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Don Lemon Tonight
Tiger Woods Seriously Injured In A Car Crash; Long Road To Recovery For The Golf Legend; Senator Ron Johnson Sees A Different Crowd On January 6; Senator Josh Hawley Upset With The Word "Insurrectionists"; Tiger Woods Experienced Racism In His Life; Rioters Were Ready For A "War"; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Is Interviewed Why U.S. Capitol Police Were Completely Off Guard On January 6. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired February 23, 2021 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Thanks for watching. "CNN TONIGHT," the big show, the big star, D. Lemon, right now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: OK. So, riddle me this. How can people who are 30, 20s, 40s in other states like California and Florida already have gotten the vaccine, and you and I are sitting here like bumps on a log waiting to get the vaccine. I'm not complaining, I just want to know how, like what is the -- like, where is the rhyme or reason to all of it.
CUOMO: You would have to rank them. One, you do have supply chain issues in terms of what percentage of each of the populations the states have, how they phased it. And then I think you have efficiencies in terms of how local and state government work together to get it done.
Now look, there is a little bit of controversy in some of the states also about how they're allowing people to get it or not, but it is a point of frustration. But I think the -- so I'm with you. The bigger problem for me is, what do you get for getting the vaccine other than the personal satisfaction of knowing --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- that you're way, way better off personally?
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Shouldn't that already be in place, like, you know, these places can open up, but you can open up this much more with vaccinated people?
LEMON: Right, or if you have health care, because what I -- what got from my healthcare person or agency or whatever you want to call it, is that when it's your turn, we will let you know. So, I'm just patiently waiting, but I'm wondering, like, you know, as I talk to friends who live in other states and they're my age or younger and healthy and in the gym every day, and I'm like, how did you get the vaccine? I just --
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: -- I don't really get it.
CUOMO: Also, because we don't have a national plan. One of the things I'd like to see --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Well, like, one of my to-be in-laws, they're getting it this week and they're in their 70s. Like, I don't understand that.
CUOMO: It's really hard to get. Again, you know, I told the story about my in-laws. If my wife wasn't on there like a hacker, you know, pushing refresh every three seconds to find a hole in an appointment calendar, they may still be waiting.
But I don't know why the federal government hasn't been able to come up with a technology fix to help centralize access a little bit more. You know, there are these bots out there that are on Twitter that aggregate data and let you know --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- where appointments are in a state like New Jersey has them.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Why don't they centralize that data and make it easier for people they index where they can get an opportunity to get the vaccine where they are. And I do think, I totally get that it's not fair if you get preference and go into a game because you get vaccinated when there is not equal access to vaccines for people of lower socioeconomic or minority communities.
But at the same time, why aren't we pushing everyone to get vaccinated? Then there has to be a preference --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- for those people.
LEMON: Yes. Well, I got a lot of breaking news as you know. I got to talk about Tiger Woods and his condition --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: If anyone can come back from this and play again, it will be him.
LEMON: This could be a very pivotal story when it comes to a Tiger Woods, and his story. The story of his personal life and his professional life. I'll see you later, sir. CUOMO: I love you, D. Lemon.
LEMON: I love you, brother. I'll talk to you later.
CUOMO: I love you unvaccinated self.
LEMON (on camera): Just don't breathe on me.
This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.
And yes, we do have breaking news. The latest on Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods hospitalized at this hour after being seriously injured in a high-speed single car crash. Police is saying that he is lucky to be alive at this moment.
And tonight, Woods has compound fractures in both legs and a shattered ankle. And one look, if you look at this smashed SUV, it really tells you just how much worse all of this could have been. Can you imagine being inside of that car, tumbling down that hill?
The call came in at 7.12 a.m. That was Pacific Time, OK, Pacific Time in California. The Woods -- Tiger Woods crashed after -- crashed, I should say after going downhill on a winding road reportedly on his way to a golf digest event at Rolling Hills Country Club. The area has a lot of accidents because of a downhill slope, several curves in that road.
The SUV crossing a median, going across two lanes of road before hitting a curb, hitting a tree, landing on its side off the roadway in the brush. You see them putting it, trying to get it now onto the wrecker, onto the truck, onto the tow truck. And then that left Tiger Woods trapped inside that SUV that you see now. The first deputy on the scene, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS GONZALEZ, DEPUTY OFFICER RESPONDED TO TIGER WOODS' CRASH: I asked him what his name was. He told me his name was Tiger. At that moment I immediately recognized him. I asked him if he knew where he was and what time of day, just to make sure he was oriented. He seemed as though he was lucid and calm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): So, more details about what happened and how they got him out. The rescue crew using an ax to set him free from that SUV. The crash coming just one day after Tiger Woods was out on that golf course with NBA legend Dwyane Wade. Dwyane Wade saying this tonight on TNT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[22:05:00]
DWYANE WADE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I picked up the golf club like many in the black community because of Tiger Woods. And I got that opportunity yesterday to get out there and get him, you know, he taught me a few things. Hopefully it translates, but, you know, to be out there with the goat, in my eyes, in the sport, and to be able to talk to him about Sam and Charlie and his father. You know, it was a great day.
And then I woke up today so proud to be able to post that moment, you know, for the world, to be able to get a snippet of --
UNKNOWN: Yes.
WADE: -- our moment together. I took a nap, and I woke up and I woke up to the news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): It's like one name, right? You don't have to say the Woods. It's like Tiger, Oprah. You don't have to say the last name. So, Tiger transcends sports, superstar, who had a stunning fall from grace that was back in 2009, blew up his marriage. Went to stay at an addiction clinic and play through pain to make an amazing comeback, OK?
So, we've got much more on this Tiger Woods story in just a minute. We're going to tell you all about it. So, you know, make sure if you want to know about it, stay tuned.
But we have other big stories as well. There is another big story of the day, and that's the brutal truth about that attack on the capitol. It revealed in testimony -- revealing a lot in the testimony today at the Senate where attackers ran riot last month. All the witnesses agreeing this was planned, this was a planned, coordinated attack. All the witnesses agreeing white supremacists were involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Do you agree that there is now clear evidence that supports the conclusion that the January 6 insurrection was planned and it was a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol? Just say -- everyone agrees?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: OK. Would you agree that this attack involved white supremacist and extremist groups?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): So, I am going to speak with Senator Amy Klobuchar just ahead. But -- there's always a but or a yet, right? The enablers of the big lie, they just keep trying to bury the truth, exhibit a. Ron Johnson. Doing it even after everyone, everything we all saw with our own eyes. We saw it. You saw it. You heard it, what they were saying to some of
the officers. You saw the paraphernalia. You saw the racist insignias on some of their shirts. Well, Ron Johnson wants you to believe that the white supremacists and terrorists who stormed the capitol were just friendly. How friendly does that look to you, that video? Yet the senator is spreading lies, reading a conspiracy theory-laced article and entering it right into the record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Many of the marches were families with small children. Many were elderly, overweight or just plain tired and frail. Trace is not typically attributed to the riot prone. Some obviously didn't fit in, and he describes four different types of people. Plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters and then disciplined uniformed column of attackers. I think these are the people that probably planned this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Shame on you, Ron Johnson. Do you think people are that stupid? Because that is a load of crap, a big old load of do-do, garbage. You represent the people of America. That is a load of B.S. And you know it! You should be ashamed of spreading conspiracy theories about one of the worst days in our country's history! Have you no shame? I'm not even going to say sir.
In my southern roots, you're supposed to say sir, but not to that. Nuts. Crazy. Everybody saw what happened. Everybody saw who stormed that capitol. The FBI is very clear about it. There is zero, zero evidence that antifa or any other group of leftists were part of this brutal attack.
Same thing with the election fraud story. Goose eggs. Yet you still do it. To what end? To what end? And then there is Josh Hawley. The one -- there he is. He's going to say, no, I wasn't saluting protesters. And look what he's doing there, Josh Hawley who saluted protesters outside the capitol before the violence began. He is still defending them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[22:10:04]
UNKNOWN: Do you regret any of your actions leading up to this? Walking by some of the insurrectionist, raising your fist like that?
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): No. First of all, let me stop you right there. You call them insurrectionists. I mean, folks who I walked by when I was on my way to the House chamber were standing there peacefully, behind police barricades, off of the plaza, the Capitol of the United States. They have a first amendment right to be there. They don't have a first amendment right to riot, as some of them later did.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON (on camera): Maybe he should have gone out there and defended the capitol and his colleagues. Is this really who you want representing you? Sad. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
The fact is, bloodthirsty rioters stormed the capitol on January 6, and then hours later, while the damage was still being cleaned up, Josh Hawley voted to challenge the Electoral College results, voted to prop up the then-president's big lie. Even after everything that happened. And still defending it. Still defending it. Bad decisions, still defending bad decisions, even after an attack that shocked the then-capitol police chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN SUND, FORMER CHIEF, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: I witnessed insurgents beating police officers with fists, pipes, sticks, bats, metal barricades and flagpoles. These criminals came prepared for war. They came with their own radio system to coordinate the attack and climbing gear and other equipment to defeat the capitol's security features. I am sickened by what I witnessed that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): He said it. Criminals. Yet, Hawley and Johnson defend them, fine people. That's what this is. It's all the same thing.
A lot more tonight on that. But I want to turn to the information on Tiger Woods. CNN's Nick Watt is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Early morning, a winding downhill stretch of road, Tiger Woods was alone in that SUV, trapped.
UNKNOWN: The first contact was with the center median, and from there then crossed into the opposing lane of traffic, hit the curb, hit a tree and there were several rollovers during that process. He was alive and he was conscious.
DARYL OSBY, FIRE CHIEF, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It was my understanding that he had serious injuries to both legs.
WATT: The first call came in just after 7 a.m. Pacific Time.
UNKNOWN: Traffic collision, ALS now, person is trapped.
WATT: Emergency personnel on the scene within minutes.
OSBY: We also used an ax to pry him from the vehicle. He was taken from the vehicle with seat collar and backboard for spinal precautions. He was transported in serious but stable condition.
WATT: Less than ten miles to UCLA-Harbor Hospital.
UNKNOWN: All we know that a serious condition as a result of the accident, and that's about all they want to say.
WATT: No sobriety test due to his injuries.
UNKNOWN: No evidence of impairment at this point in time.
WATT: Woods lives in Florida, so why was he on the West Coast? Well, you can almost read the words Genesis invitational on the door of that crumpled SUV. Woods was hosting that tournament just a few miles up the coast. It ended Sunday. He wasn't playing but spoke about his chances of making it to the Masters in April, the scene of his most famous triumphs.
UNKNOWN: Seven weeks from today, final round of the Masters. Are you going to be there?
TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: God, I hope so. I have to get there first.
UNKNOWN: Do you feel like --
(CROSSTALK)
WOODS: A lot of it is based on my surgeons and my doctors and my therapists.
WATT: Yesterday Woods was back on the golf course. Former NBA star Dwyane Wade posted this video.
WADE: Thank you, Tiger, for teaching me something. How good am I or how bad am I?
WOODS: Good.
WATT: Tuesday morning, this. Not life-threatening, we're told, but a blow to all the world of sports. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus tweeting, Barbara and I just heard about Tiger's accident, and like everyone else, we are deeply concerned. We want to offer him our heartfelt support and prayers at this difficult time. Please join us in wishing Tiger a successful surgery and all the best for a full recovery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (on camera): Now this is where Tiger Woods' car finally came to rest, in this dirt by the side of the road. When the fire department got here, they said Tiger Woods was trying to get himself out of the car, but he couldn't.
[22:15:03]
He also couldn't walk under his own steam. Compound fractures to his legs. These aren't life-threatening, but right here this could be where one of the most storied careers in sport came to an end. We don't know if Tiger Woods will be able to play golf professionally again. Don?
LEMON: We certainly hope so, Nick. And listen, I saw you there earlier, but it's dark, and I hope you can do this, give us a sense of where this happened, a sense of just how far Tiger's car rolled off the road, how far that is from the interstate.
WATT: Yes. Don, it is a lot harder in the dark, obviously. So, the road is over there. He was driving downhill, it's brand new, good- looking blacktop. He somehow lost control, hit that median, and then crossed the median, hit the curb and then rolled multiple times, as you just heard the sheriff saying, through all of this undergrowth.
The sheriff, the county sheriff says he thinks it was hundreds of feet and multiple revolutions of this car before it came and landed right here. Now, that length that those hundreds of feet led the sheriff to say that perhaps Tiger Woods was driving it, you know, above normal speed in order for the car to just travel so far off the road, spinning as it went. Don?
LEMON: Yes. There will be a thorough investigation and we will find out. Thank you, Nick Watt. I appreciate that.
WATT: Yes.
LEMON: Tiger Woods is lucky to be alive tonight. As the former President Barack Obama is tweeting him prayers for his speedy recovery. What kind of injuries does he have and what do we know about this investigation, which I said will play out a thorough one? We're going to have more that. That's next.
[22:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Lots to discuss on our breaking news. Tiger Woods suffering compound fractures in both legs after his frightening car crash. the L.A. Times is reporting that he also suffered his -- shattered -- excuse me -- his ankle, a first responder describing what it was like when they arrived at the scene of that crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GONZALEZ: Unfortunately, Mr. Woods was not able to stand under his own power. Our partners at L.A. County Fire were able to extricate him from the vehicle, and they put him onto a backboard. When I arrived on scene, Mr. Woods was seated in the driver's seat. I made contact with him, and I ensured that he was able to speak to me. At that time, he seemed as though he was still calm and lucid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Josh Campbell joins me now. He is at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and also emergency room physician. Dr. Leana Wen joins us as well. Good evening to both of you.
Josh, I'm going to start with you first. You're at that hospital where Tiger Woods is right now, what can you tell us about his condition?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: At this hour, Don, he is recovering from those very serious injuries. He was brought here about eight miles from the actual crash site, this being the local level one trauma center here that services the south bay here in south Los Angeles.
Now we were hearing earlier in the day from our enforcement sources that his injuries have included a possible compound fracture to one or both of his legs. Our colleagues at the Los Angeles Times reporting tonight that those injuries also include a shattered ankle, two broken legs, two fractured legs. Again, very serious injuries.
And when you just look at some of the images of that vehicle that was involved in this violent accident there in Rancho Palos Verdes, it's just nothing short of a miracle that these injuries weren't more serious and perhaps fatal. You had a vehicle going downhill at speed, going across the median into an area with trees and brushes and the like, just a very serious accident there.
Again, Tiger Woods is now recovering here behind me tonight at this level one trauma center after receiving those very serious injuries, Don.
LEMON: Josh, seat belts, seat belts and new safety technology in cars, I'm sure, is the main reason that he's alive right now. Josh, the sheriff is getting a lot of questions about Tiger's state -- his state, I should say, when he was found, whether he was impaired or not. Are they talking about that?
CAMPBELL: They are indeed. And of course, after any type of accident crash investigators tried to look at all of the ingredients that went into that, to include weather, to include whether there was another party. It doesn't appear that weather was a factor here. This is a single car crash.
We're also hearing from authorities that they did not see any indication that he was impaired, no smell of alcohol, no indicia of being under the influence of any type of drug. Again, those are all standard things that they look for in a crash to try to determine the cause of it.
Again, they are coming out tonight saying that as it relates to what they saw on scene, no indication that this was anything other than just perhaps a vehicle getting out of control based on traveling at a high rate of speed, Don.
LEMON (on camera): Got it. Dr. Wen, I want to bring you in, but first, I want you to listen to the fire chief. So, this is the fire chief describing how Tiger was pulled from that crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSBY: Tiger was, he was alert and oriented and he was trying to self- extricate, but he was unable. So, my firefighters used a hooligan tool to help pry the seats of the metal from around his legs. They also used an ax to break out the windshield. At the same time the firefighters and paramedics were keeping c-spine precautions for a potential neck and back injuries.
They were able to get him on a backboard, splint his legs and transport him to a trauma center. The reason we did not take him to the nearest hospital because he has significant injuries, but they weren't life threatening. If they were life threatening, for example, if we were unable to control his airway, as an example, then we would have taken him to the nearest hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): OK, so this is your expertise, Dr. Wen. What does that tell you about his condition?
LEANA WEN, FORMER BALTIMORE CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Well, it means several things. One is that he was talking at the point that he was found, which already tells you a lot, because we go by the ABCs, airway, breathing, circulation. If you're able to talk, it means that your airway is intact, it means that you're probably breathing. Probably it also means that you're getting enough blood flow that you're not unconscious at that point, so that certainly a very good sign.
[22:24:59]
Now self-extrication? Not a good idea. This was a very high-speed mechanism car accident. Never a good idea to let somebody in that incident tried to get themselves from the car. This is why you heard the fire chief talk about c-spine and spine mobilization because you want to stabilize the spine, you also want to just prevent further injury from occurring, and this is why having somebody else open the car and get you out is a good idea.
Something also they mention here too at the end is that -- is that his injuries were serious, but they were not so life- threatening, meaning that he was able to go to the best level of care, this level one trauma center where he can get the most specialized care.
They were not so emergent that he had to end up going to a closer hospital to be stabilized. So that also bodes well, although I will say that we're still waiting for more information about what other injuries he might have sustained.
My concern is that if, indeed, he has these compound leg fractures, multiple leg fractures, that's such substantial force that there might be other injuries as well, and I'm certain that at the hospital that he's at Harbor-UCLA, and he would -- he would have been fully assessed for these other injuries, too.
LEMON: Dr. Leana Wen, Josh Campbell, thank you both. I appreciate it.
We've got a lot more on the Tiger Woods crash, more than a golfer, really, he is a cultural icon. His thoughts on that and the racism he's encountered over his career. That's next.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): So, this is our breaking news tonight. Tiger Woods hospitalized with compound fractures in both legs after a single- vehicle rollover crash near Los Angeles, the crash putting the future of Woods' golf career really into question, also putting a spotlight on his cultural legacy.
Let's discuss now. Bomani Jones is here. Bomani is the host of ESPN's The Right Time with Bomani Jones. Good to see you, sir. Thanks for joining. Important --
BOMANI JONES, HOST, ESPN'S THE RIGHT TIME WITH BOMANI JONES: Glad to be on.
LEMON: -- important time for you to be on with us. So, let's look at -- we'll put this up. When you look at, Bomani, look at total car, you see just how serious this crash was. Thankfully, Tiger Woods was wearing a seat belt, but compound fractures to his legs on top of his back problems? That's a tough road to recovery.
JONES: Yes. I am certainly not a doctor, but at, you know, approaching around 45 years old coming off a back surgery. Hearing the extent of these injuries, like the last thing I could imagine he's thinking about himself as golf. And it kind of feels like the last time he won the Masters it reminded me that Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors, but that was seven years between when he won his previous -- he spent ultimate major in 1980 and the last one in 1986.
You took the 80 that you were because you didn't expect it. And I always felt like that was the way that we should have treated him when Tiger Woods won that last Masters, like we were happy to get that one when it wasn't supposed to try to catch Jack Nicklaus. Well, this is about getting to being Tiger Woods. We got to see him do it that one last time in that tournament, and it's entirely possible that that will be the last time we see him in that sort of glory.
And I do hope for a lot of people and fans that they appreciated it at the time, that we were fortunate to get to see him come back to that moment in the time that he did, and we might not see him as a golfer like that ever again.
LEMON (on camera): Yes. You know, he's broken so many barriers, really, include -- I think he's a living icon, right? There are very few people who are, you know, one name, you say their name and you know exactly who they're talking about, with the success and fame all over the world. Tiger is one of those people.
But he broke so many barriers as a -- and had so many successes as a person of color in a sport that is mostly white, struggled with that since he was four years old. I want you to watch this and then we'll discuss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOODS: But when it first hit home that I was not accepted when I was probably about five, four years old, four or five years old, when a guy at the golf course I was playing at --
UNKNOWN: Playing at four.
WOODS: At four years old in a military base, he came over to me and said, he called me the "n" word, and said --
UNKNOWN: Really?
WOODS: -- we don't allow any of you out here. And my dad was over on a putting green, and so he just kind of shooed me off. When I told my dad, and you know, my dad came over and talked to him, had a little altercation, and next thing you know, I was kicked off from that from the golf course because of the color of my skin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Wow. You say Tiger has experienced a lot of racism in his life, Bomani.
JONES: He certainly has. I mean, that's -- it is been fair to raise questions about some of the decisions and actions he's made in response to some of that racism, but the part that's undeniable and the part that I think that even for people who were critical of him, there had to be a certain measure or empathy for, is the weight of the racism that he wound under than the particular like, cultures that he's in as a golfer. Right?
It's not simply that you are the only black person there, but you are the only black person there and you are beating the hell out of everybody. Right. So, you got people hat barely want you to be there in the first place, and they certainly don't want you there being the most dominant figure.
Then you take it all the way, you know, to getting winning the Masters when he was 21 years old, and then after you beat him so bad, they decide, we need to change the course, right? Like that is the magnitude of Tiger Woods, is that we are going to change the course that goes the national because nobody is supposed to beat everybody else like this especially not you.
LEMON: Yes. And you talk about if you, you know, if you use that as motivation. Talk about motivation and the times that I've experienced that in my life, I've used it as motivation, I think many people of color or marginalized people, women and so on, use it as a motivation to succeed. That is the ultimate motivation or can be the ultimate thing that ruins your spirit.
JONES: Yes. And exactly how much he uses that as motivation as oppose to everything else, right? Because one thing about athlete of that caliber is, they don't have to work very hard to find the motivation, they find the slights in anything that happens to come up. Right? But I would imagine that if in that same situation and it goes like this, that could absolutely be your driver.
LEMON: Bomani, it's good to see you. I wish it was under better circumstances. But thank you for joining us tonight to talk about Tiger Woods, his legacy and this accident. Thanks so much.
JONES: Thank you, sir.
LEMON: Thank you. The former capitol police chief says rioters were, quote, "prepared for war during that insurrection on January 6," so why was law enforcement caught off guard? Stay with us.
[22:35:03]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): So, here's what lawmakers in Congress want to know. They want to know what went so horribly wrong on January 6, leading to the deadly insurrection and really sacking of the capitol by Trump supporters. Sacking of the capitol by Trump supporters.
Current and former law enforcement officials testifying at the first public hearing on the attack today, describing a mix of intelligence and coordination failures and the former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police also saying that the riot was a military-style coordinated attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUND: These people came specifically with equipment. You're bringing climbing gear to a demonstration. You're bringing explosives. You're bringing chemical sprays.
[22:39:57]
Also, the fact that we were dealing with two pipe bombs that were explicitly, you know, set right off the edge of our perimeter to, I suspect, draw resources away. I think there was significant coordination with this attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): I'm so happy to have Senator Klobuchar here to discuss who oversaw the hearing. That's why I'm happy. So, she was in the room, oversaw it, so she knows what's going on. Thank you, senator. I appreciate you joining us.
KLOBUCHAR: Well, thanks, Don. And I also want to mention Gary Peters. We did this jointly with homeland security rules, and we also did it with Rob Portman and Roy Blunt. It was really important to us despite anything Ron Johnson said that this be a bipartisan hearing, because the whole idea is to get answers that lead to solutions. And we had all three people that resigned shortly after this happened, and really got them to talk about what went wrong.
LEMON: Great. I'm glad you said that. And we need bipartisanship, of course, you know that. So, if the testimony showed today, senator, the capitol attack was planned, and it involved white supremacist and extremist groups. There was an intelligence breakdown. Why was everyone caught so completely off guard?
KLOBUCHAR: There was clearly mistakes, major, major failures of predicting what was happening here. Ad one of the things we talked about in the hearing was that on January 3rd, there was an internal assessment of intelligence with the result that tens of thousands may be there. And then right the night before, the FBI's Norfolk office e- mailed a report that, as you noted, they felt a lot of social media showing people who were going to show up there felt they were going to war.
And yet, the police chief did not see that or know about it until literally the last few days. And so, you just can't push 'send' on an e-mail at night and think people are going to read it, we all know that, and so there are issues on that end.
But also, on the receiving end, why don't they have a better system? And we have something called the capitol police board that's been there for a while, and I know there was bipartisan interest in looking at how we change that so that you don't have the police chief in the middle of an insurrection calling two sergeant-at-arms who are each trying to protect their own members to figure out how to get the National Guard there.
LEMON: Wow.
KLOBUCHAR: Obviously that should have been done before, but even the day of, there was a delay. And we're having a second hearing next week where we'll we bringing forth a Department of Defense, homeland security and FBI witnesses to ask them about their end of this.
LEMON: So.
KLOBUCHAR: Again, looking for solutions in how to better structure this. It's pretty crazy. We know who the insider in chief was, we know what really went wrong here, but we also have to figure out how to protect the capitol going forward.
LEMON: Well, let me just say this, because you mentioned it as well. The FBI bulletin warning the night before that Congress was a target. And I just want to quote it here so individuals can see it. Saying, "go there, ready for war," it said. "We got our president -- we get our president or we die." And you said some of those weren't seen.
I got to ask you -- I want to ask you about Ron Johnson if you can give me a quick answer to this one. Have you heard --
KLOBUCHAR: OK.
LEMON: Have you heard anything about any of the officers or any of the police brass saying they just didn't think this would happen from Trump supporters because they thought Trump supporters were -- had an affinity for law enforcement?
KLOBUCHAR: OK. I did talk to a police officer off duty tonight and he was offended by those things Ron Johnson said, that he had said that it was a festive atmosphere, that this wasn't -- these were, as he said, older people -- come on.
LEMON: Can we play it?
KLOBUCHAR: They --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: And then you can talk about it. Let us play it and then we'll let you talk about it. Here it is.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes. All right.
LEMON (on camera): All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: Although the crowd represented a broad cross-section of Americans, mostly working class by their appearance and manner of speech, some people stood out. A very few didn't share the jovial, friendly, earnest demeanor of the great majority. Some obviously didn't fit in, and he describes four different types of people. Plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters and then disciplined uniform column of attackers. I think these are the people that probably planned this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): OK. Go on, Senator.
KLOBUCHAR: OK. The American people watched the videos during the impeachment trial. They know what they saw. They heard about the feces on the wall and the blood on the floor and the African-American police officer who turned to his friend afterward, broke down in tears after being called the "n" word 15 times and said, is this America?
These weren't fake Trump supporters. These are real Trump supporters. These weren't provocateurs out for a picnic on a festive day. We all know the truth. And that's why at the very beginning of the hearing, my first question was to ask all four law enforcement people, the leaders that day, now that you know what you know, was this planned, was this coordinated, was it led by white supremacists? Yes, yes, yes, every single one of them.
LEMON: Yes.
[22:45:00]
KLOBUCHAR: I thought it was really important to defeat the misinformation putting out there -- put out there by Ron Johnson to make it clear to the American people. This was a hearing which, for the most part, was very helpful, frustrating but helpful.
This was a hearing about getting answers and solutions. And he can go and spout out all he wants of these crazy theories, but they're not true.
LEMON: Yes. Well, thank you, Senator. And, listen, all they have to do is talk to the people who were arrested who said they were acting on behalf of their president. Thank you so much, Senator.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
LEMON: I appreciate you joining us. Have a good evening.
KLOBUCHAR: Thank you. LEMON: Thank you.
Instead of using today's hearing to get to the truth some Republicans proving there is no conspiracy theory they won't peddle to defend Trump. And that's next.
[22:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): Republican Senator Ron Johnson pushing debunk conspiracy theories at today's hearing on the capitol riot. Claiming, left-wing agitators and so-called fake Trump supporters were behind the attack.
Let's bring in now CNN political director David Chalian, and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro. Good evening to both.
Ana, what do you think when Ron Johnson when he was using his time at today's hearing to suggest that this capitol attack really was the work of provocateurs? Disinformation it's wrong. He's got to know that at this point he is deliberately doing this and that he is misinforming the public.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Really, I felt embarrassed for him and for the people of Wisconsin and for the Republican Party. Look, you know, senators are supposed to have more gravitas than that. They are supposed to be the serious deliberative chamber. And you know, three things came to mind.
First of all, he has no place in this hearing, this level of misinformation. You know, now we have the Senate populated by people like Ron Johnson and Josh Hawley who purposely misinform. Second thing that came to mind was, just how important the impeachment hearing, the impeachment trial was.
There were so many people that said it was a waste of time. No, it wasn't a waste of time. Because had we not seen those videos, had we not understood the timeline, had we not understood what incited these people and who they were and who the arrested ones are, maybe we would, you know, maybe what Ron Johnson thinks and says would not seem as absurd and ridiculous and frankly, mal-intentioned.
And look, and I think the third thing, and most important is, I think this is CYA by Ron Johnson and his ilk, because the truth is that all of those senators who denied that Joe Biden was elected president, all those senators who after January 6th's insurrection went back and voted against the confirmation of Joe Biden, all those senators have to look at themselves in the mirror, have to look at their constituents. Have to live with themselves. And so, I think the easiest way for them to do that is to lie.
LEMON: Yes. I think --
(CROSSTALK) NAVARRO: To continue lying and pretending that what they were doing was protecting the country from, you know, people that Nancy Pelosi had planted in the --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: But I think, Ana, that's who they are. And the big lie doesn't matter. And listen, David, there are people who, you know, like Adam Kinzinger who is tweeting that it's disgraceful for a sitting senator to spread disinformation blatantly. And it goes on to say that it was a disservice to the people he serves to continue lying to them like this. It's dangerous and it has to stop.
Unfortunately, for the Republican Party, there are more Ron Johnsons in the party than there are of people like Kinzinger.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, that's certainly the bet, Don, that Ron Johnson is making should he decide to run again for re- election from Wisconsin next year. You know, he is up, and we haven't heard his decision yet. But he clearly thinks the path to re-election should he decide to run is exactly down this disgraceful disinformation hole.
That is bad for democracy. Why he thinks that's going to work in a state that Joe Biden actually narrowly defeated Donald Trump in, in 2022. I'm not sure I fully understand that, but he thinks it is the way to get the most energy out of the base of his party. And as you note, all the polls indicate that the Ron Johnson point of view is the far more popular point of view in the current make-up of the Republican Party.
LEMON: Yes. Speaking of the more Ron Johnsons, there's also Josh Hawley today, the guy who stood outside the capitol and raised a fist to the insurrectionists leading the charge for President Trump and objecting to the electoral vote. He is now trying to blame others for what happened to congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi. That's pretty despicable.
NAVARRO: It's pretty despicable.
LEMON: It's for David. That was for David.
NAVARRO: And look, I --
CHALIAN: Sorry. So, yes that is despicable. I mean, I thought for his allotted time along with his questions of the witnesses today, he also should have handed a mirror that he could pick up and look at himself in.
LEMON: Right on.
CHALIAN: I mean, to hear Josh Hawley go down the path of questioning witnesses about a comment that Russel Honore made about whether or not they maybe complicit in some fashion in the January 6th attack, and get all bent out of shape about the notion of complicity in the January 6th attack. It seemed he had zero awareness of his role by being the senator that
came out first to say he is going to challenge the electoral vote, that he is going to usurp democracy so that Donald Trump could illegitimately try to hold on to it.
[22:55:03]
This is a Scarlet Letter attached to him now for the remainder of his career in public life and he thinks that it simply can disappear because he is going to try and focus and place blame elsewhere. I think he is sorely mistaken about this. This is going to be with him for the duration.
LEMON: Yes. Ana, I know you want to jump in. Go on, go ahead. I'll give you the last word.
NAVARRO: Listen, David will remember that Ron Johnson, the day of the impeachment trial, the day of the vote came up to Mitt Romney on the floor of the Senate and got in to an argument with Mitt Romney. had words with him over Mitt Romney's conscientious vote.
And listen, if Ron Johnson decides to run next year for re-election, he's got to get through a Republican primary first and he knows that if he takes the conscientious honorable, honest, sane approach of a Mitt Romney or an Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney, he will face the wrath of Donald Trump, who will, not doubt, who will not vacillate in finding somebody to primary him and he might lose, he might very well lose his primary.
And so that's why people who lack spine, who lack courage, who put career over honor, and over duty, and over country, are people like Ron Johnson. And that's why they have to make up these cap meme ridiculous asinine stories because they've got to sell it to somebody. They've got to somehow justify the stupidity and illogical votes that they have taken and stories that they have stuck to. It is their only route.
LEMON: Well, thank you, Ana, and thank you, David. I appreciate it. I'll see you both soon. We will be right back.
CHALIAN: Thanks, Don.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
