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Don Lemon Tonight

Republican Pushing Bogus Conspiracy Theories About Capitol Riot; Close Ally Of Rep. Greene Was In Capitol Mob; White House Concedes Tanden Nomination May Fail; Trump's Children Surface In Multiple Investigations; Pentagon Report Reveals Disturbing Details About White Supremacists In The Ranks; House Judiciary Holds Hearing On The Rise Of Domestic Extremism In The U.S.; QAnon Conspiracies Tearing Families Apart; New Evidence In Fatal Crash Sparks Calls For South Dakota Attorney General To Resign. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 24, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): Well, with some Republicans pushing bogus conspiracy theories claiming left-wing agitators and so-called fake Trump supporters instigated the deadly Capitol riot, tonight CNN's K-file uncovered a video of a close ally of QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who says he took part in the insurrection and the mob was made up of Trump supporters.

Meanwhile, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka Trump surfacing in multiple investigations as authorities look into the business activities of the Trump organization.

Also ahead, a Pentagon report revealing disturbing details on white supremacists and extremists in the ranks of the military. We've got a lot to cover for you this hour.

Joining me now is CNN's senior political analyst Kirsten Powers and former top aide to Paul Ryan, Brendan Buck. Good to see both of you. Thanks for joining. Brendan, you first. The GOP really is in complete disarray, some pushing these bogus lies about the insurrection, telling us not to believe what we saw with our own eyes. Only a few Republicans really are standing up against them. Meantime, they're opposing COVID relief. What message do you think this sends to the American people, Brendan?

BRENDAN BUCK, FMR. CHIEF COMMUNICATION ADVISER TO FMR. SPEAKER PAUL RYAN (on camera): Well, I think they're searching for that. And I think that's one of the reasons why the COVID bill is so popular right now. It's one of the more popular bills -- major bills I've seen come through it. I think Republicans woke up a little late to messaging on it and that's got them behind the 8 ball.

Look, there's a lot to argue the bill about and I think that there's a good argument that we spent about $4 trillion on COVID so far and if you want to make the argument that another $3 trillion that Joe Biden has coming is too much I think that's a very fair argument. And I think that's a very sound place for Republicans to start trying to get on the same page.

But this isn't going to be the bill that's going to define this Congress. It's not going to define Joe Biden. Republicans now need to find a way to go on offense and talk a little more about how Joe Biden is being controlled by the far-left and he's not the moderate that he says he is.

LEMON (on camera): So Kirsten, CNN's K-file is reporting that an ally of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those in that Capitol mob. His name is Anthony Aguero. And he is admitting that the truth about the 6th. I want you to take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY AGUERO, CONSERVATIVE LIVESTREAMER AND ALLY OF REP. GREENE: We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it. Being one myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): OK. So he admits it. He is a close contact of hers or acquaintance. How is it that Greene and Senator Johnson still claim that this wasn't Trump supporters who rioted when this person is admitting it on tape and all the people who are being charged are saying we are Trump supporters?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (on camera): Because I don't think they have any -- they're not even attempting to be truthful. This is not -- I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene is not in any way trafficking in the truth at any point. So it's -- once you have bought into the conspiracy theories that she's bought into she'll say anything.

So, you know, she probably knows that it's not true what she's saying but she continues to say it because this makes her popular I guess with people she wants to be popular with. But looking for people who have ascribed to the kind of conspiracy theories that she's ascribed to be reasonable or to say the truth, I just -- I think is a waste of time.

LEMON (on camera): I want the folks at home, and Brendan, I want you to listen to this because I want you to respond. I want you to check out this video. It's of Aguero -- he posted on his Instagram page. And I want you to listen to the crowd say heave-ho. OK, here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD CHANTING OUTSIDE THE CAPITOL: Heave-ho.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Now I want you to take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD CHANTING INSIDE THE CAPITOL: Heave-ho.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): So we don't know if this is the same incident. We know, its part of the insurrection. We don't know if it's the exact same incident. But you can clearly see protesters trying to breach a doorway being held by police. People died. Others were severely wounded. How can Senator Ron Johnson or anyone else for that matter claim these were just jovial protesters, Brendan?

[03:35:00]

BUCK: You know, I think Ron Johnson has really become emblematic of some of the rot in the Republican Party right now. It's very easy I guess if you want to live inside your own bubble in this little ecosystem where Trump can do no wrong, where, you know, there's always someone else to blame. And you know, Ron Johnson has been deep on some of the craziest stuff from the beginning. He was all in on the election was stolen. He was big on Burisma.

You know, anything that he comes across on the internet is -- like you're a U.S. Senator. Where's your filter? Where are you looking, you know, to find out whether something is true or not, but he seems to have found a very comfortable zone for himself inside this Trump bubble where anything goes and you can say anything and there's always someone else to blame.

And you know, he's a U.S. Senator but he's also representing a lot of the Republican Party right now that feels very comfortable in there and doesn't have to feel like they have to be in touch with reality at all because it makes them feel good.

LEMON: But Brendan, listen, it's not just the conspiracy theories. It's really incredible that Republicans suddenly think that mean tweets disqualify a person from serving in our government. Listen, no one should be mean tweeting or calling people out of their name, especially our elected officials.

But how many times did they tell us that they don't pay attention to Trump's Twitter page? Somehow it was beneath them or it didn't -- it was insignificant. But now mean tweets are suddenly significant to them.

BUCK: Look, there's no doubt there's hypocrisy there. But let's be honest. There are a lot of people who are not hypocrites who are raising issues too. Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski. And let's be clear. Is Joe Manchin a Democrat who took Neera Tanden down? It was this White House that did a horrible job of rolling this out.

They told -- Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the budget committee who oversees her confirmation, found out this from the news. Didn't get any heads-up. So yes, Republicans are hypocritical but most of these Republicans weren't going to be voting for him -- voting for her in the first place.

This White House is really to blame for stirring this up. They have the majority. They have the majority. If they wanted to get this done, they could. But it was Democrats ultimately who aren't putting up the votes for this.

LEMON: He has a point, Kirsten, talking about Joe Manchin, right? Because Joe Manchin is the one who's saying I'm not going to do it. But listen, as far as hypocrisy, the hypocrisy part, he's right too. They are hypocritical. The White House says tonight that they are fighting for Tanden but Republicans say that they would support Shalanda Young who was nominated as Deputy Director of OMB. How much political Capitol should Biden spend here?

POWERS: Look, you know, the way I look at this is this is a bigger problem that goes beyond Neera Tanden. So, I understand that people look at this -- there are certain progressives, for example, who don't like Neera Tanden. You know, Bernie Sanders supporters, for example. So it's not just Republicans. But it is Republicans who are blocking her. And Joe Manchin is a Democrat but he's kind of a Democrat-ish.

LEMON: Are you calling him a Dino?

POWERS: I mean, he's not -- you know, he is known for kind of -- he's from a very conservative state. Let's put it that way. But the point is this is bigger than Neera. This is something that has been going on as long as I have been working in and around politics, you know, in journalism. It's something I'm sure you have seen over and over again where women and people of color are held to completely different standards.

And I'm not saying that they're even doing it consciously. But when you watch Senator Kennedy, the way he's talking about Neera Tanden, and then turn around and call another woman of color a wack-job, who is up to be -- for Senate confirmation, he's not even conscious of what he's doing.

You know, there is such a blatant double standard that you are complaining about Neera Tanden saying that Susan Collins is the worst while you are calling a woman, a respected woman who would be the first native American head of the Interior Department a wack-job?

Like this is just not OK. And you know, at some point it has to stop. It can't just be that we just look the other way every time women or people of color get dragged through the mud, you know, by this white boy club up there that is always doing this. And I -- and that's why I say fine, have your issues with Neera but recognize what's going on here.

LEMON: Yeah. And also -- listen, I think it's really tough to complain about what someone said on Twitter, on social media when you had the former president getting kicked off of social media for inciting an insurrection.

POWERS: Well, exactly. And exactly as you said, like they never could even read the tweets or respond to them but now they're obsessed about her tweets. It's just -- it's too much.

[23:10:00] LEMON: Yes. Thank you both. I appreciate it. I'll see you soon.

I want to bring in now former Nixon White House counsel Mr. John Dean.

Hey, John. Good to see you. Nice tie. I love that color. Beautiful. Beautiful. So, John, listen, we're learning tonight that prosecutors with the Manhattan D.A.'s office are asking a lot of questions about Donald Trump Jr., about Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump in their investigation into Trump properties. How worried should the Trump children be at this point?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL (on camera): I think they should be worried. They got a pass of sorts last time they were in front of Vance. One of Trump's long-time lawyers went in, negotiated a deal and got them a pass and later gave a large contribution to Vance, actually a couple large contributions.

That came back to haunt Vance. So I don't think he looks very favorably on the Trump family anymore and he wants to clean up his reputation. So he's probably being very aggressive about them and pursuing any potential criminality.

LEMON: Listen, this just happened a day or two ago. Prosecutors are likely just hours away from getting the former president's tax returns. I mean, my goodness, how long have we talked about this. It's a treasure trove of potential evidence. I mean, talk about the impact on this investigation, John.

DEAN: Well, it's powerful because it's more than the tax returns, Don. There's almost a terabyte of data. That's massive. That's thousands upon thousands of documents.

And this is going to show how they prepared the tax returns over the last eight years that they're looking at, the memos back and forth, records of phone calls where the accountants were being instructed. So if there's malfeasance, non-feasance or misfeasance in there it's very likely to be in that terabyte. So that's a mighty pile of information they have to go through too.

LEMON: There's a new court filing revealing that Don Jr. was deposed by the D.C. Attorney General in another investigation, this one into the use of inaugural funds. Where does Don Jr. face the most legal trouble?

DEAN: I would suspect with the Trump family corporations, that his involvement in that is proximity to that. I've read that his father didn't have the greatest faith in his skills and ability and he was often kept out of things. That may be a benefit to him right now. But he and his brother have been running things.

For example, the payments to Michael Cohen. The hush payments. He might have been directly involved in those. So who knows where all this is going to go? The conspiracy law in New York is very broad, as most states have. And they've been operating clearly in secret for a long time. And that's what Mr. Vance is looking at. So I think he's got jeopardy. LEMON: We are also hearing that the Manhattan D.A.'s office subpoenaed

the financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowd funding campaign for the border wall. You say Bannon may be worse off after being pardoned by Trump. How is that possible?

DEAN: Well, he certainly showed his co-conspirators that he was charged with by the Southern District, three other men that he wasn't out protecting their interests when he was looking for pardons. He got himself one in that specific indictment he was charged with. He had not been tried and it had just been in a very early stage. And he got Trump on the 19th to actually issue the pardon. It was reported on the 20th.

It's a very vague pardon, incidentally when I actually looked to read it, very unusual. In fact, it's not clear exactly what he was pardoned for. But anyway, I think that his compatriots, his co-conspirators, may well turn on him. They might flip. They might be available to the state if Mr. Vance wants to pursue this as a state fraud as well. And there was no pardon for that.

LEMON: John Dean, thank you, sir. I appreciate your time. Up next, a disturbing look at a Pentagon report revealing active white supremacists and domestic extremists in the military and how much of their hate is out there in the open. We saw it in the Capitol riot, where at least 27 current or former members of the military have been charged. How much of a threat is this? CNN has an in-depth report. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:15:00]

LEMON (on camera): Tonight, CNN obtaining a Pentagon report with disturbing details on white supremacists and domestic extremists in the ranks of the military. Here's CNN's Oren Liebermann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: The cover-up was I want to say six total sessions.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORESPONDENT (voice over): The ink can hide the symbols of extremism. But the damage runs far deeper.

DAVID BROWN, REDEMPTION INK: When he first came in and showed us the work that he had, I think everybody jaw kind of hit the floor.

LIEBERMANN: At Redemption Ink in Colorado Springs, Dave Brown has covered more than 70 extremist or hate-inspired tattoos. More than 20 he estimates were military. And he has a wait list of 635 people.

BROWN: We have covered everything from portraits of the founding fathers of the KKK to Swastikas. I've covered up a human trafficking branding.

LIEBERMANN: The army veteran camouflages the tattoos of hate for reformed extremists. But these ideologies and their symbols are still spreading in the military. Tattoos can be a calling card for white supremacists and extremists in the military, a way to grow their own ranks in secret amidst a nationwide surge in white nationalist activity.

But according to a Department of Defense report on extremism obtained by CNN, some of the recruiting tactics are more brazen and more open. One example in the report, a military member and co-founder of the neo-Nazi group known as Atomwaffen Division told another member that he was open about everything with his friends at training. They love me too because I'm a funny guy, he wrote in a message.

[23:20:07]

The Defense Department determined that others find each other through obscure fascist symbols on t-shirts or simply connect on social media and messaging apps. U.S. troops are primary targets for many extremist groups who want their training, their combat experience and the legitimacy they bring to an organization.

The report found that members of one far-right extremist group shared military manuals including an army manual on IEDs, improvised explosive devices, on the encrypted messaging app known as telegram. The Capitol riots of January 6th put a spotlight on military extremism.

A CNN analysis has shown that at least 27 people facing federal charges in connection with the riot are current or former members of the military. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has made the fight against domestic extremism one of his top priorities.

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: This tears at the fabric, very fabric of cohesion, and it's important for us to be able to trust the men and women on our left and right.

LIEBERMANN: Extremism has been a problem in the military for decades. Austin says he believes the number of extremists in the military is low but there is no data to back up his assertion.

UNKNOWN: I know.

LIEBERMANN: Austin has ordered a review of policies on extremism. But extremism expert Heidi Beirich says this will take time.

HEIDI BEIRICH, GLOBAL PROJECT AGAINST HATE AND EXTREMISM CO-FOUNDER: This is a massive management task and it's not going to be something that's done very easily at all.

LIEBERMANN: The military has strict legal limits on the screening and background checks it can do of applicants and service members. Deeper, more intrusive investigations require working with the FBI, a key recommendation of the DOD report. Beirich says the military needs a better screening process to root out extremism before it enters the ranks.

BEIRICH: I would say you need to fix your screening procedures immediately. Social media accounts need to be taken a look at not just voluntarily but seriously. You need a functioning tattoo data base for your recruiters. And they need to be trained in the signs of white supremacy.

LIEBERMANN: Even beyond the challenges of rooting out domestic extremism within active ranks there's the issue of veterans. More than 18 million of them. Who are also prime targets for domestic extremists?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's first big move when it comes to domestic extremism is ordering that military- wide stand-down or review of policies and procedures in place already to deal with extremism. Crucially that also includes discussions at all levels of the military.

For example, the NAVY has already put out some guidance on this saying it has to review the NAVY's core values, the oaths of office as well as the rules that are already in place. In terms of the discussions Austin has said it's also an opportunity for military leaders to listen to what their troops have to say to them about either experiences with domestic extremism or about ideas on how to tackle it.

But one of the parts of this that's also obviously very necessary is the data, which is fundamentally lacking at this point about how widespread this problem is and where specifically it exists. Don?

LEMON: Oren Liebermann. Thank you so much for that. I really appreciate it. I want to bring in now Mike German. He is a former FBI special agent and a fellow at the Brenan Center for Justice. Mike, good evening. Thanks for joining us.

MIKE GERMAN, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Hi. How are you?

LEMON: The Pentagon report is troubling. What kind of national security risk does this pose?

GERMAN: Quite a serious one. I mean, it's a risk not just to communities that they're serving in but also to their fellow soldiers and marines and sailors. This is a problem that has existed in plain sight and been tolerated for far too long. And it's going to require a constant vigilance.

I'm the son of a west point graduate. I was raised in the military. I have great respect for the military and it's true that this is a very small percentage of people. But it presents an ongoing threat.

And that's what needs to be addressed because there's a military time survey, for example, that a third of the people surveyed said that they saw signs of white supremacy while on duty. So that shows that it's prevalent and it's visible and it's tolerated.

LEMON: Yes. CNN's analysis has -- as far at least 27 current or former members of the U.S. military have been charged in the Capitol Hill insurrection, in the riot. How do we root out this problem? I mean, listen, 27, that's a lot, especially considering what happened at the Capitol. And they're supposed to be protecting the -- you would think members of the military or former members of the military would want to protect the Capitol.

GERMAN: Right. And keep in mind there were active members of the military involved in The Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville as well.

[23:25:02]

So, there should have been a wake-up call then. What we have to understand, though is that while white supremacy is in the military and is in law enforcement, that's because it's in our society. So the pool that they're drawing from when they recruit contains white supremacists and that requires not just an active screening process but continuing reviews.

And most important, they need to empower the people that report them, make sure that they have strong whistle-blower protection so that it's safer to report someone engaged in racist misconduct in the military or in law enforcement than it is to engage in racist misconduct. Right now the opposite is true. Reporting somebody can be more damaging to your career than actually engaging in the misconduct.

LEMON: Mike, I want you to stay with me. We have a lot to talk about. Because you were a witness at the Congressional hearing today about the rise of white supremacy and you say federal law enforcement isn't doing enough to combat it. We're going to talk about that. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): So the House Judiciary Committee holding a hearing today about the disturbing rise of domestic terror and white nationalism in this country. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee saying now is the time for action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): As the FBI director said unequivocally, white supremacists are the most lethal threat for domestic violence in our country. Among domestic terrorists, white supremacy has no equivalent. Our current approach is not working. Enough is enough. It is time for the action, and I look forward to hearing from today's panelists on what federal law enforcement must do to swiftly address the rise of domestic terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): So but one of the witnesses at the hearing today, the former FBI special agent, Mike German, saying the Justice Department and the FBI chose not to prioritize these kinds of cases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE GERMAN, FELLOW, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: The problem is that the Justice Department and the FBI choose not to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of white supremacists and far-right violence as a matter of policy and practice. Instead, the Justice Department and FBI use these terrorism authorities most aggressively against groups that rarely if ever commit fatal attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): So, well, let's bring Mike German back live to discuss some of this. So Mike, you say that the Justice Department and the FBI, that they don't prioritize these kinds of cases. Why is that?

GERMAN: It's a matter of choice. And this has been a longstanding problem. Shortly after 9/11, when counterterrorism became the number one mission, they perhaps understandably at the time chose to prioritize international terrorism. But within the domestic terrorism program, the Justice Department and the FBI prioritized eco-terrorism as the number one domestic threat, even though there's not a single homicide in the United States related to environmental violence of any kind.

LEMON: So, is it -- I mean, do people have a problem with thinking that Americans, especially white Americans, can be terrorists? Is that an issue?

GERMAN: I think it's multifaceted. I think there is a structural racism problem in the FBI just as we talked earlier about in the military. The FBI remains predominantly a white male organization, over 80 percent white and over 80 percent male.

So, I think what they look at, when they look at threats to the national security that they imagine, they don't feel their families are threatened by white supremacist violence, so they don't prioritize that as a threat.

Where they see things they're unfamiliar with as more threatening, whether that's environmentalism or part of what we saw after 9/11, was a lot of very biased Islamophobic counterterrorism training materials the FBI produced. So that was the same kind of materials that white militant and white supremacist groups were putting out. So it sort of put them in the same room, so to speak, on those issues.

And I think that so much of this crime, they look at as a state and local law enforcement issue rather than a federal issue because again, they don't see it as a national security threat, even though they acknowledge it's the most deadly of the categories of domestic terrorists that they watch.

LEMON: Yeah. Look, Mike, we appreciate your candor and your knowledge on this. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

GERMAN: Thanks for having me.

LEMON (on camera): QAnon tearing apart families, tearing families apart, and CNN is speaking to some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE MARSHALL, MOTHER BELIEVES IN QAnon: I live just a few blocks south of the capitol. And so I started seeing people walking on the sidewalk heading up to the capitol with trump flags and red hats. And I thought to myself, I wonder if my mom is here. I just thought to myself, let me check her YouTube and see if she happens to be down the street. And lo and behold, she was.

UNKNOWN: We are here at this rally. Look at this.

MARSHALL: She was there protesting and, you know, shoulder-to-shoulder with people. That's when everything changed for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

LEMON (on camera): Tucker Carlson at Fox News seems to be claiming that QAnon does not exist, that it's all part of a media disinformation campaign, apparently coming to this conclusion because as hard as he searched, that he couldn't find a QAnon website. Well, here's what he told his viewers just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: A lot of Americans are completely and utterly misinformed and that has actual consequences.

[23:39:59]

CARLSON: Public policy can change dramatically on the basis of things people think they know but don't actually know. And we have seen that a lot. Entire police departments got defunded. So it's worth finding out where the public is getting all this false information, this disinformation as we'll call it. So we checked. We spent all day trying to locate the famous QAnon, which in the end we learned is not even a website. If it's out there, we could not find it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON (on camera): CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has done extensive reporting on QAnon, and he joins us now. Hi, Donie.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Hi, Don.

LEMON: It's not the daily show you're watching. It was Fox News.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: So, there is no question that the QAnon movement exists. Tucker Carlson has defended it himself. If he's having a hard time finding it, what does that say? If he has defended it and how he's saying it doesn't exist, what does that say?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, look, there are a lot of people Tucker could have asked about QAnon. There are a lot of his own viewers he could have asked. We meet a lot of them when we were at Trump rallies or at QAnon events or at Stop the Steal events. And they like Tucker Carlson and they like QAnon.

He could have asked Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has expressed support for QAnon. He could have asked former President Trump, who has praised QAnon supporters. And, Don, he could have asked, you know, the people who stormed the Capitol, many of whom were waving QAnon flags.

LEMON: I wonder who -- I wonder who Q might be. Hmmm. Interesting. So listen, you've talked to these QAnon believers. How would they hear what Tucker Carlson was saying? Would they see it as another sign that they are legitimate?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I think they would actually view this as a wink and a nod. I mean, what was quite striking was he actually quite sounded a lot like folks who are very into QAnon because oftentimes when I ask a QAnon believer about QAnon, they will say, there's no such thing as QAnon. There is Q, the person who posts -- this mythical figure who posts as Q, and there are the anons, the anonymous people who weigh in and do that message.

So I think a lot of them would have been watching last night and said, yeah, Tucker is with us.

LEMON (on camera): Mm-hmm. So, QAnon has literally been tearing families apart, and you spoke with several young people who fear that they are losing their parents. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I will never stop loving my parents. But it's this switch that flips in them when they're talking about what the latest Q drop means. They're not logical anymore, they're not understanding, and often, they're not kind.

And I'm worried that with every single new Q drop, it's going to be something that sends them over the edge, something that changes them so much that they completely shut themselves off from the rest of the world.

They're living in constant fear, constant paranoia, constant anxiety. Worst case scenario, Q sends a message that everyone needs to kill themselves to be saved. And as drastic as that sounds, that's what I -- that's what I live with as a real possibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Well, that doesn't sound like a cult. This young woman said that she had a perfect childhood, that her parents used to be completely different people. How does this happen, Donie?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. And Don, she's a college student. We kept her in shadow there to protect her identity because she's desperately trying to salvage a relationship with her parents. And it's so tragic. You know, there are many people in the country like this right now.

And people like her, they don't know where to turn because you have people like Tucker Carlson, you have people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, you have a sort of whole ecosystem of disinformation on certain cable news channels and online that is telling these QAnon believers that they are correct.

So it's really tragic. I sort of feel that, you know, hopefully, when we are eventually over the coronavirus in the next few months or over the next year or so, I still think that this issue, this QAnon virus essentially is something that we're going to be living with and dealing with for a very long time.

LEMON: Yeah. Listen, I think we've discussed this, Donie, that people have a lot of time on their hands now, especially during quarantine, and they were online a lot and they got sucked into a lot of these things and just went down the rabbit hole.

Anyway, I want to move on and talk to you about something else. Some people thought that after President Biden was inaugurated on January 20th, that folks would realize that QAnon was a farce and they would move on from it. But now, the Q followers are looking to March 4th. That's a big date for them. What is that about, Donie?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, as crazy as this all sounds, a lot of QAnon believers believe that Trump is going to be inaugurated next week in Washington, D.C.

[23:45:05]

O'SULLIVAN: That he's going to come back on the 4th of March. It's all to do with a very convoluted misunderstanding of an old law from the 19th century. They believe that Trump is going to come back in as the 19th president of the United States. It's too long and complex a story to even break down.

But, you know, it's bizarre, it's ridiculous, but we heard from the chair of the House Armed Services Committee who said, you know, partially the reason that the National Guard are still in Washington, D.C. is all this online chatter about the 4th of March.

LEMON: It's some sort of resurrection. It's like the QAnon Easter, that Trump is coming back. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Donie.

New evidence in the fatal car crash has people calling for impeachment. And the thing is the person at the center of it all is South Dakota's top law enforcement official. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): Tonight, growing pressure on the South Dakota attorney general to step down. That, as new evidence is coming out about a deadly nighttime car accident. A.G. Jason Ravnsborg struck and killed a man. He told police that he thought that he hit a deer, but then discovered the victim's body the next morning.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JASON RAVNSBORG, SOUTH DAKOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: And then, quite frankly, wham.

UNKNOWN: OK.

RAVNSBORG: I hit, you know, the incident happened. I never saw anything.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is facing misdemeanor charges after he struck and killed a man on September 12th. He initially told police he hit a deer.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): 911. This is Ally. How can I help you?

RAVNSBORG (voice-over): Ally, this -- well, Ally, I'm the attorney general, and I am -- I don't know. I hit something.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Ravnsborg told investigators he returned to the scene of the collision the following morning and discovered the body of 55-year-old Joseph Boever.

RAVNSBORG: But then I come up, it was the man. And he is not good and he's dead. But I believe I did not do anything wrong, and I obviously replayed it my mind about a thousand times.

KAFANOV (voice-over): But now, the Republican official is facing mounting calls for his resignation, in light of disturbing new details released Tuesday night in which investigators say they found the Boever's broken glasses in Ravnsborg's car.

UNKNOWN: They're Joe's glasses. I wondered about that. That means his face came through your windshield. It's a tough thing.

RAVNSBORG: Ah. I was thinking that his face did not come through. I thought there would have been blood everywhere. Now, after I thought about it --

UNKNOWN: Yeah, and you've had time, right? His glasses are right there, Jason. Those are Joe's.

RAVNSBORG: I did not see the glasses.

UNKNOWN: So, the only way for them to get there is through the windshield.

KAFANOV (voice-over): The attorney general faces three misdemeanor charges for careless driving, operating a vehicle while using a mobile electronic device, and illegal lane change while carelessly driving crossing lanes of traffic unsafely, but no felonies in the death of Boever.

MICHAEL MOORE, BEADLE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: At best, his conduct was negligent, which is insufficient to bring criminal charges in South Dakota. As I mentioned, this is a tragic accident, which took the life of Mr. Boever way too soon. The victim's remedy is in civil court, not criminal court.

KAFANOV (voice-over): The attorney general's spokesperson, Mike Deaver, tells CNN that Ravnsborg has not yet responded to the misdemeanor charges filed against him by the state attorney's office and a court date has yet to be set.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of South Dakota lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against Ravnsborg.

UNKNOWN: But it's a sad day. But we need to move forward as a state. We need to do what's best for the citizens of South Dakota. So that's why I'm asking or recommending to our attorney general to resign his post immediately so the state can move on, the governor can appoint a new attorney general, and we can get this behind us.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Lawmakers introduced two articles of impeachment, one for the fatal crash, the other for Ravnsborg's statements and actions in reporting the crash and during the investigation, in which they said Ravnsborg undertook actions unbecoming the attorney general.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is also calling for the attorney general to go, saying in a statement released Tuesday, now that the investigation has closed and charges have been filed, I believe the attorney general should resign.

But Ravnsborg is rebuffing calls to step down. In a statement to CNN, spokesman Mike Deaver said, the attorney general does not intend to resign. At no time has this issue impeded his ability to do the work of the office.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Excellent report there, Lucy. Why is it that the attorney general faces only misdemeanor charges?

KAFANOV: Well, Don, the prosecutors in this case said the evidence simply didn't support charges of vehicular homicide or manslaughter which could have meant years of prison time. Now, many states throughout the country have something called a negligent homicide law. That's when there's no premeditated intent or malice but you killed someone through reckless behavior.

[23:55:00] KAFANOV: South Dakota does not have that law, which really complicates manslaughter charges in cases like this one when there's no strong evidence of drug or alcohol use.

And Don, we spoke to the victim's cousin right before going on air. He told us that the family is extremely disappointed in the misdemeanor charges. He said of the attorney general, and I quote, "I am convinced despite his claims otherwise he saw Joe in that moment before the crash." Don?

LEMON: It is a fascinating story, and we'll continue to follow it. Thank you, Lucy. I appreciate it.

And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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