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Possible Unrest In America's Anticipation Of Joe Biden's Inauguration; New Shocking Footage Inside The Capitol During The Siege; Trump Allies Collecting Cash For Pardons; COVID Deaths Predicted At 500,000 By Mid-February; Rep. Jamie Raskin On Losing His Son And Being Lead Prosecutor On Trump's Second Impeachment. Aired 5- 6p ET
Aired January 17, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello again. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And just three days out from Joe Biden's inauguration we are seeing a nation on high alert. The seat of our government locked down ahead of what is supposed to be a given, the peaceful transfer of power.
Capital cities across the country ramping up security, bracing for armed protest. We'll take you to some of those scenes this hour. And in Washington, troops barricades razor wire making the capital look more like a wartime stronghold, all to prevent a repeat of the deadly siege of January 6th.
And today, we have shocking new footage from inside that siege taken by a journalist at "The New Yorker." I have to warn you some of it is disturbing. In fact, all of it is disturbing and we have not censored the language.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Stand down. You're outnumbered. There's a (BLEEP) million of us out there and we are listening to Trump -- your boss. (Inaudible).
UNKNOWN: Let us through.
UNKNOWN: Let the people in.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNKNOWN: Hey, it ain't safe for you guys.
UNKNOWN: We love you guys. Take it easy, and away.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNKNOWN: Treason! Treason! Treason!
UNKNOWN: Defend your liberty! Defend your constitution! Defend your liberty! Defend your constitution!
UNKNOWN: 1776!
UNKNOWN: You're afraid of Antifa? Well guess what? America showed up.
UNKNOWN: (Inaudible).
UNKNOWN: Knock, knock. We're here!
UNKNOWN: Where the (BLEEP) are they?
UNKNOWN: Where are they?
UNKNOWN: While we're here we might as well set up a government.
UNKNOWN: Hey, let's take a seat, people! Let's take a seat!
UNKNOWN: Let's vote on some (BLEEP).
UNKNOWN: Where the (BLEEP) is Nancy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Normally today we might be speculating about President-elect Biden's inaugural address or previewing the pomp and circumstance of Wednesday's ceremony and going over the legacy of the outgoing president. Instead, because of the insurrection carried out by those people you just saw and others, the focus is on preventing further homegrown violence carried out in the name of President Trump.
CNN's crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz joins us from Washington. Shimon, what is the latest on the security situation where you are?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the security situation pretty much remains the same. Things are now in place here in Washington, D.C. as we get ready for the inauguration. As you can see behind me, teams of National Guard troops just like this all over Washington D.C. at key intersections.
We are about two miles, Ana, from the capitol. So, this just gives you an idea of how far some of the security measures stretch. This now goes on for many, many more miles across Washington, D.C. I want to also show you down this way. We are by Black Lives Matter Plaza and the White House. They have fenced that entire area in as well.
And then further apart as you can -- further down you can see it is the White House. But this is the security situation here all across Washington, D.C. Many of the National Guard troops now in place. The Pentagon saying that they have deployed 25,000 troops here, 5,000 more than they had originally planned.
And things for the most part have been relatively quiet. A couple of minor incidents but for the most part things have been so far very quiet here, Ana. CABRERA: Okay. There are obviously a lot of different agencies working
together in D.C. right now. We have the National Guard, the Metro Police, Capitol Police, FBI. Have there been any issues with coordination?
PROKUPECZ: There have been no issues as far as we know with coordination. One of the things that's going on, Ana, across the country is there is what I've been told a lot of surveillance under way by the FBI. People that they're keeping an eye on. People that weren't necessarily under the eyes of the FBI. They weren't following them around.
[17:05:00]
But that has changed in many ways since January 6th. And what's been going on so, if the FBI is concerned about something or someone, they will share information with all of the partners, Secret Service, in this case, also the Washington, D.C. Police, the Metro Police, and all have been working together.
There are almost daily -- there are briefings on a daily basis several times a day. There have been some of these smaller incidents and all of the different agencies have been working together to kind of sort through these incidents to see what is actually a threat, what isn't a threat.
Obviously, a lot of people come here to see what's going on. A lot of people who live here have been coming to see what's going on. But for the most part, it would appear that at least at this point, all of the agencies are working together. You're talking about probably dozens of agencies at this point here in Washington, D.C. working together to try and keep Washington, D.C. safe.
CABRERA: Yes. Absolutely. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you. I want to discuss the disturbing video and developments with someone who has examined other coups in other countries and has studied radicalization. Phil Mudd is a former FBI senior intelligence adviser and CIA counterterrorism official.
Phil, I want to watch more of this video with you. A warning, this may contain graphic language again. This is the moment some of the rioters break into the chamber and just a single officer is there with them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Any chance I could get you guys to leave the Senate wing?
UNKNOWN: We will. I'm just making sure they ain't disrespecting the place.
UNKNOWN: Okay. Just want to let you guys know this is like the safest place.
UNKNOWN: I know. Hey, I'm going to take sit on this chair because Mike Pence is (BLEEP) traitor. UNKNOWN: I'm not one to usually take pictures of myself but in this
case I think I'm going to make an exception. Hey, you in the red, can you take a picture of me?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes, they ain't got a choice there's half a million people here.
UNKNOWN: You want (inaudible). You should be stopping us.
UNKNOWN: No, no, no. He is doing -- he's doing the right thing. He is obeying his oath.
UNKNOWN: 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?
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes, sir.
UNKNOWN: I would greatly appreciate it.
UNKNOWN: Hey, come on, man
UNKNOWN: I feel like you're pushing the line.
UNKNOWN: Come on, man. Come on, man.
UNKNOWN: But this is our capitol.
UNKNOWN: Let's be respectful to him. There's 4 million people coming in. So, there's a lot of control. We love you guys. We love the cops.
UNKNOWN: It's only a matter of time. Justice is coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Phil, I want to get your reaction to this video and others we're seeing from inside the insurrection.
PHIL MUDD, FORMER FBI SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I don't look at this just as people committing acts of violence or trespassing in the Congress. What I look at this is a psychological issue, Ana, and that is there are too many questions going on about why people or whether people on a podium on January 6th did something illegal, whether something that they spoke about was illegal.
There is a different way to think about this that triggers my mind after watching extremism for 35 years. That is validation. There are a lot of angry people in this country. They think that the country doesn't serve them well. They think the country surveil their communication. They think immigrants are taking their jobs.
Whether or not you say something illegal to a person in that mindset, what we're seeing from our politicians is that they are validating anger. That is they are telling someone it is okay for you to be angry. And what you got in the capitol is what happens when people think politicians told us that all our worst instincts are right. It's not just physical, Ana. It's psychological.
CABRERA: And you actually hear in one of the videos somebody say as they are rifling through desks in the senate chamber oh, this is good. I think Cruz would approve of this, referencing Senator Ted Cruz. What did you make of the officer's interaction with the rioters that we saw in that last video? He was using terms like please.
MUDD: I want to see more video to determine what happened there. My first reaction is sympathy with the officer for a simple reason. The Capitol Police were overwhelmed. The moments and the hours after I saw a lot of commentary about why more people weren't arrested. Why don't you walk into a sea of hostile people some of whom have weapons and try to pick out one for arrest?
The officer's first responsibility was to clear the capitol, to set up a perimeter. It was not to arrest people and potentially create an incident where hundreds or even a thousand people are circling that officer doing something that is potentially deadly.
I thought the officer was taking the appropriate, from the limited piece I saw, he was taking the appropriate first step. Let's cool things out and later we move to the arrests. People were too quick to judge some of those officers I thought.
CABRERA: No, that's a good point. They are trying to calm the situation down. And he was obviously trying to reason with these people inside the Senate chamber.
[17:09:59]
The man in the fur and the head dress now identified as Jacob Chancely, he is heard in one portion of that video saying Mike Pence is a traitor as he is behind Pence's desk. He leaves a note for Pence reading, "It's only a matter of time. Justice is coming."
Phil, these threats don't just disappear Wednesday when Joe Biden is inaugurated. What happens instead or what could happen?
MUDD: Well, there is a big picture and a little picture. Let me make you a bit uncomfortable. If you look at American history now, I'm not going to give you a lecture on it, but you think of major social sort of disruption, I was too young, but in the '60s the disruption around the Vietnam war took us to the '80s, I think, to move beyond that.
I remember talking to military officers who said through the '70s into the '80s and into late '80s, the military was deeply affected by Vietnam. Look how long the disruption of 9/11 took us to get over. 2016 we had the Pulse night club. 15 years after we're still dealing with convulsions.
This isn't President Trump. This is a psychological problem in America that is going to take us years. Let me finish with one minor, relatively minor point, big in my world. And that is the national security implications.
Do you want the FBI, state, local, and federal authorities outside the FBI to look at your next-door neighbor and determine whether they have the potential to become a violent extremist? Do you want that to happen? People were comfortable when that was a foreign threat. When it was an ISIS.
They will be very uncomfortable despite what they told you on January 6th, doing that against domestic extremists. And that is a conversation nobody wants to have.
CABRERA: As a counterterrorism expert, just how far are some of these folks down the road of radicalization?
MUDD: I would say extremely far. Let me give you one quick thing to think about. Very simple metric to look at. There's a lot of wannabes in the world. A lot of people who speak. There are very few terrorists in the world. That is somebody who wants to blow up a building, a car, a backpack, to do damage potentially to kill citizens.
How do you determine? The president's got 80 million twitter followers. How do you determine who is an extremist, who is exercising first amendment rights, and who will fall in that very small pool of terrorists?
One clue. When someone moves beyond talking to action, going to a paintball range, going on a camping trip with friend who say they want to go over and take over the Congress, talking about acquiring a weapon to do something.
When someone's brain shifts from talking to action even if it is not the full action of making a terrorist attack that is when you have to worry. We've got thousands, hundreds of thousands of people like that.
CABRERA: Phil Mudd, we appreciate your expertise. Thank you for joining us.
It's not just the nation's capital. The FBI is warning of a possibility of armed protests in all 50 states prompting state capitols across the country to lock down and brace for potential violence. We have a team of reporters around the nation covering all the security measures in place.
Let's begin with CNN's Josh Campbell in Lansing, Michigan. And Josh, it can't be overstated enough. This amount of security is not normal. What's happening there?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. We are talking about National Guard members on the streets of the United States of America. You can see them behind me, members of the Michigan National Guard as well as members of the Michigan State Police, a massive security presence that was brought out here at the state capitol today. That following that FBI warning about potential armed protests.
And it's also worth noting that this building behind me, the state capitol, authorities say did receive a credible threat that leaving it to be shut down. Let me show you something though about what transpired today.
As you look behind me at this capitol, it is almost completely empty. The capitol grounds, not a soul in sight. We did see about 25 protesters earlier in the day. Some of them armed, some of them including self-described members of the boogaloo movement, but certainly no violence and no instigators in the crowd.
But nevertheless, we still continue to see the security presence here because officials say that they are still assessing the situation to determine how long they want to keep this posture. Now, there are a number of theories, Ana, about why we didn't see these massive protests here.
One state official that we talked to here in Michigan said that perhaps people just came out and protested. They felt their grievances were heard and they left. Other security experts are saying it may be this very presence of these military members, members of the police here, that may have served as a deterrent.
And of course, we know this isn't a 24/7 operation indefinitely. At some point they will pack up and go home which raises the question about how long the threat will continue.
It's also worth noting that I talked to law enforcement sources who say that you can't discount just how much of an impact those FBI arrests around the country following that attack at the United States capitol had on possibly deterring other people from staging some kind of similar event.
The fed certainly letting the public know that those people who engage in those attacks will be held accountable, Ana.
CABRERA: Yes. We know they have identified more than 200 people now and at least have made more than a hundred arrests at last check. Josh Campbell, thank you.
[17:14:58]
Let's head to Denver, Colorado where CNN's Lucy Kafanov is joining us now. Lucy, give us a sense of the security measures in place where you are.
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, in stark contrast to what you just heard from Josh, we've seen very few protesters showing up here. In fact, maybe three or four demonstrators. Very greatly outnumbered by members of the media.
You almost don't see a visible security presence on the ground although we know that federal officials, state officials, and city of Denver officials are preparing for this possibility of armed protests not just today but in the coming days leading up to the inauguration.
We know federal authorities have set up a 24/7 surveillance operation in Denver where they're relying on intelligence from the ground, from local officials, from state and federal officials to try to be prepared potentially for any threats.
And we also know that several government buildings will be closed this week in anticipation of potential gatherings, but again today was calm, quiet. We spoke to one of the three protesters here who came out to show his support for President Donald Trump and my producer asked him whether he approved of the violence that was seen in the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Well, I think it was wrong. You know, just throw a bad apple in all that and you get one guy getting another guy going and it just goes, you know, snowballs from there. That's how it went I think, you know. Donald didn't say go down there and bust in there. To let these people all out here know that Donald Trump ain't a bad guy. He really isn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAFANOV: So that was one voice on the ground here, but again, a very short, small turn out. One of the reasons potentially we did hear some local media reports of FBI agents actually visiting some potential protesters, people who have been associated with armed gatherings in the past in Colorado, and at least two of these self-described, so- called patriots that they changed their minds about coming down to Denver to express their voices, but again, it is still early in the week today though, Ana. Quite calm and beautiful here in Denver.
CABRERA: OK. Say hi to my family there in Colorado. Lucy Kafanov, I appreciate it, as well as Josh Campbell. Thanks to both of you for your reporting.
President Trump leaves office in three days and one big question left about actions he could still take, is who will he pardon in his final days? And now more reporting is pointing to a lucrative pardon market. That's next. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."
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[17:20:00]
CABRERA: It is President Trump's final weekend in the White House and he only has a few days left to issue presidential pardons. The "New York Times" reports some of the president's allies are collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to lean on Trump for possible last-minute pardons. Let's get right to CNN's White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, what are you hearing about potential Trump pardons?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, we've been reporting for weeks now that there has been this internal scramble inside the White House and by the president's allies around the White House to try and secure pardons in his final days in office.
Part of that is of course just by the nature of the end of the presidency, this is when you do see more pardons. But part of that is also because of the way in which President Trump has approached these pardons.
He's been far more willing to deal out controversial pardons to political allies and he has really bypassed the Justice Department's pardon office in favor of a more direct approach with people seeking pardons or who have connections to him.
And so, it's no surprise what the "New York Times" is reporting now, which is that there are some Trump allies who are cashing in on this. That some allies have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to help secure pardons for felons who are seeking pardons from the president.
They include the former prosecutor Brett Tolman who has been advising this White House for years now on criminal justice issues and on pardons. He apparently has been paid by several clients to try and secure pardons for them.
Now, we know the president has already doled out a significant number of pardons in the last couple of weeks including some really high- profile controversial ones. I think we have a few of them that we can show on the screen now.
They include some of the president's former campaign advisers including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, former campaign adviser, Roger Stone. There are less controversial ones like Alice Marie Johnson who was in -- sentenced to a life sentence for drug trafficking offenses. She has now become a big advocate.
But what we are going to see over these next few days is more pardons from the president in his final days, his final hours in office. The question is whether those individuals who paid tens of thousands of dollars are going to actually get what they paid for, Ana.
CABRERA: Or if he is going to pardon himself or at least try to or his family members. Jeremy, before I let you go we've heard about this stunning explanation from Trump's campaign spokesperson as to why Trump can't denounce the capitol attack more. Fill us in.
DIAMOND: Yes. This was the response by Hogan Gidley, the campaign's former spokesman or current spokesman who knows where the campaign stands now that the election is over. But Hogan Gidley is clearly speaking out on behalf of the president and this is what he had to say about why we haven't heard the president condemn those riots strongly enough. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOGAN GIDLEY, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: The media though are trying to have it both ways, Howie. On one hand, he should be censored by big tech and not be allowed to talk. He also shouldn't say anything because it's divisive. And then when he doesn't say anything and can't say anything because the platforms have removed him they say, where is the president? Why aren't we hearing from him?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And the idea that the president's lack of a twitter account now prevents him from making statements is absurd. You can see the White House podium there still in working order though it hasn't been used in weeks now at the White House.
But the president could step out at any time. He has a press corps here ready and willing to listen to his comments and report them out, but the president not doing that. Staying behind closed doors in his final days in office, Ana.
[17:25:02
CABRERA: And when you look at that podium, I'm reminded the White House press secretary left without even saying good-bye, without a final press conference on these final days. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.
Joining us now is CNN's Senior Political Analyst, John Avlon, and CNN political commentator and host of "Firing Line" on PBS, Margaret Hoover. Always good to see you guys, and this is an important weekend as we look ahead and also reflect on the moment that we are all experiencing.
So let's start here. There is a CNN poll out today that just about took my breath away. It shows only 19 percent of Republicans believe Joe Biden won the election legitimately compared to 75 percent of Republicans who believe he didn't. Margaret, this is apparently the new fringe of your party, the 19 percent who believe the election was legitimate. How is that possible?
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I mean, keeping in mind that you always want to place polls within the context of many polls and average them, it is no good thing and there is nothing defensible. A fact that such a small number of people in that particular poll registered as understanding the truth as it happened in this current election.
And what it yields, Ana, is I think a real reckoning within the Republican Party, which is that the Republican Party is going to have to look itself in the mirror and recognize that there is a rot in the party. A rot that has been happening under our noses during Donald Trump and under -- you know, there are never Trumpers who have known this has been happening.
But there are plenty of reasonable Republicans who decided to go along with the flow, to take the tax cuts, to take the judges, to take the policies, and to ignore the twitter, to ignore the rhetoric, to ignore the rallies.
And forget what was actually being fomented under the guise of this president, which was a radical extremism that was creating and making Donald Trump the leader of a white extremist movement under the guise of the Republican Party in this country.
And there is a real reckoning that Republicans are going to have to begin. I mean, to the extent that the media has covered a Republican civil war in the past, they've got nothing on what's coming.
CABRERA: We will come back. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, Margaret, but I was going to say I'm going to come back to this reckoning with the Republican Party and discuss more on that with you in just a second.
But let me get to some more of this chilling video from the capitol riot shot by a "New Yorker" reporter. And again, we want to warn our viewers the images and the language are disturbing and graphic. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: This is -- look, here look.
UNKNOWN: Ted Cruz's objection to the Arizona --
UNKNOWN: Ted Cruz's objection. He was going to sell us out all along.
UNKNOWN: Really?
UNKNOWN: Look. Objection to counting electoral votes on the state of Arizona.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNKNOWN: All right. All right.
UNKNOWN: He's with us.
UNKNOWN: There's got to be something in here we can (BLEEP) use against these scum bags.
UNKNOWN: We're not going to fold, man.
UNKNOWN: Merry Christmas. No, no, this is good stuff.
UNKNOWN: Hey. We're not going to fold!
UNKNOWN: No, no, this good. This is all good.
UNKNOWN: Yeah!
UNKNOWN: Yes. This is incredible. Him and (inaudible) or whatever. Hawley and Cruz.
UNKNOWN: I think Cruz would want us to do this so, I think we're good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: John, I talked to Timothy Snyder in the last hour. He is an expert on tyranny. He talked about the big lie. The big lie about the election that has led to this. It's hard to put into words, you know, what we saw there. It makes me wonder even after Trump is gone, how long will this big lie about the election persist?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's going to take a while for this fever to completely break. Tim Snyder is a great person to talk to because we are dealing with the impact of the big lie being pushed by President Trump and proliferated via social media and we've seen the main streaming of conspiracy theories without enough Republicans having the courage to stand up and denounce the lies, denounce the conspiracy theories, thinking they could have it all in the name of political power.
But we are reaping what we sowed. The Capitol Hill attack is the most extreme version of that. But you heard there, you know, these folks who stormed the capitol thinking that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz would approve of their actions. That is the environment that has been created. And while Donald Trump will leave the scene and there are some hopeful signs that actually since Donald Trump was de-platformed, misinformation around election fraud has decreased 73 percent in the subsequent week.
[17:29:56]
But the ecosystem of disinformation has been created by hyper- partisans especially prolifered on social media. It's not going to go away. We're going to need to confront it and its going to take a long time to do so because there are people who want to inflame our divisions for their own political and partisan gain. And that's what we're confronting and it's going to take a while to confront that rot and we're going to need truth and reconciliation, frankly, to do it.
CABRERA: Can we just take a moment and reflect on what Jeremy reported that the Trump campaign is claiming the president would have denounced the attack more or he could have denounced the attack more but he can't because he doesn't have a platform available? Because he's been kicked off twitter?
HOOVER: This is (inaudible), honestly as a former White House staffer, Ana, when he, when Jeremy said that, I was making, looking at, you know, the president of the United States, which he is still for the next couple days has the largest megaphone in the world.
He can speak to the media, the American people, and the world any time he wants without his thumbs on a phone from his couch in the East Wing. He can speak to anybody any time he wants. This notion that he is a victim of twitter and Jack Dorsey is ridiculous.
AVLON: Yes, but it does speak, Ana, to the fact that he will only -- he's only comfortable with the MAGA-phone that has been created around social media and that amplification system, trolls and bots, rather than using the mechanisms of the presidency to speak directly. And that sets up a pervasive victimhood that Hogan was invoking. It's just total nonsense, but it's part of the world view they perpetuated.
CABRERA: It's kind of pathetic, really --
AVLON: Yes.
CABRERA: -- because I don't think anybody believes that he doesn't have another opportunity to speak to the American people or the rest of the world.
AVLON: Just pathetic. He is not strong, he is weak. That's the whole big reveal.
CABRERA: John Avlon and Margaret Hoover, I always could talk to you longer. I always appreciate your perspectives. Thanks for being with us.
HOOVER: Ana, thanks.
AVLON: Thank you. Be well.
CABRERA: You too. A quick programming note. Tonight, join our own Abby Philip as she talks with the soon-to-be vice president, Kamala Harris and her family. CNN Special Report "Kamala Harris Making History" airs at 10:00 eastern here on CNN. We'll be right back.
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[17:35:00]
CABRERA: Misinformation and lies. That's how America got to this point in large part with the president at the helm of a twitter account that until recently was fair game for conspiracies and deception. CNN business reporter, Donie O'Sullivan, is joining us now.
Donie, you've been all over this reporting when it comes to social media and the misinformation that's on it. We're now seeing the consequences play out in real time, but it wasn't just Trump's twitter that led us here. It was other forms of right wing media, even GOP lawmakers and other officials that did Trump's bidding. What are tech companies doing now to make sure this kind of misinformation has no place in America?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Ana. I mean, a whole toxic ecosystem of misinformation and just as we're seeing here in Washington, you know, barriers and blockades going up on the streets of the capitol. That is essentially now what social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are finally doing.
We have seen them really carpet bomb a lot of conspiracy theories, a lot of the biggest enablers of Trump's conspiracy theories in the past week. Just a few days, within the space of a few days alone last week, Twitter took down 70,000 QAnon accounts.
We have seen Facebook shut down or try to shut down a lot of the stop the steal movement. And really, Ana, we've seen, you know, many of the most prominent organizers of the events here on January 6th have also been removed from the platform.
And I was speaking to one person at one of these companies, one of the major social media companies who works in this area, and he compared what they're doing to QAnon right now, what they are doing to conspiracy theorists and domestic terrorists here in the United States as what they did to ISIS when they took them out and they took out the leader.
And, you know, that's an important part. Trump, so much of the misinformation flowed from the top. So taking out Trump was a very important part of that, but of course that raises all sorts of concerns about the power of Silicon Valley that they can silence the president this way, Ana.
CABRERA: And just how much responsibility are these platforms taking when it comes to perpetuating Trump's dangerous rhetoric all this time?
O'SULLIVAN: Yes. I mean, they're not really taking responsibility. We heard from face book's Sheryl Sandberg this week where she tried to downplay the culpability of Facebook in all of this. You know, it's -- they did. They allowed this to fester for years.
I mean, we knew from 2016 the role of misinformation and Russian misinformation played in the election. I mean, everybody was on notice about this and we could see QAnon grow over many years and particularly this year, but the companies only really started half- heartedly shutting down QAnon over the summer.
So, by that point, it had infected so many people. It had reached so many people. And of course the question -- the concern now is, these believers and these conspiracy theories are being moved to darker corners of the internet which may radicalize them further, Ana.
CABRERA: Nobody covers this beat better than you, Donie O'Sullivan. Thank you for sharing your reporting with us.
A dire warning from the incoming director of the CDC. COVID-19 could kill 500,000 people in the U.S. by mid-February. What can be done to prevent this? That's next. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."
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[17:40:00]
CABRERA: The soon-to-be director of the CDC has a staggering prediction for the coming few weeks. Dr. Rochelle Walenski expects the number of Americans to die of COVID to reach half a million by the middle of next month -- 500,000 people just in the United States.
And she says the infection impact of holiday travel and gatherings has yet to be fully seen. Dr. Leana Wen is joining us now. She's a CNN medical analyst and former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore. Dr. Wen, the exact words from the incoming CDC director are, "We still have some dark weeks ahead." What do you think it looks like?
LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, we're currently seeing, Ana, 3,000 to 4,000 or even more deaths per day. And we have not even seen the full effect of the holiday surge because many of the individuals who got infected around New Year's still have to present to the hospital.
[17:44:57]
And tragically, we know what happens after that. That the deaths will then increase. We also know that we added 100,000 infections from COVID-19 in the last month. And at the trajectory that we're going, it looks like we're going to see another hundred thousand bringing us to the horrible milestone of nearly half a million deaths sometime in February.
But I want people to remember that this is not a weather forecast. It's not static. There are things that we can do and the actions that we take now are what's going to determine what the United States and what our future looks like.
CABRERA: And a lot of people are chomping at the bit to get the vaccine. This week we learned there are no vaccine reserves as the nation ramped up vaccine distribution. Are you confident there is enough supply of the vaccine at this point to meet the demand?
WEN: No, not at all. We know that right now demand far out strips supply. But also, I don't think any of us understand right now how much vaccine is actually out there, and I don't know why we don't know. So I hope that when the Biden team comes in, they take a full accounting and then tell the American people how many doses are available right now.
When do we expect the next doses? What is the allocation going to be to the states? Because, otherwise, states cannot plan and the American public really deserves public, honest, transparent answers right now.
CABRERA: Right. Because we know that there are not as many vaccines administered as have been distributed to the states and yet there are, you know, states like New York where I am and you're hearing from the governor saying, we don't have enough vaccines. We're having to cancel appointments for people who were already planning to get vaccinated because there is a shortage already.
So just, you know, things aren't adding up as we speak. But you are part of a different vaccine trial. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial. I did want to ask you about that because that's a vaccine that only requires one dose. What is the status on that?
WEN: So, I am a participant, a volunteer in this clinical trial and so I don't have particular information that the public doesn't have. What I know thus far from public reporting is that the results are going to be expected by the end of this month, hopefully, and ideally if the results are that this vaccine is safe and effective, then it could be submitted for authorization.
We might see the Johnson & Johnson vaccine come online as early as February which would be amazing because this is a one dose vaccine to simplify the logistics substantially and also it could be stored at normal refrigerated temperatures for weeks and months.
CABRERA: Dr. Wen, you had a tweet that caught my eye this week. What's most important to vaccine distributions, speed or equity you asked? And you go on to say to many people, further delaying shots is an untenable or as untenable as exacerbating disparities, but if speed is solely prioritized, access rather than need will determine place in line. So what due think the solution should be? WEN: Ana, I wrote a "Washington Post" op-ed specifically on the
importance of balancing both speed and equity. There is a way to do both but it takes intention. I think everyone would agree that speed is paramount because we cannot be having millions of doses sitting around in freezers when there are thousands of people dying every day.
But if you just make this a free for all, first come first serve, then we know that individuals who may not be able to call a hotline hundreds of times and who may not be able to camp overnight, the people who are the most disadvantaged are going to be left out. And so you need to make vaccines free.
There need to be mass vaccination sites set up as well as distributions through community health centers, through pharmacies, all across the country including in the most vulnerable areas. There need to be mobile units that are deployed.
And very importantly, we need to just put the intention on equity and have reporting on disparities data because, otherwise, we're going to end up exacerbating underlying disparities that are already so prevalent in this pandemic.
CABRERA: Well, thank you for offering so many good solutions. I'm sure a lot of people are listening in places of power. Dr. Leana Wen, thank you as always for all you do and for being with us.
Up next, Congressman Jamie Raskin reflects on the loss of his son and his role as the lead impeachment manager in the House. He says he's not going to lose his son at the end of 2020 and lose his country and his republic in 2021. Hear part of his emotional interview, next.
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CABRERA: Welcome back. The man leading the impeachment push against President Trump had an emotional interview today with my colleague Jake Tapper. Congressman Jamie Raskin describing his devastating loss on the final day of 2020. The death of his son, Tommy, at the age of 25.
Just days later in a deadly capitol riot, Congressman Raskin worried that he and several other family members might be injured or killed by the angry mob.
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REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, Tommy was a remarkable person. He had overwhelming love for humanity and for our country in his heart and really for all the people of the world. We lost him on the very last day of that god awful year, 2020. And he left us a note which said, please forgive me, my illness won today, look after each other, the animals and the global poor for me, all my love, Tommy.
And that was the last act in a life that dazzled anybody who came into contact with Tommy. I feel him in my chest. When we went to count the Electoral College votes and it came under that ludicrous attack, I felt my son with me.
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And I was most concerned with our youngest daughter and my son-in-law who's married to our other daughter who are with me that day who got caught in a room off of the House floor. And between then and me was a rampaging armed mob that could have killed them easily and was banging on the doors where they were hiding under a desk with my chief of staff, Julie Tagen.
These events are personal to me, Jake. There was an attack on our country. There was an attack on our people. I'm not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021. It's not going to happen.
And the vast majority of the American people, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, reject armed insurrection and violence as a new way of doing business in America. We're not going to do that. This was the most terrible crime ever by a president of the United States against our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: And we have shocking new video from inside the capitol insurrection, making clear just how dangerous it was. We'll show it to you next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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