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U.S. Capitol Becomes Fortress ahead of Inauguration; Pence Calls Harris While Trump Stews in Denial; Biden Outlines U.S. Vaccination Plan; Nearly Half of Ireland's Cases Reported in Last 14 Days; Dozens Dead after Indonesian Earthquake. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired January 16, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio 7 here at CNN Center in Atlanta. I am Michael Holmes.
And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Washington, D.C., on high alert. National Guard troops sweeping in, their goal to protect the integration of Joe Biden.
Plus, a stunning revelation from the U.S. Health and Human Services chief regarding the national stockpile of COVID vaccines.
Also, international health experts descend on the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak to learn more about its origin.
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HOLMES: With just four days until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, the nation's capital has become something of a fortress. Thousands of National Guard troops have flooded the area, as there have been growing fears of more violence ahead of the inauguration.
The FBI warning the biggest threat comes from domestic extremists, who believe the baseless claims that the election was rigged. They say the protests could begin later today in D.C. and also in state capitals across the country. Many of those capitals also beefing up security.
Meanwhile, we are learning about several intelligence failures in the days leading up to last week's insurrection. According to a source familiar with the matter and a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and DHS failed to issue threat assessments about potential violence that day.
And "The Washington Post" reports, three days before the deadly riot, a Capitol police report warns that violent pro Trump protests could zero on Congress itself. Nothing was done.
Washington is used to high level and high security events but this security around this inauguration is like nothing seen before. Here is CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: A mostly deserted Washington, D.C., really just surrounded by military here. You have a one truck here blocking cars and another one here and then there are two more here behind us.
All of this for the security and in anticipation of the inauguration. Also, these concrete barriers that officials have placed all along the downtown Washington D.C. It seems one of the things that officials are very concerned about is vehicles, cars coming into the zone. So, they set up blockades all along the downtown area of Washington, D.C., around the Capitol as a safely measure.
Also, National Guard troops, more arriving by the busload. I've seen at least half a dozen buses arriving, filled with National Guard troops. The Pentagon today announcing that they've upped the amount of National Guard troops to 25,000.
This is all in anticipation of the inauguration and out of concern that the city here -- Washington, D.C. -- faces in the days to come -- Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: With all those resources going into protecting the inauguration and with the entire nation on edge, President Trump meanwhile keeping a low profile. But he is reportedly looking ahead to a big sendoff. CNN's Jim Acosta reports from the White House.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as he carries the shameful stamp of being impeached twice, President Trump is planning to leave the White House with one last "dear leader" moment.
On the morning before Joe Biden's inauguration, the White House is expected to stage a grand departure ceremony for Trump that may include a color guard, military band, 21- gun salute and red carpet.
Unlike his own inauguration when he was greeted by Barack and Michelle Obama, Trump won't do the same for the Bidens. After last week's bloody siege at the Capitol, Trump allies say it's probably better that way.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Maybe that's best now given the situation we're in and it seems to me the president is ready to move on.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
ACOSTA: Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend Biden's inauguration, another sign he's all but become the nation's acting commander in chief. On Thursday, he called his successor Kamala Harris to congratulate her.
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ACOSTA (voice-over): After thanking National Guard members for protecting the capitol.
PENCE: Thank you all for stepping forward to serve your country.
ACOSTA: Pence was at the capitol and fled the rioters as some were trying to hunt him down.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants an investigation into whether some members of Congress aided the insurrectionists.
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.
ACOSTA: That could include lawmakers like Republican Mo Brooks of Alabama.
REP. MO BROOKS (R-AL): Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.
ACOSTA: Questions have also been raised about White House involvement as well as top aides and members of the Trump family were on hand for the rally that sparked the violence.
DONALD TRUMP, JR., TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Mark Meadows, an actual fighter, one of the few.
ACOSTA: Before his own speech at that rally --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.
ACOSTA: -- CNN has learned the president was back in touch with his former strategist Steve Bannon discussing Trump's election conspiracy theories. Sources say Bannon who's facing federal fraud charges is seeking a pardon from Trump.
Back in November, Bannon called for administration officials to be executed.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: I'd put the heads on pikes, right? I'd put them at the two corners of the White House, as a warning to federal bureaucrats.
ACOSTA: A source familiar with the planning for Trump's departure says the soon to be ex-president doesn't have any events on his schedule after he arrives in Palm Beach, Florida, on Biden's Inauguration Day.
One thing the president will not be able to do is tweet. A Twitter spokesman reaffirmed to CNN that Trump will remain permanently suspended on the social media platform even after he leaves office -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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HOLMES: Mark McKinnon is the former media adviser to President George Bush and Senator John McCain's presidential campaign. He's also the creative executive producer and cohost of the excellent "The Circus." He joins me now from Denver, Colorado.
Good to see you, Mark. Let's talk about some of the things that have happened. Prosecutors are saying that some of those insurrectionist plans to capture and assassinate officials, a stunning accusation.
What do you think needs to happen as a result of the events at the Capitol and the responsibility of politicians, from the president to members of Congress, who amplified these lies?
MARK MCKINNON, FORMER BUSH MEDIA ADVISER: Well, Michael, I think there's so much to talk about. And so many implications of what happened at the Capitol. I mean, I'll just start with the obvious, which is, you know, I think a lot of us were concerned about the potential for problems for protests getting out of hand.
Nobody really anticipated this level of violence and intention. I think the intentions really was problematic for a lot of people. Now. I think also that unfortunately and sadly a lot of those people that committed these acts -- these criminal acts -- clearly also did so with the notion that they sort of had the backing of the president of the United States and weren't going to face consequences.
I think one of the things that's encouraging is that we are seeing law enforcement come down like a mighty hammer on these people. And you know, I mean, yes, we know, these people were committing acts of violence and committing criminal acts while filming them on videos, either themselves or their friends and often putting them up on social media.
So there is not a lot of these people who are going to escape scrutiny and punishment. And I think that's kind of the good news that may come out of this. There is going to be a lot of consequences for these people.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, what is your assessment of what you think -- you know, Trump's short to medium term future is politically and his role in terms of his influence on those people who turned out for him?
MCKINNON: Well, you know, I thought -- and a lot of people did of course -- that prior to this week, he was going to have a significant impact on the party and the future of the party and that he was going to either run again himself -- which I predicted before the election -- or that he would say that he was going to run right up until he didn't, which would be you, know, 3.5 years or so of really dominating Republican politics and dominating it in a way that we've never seen before, particularly for somebody out of power.
I mean, I don't think, prior to last week, that you could have made a step in Republican politics without the blessing of Donald Trump.
I think that equation has changed a lot. It may change dramatically over the course of the next six months or so. I mean, this is kind of a situation, I think, that's kind of like the story of the man who would be king, where he was idolized as a god until that point where somebody cut him, and he bled. And people suddenly realized he was mortal.
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MCKINNON: I think the drop could be fast and precipitous, as Donald Trump looks more and more like a pathetic, lonely figure, leaving us facing lot of financial and legal liability going into the future.
HOLMES: I just want to play some sound from some of the president's enablers and I have a question on the other side. Let's play that now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives.
Are you willing to do the same?
Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.
RUDY GIULIANI, ADVISOR TO DONALD TRUMP: If we are right, a lot of them will go to jail.
So, let's have trial by combat.
TRUMP: You will never take back our country with weakness. We fight, we fight like hell.
DONALD TRUMP JR., PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SON: If you are going to be the zero and not the hero, we are coming for you. I suggest you choose wisely.
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HOLMES: There was just a few of them there but there are still many Republicans, many of them in Congress even, who want to act like this never happened, that it was not worthy of impeaching the president. There is a lot of whataboutism.
What's the risk of those who supported this politically not being held accountable?
MCKINNON: Well, first of all, you know, I'd just like to say that, you know, I was at the president's speech on The Ellipse where he said, go to the Capitol, because if you're defending our country, you know, you shouldn't be showing a sign of weakness.
And you know, the only surprise to me was that the -- the only surprise would have been if that didn't happen at some level. I mean, certainly, I am shocked as we all are by you know by the actual level of the violence that occurred.
But it wasn't like coded language. He had Rudy Giuliani talking about combat as he did, and the messages of the president were very clear. I mean, that was like a sea of combustible human beings and Donald Trump lit that match.
Listen, the number that is really chilling to me is that 45 percent of Republicans actually sort of endorse what happened at the Capitol. And those brave Republicans, like Liz Cheney, who have come out and supported the impeachment, are potentially going to face a huge backlash.
So, I salute them for standing up and doing what -- I mean, if you don't impeach a president for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol of the United States I'm, not sure what qualifies. I mean, it just says to me that people are putting politics over country.
HOLMES: Yes, indeed. Always good to talk to you, Mark. Thanks so much, I appreciate it.
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HOLMES: And join CNN senior political correspondent Abby Phillip for an hour-long special report, "Kamala Harris: Making History." That's Sunday night at 10 pm, Eastern time. Monday morning, in Asia.
A stunning admission from an outgoing Trump official. The Health and Human Services Secretary says the government has not handled vaccine stockpiles as it said it would. We'll explain to you when we come back.
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HOLMES: U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden is outlining his team's coronavirus vaccination plan and it is an ambitious one. Mr. Biden's goal to administer 100 million doses in his first hundred days in office.
He says his administration will do that by opening up eligibility to more people, creating more vaccination sites and increasing supply and distribution. Mr. Biden says he is determined in the face of the odds.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some wonder if we're reaching too far for that goal.
Is it achievable?
It's a legitimate question to ask. Let me be clear: I'm convinced we can get it done. And this is a time to set big goals, to pursue them with courage and conviction because the health of the nation is literally at stake.
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HOLMES: The outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, admitted on Friday that the U.S. has no stockpile of vaccines. The Trump administration has been insisting for weeks it had kept a reserve to ensure that those who got one dose could get a second one on time.
I asked infectious disease expert Ravina Kullar about the situation and how it could impact Biden's plans.
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DR. RAVINA KULLAR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: There has to be something that is done with this vaccine issue we have here. It is not an issue of there being enough production, enough distribution, enough supply or demand.
It is about an issue, really, of there being enough people who can give out the vaccine. So with Biden taking office, he has a very aggressive plan to hopefully clean up some of the work that Trump did in terms of holding back some of the vaccines.
And my hope is, with that plan, there will be enough people who are vaccinated in 2021.
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HOLMES: No matter how many vaccines get distributed in the U.S. or anywhere else, it doesn't change the fact that more than 2 million people have died from coronavirus worldwide. And that's, of course, just the people we know of. Many were not reported as such.
The death toll is rising faster than ever. It took the world 252 days to reach 1 million deaths but less in half that time to reach the next million. And nearly half of those deaths happened in just 5 countries -- the U.S. leading the pack by far, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and the U.K.
The U.K. is set to implement new travel restrictions in an effort to protect against the emerging COVID variants. Beginning on Monday, all incoming travelers will have to follow new testing, and quarantine rules. Let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean, who is in London for us.
Scott, the U.K., already dealing with a fast spreading variant of the virus.
How worried are they about the other mutations we are seeing pop up?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michael. They are rightly concerned. The U.K. has its own variant, that spreads faster. The concern about some of these variants, particularly from Brazil, is a possibility that they don't know for sure that they could be more resistant to a vaccine.
Currently there is a list of countries where you can come into the U.K. without having to quarantine at all or without having to get a test, places like Australia, South Korea, places where case counts are quite low.
Starting on Monday, that list is disappearing altogether. That means, if you come into the country from anywhere on the planet, you will not only have to have a negative test within 3 days of your flight but also, you will need a mandatory 10-day quarantine period.
At this stage, it seems like the U.K. cannot afford for things to get much worse. The last thing they need is one of these new variations. Estimates are that one in every 50 people has the virus, currently, right now.
And while things are starting to level off, deaths, hospitalizations are expected to get worse. This graphic illustrates when these high case counts started to take off I December. I want to draw your attention to the orange line there. That's Ireland.
Around Christmas time, they started to flatten the curve, the trouble, is they flattened in the wrong way. It's almost entirely vertical. They had, previously, one of the lowest infection rates on Earth; now, the second highest on Earth.
What happened?
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MCLEAN: The country was in lockdown in the fall, they came out of it in December, that is when they started to open restaurants. They started to open nonessential stores and then Christmas came as well.
So, the prime minister there says that the combination of socializing around the holidays, some coming from abroad to see their families as well, combined with the faster spreading U.K. variant.
Almost half of the new cases they're seeing in Ireland are the U.K. variant. That is their estimate. Here is what is wild, Michael, almost half of the cases they have had since the beginning of the pandemic have come in just the last two weeks.
They have already tightened restrictions, closing construction sites, closing schools. But obviously, as we know well at this point, with a lag time from infection to hospitalization, things will get much worse before they get better.
HOLMES: The same all over. Thank you, Scott. Scott McLean in London.
A mass vaccination drive is underway in India. The government says about 100 people will be vaccinated in each vaccination center. There are more than 3,000 of them across the country. Nurses, doctors and other frontline workers will have priority.
Late Friday, the U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, repeated the theory that the virus originated in a Chinese lab. Yet, again, he did not offer evidence. A team of world health experts are in China right now, to investigate where the virus might have come from. CNN's David Culver, reporting from Shanghai.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A team of international experts is now in Wuhan. The original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Here in China, investigating the origin of the virus. A topic that has become, increasingly politicized, raising questions about China's transparency.
The WHO says two of its members were initially blocked entry into China after testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies. One was eventually allowed back in, after being re-tested. But the team of 14 experts will spend two weeks in government quarantine before doing field research in Wuhan.
The source says that outgoing secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, once again, renewed claims on Friday that the virus could have started in a Wuhan lab. It is a theory many medical experts suggest is highly unlikely. Pompeo did not provide evidence.
Chinese officials say that they are committed to allowing the international experts to fully investigate -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
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HOLMES: It is an alien, it is a human, it is actually a huge sculpture of Ultraman. After the break, we tell you what makes this Japanese superhero so special. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
A woman who was trapped in the rubble following the earthquake in Indonesia has been rescued, we are happy to report. Her name is Angel and she was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment after that 6.2 magnitude quake killed more than 40 people on Friday.
Emergency crews, scrambling to rescue anyone else who was still buried. But the damage to infrastructure is making it difficult to even reach survivors, as well as cutting off some utilities.
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HOLMES: Authorities are warning people to stay alert as strong aftershocks continue to shake the area.
Millions, perhaps billions of face masks are worn, every day, during this pandemic, helping save human lives. But it appears threatening wildlife, check this out, macaques chewing on an old mask outside of Malaysia's capital. A seagull tangled in a disposable face covering.
And marine life, wrapped beneath PPE in the Mediterranean. Animal rights and environmental groups say that discarded single-use masks are endangering animal habitats. The environmental group, Oceans Asia, says that more than 1.5 billion masks got into the world's oceans last year.
That is more than 6,000 extra tons of plastic pollution in the sea. By the way, apart from being careful where you discard them, the group suggests cutting the straps on the masks when you do throw them away and wearing reusable masks, if possible. And as we say, dispose of them responsibly.
A father in China, finding a way to recycle tires to create a larger than life version of a beloved Japanese superhero. He and his two brothers spent 15 days, using more than 1,000 tires on this enormous Ultraman. The 5-meter-tall statue is a gift to his son. The brothers, recently, opening a workshop and fashioned other creatures from scrap wheels and tires as well. He says that it is a great way to combine environmental protection with artistic value.
I learned who Ultraman is today.
I am Michael Holmes, thank you for your company, stay tuned now for "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS."
