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U.S. Vice President Not Ruling Out 25th Amendment To Remove Trump; Impeachment Articles Could Be Introduced As Soon As Monday; At Least 83 Arrested In Capitol Siege; Lawmakers Criticize Lack Of Preparedness For Riots; Images Of Deadly Capitol Riot Shock The World; Pondering Trump's Legacy; Video Shows Officer Being Crushed By Mob; California Reports All-Time Daily High Death Rate On Saturday. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 10, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It is the top of the hour. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us.

For years, vice president Mike Pence was president Donald Trump's most loyal right-hand man. But this week may have changed everything. CNN is now learning that the two men have not spoken since Wednesday's attack on the Capitol and that Pence now isn't ruling out an effort to use the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.

But sources, also, say that the vice president's team is concerned that making this rare and extraordinary move could cause the president to act out and do something that could put the nation at risk.

The relationship between the two soured after Trump tried to get the vice president to overturn the election results in Congress, calling him out from the stage, before that riot played out. And obviously, this is something that Pence can't do and he had made clear that he could not do.

And add to that, the president has done nothing to denounce this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!

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BOLDUAN: The silence from the president is almost as deafening, as the mob's calls to hang Mike Pence, the vice president, there. A White House deputy press secretary did put out a statement, tonight, saying the following.

"We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration." But feeling no need to actually say the vice president. Remember, one

-- also, this. Remember, one Capitol Hill police officer died in the insurrection. Yet the president has said nothing about him or any of the other four people who died.

The White House hasn't even taken the step to honor Officer Brian Sicknick by lowering flags to half-staff; whereas, they very quickly made that step to honor him in Congress. So far, just nothing but stunning silence, still, from President Trump on this.

CNN's White House correspondent, John Harwood, joining us, once again, from Washington.

John, what is likely to happen now?

I just -- like, when sun comes up, now that we know that Trump and Pence, they haven't even spoken since Wednesday.

What is going to happen?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, everyone in Washington is hoping to run out the clock on Donald Trump's presidency without anything terrible happening. I don't believe that the 25th Amendment can actually be invoked, in this case, because I don't think you could get a majority of the cabinet to go along with that or Pence to -- to go along with it, as well.

The president could challenge it, force a vote in Congress. And especially, it becomes less likely when a couple of the cabinet members most disturbed by the president's behavior, Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, have resigned from the cabinet.

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HARWOOD: So their votes to proceed with the 25th Amendment would not be available, were they inclined to do so. So I think it's mostly about trying to keep pressure on President Trump.

And for Mike Pence, I think Mike Pence is taking on a bit of the institutional role of president that the actual president has given up. Donald Trump's long since stopped doing the job of president. He's only concerned about himself. He's bunkered in the White House, fuming, trying to figure out how to strike back at his enemies, help his friends through pardons and that sort of thing.

He's not -- he's not performing the duties for the nation. Mike Pence, just to take one small example, he is going to attend the inauguration which President Trump is not going to do.

When the insurrection happened at the Capitol and there had to be communication with the Pentagon about getting the National Guard out, it was Mike Pence doing the communicating, not President Trump.

And as you noted, President Trump has not reached out to Mike Pence. So everything is a one-way street with Donald Trump. But he has sort of removed himself, in effect, from the presidency. And everyone else is trying to prevent anything untoward happening the last, you know, 10 days of the administration.

BOLDUAN: And that's obviously part of it. I mean, Mike Pence, is, for all intents and purposes, he is doing the job of the president in these last days. Even if it is ceremonial, which says something when you are talking about a peaceful transfer of power.

What is the reporting, though, on what the president is actually going to do, other than, likely, sit in the residence and watch TV?

HARWOOD: Well, I think he is trying to figure out ways to communicate to his followers. We understand that he is upset about the message that he was browbeaten into recording, in which he acknowledged he wasn't going to be president after January 20th. His followers needed to hear that.

But the president is -- subsequently became upset because his social media platforms have been taken away. He is getting roundly condemned. Top aides, cabinet members, are resigning. He is extremely isolated. A very small and mostly nutty band of advisers close to him.

And I think, as a consequence, you know, we talk about the 25th Amendment in a formal way. But in an informal way, I think Washington is adapting to the reality that Donald Trump's not capable of performing presidential duty.

So for example, Kate, when those 10 living, former defense secretaries sent that letter organized by Dick Cheney, cautioning the military against getting involved, that was a signal, as the discussion of the 25th Amendment, itself, even if it's not invoked, is a signal that people should, as best they can, ignore President Trump, disregard whatever he is trying to make happen, not, you know, carry out orders that they believe are illegal or improper and hope that, when we get to the end of 10 days -- nine, if he goes to Mar-a-lago on the 19th, as we think -- that we can -- the country can get out of danger.

BOLDUAN: John, thank you very much.

So another signal, I guess, you could -- you could definitely take it as that. As House Democrats are actively preparing now new impeachment articles against President Trump, they say that the danger that he poses is too great, even with his term soon coming to an end.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she says that they are prepared to introduce the articles, as soon as Monday, if the president hasn't stepped down, which clearly, there is no sign that he will.

But we do know that the president has no plans to resign. He is preparing for another Senate trial. And sources are saying he's considering Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz for his defense team. Manu Raju has the very latest from Capitol Hill.

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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Democrats are pushing full steam ahead to give Donald Trump the dubious distinction of being the only president in American history who will be impeached twice. That's where all signs are headed for an impeachment vote, by early in

the week. Now the question is exactly when Nancy Pelosi will make it official that they will go down this route. She is indicating they plan to do just that because she has demanded the president resign or vice president Mike Pence take those extraordinary constitutional actions to force the president out of office by the 25th Amendment of the United States.

Now Pence is showing no indication that he is doing that. The president is showing no indication he is going to step aside. So Democrats plan to move forward with an impeachment resolution, accusing him of inciting an insurrection.

Now Democrats, behind the scenes, have been trying to get co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle to sign on to this proposal.

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RAJU: And the Democrats believe that they are making good progress to getting most, if not all, of their members on board behind this. There are 222 Democrats in the House. There is an expectation that they will be able to get a majority of support within that full House when the chamber votes, potentially by the middle of the week.

Now the big question will be, what happens then?

Because there will only be a few days left in Donald Trump's presidency. And there's no indication that the Senate will come back before January 19th to begin an impeachment trial to remove Donald Trump from office.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has indicated to his members that it would require the support of all 100 senators to change the schedule and come back into session for a trial. That, essentially, is not going to happen.

So that may mean that an impeachment trial may be kicked into the new administration, when Joe Biden takes office on January 20th. At that same time, Democrats will assume control of the Senate majority.

So the question will be how that impeachment trial would work in a Democratic majority, with a Democratic president, going after a former president, try to convict him on the charges of inciting an insurrection and effectively prevent him from holding office again.

So a lot of questions still remain. But at the moment, Democrats are furious at the president's role in the Wednesday mob that led to multiple people dying and deaths and clashes, including one police officer, U.S. Capitol police officer, who died.

And they believe the president needs to pay a price for that. So impeachment seems almost certain to happen in a matter of days -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

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BOLDUAN: Manu, thank you so much.

Let me bring in right now, two commentators, Republican strategists, Alice Stewart and Doug Heye.

Doug, the fact that Mike Pence, according to sources, is still holding onto the 25th Amendment, kind of holding it out there as something he could use, in case he sees that Trump becomes more unstable. Unclear how much more unstable you can become.

What is the message that Pence is trying to send with this, do you think?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he is trying to send a message, both to the president and to Congress, thus the entire country, that, if we need to do this absolute last resort as a break glass in case of emergency, clearly, we have already had an emergency.

But that final thing, you know, codes and buttons and the things that only presidents can do, Pence may be willing to do so. He knows, better than anyone, that Donald Trump is not a stable genius.

And so, if this is the last part that he needs to active -- and there are questions of whether or not he will actually be able to because of resignations, the fact that we have a lot of acting secretaries instead of real secretaries, confirmed secretaries, whether or not he'll be able to do that.

But it's clear that he wants to keep that option open, to give some assurances to Republicans -- it's not just Democrats that are upset right now, a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill are as well.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's absolutely true.

And Alice, you are not opposed to Pence invoking the 25th Amendment, going about that process..

If he does not, what about impeachment?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that certainly is another avenue that could certainly be done. Look. OK. There's only four options. There's invoking the 25th, which I would support but I don't think Pence would go for it, for several reasons, not the least of which he would like to run for president one day.

There is seeking -- going after impeachment, I don't see the Senate going for that.

There is asking the president to kindly step aside. That's not going to happen.

And then, there is the option of letting the clock run out and just praying that the president doesn't do anything dangerous, as he's done this week.

The problem, Kate, is that while we can chase the president out of the White House, it's not going to silence the angry mob and his supporters that came out this week and spoke on his behalf and stormed the Capitol on his behalf.

So that is the -- the difficult part here is, I think, making the president face consequences that he should face for the actions that he took but doing so in a way that doesn't rile up the mobsters and insurrectionists again. And that is the difficult challenge that anything that Congress does or Mike Pence does, they have to keep that in mind.

BOLDUAN: Look, Doug, I think Alice is getting at something really important here. Let me play for you what former Republican senator, Bob Corker, he said about impeachment. He said something pretty similar.

I mean, he said he wants President Trump to resign and get out the -- get out of office, more than anybody else. But he also thinks an impeachment could backfire.

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BOB CORKER (R-TN), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: The thing about an impeachment is he becomes a victim again. And whether he ends up, you know, trying to run again in '24 and let's say, if impeachment's not successful, which I don't recommend, all you are doing is strengthening him with the people who support him.

So I'm sorry; I think the best route would be for him to resign. But if not that, we have 12 days left. Let's move on. Let's don't do anything that causes him to rise in strength, if you will, with the base that so strongly supports him right now.

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BOLDUAN: Doug, doesn't Corker make a good point, here?

HEYE: Well, it is a good point. But ultimately, that means we just run out the clock and there is no real penalty for what Donald Trump has done. He is able to leave on his own terms, essentially, even if they are not the greatest terms in the world.

So there has to be punishment with something that's been done so egregious, that's been egged on by the president for four years now. None of this should be a surprise to anyone.

And then, there is the other question of Democratic senators who are looking at Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley for their instigating a lot of this as well, being real lieutenants for Donald Trump on the Senate floor. There has to be some form of punishment.

Otherwise, we just say, well, it happened but we couldn't do anything. This is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world. Well, they should do some deliberating.

BOLDUAN: Alice, Doug is hitting on something equally or more important for the future for the Republican Party. Trump's a failed leader. He has two failed lieutenants in the Senate with Cruz and Hawley, who led this objection effort, that's what whipped up these people and led to these riots.

You worked for Ted Cruz.

What should happen to them?

They know better.

STEWART: The key here, Kate, is to go back to how this all began. And this was false information, lies and spreading misinformation to the American people. And specifically, Republican supporters of the president about the election results.

And first and foremost, all of those that -- that led to -- the effort to try and stop the electoral vote, they need to -- one, they need to acknowledge that President Trump lost, acknowledge that Joe Biden won.

They need to assure the American people their confidence in the electoral process and elections. And they need to absolutely condemn any kind of mob violence in the future. And that is the most important message that they can have.

But the key with what these senators are advocating for -- and I have talked with Senator Cruz -- is that they look at the numbers; 39 percent of voters feel as though there was misappropriation in the election process.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and, Alice, the reason they feel that way is because Ted Cruz has been telling them that. I mean -- and Josh Hawley has been telling them that and Donald Trump has been telling them that.

What should happen to Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley?

STEWART: Look, as I said, the most important thing right now is to reassure the American people that the election process is fair and accurate.

As for what happens to any elected official that went along with the opposition to the Electoral College votes, the consequences for that will be felt next time they run for re-election.

If the voters don't like what they did, they will certainly vote them out of office. And that's the best way, I think, to hold anyone here accountable that was part of the process to stand in the way of counting and certifying the Electoral College votes.

BOLDUAN: It's going to be interesting, watching any senator work with Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, over the next years, if this -- this just goes to stand without any consequences for their role in it, which they have not acknowledged at all.

Good to see you both. Thank you.

Coming up for us. Law enforcement agents across the country are hunting down the rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol, who laid siege on the U.S. Capitol, who attacked the U.S. Capitol and those who were there to defend it. The latest on the investigations. Next.

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BOLDUAN: So far, there have been at least 83 arrests connected to the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol as a nationwide manhunt continues for the people seen on video and in social media posts taking part in the siege. CNN's Evan Perez, he has much more on the investigation underway.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Federal authorities around the country are working through the weekend, hunting down some of the people involved in Wednesday's terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol.

We know of at least 18 arrests on federal charges and dozens more are facing charges in local court here in Washington.

Among those arrests are Adam Johnson, arrested in his home state of Florida. He is seen in pictures carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern.

Also arrested, Jacob Chansley in Arizona, seen in video inside the Capitol, wearing face paint and a bear skin hat. The FBI says that Chansley told them he came to Washington because Donald Trump called for his supporters to come and that he organized a group to heed the president's call to action.

Another member of the mob facing charges, Derek Evans, a delegate in the West Virginia legislature. And he announced that he is resigning his seat.

Five people died in Wednesday's mob scene, including a Capitol police officer, who was attacked by the pro-Trump crowd. Prosecutors have laid out serious charges against some suspects, including against a man who drove from Alabama with a truck, allegedly carrying bombs and a handgun and a rifle.

Another man, arrested with firearms, allegedly told friends that he came to kill Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

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BOLDUAN: Unbelievable. Evan, thank you very much.

Joining me right now, Jonathan Wackrow, a CNN law enforcement analyst and a former Secret Service agent under President Obama.

Hearing some of the details coming out from what these people who have been arrested are just openly admitting to and have posted on social media is just, like, it just hits you over and over and over, again, Jonathan. I mean, this was a colossal security failure, on Wednesday.

But where does the failure lie?

Is it clear, already to you?

Or do you think there is a need for, as some have said, like a 9/11- style commission, after the fact, to figure out what was broken and fix it?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Kate, good evening. You know, what we have to look at is everything that -- that precipitated this day. And what we -- what we do know is that the -- the Capitol, in and itself, you know, has had a lot of lax physical security measures.

Because of that, these -- these insurrectionists that -- that mounted the attack on the Capitol, literally, leveraged that to their advantage. That was coupled with really the acute shock of the moment, that really caught the Capitol police off guard. And basically, the convergence of the two led to this, you know, the tragic scenes that we saw.

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WACKROW: But let's take a moment and take a step back. The failures, this was a catastrophic, intelligence failure on behalf of law enforcement, full stop. And that has to be investigated.

You know, there were -- there were public statements that were made by -- by some officials saying that they had no -- no knowledge that, you know, anyone was going to lay siege upon the -- on the Capitol.

That is a stunning statement, to me, because, for weeks, everyone has seen this online. You know, supporters of Trump have been, you know, telegraphing, this is what they are going to do on January 6th. You know, there was no shock here. There was no surprise.

So to -- to be so ill prepared for, you know, any type of rising violence, is -- is -- is -- is stunning.

BOLDUAN: And days from now is the inauguration, another massive security event. I mean, you told me, this week, that you guarantee the inauguration will be safe and secure.

Why do you speak with such confidence about -- about this, after what we saw Wednesday?

WACKROW: Yes. Well, you know, there's -- and -- and -- you know, let's not make a comparison between the two. The -- they're two separate and distinct events.

BOLDUAN: Right.

WACKROW: So just stating, you know, the high level, the inauguration is a national special security event, as designated by DHS. And it's being coordinated by the Secret Service, as it does, you know, every single time.

The size and scale and scope of the -- of -- of the inauguration, itself, requires significant coordination with federal, state and local officials. And that coordination actually started years ago to get to the moment.

And it brings the full resources of the federal government, not only to focus on the event specific to the inauguration but the entire region as a whole and the region referred to as the national capital region, to provide protection.

And, you know, they look at everything from, you know, civil unrest to, you know, public health issues, acts of terror, both domestic and foreign. So there is a lot of focus and attention and planning that goes into the coordination that just was not present on January 6th when we had this session of Congress.

BOLDUAN: Very clearly. Jonathan, thank you.

WACKROW: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us. Americans aren't the only ones shocked by what happened at the Capitol. We are going to get the view from overseas.

How much of a blow did U.S. credibility take this week?

And all of this largely overshadowing the upcoming inauguration and the coronavirus pandemic.

Has there ever been a more chaotic transition in U.S. history?

Some perspective, next.

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BOLDUAN: Want to welcome back our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you for sticking with us.

As rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol, the rest of the world as well as the country, watched in shock. Look at the front pages of just some newspapers.

From Canada, a headline declaring what happened Wednesday, "Anarchy."

In Italy, one paper went with the headline, "Once upon a Time in America."

And the "Times of India" with this. "Coup Klux Klan: Don triggers mob & rob bid."

And this is what the president of Turkey had to say about it.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): The United States, which is the so-called pinnacle of democracy, has really shocked all of humanity and surprised everyone. It has similarly, surprised us, too.

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BOLDUAN: Let's get some perspective from two of our senior international correspondents, Sam Kiley is in Jerusalem. And Arwa Damon is in Turkey.

Sam, I have heard from high-level people in the administration that America's credibility has taken a major blow after this attack.

How is the attack on the Capitol being viewed by allies and by adversaries?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you take, Kate, the example of Benjamin Netanyahu, as tight an ally with the American president or outgoing president as could be, a reaction of disgust, a condemnation of the events. But not in the case of Netanyahu's own statements of the man himself.

So the incitement that led to the invasion of the U.S. Capitol not being blamed on Donald Trump. You look on the other side of the argument, you see in Iran, president Hassan Rouhani calling it -- calling Donald Trump a sick man and exposing, in the Iranian perspective, the vulnerabilities of Western democracy to the presence of what he called that sick man.

But yes, right across the world, there's been round condemnation. Nobody has been supportive of it. The real issue is whether or not they have actually pointed the finger of blame at Donald Trump himself.

With everybody, particularly in the Middle Eastern region but around the world, really, looking forward to a much more stable or what they hope will be a lot more stable dispensation under Joe Biden.

But a lot of that damage has already been done, particularly, of course, in terms of international treaties, not least the nuclear deal with Iran but also various environmental treaties and the whole attitude of the Trump administration that is anti-internationalist, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Arwa, you wrote something I think is important for cnn.com. You said comparing Wednesday's attack to attacks on other countries is superficial. You said what happened on Wednesday is uniquely American. Explain.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, look. The U.S. has, for a very long time, really looked down on other countries, from an air of moral superiority, which it was able to hold onto to a certain degree because it was this beacon of democracy.

But comparing what happened in the U.S. to other developing countries that are still in the midst of their fight for freedom and democracy is grossly unfair.

And yes, you can draw a superficial comparison when it just comes to the visual to say, you know, when Iraq's parliament was stormed or Libya or even in Kabul. But America's monster is uniquely American.

The dynamics that led to these events are uniquely American, just like these countries' dynamics are uniquely theirs and need to be appreciated as such.

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BOLDUAN: You know, Sam, Democrats here, they say that impeaching the president a second time, as a consequence of this, is, at the very least, a way to signal that this can't be allowed in the United States. This can't be tolerated. This isn't what America stands for, what happened. This isn't America, you know, what happened on Wednesday.

If it doesn't lead -- if an impeachment that could be full steam ahead, very quickly, if it doesn't lead to the removal of President Trump, how do you think this will be viewed abroad?

KILEY: Well, I think you put your finger exactly on the danger here, in terms of international reputation of the United States and its Constitution. The checks and balances, of course, built to try to prevent insane actions, dangerous actions, coming from a presidency and, indeed, from other parts of the structures.

If impeachment doesn't work, then -- or isn't carried out -- then, it's an attempt that has failed. And that would be seen, again, as very damaging to the kind of jurisprudential reputation of the United States.

People will get past it pretty rapidly. No one really in the outside world fully understands the American system. It's not as clear to foreigners as it is to Americans, perhaps. But ultimately, I think trying and failing to impeach a president would be worse than doing nothing.

But there is, also, Kate, a very real issue in the international community, not least over Iran, where tensions have been at fever pitch recently. That there was or may already still be a danger that perhaps Donald Trump would do something violent and unpredictable in the dying days of his presidency towards Iran.

And in that context, any effort to kind of handcuff his ability to do that, at this stage, would be welcome.

BOLDUAN: And, look, Arwa, it almost is like the question of what Joe Biden needs to project in his inaugural speech and in his first days. It was one thing, pre-Wednesday. And it might be something different post-Wednesday. I'm not sure what your view on it is.

But what do you think, if you get a sense from overseas, what could Joe Biden project, say, do, that would help reassure the world that American democracy is holding strong?

DAMON: Kate, I think it's less what he actually says and what ends up being done, well beyond his inauguration speech because what the U.S. needs to do to try to restore its moral standing, to a certain degree, is well beyond what one presidency can accomplish because the U.S. is going to have to, somehow, demonstrate to the world -- and, yes, it is going to be upon the Biden administration to try to undertake this -- that it has, somehow, taken more profound, concrete steps to heal the divisions, to heal the core issues, to address the dynamics that actually led to the Trump presidency and then led to what we saw taking place on Wednesday.

And that is no small task, given just how polarized some elements within the United States are at this moment and just how dangerous they can potentially be, with, again, what we saw taking place in the U.S. Capitol.

And that very issue of actually trying to bring a population towards a more middle ground is something that is not going to be happening very quickly.

But it is only through somehow trying to achieve that with real action that America's going to be able to, perhaps, set an example of, how do we heal, moving forward, when something so drastic has happened to our country?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

Arwa, Sam, thank you, guys.

So if that is some of the view and important perspective from our correspondents from overseas, what about how history will view and judge the events of this week?

Joining me right now for some perspective on that is CNN presidential historian, Doug Brinkley.

It's good to see you. Thanks for coming on, Doug. So this deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, incited by the sitting president of the United States, cabinet secretaries are resigning. A second impeachment vote is coming, just days, all, before the inauguration.

I mean, just -- that's not even all the data points that I could lay out.

Has the country ever been somewhere like this before?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I like to say that the point of American history is always to remember that our own times aren't uniquely perilous. We have a history of issues.

I mean, Andrew Johnson never came to the inaugural of Ulysses S. Grant. We've had assassinations of presidents. There is no doubt 2020's been a brutal year in the United States politically but also with COVID-19. So it's rough.

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BRINKLEY: We are going through a bad patch right now. But I wouldn't give up on American democracy. And I would bet that you will see this peaceful transfer of power, with Mike Pence stepping in for Donald Trump and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being sworn in.

You are going to have the Secret Service providing security for that event, which should be stronger than the Capitol police.

And -- but there's no question. This age of social media that we live in now is creating hate platforms in the U.S. And we're going to have to find a way to get that under control.

And we see the start of it, with President Trump being pulled from Twitter and Google and Apple not carrying right-wing extreme apps.

BOLDUAN: You know, we've heard from so many people, critics and supporters of the president saying that, you know, he's destroyed his legacy with the events of Wednesday and his role in it.

What does that mean?

How much does this matter in the scope of the American presidency and the legacy of the American president?

BRINKLEY: Oh, Donald Trump is toast in American history. He's betrayed the country. Sedition, words like treason will be around him, a divider, not a uniter; xenophobia, racism, bigotry.

You know, the worst president in U.S. history is usually James Buchanan, who -- who was a good person. He just did a lot of inaction to try to stop the country from the Civil War. We've had presidents like Warren Harding and Richard Nixon with corruption.

But what President Trump has done -- and is doing as I am talking to you, the fact that the American flag is not at half-mast for five dead from the Capitol riot, it's just another indication of the lack of respect.

And he's a president who's denounced armed forces, mocked our troops. This is not somebody going down well in history and it looks like he may be headed for the double I, the only president in American history to be impeached twice, if the Congress starts proceeding, as they are claiming they are tomorrow.

BOLDUAN: The president said Friday that he is not going to be attending Biden's inauguration. And Joe Biden responded saying that it was, you know, a good thing that Donald Trump was not.

And I -- I -- I was curious if you thought it was a good thing?

BRINKLEY: You know, I never did up until January 6th, 2021. I always thought, even as bad as it is, it would be good for President Trump to be there because this transfer of power is sort of the crown jewel moment of American democracy. It's a very special, kind of, sacred moment.

But after what happened on January 6th, he doesn't -- nobody wants to see Donald Trump on a platform. He can go back to Mar-a-lago. He could go to wherever he wants to go. He's lost his contract with the American people and he's just now -- he walks around like a bull carrying his own china shop around with him.

The vice president of the United States, Kate, just tonight has been letting the press know that there's still -- he's still open to the idea of the 25th Amendment. Unlikely; be very extreme.

But the very fact that the -- our vice president is saying the president's deranged and unstable, ostensibly, tells you that he doesn't need to be in Washington, D.C., for the inaugural. And he's not going to be.

BOLDUAN: Doug, thank you.

BRINKLEY: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Images from Wednesday's attack on the U.S. Capitol show officers trying to force back angry mob after angry mob at various entrances, over and over again. We have a new look inside the insurrectionists' attempt to overrun security, when we return.

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BOLDUAN: As horrific as the live coverage of this week's attack on the Capitol was, the images and firsthand accounts that are surfacing just now are making clear just how dangerous the situation was.

Video shows police officers pushing back a mob, as they attempt to force their way in, crushing one officer in the process. Brian -- CNN's Brian Todd has much more on this. But before we go to Brian, I do want to warn you that this report contains video that may be disturbing.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rioter sprays a chemical at police, then it gets worse.

This was the horrifying scene on Wednesday inside an inference on the west side of the Capitol. At one point, a rioter tries to pry the gas mask off an officer's face.

The rioters organized their push even chanting in unison. Then, sheer terror.

An officer crushed against a doorframe pleading for help.

We spoke with Jon Farina, a photojournalist for a media outlet called Status Coup, who recorded this video.

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JON FARINA, STATUS COUP: There was no, absolutely no talking to them. Nothing fazed them and there was no one main person, one main leader, that could have calmed that mob down.

TODD (voice-over): Farina told us rioters rip shields and batons out of officers' hands and seem to get more organized as they went along.

FARINA: People were hurt and being crushed. So, whenever somebody was hurt they would kind of like pull them out of there or they would walk out themselves. But then they would say, "We need more people. We need fresh patriots." So they would just kind of like rotate in.

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TODD (voice-over): Eventually the police pushed the mob back.

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CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Get out of our house. Go. Get out of our house.

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TODD (voice-over): Former Washington Police Chief, Charles Ramsey, a CNN analyst says he contacted current D.C. police chief Robert Contee, who Ramsey says confirmed to him that the officer seen being crushed is a Washington Metropolitan Police Officer, not a Capitol Hill officer. As for the officer's condition:

RAMSEY: He went through an MRI and there was nothing broken. I mean, so he's sore as hell. There's no question about that.

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TODD: We reached out several times to the Washington Metropolitan Police and the police union as well as the Capitol Hill police for more information on the officer in question and his condition. They didn't get back to us -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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BOLDUAN: Brian, thank you.

Coming up for us, COVID cases and deaths in the United States have never been higher and vaccines are not rolling out nearly as fast as promised. The Biden team says they have a plan for that. The latest on the pandemic just ahead. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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BOLDUAN: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States passed 22 million a short while ago; 2 million of those cases happened in just the first nine days of this year. It's really amazing, astonishing and horrific.

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BOLDUAN: California remains an epicenter of the pandemic now. Reporting 695 deaths Saturday. That is an all-time high. The CDC says more than 6.5 million people in the United States have gotten their first vaccine dose. That's just a fraction of the doses that are available.

President-Elect Joe Biden says he wants to ship all of the vaccines available to the states instead of holding some back for second doses.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta was in that first wave of people to get the vaccine last month and just received his second dose. Here's more from Sanjay on what that experience was like and the effort now to get more Americans to get the shot.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I did get my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, three weeks to the day after I received the first dose back on December 18th. I had some mild arm soreness after the first dose. After the second dose, people typically have more symptoms; 15 percent of people have noticeable symptoms, according to the head of Operation Warp Speed.

Arm pain, low-grade fever, muscle aches and joint pain and sometimes general tiredness or lethargy. Typically lasts a couple of days and it's a sign your immune system is working.

Why people have symptoms when they get infections is because of their immune system reacting to the virus, in this case. I'll let you know but I have been feeling pretty well.

They say these vaccines are 95 percent effective.

What does that mean exactly, 95 percent effective?

Well, what that really means is you're 95 percent protected against getting the illness, the symptoms of the disease. But you're not necessarily protected against actually carrying the virus or even transmitting it, which is why you hear over and over again that people do need to continue to wear masks, even if they have been vaccinated.

Also, having enough doses, the distribution of these doses, one thing we've heard from President-Elect Biden is he is encouraging that as many doses of possible just be utilized, that people get their first doses as quickly as possible and hope that the manufacturing keeps up with the second doses.

We'll see. You know, Pfizer has promised 200 million doses to the United States. Moderna promised 200 million doses. Johnson & Johnson and Oxford AstraZeneca are in phase III clinical trials and may make up some of the shortfall as well. That gives you an idea of how it's going and how it feels as well.

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BOLDUAN: Sanjay, thank you.

Still ahead, the calls to impeach the U.S. president a second time, they're growing. The latest in just a moment. We'll be right back.