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Dangerous Snow and Ice Head East After Slamming Central U.S and Midwest; Congress to Certify Trump's Win Four Years After Jan. 6 Insurrection; Report Shows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Set to Resign as Party Leader. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 06, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is snowing and snowing. Millions under the threat of a relentless winter storm bringing feet of snow in some places. We will tell you what cities are about to be hardest hit.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Four years ago. Today, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, rioting over his loss. This morning, the Republican House speaker says there will be no delay in certifying Trump's win.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And last night, it was a mix of substance and style, emotional wins and some awkward moments at the Golden Globes. We've got them all for you.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. The whole team is here together again. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, tens of millions of Americans are up against a crippling winter storm. Snow and ice emergencies have been declared across several states, with the worst of it about to hit Washington, D.C., where even a small dusting can normally shut things down. And this is way more than a small dusting.

This morning, three inches of snow could fall each hour. Unclear if it will slow down the count of the Electoral College votes. It is after all January 6th and Congress has work to do. Washington could get 16 inches of snow by the time it's done, which would be nearly double the snowfall for 2023 and 2024 combined.

Travel is extremely dangerous this morning. Interstates are paralyzed with trucks jackknifed everywhere. Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled. So, it is a mess.

Let's get right to Meteorologist Derek Van Dam to find out how things look at this moment, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John. Even the National Weather Service warns that the primary roads could become impassable with the snowfall rates that they're expecting in and around Washington D.C. This is coming out of Kansas City, Missouri. The ice part of the storm then snow fell on top of this. It slid cars off of the highways. It jackknifed 18-wheelers. This is an intense, very powerful storm as people return home from their holidays and they're left with this mess.

And the storm spans about 800 miles from St. Louis all the way to the nation's capital. I want you to see the winter weather alerts that are in place for millions of Americans as it stands this morning waking up on Monday morning. It is going to be difficult travel conditions. And I promise you this is the Lincoln Memorial here way in the distance in D.C. It's just shrouded in cloud and snow that is currently falling in and around D.C., 28 degrees right now around the nation's capital.

I do want you to see the heaviest band of snow is just setting up south of Washington. So, that's something to consider. There is some drier air starting to settle in and then another round of snow will impact not only the evening commute in D.C. but overnight tonight as well. So, if they see over a foot of snow, this will actually eclipse the Snowzilla. That was the term that they gave the last major snow storm that was over a foot in D.C.

But it looks like with latest radar trends, the heaviest snow will be just south of the city into Southern Maryland and into southern sections of Delaware. And into the spine of the Appalachians, of course, that's where we'll pick up a good foot of snow in some locations.

Can't forget about the ice potential of this, this is going to create very slick roadways, especially Interstate 70, the I-95 corridor, as you travel north and south. And with the ice accumulating on the, well, let's say, the tree limbs as also and also the electrical wires, this is taking down some power and locations, 250,000 customers without power as it stands, there's a secondary band of snowfall behind this first walloping of snow in D.C. So, as you get that low in the midday parts of the afternoon, plan ahead. Because as you head home from work this evening in and around the nation's capital, another round of snow will greet you just in time for the evening rush, John, something to consider.

BERMAN: Yes. And if this beats the Snowzilla, I wonder if it will be called the Snow Mothra, an obscure creature level feature reference there for some of our viewers.

VAN DAM: Snowzilla 2.0.

BERMAN: The cold, I understand is going to be a serious issue for millions of people, Derek.

[07:05:00]

VAN DAM: Coldest air of the season developing behind it. There will be days where we don't see the thermometer climb above 32 degrees across parts of the Midwest and into the Plain States. So, frigid temperatures, plan ahead. This is going to be the big story going forward after the storm system departs, and then we look forward to the potential of yet another snow storm, but this time in the Deep South by the weekend. John? BERMAN: All right. I know you're watching this very closely. Derek Van Dam, we will come back to you and to our friends in D.C. We're thinking about you. We know that you don't handle snow so well. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Today is January 6th, a day that's more than just a date on the calendar, now a reminder of an ugly chapter in American history, when a protest of Donald Trump supporters turned into an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Now, four years and another presidential election later, Congress will clear the way for Donald Trump to be sworn in as president again. At 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, as dictated by the Constitution, lawmakers will begin counting the electoral votes to certify Donald Trump's November victory, which also means that Vice President Kamala Harris will be the one presiding over the certification and presiding over her election loss.

CNN's Lauren Fox has it all for us. It is going to be an important day. It always is an important day, but one that takes on so much more significance now. What are you expecting, Lauren? What are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Traditionally, viewers at home maybe would have been paying minimal attention to the certification of the election on Capitol Hill, in part because it was not traditionally that transformative of a day in Washington. It was really an opportunity to simply count the votes that had already been cast. Obviously, that changed four years ago.

But today, what we expect is a return, hopefully, to normalcy. What we know is that the president of the Senate, who in this case is Vice President Kamala Harris, she will preside over a joint session of Congress. At the same time, what she will do is she will open each state's envelope, then she will hand them to four tellers. That's the top Republican and the top Democrat in both the House and the Senate, who are going to be counting the votes today. And those are the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate Administrative Committees. But then, that's it. If no one challenges the election, which we don't expect Democrats to challenge any of these results, then they basically go through that and it could be over in just under an hour.

Obviously, Kate, that is very different than what we saw last year, where even after that historic attack on the Capitol, there were several Republicans who challenged the results of the election as they were trying to count and certify. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. And then after what should be an unmomentous hour today, Republicans are talking a lot now about their priorities and what they want to do when they get back to work.

FOX: Yes. I mean, what we have seen over the last several days is Republicans really cementing around a different strategy than they had cemented around in December, which is that House Republicans, the speaker in particular, are pushing for one large package using a process known as reconciliation, which essentially just means that it is something that they can pass with just 51 votes, a simple majority in the United States Senate.

Here's why that's a little bit different than what they've been talking about before. Previously, they had thought of doing two separate bills, and John Thune, who's the incoming majority leader in the Senate, he had been arguing for trying to pass something in the first hundred days dealing specifically with border security. His hope is that you could create some kind of momentum around passing something quickly for the new president, Donald Trump.

Now that strategy is shifting. They want to do a larger tax and border bill in one. The challenge with that, Kate, is you have narrow majorities in the House and the Senate. That's a lot to pack in one single bill. And you heard the speaker yesterday setting out a very ambitious deadline, saying he's hoping to finish it by the end of April. That doesn't give them much time. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely not. Great to see you. Thanks so much, Lauren. Let's see what happens today. Sara?

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to resign this week. The new CNN reporting about why he's expected to step down after nine years in power.

Meta glasses and trips abroad and visits to New Orleans before the attack, we have new details about the New Orleans attacker.

And it came down to Alabama and Texas. No, we're not talking football. It's America's other favorite sport, judging women.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Breaking news for you this morning, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as soon as today that he's stepping down as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party, according to Canadian media outlets.

Calls for his resignation have grown louder in recent weeks amid plummeting polling ahead of Canada's upcoming general election that's supposed to happen later this year. Trudeau is facing mounting crisis, including tariff threats by Donald Trump and the resignations of key allies.

CNN's Paula Newton is in Ottawa for us. If Trudeau resigns, as he is expected to, what are some of the things that would have prompted this resignation?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, Sara, look beyond the fact that he's been in power for more than nine years, the inflation coming out of the pandemic is really key here.

[07:15:07]

Canadians are really feeling it, but they are blaming the Trudeau government for why they're feeling it. And a lot of it has to do with immigration, the legal kind. It has put so much pressure on things, like housing and public services. Canadians feel that it's been mismanaged. Also Canadian finance is not in great shape right now, quite a record deficit coming out of the books in the last few weeks.

Key here, though, imagine it, Sara, that his key deputy, the deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who was the finance minister, resigned just a few weeks ago and you can say in a huff. It was a really blunt resignation letter. She blamed him for costly political gimmicks and said that instead, Canada should be pushing back on Trump's America First policy and should have, you know, really their finances in order before they do that.

I mean, look, there is a lot of turmoil here in Canada right now. Polls have showed that the Conservative Party now beating the Liberal Party by more than 20 percent on most polling averages. And a lot of that has to do with the carbon tax as well. Sara, many Canadians feeling that this government is way past its due date literally based on the economy, first and foremost. But Pierre Poilievre, who is a conservative leader, has certainly gotten a boost from the MAGA base going viral in many instances on things like fighting that carbon tax, which Canadians are also saying many, especially out west, saying that they're fed up with.

I do want to say, though, that right now, everything remains in flux, right? We've got a cabinet meeting later this afternoon. Trudeau has not indicated exactly when or if he'd resign. I can tell you that in the last few weeks, he was not thinking that he'd have to resign, but the polls are showing otherwise right now.

Now, Sara, stop me when this sounds familiar. We are in uncharted territory here in Canada. There must be an election later this year. There is no succession plan in place as of yet. We could, in Canada, in the next few weeks, have an interim prime minister, something that has never happened.

SIDNER: Well, uncharted territory does sound quite familiar here in America.

Thank you so much, Paula Newton, there in Ottawa for us. John?

BERMAN: Right. Investigators just revealed new details into the planning of the New Orleans terror attack, how the killer used smart glasses to survey the area for weeks.

And, quote, it feels like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Morale at the Justice Department reaching new lows as President-elect Trump is set to undo years of work to convict Capitol rioters.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: This morning, new information about the planning that went into the deadly New Year's Day attack on New Orleans Bourbon Street. The FBI has now confirmed the man who carried out the terror attack that killed 14 people, visited New Orleans twice in the months before New Year's Day and wore a pair, and you're seeing it there, of smart glasses to film the French Quarter and plan out what he would do. He also wore those same glasses during the attack, though they had not been activated.

CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe got up early for us this morning. I appreciate you coming on.

Investigators also found that he traveled to Egypt and Canada. Would they be looking into who he met in those places to see if there are further links to ISIS?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Definitely, Sara. I can tell you that 100 percent, in fact, of all the things we learned in the press conference yesterday, to me, this was by far the most significant. And the reason is this is the only lead, investigative lead that we are aware of right now that could really bring the government, particularly law enforcement and intelligence communities, closer to preventing other attacks. If this attacker, Jabbar, met with individuals who were in any way related to his attack in New Orleans, in helping him think about it, helping him plan it, helping him pick a target, providing him any sort of training, financial support, whatever that might be, this is the opportunity for the government to identify a potential terrorist node that could lead them to identifying other operatives who have attacks planned here in the United States or in other countries.

So, this is a crucial detail. I'm sure they're working closely with colleagues in Egypt and Canada to follow up exactly where he went and what he did while he was there.

SIDNER: I do want to think about how the FBI couched this, saying initially that it is believed to be ISIS-inspired. And you're basically saying this could change all that if there was some meeting between him and others in either of these countries.

MCCABE: That's exactly right. So, I think it was certainly reasonable to conclude with our initial information that this attacker was inspired by ISIS. And that's based predominantly on the videos that he created during his drive to New Orleans. But if you listen to the choice of words, he actually says in one of the videos, I joined ISIS, which is an odd thing for someone to say who's only been following them online and consuming their propaganda. The use of I joined suggests to me that he actually had some contact with someone in ISIS.

Now, that's a stretch. We don't have any evidence to back that up yet. But if I were running this investigation, that's the direction I'd be looking.

SIDNER: Let's talk about some of the other details, because you say some of the new details, like the fact that he had visited New Orleans a couple of times in the months prior to the attack, and reserved that rental truck that he used six weeks ago, that it sort of changed your assessment of this attacker.

[07:25:01]

Why is that?

MCCABE: It really did. You know, initially, and, again, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, you know, very little. You're just looking at a small sliver of the facts that you'll have eventually. But in the immediate aftermath, we knew that he had traveled to the attack site literally hours before, right, within the day preceding the attack. And that suggests a certain like hastiness in terms of maybe target selection and methods and things like that.

But what we know now is he's been planning this for months, not one but two trips to New Orleans in the lead up to the attack, conducted extensive surveillance with those Meta glasses that have been talked about a lot since the press conference. The simple fact that he was riding around surveilling the area, creating videos that he could look at later, as he was actually sketching out the details of his plan, very significant there. And then, of course, the rental truck, he knew at least six weeks in advance exactly what type of vehicle he was looking for to do this attack.

So, it all shows a very high level of organizational capability. He's the type of guy that could do this sort of disciplined approach. And, of course, the amount of time that he's been thinking about is pretty significant.

SIDNER: Yes, it's really chilling to see the view from his own eyes as he's looking around before the attack as he is planning this terrorist attack. It is super disturbing.

Andrew McCabe, thank you so much for walking us through that. I appreciate you this morning. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, tens of millions of Americans are facing rough and extreme winter weather today, some spots preparing for up to 16 inches of snow.

And I'll see you in two weeks, the Vikings' head coach, that's what he's saying, already preparing for a rematch after last night's late night loss to the Detroit Lions.

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