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Congress Certifies Election 4 Years After Jan. 6 Riot; VP Harris Certifies Trump's Win and Her Loss 4 Years to the Day Since Capitol Insurrection; Deadly Winter Storm Heads East, Bringing Snow, Ice, Arctic Temps; Trump Says He Will "Unban" Biden's New Offshore Drilling Ban. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 06, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Four years after Donald Trump's supporters invaded the Capitol trying to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory, Congress met again today, this time to confirm Trump's return to the White House. We're going to show you how the haunting events that day were marked by lawmakers and the unprecedented security inside the halls of Congress.

Plus, Trump's legal battles may be far from over. How his defense team now wants the sentencing for his hush money conviction to be set for Friday, they want that delayed. Will the court agree to set it aside with his inauguration just two weeks away?

Plus, President Biden heading to New Orleans, the site of last week's terrorist attack. But with only days left in office, he's adding more to his to-do list in ways his successor may not like. Some important policy decisions coming from the White House.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Thanks so much for sharing your afternoon with us. I'm Boris Sanchez. My colleague, Brianna Keilar, has the day off.

Despite a major snowstorm hitting the nation's capital overnight, members of Congress converged on Capitol Hill to carry out a routine task that shook our democracy to its core exactly four years ago. On this January 6th, though, no drama or disruption as lawmakers certified President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the Electoral College. A stark contrast to 2021, when a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, protesting his loss, delaying certification of Joe Biden's free and fair win, and putting democracy to the test.

This time, Congress returning to a sense of normalcy on Capitol Hill, the ceremony signaling the peaceful transfer of power, largely unremarkable. Vice President Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated in November despite her warnings that he was a danger to American democracy, today presiding over today's historic certification.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Speaker and members of Congress, pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives are meeting in joint session to verify the certificates and count the votes of the electors of the several states for President and Vice President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We have a team of correspondents covering today's developments. CNN's Manu Raju is live on Capitol Hill for us, but let's start with Jeff Zeleny, who's in West Palm Beach, Florida, tracking former President Trump's response to this, now President- elect Trump, I should say.

Jeff, how is he processing today's events?

ZELENY: Well, Boris, there's no question this is one more step in just the remarkable comeback over four years that Donald Trump has been at the center of, of course, leaving Washington four years ago in political defeat and now rising again, oddly turning January 6th and the aftermath of that day into a political strength.

I'm told he was watching the proceedings today. One advisor described it to me as pure vindication. But it is clear now, this is soon to be Donald Trump's government. The confirmation hearings will be coming in the Senate. Certainly, the order of the day will be the burden is now on the Republicans in control of Congress and indeed the White House to carry on and try and carry out what they promised to the American people.

But for today, at least, certainly watching this with, you know, a very normal proceeding on Capitol Hill, that's how this has normally been. Even former Vice President Mike Pence putting out a statement. He's saying, I welcome the return to order and civility. And he gave a particular nod to Vice President Harris for doing her duty and presiding over, of course, her own defeat.

SANCHEZ: And Jeff, I also wanted to ask you about one of the latest public statements from the President-elect. He privately had been suggesting for weeks, we understand that Canada should become a U.S. state. But today with the announcement that Justin Trudeau is resigning, he's now speaking more openly about this idea.

ZELENY: Right. Boris, taking that one step further, just a short time after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister said he would step down as the leader of his party. The President-elect continuing to sort of poke our neighbors to the north here by saying this in Truth Social, let's read it together. He said, "Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great nation it would be."

[15:05:06]

Of course, Canada is its own nation. This is North America, but not one country. It's a continent. So, there is no chance, of course, that Canada is going to join the United States. But the President-elect continuing to sort of take a stab at this. The question is, with the new leadership and a leadership vacuum in Canada, how that will impact the politics there as well as the plan for tariffs here. We should see all of that play out here. So many more questions about that, but certainly the President-elect taking a moment to, once again, renew his call to claim Canada. Again, not possible, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Quite a sales pitch. Jeff Zeleny live for us not far from Mar-a-Lago. Thank you so much, Jeff.

Let's go now live to CNN's Manu Raju, who's on Capitol Hill for us.

Getting back to the certification of the 2024 presidential election. Manu, what stood out to you about today's ceremony?

Well, I talked to a lot of Republicans and Democrats who are happy about a return to normalcy. Democrats are more willing to speak out about all the events that happened four years ago. I asked a lot of Republicans, too, about whether or not they agree with the way Donald Trump has characterized this event, downplaying the violence that occurred, calling it a day of love, as Donald Trump has said time and time again.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, I just asked him about that. He said that, I suppose he's getting what I've said about that day. And he said that I am moving forward. And that's really how a lot of Republicans, they don't want to talk about what happened four years ago. They want to talk about the Trump agenda, what they plan to do now, rather than what happened then.

But there are still some Republicans who are making it very clear they disagree with how Trump has characterized the events from January 6, 2021.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: The President-elect refers to it as a day of love. Was it a day of love?

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Not for me, no.

RAJU: Why do you say that?

CURTIS: It was not our country's best day. It was not a good look for us.

RAJU: Do you think the President-elect bears any responsibility?

CURTIS: We still don't have answers about what happened that day and what didn't happen that day. And I wish we did.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Four years ago was a dark day in American history. The system worked in my view. That election was certified.

RAJU: You said you're done. That was a famous speech you gave on the floor. Do you stand by what you said then? GRAHAM: Yes, no. I accepted the results of the last election. I was telling everybody, I've listened to the challenges, I've heard the court cases, and I voted to certify.

RAJU: But you weren't talking about Trump when you said, I'm done. You were saying, you're done (INAUDIBLE) ...

GRAHAM: I'm done with challenging the results of the last election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Lindsey Graham also weighed in the idea of pardoning January 6 prisoners, as Donald Trump has suggested he would do on day one. The - Graham and other Republicans are indicating that they would prefer this is not done in a way that's sort of a blanket pardon that deals with the most violent offenders on that day, rather than via a more targeted approach.

Donald Trump has not really indicated exactly how he plans to proceed with all these pardons that he has promised to give. But that's one area in which Republicans are uncertain about how the President-elect may act when he takes office. And if he takes this step, that may go too far for some Republicans who believe that some of these prisoners on January 6 shouldn't get pardons and should remain in jail and serve out their prison time. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. A major campaign promise that Trump made. We'll see how he follows up on it once he is inaugurated. Manu Raju, live on Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

Joining us now live from the Hill to discuss is Pennsylvania Democrat and former impeachment manager for Trump's second impeachment, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us. You have described your experience on January 6th, 2021 in vivid detail, and you vowed to never forget what transpired on that day. I wonder now, four years later, what it's like for you to be in the chamber as Donald Trump and his election victory are being certified.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Well, good to be with you, Boris, on this beautiful snowy day here in Washington, D.C., which is a strange backdrop for what we just did, which was to be a part of a joint session, a ministerial session to certify the electoral count coming out of every state, which proved that the people chose Donald Trump to be the next president.

We did our constitutional duty. Much more important than I participating and sitting there next to Jamie Raskin, for example, was what the vice president did in her role as president of the Senate. She did exactly as she was required, as difficult as that task might have been personally. She did it as a patriot. She did it as a citizen. She did it according to her oath.

And as I sat there, Boris, I have to tell you, I just kept thinking back to four years ago how different it was, how we didn't go through a ministerial administrative process, constitutional process.

[15:10:10]

Instead, based on the tidal wave of lies by the former president that the election had somehow been stolen, a mob came believing in the former president's lies and the lies told by those around him, and they came and they attacked the Capitol. They killed. They maimed. A hundred and forty police officers were injured. Hundreds of them lost their careers, careers they had worked so hard for.

So, this is a day, Boris, I have to tell you, I think you know I was here in the gallery on that day, taken out in a gas mask, held for hours as the attack on the Capitol took place, where American citizens using Trump flags and American flags beat police officers, chanted that they wanted to hang Mike Pence, they wanted to kill Nancy Pelosi, and they wanted to hunt down any one of us.

I remember it was very startling to me that, as we were taken out, somebody hollered to each one of us, take your pin off. Take off your congressional pin, because they won't care if you're a Democrat. They won't care if you're a Republican. They're going to hurt or kill any one of you.

So, to me, I'm having a very hard time processing this. Proud of what the Vice President did today, how difficult that might have been personally, but she didn't reveal that. She knew she had a constitutional duty, but still trying to resolve why it is that four years later, we have a former president about to be president again, unwilling to acknowledge the truth of what he incited that day, and sadly, so many others now trying to rewrite the truth.

SANCHEZ: To that point, Congresswoman, how does it feel when you hear some Republicans come out and support pardons for some of the January 6th rioters? We've heard suggestions that they were grandmothers on an unauthorized tour of the Hill. Do you think that there's been prosecutorial overreach? Is there any part of you that seeks to reexamine those cases?

DEAN: I want the Justice Department to do its job, as it has been doing. Take a look at the videos. Take a look at the guilty pleas or the verdicts in these cases. Beating of Capitol Police officers, how can that be a grandmother's tour? How can that be a day of love? Our eyes are not deceiving us. Those tapes do not lie. Sadly, the people around the former president have chosen to lie.

In terms of pardons, if the president and President-elect chooses to pardon anybody who was rightfully convicted, and that's what I'm saying, rightfully convicted of what has taken place here, the crimes that took place here, because they are crimes, our eyes are not deceiving us. I know that what it is, is actually an attempt to pardon himself. That's what it is.

I really call upon our leaders. I was listening to Leader Thune over the weekend, and I was unfamiliar with his voice, and I want to get to know his voice. But I was stunned at how he had an inability on Sunday to answer the question how he felt if the President-elect were to issue blanket pardons.

I call upon the leaders now, just as I did as an impeachment manager in front of the Senate, to stand upon the truth, to call out simple right and wrong, constitutional crimes, criminal acts by United States citizens who beat Capitol Police officers and would have killed any one of us.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, before we let you go, I do want to focus on the future and messaging from Democrats on the future, specifically around Donald Trump. James Carville, a fellow Democrat, published a New York Times piece offering some advice in the wake of this last election.

And in one section, he wrote, quote, "First of all, we have to stop making Mr. Trump himself our main focus; he can't be elected again. Furthermore, it's clear many Americans don't give a rat's tail about Mr. Trump's indictments - even if they are justified - or about his anti-Democratic impulses or about social issues if they cannot provide for themselves or their families."

From a political perspective, how do you think Democrats have to approach the next four years, and even the next two years going into midterms, as they seek to untangle Republican control of Congress and send a Democrat back to the White House?

DEAN: Well, Boris, I read that op-ed as well. And I agree with Mr. Carville. I do like his colorful language and I agree with him. We are in a different place now. This is not Donald Trump's first administration. This is Donald Trump's second administration. We are not under threat that he will be able to run for re-election.

[15:14:59]

So that's why I approach this, especially as a Democrat, so slimly in the minority, with an open heart, that we could try to work on things together. There are things we almost passed the end of the last Congress around AI, around protection of our children online. There are many things we could work on in a bipartisan way. And that's the way I'm going to approach this next Congress, less with a focus on Mr. Trump, but not forgetting the past. We are doomed if we forget our past and always mindful of the truth.

But I do approach this very differently than when I came in in 2019, and Mr. Trump was in the midst of his first very difficult term.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, we have to leave the conversation there. I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

I have to say, I do not agree with it being a lovely snowy day. I am not a fan, but I hope you stay warm.

DEAN: Thank you. It's pretty. It's very difficult for everybody else. You too.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

DEAN: Thanks. SANCHEZ: Still to come, a deadly winter storm is hammering a large part of the country, stranding drivers, knocking out power and forcing thousands of flight cancellations. We're following its path.

Plus, President Biden en route to New Orleans after the deadly attack on Bourbon Street. What we know about his plans to grieve with families. And the latest on the investigation into what happened there.

And Manhattan's DA has just responded to President-elect Trump's request to delay Friday's sentencing in his hush money trial.

These stories and much more on the way on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:20:39]

SANCHEZ: This avalanche in Utah, just one of the major dangers triggered by a powerful winter storm that's already killed four people in Kansas and Missouri, all victims of car accidents. In Missouri, 600-some motorists were stranded by the extreme ice and snow over the weekend. And today, the system has done more than five inches of snow in the D.C. area, the most in two years. More than 300,000 households are without power in the Southeast and Midwest. And more than 1,900 flights have been canceled today, according to FlightAware.

Let's go to the Weather Center now with meteorologist Chad Myers, who has the latest.

Chad, tell us where the system is headed, what it's expected to do.

CHAD MYERS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Most of it's headed offshore. But I'm kind of - I agree with you about this - the pretty pleasant day in D.C. I don't get that when you have a windchill in the teens. So, I'm right along board there with you, Boris. It did snow a lot, even across parts of Maryland, all the way to Easton at almost a foot, goes all the way down to the ocean, you know, the ferry there, nine and a half inches right there on the beach. So, this was a significantly cold storm.

Now, a lot more snow fell out west where Kansas, you had over 20 inches. And then the ice - the ice, even in parts of Bluefield, some of this ice is just bringing still power lines down, branches down. And, of course, the electricity. We're still seeing some snow across parts of West Virginia, parts of Pennsylvania. But for D.C., really, it is just about gone. We're not going to see anything else. That Earth Camp shot that we showed you a little bit earlier, that really seeing the visibility pickup. We can see across the river, not that visibility that was down to a quarter mile at times, delaying or canceling all of those flights.

Likely, less than two to three more inches of snow. But look at this stripe, Boris, all the way from Salina, Kansas. This is somewhere between 10 inches and a foot in this entire pink zone all the way to the East Coast. So, yes, it was a widespread long track storm, still warnings in effect, but they will likely be canceled or expire somewhere around midnight tonight. Still seeing some of that snow into West Virginia, passing on by D.C. for one last fluffy look, probably Philadelphia as well. But that'll be over by about midnight tonight, Boris.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad to hear it will not be here tomorrow.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Chad Myers ...

MYERS: No, gone.

SANCHEZ: ... from the Weather Center, thanks so much for the update.

So, President-elect Trump says that he will undo a permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling that President Biden just announced today. The executive action forbids any future development across 625 million acres of ocean. The White House says that includes the waters off the entire East Coast, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Pacific coast and portions of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska. And while Trump is promising to reverse Biden's new ban, it would take an act of Congress to make that happen. CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir is here to explain.

First, Bill, talk to us about the environmental impact of this massive ban. What does it mean for new offshore drilling?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it would pretty much stop them for good and would cement Joe Biden's environmental legacy as the president who protected the most acreage worldwide - or around the country. But let me show you some maps to give you some perspective right now.

This is before the ban. This is courtesy of Oceana, the biggest international ocean advocacy non-profit. And everything in red there was unprotected, as you can see. But that mustardy colored area around the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the states along Florida and South Carolina, Georgia, those were offshore drilling bans put in place by Donald Trump. They were set to expire in 2035.

So now in these waning days, Joe Biden went ahead and did everything that's colored there, protected it all. This is due to the 1953 Outer Lands or Outer Shelf - Continental Shelf Lands Act. Now we can go to the new map and you can see all of it is protected, over 600,000 square miles. This is - this - Oceana calls this a total ocean victory and is celebrating this, as many environmentalists are. The oil and gas lobby is not. And today, President-elect Trump about to roll it all back while talking to Hugh Hewitt. Take a listen.

[15:25:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately. I will unban it. I have the right to unban it immediately. What's he doing? Why is he doing it? You know, we have something that nobody else has. I mean, nobody has to the extent we have it, and it'll be more by the time we finish because I'll be able to expand, you know, we're going to expand our country. He doesn't even know what 625 million acres would look like, and we can't let that happen to our country. It's our greatest. It's really our greatest economic asset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEIR: Six-hundred and twenty-five million acres, I misspoke and said square miles. But just for context, under Joe Biden, the United States fracked and drilled and exported more fossil fuel than any nation in history as - and you know that, as we showed you, President Trump actually banned offshore drilling there as political favors in the Southeast. But now it might take an act of Congress.

In 2019, Boris, a judge said the president has the power to sort of ratchet up protections, but it's only a one-way ratchet. It can't go the other way. That could end up in the High Court. Mike Lee, a Senate Republican, said they may be able to use reconciliation to open up especially the Gulf of Mexico right now.

But again, this has zero effect on gas prices today. It takes 10 years to build an offshore oil platform, Boris. The global market determines prices as well. But the Trump administration very much sticking with the campaign rhetoric of "drill, baby drill."

SANCHEZ: Yes, the context, obviously, so important. Bill Weir, thanks so much for breaking that down for us.

Still ahead, President Biden taking on the role of consular-in-chief in New Orleans, just days after a man's deadly attack on Bourbon Street.

And facing a crisis, the prime minister of one of America's biggest allies is set to resign. What's next for Canada and Justin Trudeau?

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