in right now as the new Attorney General of the United States. It looks like it just happened. The Vice President swearing him in. A very important moment right now. There he is.

A major moment for the U.S. Justice Department, a new Attorney General of the United States. There he is, Merrick Garland, congratulations.

There's more breaking news we're following here in the Situation Room as the U.S. world mark one year of the coronavirus pandemic and more than 530,000 American lives loss.

Plus, Prince William now speaking out publicly for the first time about his brother Harry and Meghan bombshell allegations of racism in the royal family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:16]

BLITZER: There's breaking news tonight, exactly one year after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, the United States has top 530,000 confirmed deaths that is nearing 30 million cases. Compare that to a year ago today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're also standing by for a White House coronavirus briefing this hour as the number of known cases here in the United States clients to more than 1,100 with 33 confirmed deaths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That was exactly one year ago. Today, CNN's Amara Walker is joining us from Miami Beach right now. She's got the latest on the crisis.

Amara, truly a horrible year for the United States, indeed for the world. What's the latest?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you just look around me, you will see here on South Beach, that spring break is in full swing right now. In fact, city and tourism officials tell me that they expect to see the highest number of tourists since the pandemic began this weekend and next weekend in the greater Miami area.

Just looking around, Wolf, you wouldn't know that there's a mask mandate that's in effect here in Miami Beach. But not a lot of people are wearing masks. And this is a kind of cavalier attitude that concerns health officials that this will hurt the progress we've made.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WALKER (voice-over): One year into the COVID-19 pandemic that has left more than a half a million Americans dead, America's top infectious disease expert reflecting on the year that was.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: And things will get worse than they are right now.

I made the statement things are going to get much worse before they get better. And that was at a congressional hearing a year ago today, but I did not, in my mind, think that much worse was going to be 525,000 deaths.

[17:30:00]

WALKER: Today, the numbers continue to trend down, an average of more than 56,000 new COVID-19 cases a day in the last seven days. That's a 13 percent decrease compared to the previous week. Average hospitalizations down 14 percent and average daily deaths down 22 percent. More signs there is light at the end of the tunnel.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Earlier this week, we saw the number of deaths per day drop below 1,000 for the first time since November. All of this is really good news.

WALKER (voice-over): More than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations are going into arms per day on average, just over 19 percent of the population having received at least one dose and one in 10 fully vaccinated. As eligibility opens up in many states, some places are getting innovative with distribution. In Atlanta, Walgreens teaming up with Uber to provide transportation to vaccine sites in some communities.

Meanwhile, as Maryland lifts nearly all COVID related business restrictions beginning Friday, and once hard-hit New York and New Jersey I increased restaurant capacities, there remains tremendous concern as states like Texas and Mississippi have lifted mask mandates and capacity restrictions and Wyoming following suit on March 16th. Here in Florida, thousands of revelers have descended upon the state for Bike Week in Daytona and spring break.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIR. CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA: What are we doing? We're inviting the virus to go wherever it may want over the course of the next week. So this is the challenge we have. This is all kind of a perfect storm moment.

WALKER (voice-over): And on the day President Joe Biden plans of primetime COVID addressed to the nation, the debate over mask requirements continues. A battle that has taken center stage in Texas.

MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D-TX), AUSTIN: The science and the data very clear that the single most important thing we can all be doing at this point is wearing masks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And, Wolf, CNN has just learned that the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is now suing Austin and Travis County over their mask requirements. The Attorney General tweeting that he will be dragging them to court to keep Texas free and open. And this is the kind of divide will that we are seeing across the country including here in Florida, where you have the Governor Ron DeSantis lifting COVID-19 restrictions while local municipalities like Miami Beach are trying to impose them. Wolf?

BLITZER: Amara, thank you very much. Amara Walker reporting from Miami Beach.

Let's get some more in all of these. Joining us now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our Chief Medical Correspondent. Sanjay, on this night, last year, we were reporting what just over 1,000 total coronavirus cases in the United States. Now we're approaching 30 million confirmed cases. You've been here with us, thank God, every step of the way. When you reflect back on this year, Sanjay, the deadliest year now in U.S. history, what goes through your mind?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So much goes through my mind, Wolf. I mean, this is historic people will be reading about what has happened here for, you know, 100 years from now. There will be so many history books written about this time period, what we got right, what we got wrong, all the lessons learned.

Still very tragic, Wolf. I mean, it's a one year mark, but you know, we're still in this and, you know, 1,400, 1,500 people still died yesterday, Wolf. And those are the projections still for some time to come.

I feel like, you know, I'm optimistic, Wolf. I mean, you know, we've had to give tough news so many times over this past year and still giving tough news. But I am optimistic. I just hope that, you know, we don't make some -- we don't fumble the ball so close to the end zone, because I think it's insight, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, I hope there's no new variant, another variant that comes in that is so deadly, that it's going to set us all back. Our new CNN poll find 77 percent of the American public now say the worst of the pandemic, Sanjay, is behind us. But we still need to remember, as you correctly point out, only yesterday, more than 1,500 Americans died from the virus. In order for the daily death toll to keep going down, we can't let up on the public health measures, at least not yet, right?

GUPTA: Right. I mean, that's the key is that this is -- we've seen this pattern so many times, we see some glimmers of hope. People think, OK, well, you know, it's over. And we get into trouble again. I -- I'm optimistic that won't happen. But one of the more tangible things, Wolf, I think has to do with these vaccines. Still, we know that the demand is higher than the supply. But hopefully people will continue to get vaccines even as they see numbers go down, hospitalizations go down and debts go down.

Because the summer, you know, because of the warmer weather is likely to be a period where we're going to have some relative tranquility. But if enough people aren't vaccinated going into the fall, we could see resurgences again, variants or not. So even because things look good now, doesn't mean we shouldn't still do everything we can do to prepare public health measures, but also get vaccinated over the next couple of months.

BLITZER: Absolutely right. Sanjay, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, Prince William now breaking his silence about Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Can he calm the outrage sparked by the interview?

[17:35:05]

Plus, new charges against a former Marine, a Marine One crew member who actually took part in January's riot, the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's new fallout from Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The Prince's older brother, Prince William, finally broke his silence today. Let's go to our Royal Correspondent Max Foster, who's in England for us. So tell us more, Max, what's the latest?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'd say it's just a short piece of video, but it's a quite an extraordinary piece of video. And just before I show it to you, Wolf, bear in mind that the protocol for reporters is you don't fire questions off at senior Royals during an engagement and actually the protocol for senior Royals is certainly not to answer them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER (voice-over): Sir, have you both -- have you spoken to your brother since the interview?

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: No, I haven't spoken to him yet, but I will do.

[17:40:01]

FOSTER (voice-over): And can you just let me know is the Royal Family a racist family, sir?

PRINCE WILLIAM: No, we're very much not a racist family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: You know, a week ago, you just could not imagine those sorts of questions being fired a senior royal but this is where we are with this story, it really has exposed so much and everyone is talking about it. Also interesting to hear that Harry hasn't spoken to William since that massive interview, just shows, Wolf, how deep the rift is between these two brothers who were always so close.

BLITZER: Yes, deep indeed. All right, thanks very much, Max, we're going to get back to you.

Right now, I want to -- we're going to be joined by Diane Abbott, she's the first black female member of the British Parliament. She's also been outspoken in her support of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, writing that she knows what it feels like to wake up nearly every day and read abuse and racially slanted media attacks.

Diane, thank you so much for joining us. You're speaking out about the racial abuse. Both you and Meghan Markle have been subjected to it, you say, you know awful lot about how it feels. How did those shared experiences shaped your reaction to their decision to actually step back to go outside the Royal Family?

DIANE ABBOTT, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Well, I am stood perfectly. I mean, I went through a phase when I had more abuse online than all the other women MPs put together. And it is very corrosive and it clearly pushed Meghan to the edge. And so she and Harry had to flee.

BLITZER: Prince William, as you heard, he addressed the tell-all interview earlier the day saying, and I'm quoting him now, he said, we're very much not a racist family. But this problem goes beyond the family to the entire institution, I suspect, what do you think?

ABBOTT: I think you have to look at all of those people that working in Buckingham Palace for the Royal Family, the aide, the advisors, the courtiers. And there's no question from the type of off the record briefings that they've been giving to the media for months, but they never really accepted a biracial American marrying into the British royal family. And sometimes you felt that the nature of the briefings and the abuse in the media, they wouldn't be happy until they broke up the marriage. So I understand why Meghan and Harry had to leave.

BLITZER: Do you think this moment of reckoning in terms of systemic racism will actually have a lasting impact in the U.K. indeed, across the Commonwealth?

ABBOTT: I hope so. And I think that the Royal Family in the Commonwealth will survive as long as the Queen is alive because she's hugely respected. But once she passes away, which must happen one day, I think the whole question of the role of the Royal Family and Prince Charles as head of state will be up for debate. And the way they treated. Meghan Markle is -- will not be an argument to the status quo amongst the British people or members of the Commonwealth.

BLITZER: Diane Abbott, thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up, why former Minneapolis Police Officer, Derek Chauvin now faces an additional murder charge in the death of George Floyd? Plus, a former crew member from the president -- presidential helicopter team is among the latest people to be charged in the January 6th Capitol siege.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:48:18]

BLITZER: Tonight, former Police Officer Derek Chauvin is once again facing a third-degree murder charge in the death of George Floyd. Our National Correspondent Sara Sidner is in Minneapolis where a jury selection has been underway in Chauvin's trial. Sara, so what will this additional murder charge actually mean for this former police officer?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Basically, it gives the jury another option as to what exactly they might come back in their verdict with. So, you've got second degree unintentional murder, you have second degree manslaughter, and now, third degree murder. The third-degree murder charge is basically as the law reads here in Minnesota, it's someone who unintentionally kill someone, but by doing something that they know to be a dangerous act, something that could be harmful to the person. And so that's basically the definition.

Now, what we're talking about also is the potential of adding more years that the jury comes back guilty on all three, or if they come back on guilty on a couple of these or just one or not at all, they have all of those choices in front of them, according to former prosecutor who's been really following this case closely. But when it comes to the amount of years, it's up to 40 years for that second- degree murder charge, 25 years for the third-degree murder charge and up to 10 years for that manslaughter charge in this case.

We should also mention that, you know, the security here is still extremely tight. A lot of folks talking about it. They are seeing it, some people seeing it as a sign of what's to come. But no one knows ultimately what's going to happen because we still don't even have the number of juries that we need. We need 12 jurors and two alternates but there are six jurors that have been chosen so far, Wolf.

BLITZER: Can you tell us about those six jurors chosen so far, Sara?

[17:50:03]

SIDNER: So three of them are Caucasian males. One is a black man. One is a Latino man and one is a woman who is multiracial. We know that there's a chemist too, it was the first person who was chosen. We know that some of them, at least three of them have said that they either have someone in their family or have friends who are either former or current people who are in law enforcement. But all of them have said the same thing that they believe that they can look at the evidence in the court and base their decisions solely on that evidence. That is what the judge and all of the attorneys are requiring of them and all of them have said that they can do just that, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Sara, we'll stay in touch with you. Sara Sidner in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, there's disturbing new developments tonight in the Capitol siege investigation, including charges against a man who was a crew member on a U.S. presidential helicopter. Brian Todd is working the story for us. Brian, I understand you're getting important new information.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf, this information coming today from court papers and Pentagon records obtained by CNN. They indicate that there has been another writer with seemingly -- who seemingly had top secret level security clearances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): They're close at hand when the commander in chief is aboard the president's helicopter, the pilots and crew chiefs of Marine One. Tonight, CNN has obtained court papers and Pentagon records showing that John Andries, a former crew chief on Marine One has been charged in connection with the capital attack.

ANTHONY CHAPA, FORMER SECRET SERVICE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: To have been selected for that position, he had to be one of the best crew chiefs at the Marine Corps head.

TODD (voice-over): In court papers, prosecutors say the 35-year-old Andries entered the Capitol through a broken window after moving past barriers outside. They say footage shows Andries facing off with police inside the Capitol, but not physically engaging with them, and reserved under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and was, for some period, a crew chief on Marine One. He was not a pilot. And it's not clear if he ever had any direct contact with either of those presidents.

But just to be in that Marine One unit known as HMX-1, Andries would have gone through more rigorous screening than most marines. And he would have gotten top-secret high-level security clearances. CHAPA: Everything that they put on their application is independently verified, individuals who knew them or interviewed, their financials are examined. And then every few years, that information is looked at, again, to ensure that that person still maintains the qualities in the background to have that security clearance.

TODD (voice-over): John Andries has pleaded not guilty to five federal crimes related to the Capitol attack. And attorney for Andries has not responded to CNN's request for comment. A CNN analysis of records indicates that out of about 300 people facing charges so far in the Capitol assault, at least 29 of them are current or former military service members. Several of them are allegedly part of extremist groups, although there's no indication at the moment the John Andries is.

MICHAEL GERMAN, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Any type of militant group would seek somebody with military experience. And any often people with military experience, particularly when they leave the military are seeking that kind of relationship and that kind of activity so they seek these groups out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every single (INAUDIBLE) there is a traitor. Every single one.

TODD (voice-over): Another military veteran facing serious charges in the Capitol attack is Thomas Caldwell, who has denied prosecutors assertions that he's a member of the far-right militia group, The Oath Keepers. Like John Andries, Caldwell once apparently held top secret level security clearance. That's what he declared in court papers saying he briefly worked for the FBI. The bureau had no comment.

In a court filing today, Caldwell's lawyer insulted the U.S. Capitol Police writing, "had the U.S. Capitol Police leadership engaged in the level of strategic planning that Caldwell and others did, the Capitol would have never been breached". And another alleged member of The Oath Keepers, Joshua James, has just been identified in court by an FBI agent as having been a driver for Trump right-wing ally Roger Stone for an event the day before the insurrection. Stone has denied any advanced knowledge of plans to breach the Capitol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And a judge has just ordered Joshua James to be remanded to custody pending his trial. His lawyers have said he is not guilty. Thomas Caldwell has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges in the attack. Also, two other men who allegedly had ties to the Oath Keepers appeared in court today as well, including Donovan Crowl, who is also charged with conspiracy in the attack and is also pleading not guilty. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Brian, I know you're staying on top of these developments. Very important indeed. Thank you very much.

There's more breaking news. Coming up next, we're counting down to President Biden's first primetime speech to the nation just hours after signing the massive COVID stimulus bill into law in exactly one year into the coronavirus pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:39]

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. We're now just two hours away from President Biden's first primetime addressed to the nation, marking one year of the coronavirus pandemic and the historic relief bill he signed into law just a little while ago. Millions of Americans are now set to receive checks of up to $1,400.