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Images Of Deadly Capitol Riot Shock The World; Trump Silent As Drumbeat For Impeachment Grows Louder; Impeachment Articles Could Be Introduced As Soon As Monday; Inside The Mob That Swamped The Capitol; At Least 83 Arrested In Capitol Siege; Right-Wing Extremists Celebrate Riot, Twitter Warns Of Another Attack; COVID-19 Boosters Administered in U.S. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 10, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here, in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

And coming up on the program, facing another impeachment. Calls for resignation and the 25th Amendment. President Trump's final days in office, uncertain and chaotic.

The deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol sent shock waves across the country and the world. How some allies and foes are reacting.

Besides the political consequences from the riot, U.S. health officials are warning of the public health consequences as well, with more than 2 million Americans testing positive since the start of the new year.

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HOLMES: Welcome, everyone.

Donald Trump will be the U.S. president for 10 more days; fewer, if he were to resign, which advisers say, he won't do. In theory, he could be forcibly removed under the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which has never been invoked before and is not considered likely.

But a source close to vice president Mike Pence tells CNN the 25th Amendment remains an option, one of last resort for Pence if the president's behavior deteriorates further. The vice president is expected to attend Joe Biden's inauguration. President Trump says he will not.

Sources telling CNN the two men have not spoken since Wednesday's violent insurrection at the Capitol, when Pence and his family, lawmakers feared for their lives as an angry pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.

Five people died in the carnage, including a Capitol Hill police officer. Yet, the White House has not ordered the flag to half-staff, as the Capitol has done. Now as things now stand, an historic second impeachment by the House is the most likely course of action, a resolution calling out the president for, quote, "incitement of insurrection."

That's expected to happen on Monday and it does have some bipartisan support.

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REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): All of us, including Speaker Pelosi, would prefer that Donald Trump simply do the right thing and resign or that vice president Pence actually show some spine, at least for himself and his own family, and invoke the 25th Amendment.

If none of that happens, then, on Monday, we will introduce the article of impeachment, which is incitement to insurrection. And we do expect a floor vote this coming week.

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SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): I don't know what they are going to send over and I would -- and one of the things I'm concerned about, frankly, is whether the House would completely politicize something.

I do think the president committed impeachable offenses but I don't know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything.

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HOLMES: Now given the short time window until Inauguration Day, the House will fast-track the impeachment resolution. A floor vote is expected by Wednesday. President Trump already thinking about his legal defense team in anticipation of another Senate trial. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has that from the White House.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With less than two weeks left in office, President Trump is facing the increasingly likely possibility that he will be the first president in American history to be impeached twice.

And so that's why the president is beginning to look at who will staff his defense team, should there be an impeachment trial in the Senate. And now, two sources familiar with the matter tell me the president is considering Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney and the former New York City mayor, and the controversial First Amendment attorney, Alan Dershowitz, to lead his defense in that eventual impeachment trial in the Senate.

It's notable the president is turning to those figures and not to those who defended him during his first impeachment trial, like Jay Sekulow, the constitutional attorney, and Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel.

That's because both of those attorneys have been increasingly at loggerheads with the president over how he's handled these recent weeks in office, over his refusal to accept his loss in the 2020 election.

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DIAMOND (voice-over): And the president is increasingly isolated, not only by losing the counsel of some of these advisers but also by the spate of resignations we are seeing within his own administration, including the resignation of two cabinet secretaries, Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos, just this past week.

The president, though, isn't expressing any regrets for his handling of that mob on Capitol Hill and his incitement to the riot that took place on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Instead, the president seems to be expressing second thoughts, according to our sources, about the video that he was pressured to tape by his aides on Thursday.

That's a video where the president, for the first time, conceded that he will no longer be president after January 20th and committed to a peaceful transfer of power and said it was a time for healing and reconciliation.

Now the president, though, remains in a very volatile situation. Not only is there this threat of a second impeachment that is looming but also these calls for his resignation and the calls for vice president Mike Pence and a majority of the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and strip him of his presidential powers.

Now a source close to the vice president said that, while it was highly unlikely that the vice president would invoke the 25th Amendment, he also -- this source also said that vice president Mike Pence is not taking anything off the table, believing that, after the events of the last several days, that it's important for the vice president to keep that option on the table.

A truly remarkable moment in American history we're all experiencing -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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HOLMES: CNN's Manu Raju now explains what we expect to happen in the U.S. House over the next few days.

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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.

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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HOLMES: Michael Gerhardt is a law professor at the University of North Carolina. He was also a witness at the impeachment hearings involving President Bill Clinton. He joins me now from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Professor, thanks for doing so. I wanted to get your thoughts.

When we look at the hard facts of the calendar, how likely do you think it is there can be a successful impeachment, including a Senate conviction?

MICHAEL GERHARDT, LEGAL ANALYST: Well, time is short, as I think everybody knows. We are talking about roughly nine days. And that -- that's not a lot of time to get that much process done.

I think the impeachment, itself, in the House, probably, can be done in a day, maybe, one or two days. The issues here are not that complex and we all, pretty much, know the facts.

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GERHARDT: The real question will be, what happens with the Senate impeachment trial?

Senator McConnell's already signaled, I think, that that's going to be very difficult to get done anytime soon. So it's possible to squeeze it in. But senator McConnell, I'm sure, will do his best to try and prevent that.

HOLMES: Of course, the Constitution doesn't lay out, unless I'm wrong, any sort of limit on when a president can be impeached.

Can -- can an impeachment trial occur after he's left office for things, you know, he or she did while in office?

GERHARDT: It's a terrific question. And I think -- I think the answer is yes. Sometimes, the Senate has taken a vote, where some senators vote and others basically say, we don't have jurisdiction over this person anymore.

But the fact is the Senate takes a vote. And some of those senators, many of those senators, may believe that a trial which -- an impeachment process, which began before the president left office, may continue after he leaves office.

Even though he's an ex-president, he gets benefits and he is also subject to the fact that the Senate has the power to bar him from ever running again for office. So there's a sanction that's only available in the Senate, through an impeachment trial, that can still be used against the next president.

HOLMES: It's fascinating stuff. I wanted to get your thoughts, too. You know, there's been a lot of -- a lot of talk about the president potentially self-pardoning.

What -- what is the constitutionality of self-pardon?

There's no precedent but is it possible?

GERHARDT: Again, a really important question right now. To begin with, I would just note the Constitution expressly forbids pardons from applying to impeachment at all. So a pardon won't help the president avoiding impeachment.

But the critical question, of course, is whether the president can give himself a pardon that would somehow make him immune to all federal offenses or charges of federal offenses against him.

I think the language of the Constitution suggests he doesn't have that power. The actual power given to the president by the Constitution is the power to grant a pardon. The -- the words, to grant, suggests that this is to give somebody else something. It's not given the power to grant oneself something.

So I think the plain language cuts against that. The Nixon Justice Department concluded the Constitution did not allow a president to pardon himself. And I think history cuts against that as well.

HOLMES: And it's interesting, too. I was thinking, you know, there would be risks of precedent in -- in -- involved here, too, of a successful self-pardon. Wouldn't mean any future president could knowingly commit crimes or solicit benefits from foreign countries and so on, to win office, stay in office, do misdeeds in office and commit crimes up until the last day.

And then -- then, self-pardon, I mean, it does seem a dangerous precedent to set.

GERHARDT: Absolutely right. I mean, think how convenient it is for a president, who will claim that he is immune while in office, from any kind of legal process, particularly criminal process and then, on his last day, pardons himself so he's not liable later, either.

The framers were dead-set against creating a monarch or a king in this country who would be immune to the law or accountability. So I think the history of this country and particularly the Constitution.

And the language and structure of the Constitution that we have suggests the president can't place himself beyond accountability. So I would argue against the president's ability to self-pardon.

HOLMES: Fascinating stuff. We -- we have interesting days, ahead. Professor Michael Gerhardt, really appreciate it.

GERHARDT: Thank you.

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HOLMES: CNN takes an in-depth look at the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Watch "The Trump Insurrection," it airs tonight in the U.S. and at the times you see on your screen there internationally.

Quick break here on the program. Authorities across the U.S., now, searching for people involved in Wednesday's siege on the Capitol. Dozens of people now facing charges. When we come back, new details on the manhunt and investigations.

Also, the political cost to Donald Trump's presidency and legacy. A veteran journalist, who has covered political unrest around the world, turns his focus to America.

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HOLMES: Welcome back. We are getting a clearer understanding of just how violent Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol was, as more pictures and video emerge. The crowd of rioters, who were sold an election- fraud fantasy by the president of the United States no less, began by breaching barriers and breaking into the Capitol building itself.

And a warning now, the video you are about to see is disturbing. It shows the violent mob crushing an officer in a doorway as they force their way in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help.

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HOLMES: Clearly, horrific behavior from supporters of the president there. Another stunning moment came as the rioters were heard calling for the vice president of the United States to be hanged.

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

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HOLMES: Disturbingly, the vice president, his wife and daughter, were nearby at the complex. A source says they were frightened by the screaming.

Can understand that.

All the while, of course, in the shadow of the Capitol, stood a noose and makeshift gallows.

Authorities are working to bring these people to justice. At least 83 people have been arrested in relation to the unrest in Washington this week.

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HOLMES: CNN's Evan Perez is in Washington with more details on the investigation.

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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 bearskin 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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HOLMES: Now veteran journalist Lawrence Pintak joins us from Fife in Scotland. He is the author of "America and Islam: Sound Bites, Suicide Bombs and the Road to Donald Trump."

Larry, it's good to see you and thanks for the time. When you look back at what's happened, not -- not just last Wednesday but during the presidency, in terms of what Donald Trump has said and done.

I mean, do -- do you see a road map, a progression, to -- to what was a crescendo, if you like, of the storming of the Capitol?

LAWRENCE PINTAK, JOURNALIST: Absolutely. Small lies set the stage for the big lie. The demonization of Muslims and Latinos, of other minority groups during the campaign, brought us, absolutely and ultimately and inevitably, to this point, where they are calling for the hanging of the vice president.

This is a man, who made demonization an art form and who made Orwell's "1984" a reality. "War is peace," Orwell said, "freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength."

That should be the epitaph for this administration.

HOLMES: You have covered wars and revolutions around the world, as have I.

Do you look back and see parallels with what's been happening during this presidency and -- and what you saw in some of those other countries, in terms -- I guess, like charismatic leaders and how they convince people to believe things that simply aren't true and then those people go do terrible things?

PINTAK: Absolutely. And the worst part is when the niceties of civilization are stripped away. Sadly, we all kind of descend into chaos. I have a piece pinned on my Twitter page, that I wrote right after the election, the 19 -- where are we -- 2016 election, using the analogy of "The Lord of the Flies."

And essentially, predicting what -- what we are seeing now because I have seen it in so many places, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia. People are inspired by a charismatic leader. They are given permission to do whatever it is they want to do. And they descend into "The Lord of the Flies."

HOLMES: What -- what -- what do you make, specifically, of Trump's manipulation, to that same point, of the media, the demonizing of mainstream media, the cultization of right-wing media and social media, to create that alternate reality that, let's face it, still exists for many Americans?

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HOLMES: I -- I'm sad to say we've just lost Larry's audio. We'll -- we'll see if we can get him back, because he is a man with much experience and a lot to say.

All right. Let's just take a break, for the moment. When we come back, on CNN NEWSROOM, new details on what happened when a police officer was crushed by a pro-Trump mob at the Capitol on Wednesday. We'll also have the latest on the officer's condition for you.

Also, domestic extremism pushed U.S. democracy to the brink this week. We will talk with an expert about the role online groups played in radicalizing people leading up to the Capitol siege.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.

More than 200 House Democrats say they support impeaching president Donald Trump a second time for his role in inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the resolution will be introduced Monday if Trump does not resign.

It includes one article of impeachment for, quote, "incitement of insurrection." The House Rules Committee would meet on Monday or Tuesday to approve a rule governing a floor debate. And then a vote would likely take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. And we're delighted to say we've got veteran journalist Lawrence

Pintak back with me from Scotland.

Larry, try to pick up where we left off. One thing I wanted to ask you about was so many disturbing images from that day, Wednesday. But a couple I found particularly so were men with sidearms and carrying hand restraints, which -- which, of course, begs the question, who were they wanting to restrain?

Do you get a sense there was more to this than impassioned Trump supporters making a point?

PINTAK: I do. And again, this is something we've seen in various parts of the world in revolutions. Quite often, you will see a mob like this that are inspired, for some reason, to storm something. But hidden in that mob are the real bad guys, those, who are coming in with an agenda, the paramilitaries, those who are going in to kidnap, to kill, to destroy. And that's very concerning.

HOLMES: What -- what do you think when -- when you watch -- and that -- that call -- that fervent group, the more extreme wing, if you like, of the base, what are the concerns that, what Donald Trump could do with them in terms of mobilization or whatever, post-presidency?

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PINTAK: Well, I think it's -- it's more than Donald Trump. Yes, it may be Donald Trump that does it. But if Trump leaves the scene, for whatever reason, they're now out there. I mean, the genie, you know, to use that old, tired cliche, the genie is out of the bottle.

You have this group of militants, who have now been empowered, who have now tasted blood, as it was -- as it were.

And how do we go forward?

How does a Biden administration put that genie back in the bottle?

How does law enforcement sideline, crush, jail, control, in some way, a -- an armed force of militants, who now see the possibilities?

HOLMES: Yes. You have to wonder whether the Rubicon has been crossed, in many ways. Larry, have to leave it there. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

More than 50 Capitol and Metropolitan Police were injured in the violence on Wednesday. One of them is an MPD officer, crushed as the chaos unfolded. Brian Todd has more on what happened and that officer's condition. Again, we warn you, some of the images are 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.

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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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Jared Holt is a visiting research fellow at The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, focusing on domestic extremism's threat to democracy. He joins me now from Washington, D.C.

And just the right person to talk to. A lot of people look at the events of Wednesday and think, you know, that -- that was a close call. Glad it failed.

But what are you seeing, among the online groups who took part?

They didn't see it as a failure, do they?

JARED HOLT, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S DIGITAL FORENSIC RESEARCH LAB: No, they don't. A lot of the extremist groups that were on the ground, that we observed planning and then attempting this attack on the U.S. Capitol building, are taking this away as a kind of propaganda win.

There's discussions that we've observed in these groups, of users talking to each other in congratulatory tones, speaking of this as a validator of proof that, if they get their numbers together and focus on a central target, it is possible to accomplish the radical things they hope to achieve.

HOLMES: Wow. In terms of the buildup, you and others were -- you were warning this could happen, that the chatter was dangerous and was in plain sight.

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HOLMES: Give us a sense, briefly, of what you saw bubbling away in the weeks leading up to Wednesday.

And when did you start to worry?

HOLT: You know, I started to worry in the immediate days before January 6th and we saw that horrific attack on a federal building, the Capitol, of all things because, in the online communities that we're watching at DFR Lab, there was all of this escalating rhetoric, getting more and more violent.

I was seeing maps of the U.S. Capitol complex being circulated. I was observing users advising each other on how to violate laws that prohibit carrying firearms in Washington, D.C.

And I saw, frankly, a lot of logistical planning of plans to travel to D.C., accommodations while they were in D.C., from a lot of actors and extremist groups that are a whole host of bad news.

HOLMES: I -- I guess, you know, Trumpism, that anger that we saw, the calls for violence, they're not going to, magically, go away with Joe Biden's inauguration.

What -- what are these groups saying, you know, about where they go from here?

HOLT: You know, historically, extremist groups have been fairly, if not just outright adversarial towards the government. This was something that we saw with anti-government extremism surging during the Obama years.

And you're right. Whenever Trump leaves office and officially and Joe Biden takes the oath, all of these individuals are not going to vanish off the face of the map or, you know, decide, all of a sudden, that they're not so radical anymore.

Instead, you know, the -- the major concern and the big threat here is that a lot of these groups will go from a sort of defensive posture of defending the president, acting on behalf of what they perceive the president wanting them to be doing, returning into a more adversarial position but with more numbers and with a, you know, sometimes spoken, sometimes unspoken support of a larger group of millions of people who voted, supported and believed the lies that president Donald Trump was spreading and fomenting about the integrity of our democracy.

HOLMES: I mean, which is utterly terrifying, if -- if not really unsurprising.

I mean, how -- how serious are the most dangerous elements?

I mean, people can say what they like. But on this, we saw rioters with weapons, sidearms and -- and other weaponry and -- and hand restraints, as if they were planning to take prisoners. I mean, reporters heard rioters talking about hanging Mike Pence, killing members of Congress.

How far would some of these people be willing to go, as opposed to just talk tough?

HOLT: You know, extremism, particularly right-wing extremism, has a long, storied and deadly history in the United States. You know, right-wing terrorism makes up the majority of casualties that come from incidents like that in the United States.

So there certainly are people who are prepared to take it even a step further than what we saw on Wednesday. And, you know, as much legitimate and, I think, fully warranted questions and criticisms that Capitol police are facing now about, you know, letting a lot of these crowds overwhelm them or failing to prepare, once it became clear what was happening, you know, we can just really count ourselves lucky that some of the forces that were in there, that were seeking to harm lawmakers or -- or, you know, legitimately try to destroy the government, were unsuccessful.

You know, we can count our blessings that none of our lawmakers or their staff were injured or even killed.

HOLMES: The -- the work you do is important. And -- and appreciate the time that you put into it and thanks for speaking with us, Jared Holt, thanks.

HOLT: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Such an important aspect of all of what happened this past week.

Americans aren't the only ones shocked by what happened at the Capitol, though. And the riot may be a blow to U.S. credibility. We're going to get the view from overseas, coming up.

Plus, breaking news on the Indonesian plane crash. The wreckage has been located. Human remains have been recovered, too. We'll have the details, after the break.

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HOLMES: As rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol, the world reacted to the events in shock, of course. Let's have a look at the front pages of a few newspapers.

In giant bold letters, Canada's "Ottawa Sun" declared it "Anarchy."

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

And the "Times of India" with this eye-catching headline, "Coup Klux Klan: Don triggers mob & rob bid."

One of the president's biggest international allies, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said this.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: For generations, American democracy has inspired millions around the world and in Israel. American democracy has always inspired me. Lawlessness and violence are the opposite of the values we know Americans and Israelis cherish.

The rampage at the Capitol yesterday was a disgraceful act and it must be vigorously condemned. I have no doubt that American democracy will prevail. It always has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: For more, now, we're joined by CNN senior international correspondent, Sam Kiley. He is live for us in Jerusalem.

Strong comments by the Israeli PM. But it's also important to note it comes at a time when he is about to lose someone who has given him so much.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and, perhaps, Michael, for that reason, he did not vigorously condemn, in his words, the U.S. president for the incitement that led to the invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

In contrast, for example, to that other good friend, also a populist leader, also, like Benjamin Netanyahu, often trying to put himself somewhat beyond the law perhaps, Boris Johnson, who did condemn both the invasion and blame the U.S. president for the incitement that led to it.

I think, ultimately, Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't want to stab a very close friend in the back in the dying days of his administration.

[02:45:00]

KILEY: But there must be, also, a sense of relief that this erratic president, even though he's been such a tight friend to Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing its -- helping to bring Israel in from the cold, if you like, in terms of normalizing relations with countries like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Sudan, which are diplomatic breakthroughs, particularly from the Israeli perspective and, of course, endorsing the -- Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, controversially moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem here, where -- where I'm now, Michael.

So, yes, I think there is a sense of loyalty from Benjamin Netanyahu but clearly a desire to condemn it.

And, of course, Netanyahu, as you point out, is facing elections March the 23rd and, himself, facing a court case for corruption, which he's trying to get around, if you like, by introducing a law that would give him immunity, a law that, so far, has not passed here in Israel -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, facing election, again and again.

Still, in the region, what about Iran?

I know you have been following things there. There's so much tension between the U.S. and Iran, particularly as the presidency winds down.

What about the reaction there?

KILEY: Well, the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said that the consequence or the -- the -- the cause, rather, of the invasion of the U.S. Capitol was because, in his words, there was a sick man in the presidency, in the White House.

But also, I think that the Iranians will be drawing some comfort from the fact that Donald Trump is facing potential impeachment -- unlikely to be effective in the few days left of his presidency, being inspired by Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats in Washington.

But perhaps, more importantly, it seems that his hands are being tied or efforts being made to tie his hands from within the White House, because there have been very serious concerns that he might do something fairly spectacular with regard to Iran in the last few days of his presidency.

And clearly, the effort's being made to try to get Donald Trump's abilities to trigger military action somewhat watered down, should we say, from even within inside -- within the White House itself.

I think, probably, from the Iranian perspective, is a good -- good sign. They are really trying to get through all this and then try to warm relations with the new Biden administration. Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Good to see you, Sam, there in Jerusalem for us, Sam Kiley.

Now the United States is lifting its decades-old restrictions on how American diplomats deal with Taiwan, a move likely to anger China. U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, made the announcement on Sunday.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory, while the American dealings with the democratically ruled island have long been a source of tension. Pompeo says he took this action unilaterally and will no longer appease Communist China, as he put it.

Authorities in Indonesia say they have recovered some human remains among the wreckage of a Sriwijaya Air flight that crashed at sea. The Indonesian Navy says it is confident they found the wreckage from the fuselage, along with wheels from the landing gear, after locating a signal. The plane had 62 passengers and crew on board.

Rescue crews and a huge navy flotilla searching the site. Fisher men say they heard an explosion and then had a large wave hit their boat around the time the plane was suspected to have crashed. The global flight tracking service, Flight Radar 24, showed the plane dropping 10,000 feet in less than a minute before disappearing from radar.

COVID vaccinations aren't keeping up with distribution in the U.S. When we come back, the race to get shots in arms as cases spike. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Just 10 days into the new year and the U.S. has seen at least 2 million new COVID-19 cases and 24,000 deaths. This brings the total past 22 million cases and more than 372,000 fatalities, staggering number.

At least five states have hit a million cases or more on their own. Now these stunning numbers make the need, obviously, for vaccinations that much more urgent. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 22 million vaccines have been distributed around the U.S. but less than 7 million have been administered. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta was in that first

wave of people to get the vaccine last month and just received his booster shot. More from him now on what the experience was like and the efforts to get the vaccine into more American arms.

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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.

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GUPTA: 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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HOLMES: Sanjay Gupta there.

The U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have received COVID-19 vaccinations. A source says a doctor administered the shots to the 94- year-old monarch and her 99-year-old husband at Windsor Castle.

The source also said the queen wanted news of their injections to be made public to prevent inaccuracies and speculation.

England, of course, in the midst of a severe lockdown. London's mayor describing the situation as out of control and a major incident.

Pope Francis also encouraging people to get the injections. The Vatican has already called the vaccinations "morally acceptable," even if they were produced with cell lines obtained in abortions.

And the Catholic leader says he is ready to roll up his sleeve. In an interview with Italy's Channel 5, he said, quote, "It's an ethical duty to take the vaccine. Here in the Vatican, we will start next week. I am also in line to take it."

Thanks for watching the program, everyone, spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. If you want some more, I'll be back with another hour of news in a moment.