Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Vice President Not Ruling Out 25th Amendment To Remove Trump; At Least 83 Arrested In Capitol Siege; Video Shows Officer Being Crushed By Mob; Right-Wing Extremists Celebrate Riot, Twitter Warns Of Another Attack; At Least 208 House Democrats Back Impeachment For Trump; Images Of Deadly Capitol Riot Shock The World; U.S. COVID- 19 Deaths At Unprecedented Levels; U.K. First Western Country To Top Three Million COVID-19 Cases. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 10, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

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.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Donald Trump lawyering up, as calls for another impeachment grow even louder.

And if impeachment doesn't work out, vice president Pence has reportedly not ruled out using the 25th Amendment.

Also, authorities make some arrests following Wednesday's Capitol breach. The latest on the search for more suspects.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: It is -- in just a matter of days Donald Trump could be impeached for the second time as the magnitude of the deadly riot he incited comes into sharper focus.

A political reckoning now looming. An article of impeachment could come as soon as Monday, unless the president resigns, of course. Even some Republicans say he went too far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The lives of vice president Pence, his family and U.S. lawmakers were imperiled by Wednesday's riot. Sources told CNN the president and Pence haven't spoken since that day.

Extraordinary.

We've also learned that Pence will attend Joe Biden's inauguration and he has also reserved the right to invoke the 25th Amendment if the president's behavior worsens. Five people died in the carnage on Wednesday, including a Capitol Hill police officer.

Yet the White House has not lowered the flag to half-staff as the Capitol has done. CNN's Manu Raju explains what we expect to happen in the U.S. House over the next few days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

[03:05:00]

RAJU: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: President Trump already thinking about his legal defense team in anticipation of another defense trial. Jeremy Diamond with that from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thomas Gift is director of the Center on U.S. politics at University College London, joins me now.

It's good to see you, Thomas.

What do you make of these reports that Donald Trump and vice president Pence have not spoken since the events of Wednesday, which, of course, included rioters yelling out, "Hang Mike Pence"?

It seems incredible.

But what does it say about the state of affairs?

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, good morning, Michael. It's great to be with you. I think when Mike Pence looks comparatively like a voice of reason you know Washington is turned upside down. Clearly Pence is getting a taste of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of Trump's wrath.

Just like so many before him, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, countless names, Trump expects absolute loyalty and fealty to him. But Trump isn't loyal to anyone in exchange. If there is one individual throughout his administration has shown deference to the president, it's Pence. At every turn he has given Trump his full backing.

Then at a moment, Pence won't support Trump's unprecedented and anti- democratic bid to overturn a fair and free election and Trump immediately turns on him. What it confirms is that Trump is willing to discard anyone at any moment if they don't act as sycophants.

HOLMES: Do the events of the past week, do you think put a dent of any type in the Trump magic, if you like, with some of his base?

Not the radical base we saw at the Capitol. That's a different group. But in the broader electorate, do you think he has been harmed?

GIFT: Michael, I think Trump's stranglehold over the GOP base isn't fragile and I really doubt it's going to dissipate overnight. His approval rate among Republican voters has remained about 90 percent throughout his administration.

Last time Democrats impeached Trump, his poll numbers went up, not down. According to one survive, upwards of 45 percent shockingly of Republican voters either somewhat or strongly approved of the storming of the Capitol.

[03:10:00]

GIFT: So regrettably, that's the political landscape we're in at the moment. While clearly there will be some political recoil among moderates and we'll continue to see a fractured party, it probably won't be enough to totally undo Trump's magic with his base.

And especially if he is impeached, it might only further his martyr- like status with the far right.

HOLMES: You know, it's interesting. We were just reporting that Trump has not ordered the flag at the White House to half-staff for that policeman killed in the uprising. That's just extraordinary.

Do you think the president is even aware of the magnitude of the effect of his actions?

Is it in his nature to even care?

GIFT: Clearly Trump is in a "Through the Looking-Glass" type world. Not only do I think Trump doesn't understand or care about the magnitude of the events last week, he seems to actually believe that the storming of the Capitol had some merit to it.

According to reports, he more or less gleefully watched as the mob stormed the Capitol. And his main concern apparently was how the rioters looked esthetically. Apparently they seemed too low class for his taste and he didn't like that.

A paragon of U.S. democracy is under attack and that's what Trump's thoughts are. But everything we've seen from the president, including telling the mob that he loved them, continuing to broadcast these baseless allegations of electoral fraud, all of that is reflective of the fact that Trump is totally numb to what's happened.

HOLMES: Yes, a good way of putting it. Looking forward, the Senate is 50-50 Republican-Democrat. There is the smallest majority in the House in years.

And a significant slice of the country who thinks their guy was robbed in the election, how does Joe Biden govern in that environment?

He talks about working across the aisle.

But realistically, can he do that?

GIFT: It's going to be very difficult, Michael. Clearly Democrats have their work cut out for them in the coming years. The very slim majority that they will enjoy in the House and only a tie-breaking majority in the Senate means that they have almost no political margin to work with.

If Democrats do want to be successful, especially as they look to the midterms upcoming, which tend to favor the party out of office, they'll need to focus on I think some of these bread-and-butter issues, not use their power to inflict political retribution for the last several years.

And in my view, try to live out this aspiration that Joe Biden has articulated, about bringing the country together, healing wounds and ending some of these divisions.

The top of the agenda, of course, for Democrats, is going to be containing COVID-19, potentially getting another stimulus package passed and hopefully getting Americans back to work.

Then they can focus on some of these other issues, health care, education, inequality, wage stagnation and so on. But all accounts suggested it's going to be a very difficult period of governing.

HOLMES: Sadly, does appear that you're right about that. Thomas Gift, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you.

GIFT: Thanks, Mike.

Well, Parler, that social media platform touted as the home of free speech online, has effectively been shut down. Apple and Google have removed the app from their online stores so there is no new downloads. And Amazon is revoking its web service on Sunday night, which will render it homeless.

The app is popular among some U.S. conservatives but both Apple and Amazon terminated service, saying Parler had not done enough to prevent the spread of dangerous and illegal content.

Now this, of course, comes after U.S. president Donald Trump and his campaign team were permanently banned from Twitter due to a future risk of, quote, "further incitement of violence."

Right now, law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are hunting down people involved in Wednesday's insurrection in Washington. Dozens of people now face charges. Coming up, new details on the investigations.

Also, right-wing extremist groups cheering on the riot, calling for more violence. How some Americans are becoming radicalized online. I'll discuss this with an expert, when we come back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: We are getting a clearer understanding of just how violent Wednesday's riot was at the U.S. Capitol, 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.

I'm warning now, the video you're to be see is disturbing. It shows the violent mob crushing an officer in a doorway as they force their way in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help!

HOLMES (voice-over): It's hard to watch, isn't it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

And, of course, all of this in the shadow of the Capitol stood a noose and a makeshift gallows.

Now authorities are working to bring these people to justice. At least 83 people have been arrested so far in relation to the unrest in Washington this week. CNN's Evan Perez is in Washington with more details on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

[03:20:00] PEREZ: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: In the wake of the Capitol riots, there are new concerns ahead of Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration.

On January 4th, a risk analysis by the security form (sic) G4S, stated that, quote, "Current rhetoric suggests that there will be attendees who have violent intent, including armed militia groups," unquote.

This is between January 6 and Inauguration Day.

And the Anti-Defamation League published a lengthy blog, detailing threats of violence pertaining to Wednesday's rally, writing, quote, "In response to a user who wondered what happens if Congress ignores evidence that President Trump won the election, a user wrote, 'Storm the Capitol.'"

(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, VISITING RESEARCH FELLOW, 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.

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.

[03:25:00]

HOLT: 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: U.S. Congress members will be getting extra security in airports until the presidential inauguration. This coming after several lawmakers were harassed in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, confronted and screamed at by Trump supporters at Reagan National Airport on Friday. Normally a close ally of President Trump, Graham was critical of the president this week. Senate Republican Mitt Romney also harassed by pro-Trump supporters on

a flight from Salt Lake City to Washington, D.C.

There is more to come here on CNN, including fresh international reaction to the horrific and deadly violence at the U.S. Capitol this week. Do stay with us. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and indeed all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes and we appreciate you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Now the fallout from the Capitol Hill riot is shaking the halls of power in Washington, as you might imagine. House Democrats could introduce an article of impeachment against President Trump as early as Monday. And sources tell us some Republicans may support it.

Meanwhile, we're also hearing that vice president Mike Pence, who hasn't spoken to Mr. Trump since the riot, has not ruled out invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.

However, he apparently thinks that could provoke a more extreme reaction. But a co-author of the new impeachment resolution says the risks of doing nothing are too high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI), MEMBER, JUDICIARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEES: We would rather not be doing this. We're on the eve of a new president. And we're excited about that.

But we simply can't say, you know what, just let the 12 days pass, let it go, it's no big deal. This is a very serious attack, an insurrection against the government of the United States. We have a sworn duty to do something about it.

So we should all do everything we can to not politicize it but we can't shirk our responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now images of the violence at the U.S. Capitol this week left the international community horrified. But after four years of watching America under a Trump presidency, many weren't particularly surprised. International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins me now from London.

The world has been watching.

How much of a dent is there now in U.S. reputation as some sort of bastion of democracy?

It's harder these days for the U.S. to lecture others on democracy or human rights, for that matter.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And it's something that they absolutely need to do, if you will. They have been the sort of standard bearer for democracy around the globe. They're the country that so many other nations look toward. They set the lead and trends on so many issues.

So when democracy in the United States falters, you know, leaders in other democratic nations worry, could this be -- could this be our fate?

How do we look at this and how do we analyze it and how do we make sure it doesn't happen to us?

You know -- and you hear that in the words of what the leaders have had to say. Emmanuel Macron of France saying, we believe in American democracy. We heard that from prime minister Netanyahu in Israel as well.

Angela Merkel put her finger on the nub of it, if you will, when she said, look, in democracies, there are winners and losers. She said she is disappointed that President Trump hadn't accepted that he was a loser.

But when actions that the world witnessed on Wednesday take place, she said, democracy is the loser in that case. And, in that way, she is fundamentally right.

President Biden, when he becomes president, President-Elect right now, said he'll hold a global summit on democracy. And it's important for him and important for the United States that he is able to bring all the United States' democratic allies behind him, for many reasons.

But principally for him right now, China is the biggest foreign policy issue. He needs to have a strong group of allies behind him.

[03:35:00]

ROBERTSON: How can they be strongly behind him if their leaders are worried about propaganda and about what people are saying in their own countries about supporting the United States and the invalidity of democracy?

So it's corrosive at so many levels, Michael.

HOLMES: Such great analysis. Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Appreciate that. Important.

Well, the United States is lifting its decades-old restrictions on how American diplomats deal with Taiwan and that is a move certain to anger China. U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo made the announcement on Saturday. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and American dealings with

the democratically ruled island have long been a source of tension. Pompeo said the old U.S. restrictions were meant to appease China's Communist regime. No more, he says.

The U.S. is hitting several sobering milestones in the new year and vaccines aren't rolling out nearly as fast as promised. We'll have the latest on efforts to ramp up inoculations, just ahead.

Also this, confirmed COVID cases surging in the U.K. to levels not seen anywhere in Western Europe. We'll go live to London for the very latest. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANISH MAHAJAN, HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: We don't have any more ICU capacity. All of the hospitals in the region are putting ICU patients in unusual places in the hospital just to find room for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Incredible, isn't it?

Just 10 days into the new year and the U.S. has seen at least 2 million new COVID cases, 24,000 deaths. That brings the total past 22 million cases and more than 372,000 fatalities. At least five states have hit a million cases or more on their own.

[03:40:00]

HOLMES: And this includes California. Los Angeles County has reported more than 1,000 deaths in just the last four days. It also reports 100,000 new cases over the past week, bringing the total number to more than 906,000. The health department says Southern California has completely run out of room in its ICUs.

The stunning COVID numbers in the U.S. make the need for vaccinations, of course, even 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 Evan McMorris-Santoro looks at how states are allocating vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the pandemic continues to rage, the biggest question facing U.S. officials is how to distribute the vaccines as quickly and effectively as possible.

Many states are shockingly slow on ministering vaccinations. The CDC says these states have administered fewer than 25 percent of their vaccine supplies.

The agency says only four states have administered more than half of the doses they received.

In New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo bowed to pressure and loosened restrictions on who can get vaccinated after local leaders complained that strict parameters meant doses were going unused.

Starting Monday in New York, an expanding list of frontline workers and residents over the age of 65 can start signing up to get vaccines.

But Cuomo says to expect a long wait.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I just want to be clear with my mother and with everybody's mother and with everybody's father and with everybody's grandfather, we talked about 14 weeks until the federal supply is increased.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): President-Elect Biden will aim to releases doses currently in federal reserve now. That's instead of holding some of the second doses as the Trump administration had done.

But experts tell CNN that plan has its own pitfalls if it results in delays of the second doses.

DR. NORMAN BAYLOR, FORMER DIRECTOR, FDA OFFICE OF VACCINES RESEARCH AND REVIEW: Giving one dose and delaying the second dose beyond what was discovered in the clinical trial we take a risk of those individuals not necessarily being protected sufficiently.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): The vaccine crunch comes as the United States faces the darkest days of the pandemic so far, a week that includes a daily death count, ominous strain on hospital capacity and more evidence that the potentially more contagious variant, first identified in the U.K., is here.

For the moment, health experts say the current vaccine should protect from the new strain.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We will also be looking at that very carefully and following it carefully. But right now, the data indicate the U.K. mutant is still quite sensitive to the antibodies induced by the vaccines.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): How quickly Americans will receive that vaccine, though, remains an open question -- Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The U.K. passed 3 million total coronavirus cases on Saturday. No other country in Western Europe has known more infections. And the number of people across the U.K. testing positive for the virus is up 22 percent over just last week. Nina dos Santos is tracking all of this from London. She joins me now live.

Stunning case in death toll numbers there.

What is the government's strategy?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Well, they're getting awfully worried here. Essentially, they're trying to double down on people's behavior, telling them they must absolutely try and stay at home unless they have an absolutely necessary cause to go out and, say, for instance, go to the shops and get food or medicine.

They must consider the fact, even if they may be asymptomatic, they could be passing on the virus to somebody else and that could end up in a chain of infection that could result in a vulnerable person losing their life.

That is essentially the message coming from the government on a day of really sobering milestones. We've had so many over the course of this weekend for the U.K., Michael. Just yesterday, we saw 1,035 people losing their lives from coronavirus. That has brought the death toll in this country to more than 80,000.

We've been telling our viewers for some time now, the fifth worst hit country anywhere in the world in terms of the total number of lives claimed by coronavirus. And as you point out there as well, we're talking about 3 million people across this country having received a lab positive test here.

Now remember that the U.K. had a lot of trouble earlier on in the pandemic of getting its testing and tracing strategy under way. Those are just the lab tests, not the quick lateral flow tests, that give you a quick result within 30 minutes, that don't need to go to a lab and are deemed to be slightly less effective.

[03:45:00]

DOS SANTOS: Speaking of those lateral flow tests, that's also something the government is keen to start rolling out today. They're going to be engaging a big push yet again to try and get these rapid tests out into community centers with the hope that they can pick up those asymptomatic people who, as I said, might be part of that chain of infection that could result in deadly consequences further down the line.

But obviously, they say they picked up about 148,000 as a result of these quick tests. But the reality is it's a panoply of behavioral changes, tests and also vaccines that are going to be important. The queen and Prince Philip got their vaccine yesterday. They're aiming for another 15 million people get vaccinated in the next month and a bit -- Michael.

HOLMES: Concerning times in the U.K.. Nina dos Santos, good to see you. Thank you so much.

Now the Vatican is set to begin COVID-19 vaccinations next week. How the pope says receiving the inoculation is an ethical duty. We'll take you to Rome to get the details.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

[03:50:00]

HOLMES: The COVID vaccine is on its way to the Vatican this coming week and Pope Francis lining up to get his shot. Joining me now is CNN senior Vatican analyst, John Allen, joining us from Rome.

Good to see you, John. It's important for the pope to be vaccinated, not just for his own health but because of his influence, of course, over tens of millions of people.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: Yes, hi, there, Michael. Great to see you. You are absolutely right. And this pope has been pro vaccine from the beginning.

Just to give you a brief tick-tock, just before Christmas, he approved the morality of the use of the vaccine. On Christmas Day, he called the vaccines a light of hope and urged that they be fairly distributed to poorer countries, too.

A few days ago, the Vatican announced its own rollout plan. And now, thanks to a new interview with an Italian TV network, we know that Pope Francis himself will be getting the shot next week.

He described doing so as an ethical duty, saying that if medical professionals tell you to do this and it doesn't have any particular risks, you should do it.

He also took a swipe at vaccine resistance, saying he doesn't understand this attitude of suicidal denial about the vaccines. So some strong medicine there, Michael, for a pope who is getting set to practice what he preaches.

HOLMES: I just want to go back. You did mention morality approval. And I think it's interesting for people to understand that.

That's because some of the vaccines are connected to research with stem cells, right?

ALLEN: Yes. So these vaccines, either in development or in the testing phase, all of them have utilized stem cell lines that are remotely derived from aborted fetuses in the 1960s.

On the basis of that, a couple of Catholic bishops in the United States and some emphasis around the world had come in opposition to them but the Vatican just before Christmas ruled that that connection is so remote and the benefit here so great that there is no moral objection. HOLMES: Yes, very interesting. John Allen, good to see you. It's been

a minute. I hope you're well. Thanks for that.

He is a good man, John Allen.

A once in a lifetime trip for a Canadian family with a seriously ill child was put on hold because of coronavirus. But many Canadian officials managed to break the very COVID restrictions they put in place.

Well, now their fellow citizens are calling them out, demanding some accountability as families and health care workers suffer and sacrifice. Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROD PHILLIPS, FORMER ONTARIO FINANCE MINISTER: Hello, everyone. It's Rod Phillips.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was staged as a heartwarming Christmas message, complete with gingerbread decor and a cozy fire.

But it turned into a hot mess when Canadians learned this politician wasn't home for the holidays but vacationing on the Caribbean island of St. Barts during the COVID lockdown. He was ordered back to Canada.

PHILLIPS: I know that I disappointed a lot of people. I hope people appreciate I disappointed no one more than myself.

NEWTON (voice-over): Canadians weren't buying it. Ontario's finance minister was forced to resign and it was just the beginning. What followed were confessions, demotions, resignations from politicians and government employees, who just couldn't resist a family visit or vacation, flouting the very guidelines they helped set, even posted it on social media.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a very low COVID-19 rate in Jamaica.

NEWTON (voice-over): Only to apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I shouldn't have gone.

NEWTON (voice-over): One trip to Hawaii became a searing flashpoint of anger.

Then Alberta government minister Tracy Allard was welcomed home from her Christmas vacation with Aloha Allard, a measure of the outrage now brewing with Canadians and especially Lia Louiser.

LIA LOUISER, BRAEDEN'S MOM: Why didn't you stop and think?

You're the ones standing in front of the camera, saying, hey, you guys got to stay at home. NEWTON (voice-over): Louiser is mom to 9-year-old Braeden, terminally

ill with a rare connective tissue disease called Hajdu-Cheney syndrome. After years of waiting, he was meant to go to Hawaii in 2020 but couldn't take literally the trip of his life when Make a Wish Canada had to postpone it because of COVID.

LOUISER: We enjoy life here and in the moment. So it's just a huge smack in the face. This was going to be our year. We were going to finally go. We were going to get it in hopefully before we lose him. And to see that other people were jet-setting around because they had had a, you know, a long year or whatever, it's -- it's hurtful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, hey, hey.

NEWTON (voice-over): And some just aren't going to take it anymore. Local bans on gatherings between households have led to snitch lines. Here is a police takedown of someone having a drink with friends on New Year's Eve. The neighbors said, not on our watch.

[03:55:00]

NEWTON (voice-over): The months of sacrifices, of a travel ban, 14-day quarantines and weeks-long lockdowns are making Canadians weary and angry, especially health care workers, now exhausted by a second wave of the virus, more deadly and dangerous than the first.

DR. ALAN DRUMMOND, PERTH, CANADA, PHYSICIAN: Canadians are not -- do not tend to rapidly become outraged. We're pretty calm, you know, a lot. But I think this has sort of been a bit of a tipping point for us to say, OK, like, we've done our bit.

What does this say about what your respect for what our sacrifices have been?

For them to then ignore the sacrifice of others for their personal pleasure is -- it's hard to articulate how deeply disturbing that is. It truly feels like an insult.

NEWTON (voice-over): It is all frame (ph) the collective spirit still needed to fight this virus here, as the privileged and complacent potentially endanger lives right across the country -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN and spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. Do stay with us, though. Another hour of CNN coming up.