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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Biden Visits NYC To Lay Out New Plans To Reduce Gun Violence; Interview With Senior Advisor To President Biden, Cedric Richmond; Biden: ISIS Leader Killed In U.S. Special Forces Raid In Syria; Army To Begin Discharging Soldiers Who Refuse Vaccine; Former Dolphins Coach Claims He Was Offered Money To Lose Game; Thousands Without Power as Ice, Snow, Sleet Push Across Half of U.S.; NATO Chief: Russian Deployment in Belarus Biggest "Since the Cold War". Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 03, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00: 15]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Defunding the police is not the answer, says the Democratic president.

THE LEAD starts right now.

Tough talk. President Biden in New York in the wake of two police officers gunned down in a particularly dangerous time, for cops and for cities in America. Biden laying out a plan to try to tackle gun violence. One of his top advisers will join us to discuss.

Plus, a U.S. raid on ISIS months in the making. New details about how the terrorist group's top leader was killed, along with tragically several children. CNN is on the ground with a look at how the facts line up with what the Pentagon is claiming.

Also, snow, ice, sleet, even possible tornados. The latest on the dangerous winter storm impacting nearly half the country right now.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we start today with our national lead. President Biden this afternoon announcing his new plans to combat gun violence and declaring, quote, the answer is not to defund the police, unquote, after an alarming rise in homicides and gun crimes in many of America's biggest cities. The president bringing together federal, state and local officials in New York City to detail new steps his administration wants to take, including a new initiative on so-called ghost guns, what are do-it-yourself firearms of a sort, often put together with cards sold online.

Mr. Biden calling for enhanced tools, training and funding for law enforcement officers and for tens of millions of dollars for community policing programs. Last year, ten major U.S. cities recorded more homicides than in any previous year on record, from Portland to Philadelphia. And Biden's trip comes in the wake of two New York City police officers being gunned down on the job.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins starts us off today in New York with a look at the range of new plans unveiled today, aimed at reducing crime across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden in New York City to address a national wave of violent crime.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Enough is enough, because we know we can do things about this.

COLLINS: The president hosted by newly minted New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a like-minded politician when it comes to policing.

BIDEN: Mayor Adams, you and I agree. The answer is not to abandon our streets. That's not the answer. The answer is to come together, policing communities, building trust and making us all safer. The answer is not to defund the police.

COLLINS: Biden instead calling for more police funding, not yet approved by Congress, as he toured the New York Police Department headquarters and a crime prevention center in queens.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK: I want him to acknowledge and see what I call the rivers that feed into the sea of violence in our city and our country.

BIDEN: Mayor Adams, you see that gun violence is a sea fed by many rivers. Well, you know, I put forward a plan to dam up some of those streams.

COLLINS: Biden applauding the officer who shot the gunman in a recent ambush that left two New York officers dead. The president's focus was on New York today, but he's also directing U.S. attorneys nationwide to boost resources for combating violent crime as the Justice Department is promising to amp up prosecutions on so-called ghost guns, when a gun is assembled by the user and can't be traced.

BIDEN: If you commit a crime with a ghost gun, not only are state and local prosecutors going to come after you, but expect federal charges and federal prosecution as well. This doesn't violate anybody's Second Amendment right. When the amendment was passed, it didn't say anybody can own a gun and any kind of gun and any kind of weapon.

COLLINS: Today's effort, part of a larger attempt by Democrats to strike a balance between addressing violent crime and reforming excessive policing.

BIDEN: We can't expect you to do every single solitary thing that needs to be done to keep a community safe. It's time to fund community policing to protect and serve the community.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: And, Jake, when you heard the president talk about that funding that he wants to boost today, we should note Congress has not yet approved that. Of course when it comes to police reform, his efforts so far in Congress have stalled. That legislation has not gone anywhere. And the White House did confirm today that he is looking at executive orders on that front to try to achieve at least some of it, though it remains to be seen what those executive orders actually look like.

Right now, the president is at PS-111 in Queens. He was talking about a community violence prevention program. That is kind of what he's talked about as part of his two-pronged effort to try to combat the wave of crime that you've seen nationwide.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins in New York for us with the president, thanks so much.

Let's discuss with Senior Advisor to President Biden, former Congressman Cedric Richmond.

Mr. Richmond, good to see you again. So frankly, we've heard politicians say over and over again over the years that they're serious about combating gun violence, only for the American people to see little change actually happen in Washington.

[16:05:03]

Tell any viewers, who might be skeptical, why they should believe this time is going to be different.

CEDRIC RICHMOND, SENIOR ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Because most the time when you hear politicians talk about it, they're only talking about the end of the system, where the police are involved, or the prosecutor is involved.

I think the unique thing about this proposal and why the Biden plan, I think is the right solution is that it looks at the root cause. And it offers different solutions in terms of community violence intervention, substance abuse, mental health, after school programs, summer job programs, using actual community violence interrupters that will actually help diffuse problems before they ever happen.

And President Biden has never been shy about saying that he thinks we need more police in our communities, but they should be out of their cars. They should be a part of the community.

You can have safe communities that have a great relationship with the law enforcement officers that patrol them. So we want more officers, but we want them to patrol in a constitutional manner though.

TAPPER: So several major U.S. cities have seen record crime, record homicides in the last year -- including my hometown, Philadelphia.

Why shouldn't voters know cities not only blame President Biden but blame their Democratic mayors?

RICHMOND: Well, they shouldn't. It's a bigger problem than that (ph). It takes investment and communities.

So when you look at -- whether it was our American Rescue Plan, or whether it was Build Back Better, or whether it was the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill -- one, you have to improve communities. You have to invest in families. You have to invest in opportunity and education and all of those things.

And those things have been neglected for some time. And if you look at what we're dealing with here in Washington in terms of just pure Republican obstruction -- those things that we want to invest in, whether it's childcare, whether it's early child education -- those things get at the root cause of crime.

And so you're not going to solve it strictly by police and district attorneys. You have to invest also. And those investments have been lacking and we're not going to leave our communities behind. And that's why we have such a focus on investing in all communities.

TAPPER: Well, let's talk about Republicans. Because one of the provisions that could have passed in the last 10 years but was not able was closing the gun show loophole for private sales, making sure that they had to do a background check. Already stores at gun shows had to do it, but not private sales.

That was pushed forward by two NRA members or at least people supported by the NRA: Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia; Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania.

One of the issues is Democrats pushed these big, sweeping packages that won't get 50 votes, much less 60.

The Toomey-Manchin bill to close the gun show loophole -- I just was talking to Senator Toomey. He says White House -- the White House reached out about a year ago to talk about it and he hasn't heard from you guys ever since.

That's something that you could change right now. And Toomey thinks you could get 10 Republican votes. How come you haven't been doing that?

RICHMOND: Well, we have pushed for that. We've pushed for that, alongside other things. This is not an either-or proposition.

And when Toomey and Manchin introduced that bill, I was in the House of Representatives. And you know who stopped it? It was the House majority, which was the Republicans at the time.

We are open -- we have governed in a bipartisan fashion. I think that you have seen people of -- Republican members come down to the White House -- Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

We're willing to be bipartisan on making sure we have safe gun regulations. And it's easy for Toomey to say that there's 60 votes to do it to get past the filibuster. But the proof is in the pudding, you have to show it. We are willing to continue to fight for banning assault weapons, making sure that you don't have those straw purchases, limiting -- banning ghost guns, all of those things are comprehensive in terms of protecting communities and making them safer --

TAPPER: Right.

RICHMOND: And the gun show loophole is one of those.

TAPPER: But that -- you're making my point for me, which is, here is something that can get 60 votes, at least according to Republican Senator Toomey.

And you talked about a bunch of other things that you want to do that probably cannot get 60 votes. The way you got the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal was Democrats and Republicans coming together and crafting this legislation. And then it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

But you're not doing that with this criminal -- this effort to combat crime or this effort to cut down on gun violence.

And I'm saying, you haven't talked to Toomey more than a year about it -- or about a year on it. And here's an opportunity sitting right here, but you have to keep it focused and have Democrats and Republicans work on it.

RICHMOND: Well, I think that that's your assumption.

[16:10:01]

Look, we are here to work with Senator Toomey or any other Republican senator that wants to look at stopping the flow of illegal guns in the community -- or dangerous guns in the community.

But what I won't accept is that that's going to be enough. We have to stop the carnage that is happening in these American cities, and too many communities like mine that are black and brown.

And to pick and choose on the Republican side what is palatable and what is not as palatable -- let's look at what the experts, the law enforcement, everyone says will keep communities safe.

And we are here to do it on a step-by-step basis if we need to. But we have not seen that olive branch or the willingness of Republicans to take on the NRA in any form or fashion.

And so, I would welcome Senator Toomey to show the votes to get it done. We certainly won't stand in the way, and we'd support it.

TAPPER: Yes. I mean, Toomey did take on the NRA to do this.

And I should just note, I've been in this town for a long time, so have you. I first started talking about the gun show loophole in 1999 after Columbine. And it's still open, that gun show loophole.

Cedric Richmond, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate it.

Coming up next, the stunning level of detail about the U.S. raid on the leader of ISIS. Women and children caught in the drama, a U.S. chopper down and the terrorist leader detonating himself in the hunt.

Plus, Hall of Famer John Elway and other NFL executives responding to a coach suing the league and three other teams for discrimination.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:38]

TAPPER: In our world lead, a warning to terrorist groups around the globe. That's what President Biden is calling a U.S. Special Forces raid in Northwest Syria today that killed the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, one of the top terrorists in the world as identified by the U.S. This was the biggest U.S. counterterrorism mission in Syria since the 2019 operation that killed his predecessor, former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

Syria's defense forces say 13 civilians, including six children were tragically killed in today's raid.

As CNN's own Oren Liebermann reports, this operation took months to prepare and did not turn out completely as planned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A U.S. raid shattering the overnight hours in northwest Syria. Special Forces going after the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, aka Hajji Abdullah.

BIDEN: Last night's operation took a major terrorist leader off the battlefield and sent a strong message to terrorists around the world. We will come after you and find you.

LIEBERMANN: President Joe Biden watched from the White House as Special Forces closed in on their target. The helicopters approached the three-story compound in the middle of the night according to senior administration officials. Once on the ground, Special Forces warned civilians to clear out, evacuating ten civilians, including eight children.

Officials say al-Qurayshi then blew himself up, killing his wife and children and tearing the top of the building apart. His lieutenant one floor below was killed in an exchange of fire with U.S. forces. The Pentagon said a child was also killed on this floor, but wouldn't say how or by whom.

Toward the end of the two-hour operation, two members of an al Qaeda affiliate were killed in an exchange of fire with U.S. forces. U.S. forces had to destroy one of the helicopters on the ground after mechanical failures. Four civilians were killed in all, according to the Pentagon, and five combatants. That wasn't the plan.

GEN. KENNETH F. MCKENZIE JR., CENTCOM COMMANDER: And I say capture the leader of ISIS. That was the intent of the mission.

LIEBERMANN: This raid was the biggest U.S. operation in Syria since the operation to kill Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in 2019, the original leader of ISIS. Al-Qurayshi's background is a bit of a mystery. His exact birthplace and birthdate unclear. He was in U.S. detention in 2008 before he was turned over to the Iraqis and at some point released.

In March 2020, the State Department labeled him a specially designated global terrorist with a $10 million reward.

BIDEN: He was responsible for the recent brutal attack on a prison in northeast Syria, holding ISIS fighters. He was the driving force behind the genocide of the Yazidi people in northwestern Iraq in 2018.

LIEBERMANN: Al Qurayshi never left the third floor of the building in Northwest Syria except to bathe on the roof, officials said. By early December, intelligence officials believed they had pinpointed his location and Biden authorized the operation.

The White House called his death a blow to ISIS, but the terror organization, still suffering from the defeat of its self-declared caliphate in 2019 has plans to rebuild.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): General McKenzie said that although he didn't have the same name recognition as the original leader of ISIS, al Baghdadi, he was just as dangerous and involved in planning other ISIS operations. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say the next leader of ISIS will suffer the same fate -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, thank you so much.

Now let's go check out the reality on the ground. CNN's Arwa Damon reports that the story, what really happened, might be more complicated than what the Pentagon is saying. And we should warn you, the images in her report are graphic and disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small body is carried down the dark stairs. The rescue workers speak in thick whispers. Wait, wait, wait, one warns. It's stuck. They gently coax a tiny child's corpse out from under a large slab of concrete. It's a little girl.

Another small body, a boy, is carefully wrapped in a blanket. This is what is left behind after U.S. Special Forces conducted an overnight raid in Syria.

Later, the White House announced that they had, quote, removed the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. But the reality of what happened is uglier than that simple statement,

and the fog of war is filled with questions.

[16:20:02]

The owner of the building says that two families lived here. One man, his wife and three children. And his sister lived upstairs with her daughter, he says. Seven bodies were found here.

President Biden says it was al Qurayshi who detonated a bomb killing himself and his family. But were there more people in the house that night? We don't know yet. But in all, at least 13 people were dead in the raid's aftermath, including six children.

Eyewitnesses described helicopter gunships hovering overhead for hours, warnings to evacuate the house and surrender, intense gunfire, hearing multiple explosions.

Clashes occurred and then the helicopter struck with machine guns this man remembers. One of the strikes was here, and the rest were striking the targeted house. Did the U.S. forces fire on other buildings? Footage from the scene and the surrounding areas show damage to multiple other buildings as well.

This child's body, green socks on tiny feet, was ripped in half.

Taking out ISIS' leader may be a win for America. It may put a temporary damper on ISIS' abilities. But ISIS will rise again, and the war on terror will leave more innocents in its wake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (on camera): And that, Jake, is the very disturbing nature and the reality of these kinds of missions, in fact of warfare as a whole. And we do need to recognize the innocent civilians whose lives have been lost.

And we also do need to be asking questions when narratives don't exactly add up. And there has to be a certain measure of accountability.

TAPPER: Arwa Damon reporting live from Istanbul for us. Thank you for that important report. Appreciate it.

Just into CNN, sources detail what was said and not said when top Pence aides met with the January 6th Committee. What did they reveal about the former vice president?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:51]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our politics lead now. New details about what former Vice President Mike Pence's team was willing to tell the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection. Sources tell CNN that Pence's top aides would not discuss direct conversations between Pence and former President Trump.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has this new reporting for us.

And, Ryan, sources are telling you that the interviews with Pence's aides were not contentious but the committee did not exactly get the answers they were looking for?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it depends on which topic area you are talking about. In general, sources tell us that they did view these interviews with Greg Jacob, the former chief counsel to the vice president and his chief of staff Marc Short.

They viewed them as productive and that these interviews were not contentious but there was certainly a line that both Jacob and Short were unwilling to cross at the direction of the former president and his attorneys. And essentially, they were not going to have or disclose any information they knew about direct conversations between Pence and the former president or conversations that they may have had with the former president.

And the committee knew this. They were prepared that there may be some privilege issues that both Short and Jacob were not going to be willing to go into, but that did not prevent them from asking them questions on a whole host of issues. Of course, Jacob and Short are very important players in all of this. They were on the Pence staff in the days leading up to and on January 6. Short himself was with the vice president here at the capitol as he was evacuated as the riot was underway.

So there's a lot of information that they know about that period of time that is relevant to the committee. They weren't able to disclose all of it, but I'm told that the meeting was productive and has been an important part of the investigation.

TAPPER: Ryan Nobles live for us on Capitol Hill -- thank you, sir.

Vaccination rates among the ranks. The new approach by the U.S. Army when it comes to COVID shots.

Plus, the vaccine in the works for kids under 5. I'm going to talk to a doctor who advises the FDA asking him what he thinks about the data he's reviewing so far.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:18]

TAPPER: In our health lead, balancing -- I'm sorry, battling the unvaccinated among the ranks. The U.S. Army announcing it's going to start discharging soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated unless, of course, they have an approved exemption or pending request for an exemption. A handful of Army leaders, including two commanders, have already been shown the door.

And as CNN's Nick Watt reports, even though 96 percent of U.S. soldiers are vaccinated, thousands of others could still lose their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three-year-old Justin still too young for a vaccine, but among the lucky ones, pulled through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you sit up?

WATT: Three thousand five hundred forty-six people were reported dead yesterday, killed by COVID. By summer, COVID could have claimed a million American lives. Most places, omicron is now on the ebb. Alabama the only state where case counts are climbing. Alabama also has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated people in this country.

By the way, the U.S. Army now discharging soldiers who refused the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption. Meantime, about half of Americans now eligible for a booster haven't gotten one. So 84 million people got vaccinated, but for whatever reason, not boosted.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I don't have an easy explanation for that. That's one of the reasons why we keep trying to put the data out.

WATT: Like the benefits of the booster in significantly reducing your chance of death. Israeli researchers now claim a fourth Pfizer dose was instrumental in preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed during their omicron surge.

[16:30:10]

It's a pre-print study.

Here, hospitalizations highlighted by the White House as the key metric they'll watch while weighing when to lift restrictions, like mask mandates.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: What I expect, and I hope that we'll see from the CDC, is clear guidance about what to do in the upcoming months. Again, I'm hoping this is going to be the last surge we will have to deal with. We don't know.

WATT: By the way, this is Bellevue, Washington. A gas station clerk argues with a customer who refuses to wear a mask. They tumble outside. She pulls a gun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): Now, it is the Super Bowl here in Los Angeles next weekend, of course, and they are going to be handing out free N-95 masks to all the fans. It is local law that you really have to wear one in the stadium. How they police that with 80,000 people we'll see, but the mayor of L.A. is among the officials just begging people to comply -- Jake.

TAPPER: Well, speaking of the mayor of L.A., Eric Garcetti, he's under fire for not wearing a mask. Tell us about that.

WATT: Yes. So he was photographed at a game last weekend with, I think, Magic Johnson and Eric Garcetti was not wearing a mask. So, he was asked about that and his explanation is beautiful. He says he was wearing a mask for the entire game, but when people asked for a photograph, I hold my breath and put it there. There's zero percent chance of infection from that. So hold your breath. That's from the mayor.

TAPPER: All right. I don't think that's according to the CDC guidelines. But, all right, an interesting stuff.

Nick Watt, thanks so much. Rules for thee but not for me.

Let's bring in Dr. Paul Offit. He's the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He serves on the FDA Vaccines Advisory Committee. So, Dr. Offit, you have seen some of the data Pfizer has presented for vaccinating kids under 5 years old, 6 months to 4 years old.

Is it promising? What do you think so far?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR OF THE VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, we really haven't seen the data. I mean, the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee will meet on February the 15th. Typically the way this works is that there will be a submission from Pfizer, 50, 60 pages of all their data and the FDA will also look at their data and have their own submission. We get those submissions a few days before the meeting and then we'll have better idea.

What we're being asked to do is we're being asked to approve a three- dose vaccine after only really seeing the effects of safety and efficacy after two doses, which is unusual.

TAPPER: See, I thought once Pfizer made the announcement, they send the data to the advisory committee like you, and then you have two weeks or so to look at it and then you meet. Otherwise, I don't understand why you guys wait two weeks. It seems like we're in the middle of a pandemic, people want to get their kids vaccinated.

Why is the process drawn out? Did they not have the data ready, Pfizer?

OFFIT: So Pfizer submits the data to the FDA. The FDA pulls a team of people together who work pretty much around the clock to look at all the data, every piece of clinical information for every child that got vaccine or placebo and they put together their own document and then those two documents go to the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee usually days before the meeting.

TAPPER: OK. So the FDA is putting together their study after having received Pfizer's study, is that right?

OFFIT: Right. They want to make sure that Pfizer hasn't left out any information or misrepresented information. They want to make sure that they look at all the data, every single piece of information, and not accept Pfizer's summary of those.

TAPPER: Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. I totally understand.

This is a different approach than past vaccine recommendations because Pfizer is asking the FDA to review this two-shot regimen when they already know that a third shot will likely be needed for optimal immunity. Do you agree with this method? I guess it's being done in the name of speed and helping these kids as quickly as possible.

OFFIT: Again, need to see the data. I guess what we're arguing is really the FDA asks Pfizer to do this more than Pfizer asks the FDA to do this. Pfizer is seeing this data and seeing that two doses are highly safe, highly effective and even though this is ultimately a three-dose vaccine, they want our opinion as to whether they can start giving those vaccines now knowing that the third dose will be given two months after the second dose and let's get a head start on this.

TAPPER: Yeah, that makes sense.

OFFIT: It's odd and curious to see how this plays out.

TAPPER: There's only, as you know, 22 percent of kids ages 5 to 11 are vaccinated so far, even though that vaccine for kids 5 to 11 was approved in early November of last year. Are you worried that we're going to see the same low level of vaccinations for kids, with kids under 5?

OFFIT: Yes. I mean, we've had a vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds since May and about 55 percent of them are vaccinated. But you're right, three months worth for the greater than 5-year-olds to be vaccinated. Only a little over 20 percent have.

I would imagine it would be even less for the less than 5-year-old. It's too bad.

If you look at the group that's less likely to be vaccinated in this country is people under 30. We need to get young people vaccinated. We haven't been very good at it.

TAPPER: So, you're a pediatrician. What do you tell hesitant parents that might be nervous to vaccinate their toddler?

OFFIT: I think people assume that not getting a vaccine is a risk-free choice. It's just a choice to take a different risk. Although it's true that young children get infected less frequently and when they're infected, they're infected less severely, they can be infected severely and have difficult outcomes, including auto immune disease, just like type 1 diabetes.

This is an unusual virus and one you want to avoid, but you need to be able to know that the vaccine is safe, safe, safe, before you get it. That's going to be the charge of our economy.

TAPPER: The surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, says that he's more optimistic than ever that the end of the pandemic is in reach. Do you share that optimism?

OFFIT: I do. I think we right now have about 90 percent population immunity from immunization, or natural infection or both. We're heading into the warmer months.

I do think things will come down. And then we'll just have to define when we move from pandemic to endemic, which is basically when we feel that we can get back to our lives as normal. We'll see. I think things are looking up, yes.

TAPPER: Dr. Paul Offit in the great city of Philadelphia, thanks so much. Good to see you, sir.

That major winter storm is becoming more dangerous by the minute. It's pushing heavy snow and ice and pelting winds across much of the country and now power outages are adding up. We have a live report on the weather, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:32]

TAPPER: In our sports lead today, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is now responding to former head coach Brian Flores' explosive claim that Ross offered him big bucks to lose games in order to secure a better future draft pick. That's part of Flores' lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, including the Dolphins, over accusations of racial discrimination during the hiring process.

Let's go right to CNN's Leyla Santiago live outside of Hard Rock stadium where the dolphins play. What does Ross have to say about the charge?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, Ross is calling it false and defamatory, so let's get right to his statement so you can get a better idea of what exactly what he says about this. He says, quote, we understand there are media reports stating that the NFL intends to investigate his claims and we will cooperate fully.

I welcome that investigation and I am eager to defend my personal integrity and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims. But, you know, at the same time that the owner of the Miami Dolphins is saying that, you also have some support for Brian Flores.

You see that on Twitter from some of the Miami Dolphins assistant coaches. You have defensive back coach Gerald Alexander as well as cornerback coach Charles Burke saying that they support him. They respect his character. They call him a true leader, one of the best leaders right now in the league.

So you're hearing from the Miami Dolphins today, but really kind of getting a mixed bag of statements when it comes to Brian Flores and this lawsuit.

We are also hearing from are the Denver Broncos. We're hearing from John Elway, who was named in this lawsuit as one of those individuals who interviewed Flores back in 2019, an interview that Flores called a sham interview. He too says that the accusations and the claims made in this lawsuit are false.

In this lawsuit, Flores says, again, calling it a sham interview, that they showed up late and that they appeared disheveled.

Here is what Elway said in his statement. He says: for Brian to make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind early that morning was subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong. If I appeared disheveled as he claims, it was because we had flown in during the middle of the night immediately following another interview in Denver and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us.

So take note of this, Jake, because this lawsuit was filed Tuesday, and today we are still hearing for the first time from people who are critical and some of the claims made by Brian Flores here.

TAPPER: And, Leyla, Flores' attorneys have been reaching out and talking to other former Black NFL coaches, former coaches with similar claims as Flores. Are they expected to sign on to the lawsuit?

SANTIAGO: Flores last night told CNN that he is hearing a lot of support from Black coaches and that he has heard similar accounts of this, so it's something that we could see. But I want to take note of Marvin Lewis, who spoke to CNN this morning. Listen to his account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN LEWIS, FORMER NFL HEAD COACH: Tuesday morning, Coach Billick walks into my office and says he got off the phone with Ozzie Newsome and the Panthers would like me to come down and interview for the position. I said, Brian, I heard last night, they're going to name Fox the coach on Friday.

[16:50:02]

And he went back and they talked to people. No, no, no, that's not true. Well, I went down there and went through it all and everything, and -- but they named John the head coach on Friday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: Now, Marvin Lewis, the former coach of the Bengals, says that he does not plan to join this lawsuit but definitely is echoing some of those sentiments, a feeling like some of these interviews are sham interviews just to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which is a rule in place by the NFL that says teams have to interview external as well as minority candidates here.

So something that is central in this lawsuit from Brian Flores, who compares the NFL to a plantation, a league that is run with 70 percent of Black players with only one Black coach -- Jake. TAPPER: Leyla Santiago in Miami, thank you so much.

In our national lead today, a massive winter storm stretching across three time zones is to blame for more than 260,000 people without power right now. Snow, sleet and ice have crippled a stretch from Texas up to New England. Portions of major interstates are closed. More flights cancelled today that in any day last year.

A driver in Springfield, Illinois, had a close. His car got stuck on icy train tracks. Thankfully, he made it out before the train hit his car.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Indianapolis for us today.

Derek, this weather is creating all sorts of dangerous situations.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. You know, Jake, we've had blistering winds, blinding snow and a sheet of ice here across the central portions of the Hoosier State, including where I'm standing at monument circle, downtown Indianapolis.

This storm is massive, stretching over 25 U.S. states, impacting over a third of the U.S. population. It is just incredible to see what it's done of the last night when we drove from south bends to Indianapolis, the precipitation changed over to rain. Now that the temperatures have plummeted, we are left with a complete sheet of ice.

And this is the story, especially the further south you travel, places like Memphis, into Louisville. In fact, the UPS worldwide hub within that area has closed down some of its operations there because of the ongoing ice storm in Louisville. That is how bad it is.

We have seen jack-knifed trucks and abandoned vehicles on the side of interstate 70, some of the local media reporting that. Of course, that's creating all kinds of headaches across the interstates and highways in and around Indianapolis.

Stretching from the Northeast all the way to Texas, this storm is massive. It's not going to get above freezing here where I'm standing, get this, until Sunday afternoon. So it's going to take a while for this ice to melt -- Jake.

TAPPER: Derek, we're seeing the number of power outages go up, mostly in Texas. What makes certain areas such problem spots?

VAN DAM: Well, think about the ice that is accumulating on the branches and some of the trees, especially points south of here. We're talking Louisville, Memphis, into Arkansas, the Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley, those areas have seen up to a quarter to half an inch of ice. That weighs down these branches, the electrical poles. With the winds that we're feeling behind the system, every once in a while we get these gusts just pelting our face, that is what takes down tree limbs and electricity lines and that causes the power outages.

Last I checked, Tennessee, 150,000 people without power four hours ago. That was only 25,000 people. So you know where this is going.

TAPPER: All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Next, the U.S. intelligence noting the Kremlin' plans to create a video of a fake attack. How that could have escalated an already tense situation very quickly.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:58:13]

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, the special invitation for Ivanka Trump. The door was open for her to speak to the January 6th Committee today. How the panel might perceive if she and others ignore their request to appear.

Plus, a new arms race. How the Pentagon is adding pressure on U.S. companies to create a hypersonic system, as other countries test their hypersonic capabilities.

And leading this hour, Putin's plans for a fake attack, according to the Pentagon, which says that it's concerned about a Russian plot to frame the West with a graphic propaganda video staged to look as if NATO forces launched a deadly attack on Russia.

As CNN's Matthew Chance reports, the U.S. is hoping that coming forward with this alleged scheme will blunt the impact of any possible fake pretext that Russia might use to invade Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the latest front in Russia's unrelenting buildup near Ukraine's borders. Joint military drills in neighboring Belarus, a close Kremlin ally, where NATO says there's been significant movement of an expected 30,000 Russian troops in recent days.

It's the biggest deployment there since the end of the Cold War. This, as the Kremlin tells CNN, more U.S. forces in eastern Europe simply pump up tension in the region and that Russia is worried.

DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN (through translator): We are talking about the deployment of American soldiers in European countries near our borders. It's clear these are not steps to de-escalate tensions. On the contrary, these actions elevate tensions.

CHANCE: But if there's one country that should be feeling tense, it's Ukraine. This latest video showing Special Forces being trained in the snow, released by its ministry of defense.