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Security Very High At U.S. Capitol Days From Biden Inauguration; Biden To Take Executive Action To Reverse Trump Policies; Interview With Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA); Capitol Attack Widens Cracks In The Republican Party; Pelosi To Deliver Impeachment Papers To Senate Next Week; California COVID Spike Ravages Communities Of Color; Trump Breaks Tradition, Won't Attend Inauguration. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired January 16, 2021 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:20]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in United States and around the world. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, with our special live coverage ahead of the inauguration of President- elect Biden this week.

Normally, this would be a time the nation comes together and looks towards the future. Instead tonight, the U.S. Capitol is a virtual fortress with barbed wire fences and thousands of law enforcement officers surrounding it. The Pentagon says up to 25,000 National Guard troops have been authorized to secure the area around the Capitol, of course to prevent another breach.

All across the country, authorities are on high alert warning of further domestic threats against the government in the lead-up to Joe Biden's inauguration. The FBI is warning of armed protests in all 50 state capitols this week. And they are particularly concerned about domestic extremists who refuse to recognize Joe Biden's election victory.

For his part, the president-elect is expected to hit the ground running as soon as he's inaugurated. One day -- on day one, I should say, he will take executive action to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, repeal the travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries, and mandate masks on federal property.

Clearly, it's a huge week ahead. Let's get more details on the week ahead. Jeremy Diamond joins us at the White House, covering the White House. Arlette Saenz with the Biden team in Wilmington, Delaware.

Thank you, guys, for staying up late on a Saturday night. It is a big, big week ahead.

Jeremy, let me begin with you because the president, President Trump's days in office are winding down. It seems like the schedule that they put out about what he's doing every day is the same. We're not hearing much from him, seeing much of him. It's really the vice president who seems to be filling that void. JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly

right, Poppy. What we saw from the president's schedule this weekend is what we've seen the last several days, which is no public events listed on his schedule, and instead this disclaimer that appears to be written by the president himself saying that he will have many calls and many meetings from morning until night.

But it's been -- this has been the fourth day that we haven't actually seen or heard from the president at all. And instead, as you said what we're seeing is Vice President Mike Pence really stepping in to fill that leadership void, at least as it relates to this Trump administration in its final days. It was Vice President Pence, not the president, who visited National Guardsmen on the Capitol just a couple of days ago. It was the vice president who called his successor, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to wish her well and congratulate her on her election as the next vice president of the United States.

And it will be Vice President Pence who will attend the inauguration on Wednesday. All of those things are things that the president is not currently doing. And so that is what makes this transition so unusual. While there is a peaceful transfer of power that will ultimately happen here, President Trump is certainly not facilitating that process at all and he's certainly not participating in any of the traditions that would send a message to his supporters and to the country at large that Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, is a legitimate president.

And that is not doing anything to calm the temperatures around what we've seen over the last couple of weeks.

HARLOW: I mean, it is just so remarkable and sad that the sort of handoff of power is not going to be what it traditionally has been, not to mention the nice letters that -- you know, are left from one president to the other, generally in the Resolute Desk, that none of that is likely to happen.

But, Arlette, I mean, Joe Biden doesn't have any say in how Donald Trump acts. But he has a whole lot to say in what he does on the first day. And we've learned that there are going to be a stream of executive orders that I just mentioned. Also today, full steam ahead naming his science team. You know, what is standing out to you most in terms of his first 100-day plans as we get to learn more?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: What you are seeing President-elect Biden do is projecting the sense that he will be hitting the ground running as soon as he is sworn in on January 20th. You saw his team unveil a sweeping group of executive actions that he will be taking in that first 10 days he's in office, signing just around a dozen executive actions on his very first day alone. And some of these executive actions will focus on undoing some of the policies implemented during the Trump administration.

That will include rescinding that travel ban on travelers from Muslim majority countries, as well as reentering the Paris climate agreement. That was something that was negotiated during the Obama-Biden administration that President-elect Trump dropped out of and President-elect Biden intends to get right back into in his very first day in office.

[23:05:10]

There are also a number of executive actions relating to the pandemic that he would like to continue, including that halt on evictions and foreclosures, as well as the pause in student loan payments. And then you've heard Biden talk about what he's describing as this 100-day masking challenge, asking Americans to wear masks amid this pandemic. He can't, himself, require these masks to be worn nationwide, but he can require them in federal buildings and interstate travel.

But the president-elect is also acknowledging that he's not going to be able to do everything through executive action. He is going to need cooperation through Congress. He's planning to send an immigration bill to Congress in the early days of his administration as well as that $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus relief package that he really wants to get to help Americans struggling throughout this pandemic.

And so, what you are seeing Biden do here over the course of these next few days is really a culmination, a wrap-up of all of the work that they've been doing throughout this transition. Even as the president put up these blocks to his transition, Biden operated full steam ahead, rolling out his nominees, putting together his coronavirus team that will be responsible for those vaccinations and are now also outlining those executive actions which will form the early days of his presidency.

HARLOW: It's going to be an inauguration like we've never seen, that's for sure, and a first 100 days like we've seen never with the Senate trial of an impeached president to come.

Arlette, thank you very much. Jeremy Diamond, so good to have you both tonight.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling for a full investigation into the Capitol riot, something on the level you've heard them this week talking about a 9/11 Commission-style inquiry into how this could have happened. She also says if any members of Congress helped that mob at all, criminal charges may be in order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): If, in fact, it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, joining me now is Congressman John Garamendi, he is a Democrat from California, senior member of the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thank you very much for being with me this evening.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): My pleasure. HARLOW: We're just first of all so glad that everyone in Congress, all

the members of Congress, are OK after the insurrection and what happened. In terms of protecting the Capitol and everyone in the inauguration going forward, you are on the -- you are not only on, you chair the Readiness Subcommittee and that means that you have oversight over the National Guard.

Are they ready? Is everyone protecting not only the U.S. Capitol but the 50 state capitols ready for what could come?

GARAMENDI: Well, they're certainly doing everything they can to be ready. Earlier this day, my wife and I were walking over towards the Capitol just to observe. We had a long conversation with a group of National Guardsmen and women from New York. And they were ready. They were really disturbed about what had happened and they see their role as being extremely important. And I think this is true all across the nation.

The police across this nation and the National Guard intend to do their job to protect our democracy. And that's what's happening here in Washington. But we really need to understand just how violent and how aggressive these rioters were. More and more videos emerging and the trauma. Yes, to members of Congress are physically safe. But the trauma for the members as well as for their families is extraordinary.

And even more so on the staff. The staff that was literally hiding under tables in locked rooms as the rioters were banging on the doors calling for the execution of the vice president and the speaker.

HARLOW: Yes.

GARAMENDI: Incredible, violent action. Clearly, clearly it just didn't happen. It was coordinated and it was a set up.

HARLOW: You make a very important point about the trauma and the PTSD, if you will, that many members and the staff will have after this, right? It's not just physically are they OK. Look, you -- well, I -- go ahead.

GARAMENDI: Absolutely true, but back home, this isn't just Washington. The members traveled back. Many went back to their district, went back to their homes.

[23:10:02]

Many can't go to their homes because of physical threats that are in play in their home districts, at their home locations. So, this is really something that the president has unleashed. He has unleashed the devil in and around this country and they are out there causing trouble. And so we're -- this all needs to be hung squarely on Donald Trump's shoulders. He did this. He did this to this nation, and now this nation has suffered. 25,000 troops in an inauguration to protect ourselves from Donald Trump's hooligans.

HARLOW: And Congressman, you, all of the Democrats in the House, along with 10 Republicans, voted to impeach the president, saying his words incited this and therefore he deserves to be impeached. The question is what happens in a Senate trial.

I want to ask what you think of this argument that was made by a few Republicans, one of them in Congress. That's Kevin Brady, Congressman Kevin Brady from Texas. He tweeted earlier this week that impeaching the president is, quote, "calling for an action that is equally irresponsible and could incite further violence."

My question to you and our colleague here at CNN, our editor (INAUDIBLE), pointed out earlier this week that it's striking to hear that argument from a sitting member of Congress that essentially watch out if you impeach the president, there will be further violence.

GARAMENDI: I cannot account for the stupidity and the insanity that is going on in this nation. Obviously, it's members of Congress. I learned in the second grade that if somebody is a bully, you can either stand up to that bully and cause that bully to back down, or you can spend the rest of your life being bullied.

This is the moment. Donald Trump has incited an insurrection. This is not just a little party on the steps of the Capitol. This is an insurrection. This is a violent attack for the specific purpose, specific purpose annunciated by the president and his minions to stop the steal, which means to keep Donald Trump in office by overturning the votes of the American public.

Let's keep in mind that Biden received eight million more votes than Donald Trump. Let's keep in mind that he won the electoral college. Let's keep in mind that there are more than 60 lawsuits brought in the contested states by Donald Trump and his minions and by his lawyers and by other Republican organizations. Not one of those lawsuits proved any fraud that could possibly change the outcome of the election. All of them dismissed.

This was a legitimate fair election and Donald Trump, to this moment, continues to deny that. He continues to build. And therefore, his supporters out there are continuing to live upon Donald Trump's lies. It has got to end. He is a threat to the nation and for Mr. Brady and others to say, oh my, we shouldn't do anything, wrong. We have to impeach this person. We did that. The Senate has to find him guilty.

HARLOW: Congressman John Garamendi, thank you very much for your time. And we wish all of you safety and peace on this pivotal week that can be a uniting week for the nation.

GARAMENDI: It could be. And it should be.

HARLOW: I appreciate you. Thank you for staying up late for us.

GARAMENDI: Thank you.

HARLOW: Well, President Trump may be leaving the White House, but his loyalists are not giving up the political stage. What does it mean for the future of the Republican Party? We'll have perspective ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:17:35]

HARLOW: Well, if the January 6th attack on the Capitol laid bare the divisions polarizing the United States, it also revealed cracks in the Republican Party, deep ones, that really are chasms at this point. Donald Trump loyalists maybe out to punish Republicans who support his impeachment. More traditional Republicans are eager to distance themselves from the president and from the extremists and the conspiracy theories and the lies. But they're in for a fight because the president's faction is digging in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER TRUMP ADVISER: There were a lot of people in this country who felt that the system didn't work for them and they wanted somebody out of -- out of politics to be a true disrupter, to turn the tables upside down.

BILL MAHER, HBO HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": Well, disrupter --

CONWAY: To break some glass. And guess what? And to --

MAHER: Break some glass?

CONWAY: Well, yes, and to improve the economy. I mean, you can't deny that many people are better off. If you deny that --

MAHER: OK. All right. Well, they're not better off now. A lot of them are dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Yes. I want to bring in two of my favorite people. I'm so glad you guys stayed up late on a Saturday night for this conversation. Ana Navarro is in beautiful Miami, Scott Jennings is in -- where are you, Scott? In beautiful Louisville, Kentucky. Thank you both for being here.

I'm in rainy -- I was in rainy Brooklyn all day. But thank you both for being here.

Ana, can we -- I mean, we're hearing a lot from Republicans about healing now and unity and, you know, Mitch McConnell like I don't want Trump anywhere near the party. That's reportedly his thinking. Not a whole lot from Republicans -- you're both Republicans -- about accountability, are we?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, and you know, the other thing I don't think, at least I haven't heard is a level of remorse. Look, what happened this week in Washington, that didn't happen in a vacuum. That's been building up, right? Republicans have enabled, have justified, have defended, have allowed Donald Trump to go unchecked and do horrible things for four years. Just look at the last 2 1/2 months since the election.

Republicans in Congress didn't even dare congratulate Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. 140 Republicans still voted against certifying Joe Biden's victory knowing that it was a futile attempt, knowing that it feeds conspiracy theories, knowing that it makes people who already believe crazy things even crazier after what we saw in the Capitol.

[23:20:13]

And they still voted that way. And, you know, I -- I keep asking myself how they can be so blindly loyal to Donald Trump.

Listen, Poppy, there's been nobody more loyal to Donald Trump than Mike Pence for the last four years. He's been blindly loyal, loyal to a fault, loyal to his detriment. And the guy was in a bunker. People were asking for his head, literally.

HARLOW: Right, right. Look what he got.

NAVARRO: And Donald Trump wouldn't even pick up the phone just to see how he was doing.

HARLOW: Right.

NAVARRO: So what loyalty can you have to a disloyal, demented, narcissist, dark-hearted madman?

HARLOW: OK. So, let's ask Scott Jennings, because, Scott, you wrote just in October, I re-read it tonight, an op-ed, the title was "Donald Trump Deserves a Second Term." And yes, the events of January 6th had not yet happened, but a whole lot had happened. Right? Charlottesville had happened, the both sides comments, the clearing of Lafayette Square had happened, General Kelly, as you know, told Jake just, you know, a week ago, look, he has always been this man.

When it comes to the future of your party after Trump, here's my question. Listen to this from Georgia's lieutenant governor, also a Republican, Geoff Duncan. Here's what he told me about the party this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFF DUNCAN (R), GEORGIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: We should never, as a party, let a person be more powerful than our party. If we don't move away from the party of Trump, we will continue to lose and we will not be in the White House in 2024.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Is he right? Scott, can you hear me? Oh, what do you think, Ana, while we see if we can get Scott's shot back up?

NAVARRO: Well, first let me say, you know, I've noticed watching him on TV, and Scott and I have had many an argument for the last four years. But I've noticed a level of reflection, an introspection in Scott in the last few weeks certainly since the election. And I see a lack of that among so many Republicans.

And absolutely, look, when your existence is based around support and loyalty to one man, you are a cult. OK. You are Jim Jones. You are Waco, Texas, the Davidians. You are not a party. A political party needs to be based on ideas, on principles, on thoughts, on inclusiveness. And a political party needs to reject, needs to reject -- I don't care if they are Republican voters or Trump supporters.

There is no reason, there is no way, there is no justification why the Republican Party should accept as part of its tent QAnon conspiracy theorists.

HARLOW: Yes. But can I ask you --

NAVARRO: Xenophobes or racists. They should have no space in this tent.

HARLOW: Totally. My question to you, and I'm so glad you brought that up. I thought David Brooks wrote it well in his column this week in the "New York Times." He talked about division within the church. But here's what he wrote in the middle of it. He said the problem is, how do you go about reattaching people to reality, right? Because a lot of these folks, well, all of them on the 6th believed the president but still believe the lies.

NAVARRO: Oh, well, listen, it's not going to be easy, right? There's been brainwashing. There's been an enormous amount of misinformation fed to people by state media and by Republican leadership. And so I think the people who can make a difference, I was just, you know, reading one of the Murdochs talking about the responsibility and accountability. Well, then show it. Show it on the air.

And Republican leaders who've now realized what they've wrought on this country, they need to -- they need to be active and proactive in speaking truth and saying, you know, Joe Biden won this fair and square. There were 60 court actions. Donald Trump lost all of them. And so, you know, to keep lying about it, Republican leadership needs to take stock. They need behave like leaders. They need to set an example.

It is outrageous. It is outrageous that people like Jim Jordan or people like Paul Gosar, you know, the congressman from Arizona who is hated by all his siblings, it is outrageous that they are OK with having a QAnon conspiracy theorist as a Republican congressperson, but they're not OK with Liz Cheney being a Republican -- in the Republican conference?

[23:25:05]

I mean, what example is Republican leadership setting other than saying we will continue being part of this hoax?

HARLOW: Yes. Well --

NAVARRO: And blindly following this man even though we know what he has done to destroy the American fiber? It is unforgivable.

HARLOW: I think -- I think Liz Cheney's response was pretty perfect. Right? I think she said, like, I'm here -- I'm not going anywhere. So, let them say what they want to say. I'm so glad -- I'm sorry that that happened with Scott's shot, but this is what happens in the age of COVID and relying on, you know, home computers and the Internet connection. But I'm glad to have you on tonight, Ana Navarro. Thank you so much.

NAVARRO: Thanks, Poppy. And I'm glad you're up late doing this.

HARLOW: We'll talk to you soon.

Well, coming up for us on CNN, next week U.S. lawmakers will decide how and whether to hold a Senate trial that could possibly end up in the president being barred from ever holding federal office again. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around world. Tonight, I'm glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow.

When Donald Trump leaves office on Wednesday, he will have the lowest approval rating ever for a U.S. president after their first term.

[23:30:03]

A new Quinnipiac poll finds his approval rating stands at 33 percent. He's also facing trial in the Senate after an historic second impeachment by the House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expected to set that process in motion. The question is, when is she going to do it? There are still also legal questions about how a Senate trial may proceed for a former president, another thing that has never happened.

I'm very glad we have a very smart woman and attorney on with us, our legal analyst Laura Coates.

Hi, Laura. I almost said good morning since it's almost midnight. Thank you staying up for us.

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

COATES: It's almost morning --

HARLOW: Really I go to bed at 8:00.

COATES: But I'm glad to be with you.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: It was 7:17 p.m. --

COATES: Two mothers on a Saturday, I get it.

HARLOW: 7:17 p.m. the other night I was in bed and my husband was like really? But it's true, so I'm up very late but it's a big week ahead. I'm glad you're with us. Can you just talk to us about what the Constitution says or doesn't say about impeaching an ex-president? COATES: Well, the impeachment clause in the actual Constitution is, in

fact, what's called, you know, the present tense, to remove someone from office. But an inquiry doesn't actually stop there because the whole premise and the founding fathers, essentially there are premise for it, was the notion that you could remove anyone who was abusing the power and that the legislative branch should actually serve as a check and balance on.

And there's history for this. There's actually precedent for us for removing an ex-officer or an ex-official in some capacity.

HARLOW: Right.

COATES: As long as essentially you have begun the process of investigating while they were actually in office. You don't want them to be able to just run out the clock, abuse power all the way and then there's nothing they can do about it. That would be antithetical to accountability.

HARLOW: OK. So when we look at the president's defense, we've learned in the last 48 hours his lawyers are expected to argue, look, all of his remarks on the 6th of January before the Capitol insurrection were protected speech. And I'm sure they'll make the same argument for that phone call to the Georgia secretary of state. And therefore they're protected under the First Amendment. How far can they stretch that argument?

COATES: Well, this defense is not a surprise to anyone because there's no other real defense they could make. But being not a surprise does not make it a good actual defense because they have a very uphill battle. Yes, we believe in free speech in this country. We want to have political hyperbole or dissent or just an advocacy of someone to actually be protected. But when you cross the line and begin to incite violence, the Supreme Court is very clear that we do not protect that speech.

They have a three-part test. You have to intend to incite violence. It has to be a violence that will take place in a period of time that is definitive, not some period in the future that's not defined. And it has to be set in an environment where violence is likely to happen. All of those three factors if they're met, you have not had protected speech and they can pounce as prosecutors or as House impeachment managers.

The problem is the Supreme Court is not weighing this issue. It's a political exercise and therefore even the most steadfast precedent might not persuade those who already have a self-fulfilling prophecy of acquittal.

HARLOW: Sure. So there's the Senate trial, which is political, as you know. But then there's like actual trial when you're not a president and you can be criminally tried for things. And it was Republican Senator Pat Toomey a week ago who told our Jack Tapper that he's not a lawyer but he thinks maybe the president could face some criminal liability here.

Can you talk to us about what he could face that for and just your legal view on that?

COATES: Certainly. Provided there's no pardon defense here saying that I have self-pardon, which we don't think would actually hold up if it was ever challenged in the Supreme Court, he would face liability for either inciting violence, inciting a riot. There are federal statutes about this very thing. He might have civil liability where a pardon could never even touch. There may be state actions that are pending.

And remember, this happened in the District of Columbia which is a bit of a hybrid, not quite a state, not a state at all. The idea of what whether the pardon power would even extend to what the D.C. attorney general's office might have is also questionable. But overwhelmingly, what he faces here is accountability for his actual words, whether there's a straight line from his words to the actual conduct.

And unlike other, say, impeachments where you had to meander a little bit, talk about a whistleblower, the phone call, have a transcript, decide what witnesses to call, the actual Senate and the House, they were victims and eyewitnesses. You don't have to have tangential discussions.

HARLOW: Right.

COATES: You have to have a recollection of what happened not even two weeks ago. It's' a much easier case.

HARLOW: Yes.

[23:35:01]

COATES: And if the House impeachment managers can do that, well, state and federal prosecutors have the same criteria and same hurdles they could overcome.

HARLOW: I haven't even thought about the issue of the lack of statehood for D.C. and what that presents and does pardon power extend. That's very, very interesting.

Thanks, Laura.

COATES: Thank you.

HARLOW: All right. As Americans wait in long lines for their first COVID vaccine shot, there are more and more people who are confused about where the second doses are. Without them, it's really, you know, not foolproof. So, we'll talk about that.

Also we're going to take you to California, just a dire state right now when it comes to COVID. More COVID-19 deaths per day than some entire countries, and it is lagging behind a lot of states when it comes to getting those vaccines in arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIANA JIMENEZ SESMA, MOTHER AND STEPFATHER DIED OF COVID-19: If you truly love your loved ones, don't let this be you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, and soon we will hit just a devastating number. 400,000 American lives lost to COVID. That is the most anywhere in the world and that is what this nation is on track for. It's according to numbers from Johns Hopkins. The United States also fast approaching 24 million total cases.

[23:40:07]

A quick and efficient vaccine rollout could help a lot, but anger is building over a Trump administration promise to release extra vaccine doses to states. A federal government official said there's no reserve stockpile of doses to do that from. Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned a more contagious variant of COVID could worsen the spread and become the dominant form of the virus here in the United States by March.

At the heart of the crisis in this country is the state of California. Los Angeles is the first U.S. county to report more than one million coronavirus cases. The numbers they say it ll. One out of COVID-19 death every six minutes in California right now. There are now 900 dead bodies at the medical examiner's office in L.A. that they don't have enough room to store. Also, our Sara Sidner shows us how this devastation takes a toll on those left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mariachi music slices through the silence. The melody is meant to sooth the family's sorrow. The cruelness of COVID-19 on display. This is a funeral in a parking lot.

SESMA: My mother was a very strong woman, and she fought to the very last breath.

SIDNER: Julianna Jimenez Sesma says these are the last words they exchanged.

SESMA: I told mom, do not be afraid, for the Lord is with us. I love you and may God bless you. Keep strong for me, Mom. And all she answered me was, yes, mija, with that voice, with fear.

SIDNER: Sesma lived with and cared for her mom who had a lung condition. Her stepdad had asthma and diabetes. Her brother lives right next door with his young family.

(On camera): How many people ended up getting it? Did everyone --

SESMA: All of us.

SIDNER (voice-over): Her stepfather and then mother ended up here, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. They fought to live just like those filling all the ICU beds now, but they died within 11 days of each other.

Dr. Jason Prasso treated both Sesma's parents.

DR. JASON PRASSO, PULMONARY AND CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN, MLK JR. COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: I just want her to know that we here tried our hardest. And we're really sorry that things went the way that they did.

SIDNER: The terrible scenario is not unusual as COVID ensnares those who live in multigenerational families and are part of the essential workforce.

PRASSO: We have the misfortune of seeing this disease run through families and all too frequently take multiple members of a single family.

SIDNER: The state-of-the-art hospital is an oasis of care in the health care desert of south Los Angeles. It is no wonder the heavily black and Latino neighborhood is suffering disproportionately. The inequities in health care invites death.

DR. ELAINE BATCHLOR, CEO, MLK JUNIOR COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: Diabetes is three times more prevalent here than in the rest of California. Diabetes mortality is 72 percent higher. The life expectancy is 10 years shorter here than in the rest of the state. And all of that is related to this being an under-resourced and underserved community.

SIDNER: That was before coronavirus arrived.

PRASSO: We're running like well over 100 percent capacity.

SIDNER: The 131-bed facility is suddenly treating more than 200 patients. 60 percent of them are COVID patients. They've made space everywhere. Tents outside, inside hallways, the prayer room, a former gift shop. The battle to save a life physically and mentally exhausting. But on this day a surprise reminder of why they fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me see, let me see. You got the dance moves? Oh, yes.

SIDNER: 74-year-old Elaine Stevens returns to thank her doctors and nurses. She spent more than 40 days in this ICU before walking out alive.

ELAINE STEVENS, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I made it. A lot of days I didn't want to make it but I did.

SIDNER: As she celebrated a second chance at life, the ceremony for death was still playing out in a parking lot for the Sesma family.

SESMA: Don't let this be you. If you truly love your loved ones, don't let this be you. Continue to, you know, take all the cautions, take extra precautions, exaggerate if you have to.

SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, south Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow. Sara, thank you for that important and tragic reporting.

Well, the presidential inauguration is usually a time of unity and a peaceful transfer of power.

[23:45:05]

It's what we can hope for. Joe Biden's inauguration, though, we can assure you, will be unlike anything you have ever seen. We'll look at what it says about the state of our nation ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: This is what Inauguration Day usually looks like in the United States. You remember that? President Trump being warmly greeted by the Obamas, and exchange of gifts and hugs and kisses. That's what it usually looks like. But it is not going to look like that this year. The incoming President-elect Joe Biden not hearing from President Trump.

Let's bring in Tim Naftali, presidential historian, on all of this.

Tim, good to have you here. I mean, I know it's going to look different, but COVID aside, I mean how remarkable is it to have a transfer of power like this that is not just unfriendly, it's, like, littered with lies from the president.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Donald Trump is the first U.S. president ever to attempt to obstruct the transfer of power.

[23:50:07]

It's just that simple. We've had presidents in the past who have not wanted to greet their successor, some of them boycotted the inauguration, but no president before this one attempted to obstruct a transition of power. This is unprecedented.

HARLOW: It is unprecedented. And, you know, it's sad, right? I mean, it's so sad when our nation is in such a moment of grief because of COVID and has so many challenges ahead of it when Joe Biden takes office because of COVID, because of the economy, because of the division that has only grown over the last four years.

Can you speak to how these challenges compare to those of other presidents coming in at really difficult times for the nation?

NAFTALI: Well, this will be the most fraught Washington, D.C., I would argue, since 1860, '61. But we've had crises before. What's so unusual is that we -- is that the incoming Biden-Harris administration is facing two crises. One, a public health crisis, a pandemic that is a once-in-a century event. And the second is a political crisis that follows on the heels of an attempted insurrection and continued threats to our political security.

HARLOW: No question about it. I was wondering the other day, and obviously you ran the Nixon Library. I mean, how is the post- presidency going to be different for the president? Aside from whether or not he can run again if the Senate votes to disqualify him, like, things like presidential libraries, speeches, going to future inaugurations?

NAFTALI: Well, I anticipate that this -- that President Trump will act like Nixon and attempt to restore his reputation. Richard Nixon did not attempt another electoral effort, but he wanted his reputation restored, and he launched what he called this final campaign, the last campaign to restore his reputation by writing books.

I anticipate Trump will do the same. My concern, however, is that Donald Trump has not really stopped undermining our constitutional system. Richard Nixon got found out and while he continued his lies about the role that he had played, he no longer represented a threat to our constitutional system.

If Donald Trump does not actively assist in deradicalizing the people that he agitated and brought to Washington and their allies back home, then he will remain a source -- a threat to our constitution in a way that Richard Nixon didn't and, in fact, none of the worst presidents before Donald Trump ever tried to be.

HARLOW: Such an important point. I mean, not only stop lying, but then work to deradicalize those that your lies have incited.

Tim Naftali, it's good to have you. Thank you.

NAFTALI: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Well, President Trump looks like he's planning to make his home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, his permanent residence, but an old agreement could mean that Mar-a-Lago won't be an option for him once he leaves the White House. Why?

Our Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump shouldn't expect his neighbors to roll out the red carpet in Palm Beach, Florida. That's because some say Trump's plan to make Mar-a-Lago his full-time residence would violate an agreement he signed decades ago. This letter, sent by a Palm Beach county attorney to the mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, offers a suggestion. Palm Beach has many lovely estates for sale and surely he can find one which meets his needs.

How did it come to this? Trump bought Mar-a-Lago back in 1985 from the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post. Then in 1993 long before Donald Trump became president, he cut a deal with the town of Palm Beach. That agreement allowed Trump to convert Mar-a-Lago into a private social club as long as members didn't spend more than an agreed amount of time there. The agreement, which CNN reviewed, limits how long club members, Trump

included, can stay, stipulating a maximum of three nonconsecutive seven-day periods by any one member during a year. In other words, it seems members, including Donald Trump, are limited to 21 days a year at the club. That's Trump's signature on the agreement from August 1993.

(On camera): Given that agreement, do you think he should be able to live there full time?

SUSAN, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: No. He signed the agreement, he should abide by the agreement as most everybody in this country do the same and we follow the rules.

[23:55:07]

KAYE (voice-over): That same Palm Beach county attorney who sent a letter to the mayor said the significant tax breaks the president received for this arrangement remain in effect, as does the use agreement.

Just last month a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization insisted in a statement to CNN there is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-a-Lago as his residence.

(On camera): Trump switched his residency from New York to Florida yet the town manager here in Palm Beach says he has seen no evidence that Trump plans to live full time at Mar-a-Lago. The town manager told us if and when the town learns Trump does plan to reside at Mar-a-Lago, it will address the matter appropriately.

(Voice-over): That could mean telling Trump he cannot stay.

BRIAN SEYMOUR, PALM BEACH COUNTY LAND USE ATTORNEY: They could get an order from a judge that says you cannot have somebody live full time on the property. It is not significant at that point that he's the former president. The laws still apply to the club as the property owner and the town has the right to enforce it.

KAYE (on camera): Do you think that Donald Trump should be able to live at Mar-a-Lago?

MIMI FLAMM, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: No, I don't think so. It's a club. He should abide by the rulings of the club. He doesn't like to abide by any rules, though. I'm definitely not a fan of his.

KAYE (voice-over): During Trump's presidency, the town didn't do much to enforce the Mar-a-Lago agreement. It allowed for a helipad on the property which was prohibited in the 1993 agreement without approval from the town council. And despite the 21-day maximum in the deal, based on our count, last year Trump visited Mar-a-Lago nearly 30 days.

SEYMOUR: It would not be unreasonable for them to look at it differently once President Trump is no longer the sitting president.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach, Florida. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Randi Kaye, thank you for that reporting.

I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Our special coverage ahead of President- elect Biden's inauguration continues in just a moment.

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