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FBI: More Than 100 Arrested, 200+ Suspects Identified; U.S. Braces for More Violence Ahead of Inauguration; Biden Unveils Massive Plan for Vaccinations, Economic Help; Indonesia: Magnitude 6.2 Earthquake Kills at least 8; Deaths Soar as U.S. States Struggle to Immunize People; Tech Companies Ban Trump But Not Other Problematic Leaders. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired January 15, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world, thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause, and coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, fortress D.C. Security surge in the U.S. Capitol, amid concerns Joe Biden's inauguration will be the target of domestic terrorists.
[00:00:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The vaccine rollout in the United States has been an abysmal failure thus far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Five days before officially taking office, Biden announces almost $2 trillion for ending the pandemic and saving the U.S. economy, battered by the coronavirus.
And at this hour, the desperate search for life in Indonesia, after a powerful and deadly earthquake toppled buildings, triggered landslides, and flattened homes.
Just days ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration, police, the FBI, the National Guard, all bracing for more violence at the U.S. Capitol. Twenty thousand National Guard troops are deploying across Washington D.C., and the National Mall, where thousands gather every four years to watch the inauguration, will be closed to the public.
Investigators have arrested more than 100 people, identified another 200 suspects from last week's attack on the Capitol. The FBI says it's worried domestic terrorist feel more emboldened by the success of the siege.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are seeing an extensive amount of concerning online chatter, I think is the best way I would describe it, about a number of events surrounding the inauguration. And together with our partners, we evaluate those threats, and what kind of resources to deploy against them. Right now, we're tracking calls for potential armed protests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Federal prosecutors have identified another high-profile suspect in last week's attack. The man seen beating a police officer with a flag pole is now charged with civil disorder. He told a "Telegraph" reporter, death is the remedy that Capitol law enforcement officers get.
More on the investigation now with CNN's Alex Marquardt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day, bringing new arrests of the Capitol insurrectionists. Today, Kevin Seefried, seen last Wednesday roaming the halls with a large Confederate flag, was taken into custody in Delaware, along with his son, Hunter Seefried. They've been charged with three federal counts, including violent entry and disorderly conduct.
The nationwide manhunt also leading to the arrest of retired Pennsylvania firefighter Robert Sanford, allegedly seen in this video, throwing a fire extinguisher that struck a Capitol police officer in the head.
Also facing charges, the man wearing a Camp Auschwitz sweat shirt, Robert Packer, who was tracked down and arrested Wednesday in Virginia.
The FBI says it has gotten more than 100,000 digital tips from the public. As the investigation expands, there are more clues of planning and coordination of the insurrection, rather than just being the result of a gathering that grew into an angry mob.
In this new video, you can hear rioters talking about the layout of where they are in the Capitol.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- if you're going to take this building.
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): It was planned in the wide open. Looking back into the weeks, and months leading up to January 6, people were very clearly online, in open platforms, saying that they were going to assault the Capitol and conduct an insurrection.
MARQUARDT: Congressman Jason Crow and his Democratic colleague, Mikie Sherrill, have accused other members of Congress of allegedly giving tours to rioters the day before the attack, Sherrill calling them reconnaissance missions.
REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): I want to see that they're held accountable, and if necessary, ensure that they don't serve in Congress.
MARQUARDT: Fears over renewed attacks in Washington, D.C., have turned the Capitol building into a fortress, surrounded by eight-foot fencing, and defended by thousands of armed National Guard troops, some of the 20,000 expected to be mobilized for the inauguration.
CHIEF ROBERT CONTEE, WASHINGTON, D.C., METROPOLITAN POLICE: We're not asking people to come to D.C. for this. It is a major security threat, and we are working to mitigate those threats.
MARQUARDT: The FBI fears that domestic extremists may have been emboldened by the January 6 insurrection to carry out more attacks before and during Joe Biden's inauguration.
It comes as the FBI has warned of potential armed protests in all 50 states, plus D.C. And an official tells CNN that the online chatter, quote, "is off the charts."
In Michigan, where a plot to kidnap the governor was disrupted this year, this militia leader says his group will be at the state capital this weekend. And armed.
MICHAEL LACKOMAR, SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER MILITIA: I would easily expect thousands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
[00:05:04]
LACKOMAR: It's going to be a good turnout, especially if this impeachment push continues the way it seems to be going.
MARQUARDT: The Michigan attorney general telling CNN she's worried about so many people with guns.
DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Honestly, I am apoplectic about the situation, because I am so gravely concerned.
MARQUARDT (on camera): As fears grow here in Washington, D.C., for more potential violence around the inauguration, so too does the security. More fencing going up, including around the National Mall, where the inauguration takes place.
I'm told by an official familiar with the discussions about the security around the inauguration that the general public will not be allowed into the traditional observation areas on the Mall, onto the grass, where thousands would normally gather to watch the inauguration.
But we are still waiting for the final details of the closures here on Washington from the National Park Service and the U.S. Secret Service.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To Charlottesville, Virginia, and Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Great to have you with us, Larry.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: OK. Joe Biden's swearing in next week. It will be significantly scaled back because of security concerns. A presidential inauguration, though, is meant to be a symbol of American democracy. The traditions, the rituals, have been called habits from the heart passed from one generation to another.
It seems, you know, right now, just from a symbolic point of view, the shining city on the Hill is more like fortress D.C. And that says a lot about where the country is and the legacy of Donald Trump.
SABATO: It absolutely does. In both cases, the shining city is very tarnished right now. And it's really a shock to the system.
I've actually been to every inauguration since Nixon's second in 1973. One was frozen out, Ronald Reagan's second, but otherwise, they've been tremendous celebrations of democracy. People are joyous. Even -- there's a honeymoon with people from the other party.
Well, that's all gone, and D.C. is like an armed camp. There are actually more troops in D.C. right now than there are U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Syria and a few other places, combined, which is remarkable, when you think about it.
VAUSE: Yes. The security threat isn't just to President-elect Joe Biden. Republican Congressman Peter Meijer, who's among a small number within the GOP who actually voted to impeach Donald Trump. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI): Many of us are altering our routines or consider to get body armor, which is a reimbursable purchase that we can make. It's sad that we have to get to that point, but you know, our expectation is that someone may try to kill us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: He's getting death threats because he voted to impeach Trump. At least he can expense the body armor. How much blame goes to the leadership of the GOP for, you know, this civil war within their own party? And can they purge the Trumpism? Can they end the death threats?
SABATO: Well, I don't want to exaggerate. I'd say it's around 99 percent. I wouldn't put it at 100 percent. But they're responsible. Donald Trump is responsible. And then the Republicans who have backed Trump consistently on everything for four years, which is the vast majority of the Republican caucus in both the House and the Senate, it's -- it's an outrage, really.
It reminds us that, even in a day when we have enormous information available to everybody, when a lie is repeated enough by people at the top, you will have millions believe it.
VAUSE: Yes.
SABATO: And the lie about voter fraud has produced this reaction, in large part. And, of course, Trump's exhortations to go take it out on Congress last Wednesday. It's just -- it's just a tragedy. And it's something we've never had before in American history and I hope we never have again.
VAUSE: So there's one of the biggest, if not the biggest, investigations under way by the FBI to find out everyone who took part in last week's mega insurrection. Those who -- and also to find those who may be planning round two. I want you to listen to the FBI director, Christopher Wray.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WRAY: We know who you are if you're out there, and FBI agents are coming to find you. Anybody who plots, or attempts violence in the coming week should count on a visit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: If they want to find them, maybe they -- the FBI should check Donald Trump's campaign email list. Because you know, when you look at the correlation there.
And there was one rioter who allegedly beat a police officer with a flagpole, who's now been charged with civil disorder. He's been identified as Peter Francis Stager, and here he is last week. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER FRANCIS STAGER, ALLEGEDLY BEAT OFFICER WITH FLAGPOLE: Everybody in there is a disgrace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a disgrace.
STAGER: That entire building is filled with treasonous traitors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
STAGER: Death is the only remedy for what's in that building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's incredible to think that, in the moment, that is how these people are talking. That there's traitors and treasonous actions going on inside Congress. They should all be killed.
SABATO: Well, they've done this for years now. I'm speaking to you from Charlottesville, Virginia. Just a few yards outside this studio, the neo-Nazis and white supremacists marched during Trump's term in August 2017.
[00:10:08] And that was really the first big hint that there were hundreds, and maybe thousands, of people who were at Trump's command. And that they would be showing up throughout his term, and that it would get worse. And that's precisely what's happened.
So a change of leadership, beginning next Wednesday, January 20, will certainly help. But I think this is an illness that's gone right to the core in American history. It's going to take years and the work of everybody to have a kind of exorcism.
VAUSE: Yes. Larry, be with us -- love to catch up with you next hour. A lot more to talk about with this. So thank you for being with us right now. See you soon. Larry Sabato there in Charlottesville, Virginia.
With just five more days and Donald Trump's time in office now counted down in days, hours and minutes. That is long enough, though, for many to be concerned about the damage a desperate and angry one-term president could still do.
A source tells CNN it took a full-court press by allies and aides, was needed to convince him to record a video message calling for calm. Trump was told bluntly he would own the next violent incident and could likely face legal action, if that happened.
We're also hearing the president shut down any talk of resigning, like his Republican predecessor, former President Richard Nixon. Trump told an advisor during an expletive-laden conversation never to bring up Nixon again and that he couldn't count on Vice President Mike Pence to issue him a pardon, like the one Nixon received from Gerald Ford.
The Trump camp, meanwhile, is working on organizing a crowd for a major, possibly military-style send-off for Trump on the morning of Biden's inauguration.
Well, from the end of the Trump presidency now to the incoming Biden administration. The president-elect announced nearly $2 trillion to try and to try and help in the economic crisis he's about to inherit. The plan includes a national vaccination program, as well as $1,400 stimulus checks. Details now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden offering the most detailed plan yet for how he plans to fight the coronavirus pandemic and boost the U.S. economy, offering a $1.9 trillion plan on Thursday night here in Wilmington.
And of course, next week is his inaugural address in Washington, but the address he gave certainly offers the nuts and bolts outline of his agenda. And it is, indeed, a sweeping and ambitious plan. He calls it an achievable one. He said it's a moral obligation to act in all of this respects.
First and foremost, it is to help tame the coronavirus pandemic that is just crushing the U.S. economy and, of course, rising death tolls day by day.
Now, he is going to offer a vaccination distribution plan that is entirely different than the one the Trump administration has been using for the last several months. He called that plan a dismal failure.
BIDEN: This will be one of the most challenging operational efforts we have ever undertaken as a nation. We'll have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated; to create more places for them to get vaccinated; to mobilize more medical teams to get shots in people's arms; to increase vaccine supply; and to get it out the door as fast as possible.
ZELENY: And he's also calling on Congress, members of both parties, to come together to pass an economic relief bill, as well. A $15 minimum wage plan, which of course, Republicans have been opposed to.
But this certainly sets the framework for his presidency. One thing he did not mention: impeachment. That, of course, is something he'll be inheriting, as well. It will be happening at the very time he's trying to push this agenda through the Congress. It's an open question how he can do both.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With me now, Ryan Patel, global business executive and senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management in Claremont, California.
Ryan, good to see you. Happy new year. It's been a while.
RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Happy new year, John.
VAUSE: Thank you. There's a lot here in this Biden announcement with $160 billion for public health, as you would expect but also measures to fix what they call this K-shaped recovery, where the work-from-home economy has done very well; the rest not so well.
Overall, it seems this is a progressive plan, and the strategy is right out of the Obama-era playbook. Don't let a crisis go to waste. How do you see it?
PATEL: I mean, you're right. There's no time to waste, is his words, and I think there's an opportunity here that they have to rescue the economy and then invest in the future.
I think part of his plan that really kind of jumped out to me also is, you know, $15 billion to create a new grant program for small business owners. He was really -- that's separate from the existing PPP. He knows that he's got to help the small business environment.
And then, you know, he's proposing the $35 billion investment in some states and finance programs for low-interest loans. So I mean, he throughout had made reference to the IMF, to even Moody's, to the Federal Reserve as these are the steps that we need to take.
[00:15:00]
VAUSE: It's $1.2 trillion. It's a monster compared to previous stimulus packages. If you think back during the financial crisis, there were $700 billion for TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Ultimately, 440 billion was paid out. The treasury actually turned a profit on that one: $15 billion.
Then came the Obama-Biden American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. There were gasps and shocks at 831 billion. This package, though, put forward by Biden, is all spending. No revenue, no increase in taxes. There's no spending cuts elsewhere.
That's interesting, because the U.S. national debt now heading towards what? Oh, there it is. Twenty-eight trillion dollars.
So how does this work? Just print more money, sit back, watch the asset bubbles grow?
PATEL: Well, I hope not, because you can't keep -- you know, the number, you know, keeps going. But I think one thing that stood out from his speech -- and I think he didn't go into too much detail, but he let people pay attention -- that the U.S. government, the U.S. economy needs to invest boldly.
So what he meant by that, or what I interpreted from that, is he's going to make sure that the Biden administration makes sure everyone is taken care of in the short term.
But he mentioned A.I., biotech, clean tech, that they need -- the U.S. needs to be more competitive in the rest of the world. He talked about manufacturing and ensuring rescaling the workforce.
And I'm glad he said something, because that has been, in the past, just talk. But it's time to act, because John, that's the revenue stream. If you want to get more money and get more taxes, and be able to be made in America, you need to have the right workforce and be leading and competitive and not behind. I think that's part of the revenue plan, is to invest now so you can get ahead. But, you know, there's a lot of things that have to go right to do that.
VAUSE: You mean don't invest in coal?
Part of this plan is to look at increased unemployment benefits. Want to raise it to $400 a week, and that would be until September. It's only temporary.
Listen to the CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DONOHUE, CEO, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: We've got to be very careful that we don't provide too much money to people that we need to go back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: To be fair, he did add that they shouldn't be put out of their homes either or starve. But, you know, seriously, I mean 400 a week? Who's going to stay at home for 400 bucks a week?
PATEL: Yes, I -- I think he must be -- he must be making reference to something else. Because people were fighting over the stimulus package that was a day late, you know, a couple of weeks ago, how they need to be -- bills need to be paid.
I mean, let's be clear, I'm glad that you mentioned he did mention it. But there is 25 billion in rental assistance that are coming. People are struggling. Another 5 billion set aside to struggled (ph) renters.
So this is -- the $400, I know, is more of a band-aid but isn't going to solve problems. It's not going to solve it. And I think people also know, when you're in a pandemic for this long, John, for more than a year, you can't sit back. You need to take every opportunity. And job seekers know that. And the gig economy knows that.
So I think they're more motivated in being able to re-enter the workforce than ever before.
VAUSE: Finally, from Joe Biden, the elephant in the room, also known as Mitch McConnell. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We will come back. We'll come back together. We didn't get into all of this overnight. We won't get out of it overnight. And we can't do it as a separated and divided nation. The only way we can do it is to come together, to come together as fellow Americans, as neighbors, as the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Hence, the Mitch McConnell reference. Because realistically, he has two years. He's got the thinnest of majorities in the Senate. One, you know -- some senator dies somewhere or there's something -- act of God and that senator -- there's a reelection somewhere or special election, that majority goes. So, you know, the clock is ticking, and it's very precarious for Biden right now.
PATEL: It is. I thought you were going to play the clip when he said the U.S. is going to make progress and setback. I thought that was a quote that you were going to use for what the setback is.
Because he didn't talk about with the setback is, and it is the two years. That you do have to show progress.
I would tell the, you know, Biden administration upcoming that you need to be even more transparent and show these reports of where the progress is, because guess what? In two years' time, there's going to be a lot of, you know, pointing fingers at what actually has done, what has gotten better. And I think you've got to start preparing that now. VAUSE: Yes, not a moment too soon.
Ryan, good to see you. Thanks for being with us. Been a while.
PATEL: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Take care.
Well, survivors trapped under the rubble. Just ahead, the race to find them after a deadly earthquake rocks Indonesia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:21:36]
VAUSE: Indonesia has been rattled by a powerful, deadly earthquake, causing widespread damage and killing at least eight people. Authorities say hundreds have been hurt, and rescue efforts are underway to free survivors trapped under debris.
Many buildings have been damaged, including a hospital, and power is out in some places. Thousands fled when the magnitude 6.2 tremor struck just northeast of Majene in West Sulawesi Province.
Live now is CNN's Will Ripley, following the story from Hong Kong.
It wasn't just a powerful earthquake, but it was a very shallow earthquake, which is why we're seeing such extensive damage right now. It was very close to the surface.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just 10 kilometers below the surface, John. And this is in an area where the infrastructure was already damaged, because Majene, the city that was hit in West Sulawesi Province, actually was rattled by a 5.7 earthquake on Thursday.
Then this 6.2 happening in the early morning hours on Friday, a time when many people are asleep in their homes, and these buildings were already in pretty rough shape.
And so you see these videos of people. There's one in particular that's really powerful, of what appears to be a young woman trapped underneath, you know, what's left of, presumably, her home, or whatever building she was sleeping in.
There have been water mains that have -- that have been breached. Roads have been shattered, so even getting rescue crews to these areas, were survivors are believed to be trapped, is very difficult. Especially considering that there have been a number of aftershocks, at least 26 aftershocks, in addition to these two strong quakes.
And Indonesian geologists are warning that there could be even stronger aftershocks in the coming hours and days. This is a very touch-and-go situation right now. It is daytime hours in Indonesia, just after lunchtime there. So this is the time when rescue crews have the best opportunity with the most light to try to get in there and try to find these people.
The number of death -- dead has just risen just from the last few minutes. We confirmed at least eight dead. The good news here is no tsunami warning, so there's not a danger of any big waves create -- creating more damage, but obviously, the aftershocks are difficult. More than 600 injuries counted so far, and you have some 15,000 people displaced, John.
You mentioned that hospital that was damaged. There have been hotels that have been damaged, people trapped, presumably, in those. Haven't even been gotten to yet by rescuers.
You have the roads destroyed. Widespread power outages. Communication difficulties near the epicenter of this quake.
And, you know, Indonesia is not a country that doesn't see a lot of earthquakes. They have them almost every day of the smaller variety. But the island Sulawesi, I mean, this is an area that has been hit particularly hard, John.
I don't know if you remember back in 2018, in Central Sulawesi Province, so these quakes this week are on the west side of the island. But in the central side of the island, they had a 6.2 quake that actually did trigger a tsunami. It hit Palu in Central Sulawesi, and it killed hundreds of people and displayed some 60,000. And in that case, with the tsunami that hit, there was no warning, because the tsunami warning system wasn't up to date.
So you have a country with really bad infrastructure, not equipped to handle this kind of earthquake, even though they happen all the time. And every time we have a major disaster like this in Indonesia, it raises questions about whether the government has adequately prepared for the people who are right in harm's way.
VAUSE: And of course, the death toll standing right now at eight. Fears are, of course, that that will rise in the coming hours. We'll keep abreast of this. Will, thank you. Will Ripley, live for us. The very latest on the earthquake in Indonesia. Thanks, Will.
[00:25:10]
Two weeks into this year, more than 42,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Nearly 4,000 lives reported lost on Thursday.
While tens of millions of doses of the vaccine have been distributed nationwide, many states are still facing challenges in getting those shots into arms.
CNN's Nick Watt has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The home of the Houston Texans opens -- well, a parking lot. It's a mass vaccination site. Roughly 13,000 slots through Sunday, every one already filled. Meanwhile, some rural hospitals in Texas say they still have not
received a single dose of the vaccine.
In New Jersey, even the elderly face a long wait, up to eight weeks.
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): The biggest region is we don't have the supplies from the feds that we need or that they had indicated would have.
WATT: Mississippi, only CVS and Walgreens are allowed to give the shots and long-term care facilities. Walgreens just doesn't have the manpower.
ROY ARMSTRONG, REGIONAL HEALTHCARE DIRECTOR, WALGREENS: We had staffing challenges in Mississippi before COVID vaccine was ever available.
WATT: Both vaccines currently available require a double dose. Johnson & Johnson's single dose offering appears safe and effective in early trials. They could apply for emergency authorization around the end of the month.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having a single dose vaccine will be a game- changer.
WATT: Meantime, here's the reality. By new year, we were told 20 million shots in arms. Two weeks later, still, just over half that. And since new year, more than three million new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country. We're now averaging well over 3,000 deaths a day.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Until we see hospitalizations drop and until we start to see a sustained drop in daily cases, we're going to see this terrible toll.
WATT (on camera): Here in California, there have never been fewer ICU beds available, about 1,000 in a state of about 40 million.
Here in Los Angeles, county officials say they believe one in three Angelinos have already been infected. Ironically, that might now help slow the spread, because so many people have already had it.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Portugal is heading back into lockdown to try and slow a surge in new cases. Thursday set a new record for new daily infections, almost 11,000. More than half a million people have been affected.
All nonessential businesses will close. Restaurants will be limited to takeaway service during the lockdown. Schools, though, will remain open.
France is extending its nightly curfew nationwide in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Six p.m. curfew will begin Saturday and will last for the next 15 days, at least. The curfew was already in place in the hardest hit regions.
The prime minister says it's meant to avoid harsher measures. But he says they will consider a lockdown if the situation continues to deteriorate.
The U.K. is banning arrivals from Latin American countries, thanks to evidence of a new coronavirus variant found in Brazil. That ban took effect just a few hours ago.
Now travelers from more than a dozen countries, including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Peru, will not be allowed into the U.K. Travel from Portugal is also suspended, due to its close links with Brazil.
The British transport secretary says the restrictions do not apply to U.K. citizens or those who have residence rights, but they will have to quarantine for 10 days.
A short break. When we come back, U.S. President Trump can't log onto Twitter and broadcast a late-night, four-part rant anymore. What a shame. But he's not the only unpredictable world leader on social media. More on that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:31:12]
VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Here are the headlines.
Crews are scrambling to free those caught in rubble after a deadly earthquake in Indonesia. So far it has claimed at least eight lives. Authorities say the 6.2 major quake left 600 people injured. Widespread power outages are hampering rescue efforts.
Sources say the U.S. is considering raising its terrorism threat level ahead of next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. More than 20,000 National Guard troops are being deployed through Washington. The National Mall will be closed to the public.
And President-elect Joe Biden has unveiled a nearly $2 trillion plan to tackle the pandemic and the economic crisis, part of his American Rescue Plan that plans (ph) billions for a nationwide vaccination effort, as well as $1,400 stimulus relief checks for Americans.
Well, the Twitter machine has received much praise for permanently banning the U.S. president's personal account for his tweets, which were seen as inciting violence.
But is the company trying to have it both ways? Taking away Trump's personal megaphone; at the same time not muting either problematic world leaders?
CNN's Scott McLean takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Following the deadly U.S. Capitol riot, many political opponents are cheering Twitter's decision to permanently ban the person they say encouraged the insurrection. President Trump. Twitter claimed his account posed a risk of further incitement of violence. Trump's personal Facebook account was also suspended indefinitely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He violated our policies, and it was a risk we couldn't take.
TRUMP: I think that big tech is doing a horrible thing for our country and to our country, and I believe it's going to be a catastrophic mistake for them.
MCLEAN: Social media platforms have consistently pointed to their own rules to explain controversial decisions. But experts say it's consistency that's been lacking.
MARIETJE SCHAAKE, STANFORD UNIVERSITY CYBER POLICY CENTER: They're not consistent, so you also have to wonder whether some of these companies have become basically monsters that they cannot tame themselves anymore.
MCLEAN: Trump's ban has set off a fierce international debate around free speech and who, if anyone, ought to be policing it online.
The Mexican president called the ban contrary to freedom, while a spokesperson for German German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it's problematic.
Critics also pointed to the odd paradox of a U.S. president barred from Twitter while a cast of repressive regimes and brutal dictators remain. Like Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United Nations has accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture. Or the government of Saudi Arabia, which has a long record of dealing jailing, even killing dissidents.
The company explained in 2018 that "Blocking a world leader would hide important information people should be able to see and debate."
CINDY COHN, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: I don't think they made the wrong decision by -- by kicking out President Trump. However, I'd like to see them apply that same standard to leaders around the world.
MCLEAN: But many of the world's most unsavory leaders also have some of the tamest Twitter accounts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has a verified Kremlin account, but offline, he's been accused of silencing his critics. His agents even poisoning his political opponent, Alexei Navalny. Navalny warns the precedent will be exploited by the enemies of freedom of speech around the world. COHN: Expecting the companies to be the speech police of our dreams,
you know, only policing the bad speech and always allowing the good speech, is simply unrealistic.
MCLEAN: This week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended the ban but said platforms should "look critically at inconsistencies of our policy and enforcement."
President Trump used his Twitter account unlike any other world leader: to inflame debate, insult critics and spread outright lies. But he was in the only one accused of bad behavior. Just last week China, which denies accusations of forced sterilizations of Uyghur minorities, reportedly tweeted from the account of its embassy in Washington that the minds of Uyghur women have been "emancipated," "making them no longer baby-making machines."
[00:35:11]
The tweet was removed by Twitter.
But other incendiary posts are still up, like the 2018 tweet from Iran's ayatollah calling Israel "a malignant cancerous tumor [...] that has to be removed and eradicated."
Twitter told CNN, "We have taken enforcement action on world leaders prior to this" but didn't give any details. A former executive summed up the reluctance like this.
ADAM SHARP, FORMER HEAD OF NEWS AND POLITICS AT TWITTER: If I threaten my neighbor, it's a crime. If the president threatens our neighbors, it is a statement of foreign policies.
MCLEAN: In 2018, Twitter explained that "We review tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them and enforce our rules accordingly."
But local political context is where experts say American social media companies have a blind spot.
That same year, Facebook conceded it didn't do enough to prevent a genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar the previous year. Human rights activists say the killings were fueled in part by hatred ginned up by military leaders on the social network. Facebook now says it's made vast improvements and banned 20 accounts.
(on camera): Why is it only now that we're kind of waking up to this? This has happened before.
SCHAAKE: Well, I don't think it's a serious secret that Americans tend to look at their own society with much more attention than at the rest of the world. And it's also a matter of resources. I mean, how much effort have these platforms really put into understanding the societies in which they were unleashing their products?
MCLEAN (voice-over): Europe is already planning vast new legislation to rein in the power of social media platforms, while both parties in Washington agree something needs to change. They just can't agree on wet.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
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VAUSE: Russia's outspoken opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, plans to return home on this Sunday. And when he does, the prison authority says it has an obligation to detain him. That's because they say Navalny violated his terms of a suspended jail sentence, an embezzlement case that Navalny says was politically motivated.
He spent the past few months in Germany for medical treatment after he was poisoned with a nerve agent, Novichok.
Joe Biden was already facing some major foreign policy challenges as it was. When we come back, it's all be made worse in recent days by some recent decisions taken by the Trump administration. We'll explain in a moment.
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VAUSE: Well, they love a parade in North Korea, and the latest one displaying all their military had some surprising new developments.
According to state media, Pyongyang unveiled a submarine-launched ballistic missile -- That was on Thursday -- calling it the world's strongest weapon.
North Koreans have test-fired several of the missiles from underwater. Analysts say it's developing a nuclear-powered submarine, as well. On hand to watch it all personally, there he is. Kim Jong-un, leather coat, fur hat, smiling.
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When Joe Biden becomes U.S. president next week, he'll be inheriting a plethora of foreign policy problems left behind by his predecessor. CNN's Nic Robertson explain which ones may become Biden's biggest headache.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): As President Donald Trump's loyalists stormed Congress, America's global standings sagged and Present-elect Joe Biden's job to unify at home and rally overseas allies got harder.
BIDEN: Let me be very clear. The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America.
ROBERTSON: In the days since, Trump has worsened Biden's overseas woes. From the Caribbean to the Mideast to the Far East, Trump is miring Biden in foreign policy problems.
January 9, lifting self-imposed restrictions regarding Taiwan. January 10, saying it will designate Yemen's Houthis a terrorist organization. January 11, designating Cuba a state sponsor of terror. And January 12, adding yet another complicating twist to years of escalating tensions with Iran, with this claim.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Al-Qaeda has a new home base. It is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
ROBERTSON: With days left in office, Trump's administration appears to be further limiting Biden's diplomatic options. The president-elect hoped for international backing to bring Tehran back into compliance with the Obama-era multinational nuclear deal that Trump unilaterally exited.
BIDEN: The only way out of this crisis is through diplomacy, clear- eyed, hard-nosed diplomacy.
ROBERTSON: Tehran's position now, as Trump heads for the exit, Biden is isolated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take so many years for world countries to trust the U.S., and that was a major loss.
ROBERTSON: Tensions with China have also been kept bubbling by Trump, last Saturday lifting restrictions limiting diplomats and other officials' travel to Taiwan, a red line for China.
ZHAO LIJIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): Any action the harms China's core interests will receive a resolute counter strike from China, and won't succeed.
ROBERTSON: In Yemen, the following day, Trump's plan to designate the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control much of the country, as a terrorist organization condemned by aid agencies for limiting aid and stunting Biden's already limited ability to help end the war.
Next day in Cuba, more of Biden's diplomatic reach curbed: Trump designating Cuba a state sponsor of terror. Normalization could cost Biden political capital.
On the border with Mexico a day later, Trump's taunt to Biden: My legacy will live on.
TRUMP: The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. Be careful what you wish for.
ROBERTSON: Biden's challenge at home and overseas: repair Trumps damage. And unlike the outgoing president, Biden has the diplomatic experience to at least put some of the pieces back together.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks for watching. I'm John Vause. Stay with us, please. WORLD SPORT is next after the break, and then I will be back in about 15 minutes with a lot more news. You're watching CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (END VIDEO CLIP)
