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Don Lemon Tonight
Tiger Woods In Serious Condition After High-Speed Single Car Crash; Authorities Saying Stretch Of Road Where Woods Crashed Known For Speeding And Accidents; Capitol Security Officials Point Fingers Over Disastrous Response To January 6th Riot; Pence Says He Maintains A Close Personal Friendship With Trump; Deb Haaland Grilled Over Tweet Critical Of GOP At Confirmation Hearing. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired February 23, 2021 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
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DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): Tiger Woods recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering serious leg injuries following a high-speed rollover crash in his SUV. The L.A. County sheriff saying that the airbags and seatbelts likely saved his life. Emergency responders using a pry bar and an ax to pull Woods out of that SUV but saying that he was awake, lucid, and calm.
Two former presidents wishing him well. Barack Obama tweeting he's praying for Woods speedy recovery and saying he has learned over the years to never count Tiger out. And Donald Trump saying, he hopes Woods gets better and talked about his television ratings.
CNN's Kyung Lah is in Los Angeles tonight, and she takes us through what happened and what officials are saying tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: Traffic collision, ALS now, the person is trapped. Sheriff on scene.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The emergency dispatch call came just after 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
UNKNOWN: Hawthorne Blvd. Palos Verdes drive north. Vehicle off the side of the road.
LAH: That vehicle was a silver SUV that lay mingled on its side. The windshield broken and gone. It's, front smashed. Inside was golf legend, Tiger Woods. Deputy Carlos Gonzalez was the first officer at the accident.
DEPUTY CARLOS GONZALEZ, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERRIF'S DEPARTMENT: I was able to get might upper body through the windshield.
LAH: The car had flipped with the driver-side door on the ground. The deputy's goal? Keep the injured Woods alert. GONZALEZ: When I got there he was lucid. I was able to ask him his
name. I was able to ask him if he knew where he was and what time of day it was. So, I didn't need to keep him conscious, what I was more focused on was to keep him talking.
LAH: Los Angeles law enforcement source tells CNN, Woods suffered from non-life-threatening injuries which include compound fractures in his legs, no (inaudible) sobriety test was given due to the seriousness of his injuries. (Inaudible) he was transported to Harbor-UCLA Hospital in serious condition, whether at the time of the crash clear and the roadway --
SHERIFF ALEX VILLANUEVA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: No skid marks and no breaking. So apparently the first contact was with the center median and from there, then cross in to the opposing lane of traffic. Hit the curb. Hit a tree and there was several roll-overs during that process.
LAH: The words genesis invitational are visible on the SUV's door. Tiger Woods was listed as a tournament host for the event that ended on Sunday, not far from the crash site, at the tournament Woods told CBS Sports he was looking forward to the Masters tournament in April. After fighting through five back surgeries in recent years.
UNKNOWN: So Tiger, seven weeks from today, final round of the Masters, you going to be there?
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: God I hope so. I have to get there first.
UNKNOWN: You feel like you --
WOODS: A lot of it is based on my surgeons and my doctors and my therapists and making sure that I do it correctly and this is the only back I got.
LAH: Reaction across the sports world came quickly across social media and from his fellow professional golfers.
JUSTIN THOMAS, GOLFER: I'm sick to my stomach. You know, it hurts to see one of your, now my closest friends, you know, getting in an accident and I just hope he is all right. Just worried for his kids. You know, I'm sure they are struggling.
LAH: And shock from the entertainment world. Before news of the crash, three different celebrities had posted photos, golfing with Woods. Among them this video from former NBA star, Dwyane Wade.
UNKNOWN: Tiger, thank you for teaching me some.
LAH: An iconic athlete who broke barriers both in sports and culture for decades now faces another challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): Kyung Lah joins me now. Kyung, good evening to you, Josh Campbell with us as well at Harvard UCLA Medical Center. Good to see you again Josh. Josh is on the previous hour. Kyung, I'm going to start with you. The sheriff's department, giving a lot of detail about the accident, including this specific stretch of road. What are they saying about it?
[23:05:03]
LAH (on camera): Well, this is an area known for having speed issues. And if you look at an actual map of where this crash happened, Rancho Palos Verdes is right next to a community know as Rolling Hills. This is an area with a lot of hills, with a lot of rating issues and this particular road way has such speed issues of the grading that they had. Two truck pull offs. I want you to listen to the description of this particular roadway.
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GONZALEZ: That specific stretch of roadway is one of our trouble spots. Our locals in Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills know that it's a hot spot for traffic collisions as well as speed. In my experience, as a Deputy, who is traffic trained and work at traffic car, I have seen many collisions. The nature of his vehicle, the fact that he was wearing his seat belt, I would say that it greatly increased the likelihood that it saved his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH (on camera): Now this earlier in the investigation, Don, certainly they can't say the speed is a factor, but I want to remind you what you heard from the sheriff's department that there were no brakes, and there were no skid marks at the scene of this accident, Don.
LEMON: Let's go to Josh now. Now, Josh, let's talk about, you are at the hospital, what is the latest on Tiger's condition?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (on camera): Well, at the hour, Don, he is recovering from those very serious injuries that were inflicted after that car accident. Behind me, where he was taken to the local level 1 trauma center here. This is at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center that services the south bay area. And just to give you a sense of some of these injuries, we heard from law enforcement sources earlier in the day, that he had likely received a compound fracture to one or perhaps both of his legs.
Colleagues at the Los Angeles Times are reporting tonight that those injuries also include a shattered ankle, two broken legs, two fractured legs, so again, very, very serious injuries. And as you look at these images of that vehicle, that SUV that rolled over, it is just nothing short of a miracle that these injuries were not more severe and perhaps fatal in the words of authority.
When you look at this vehicle going down hill in a high rate of speed, crossing over in to a median and in to a wooded area, again, just remarkable there that these injuries were not more serious. Nevertheless, Tiger Woods is here tonight at the Trauma Center recovering, Don. LEMON: Yes. That vehicle is just demolishes. I mean, we are looking at
the pictures now, Josh. You are right about that. And Josh, Woods has just undergone his fight back surgery earlier this year. What was his condition like before this accident?
CAMPBELL: You know, Tiger Woods is no stranger to injuries. He's talked that link about some of the injuries that have occurred throughout his career, he underwent back surgery last month, as you mentioned, the fifth back surgery of his career. He spoke with CBS this past weekend and he was asked whether or not he would actually be well enough to take part in the Masters which is set to take place in Augusta in April. He said that he hoped that he would be. Of course, now this raises serious questions about what his condition will be especially after receiving these serious injuries here in L.A.
LEMON: Josh, Kyung, thank you so much. I appreciate your reporting. Now, I want to bring in CNN contributor and sports broadcasting legend, Mr. Bob Costas. Bob, good to see you. I wished it was better conditions that we got to speak of tonight but here we are. You have covered Tiger for decades. What did you think when you heard about this crash and what do you think now?
BOB COSTAS, NBC SPORTS BROADCASTER (on camera): Well, I'm not going to draw any conclusions about what led to the crash or what Tiger's state of mind might have been or anything else. All of that will become clear enough in the ensuing days.
We've actually gotten more clarity over the last few hours than we had when the story first broke. So, my first thought was the same as yours, just about every other else's. Oh my gosh, look at the visual, look at the condition the car is in. I hope these injuries are not life-threatening or in some way where it would impair him going forward as a person, not so much as a golfer, but as a person.
It now appears clear that even though these are traumatic injuries, he will be able to lead a normal life. Whether he will be able to resume a golf career is very much in doubt. That was in doubt already because at age 45, he had the five back surgeries. He had other surgeries to his leg. He was a guy who was not nearly what he was at his peak. And hoping just to get back and be able to compete. So that was in doubt to begin with. And now it's in very, very severe doubt.
LEMON: And you think about it, five back surgeries, Bob. I mean, that is a lot. In the arc of Tiger's career, how does this crash stack up against the (inaudible)? He's faced so many challenges, how does this stack up?
COSTAS: Well, again, we don't know his exact condition once he comes through surgery and comes through rehab. Obviously he won't play any golf this year. I guess anything in the realm of possibility. If you're just talking about is competitive heart and his willingness to accept the challenge that is not in question.
[23:10:05]
But this may not be a challenge that is surmountable in terms of his coming back to compete. As I mentioned earlier on various other CNN programs, his excellence is one thing. It is beyond excellence. He's among the all-time elite in any sport. And obviously he has personal charisma at magmatism, but on top of that, his story now takes on such texture, even without this chapter.
What he represented, even though he was not like a Mohammad Ali, or and Arthur Ashe, or Lebron now, a Kareem and others you could mention. He wasn't specifically if you orient it, but his mere presence, especially in the beginning of his career was symbolically important. So there was always that and then he had the scandal and he had to come back from the humiliation of that, and then he had the physical challenges and where it once it seems to be an almost foregone conclusion, when he won 14 majors in barely more than a decade and he was still only in his 30s.
It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he would zoom past Jack Nicklaus' 18. And now it appears fairly curtained that 15 is going to be the number. But think about what the 15th was. A decade after his life and his career came tumbling down and after he had fallen out of the top rankings, he comes back and wins not just the major, but wins at Augusta, the most magnificent and historic of all stages. He has that.
As I said to Jake Tapper earlier, if you are shooting a movie about Tiger Woods life, the closing scene would not be this car accident, and it would not be the way his life came crashing down around him in 2009, it would be that moment on the 18th green in Augusta in 2019.
LEMON: A couple things here. You said that his presence was symbolically significant. Right? And so let's talk about that. And talk about, you know, his winds. That was 2015. He broke racial barriers with his success, no doubt. What did it mean though to see him, Bob, put on that green jacket for the first time in 1997?
COSTAS: Well, I mentioned this with John Berman a few hours ago, so I apologize to those for whom this will be repetitive. But the first African American member was admitted at Augusta in 1990, only seven years before Tiger Woods wins the Masters. There have been other notable black golfers, Lee Elder, Charlie (inaudible) among them, but none with a competitive success and presents of Tiger Woods.
So now here is Tiger Woods not only winning, basically his coming out party to the world, not only winning, but shattering the Masters record in the process, blowing the field away. When he comes walking up that 18th fairway, anybody who is paying attention and knows any of the back story has to be struck by the symbolism. There was about Augusta, which I want to say is magnificent in many ways, there is a southern gentility in the best sense.
LEMON: I've gone a number of times. Yes, I've gone on the Masters a number of times.
COSTAS: OK. Yes, so you know.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Not even to mention of food, but go on.
COSTAS: Yes. It's a thrill to play the course etcetera, etcetera. All the history. But there was for a very long-time echoes of the Antebellum South, on the Jim Crow South.
LEMON: Right.
COSTAS: None of the players were black, but all of the caddies were black. All of the members were white men, they didn't have a female member until I don't know 2010, somewhere around there. So, -- but all of the staff virtually were black. So the symbolism of this black man, prevailing over an entirely white field in that setting, he did not have to take a stand. His mere presence said something.
LEMON: Yes. Bob Costas, thank you so much. I appreciate you being on. It doesn't matter, those other guys don't count. It's just this show that counts. Thank you, Bob. I appreciate it.
COSTAS: That's what Jill thinks too, Don.
LEMON: Jill is his wife. And I'm her favorite. So, I like that at least I'm someone's favorite besides my mom. Thank you very much. Tell Jill I said hello.
COSTAS: Alright, Don, thanks.
LEMON (on camera): Bye-bye. Tiger Woods is a superstar in a sport that is overwhelmingly white. So what does that accident mean for his legacy? We will discuss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: You don't expect anything like that to happen, but from everything that I know about Tiger, I am sure he will recover. And he will do everything in his power to come back. I'm sure he will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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LEMON: So, Tiger Woods is in the hospital tonight after suffering compound fractures in his legs from a rollover crash in his SUV, the scary images causing people around the world to reflect on his outsized impact on sports and culture. So let's discuss now. The staff writer at the Atlantic, Jemele Hill joins me now. Jemele, thank you so much for joining.
Tiger Woods person of color, he has dominated in a sport that is overwhelmingly white. Talk to me about the impact he has had as a game-changer.
JEMELE HILL, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC (on camera): It's been really significant. I mean, I think it not only gave the game a different look but also a different feel. I mean, there were a lot of things that Tiger Woods brought to the sport of golf besides his melanin. And you know, you think about how golfers train now. I mean, Tiger Woods was in excellent shape, training, and diet, and strength really meant a lot to him. And suddenly you saw a lot of younger golfers begin to pattern their habits after Tiger Woods, because he was so meticulous.
I mean he can talk about being worried about overtraining, because he actually trained with some NAVY SEALS at one point. I mean, that's how seriously he took it. Yes, that's how much of a competitor that he was. But he gave the sport some much needed juice, some (inaudible).
[23:2010]
Obviously, he brought a different audience to it, because suddenly you had black people watching golf that were not watching golf before. And t just gave everything just a different texture. And through that, through his lens and through his success and through his excellence, you know people were able to point to some very problematic areas and blind spots that golf had. And you know, they owe him for that.
LEMON: Yes. But what about in society? You talk about the effect that he had on the game itself. But what about society at large, and when it comes to even race or social issues?
HILL: I think that there is no question that when it comes to, you know, Black people in general, people of color, they tend to put us in a box, and the idea of him being a very dominant and successful golfer. And he wasn't just successful. I think people really as time goes on underestimate how dominating he was.
We are talking about somebody who at one point held all the major championships, 82 PGA tour victories, five Masters. I mean, this was something you will never see again. I mean, I remember when I was at ESPN, and Don, whenever Tiger was at a major tournament, the legitimate question we would ask in debate is Tiger of the field and most times we took Tiger, that didn't happen in golf, right?
And so I think that through his excellence that people were able to view not just black people in a different way, but also black men in particular. And so it just really, you know, it really just brought home just kind of a transcendent effect that he had on all the professional athletics with his excellence.
LEMON (on camera): But also, you know, he weathered storms, and then you know, at a come back and you know, obviously he's human, but there was this -- what some would call it, an epic, right fall from grace. This is in 2009 after his affairs came to light, led to divorce, rehab and so on and then this apology. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOODS: I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you, I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did. I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position. For all that I have done, I am so sorry. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable. And I am the only person to blame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): It's interesting. I mean, many people remember where they were. I remember being in the Newsroom and watching that. That changed him. How did that -- how did he change after that experience?
HILL: Well, Don, I just have to keep it real with you, I mean, as I always do in many way. When we think about this man actually having to go on a national platform --
LEMON: Right, I know what you are going to say. Come on now.
HILL: I mean if fashionable athletes had to apologize every time they cheated. Don, you would never have a show, they'd be on air all day and really that an indictment of us. That's not an indictment (inaudible) --
LEMON: But Jemele, if every time that people just cheated, people who are not athletes cheated in real, and you know, I'm not saying that you know, being an athlete is not real life, but just the average person, that is why people get divorce. That's why divorce rate is so high, people cheat all the time. But go on. I'm sorry I interrupt.
HILL: No, I say all that to say is that, that was an unfortunate lesson that Tiger Woods had to learn. And unfortunately for a lot of black athletes who get to his level of success there is going to come a moment that they are coming for you. And to think that if the worst thing you have on Tiger Woods is resume, is that he cheated. And this is not to belittle what this did to his family or for that matter what if may have done to his former wife.
I'm not belittling that. What I am saying is that we have seen a lot worse and the way that got treated is a study it's immediate in itself. And it was a humbling for him, but it was a humbling that some people seemed very interested in seeing happened given his level and rise and success. And I'm not saying that it wasn't a story. But again, let's just put this into context. Somebody apologize, held a media news conference for cheating. That's what it was. I'm just saying, Don. That's what it was.
LEMON: That's right, that right we have loving you on. Again, but you're right. It's not to say that it didn't have an impact on his family and his wife, but I understand what you are saying. There is a perspective. Right?
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: yes, I mean, Don, I think about (inaudible), there were sponsors that dropped him over that. Over that. It's like, come on, man. Like, all right. If you know, I get it.
LEMON: Jemele, love having you, thank you.
[23:25:00]
HILL: Always a pleasure, Don. LEMON (on camera): Alright, thank you. Speaking up for the first time,
the people responsible for keeping the Capitol safe testifying on the Hill today.
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ACTING CHIEF ROBERT CONTEE, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: I was just stunned that, you know, I had officers that are out there literally fighting for their lives, and you know, we are kind of going through, you know, it seems like an exercise to really check the boxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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LEMON: The Senate holding its first public hearing on the disastrous response to the Capitol insurrection. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, testifying that he never saw an FBI report warning of a violent war at the Capitol on January 6th.
[23:30:02]
Multiple witnesses are pointing fingers at federal law enforcement and the Defense Department for intelligence failure and communication breakdown.
Let's discuss now. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is here. He is now a CNN senior law enforcement analyst. Andrew, good to see you. Thank you so much for joining.
The former Capitol police chief saying that he never got that FBI warning about January 6th attack. It seems like a massive security failure. How did this fall through the cracks? How can someone who is a chief, how can the brass not get a memo that was so important that lead to such disastrous results?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FBI: Don, we're not talking about some random raw intelligence memo that comes in that nobody has context for. Talking about, like, the night before the event, you get a red hot memo from one of our field offices that indicate a very alarming chatter going on social media, OK, was not attributable to a specific person, but still very concerning statements being made.
There are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered despite today's hearing about how that memorandum was transmitted to the Capitol police and what the Capitol police did with it when they got it.
From the FBI side, you know, we like to rely on our normal systems to process intelligence in the normal ways. In this case, that would be handing it off to the U.S. Capitol Police representative on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
But this is the night before the protest. You get a memo like that, pick up the phone and you call your counterpart chief at the U.S. Capitol police and let him know what you've seen. So some good questions to be asked to the FBI week about why --
LEMON: But as I'm -- as I'm watching this, could it just -- I've been reporting on this since the beginning -- could it just be that the brass thought that since it was Trump supporters, that they had an affinity for law enforcement and that they would not do what they eventually did at the Capitol? Could it just be as simple as that and everyone is doing this, pointing their fingers at everyone else?
MCCABE: It very well could be. So, Don, if I'm running the FBI today, I have great concerns about that. I would be asking three questions. The first question is: Are we collecting the right intelligence about this domestic extremist threat in the United States? There was all kind of information out there about people who were really getting ramped up for this -- for this protest, and was the FBI aware of it?
Second, with the intelligence we're collecting, are we making the right assessments? That gets to the heart of the question that you're asking, where assumptions made. Did they think that because these were mostly political supporters of the president that they didn't have too much to worry about?
Did they place too much emphasis on the fact that they didn't have any sign that there would be counter protesters so therefore they thought the whole thing would be peaceful? Those are the kinds of questions I would be asking.
And the final question, of course, is how are we communicating what we know to our partners? I think we now know that that was not done very well.
LEMON: Shouldn't Capitol Hill security and all the people who testified today, should they have seen it coming?
MCCABE: Well, you know, they should have had a better view of the intelligence that appears to have been available and they should have taken much more stringent measures to protect that Capitol.
I think Senator Hassan, Maggie Hassan had one of the best questions today when she asked, why didn't the Department of Homeland Security declared this event a national special security event, an NSSE? Simply by doing that would have ramped the preparation and the coordination way up probably to a level that would have prevented this attack. It's a good question to be asked of DHS as to why they didn't take that step.
LEMON: And also why, which I didn't hear, why did they have so much security in other places, I am told, like malls and that sort of thing when the threat, which came, you know, the threat assessment said that this is all going to happen at the Capitol and that it was very planned. So, that was interesting, as well.
Officials are confirming today, as well, that white supremacists were involved in this insurrection. We've known that they are a serious threat for a while. Is enough being done to stop these domestic terrorists, Andrew?
MCCABE: Don, we are clearly in the middle of a wave of domestic terrorist extremism and particularly right-leaning groups, racially- motivated groups, anti-government groups. Director Wray testified to that effect last summer in front of Congress.
The question is what are we doing about it? I think it is time that we brought the same sort of intensity, focus and commitment to the domestic terrorism extremist issue as we did to the international terrorist issues after 9/11. It is time to really acknowledge that this is our biggest threat internally on the terrorism side right now, and we need to do something about it.
LEMON: Why is it so hard for that to happen? Why? I mean -- because the FBI has been saying that for years now and people still don't take it seriously.
[23:35:00]
LEMON: What is going on?
MCCABE: Well, you have to ask, Don, whether some of that reluctance is based on the well-known, often reported fact that our former president did not want to hear about this threat. I mean, there is no coincidence that these some of these extremist groups are big supporters of -- were big supporters of President Trump and conservative causes.
So, is there a political motivation to kind of turning a blind eye to the significance of this threat? I think that is something that we need to get to the bottom of. We are not going to do that with a Senate hearing. We need a dedicated bipartisan commission to really peel back this onion.
LEMON: Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate it.
MCCABE: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: So he lost the White House and the Senate, but Republicans still won't give him up. They can't quit him. What Pence is saying about Trump tonight. That's next.
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[23:40:00]
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LEMON: So far, Vice President Mike Pence is telling conservative lawmakers he has no ill will towards Donald Trump after the January 6th insurrection. No ill will? OK.
Trump supporters were screaming, hang Mike Pence. Pence said that he maintains a close personal friendship with the former president and plans to launch a political organization to defend the Trump administration's record. You can't make this up. Brendan Buck is here, former top aide to Paul Ryan, and Amanda Carpenter, former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. Hi, Amanda. You had a good week, Amanda.
(LAUGHTER)
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR AND SPEECHWRITER FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ: It's been a week.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. OK. So, good evening to both of you. Amanda, Trump knew his VP was in danger on January 6th. He did nothing about it. Pence is still crawling back. What is -- what does that say about Trump's grip on the GOP? What is going on?
CARPENTER: Yeah, this -- everyone was hyping the civil war that was coming and it was never going to happen. As long as Donald Trump is around, there is no internal debate. There is only surrender after surrender after surrender.
And look at Mike Pence. I mean, I knew the whole time that his silence is going to be strategic. We really could have used him to maybe speak out through impeachment considering he was both someone who witnessed first-hand all the events that led up to the insurrection and then became a target of it. That would have been a good time for him to provide some testimony.
But, he didn't. Because ultimately, he still cares about political power. And that -- that was so disturbing. And I just can't get around the fact, like, OK, he is not really going to defend himself, but he still wants to be in some position of political power when he is not going to defend anyone else, because these problems are not going away. So that is where I'm so disturbed by the whole thing.
LEMON (on camera): Yeah. I just wonder what that power is because, I mean, he is not going to be president. I don't know. Maybe he thinks in his head that he is going to be, but really his reaction, his actions have been cowardly, especially when it comes to this.
Brendan, I want you to take a listen to what Liz Cheney said today about January 6th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): What happened on that day must never happen again. And we must not look away or trivialize it. And it's very important, especially for us, as Republicans, to make clear that we are not the party of white supremacy.
You certainly saw anti-Semitism. You saw the symbols of holocaust denial, for example, at the Capitol that day. You saw confederate flag being carried through the rotunda. And I think we, as Republicans, in particular, have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): But, as you know, Brendan, according to Ron Johnson, none of that happened, right? None of what Liz Cheney is saying is true. Where are the -- do you think Republicans will listen and where are the Liz Cheneys -- more of the Liz Cheneys in your party?
BRENDAN BUCK, FORMER ADVISER TO PAUL RYAN AND JOHN BOEHNER: Yeah, she is fighting a lonely fight and God bless her. I thank her for doing it. Look, there are a lot of Republicans who have a few incentives here to really dismiss this event from anyone's memory.
One, of course, they want to eliminate their culpability in bringing it on and challenging the Electoral College. They also know that Donald Trump's biggest liability to get re-elected president, which they all seem interested in helping him do now for whatever reason, is the events of January 6th. I think that that will be the biggest hurdle that he is going to have to get over to become president again.
So, you are already seeing obviously with Ron Johnson but also conservative media, are trying to really have everyone basically forget what happened, minimize what happened so that when this all comes back around, oh, that's old news, it wasn't so bad, you know, let's forget about it, let's move on, let's unite, all those things.
Now, I think, you can't -- what Liz Cheney said is so fundamental for more than republican politics.
[23:45:00]
BUCK: It's fundamental for the country. But there aren't a lot of Liz Cheneys right now because it's political suicide to be running out and criticizing the president. And even if you do not want to criticize the president, when you are a party that is basically operating on working to only get working class white voters, you don't have a lot of margins to write off people.
Now, I don't think most Republicans want white supremacist votes. But a lot of them seem to think that it's OK to just accept them because you are operating under such narrow political margins that you can't write anybody off.
LEMON: Yeah, very good point. That is going to have to be. I am sorry. Our time is short tonight. Thank you both. I will see you soon. I appreciate it.
So, she could be the first Native American to be a cabinet secretary. But Republicans are all of a sudden, they are worried about a tweet. They are concerned about tweets now. OK. A friend of the interior secretary nominee, Deb Haaland, speaks out next.
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[23:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON (on camera): President Biden's nominee to head up the Interior Department, Congresswoman Deb Haaland, appearing before senators for her confirmation hearing today. She would make history as the first Native American cabinet secretary if she is confirmed. Haaland is facing hard questions from GOP senators over past comments and pressure over progressive views that she has expressed over the future of fossil fuels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: You were there and protested the pipeline. Are you still opposed to the pipeline?
REP. DEB HAALAND (D-NM): Senator, I -- yes, I did go to stand with the water protectors during the -- several years back. The reason I did that is because I agreed with the tribe that they felt they weren't consulted in -- in the best way. I know the tribal consultation is important and that was the reason that I was there.
SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Do you personally support a ban on fracking and no new pipelines?
HAALAND: Senator, if I could say, if I am confirmed as secretary, I would be serving at the pleasure of the president and it would be his agenda that I would move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Let's discuss now with Aleta "Tweety" Suazo. She is the chair of the Native American Democratic Caucus of New Mexico. May I call you Tweety?
ALETA SUAZO, CHAIRMAN, NATIVE AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS OF NEW MEXICO: Yes, you may.
LEMON: Good evening. Thank you, Tweety, for joining us. You have known the congresswoman for a very long time. What was it like for you watching her there today?
SUAZO: It was a historic moment and event. We're so proud of her. I'm proud because she's an indigenous woman. She represents Mexico and not only New Mexico indigenous people but all indigenous people in the United States. So it was a historic event. We are keeping our fingers, toes crossed that she gets confirmed.
LEMON: So, in 20148, she was one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress. You watched the hearing today on Zoom with hundreds of people from native communities around this country. What does it mean to have native communities represented this way?
SUAZO: You know, for the longest time in the United States history, we never had representation in the halls of Congress. And to have woman, native woman be one of those people in the halls of Congress now representing us was such a historic event. We need more women, more native women in the halls representing us, not only in the United States but in other elected places and positions throughout their respective states.
LEMON: What did you think about, because as you watched the hearing today, you saw that she got a lot of push back from certain things. Are you concerned about her chances?
SUAZO: No, I'm really not. I know there's some concern about the various positions she's taken, but I really do believe that the time has come in our country's history that it's about time and it's long overdue that we have a native representing and in charge of the Department of Interior as a secretary.
I know she's been grilled pretty, pretty hard today. Well, you know that it was hard. It was definitely interesting in some ways. But she's going to be representing the president, President Biden and his agenda, and I know she will work any way possible to push that agenda forward and to make America better.
[23:55:09]
LEMON: Well, Tweety, I thank you for coming and speaking about your friend. We appreciated having you on. Thank you so much.
SUAZO: Thank you. Bye.
LEMON: And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
