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CNN Poll Shows Trump's Approval Rating Reaches New Low As Term Ends; U.S. Capitol A Fortress, On Lockdown Amid Threats Of Violence; Shocking New Footage From Inside The Capitol Siege. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired January 17, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And now a new CNN poll out this morning shows that Trump's steady drumbeat of disinformation is helping to drive his approval rating to new lows as he exits the White House.
So let's start with those extensive security measures in the nation's capital: fences, fortifications, all covering areas around the White House and Capitol Hill, and access being cut off to the public unlike they've ever seen leading up to an Inauguration.
CNN's senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is on Capitol Hill. Alex, what are you seeing and not seeing?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Oh, hi there, Fred. You're absolutely right. Normally, this would be a time of celebration for tens of thousands of people who had come to Washington, D.C., at least for people on one side of the aisle.
There is a real sense of anxiety and a fear, frankly, in the city because of the violence that we saw a week and a half ago and concerns over the violence that could come in the coming days before and around the inauguration.
I do want to show you some of this absolutely stunning, almost warzone like security that has sprung up here in Washington. This is some of the fencing that goes around the entire length of the Capitol Complex, it is generally about eight feet high.
You can see some of that razor wire, looping around at the tops of that fencing over there. We see this all over the city, including around the National Mall, which, as you mentioned, has been closed down now, until after the Inauguration. That is normally where tens of thousands of people would gather to hear the incoming President give his or her speech.
There is a massive street presence in terms of personnel, mainly, as you mentioned, the National Guard presence. The Pentagon authorizing up to 25,000 National Guard troops from all across the country, every state from different territories, as well as from Washington, D.C., you can see some of those forces right here. They are armed here and elsewhere, both with pistols as well as rifles.
You're also seeing here some Supreme Court Police, and that just speaks to the variety of law enforcement that is part of this security cooperation and organization.
Now we did hear earlier from the Mayor of Washington, D.C., she said that this is the largest security presence since 9/11. And of concern, she said that because things are so secure here around these Federal buildings, that that does raise the possibility of violence elsewhere in other state capitals as well as elsewhere here in D.C. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: So what you're seeing here, this coordinated security operation is being led by the U.S. Secret Service, but very much in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Department here in D.C., the Chief of Police saying that he is confident that this will be a secure event on Wednesday, but says that it is very much an all-hands on deck operation -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: It sure is. All right, Alex Marquardt, thanks so much in the nation's capital.
All right, meantime, all of that, with this: shocking new video shot edited and released by the "New Yorker" offering an inside look at the Capitol siege.
Luke Mogelson, a veteran war correspondent and a contributing writer at the "New Yorker" enters the Capitol alongside the insurrectionists to document this moment. He has spent the last 10 months reporting on the radical fringe of President Trump's base. And I do have to warn you this video is graphic. It includes a lot of foul language. So if you've got children in the room, you need to usher them out. But we do want to show you exactly what happened in the Halls of Congress by this point of view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're outnumbered. There are [bleep] millions of us out there and we are listening to Trump -- your boss.
Let the people in.
It ain't safe for you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, guys. Take it easy.
CROWD: (Chanting "Treason.") [15:05:10]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1776.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're afraid of Antifa? Well, guess what? America showed u.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock, knock. We're here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the Senate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the [bleep] are there? Where are they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While we're here, we might as well set up a government.
CROWD: (Chanting "Treason.")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, let's take a seat, people. Let's take a seat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Nancy Pelosi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the [bleep] is Nancy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We paid for it. This is our House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of that chair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, this is our chair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with you, brother, but it is not ours. It belongs to the Vice President of the United States when he is in here. It is not our chair. Look, I love you, guys. You're brothers, but we can't be disrespectful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, don't disrespect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can steal an election, but we can't sit in their chairs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We are not putting up with that either. It's a PR war, okay. You have to understand it. It's IO war, we can't lose the IO war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're better than that. We're better than that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... information. Information Operation. You can't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, how did you get down there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go down the stairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look here, look. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ted Cruz's objection to the Arizona --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection. He was going to sell us out all along.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look. Objection to counting electoral votes on the State of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's a good thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. All right, all right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's got to be something in here we can [bleep] use against these scumbags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, we're not going to fold. This is a good one. This is a good one. Hawley, Cruz.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Cruz would want us to do this, so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [Bleep], man. Glad to see you guys. You guys are [bleep] patriots. Look at this guy. He has got -- he is covered in blood. God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good sir? Do you need medical attention?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good. Thank you. I got shot in the face with some kind of plastic bullet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any chance I can get you guys to leave the Senate wing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will. I've been making sure they ain't disrespecting the place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, I just want to let you guys know this is like the sacredest place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, right. No, and I am going to take some -- someone take a -- in this chair -- because Mike Pence is a [bleep] traitor. I am not one that usually take pictures of myself. But in this case, I think I'm going to give exception. Hey, can you take a picture? Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they ain't got a choice. There's half a million people here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to stay on? You should be stopping us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. He is doing the right thing. He is obeying his up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 MALE: Yes. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, come on, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like you're pushing the line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man. Come on, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our Capitol. Let's be respectful to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's four million people coming in, so there's a lot of control. We love you guys. We love the cops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only a matter of time. Justice is coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, come on, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over four million people are coming. Everywhere. All the way back as the monument.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, revealing, stunning, unbelievable. I mean, a whole lot of words to describe what was just seen. Again, this is video that was shot and edited by a reporter at the "New Yorker."
So joining me now to discuss Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst and a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security; and Charles Ramsey, a CNN law enforcement analyst, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner and former D.C. Police Chief, good to see you both.
Chief, you first. You know, how do you assess what was taking place, this mayhem, and just another example of how these people, anarchists, were also outnumbering the officers who were there?
[15:10:31]
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, clearly, when you look at the video, and I had an opportunity to watch the entire 12 minute video clip, we're just very fortunate that they weren't able to locate any Members of Congress. Clearly, there would have been harm done to those members had they been able to get their hands on.
And they also, you know, we're looking specifically for documents that at the very least, were confidential in nature, if not classified. So this was organized.
I mean, this wasn't just a bunch of folks just who is randomly going through things in the Capitol. This was very organized.
As far as the police officers go. Obviously, there were some that were overwhelmed. But there were two in particular, and I don't know if your clip showed the one group going up the stairs and one officer shouting out, "We love you." And then the other officer, as he was walking them down the hall saying, "We love you guys."
I would have relieved those guys and fired them on the spot. I mean, there's no place for them, not only at Capitol Police, but on any police department anywhere in the country.
WHITFIELD: I was talking to someone earlier, whose assessment was that it also looked like some of the officers were just so stunned, you know, and didn't quite know how to react. And were also taken aback, surprised at this organization taking the pictures, taking the approach as though they had had some sort of training.
Is there a way in which you try to assess, trying to get into the minds of the officers that were there, that would help better explain their actions or a lack thereof -- in the video that we saw?
RAMSEY: Well, I don't about being stunned. I don't know about being stunned, and if that would bring out the love in an individual, I've never personally experienced that. But I mean, that was ridiculous. You can be stunned, you can stand to the side. But then to tell these guys, "We love you." They've just stormed the United States Capitol.
You've got your men and women out there fighting, being seriously injured, one eventually dying as a result of his injuries and you're professing your love? I'm sorry, no, you've got to go.
There's no way in the world I could trust you to protect the Members of Congress, to protect that building or anybody else, for that matter. So I don't buy that stuff about being overwhelmed and being stunned to go that far to tell people -- terrorists -- that you love them. I just -- I don't buy it.
WHITFIELD: Does it -- is it strange that someone couldn't just shut the doors? I mean, now you have contained the people who have gone inside the Senate chamber? You know, or at least, obviously, among those who have trespassed the entire institution of the Capitol, and just lock the door for their immediate arrest? Why wouldn't something like that happen?
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, they were clearly overwhelmed. So I mean, whether or not they could have done that or not, I mean, hindsight is 2020. You know, I was embarrassed when I heard those two cops say that to that group of terrorists that were ransacking the United States Capitol. There's no excuse for that.
They were overwhelmed. They were underprepared. There were all kinds of failures in Intelligence and everything else. There's no question about that. But they also better bet, whoever it is that is going to be involved in the Inauguration on Wednesday, to make sure you don't have anyone who is still sympathetic to these terrorists that went through the United States Capitol for the sake of the safety of the President and the Vice President.
I hate to say that, but I mean, there could be some collusion on the part of some of the people inside the Capitol Police as well as Congress.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's hard for anyone not to be thinking otherwise. Yes, I mean, so Juliette, these domestic terrorists, you know, they were clearly on a mission, taking pictures of the documents, searching for evidence.
I mean, you hear them talking about the support that they would get from, you know, Senator Cruz, and that they're doing what the President wanted them to do.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right.
WHITFIELD: I mean, what are your thoughts here?
KAYYEM: So, I have to tell folks, so I've seen a lot of footage. This "New Yorker" clip feels like an assault. I mean, it really like sort of takes the wind out of you because you do -- as Chief Ramsey said, you see the organization. You see the total lack of respect. I know it was also violent, but just -- you feel soiled, to be honest, just the disgusting people are in our Senate.
And those disgusting people were sent and said they were sent by the President of the United States. He told them when to meet. He told them why they were angry. He told them to go up the Hill, and they all believed as they said to a number of the Capitol Hill Police, they all believe that because of him and because of the lies that Senator Cruz had said and, and the lies of all the other senators at one stage in it, they say, Senator Cruz won't mind. Senator Cruz won't mind if we look at his desk, right? He wants us to do this.
[15:15:26]
KAYYEM: They believed the big lie that Donald Trump gave. So it's beyond incitement. He really did mobilize and operationalize this terrorist attack.
I want to say just one other quick thing. There's lots of questions about how -- you know, people say, oh, they were such idiots for taking this many pictures or whatever. It is clear to me when I watched that that they believed that Donald Trump was going to pardon them. And I don't know if that's his intention. But they actually believe that and that's all on Donald Trump and the Republican Party, they better figure out how it's going to get to sane place at this stage.
This is really scary stuff. And those people, you know, assaulted all of us whether you're Republican or Democrat, so watch it wearingly, I have to say. WHITFIELD: And Chief, you just mentioned a moment ago, you know, how
this exemplifies how imperative it is to better screen, even among, you know, the forces that are there for Inauguration.
So at this juncture, three days away from inauguration, how does that happen? I mean, how can it, you know, either be discovered or, you know, weed through the masses of National Guard, law enforcement, everyone who is there to make sure they're on the right side of all of this?
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, it's certainly going to be a challenge in how thorough it can be. I mean, there's not a whole lot of time. But if it were me, if I had the slightest question at all, I would relieve that officer of duty, and I would not have them in any close proximity to the President or the Vice President or any other significant public official. Period.
WHITFIELD: You sound really concerned --
RAMSEY: If you had to call in reinforcements -- pardon me?
WHITFIELD: You sound really concerned or worried that, you know, this is not hyperbole. This is this is not, you know, a far-flung thought, but this is really close to home and really possible?
RAMSEY: Well, I am concerned. I mean, you know, when you see the actions -- and again, I'm not talking about the officers that just were overwhelmed and just stepped to the side while the mob went through the building. I'm talking about guys who were taking their time walking through, "Oh, we love you guys." And blah, blah, blah. Who is the "we"? You know, let's find out who the "we" are, because I want to get my hands on all of those guys and get rid of them.
And if there's anything beyond just saying that there are criminal charges that need to be pressed, and you charge them criminally, but in the meantime, you've only got a couple of days. And so if there's any doubt, relieve them of duty, get them away from there.
If you need to backfill with MPD, which did a heroic job, by the way and actually rescued the Capitol, then bring in MPD. I mean, bring in somebody who you have faith and confidence in.
The Capitol Police is a good organization, but they've got some rotten apples in there and they better find them quickly and they better weed them out.
WHITFIELD: Well, Juliette, final thought.
KAYYEM: I agree. And you know, obviously, the Secret Service has been worried about this. I will say, I agree with Chief Ramsey, weed out, get people out and sort of the benefit -- the burden is to prove that you should be there.
But also, I think we should have -- I think the Secret Service is in a position that if they were worried at this stage, I think that they would have pulled it. So you know, we defer to them, because they know more. And obviously, the longer review of this is what the heck is going on in some of these police departments regarding the domestic terrorism that Donald Trump started and will not end with him -- it will not end with him.
And so President Biden has to be prepared for that, the onslaught that may come after, but all due to President Trump.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. This has been a heavy time and it just seems to get even heavier.
KAYYEM: Yes. Oh, it's no joke. I mean, this is just no joke.
WHITFIELD: No.
KAYYEM: It's just -- it is shameful that that the lie is being perpetuated because it's that lie that is bringing about the violence and have us living like this. It's just ridiculous. So sorry. Tired.
WHITFIELD: No, I think we're all feeling exasperated. And this is --
RAMSEY: This should be a time of celebration. I mean, this is the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States and we're having this conversation? I mean, think about it? It is crazy. It's absolutely insane.
WHITFIELD: I am thinking about it. It's hurting my heart. Yes, it's tough. But it's very real and we've got to face the reality -- face.
KAYYEM: When chief Ramsey and I both lose it. You know, it's bad. Let me just say that, you know.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, but I defer to your expertise and I'm so glad that you are sharing.
KAYYEM: We were mad.
WHITFIELD: So glad that you are sharing. That's right. Keep it real. All right, Chief Charles Ramsey and Juliette Kayyem, good to see you both. Thank you so much.
All right coming up, nearly 400,000 deaths and counting. The United States on the verge of smashing a new horrific coronavirus record as the incoming C.D.C. Director makes a startling new prediction about the months ahead.
Plus, CNN goes one-on-one with a self-described member of the Boogaloo Movement as concerns grow about armed protests.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:24:28]
WHITFIELD: Right now, the U.S. is about to reach a heartbreaking milestone. Within the next few hours, the death toll from the coronavirus is expected to reach 400,000. Look at the red splashed across this map. Those are states showing a steep rise in deaths in the past week versus the week before.
I want to bring in now CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro. He is following the national COVID-19 trends for us now. Evan, what are you seeing?
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the numbers now are as unfathomable as they have ever been during this pandemic and experts are warning that the near term future will be also pretty bad.
Let's take a look at some of these numbers first.
[15:25:09]
SANTORO: Researchers at Johns Hopkins have reported around 198,000 new cases of coronavirus in United States on Saturday and around 3,200 new deaths, a marker of just how deadly this time in America remains. Experts are not seeing those numbers slow anytime soon.
A new I.H.M.E. model of projected COVID deaths predicts around 566,000 people in America will have died from this disease by May 1st.
Now this morning on TV, President-elect Biden's nominee for Director of the C.D.C. explained why the near term is still so scary when it comes to this virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, INCOMING C.D.C. DIRECTOR: Nearly 4,000 deaths a day, almost 400,000 deaths total by the middle of February. We expect half a million deaths in this country. That doesn't speak to the tens of thousands of people who are living with a yet uncharacterized syndrome after they've been -- after they've recovered.
And we still yet haven't seen the ramifications of what happened from the Holiday travel, from Holiday gathering in terms of high rates of hospitalizations and the deaths thereafter.
So yes, I think we still have some dark weeks ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANTORO: Despite that kind of dire language, we're still seeing some state leaders go their own way on this thing. In North Dakota, the Governor there, a Republican, has decided to go ahead and lift his state's two-month mask mandate, starting on Monday. He is also relaxing that state's restrictions on indoor dining capacity.
So you know, he wants people to wear a mask. He urged people in the state to wear a mask. But he's saying you don't have to. And he's saying if you own a restaurant, you can have as many people in it as you want. You can have a normal amount of people in that restaurant as you want.
So despite these dire warnings, this pressure that we've seen this entire pandemic, between opening the economy and listening to the health experts is still playing out all these months later, and we're seeing places like North Dakota, people are going in the wrong way -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. It sounds like listening more to people's impatience or, you know, anxiety of getting back to normal than it is listening to all of these very troubling numbers, real people dying and testing positive.
All right, Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much.
I want to bring in now Michigan emergency room physician, Dr. Rob Davidson. And Doctor, I understand you were just coming off your shift. You're joining us in your car. You know, I mean, I imagine this is also kind of a moment of you decompressing, you know, compared to all that you are enduring while you're in the ER. How was your day today? What are you thinking and feeling?
DR. ROB DAVIDSON, WEST MICHIGAN EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Just listening to that report right before this just gets you more infuriated. It's unbelievable that governors or anyone really could be at a point where 4,000 deaths a day just doesn't mean anything to them. That doing the right thing just doesn't seem to matter.
And you know, I just got done with a shift. The last person I saw was one of the sickest people I'd seen with COVID, who was in the hospital for a few weeks, went home just a couple of days ago. I thought they were doing better and come back in just sick as ever. It's a disease, we don't yet quite have a grip on. You know, it's doing pretty severe damage.
I had a fellow staff member I took care of just a few weeks back, they had been hospitalized, six or seven weeks prior and still just walking up and down the stairs gasping for breath, you know, having to take more time off of work, because they're not recovering.
And you know, I mean, it's hard to just sit and be frustrated all the time about the last year about the President about not having enough vaccines, not having a plan, but it's impossible not to. So I'm just hopeful, you know, three days from now that we get leadership.
We need a national plan. We need vaccines, we need tests, we need everyone just to actually care about 4,000 deaths a day.
WHITFIELD: Yes. What would you want in that national plan? Because we know, you know, the incoming President has said he wants to encourage people. There can't be a Federal mandate on wearing masks, but he wants to recommend to people, you know, for the first 100 days to wear a mask, but what would you want that national plan to include, you know, that a national plan under the other administration hasn't had? Well, there wasn't a national plan -- let me rephrase that. But what would you want to be in this national plan?
DAVIDSON: I mean, I'm a doctor, not an economist. But undeniably, we need money for people so they can stay home. We need money for businesses so they can not open up for indoor dining.
I get it. I mean, local businesses in my community, people are struggling. But then our government needs to be there for these people so we can do the right thing. I mean, it doesn't matter if you open restaurants if people go there and they get sick and they're dying, people are going to stop going there.
They're going to fail, but we're going to have 4,000 deaths a day for even longer while they are failing. You know, we need F.E.M.A. We need the National Guard involved in vaccine rollout. We need the Defense Production Act to get enough vaccine doses, to get a hundred million doses in arms in a hundred days.
[15:30:12]
DAVIDSON: We need that for testing, we have all along and we've been begging for it. We need a President to get on the phone with governors in his own party and other parties and just say, listen, give me a few months, give us a hundred days. Mandate the masks.
I know he doesn't have the legal authority to do it. But he can ask, you know, tell them what's going on, get their buy in, and we just haven't had it, I hope we can get it.
WHITFIELD: What are your worries about the setbacks that may have come with the fiasco that is vaccine distribution?
DAVIDSON: Well, I think it's getting a lot of people frustrated in a lot of places. My own parents trying to get their vaccine and they can't get a schedule. They can't get scheduled. They're in their 70s here in Michigan, that's their turn.
WHITFIELD: My mom, too.
DAVIDSON: And nobody has places. Yes, nobody has spots, other people are getting them. I worry as more doses get released, people jumping the line because they have connections and other people getting frustrated and just throwing up their hands and saying, well, forget it, I'm not going to do it.
And so I'm hopeful that people recognize it hasn't gone well thus far, that help is on the way, that a national plan is on the way and we can still regroup. We can still get this thing done, and again in a hundred days, 100 million doses is doable.
You know, with a plan it's doable, and hopefully people can just hang on and do the right thing so fewer people die in the meantime.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Dr. Rob Davidson, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for what you are doing and being in the trenches trying to save lives and really being an inspiration to so many and hopefully after the shot, you could just take that moment, decompress there in the car before you make your way home after a pretty tough shift.
DAVIDSON: Thanks, Fred. Have a good day.
WHITFIELD: You, too. All right, still to come, America on alert bracing for potential protests before Inauguration Day. We have a team of reporters covering preparations across the country. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:36:25]
WHITFIELD: All right, we're now less than three days away from the Inauguration of President Joe Biden. And as the U.S. Capitol is turned into a fortress, security is also being heightened in state capitals across the country. This follows threats of armed protests in all 50 states ahead of Wednesday's transfer of power.
We've got reporters following preparations across the country, starting with Sara Sidner in Lansing, Michigan. Sara, you spoke with someone who self-identified as a member of the Boogaloo Boys about the prospect of violent protests.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so I want to give you a sense of what it looks like here in Lansing right now. The National Guard is here. That's what these vehicles are all about. And the gentlemen in uniform there, and then you will see the Capitol behind us.
There are just a handful of people that are there that you are seeing kind of milling about, somebody holding the American flag, someone with a MAGA hat on. There are guys that are in full military garb.
I did speak to two people today, a couple of members of the Boogaloo Boys and the mayor of Lansing and one of the Boogaloo Boys, Duncan Lemp, basically told us, look, they are here because they're angry with what they feel like is government overreach.
And I asked him some questions about what he was doing here and whether or not he was going to become violent or whether or not his movement, the Boogaloo Boys is violent. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUNCAN LEMP, IDENTIFIES AS MEMBER OF BOOGALOO MOVEMENT: I am protesting government overreach.
SIDNER: What is it that you feel like the government has overreached on? What are the things that bother you?
LEMP: Every part of our lives, you can't do anything without getting permission from our government, whether it be build a house, own a firearm, drive a car, you can't do anything. They choose what school you're -- what you have to learn in school for kids. That was never intended by our founding fathers.
MAYOR ANDY SCHOR (D), LANSING, MICHIGAN: People can always voice discontent, they can come out at the ballot box and they can vote somebody out. But, you know, a kidnapping plot, storming of the Capitol, you know, we saw that here. We saw people in our Capitol yelling at our legislators and looking at doing things. It's a terrible situation. It's a very small percentage of people that are doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: You know, and as we were talking to the Mayor, someone walked
by and started screaming at him. They were angry because there was a huge Black Lives Matter writing that is right in front, on the street, in front of the Capitol. They were complaining about that.
He said, look, I'm used to that. And that's okay, as long as they're not violent threats or violence towards anyone in his town.
I should also mention that the two Boogaloo Boys, they are self- described Boogaloo Boys. This group, we've been following them quite a long time on the internet. And these guys say, look, they will not perpetrate any violence. They don't believe that what happened on January 6th was the right thing to do.
But they said, you know, they won't fire the first shot, but they'll certainly fire the second if fired upon. And they believe that they are not being represented properly by their representatives here in the state or federally, but they separate themselves from those who we have seen online and elsewhere, who are violent Boogaloo Boys, who do want to start a Civil War and who have been pushing for that for many, many, many months now -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Sara Sidner, thank you so much in the very snowy cold Lansing.
Martin Savidge is in Atlanta. Martin, this was tightly contested state. You know, how big are the concerns for demonstrators there?
[15:40:07]
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think leading up, the concern is really high. The Governor had said that they did not have Intel to suggest they were going to have a problem.
But still, as you pointed out, the state not once, but twice played a very contentious role in the outcome of important elections.
It's a surreal scene. Look at the State Capitol. It is surrounded by an intense ring of security of many different kinds of levels. You've got Georgia State Police. You've got the Capitol Police. You've got the National Guard.
Their vehicles parked on the steps, barricades in front of those steps. They are out with their weapons. It is a clear indication that they have this Capitol, they believe tightly locked up. For a while, the streets were all closed, not just closed. They were using dump trucks as barriers to prevent any kind of vehicles perhaps trying to barrel in.
That said, there's been no sign up protesters. We've seen two men with long rifles go walking about on the sidewalk. But other than that, that's the only indication of any armed protest. There were no numbers of significant crowds here at all today. The posture is relaxed; some, they are still on guard. We'll see for how long -- Fred.
With All right, Lucy Kafanov now in Denver. Let's get that perspective from where you are. What's happening?
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Fredricka. Look, Federal officials and state and city officials were certainly concerned about the prospect of armed protests here in Denver at the State Capitol. We know that Federal authorities have set up an operation center through the Inauguration that's monitored 24 hours a day with Intelligence.
But let me give you a look around. I mean, there are not a lot of people here. There's probably more members of the media than actual protesters. There's a guy doing a Christian sermon behind me, one pro- Trump protester behind me, and then down there several anti-Trump protesters. So it's a very, very small crowd.
We did manage to speak to one gentleman who turned out here in support of the President, here's what he had to say, in response to the violence that was seen in January 6th. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you have concerns about what you saw last week?
LARRY WOODALL, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think it was wrong. You know, just throw a bad apple in all of that, get one guy -- getting another guy going and it just goes -- and it snowballs from there. And that's how it went, I think. You know, Donald didn't say go down here and bust in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAFANOV: So that was one of the maybe three protesters here in support of the President. Again, very calm day, beautiful weather, it seems that folks are choosing to spend time with their families or perhaps in nature than here at the Capitol -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very glad to see that the peace is being maintained. All right, thank you so much, Lucy Kafanov, Martin Savidge and Sara Sidner in all of those cities. Thank you.
All right, coming up. As moving trucks arrive at the White House, a new report says President Trump's allies are cashing in on potential pardons.
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WHITFIELD: In the wake of the Capitol riot and his second impeachment, President Trump will leave office with the lowest approval rating of his presidency, and with more Americans than ever in support of removing him from office.
According to a new CNN poll, just 34 percent of Americans approve of the way the President is handling his job. That's down from 42 percent in a pre-election poll.
Jeremy Diamond is at the White House for us. So, Jeremy with just a few days left of his presidency, there is growing speculation on who the President may pardon and then there's new reporting on those who are actually seeking the pardons. What do you have?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. For weeks now, there has been this scramble among Trump allies and those connected to those allies in terms of seeking pardons from President Trump in his final weeks in office.
Now, we've been reporting on this scramble for several weeks now and we've already seen several high-profile controversial pardons issued. But now "The New York Times" has new reporting, also going into the fact that this has also been a gold rush of sorts for some of those Trump allies who are connected to the President and who have been pushing for pardons and getting paid for doing so including a Brett Tolman, he is a former Federal prosecutor, who we know has been advising the Trump White House on criminal justice issues for years now.
And now "The New York Times" is reporting that he has been paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobby for pardons for several individuals, including the son of a former Arkansas Senator and Manhattan socialite, and several others.
But Tolman is far from the only one here. We also know that the President's current and former attorneys have also been involved in discussions about representing individuals seeking pardons. That includes the President's former attorney, John Dowd, as well as the President's current personal attorney, the former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani.
So clearly, this is a pretty unprecedented situation as we have seen the way that the pardons have been issued by President Trump has really been on such a case by case basis, sidelining the Justice Department's pardon office, and instead relying on many of these personal connections.
We have seen celebrities get involved. We have seen Trump allies get involved, and so that is the way that this is being conducted. Now, the question is, who will receive these pardons with less than three days in President Trump's term in office?
There are several high-profile controversial names still being considered. And of course, there's still that question of whether President Trump will try and pardon himself and whether he will also try and pardon his children or his attorney, Rudy Giuliani as a preemptive pardon.
Those would be among some of the most controversial moves he could make in his final days and hours in office -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Pardons for the highest bidders. Question mark. All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much at the White House.
And a programming note tonight, join our own Abby Phillip as she talks with soon to be Vice President Kamala Harris and her family. CNN special report "Kamala Harris: Making History" airs at 10:00 p.m. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:54:27]
WHITFIELD: All right. This breaking news. Russian opposition activist, Alexei Navalny has been arrested upon his return to Russia nearly five months after surviving an assassination attempt. Moments ago, Joe Biden's incoming National Security Adviser tweeted, "Navalny should be immediately released." And we should note President Trump has never commented on Navalny.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is at the airport. Tell us more about what's happening. Oh, now you're in the Bureau, sorry.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka, well it gets even -- yes, I have made it back to the Bureau now, but you're absolutely right, it gets even worse than what you just mentioned there right now.
[15:55:03]
PLEITGEN: In fact, Alexei Navalny's team is saying that he has not only been detained by Russian security services, but they also have at this point in time, no idea where he is and he has no access to any sort of lawyer.
Now, he was detained when he arrived here in Moscow earlier today. And basically, when he tried to go to the border, that's when he was detained. Now also, because of an old fraud case against him, which he says, is politically motivated, and he's going to have to stay in jail until at least January 29th, when there is supposed to be a hearing because of all this.
But I can't even begin to tell you, Fredricka, how remarkable the events were that unfolded here today in Moscow.
He was actually supposed to land at a different airport and he actually landed there. There were a lot of his supporters there. A lot of media was there. A lot of riot cops were there as well. The Russian authorities in the last moment diverted his flight to another airport and then detained him on arrival -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow, I mean, to be held, too, as you mentioned, until the end of the month, he's not going to want to eat or drink because hello, he was already poisoned and recovering from that.
Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much in Moscow.
All right, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ana Cabrera right after this.
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