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Twelve GOP Senators Plan To Oppose Certification Of Biden's Win; U.S. Tops 20 Million COVID-19 Cases As New Year Begins; California Sets New Daily Record For Coronavirus Deaths; Three- Million-Plus Early Votes Cast Ahead Of Georgia Senate Elections; Iranian Commander: Any "Retaliation" May Come From Within U.S.; CNN: Trump Spent Over 20 Percent Of His Days In Office Visiting Golf Courses. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired January 02, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:20]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Ana Cabrera.

We begin with breaking news. A sad and shameful example of trying to overturn America's fair and free election. CNN has learned that at least 11 Republican senators now plan to back Missouri Senator Josh Hawley when he objects to Joe Biden's victory, despite absolutely no evidence of election fraud or irregularity of any significance.

Live pictures of the U.S. Capitol, a symbol of democracy, that next week will be hijacked, for what is nothing more than a political stunt.

We want to show you the faces of these Republican senators who are joining Hawley's effort. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Danes of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, as well as Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Haggerty of Texas, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

Their objection still doesn't change the facts and it won't change the outcome. Joe Biden won this election. Dozens of lawsuits challenging the results have been thrown out by state judges, by federal judges including some Trump picked himself, even the Supreme Court. Election officials have done recounts in states like Georgia. President Trump's own Homeland Security and Justice Departments including the attorney general of the United States have said there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or anything that would change the outcome of this election.

And what these lawmakers do next week will be etched into history. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who has recognized Joe Biden as the president-elect has warned, Republicans need to vote their conscience saying this vote will mark one of the most significant, perhaps the most significant he's ever cast or any of them will cast.

CNN's Boris Sanchez joins us at the White House now. Boris, how are these senators explaining themselves?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, in a statement released by this group, they're essentially saying that this is about maintaining the integrity of our elections and responding to unprecedented allegations of fraud. They essentially want a 10-day period to do an exhaustive audit of the voting results in different states and then essentially come up with an answer to that in their words, the next president can have the confidence of the American people.

Never mind that these unprecedented allegations of voter fraud have largely been dismissed. They don't stand up to scrutiny. They certainly have failed in court, close to some 60 times and they're largely just coming from here in the White House and President Trump's repetitive lies on Twitter.

Nevertheless, here is a portion of the statement from these lawmakers. They write, quote, accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6th to reject the electors from disputed states as not regularly given and lawfully certified, the statutory requisite unless and until the emergency 10 day audit is completed.

We are not naive. We fully expect most, if not all Democrats and perhaps more than a few Republicans to vote otherwise. But support of election integrity should not be a partisan issue.

They go on; The election of 2020 like the election of 2016 was hard fought and in many swing states, narrowly decided. The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lacks enforcement of the election law and other voting irregularities.

Again, we should point out as you did at the top, Ana, there's no evidence of widespread election fraud. And perhaps the most ironic thing is that many of the Republicans jumping on to this effort were actually elected on the very same ballots using the same electoral systems that were tabulated in the same way that got them elected and that ultimately decided the election for Joe Biden -- Ana.

CABRERA: And all they keep citing are unprecedented allegations in this election. How many allegations are out there and how many people believe these allegations? The only reason people are questioning the integrity of this election is because President Trump, he's amplifying these allegations and throwing out these lies and they're complicit in it. They're going along with it instead of saying there's no reason not to trust the outcome of this election.

So, is there any other way to see this than Republicans just trying to do Trump's bidding?

SANCHEZ: Ana, a lot of this is simply about survival. These Republicans recognize where the power in the Republican Party is.

[15:05:03] Donald Trump is the Republican Party. He has these lawmakers by the trunk, if you will, and he has already put out there the idea they will be primaried if they don't go along with his plan.

He said that John Thune of South Dakota, the number two Republican in the Senate, would be -- should be primaried in his eyes because he's ridiculed this idea of an objection. These lawmakers are terrified of getting primaried from a Donald Trump-backed candidate whether in 2022 or further, and frankly, some of them have aspirations for 2024.

That includes Josh Hawley, who's the first Republican senator to come out and announce that he would be objecting to these Electoral College results, and of course, Ted Cruz who at one point spent months ridiculing Donald Trump calling him a liar, et cetera, a con man, and then, ultimately, fell in line in large part because he recognizes, again, where the power is in the Republican Party. Trump knows that he has it and he's not going to go quietly, Ana?

CABRERA: Boris Sanchez at the White House -- thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

CABRERA: And so joining us now to discuss further is former Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California who in 2005 famously objected to Ohio's votes, charging voter suppression.

Senator, we should just say up front, you feel your case was very different. So, I have to ask you, what's your reaction to this news that now 11 Republican senators plan to back Hawley in the stunt?

BARBARA BOXER (D-CA), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I have to say, these senators will go down in history as puppets of Donald Trump and people who had zero courage, and those Republicans who stand in the way of this really overthrowing of an election will go down in history as courageous.

You know, when they started to say, oh, we're doing just what Barbara Boxer and Stephanie Tubbs Jones did, Stephanie was the congresswoman from the Cleveland area, she came to me with the blessing of that iconic wonderful person, John Lewis, and said, you know, could we take an hour of time and just put a focus on voter suppression and tell everyone, it has nothing to do with overturning the election, which we did, and we did take one hour of time to talk about what we saw then in Cleveland which was a prelude of things to come. It has nothing to do with what these people are doing.

Look, they claim they want an audit, some phony, phony audit. Who's going to run the audit? Will it be the Trump administration? There have been the equivalent of 60 audits already, 60 court cases ruled on by Democrats, Republican judges.

There hasn't been one inch, one ounce of any kind of support that this was a fraudulent election. And in addition to that, Trump's own people said it was the most secure election ever. So this is outrageous on its face. CABRERA: You're right, the facts are what they are no matter if people

like them or not, there's no evidence and the senators in their statement aren't providing evidence at all, only citing allegations.

What kind of lasting damage could this do?

BOXER: You know, I'm such a believer in the Constitution and in our institutions that I don't think this is going to have lasting damage because they will not be rewarded. That they're going to lose this and Joe Biden is going to become the president.

And I think as people look at the debate that's going to happen on the floor and I do hope those opposing these dozen senators will speak up. I hope the people as they're watching this will understand that this is nothing but, you know, doing the bidding of the sore loser.

And by the way, I can't help but note this. I hope you'll give me the chance to say that this is being led by Josh Hawley who is so new, I don't even know what he's accomplished. He certainly couldn't accomplish the $2,000 that he wanted to drive with but he did nothing to change Mitch McConnell's mind.

But now, Ted Cruz has jumped in. So, I wonder how Trump feels about the effort to overturn this election being led by Ted Cruz. He called Ted Cruz, quote, a soft baby, a liar, mentally ill. He said he was unstable, a hypocrite, and he even called his father an assassin.

This is what has become of the Republican Party and it gives me no joy because I grew up with two strong parties. We all were fighting for the same voters, that is all the voters, and now I have to say, I have such applause and such respect for those Republicans who are standing up to this new Trump party of chaos.

[15:10:02]

CABRERA: We know Senator Hawley is fundraising off this effort. Is this just part of the sad underbelly of politics that these spectacles, sad as they are, happen because they give people fame or money or power?

BOXER: This is ugly as it gets. Here is the party of state's rights. That's what they call themselves.

And what are they doing? What are they doing? They're taking on the states who set the electors. Every state sent electors.

There's no fraud. Sixty court cases. All of this is going on. The Trump administration saying this was so secure.

So, this is ugly for people to fundraise off of perhaps the naivety of some people out there who really don't understand what is going on.

We have a system that's very secure because there is no one way to mess up an election because we have in all the different states. Now, there may be irregularities. In some cases, a Trump voter may have lied or a Biden voter may have lied. But there's no systemic fraud in this election.

This has been studied more than a chest X-ray. The Supreme Court has said, no, go away. It's all fine. Louis Gohmert's last ploy to get Mike Pence to dictate who the winner is, that fell flat. It's outrageous.

So, history's going to look at 2020. Well, 2021, I was hoping it would start off better and history is going to say, what's wrong with these people? They lost their soul. They lost their spirit. They lost their courage.

CABRERA: Former Senator Barbara Boxer, thanks for joining us.

BOXER: Thanks.

CABRERA: Well, this manufactured election drama plays out, the pandemic rages on as we ushered in this New Year. The U.S. surpassed 20 million total cases. Despite everything we learned about coronavirus in 2020, December was the nation's deadliest month yet.

And for the past four days, we have set staggering new COVID hospitalization records. The urgency of the vaccine clearer than ever but the U.S. is already dangerously behind schedule when it comes to getting shots into arms. Roughly 3 million Americans vaccinated falling far short of the target of Trump administration's target of 20 million vaccinations by January 1st. Dr. Anthony Fauci called this disappointing. Republican Senator Mitt Romney calling it inexcusable.

But President Trump calls it somebody else's problem, tweeting: The federal government has distributed has distributed the vaccines to the states. Now, it's up to the states to administer, get moving.

With little federal guidance, state officials have been scrambling to make up for lost time. So, what's that look like on the ground?

Let's take you to Florida to CNN National Correspondent, Dianne Gallagher.

Dianne, what did you see there today?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so, Ana, I'm in the middle of an empty parking lot right now that most people thought was going to be full of vaccines being administered to anybody over the age of 65 here in Florida.

In fact, I'm seeing cars come in and turn around when they see it's not here for the past several hours. That's because they ran out of vaccines. Basically, Lake County, Florida, like many other places leading another shipment. So what was supposed to be a first-come, first-serve event turned into those who already had appointments and it was very small number for a very short number of hours.

Now, the state of Florida is doing things a little bit different. The CDC has recommended this sort of next wave of vaccines be anybody over the age of 75 and those first responders, those essential workers. Well, Florida is doing anyone over the age of 65. The governor said

that's because he doesn't want young healthy workers getting it before the vulnerable elderly population. Important to point out, about 20 percent of Florida's population is over the age of 65.

No shortage of people who want to get this vaccine. The demand is very high. But much like the federal government has left it up to the states, the state has left it up to the counties on how they're going to distribute this vaccine. And some of them are doing first come, first served, and in those cases, we have seen elderly people literally camping out overnight trying to get a shot at, well, getting the shot.

Other counties have done the ability to make an appointment. And phone lines have gone down. Their websites have crashed. People don't know what to do.

They don't know how to get vaccines. They want them, the vaccines are here, and they can't seem to connect in a timely manner. I talked to this woman who thought it was first come, first served here. He ended up getting turned away after waiting for hours because they had changed the protocol here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA HEEDEN, SENIOR CITIZEN: The first thing is to make it darn clear, you know, don't have the right hand doing something the left hand doesn't know what they're doing, because that's causing a lot of confusion.

[15:15:06]

We're all here in the same boat. We're all anxious about this COVID and just needs to be, the officials have to get together, whatever, everybody get on the same page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: I feel like we've been hearing that for months now, basically through the entire pandemic.

Ana, she told me they can't figure it out here in Florida. They may have, in her words, a quote, elder riot on their hands and if you're looking for some silver lining here, it's the fact that there is such a demand for this vaccine. In fact, I've heard complaints from people who were over the age of 65 here in Florida that you don't have to be a Florida resident to get the vaccine.

They're frustrated that people who live here part-time may be jumping in front of them but the state said they will vaccinate anybody in this state who is over that age of 65 in this particular way.

CABRERA: In the meantime, Dianne, there's new concern about this new strain or new variant of the coronavirus first confirmed in the U.K. and now Florida has a confirmed case of this. What can you tell us? GALLAGHER: So from what we know from experts at this point, it does

appear that we're seeing it across the state. Here in Florida, that individual said that they had not traveled which likely means that it's here in Florida somewhere. That's how it was contracted.

Now, experts have said that they believe it's more contagious, of course, but not necessarily more deadly, and that at this point, there's no evidence that shows that the vaccine wouldn't also be effective against that. Right now here in Florida, the main goal is getting that shot in as many arms as possible, so they can then try to move on to the next waves. So, again, 20 percent of the population here is over the age of 65.

Ana, more than 80 percent of deaths attributed to COVID-19 are from people who are over the age of 65. So this is an incredibly vulnerable population that wants to get this vaccine, especially if we have this more contagious variant here in this state.

CABRERA: Right, surges already happening before this variant.

Thank you, Dianne Gallagher.

GALLAGHER: Yeah.

CABRERA: To the West Coast now. The coronavirus is pushing California to the breaking point. The Golden State just set a new record for daily deaths from COVID. More than 500 deaths in just one day. We'll take you to the West Coast, next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:22]

CABRERA: California, a state already stressed to the brink of catastrophe, just set a devastating new record, 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day.

CNN's Paul Vercammen joins us now from Los Angeles.

Paul, some hospitals there reporting zero percent ICU capacity and the situation just seems to be getting more and more dire by the minute. How did California get to this point?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a myriad of reasons for it. One of them is the essential workers who went to their jobs still and others just flat out COVID denial. People who didn't believe the virus was problematic and went out, had their various parties and whatnot.

What are the effects of this? A lack of oxygen at some hospitals. Desperately needed oxygen for those COVID-19 patients gasping for breath.

Now, here at White Memorial Hospital in just a little while, we are going to see an elite team of the Army Corps of Engineer specialists walk in here and give an assessment as how they can better distribute oxygen whether it's through canisters, or whether through a plastic tubing, to get that to these patients who need it. They are in all, the Army Corps looking at six hospitals in the L.A. area. They've already surveyed three.

Another issue California is now facing is the quality of care being given to COVID-19 patients. Not every single hospital worker is trained to deal with patients who are now in the ICUs.

Let's listen to the chief medical officer from L.A. County USC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BRAD SPELLBERG, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, L.A. COUNTY USC MEDICAL CENTER: You can't just snap your fingers and make an ICU doctor, an ICU nurse appear. It takes years of training. They are running towards the danger. They are putting on the mask, the face shield, the gown. They're going into the contagious patient's room to deliver critical care. How disrespectful is it while front line workers are putting their lives on the line to go to the mall to shop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And so, as for the hospitalizations in California, right now around 21,000, Ana, and that's why these resources are stretched so improbably thin.

Back to you.

CABRERA: Awful, awful situation there. Paul Vercammen, thanks for bringing us the information that everybody needs to hear.

Joining us now, the director of the Department of Health Services in Los Angeles County, Dr. Christina Ghaly.

Doctor, I wish we were talking under better circumstances. Your part of California reached just a terrible point a few days ago when it was determined that one person in L.A. County was dying of COVID every ten minutes and that prompted a very powerful public awareness campaign with L.A. health officials posting something personal about someone who had died every ten minutes on Twitter or at least trying to make these numbers more tangible for people to think about their own loved ones.

You've described ambulances ten deep waiting to offload patients, gift shops, conference rooms having to be converted into treatment rooms. Tell us what an average day has become for health officials there?

DR. CHRISTINA GHALY, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: Thanks for having me, Ana.

It's really a tragedy unfolding on so many levels here in Los Angeles County. And this affects not just the four hospitals operated through the county but also every private hospital across the region. Staff are taking care of way more patients than they should be taking care of or used to taking care of, as Dr. Spellberg just described in your video a few minutes ago, staffer taking care of patients that they're not fully trained to be doing so, and doing so in team based nurses. The emergency departments and ICUs are well over capacity and ambulances building up.

And this creates an incredible amount of pressure and stress on the staff who are used to providing the absolute best care for every patient that comes through the door and there's absolutely no way in these circumstances that any hospital is able to do that.

CABRERA: I want to play for our viewers a video of an ICU nurse in California posted online. It touched a lot of people. This has almost 2 million views. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAYANA CHUKLANSEV, SURGICAL INTENSTIVE CARE NURSE: I don't know how else to say this but I am begging you guys, please stop being careless. We have no ventilators for patients. We have no sedating medications. Patients are dying like flies. We're full. We're at max capacity.

We have no resources. We have no staff. Our doctors can't even intubate they have like 40 patients each.

[15:25:01]

It's like a war zone and we're asking for help and help's not coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Dr. Ghaly, what goes through your mind listening to that?

GHALY: Well, I applaud the nurse who had the courage to share that personal story of hers, but what I want people to know is the same story is playing out in so many hospitals across the region. It's not just at that one institution. It's everywhere.

And we all have a responsibility to control our behavior, to take responsibility for what we're doing and where we're going and end this. And, really, the essential workers that are out there that have to go to their jobs, they have to be out there. They have no choice and what we need everyone else to do is if you have the ability to stay home, if you're lucky enough to be one of the fortunate few or rich enough to be able to work from home or stay at home, we're asking you to stay home.

Part of our responsibility as a society is to protect the people that are most vulnerable and again and again with COVID, we've seen the most vulnerable are suffering and suffering immensely. And we need to do everything we can to end that and also to prevent the transmission that truly is touching every corner of Los Angeles and this nation at this point.

CABRERA: You say this surge in cases is pushing California's hospitals to the brink of catastrophe, that is your quote. Why is California in such a bad state?

GHALY: There's so many reasons for that. I think the fact that in Los Angeles County, we are very densely populated, much more densely populated than when I think people consider us being, a lot of low income workers, a lot of essential workers who are working outside of their homes. I think there's a number of people who don't believe in masking, who don't want to follow the public health guidelines.

We're not a society that all thinks the same way about these guidelines and there's many people who don't want to follow the rules or have just grown tired of the rules and they think that they're going to be okay, they're immune, they'll not get that sick or know people who had asymptomatic course of COVID and they think the same thing will happen to them.

But we've seen young people die, people with no underlying health conditions who get COVID and get sick and go in the hospital and never leave. And we need to do everything we can to stop that, but it really will take every single person in Los Angeles County to step up and do their part to stop this transmission or we're not going to get out of this surge for a very long time and that will just compound the tragedy that is facing hospitals.

Already, three quarters of the beds in Los Angeles County in the ICU are filled with COVID patients. That doesn't leave any room for patients without COVID.

CABRERA: Right, and we keep talking about the vaccine and it's here and how important it is for people to get vaccinated when it's their turn. I was struck by a report in this week's Los Angeles times that hundreds of front line health care workers are choosing to not get vaccinated and while some feel they shouldn't be prioritized, others are expressing skepticism about the safety and the effectiveness of these authorized vaccines.

Does that surprise or concern you?

GHALY: I'm not surprised. Within our hospital system, we've seen uptick rates about 75 percent to 80 percent of our front line healthcare workers volunteered to get the vaccine. I think that's a little bit higher than what some other health systems are experiencing. I think the numbers overall are more like 60 percent to 80 percent.

But still, that 75 percent to 80 percent is what we see typically with other vaccinations like influenza. Some people are just skeptical of vaccines in general or may think that they don't want to have this one because it has only preliminary approval, but it has been shown in trials to be safe and we are encouraging all of our frontline staff to get vaccinated.

Already, we vaccinated 12,000 of our frontline health care workers within the county hospital system and we have more scheduled to get vaccinated next week. And I would encourage everyone who sees patients on the frontline or manages and handles infectious waste to get that vaccine. It is safe and it can save your life and that of those around you.

CABRERA: Dr. Christina Ghaly, thanks so much for joining us. I know you're working so, so hard and I wish you the very best.

GHALY: Thank you very much.

CABRERA: In the meantime, more than 3 million votes already cast in Georgia's critical Senate runoffs and growing pressure on Republicans, especially with one candidate now in quarantine. Details next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:34]

CABRERA: In Georgia today, a final frenzy of campaigning just three days now before that crucial Senate runoff election for two Senators there, Senate seats.

Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent, Reverend Raphael Warnock, on the trail today.

However, Republican Senator David Perdue is on the sidelines after being exposed to the coronavirus. While his opponent, Jon Ossoff, is crisscrossing the state.

Kyung Lah joins us from Peachtree City, Georgia, where Senator Loeffler is holding an event this afternoon.

Kyung, Loeffler is campaigning alongside Senator today. He is part of the coalition of Senators who announced they plan to follow Hawley's lead, objecting to the Electoral College count next week.

One name not on that list is Senator Loeffler. Has she addressed this today?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We noticed her name was not on the list. She has not. And she has not spoken to reporters, taking any questions about this.

We should point out that she was campaigning with Senator Ted Cruz. And then after the Senate news broke, that's when Senator Cruz disappeared off the trail with her.

So we haven't seen him since the Senate news broke.

But Senator Loeffler is expected to be here in Peachtree City addressing supporters shortly within the next hour or so.

She, as you mentioned, along with the two Democratic challengers, are crisscrossing the state delivering the closing arguments ahead of Tuesday's election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JON OSSOFF, (D), GEORGIA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: After four years of hatred and racism and division and bigotry, Georgia is going to make a statement about love and decency and compassion and unity --

(CHEERING)

OSSOFF: -- because that's what Georgia stands for.

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): The very fabric of this country would be shred apart. The American dream would be impossible. And our country would be unrecognizable. We have to hold the line here in Georgia.

REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: As my mom said, it's not what they call you. It's what you do.

(CHEERING)

WARNOCK: And in just a few days, she can call me Senator Raphael Warnock.

(CHEERING)

LAH: The Democrats and the Republicans are eyeing the big national figures arriving starting tomorrow.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be landing in Savannah, Georgia, to rally alongside the Democratic challengers.

And then on Monday, vice President-Elect Joe Biden and President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be in the state trying to rally those voters right ahead before the election -- Ana?

[15:35:09]

CABRERA: As we mentioned, Senator Perdue is not on the trail today because he's in quarantine after being exposed to somebody who has the coronavirus.

Does he think staying off the campaign trail could have an impact on getting his supporters to the poll?

LAH: The Senator absolutely doesn't. And he said so this morning on FOX News when he was doing an interview from his house where he's quarantined. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): The energy level was exactly where it was in November when the polls had me down five points. Won by wo.

As a matter of fact, 52.5 percent of Georgians rejected Jon Ossoff and his Democratic liberal agenda in November. The same thing happened in 2014.

I don't put a lot of stock in polls. I look at this early voting. And I'm very confident with the president coming Monday night and the vice president coming Monday and what we're doing with our team over the next three days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: They are an absolute force here in Georgia, the president and the vice president.

But Republican leaders in this state are very nervous about what the president will say. Will he stick to message? Will he read what is on the teleprompter?

Or is he going to if I can fixate on January 6th? He believed that the elections on Tuesday were illegal.

So all of this is causing some indigestion among Republican leadership who need their voters to get out on Tuesday.

CABRERA: We'll be talking with one of the Republican leaders in Georgia, the lieutenant governor, coming up later in the show.

Kyung Lah, thank you.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are ratcheting up this week ahead of tomorrow's anniversary of the U.S. assassination of Iran's most powerful military figure. We'll take you inside the threat assessments being made next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are rising right now as U.S. officials say the potential of an attack from Iran is the highest it's been since the drone-killing of its top commander, Qasem Soleimani, almost exactly one year ago.

[15:40:10]

CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, joins us now.

Arwa, walk us through how we got here -- Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It all starts, as you mention there, Ana, about a year ago, but actually even before that. Because you had repeated incidents with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq going after U.S. assets, such as firing mortars and rockets at U.S. military bases and, of course, on a fairly regularly basis inside the Green Zone.

Almost a year ago exactly, the U.S. launched a strike that killed Iran's top commander, its top military intelligence commander, General Qasem Soleimani, along with one of the Shia militia commanders in Iraq.

That strike resulted in Iran retaliating, firing multiple rockets at the al Assad Airbase that ended up causing quite severe damage to the airbase itself. Now what is happening in Iraq at the moment is the very beginning of a

memorial that is commemorating Qasem Soleimani, happening on the airport road at the exact location where his vehicle was blown up in that U.S. strike.

But over the last few weeks, there have been quite a few very concerning actions, as well as statements coming out from both sides.

You had, around December 21st, after, once again, there were rockets that hit the Green Zone, some which landed inside the U.S. embassy compound, only causing material damage.

But leading President Trump to tweet that if any U.S. casualty takes place, he would be blaming Iran.

And then you have this issue of U.S. intelligence and what statements are coming out of the U.S. administration, which are very contradictory.

On the one hand, you do have some senior officials who, yes, are saying that the threat is at its highest level to date since that killing of Qasem Soleimani took place a year ago, pointing to intelligence that they say they've gathered that Iran has been moving ballistic missiles into Iraq.

But then on the other hand, you have other officials who are saying that there's no actual intelligence to corroborate this claim of a higher threat level.

And then you have the U.S. flying those nuclear capable B-52 bombers over the Middle East. That's taking place last week, followed by the U.S. then withdrawing one of its aircraft carriers from the Persian Gulf, seemingly to indicate de-escalation.

And then you have the rhetoric coming out of Iran, which is, on the one hand, rather combative, and on the other hand, seeming to try to take a softer tone.

Because there are great concerns that, in his last stages in office, President Trump may carry out some sort of a strike that would lead to much more chaos in the region.

CABRERA: Of course, that anniversary, the killing of Qasem Soleimani is tomorrow. So that's one reason we're watching this so very closely this weekend.

Arwa Damon, thank you for that.

Did you hear about this? The president skipping his own party. Instead of the president, they got Rudy Giuliani and Vanilla Ice. We've got details about a New Year's bash at Mar-a-Lago that didn't go as planned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:10] CABRERA: Well, 2020 went out with a fizzle at President Trump's Mar-a- Lago resort in Florida.

After guests paid in the four figures for tickets to the president's annual New Year's Eve party, President Trump was a no-show, jetting off to D.C. to focus on his election loss to Joe Biden.

So he left guests at this party with the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Vanilla Ice, along with his sons, Don Jr and Eric Trump, his daughter, Tiffany.

And like other gatherings at Mar-a-Lago this year, no guests wore masks, tables were clustered together without social distancing.

Right before the president skipped out, a source told CNN he seemed unsettled, spending time in Florida talking about ways to cling to power.

As well as complaining about the renovations in Mar-a-Lago approved by the first lady in anticipation of their post-White House life.

Joining us now is Tim O'Brien, author of "Trump Nation: The Art of Being The Donald," and an opinion columnist for "Bloomberg."

Tim, the president is so singularly focused on something he can't change, something he can't control, the results of his election, that he skipped his own party.

We know how much he loves to feel the love of his supporters. So this is significant.

Sources tell us he's more unpredictable now than any other time in his presidency. How do you see this playing out?

TIM O'BRIEN, OPINION COLUMNIST, "BLOOMBERG" & AUTHOR: I think it's going to get worse, ana.

The thing that really concerns me is he's been fomenting violence essentially. He's been promising that this week, in advance of both the Georgia vote and the tally of the electoral votes in Congress, that he had a surprise in store for everyone.

He's never explicitly asked for violence but he's certainly inciting and incenting the people who support him, who buy into this myth that the election was stolen or was overtly fraudulent, to take action in his stead.

And I think that's why he rushed back to Washington, clearly, as he wants to be, at the tail end of his presidency, the steward of chaos, which he essentially what he's been throughout his entire presidency.

What's also interesting about him not showing up at his own party at Mar-a-Lago, he did the same thing at the White House Christmas party.

And Donald Trump, as you noted, is not someone who willingly forgoes events where he can bask in victories or the pretend ones where he pretends he had a victory.

Remember, early on in his presidency, after they failed to overturn the ACA in Congress, Trump had this faux victory celebration in the Rose Garden.

He's not even trying to do that now. And I think that's because he recognizes how clear cut the defeat is. And I think the danger is how does he continue to respond to that.

[15:50:07]

CABRERA: As I mentioned, the president purportedly doesn't like his wife's renovations right now at Mar-a-Lago. What do you think post- White House life will look like here?

O'BRIEN: Donald Trump is an attention addict. He's a media addict. He really, for as much as he criticizes the media and prominent media organizations, including CNN, he thrives on the attention of those organizations.

Because, you know, in the recesses of his mind, he actually cares very deeply about how -- how media personalities and anchors and reporters all assess him.

And he is going to have a very hard time adjusting to being out of the most powerful limelight an individual can occupy, the Oval Office.

I do think he's going to attempt to start a media company either by acquiring an existing company or financing a start-up. I think he's going to have a very hard time focusing on that for more than five minutes.

I think where you'll really see him try to retain traction with the voters and the American public will be through rallies.

I imagine he will hit the road not too long after he leaves the White House and be both a disrupter in the Republican Party and do everything he can to try to throw sand into the machinery of the Biden presidency.

CABRERA: I do wonder how he'll be received by people in his new Florida stomping grounds.

Because the president once told you, I am the king of Palm Beach. They all come over, they all eat, they all love me, they all kiss my expletive. And then they all leave and say, isn't he horrible? But I'm the king.

For years, we know the president has fought with the city over regulations. And CNN has reported that some of his neighbors are desperate for him to move.

One neighbor saying the mash-up of old-money Palm Beach residents and the flashy cash persona of Donald Trump has been like oil and water. It doesn't mix.

What will his relationship be with Palm Beach society?

O'BRIEN: The interesting thing about Palm Beach is he denigrates it. He says he looks down on elitist Palm Beach. But he chose to purchase a mansion there.

He couldn't afford to run that mansion, or own it, rather, so he turned it into a club, a for-profit venture so he could hold onto it.

But he wants to be near the very things he denigrates. He always looked down on elite real estate operators in New York, yet, he longed to be in Manhattan.

He looked down on elite media but he longed for their attention. And he looked down on Palm Beach society, yet, he bought a mansion there.

His relationship with that town will continue to be fractious. It has been decades that he has been thumbing his nose at the mores of Palm Beach. That's not going to change.

But he has real legal issues about whether or not he can actually reside there, Ana.

When he converted Mar-a-Lago into a club, part of the reason he was able to do that around zoning laws in Palm Beach was a promise that he would not try to set up permanent residency there.

So he's going to face some hurdles around that.

CABRERA: As someone who has had such unprecedented access to him in the early 2000s, I have to ask you about all these golf outings.

He was golfing when Congress was struggling to salvage that stimulus bill. He was golfing as the country shattered record after record with the coronavirus. He was even golfing when the race was called for Joe Biden.

What's going on with that?

O'BRIEN: Like Nero, Donald Trump is fiddling while Rome burns.

You led into the segment with a party at Mar-a-Lago. I don't think you could have a more symbolic episode that represents a smaller group of privileged people flaunting their noses at a public health crisis and their responsibilities to help the country get back on its feet.

Donald Trump has done that as individual throughout his presidency.

The answer all the time to these questions is, he's a deeply damaged man who doesn't care. He doesn't have an ounce of empathy in him. He has no interest in the responsibilities of the office he holds.

And rather than confront the burning rubble that's around him at the end of his administration, he's running away from it. He's avoiding parties and he is playing golf.

CABRERA: On one hand, you say he doesn't care about those other people. But on the other hand, you know, we talk about how he cares a lot about what people think of him.

Ordinarily, a president leaving office would be thinking about how to enshrine his legacy in a library or museum.

When you consider everything that has happened in the last four years, the Twitter fights, the impeachment trial, the botched pandemic response, how much of that is going to be part of a Trump library or museum?

O'BRIEN: You know, at this point, the only thing I can imagine a Trump library would be, would be a giant hole in the ground with rubble and rebar sticking out of it.

Because what are we going to memorialize about what's been accomplished here? There's a lot of myth-making going on right now about whether or not Donald Trump presided over a successful presidency.

[15:55:09]

The reality is the economy is in harder -- has encountered harder times. Most Americans' income has not increased during his presidency.

We have destabilized relationships overseas. We have a very divided country.

Donald Trump got a massive tax cut, some deregulation, and a more conservative court. When you move beyond those things, one would be very hard-pressed to think about why this is a successful presidency.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: -- with him.

CABRERA: I am glad you brought up those last few points, though, because that's what you hear from his supporters. It's about the tax cuts and the deregulation and the courts.

O'BRIEN: Correct. Correct.

CABRERA: And they are cheering him on in all of those ways and see those as huge successes.

Tim O'Brien, thank you very much for joining us.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Back to our breaking news. A dozen GOP Senators now plan to oppose certification of Joe Biden's win this week when Congress has to certify the election. What's their reasoning? And how does it square with the facts?

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