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Capitol Hill On High Alert; New Blow-By-Blow Video Of Capitol Siege; America's White Hate: How We Got Here And The Way Out; Rioters Motivated By Trump And Reclaiming The Election; Trump Stood By While He Could Have Addressed The Attack; U.S. COVID Numbers Now Equal Those Of 1918 Flu Epidemic; Navalny Arrested On Return To Russia. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired January 17, 2021 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Before we go, I do have some good news. I have the pleasure this morning of welcoming Dana Bash who will be starting next week as a co-anchor of the show.
Dana's been, of course, a beloved part of the STATE OF THE UNION family for years but we're thrilled to have her on as an official member of the team.
As always, thanks for spending your Sunday morning with us. The news continues right now.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
We are just now three days away from the inauguration of President Elect Joe Biden. But right now, it doesn't look like much of a celebration in the nation's capital.
Instead, high fences, barbed wire and a show of force.
Capitol Hill is on high alert with 25,000 National Guard troops and reinforcements amid threats of violent far right extremism.
Drone video taken this morning showing a gorgeous picturesque Washington D.C. with the American flags there at the Capitol where the mall, usually the centerpiece of a presidential inauguration, is now closed off to the public.
More than a week after that Capitol insurrection, massive measures to protect this week's inauguration.
Security also heightened at state capitols across the country. The country now also bracing because of warnings of armed protests.
Those threats a direct result of the big lie propagated by outgoing President Trump that he continues to incorrectly say he won the election.
And now a new CNN poll out this morning shows Trump's steady drum beat of disinformation is helping to drive his approval to new lows as he exits the White House.
Let's begin our coverage in Washington D.C.
CNN's Senior National Security Correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is on Capitol Hill for us.
Alex, explain the reinforcements that really are just about everywhere.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it's an incredible scene in D.C. It does feel like the calm before the storm and the question now is really whether that storm comes.
And they are not taking any chances. We're on the eastern side of the capital, there's just a staggering level of security, the most -- according to the mayor of D.C. speaking earlier today -- that we've seen since 9/11.
You've got eight-foot fencing like this that is ringing the Capitol complex and is seen all over Washington D.C. In certain parts like right here, you can see there's that razor wire that is on top of the fencing.
You have streets all over the city that have been closed off.
The National Mall, as you mentioned, where thousands, tens of thousands of people, would normally gather, that too has been closed until the day after the inauguration.
This is some of the security presence that is out on the streets of D.C. What you're looking at here is supreme court police as well as National Guard, they are armed.
This just speaks to the sheer number of the different agencies and different kinds of law enforcement that are getting pulled into this incredible effort.
On the National Guard, as you mentioned, up to 25,000 being mobilized by the Pentagon. They come from every state and territory as well as Washington D.C.
Now it's not just more violence like we saw on January 6th that is feared for here in Washington. As you mentioned, the FBI warning that armed protesters could show up in all 50 states.
Washington D.C., you have to remember, is not just the seat of the federal government, it is for all intents and purposes also a state capital.
And we did hear from the mayor of Washington earlier today saying that because of all the security down here on the federal buildings, that there could be targets elsewhere in the city.
Take a listen to what she had to say. MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: I'm not only concerned
about other state capitals, I'm also concerned about other parts of Washington D.C.
What you're showing is really the federal enclave of Washington D.C., not where the 700,000 of us live.
So our police department, working with our federal law enforcement partners and the United States Army, quite frankly, also has a plan to pivot if we have any attacks in our neighborhoods.
MARQUARDT: Now the acting police chief of D.C. says that he is confident there will be a secure inauguration. He says it is an all hands-on deck effort.
But, Fred, this is not what you think about when you hear the phrase, "a peaceful transfer of power." Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Alex Marquardt, thank you so much. Certainly not the images usually associated with that at all.
All right. Well, We are now getting a shocking new inside look at that Capitol siege.
"The New Yorker" just releasing some 12 minutes of video that they shot, edited together, showing the brazenness of the attack.
[13:05:00]
Luke Mogelson, a veteran war correspondent and a contributing writer at "The New Yorker" enters the Capitol alongside the insurrectionists to document this historic moment.
He has spent the last ten months reporting on a radical fringe of President Trump's base.
And I do have to warn you that this video is graphic and it does includes foul language.
But we want to show you exactly what happened in the halls of Congress depicted by ""The New Yorker's" correspondent here working and their video.
And we're going to play that video almost in its entirety.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Oh, wow. Oh, thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: If they don't fix this (EXPLETIVE DELETED), we're going to (inaudible) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) day.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Millions of Americans are armed.
CROWD: USA.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: To protect the constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic.
CROWD: USA. USA.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go, go, go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Watch out, watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Easy, easy.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you, police.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go. Go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Whose house?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Do not stand there. You are outnumbered.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: There's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) million of us out there. And we are listening to Trump, your boss.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Inside, inside.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Let us through.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're peaceful.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Let the people in.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go back out.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible) the exit.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It ain't safe for you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We love you, guys. Take it easy. (Inaudible) away.
CROWD: Treason. Treason. Treason. Treason. Treason. Treason.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Defend your liberty, defend your constitution. Defend your liberty, defend your constitution. Defend your liberty, defend your constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: 1776.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You're afraid of Antifa? Well, guess what? America showed up.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Where's the rest of them (inaudible). There's not enough of us, they're going to bring (inaudible) in or something.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Knock, knock. We're here. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Is this the Senate?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Where the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) are they?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Well, where the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) are they?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Where are they? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: While we're here, we might as well set up a
government.
CROWD: Treason, treason.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: All right. Let's take a seat, people. Let's take a seat.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible) Nancy Pelosi.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible) photos and (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Where the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is Nancy?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We paid for it. This is our house.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Hey, get out of that chair.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No, this is our chair.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I agree with you, brother. But it's not ours.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It belongs to the vice president of the United States --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: -- hoping he's in here. It's not our chair. Look, I love you guys, you're brothers. But we can't be disrespectful.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, don't disrespect --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: They can steal an election but we can't sit in their chairs?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No. We're not putting up with that either.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Look, it's a P.R. war, OK. You have to understand, it's an I.O. War, we can't lose the I.O. war.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're better than that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're better than that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Information, information operation. We can't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Look at this.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No, she's in the house. The house is on the other side.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I want a dummy. Just get a snap of that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes. I took a picture of this.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Hey, how do I get down there?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go down the stairs.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: And look here, look.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Ted Cruz's objection to the Arizona --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: His objection. He was going to sell us out all along.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Really? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Objection to counting electoral votes of the state of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Shouting)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Can I get a photo of that?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Wait, no. That's a good thing.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Wait, no. That's actually OK. All right, all right. OK. I'm pissed, I'm pissed.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He's with us. He's with us.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: OK. I'm just pissed.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: There's got to be something in here we can (EXPLETIVE DELETED) use against these scum bags.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're not going to fold, man.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: America's Republic -- oh, no. This is good stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Hey, we're not going to fold.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: This is all good.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes (shouting).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The Capitol building.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible), you (EXPLETIVE DELETED). UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: This is a good one. This is good.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible), Hawley, Cruz.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think Cruz would want us to do this.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think we're good.
JAKE ANGELI, CAPITOL HILL RIOTER: Hey, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) A, man. Glad to see you guys. You guys are (EXPLETIVE DELETED) patriots. Look at this guy, he's gotten covered in blood. God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You good, sir. You need medical attention?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm good, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I got shot in the face. I got shot in the face with some kind of plastic bullet.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Any chance I could get you guys to leave the senate wing?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We will. I've been making sure they ain't disrespecting the place.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: OK. I just want you to know this is the like the most sacredest place.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I know.
ANGELI: Hey, you know what, I'm going to take the speaker's chair. Because Mike Pence is a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) traitor.
I'm not one to usually take pictures of myself but in this case, I think I'll make an exception. Hey, you in the red, can you take a picture of me? (Inaudible) my phone.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes. They ain't got a choice. There's a half a million people here.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You want it straight on?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You should be stopping us. And you're debating who should be (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (inaudible).
ANGELI: No, no. He's doing --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: One, two, three, four, five --
ANGELI: He's doing --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: -- one.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He's doing the right thing, he's obeying his oath.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm making sure you guys don't do anything else. Now that you've done that, can I get you guys to walk out of this room, please?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, sir.
POLICE OFFICER: I would greatly appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Hey, come on, man.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I feel like you're pushing the line.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: C'mon, man. C'mon, man.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: This is our Capitol. Let's be respectful to him. There's four million coming in so there's a lot of control. We love you guys, we love the cops.
ANGELI: It's only a matter of time. Justice is coming.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Over four million people are coming. Everywhere. All the way back to the monument.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible).
ANGELI: Jesus Christ, we invoke your name. Amen.
CROWD: Amen.
ANGELI: Let's say a prayer. Let's all say a prayer in our sacred space.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for gracing us with this opportunity (inaudible) --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Amen.
ANGELI: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Amen.
ANGELI: -- this opportunity to stand up for our God-given unalienable rights.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Amen.
ANGELI: Thank you, Heavenly Father, for (inaudible) the inspiration needed for these police officers to allow us into the building, to allow us to exercise our rights -- to allow us to send a message --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Amen. ANGELI: -- to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists that this is our nation, not theirs.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
ANGELI: That we will not allow America -- the American way, the United States of America, to go down.
Thank you, divine, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent and (inaudible) creative God for filling this chamber with your white light of love, with your white light of harmony. Thank you for filling this chamber with patriots that love you and that love Christ.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, Lord. Yes.
ANGELI: Thank you, divine omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent creative God for blessing each and every one of us here and now.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Amen.
ANGELI: Thank you, divine, creative God, for surrounding (inaudible) with your divine omnipresent white light of love and protection, peace and harmony.
Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn. Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists and the traitors within our government.
We love you and we thank you. In Christ's holy name we pray.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Amen.
CROWD (Shouting)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: This way, this way.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We support you guys, OK. We support you guys. And we (inaudible) what you're doing, we know you're doing your job.
CROWD: (Shouting). (EXPLETIVE DELETED) them. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you.
(Captioned)
After some of the rioters were escorted out of the building, Mogelson went to another entrance.
CROWD: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the blue.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
CROWD: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the blue. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the blue. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the blue.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Break all the windows.
CROWD: (Shouting)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You're going to run out of Mace. That's the best you've got?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: That's all you got, that's all you got.
[13:15:00]
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Back out --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: That's all you got. That's all you got.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Punch him in the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) nose.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: That's all they got. What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: There you go. You want to report the media, now you can't.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Anybody got like some alcohol?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Start making a list. Put all those names down and we start hunting them down one by one.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Traitors get guillotined.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We are at war.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Right on, brother.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible) they kill one of us. And you know what, even if it kills you, remain a free man. Die on your feet --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The lying media.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: -- rather than live on your knees.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The lying media.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the AP and everything else and your mother. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) your (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mobilize in your own cities, in your own counties, storm your own capitol buildings and take down every one of these corrupt (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We (EXPLETIVE DELETED) listened to them.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We allowed this to happen. Now we've got to change it.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: They (EXPLETIVE DELETED) abuse us, they laugh at us, they steal our money. They (EXPLETIVE DELETED) lock us down then they go out and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) gallivant. Hang them. (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Both unsettling and revealing, right?
Again, that was video captured by a war correspondent by the name of Luke Mogelson who submitted that and has been published through "the New Yorker."
They captured that video and edited it and we showed you all that we could of it.
I want to bring in CNN Senior Political Analyst, John Avlon.
All right. So, John, these voices. And you see the people there saying that Senator Cruz would approve, our order's coming from President Trump. In the tape a stated direct correlation between act and inspiration.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Very clear. And that video is surreal, it is shocking, it is damning. And you can bet it'll come up in any impeachment trial or trials against other people in this insurrection.
We've never had an insurrection, a violent mob attack on our Capitol. But we've also never seen it digitally documented in this way.
And it provides indelible evidence of their state of mind, that they believe that they were being inspired and directed by the president, that they thought Ted Cruz would approve of their actions and that they had -- some of them had murder on their mind.
They're talking the language of traitors. They have been drafted into a cult that's consistent with a strain of Christian nationalism on the far right wing we've seen in the fringes in the past.
But it culminated in this attack on our Capitol and there's a lot to answer for. And this tape provides explicit evidence.
WHITFIELD: Right. And that hate exists in America, that's not the shocking part for a lot of people. Perhaps, though, people are seeing hate in action to this degree for the first time and perhaps believing it even more so.
The nation's capitol, state capitols the country are bracing for a promise by some chatter that there would be more.
What, if anything, can be learned from this depiction of hate, of unrest, insurrection to prevent a second chapter of this?
How do you see this as being instrumental, viewing this, seeing this, warts and all?
AVLON: It's impossible to view this and deny that what we're dealing with is real. And there's always an attempt to diminish or deflect. You saw President Trump and other folks try to propagate the lie that this was somehow an antifa attack, a false flag operation. It wasn't. These folks are clearly hard-core Donald Trump supporters. But it's more than that. It doesn't the vast majority of Trump sporters in the country, we need to say that.
But there has been -- because of the lie propagated by this president, because of the extreme conspiracy theorist rhetoric that's been pushed through social media and hyper partisan media and echoed and amplified by this president, these people were motivated to try to storm the Capitol.
And it shows how seriously we need to take this disinformation, how seriously we need to defend not only our Capitol but all 50 states. And that we're going to have to need a serious reckoning as a country.
We're going to need some serious truth and reconciliation about how we got here and how we're going to unwind this.
[13:20:00]
And it's not going to be simply through the rhetoric of unity, there needs to be accountability. There needs to be real education efforts at understanding the roots of this and how it got to this.
WHITFIELD: Yes. It's unsettling because you're seeing the motivation, you're seeing -- rummaging through their paperwork, that was a goal.
But this is also underscoring a porousness, the access of the Capitol, just how easy it was to penetrate the building and go beyond that without seemingly any real interference, particularly when they get to this point.
You see the officers outside and you also see them trying to placate or even say thank you to the officers for -- in their prayer -- allowing us to have access.
AVLON: Look, you see the Capitol police were overwhelmed and they were not remotely prepared. They were not taking this seriously despite the warnings that we now know were trickling in. They were not elevated and this was not taken seriously.
And as Joe Biden and others have pointed out there's a zero percent chance that some leftist rally or Black Lives Matter movement as the Republicans are doing their "what aboutism" about, would ever have gotten this far.
But you do see the Capitol police trying to contain this as best they can in an atmosphere of being overwhelmed.
At the same time, you do see the protesters outside saying "F- the police," there's enormous "F- the blue." There's enormous anti-police rhetoric and anti-institutional rhetoric.
And part of the sickness we're seeing in this tape is that they've convinced themselves they're defending the constitution while they're attacking it. They're not patriots, they're hatriots. And this is a dangerous thing for us to confront as a country but it's
about time. And we need to do it forthrightly with a sense of accountability and there needs to be responsibility for the people who have inspired and amplified this kind of hate in our society.
WHITFIELD: Yes. I'm going to talk later with Chief Charles Ramsey, he's formerly a police chief of Metropolitan Police, to really get an understanding from his point of view, too, what those capitol police and other police officers were up against in that moment, why they reacted the way they did and his point of view of all that unfolded.
You mentioned, John, at the beginning of our conversation, you do see how this is going to be materially used in that senate impeachment trial of the president.
Because now you're hearing first hand words coming from these people's mouths that they are carrying out orders that they believe they got directly from the president and then other members of congress that they mentioned too.
AVLON: That's right.
WHITFIELD: All right. John Avlon, thank you for joining us. Really appreciate it.
AVLON: Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, America's reckoning with far-right extremism. Experts say violent extremists could use the Capitol Hill attack to recruit and further radicalize.
Plus members of congress pleading with the Pentagon, asking the military to not devote any resources to the president for his farewell ceremony and instead use those resources to better secure the inauguration.
I'll talk to one of those members live coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:25:00]
WHITFIELD: Welcome back.
The attorney general for Washington D.C. is now warning that President Trump could face criminal charges related to the Capitol insurrection.
This as shocking video, just released by "The New Yorker" sheds new light on the brazenness of the attack and the motivations behind it. Extremists storming the Capitol, making it clear that some of them believed President Trump and Senator ted Cruz would approve of their actions.
Joining me now to discuss this. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University. And she's also the author of "Hate In The Homeland: The New Global Far Right."
Also joining her is her husband, Shamil Idriss. He is the CEO of Search for Common Ground, the largest peace-building in the world aiming at ending violent conflict globally. He was also the deputy director of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations.
Good to see both of you.
CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH & INNOVATION LAB: Good to be here. Thanks, Fred.
SHAMIL IDRISS, CEO, SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND: Thanks for having us.
WHITFIELD: So Cynthia, you first. All of this is so troubling but in this video which is very revealing you hear some of the people talk in it talk about "this is I.O. War," Information Operation War. That's what I was able to discern from listening to some of the language in there.
This insurrection, it's talking about reclaiming America, and also about using this moment as recruitment?
MILLER-IDRISS: Absolutely. And what you see in that segment of the video is very clearly a tension between kind of a very disciplined part of this insurrection and those who were treating it more like a tailgate.
And so you can kind of see that tension play out and make it clear that there are people there who very much intended this to be a kind of propaganda performance, right? This is a global performance just like live streaming of terrorist
attacks and they very much intend to use it..
And, in fact, are already using it to recruit and try to radicalize and draw over conservative and pro-Trump voters further to the right.
WHITFIELD: You wrote in "The Boston Globe" that far right extremists see the Capitol attack as a resounding success. So what is the long- term threat now?
MILLER-IDRISS: Yes. Unfortunately, we have seen thwarted plots in Michigan with the governor and in Virginia.
[13:30:00]
Also globally, there was an attempt to storm the German parliament by the far right four months ago that failed after they made it part way through police.
And so, for the far right globally, not just in the U.S., but we're seeing this overseas as well, this is seen as a resounding success.
And unfortunately, as we move forward, we're we move forward, we're already seeing on chats and underground, kind of online spaces, the attempts to really scale up recruitment and further radicalization. It won't happen for the vast majority, of course. But even if this
means that there's further growth in the movement, that's a very dangerous state to be in.
WHITFIELD: It sounds like you're saying it's inevitable.
MILLER-IDRISS: I don't think it's inevitable which is actually why I have hope here. Because Shamil being working overseas in very conflict-ridden places in the world for 35 years and so I've learned a lot from that organization about how to move forward. It's not inevitable.
But it can't be done only through a law enforcement and monitoring and surveillance lens because those are always band-aid solutions.
WHITFIELD: So Shamil, how do you see it? You listen to the rioters, you hear them thanking the police for letting them in, demonstrating how much they believe what they're doing is right, boasting that there are so many more people outside, they are not alone. So how do you see this movement, this mindset?
IDRISS: Well, you're right. On the one hand they're thanking the police, on the other hand, others of them are swearing at the police and beating the police.
You mentioned the information operation or P.R. aspect. We have to recognize part of that is going on even in the airing of that video and the impact it has.
One of the rioters says there are 500,000 people on the way, another one says there are 4 million people on the way. There was nowhere near 500,000 people there and the people who were storming the Capitol are not ten feet tall.
So you don't want to underestimate, at all, the threat.
And as John Avlon said in the lead-in, you need to deal with the immediate term with truth telling and accountability, and mobilize law enforcement to address the urgent violent threat.
But at the same time we know at Search for Common Ground over nearly 40 years dealing with violent conflict that oftentimes accountability is not achieved to the satisfaction of all, and that law enforcement especially unreformed law enforcement in this country is unable to deal with the drivers of extremism.
So you also have to deal with the much larger number of people who are not committed to violence but who are now convinced in this country that an election was stolen and a number of other demonstrable falsehoods.
And in order to address those insecurities and grievances that informed thinking and the actions of those people, this is why Cynthia's work is so important.
You have to understand how extremist groups prey on those insecurities and recruit for them and you have to deal with those grievances And insecurities in order to deplete their ranks.
While providing the unified law enforcement front to address those who are committed to violence.
WHITFIELD: So Cynthia, let's talk about that. The dealing with the grievances. Because America and this new administration are faced with this kind of what seemed to be a new momentum of a very old problem; racism and hate.
So how do you see America and this administration trying to address those grievances, identifying the grievances that seem to be at the core here?
MILLER-IDRISS: Well, there are a couple of different things that have to happen.
One of these is to recognize that when we're talking about a sense of precarity or insecurity that people are feeling, that that rests also on a foundation of entitlement.
And so you're not seeing people who are actually economically disenfranchised in large numbers storming the Capitol, what we see here are people who feel like something is being taken away from them and given to people who don't deserve it.
And that's true of white supremacists who feel that way about white civilization in a majority white country, it's true of people who feel their second amendment rights are being restricted and its true of people who feel the election is stolen. So the stolen --
WHITFIELD: Can I ask you though -- on that.
MILLER-IDRISS: Yes, sure.
WHITFIELD: So that might be the complaint, that's what we hear.
MILLER-IDRISS: Right.
WHITFIELD: But it's not right. It's not even correct.
MILLER-IDRISS: Right.
WHITFIELD: So how are you going to get to the bottom of that, how do you even address that? How do you change the mind of someone who is thinking that? It's just -- I guess if there was an easy answer, we would have addressed this a long time ago.
MILLER-IDRISS: Absolutely. I think there's at least two things.
One is you have to stitch together counter-extremism work with anti- racist practice and anti-racist work. Because those things are not -- they're two sides of the same coin and have to be addressed at the same time.
But we also have to address the roots of the mass disinformation and the way that people are susceptible to online manipulation and propaganda. And the fact that millions of people believe that they're acting as patriots in believing that the election was stolen.
And that is really a public education and media literacy effort that has to be done at scale for fifth graders and for 50-year-olds.
[13:35:00]
WHITFIELD: Shamil.
IDRISS: Well, I would -- the French commentator, Voltaire, said that those who have the power to make you believe absurdities have the power to make you commit atrocities. And it's definitely true and we've seen this in conflict zones around the world.
To pick up on the two points Cynthia made. It's no mistake that my organization, a peace-building organization, actually produces hundreds of hours a year of reality television, soap operas, call-in shows, news programs because we understand that the same platforms that can be used to drive polarization (ph) and foment hate and disinformation can also be used.
We can go on the offense here to reunite and reconcile populations. We need a lot more of that kind of programming.
But the second piece of it -- and I hate to state the obvious -- but we have to come together, again, as Americans in common purpose.
Our motto at Search for Common Ground is "Understand the differences, act on the commonalities."
And I'm struck -- frankly, I'm thinking about an example -- I could give you hundreds of examples but I'm struck -- in Sierra Leone, as an example.
After a civil war that tore that country apart and in the head up -- in the lead up to an election that promised to be perhaps just as fractious as the one we've had here if not worse -- the citizens of that country joined together in the largest coalition of civil society organizations in the country's history as a united front.
And said to all the political parties that you all have your political platforms but we've developed a citizen's manifesto with seven demands. That no matter who wins, we want to see you do these things in the first 100 days.
And they went to basic things like financial transparency, women in the cabinet; things that a vast majority across the political and other dividing lines Sierra Leonians could agree to. And we, as Americans, can do absolutely the same thing.
But we need to start now, we need to start forging that common ground now. The need is urgent and the choice is in front of us. Other countries have done it and so can we.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. I like the idea of hope in your voice there and in your words.
Shamil Idriss, Cynthia Miller Idriss, thanks to both of you. We really appreciate it.
MILLER-IDRISS: Thanks for having us, Fred.
IDRISS: Thank you Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Next, democratic lawmakers are pleading with the Pentagon to ensure no military resources are allocated for a President Trump farewell ceremony.
I'll talk to one of those lawmakers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:40:00]
WHITFIELD: All right. At the top of the hour, we showed you new shocking video of the Capitol riot shot by a journalist from "The New Yorker."
Part of the video shows the violent, angry mob inside the senate chambers just moments after the members of congress and vice president were rushed away to safety.
Some of the rioters are seen rummaging through desks and you can hear some talking about how Republican lawmakers who objected to Joe Biden's win would approve of their Capitol takeover.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Ted Cruz's objection to the Arizona --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: His objection. He was going to sell us out all along.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Really? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Objection to counting electoral votes of the state of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Shouting)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Can I get a photo of that?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Wait, no. That's a good thing.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Wait, no. That's actually OK. All right, all right. OK. I'm pissed, I'm pissed.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He's with us. He's with us.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: OK. I'm just pissed.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Inaudible), Hawley, Cruz.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think Cruz would want us to do this. So.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think we're good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is a Democratic Representative from Texas and a member of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee.
Congresswoman, so good to see you again.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. So this is a lot, isn't it? As you digest that unbelievable video shot and edited by "The New Yorker," it reveals so much. But to me it does zero in on the access and the rioters' mission. What are your thoughts on what you saw?
JACKSON LEE: Well, Fred, thank you and your viewers for having me.
Let me first of all say with a great deal of excitement there will be a wind of change that will take place on this coming Wednesday, January 20th when our new president and vice president will be sworn in.
And an opportunity for real freedom and justice and opportunity for all of America in the first 100 days.
The second point I want to make is that there was -- the direct actions of these individuals led and directed and inspired by Donald Trump, watched by Donald Trump and at no time did he take to the airwaves, a bull horn, send a message for these violent domestic terrorists to stand down.
He was actually watching as they were calling his name, carrying his Trump signs and wearing his MAGA hats.
And the third piece is that he absolutely should be tried in the United States senate, there should be no weak hearts and he should absolutely -- based on the evidence that should be presented which would include these videos, be convicted.
Now the other part of it is that it is stunning and stark to know that there are people who feel this angry and this disenfranchised. Certainly we want healing, but we must have accountability.
If they had found seemingly from the video any member of congress, maybe any staff, any custodian, any support staff walking innocently, not knowing -- because these are obviously uninformed persons.
Unfortunately, they had not taken advantage of coming to this beautiful place of democracy in years past where the doors would be open to them, where we would welcome them. They had not taken advantage so their understanding was limited.
That means that any innocent person walking through the hallways would have been the target of their vengeance, their vileness and their attack. Who else might have lost their life?
And the president of the United States in real-time watching this never thought to make a difference and stop it.
They attacked the media and seemingly wanted to take names and kill them.
Yes, I heard them say blank the police, the blue. And this is attributed to Black Lives Matter who had basically a peaceful protest in the summer?
And as has been indicated, any groups of young people, diverse people, Black Lives Matter and many others would never have gotten that far.
[13:45:00]
And I think this is going to be a widespread investigation from judiciary and beyond to really determine what happened.
But as we do so, I want it to be known that we are going to be fighting for those unempowered, those victimized Americans who are suffering from COVID-19 and who need an economic infusion into their life. We will be doing that as well as Democrats.
WHITFIELD: As you draw those comparisons, thus far we're seeing something like 50 -- a little over 50 arrests. And we know during the Black Lives Matter protests in the nation's capital, there were over 14,000 arrests.
And as you look and dissect this imagery we're seeing, does this look to you like new momentum to a very old problem which is hate?
This whole prayer that took place on that day that was captured on video trying to use religion as justification. This is what America has seen in KKK and other hate groups.
What is your concern about the use of this moment as recruitment for hate groups?
JACKSON LEE; Well, Fred, you're so absolutely correct. In the history of the KKK, now their junior members, the Boogaloo Boys and the various other groups that have come about now -- so many different names, QAnon, the QAnon religious leader taking to the senate floor and offering a prayer.
For those of us of faith, we know that we are taught that our god is a god of peace but we're also taught that vengeance is mine, says the lord.
And so it is not for us to take up arms against our fellow citizens' misunderstanding and with misinformation to attack our fellow Americans based upon the very vile and untrue words of their leader. And that is Donald J. Trump.
Who for months pounded into them this was a stolen election, that members of congress from all backgrounds, Republicans and Democrats, were at fault.
They had a vile attack against our speaker, an outstanding speaker, a patriot who loves this country, Nancy Pelosi. They were attempting to do harm to the vice president of the United States and another party altogether doing his constitutional duty.
And they attacked us as we were on the floor, in the gallery with them attacking the house, nowhere to go, gunfire heard tragically as they shot one of those that died on that day, five attributable to Donald J. Trump.
And they used hateful epithets. They thought they we're using the confederate flag, it wasn't, it's the Ku Klux Klan flag.
They called black police officers the 'n' word and pushed them around. So many could have lost their lives. One heroic black officer, as many other heroic police officers defended us, he ran away to distract them.
I want people to know that the Capitol Hill police are there to protect us and the peaceful people that come. They're not there to shoot down Americans.
We will look into what happened. We will look into the disparities of 14,000 arrested. I certainly will be looking into it in the responsibilities I have and various committees that we have with our chairpersons.
But they are not there to shoot down persons in cold blood, they're there to try to protect and to serve. And they disadvantaged them with these huge mobs.
And some people said a quarter of a million people or 4 million were coming. What do you think would have happened?
Not one moment did President Donald J. Trump who could see this in real-time -- we could not, we did not get back to the chamber until 8:00 p.m. that night.
Never was there a word during that time to say stop, to send those trusted aides that are part of this mob of domestic terrorists to go and speak. They might have been safe with a bull horn surrounded by law enforcement. They did not.
So Fred, that's why there's no reason to have a sendoff, 21-gun salute, using military resources in spite of the fact that he's still the commander-in-chief up until 12:00 noon.
There is no purpose to say that he deserves that sendoff and a flyover using military resources. I beg of -- along with my colleagues (inaudible) --
WHITFIELD: And you helped author a letter -- -- you've helped author a letter saying military resources should not be devoted to a farewell, particularly when such reinforcements are being put in place on the National Mall to protect a safe inauguration of the next president. [13:50:00]
JACKSON LEE: The tradition of sending the outgoing president on his or her way is the traditional ceremony on the east steps. It has been done peacefully for the world to see.
This individual is, since 1869, going to take a historical moment of not coming to the inauguration, showing the world the stuff that America's made of, the stuff that its constitution is based on, the stuff that its soldiers are base on adhering to the constitution.
He refuses to do that. He denigrates this whole ceremony not in terms of what will go on -- it will be a beautiful ceremony but he wants to not respect it.
And therefore, he now wants to distract, taking precious resources.
And I think everyone needs to understand what he's asking for. A 21- gun salute. He's asking for a flyover with some of our major equipment. He's asking for a salute.
I make this point again. Did he, at any time during the real time of attack when members of congress and the whole leadership of the co- equal branch of government, the first branch of government, could have been destroyed, did he take to the microphone, public television, "Fox News," to say cease and desist to my followers, this is not what I want you to do.
Let's form a third party, let's wait for 2024. He did.
So yes, we're asking the brass -- we asked them why. It does not matter that he's commander-in-chief. Send him out with his secret service, let him get a plane ride and let him go to where he needs to go.
His evidence of his behavior, Fred, has not suggested that he's going out as an outgoing president in the tradition of the United States of America. He's going out with blood on his hands --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JACKSON LEE: -- and he's going out with a mob scene of domestic terrorists who could have killed so many people in the United States Capitol.
I want peace, I want prayer, I want reconciliation, I want accountability in a justice way. And I am prepared to stand on any stage with any Republican calling for peace in the nation.
But as the same posture that have would been done to others, I want the fair treatment of accountability to be done to these people who are out to kill American citizens.
WHITFIELD: All right. Everyone hoping for a peaceful transition and certainly still demanding lots of answers to many of those questions.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
JACKSON LEE: Good to be with you. Thank you so very much. Happy New Year again.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:55:00]
WHITFIELD: Within the next few hours, the U.S. is expected the somber milestone of 400,000 deaths tied to coronavirus.
For context the U.S. lost 405,000 American lives in all of World War II. CNN medical analyst, Dr. Esther Choo is an emergency medical physician and professor at Oregon Health & Science University.
Dr. Choo, so good to see you. Boy, those are sobering numbers And California is hit very hard, L.A. County just crossed a very alarming threshold.
It's the first county in the U.S. to report more than one million coronavirus cases. What do you suppose is attributable to this?
DR. ESTHER CHOO, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Fred, it's really unbelievable. And I think now that we're approaching a year of contending with this pandemic, it really makes you stop and think.
Because, a year ago, if you had told anybody that we would get to these numbers, that we'd be rapidly approaching 500,000 deaths, half a million deaths from this disease, no one would believe you. It would represent the worst catastrophe and the worst failure. And yet here we are.
And really, we're within spitting distance of the casualties of the 1918 flu pandemic which hit 675,000 deaths here in the United States.
That at one point seemed unfathomable, really something to be thought of as a historic thing when we didn't have an understanding of public health measures to stop something like this. And yet it is here in front of us.
And really, still with cases and deaths increasing in most U.S. states, the end is nowhere in sight. So it really seems like we've got a long way to go in this tragedy.
WHITFIELD: And then what's happening in your state of Oregon, what are you seeing at the hospitals?
CHOO: Well, in Oregon, we've been pretty lucky. We're really a universe away from what's happening in Southern California.
We have just a more spread out population, we've been kind of early and strict in public health measures. The governor, of course, put in stricter measures at the tail end of 2020, which were difficult, but people did them.
And so while cases are still on the rise in many places, we're nowhere near drowning the way they are in southern California.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Esther Choo, thanks so much. Good to see you.
CHOO: Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: In this breaking news now. Russian opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, has been arrested upon his return to Russia nearly five months after surviving an assassination attempt.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is at the airport. Fred, tell us here.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, it's almost unbelievable drama that unfolded here tonight in Moscow.
Alexei Navalny's was actually supposed to fly into a different airport here in Moscow which is where a lot of journalists were already waiting, a lot of Navalny supporters were waiting as well.
There were riot cops there on the scene, there were some scuffles there, people were arrested. And at the last second then, that entire airport was closed down to air traffic, the plane diverted and went to this airport here.
And that's where Alexey Navalny, after leaving the plane, was detained at the border control.
Now all of this stems from a case against Alexei Navalny which he said is one that's politically cooked up but which he is wanted for here in Russia.
And so far, the Russian prison service is saying that he's going to remain in custody until a hearing happens on January 29th.
Of course, all the supporters that are here with him are crying foul. His wife was here with him as well.
They are all saying that the Russian government obviously is behind this, Vladimir Putin is behind this, and they believe that Vladimir Putin is scared about Alexei Navalny coming back.
The Kremlin, of course, has said they were not behind the novichok poisoning that led him to go to Germany in the first place, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ha. And so the Russian government trying to get the upper hand here, obviously. What is believed to potentially happen if Navalny were to return --
PLEITGEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- without being accosted like this or stopped?
PLEITGEN: Well, you know what, yes, you're absolutely right. And Alexey Navalny believes that the Russian government is afraid of him, that Vladimir Putin is afraid of him.
It was quite interesting. Of course, before he was detained, before he was detained, he actually gave a short speech to some of the people who had been with him on the plane -- obviously, a lot of journalists made it on that plane as well. And he said that he believes that this shows that the Russian government is afraid of him.
One of the things we've seen is that entire big airport here in Russia shutting down its activities for an extended period of time as that plane was supposed to land. Riot cops at that airport.
We have to keep in mind the Russian government in the past said in the past they don't really care about Navalny, they don't really believe he's a big factor.
Certainly, today it looked very different, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much from Moscow.
