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Broadcasting Legend Larry King Dies At Age 87; Capitol Rioter Charged With Threatening To "Assassinate" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez (D-NY); Trump's Senate Impeachment Trial Delayed Until February; People Waiting Up to Five Hours For COVID Vaccinations In L.A.; Mixed Messages On New Variant of U.K. Coronavirus On Whether It's More Deadly; Biden, Democrats Eye Expand Child Tax Credit To Bring COVID Relief; Biden Continues Talks With Foreign Leaders; Hundreds Arrested As Protesters Across Russia Call For Release Of Alexei Navalny. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 23, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

We begin with news of a profound loss today, a loss felt deeply here at CNN.

[16:00:03]

Broadcasting legend and icon Larry King, member of our CNN family, has passed away at age 87. He hosted the popular CNN show "LARRY KING LIVE" live for more than 25 years, interviewing major newsmakers, celebrities, presidents, athletes and so many more people.

King left CNN in 2011 after taping more than 6,000 episodes of his show but he kept working until his death hosting "Larry King Now."

King's family hasn't yet revealed his cause of death but we know King was hospitalized with COVID-19 in late December. He was known for easy going demeanor, his trademark suspenders, of course.

CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look at King's amazing life and broadcasting career.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 50,000 interviews, an infinite amount of what, where, when and --

JOHN KING, FORMER CNN HOST: Why? Why? Why? Why?

The secret of my ability was stupid. In other words, I didn't know and I readily confessed I didn't know and I would say, help me to the guest. Help me, why did you do that?

Why do you have one name?

MADONNA, SINGER: As opposed to what?

KING: Two names, like, you know, Madonna --

MADONNA: Ciccone.

KING: -- Lebovitz.

MADONNA: That's good. That's good. I like that.

COOPER: I was asking around to people who've been on the show about what is it that makes it worked so well, and they said that you make guests comfortable to the point where they feel they can say anything.

KING: You know the secret. I want the guest to be good. I want them to be responsive. I want them to react. And I'm going to be that tomorrow night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of good memories. And look at me now.

KING: I look back on my life and I sometimes think I'm looking at someone else. I look at the things that have happened to me. The good and the bad and I can't believe it sometimes. I mean, I can't believe it.

I look at my teenage boys. Who is that, come on, somebody's kidding. Somebody's kidding. It's all a whirl. I'm still doing it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: What a humble man.

Legendary comedian Billy Crystal is joining us live in just a moment. Here's a clip of Crystal and Larry together on the show. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: Billy, hi.

BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Hi.

CALLER: I've been a fan of yours since the '70s. I think you're marvelous and you are brilliant. I'd like to know, how do you keep coming up with this wildly brilliant and hysterical material after all this time?

KING: Material, that's a fair question. It's hard to explain, but material in a medium like this one or movies where you do as much as you do, usually eats itself up.

CRYSTAL: I tell you, if this was baseball, I'd say on a hitting streak. I don't know where thing come from sometimes. I was once, like the idea for "City Slickers", I was watching a television show about fantasy vacations, you know, and there was scuba diving, go down the raft, the Colorado River. And I had a pad pretty much in every room just in case I get some of these little epiphanies and I wrote "city slickers" at the top of the page.

KING: Really, those two words? CRYSTAL: Yeah, I wrote the title. I wrote three friends going on a

cattle drive. Friends -- just pretty much how I describe the story -- even wrote Jack Palance's name in like a half a page of legal pads.

KING: That is unexplainable.

CRYSTAL: And then it just comes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Billy Crystal is joining us now on the phone.

Billy, it's so great to have you be part of this conversation as we remember the life of Larry King and his legacy. He's been interviewed by the great Larry King, but I know you also knew him off the air as well. When you think of him, what goes through your mind?

CRYSTAL (via telephone): I think of Larry as really sort of like a relative. He sounded like a relative. He was funny, he was charming, he was very smart and he was a regular guy. We could talk about politics, we could talk about comedy, we could talk about bagels, we could talk about anything and I think that Larry's passing is, he's part of a senior class, Ana, of really enduring legends we've been losing steadily.

I mean, Hank Aaron just the other day and my very dear friend Carl Reiner and Regis Philbin and Kirk Douglas, really giants who sustained themselves into their 90s. And so, it's -- you know, it's a sad day, but what an amazing career in that, you know, he was on CNN for 25 years. But the reason you can do that is because people trusted him. And you wanted to be interviewed.

[16:05:00]

I remember the first time I was interviewed with him, I really felt like I had arrived. I mean, started to do movies and started to do press tours, you know, and then they said, Larry King wants to talk to you. I was like, oh.

And I was actually quite nervous because it was just Larry at the desk. No audience. So that was a little bit of an away game for me. And it was just the conversation, that he actually made me relax because he was just so prepared. No notes. He just talked.

And I think he was always very aware and you'll know this too, as a broadcaster, the timing of the segment that you have. So the next question was right there. He didn't have to think about anything. And that kept me on my toes and made me respect him even more. He was always ready.

CABRERA: Yeah, I think all of us in this business have so much respect for, as you point out, his quick ability to come up with a question without notes. If you saw my desk, I have a ton of pages in front of me, I always come prepared, I think, but he had an ability to listen so intently and ask the question that popped in his head perhaps because he was so innately curious. I want to take another look at a clip of you on Larry's show and then

we'll talk on the other side.

CRYSTAL: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You've got to be -- you've got to be happy with the way the basketball season turned out.

CRYSTAL: You know, the guys are so great and we have Charles Barkley and David Robinson, the MVP, and Kareem and Isiah, Bill Laimbeer, Chris Mullin, Reggie Miller and I think it's the best work that Reggie Miller has ever done.

KING: By the way, I heard today from John Feinstein, that you -- Reggie Miller took two days off camp to shoot that and that Larry Brown was ticked.

CRYSTAL: Well, he shouldn't, I only needed Reggie for half an hour. The other twos days, I don't know where he was. I don't know where he was. Cato (ph) doesn't know where he was. We just have no idea where he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Billy, you said he could talk about anything. I know you're a big New York Yankees baseball fan. Tell me about Larry King the sports fan.

CRYSTAL: Well, Larry was, you know, a die hand Dodger fan. If anybody watched in recent years the playoff games, he'd be in the front row with his Dodgers jacket, so on, and I actually got to play in an old- timers game. I was -- you know, I had one major league at-bat with the Yankees back in 2008 as a great favor from George Steinbrenner. So, I had some street cred as a Yankee.

So the Yankees were playing and old time Yankees here at Dodgers Stadium. So, they asked me to play to fill out the teams and playing against the old time Dodgers teams which was the great Steve Garvey, that group.

So I'm at bat and Larry King is the umpire and I'm facing the immortal Fernando Valenzuela. And the first pitch is two feet away. I mean, it's high, and two feet out of the strike zone. Larry says strike one.

I turned and said, Larry. Next pitch, same place. Strike two. So I step and I said, Larry, those weren't even close and he said, I know, but I'm hungry.

(LAUGHTER)

CABRERA: That says so much about his personality, right?

CRYSTAL: He was so -- he was so fluent in so many things, you know?

CABRERA: Yeah.

CRYSTAL: Two years ago, Larry was kind enough to host an event in my honor, the Friars Club. It was big fundraising event for the club. And he was the emcee.

And, Ana, he was -- and I've been with other events where he spoke. Because he was around comedians who he adored, and other show businesspeople his entire life, it's felt like, that they picked up the rhythms and able to perform really like a boys comic in the best way. He had great timing and great rhythm and it was -- it was really a lesson in being prepared, again.

You know, he didn't work from any notes or anything, just like he did when he was being interviewed and had about a thousand people to talk to, and just -- he was a stunning human being.

CABRERA: No doubt about it. You talk about his quick wit and the fact he could go toe to toe with other comedians even though that wasn't his day job. Was it fun to go on his show as a comedian because he kind of would set you up to deliver the punch?

CRYSTAL: Well, yeah -- well, he also was a little intimidating because you didn't know where he was going to go. And you didn't know what his approach would be. You're coming on basically to talk about the latest project and so on, so forth. And he might have wanted to talk about something else.

So again, without an audience, it was almost like going into a shrink session or something because there he was with the big glasses and the -- just the way he would sit there and look at you, and he never looked at notes and he just keep going.

[16:10:11]

So, it was always a pleasure to be with him, but there was a little fear at times because, again, he just -- you didn't know where he was going to go but always end up in the right place.

CABRERA: You know, his show was destination programming and today, we have so many different information outlets and media outlets and places to get information and entertainment, you know, with our smartphones and Internet. Do you think that, you know, his legacy is tied to an era where people wanted to be at home listening and he was just such a great, great conversationalist?

CRYSTAL: I do, and I also think it was of a different time that, and I may be wrong, of course, but I don't remember a lot of the phone calls that he would take, which were a big part of the show, anyone calling with much animus and anger, that seemed -- the country seemed to be a lot less.

And, of course, depending on who the guest was, but he would -- he would treat whoever called in with great dignity and you felt like you were calling in, you know, to a friend. I also used to kid him, talked about social media a little bit, his column -- he had a newspaper column -- that was sort of in a way a precursor of tweeting because he would write these little one sentence observations and tie them altogether and I used to say, Larry, how is -- how is this a column? How is this?

And he'd write -- tomato soup and grilled cheese, still a great lunch on a snowy day. And that's writing? He would just laugh. In my mind, Tony Bennett, still the greatest singer and that was the entire column. So, he -- you know --

CABRERA: I'm sure he got a lot of opinions though. I'm sure it sparked a lot of passion in people, some of those.

CRYSTAL: He did, he did. People wanted to talk to him. You know, sometimes, I'd see him and wouldn't even say, hi, Larry. I'd just go, Altoona, you're on. And he just would giggle, and you know, he was -- he was a real, I'll use the word haimish guy. Again, like Regis and Carl Reiner, to have a career that long and be that good for that long is something we all should be grateful for and aspire to.

CABRERA: I think it says that he was just so passionate, he lived and breathed the work that he did, it was -- in some ways, I imagine, effortless for him, the fact he wanted to work all the way up to his death because he loved it so much.

Billy Crystal, thank you very much for sharing your memories and your thoughts and your perspective on the life and legacy of Larry King.

CRYSTAL: Thank you.

CABRERA: Next hour, we'll talk with your co-star in "Analyze This", Robert de Niro, about his memories about Larry King. He's going to join us live at the top of 5:00. As we go back, a look back at the time Larry King got the president of the United States to show him his driver's license.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: When was the last time you drove?

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I drive from -- with my own truck, for example, in Maine.

KING: So you do drive?

BUSH: Yeah, got a car in Washington, but I don't drive it very much. I'll drive around the circle in the Oval Office, oval in front of the White House.

I can drive when I go hunting, something like that. I go hunting every year here in Texas and I drive a truck.

KING: Still a Texas driver's license?

BUSH: Still. You want to see it?

(CHEERS)

BUSH: Let me see, I got to be sure I got --

KING: Just make sure it's not expired.

BUSH: No, no, it's not expired.

KING: I like that smile.

BUSH: Did it say president?

KING: Yep, President George W. Bush, the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Department of Public Safety, Texas. Class C driver license.

BUSH: Hey, one minute.

KING: Six feet one inches tall, sex is male, eyes are brown. Birthday, 6-12-24 and this expires 6-12-93.

BUSH: I'm legal, see. Where's your car? Let's go for a drive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:19:01]

CABRERA: Breaking news. The Texas man who allegedly participated in the capitol riot is now charged with threatening to assassinate Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His lawyer is now speaking out.

I want to get to CNN's Jessica Schneider with more.

What do we know, Jessica?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, this suspect is accused of not only posting online death threats against the Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but against a capitol police officer.

Prosecutor say it's Garret Miller of Texas. They say that he tweeted, quote, assassinate AOC, and then he also said the police officer who fatally shot a female Trump supporter inside the Capitol, he wrote, quote, deserves to die, and he said, won't survive long because it's, quote, hunting season.

So this was all posted online and officials say Miller participated in the capitol attack and then posted extensively on social media before and during the attack saying that a civil war could start and said next time, we bring guns.

[16:20:00]

Now, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, she has been very vocal in the days after the attack and she's actually talked about how she and other members really weren't sure they were going to make it out alive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die. It is not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated. It's just not an exaggeration to say that at all.

We were very lucky that things happened within certain minutes that allowed members to escape the House floor unharmed. But many of us nearly and narrowly escaped death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Garret Miller is now facing five federal criminal charges, including for these death threats.

Now, his attorney is coming out saying that Garret Miller deeply regrets the threats and he said this, he did it in support of former President Donald Trump but regrets his actions. He also said he has the support of his family and a lot of the comments are viewed in context as really sort of misguided political hyperbole. Given the political divide these days, there is a lot of hyperbole.

Ana, of course, this is just the latest suspect, we've seen more than 120 people arrested and charged. And prosecutors say there could be hundreds more to come who are facing charges and these charges likely, Ana, could get a lot more serious with a lot more prison time attached -- Ana.

CABRERA: I think a lot of people who were watching that day and as we learn more, are waiting for those more serious charges.

Jessica Schneider, thank you for that reporting.

Let's head to Capitol Hill now. We have more breaking news. The new Senate majority leader calling for a Justice Department investigation into reports of newly uncovered ways that then President Donald Trump tried to strong arm officials to overturn the results of the election he lost.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is on Capitol Hill right now with more on details.

Suzanne, what are you learning?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just getting news of this, Ana.

This is Senator Chuck Schumer. The new Senate majority leader who is tweeting out this news. But essentially what he is doing is calling for the inspector general of the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into what happened between then President Trump and a Justice Department Attorney Jeffrey Clark.

According to "The New York Times" report that Clark nearly convinced Trump to fire his then Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. Why? Because Rosen had refused to force Georgia's state lawmakers to overturn the presidential election results out of their state.

And when Justice Department officials got wind of this plot of what they were trying allegedly to do, these Justice Department officials held a conference call and essentially agreed that if Rosen goes, if he's fired, they're all going to go and all going to resign en masse. Allegedly, Trump got wind on this and backed down on the plan, this all according to "The New York Times".

So, Schumer now in this tweet is saying, unconscionable, a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people's will, the Justice Department inspector general must launch an investigation into this attempted sedition now, and the Senate would move forward with Trump's impeachment trial.

Ana, what is interesting about that tweet is the very last sentence mentioning the impeachment trial. This could be something that they include in their case against the president making the case that the lengths to which he'd go through to overturn this election, and that will begin in earnest as the House managers bring over their articles of impeachment on Monday -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK. Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux.

Tim Naftali is joining us. He's a CNN presidential historian. Along with April Ryan, a CNN political analyst.

First, April, your reaction to this breaking news that Senator Schumer is now calling for a new DOJ investigation to the former president's attempts to overturn the election he lost.

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I am not surprised. There are reports in all sorts of information that they are receiving at this moment and I'm going back to an interview that I had with then Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who said, if indeed, Democrats received the win for the Senate, all options are on the table and this seems to be one of the options that he's looking at.

They believe that this president particularly Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes that the president broke the rule of law and he said, for sure, that this president will pay and he's trying to make sure he does.

CABRERA: But do you see this, April, as something the GOP is going to pounce on to point to Democrats fueling more division right now at a time when the country needs to unite?

RYAN: You know, Ana, right now, the GOP is weighing pros and cons as it relates to this president being convicted in impeachment, to see if this president is more of an asset or liability when it comes to 2022.

[16:25:11]

So this is just yet another stumbling block that they're dealing with as they weigh the pros and cons. So, at issue, this is about Chuck Schumer trying to make --

CABRERA: Okay, let's talk about other breaking news as we work to get that technology issue figured out.

We have this new information that a Texas man is arrested. He allegedly took part in the deadly capitol riot and is now charged with threatening to assassinate Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez.

Tim, given how heated it is, are you surprised by this news?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I'm disgusted, but it's a reminder that on January 6th, dissent crossed a very broad and powerful line in our country. Violent dissent is not constitutional and it's not legal.

Threatening the lives of anyone, by the way, is not legal. Threatening the lives of our elected representatives is an attack on all of us, and this is a reminder of how perilous this moment is and the de- radicalization of so many fellow Americans is a necessary step if we're not going to suffer from a wave of domestic terrorism in the years to come.

CABRERA: And many Republican lawmakers continue to not flat-out disavow these extremists. They continue to not acknowledge that it was a free and fair election. Now, we learn of this assassination threat. What's it going to take?

NAFTALI: Well, I think they should just be reminded to what they said about Islamists. They should be reminded when Islamists made the ridiculous and bankrupt argument that they had a right to kill us because of the Gulf War, for example, in the invasion of Iraq, we understood under no circumstances was violence and terrorism acceptable or justified. I think that's the argument you say to Republicans who are arguing, well, you know, it was hyperbole. People say these sorts of things under stress in a period of political tension.

No, no. It's wrong. I think that's what you say to Republicans who refuse to distance themselves from that kind of language and that kind of philosophy.

CABRERA: April, the more time that passes, the more we're learning. We are getting new information. So, when it comes to the impeachment trial, which has been delayed by a couple of weeks, set to now begin the week of February 8th in an agreement worked out by Democrats and Republicans. Who do you think, which party might benefit more from delaying this trial?

RYAN: Well, I know who loses, the American public. Because at this moment, there are efforts to try to get things on track to fix the problems that this nation is facing simultaneously -- deadly, economic, home losses, et cetera, et cetera, and then you're dealing with this, the man who caused much of this angst and consternation in this nation at this moment. But who wins, we have to see once again as I said before, the

Republicans are weighing the pros and cons. The question for the Republicans, are they looking at humanity, are they looking at politics and what has happened versus their own party. So, I see more loss than I see a win.

CABRERA: April, you've covered so many different administrations. What is it like for you now as a White House reporter to go from covering a presidency that was, you know, so far down the road of unprecedented, the continuous lies, the attacks on the press, a few days in now to the Biden administration, does this feel different already?

RYAN: It feels different but there has been trauma from the last four years. This administration, this Biden/Harris administration is the polar opposite of the Donald John Trump administration. And the Donald Trump administration is the polar opposite of the four administrations I've covered. This is now five administrations that I've covered.

But the Donald John Trump administration is a polar opposite, an opposite of everything that any of the administrations I've covered in the past has done, has been and could be. So -- and as it relates to him, Donald Trump, going after the press, it's about a man who has no understanding of what the founding fathers put in place, the first amendment, and the breaking of the rule of law.

And I think about, you know, AOC, and the other congressional leaders who have death threats and continued to get death threats. I mean, just before the capital siege, the insurrection, Maxine Waters received a death threat two weeks prior and she was concerned and she probably told me in the report that I did, that she talked to the sergeant at arms.

[16:30:04]

She talked to Nancy Pelosi, she talked to the capitol police chief, and they all assured her everything would be well.

And she gets death threats and so many others get death threats because Donald Trump did not like them.

CABRERA: We heard the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the president and sided with Democrats, making it the most bipartisan impeachment in history, many of them are also now being threatened.

Got to leave it there today.

Thank you both, April Ryan --

RYAN: Thank you.

CABRERA: -- Tim Naftali. Appreciate it.

Coming up, mixed messages about a variant of the coronavirus virus identified in the U.K. Is it actually more deadly? What you need to know. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:06]

CABRERA: To California we go now. Some people in Los Angeles have had to wait up to five hours in line to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

The wait time so long, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti encouraging people to bring water and snacks with them and make sure to go to the bathroom before they arrive and make sure their gas tanks are full.

I want to bring in CNN's Paul Vercammen in Los Angeles.

Paul, five-hour lines?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and for that reason, I'm in Inglewood, Ana, at one these super vaccine sites run by L.A. Count at where the Lakers won so many basketball championships.

And people in these lines today, once they get the shot in their arm, are celebrating like they've won a championship. They're that thrilled they got through that arduous process that you described and finally got a vaccination.

Let's listen to some of them express their euphoria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Relief. Relieved. The hunt for trying to get it has stopped. Now I got the first one. I just wait for the message to come back to get the second one.

VERCAMMEN: How long did you hunt for it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the beginning of time. From the beginning that this started. When is there something to help me not worry so much about it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I feel great. And I don't want to be actually away from my kids or my grandkids. I want to be able to hug them, kiss them and be with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: So that sweet sentiment expressed.

But here's the underpinning problem in California right now. It is still raging throughout the state. We had 22,000, almost 23,000 new cases. And then we had 593 deaths after a record yesterday.

Here's a slight sliver of optimism in the hospitalizations. They are dropping to 18,442.

So the strategy now is to vaccinate as many people as possible throughout the state of California. Leaders saying we just need way more vaccines to pour into the state right now.

They're trying to get as aggressive as they can by setting up sites like this. But they still need more shots to distribute -- Ana?

CABRERA: That seems to be the overarching message we're hearing from officials in states across the country. The Utah governor said it's like the "Hunger Games," and it shouldn't be trying to get these vaccinations.

Paul Vercammen, thank you for your reporting.

We have new developments regarding the COVID-19 variant discovered in the United Kingdom. Here's what the British prime minister and his top scientific adviser said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've been informed today that, in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there's some evidence that the new variant, the variant that was first identified in London and the southeast, may be associated with a higher degree of mortality.

PATRICK VALANCE, U.K. CHIEF SCIENCE ADVISER: When we look at data from hospitals, patients who are in hospitals or in hospital with the virus, the outcomes of those with the original virus or new variant look the same. So there's no real evidence of an increase in mortality for those in hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The director of the National Institutes of Health cautions it's too soon to tell whether this variant is, indeed, more deadly.

Let's discuss with former Baltimore health commissioner and CNN medical analyst, Dr. Leana Wen.

Dr. Wen, the CDC has already identified nearly 200 cases of this variant first identified in the U.K. here in the U.S.

How concerned are you when you hear what we just listened to there with the British government? How concerned should Americans be?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think we should all be very concerned, Ana, and that's because even if this new variant is not more deadly, because it spreads a lot more easily, we are going to see more hospitalizations and more deaths.

And this means, too, is that the activities we thought previously were low risk, something even more contagious, those relatively safe activities are more now dangerous.

So we should really be keeping on our guards even more so than before, even if pandemic fatigue set in for so many.

CABRERA: We know that right now the U.K. leads all countries in deaths per capita. And they obviously have this huge problem with that fast- spreading variant.

There's another variant, though, that was first discovered in South Africa.

And I want to play what Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said about that variant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Somewhat more concerned about a South African variant, which seems to have a somewhat more significant effect on the vaccine response.

Although, it still looks like it's protected, it's a bit more of a concern.

Fortunately, we've not yet seen that variant in the U.S. But it wouldn't surprise me if it appears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:00]

CABRERA: Dr. Wen, do you agree with Dr. Collins?

WEN: I do. So there's the South African variant and a Brazilian variant.

And because we're not doing the genomic surveillance here in the U.S., we could have home-grown variants right here that are more dangerous or more virulent or more dangerous. We just don't know.

The key is, again, for us to be on our guard. And also to know that even with these variants, it's the same precautions we need to be following that protect against these variants as against normal COVID- 19. So washing our hands, avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing masks.

CABRERA: The CDC said Americans should not get a flu and COVID-19 vaccine at the same time. Can you explain why?

WEN: The way that vaccines work is that it stimulates your immune system to produce these antibodies.

And I guess the thinking is that with the new vaccine, we don't want to also have another vaccine that also stimulates the immune system. Maybe you get less of an immune response if you get two at the same time.

But you should definitely still get the flu vaccine, just not in the same time frame as you're getting the coronavirus vaccine.

CABRERA: I think it was a two-week separation that the CDC is recommending.

Dr. Leana Wen, as always, great information. Thank you for being here.

WEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Parents, you'll want to pay attention to this. President Biden is working on a plan to send directly monthly payments to parents in an effort to provide some relief amid the pandemic. How much money could you get? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:36]

CABRERA: With former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate on hold, at least for now, Democrats are pressing ahead on other fronts, including bringing much-needed relief to millions of families who have been devastated by the pandemic.

And today, CNN has learned that House Democrats are working on drafting new legislation proposed by President Biden that would give parents up to $3,600 per child per year.

CNN White House correspondent, Arlette Saenz, is joining us now.

Arlette, I understand this would be essentially an expansion of the child tax credit. Walk us through exactly what this is.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ana, what this is, is another attempt to try to offer some relief to American families that have been struggling amid the pandemic.

And House Democrats are drafting up some legislation that would expand the child tax credit and send recurring monthly payments to American families.

So just run through what was seen in one of the draft proposals, this would provide up to $3,600 a year per child for those under the age of 6.

For those children between ages of 6 and 17, families would be getting about $3,000 a year.

And this really builds on something that President Biden has said he wants to see. He talked about the need to expand the child tax credit and has included a call for that in his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that he's pushing up on Capitol Hill.

And what you are seeing right now from the Biden administration as well as Democrats in Congress is they are trying to keep President Biden's agenda front and center, even as that Senate impeachment trial is looming and could complicate things.

But Biden has said that he wants to see action taken in these early weeks and that's what Congress is trying to him do.

CABRERA: President Biden is continuing to make his rounds talking with foreign leaders, right, including the U.K. prime minister today. What do you know about that call?

SAENZ: We learned just a short while ago from the British side that President Biden spoke today with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He tweeted out a photo saying that he spoke with Biden, and adding, "I

look forward to deepening the longstanding alliance between our two countries as we drive a green and sustainable recovery from COVID-19."

They talked about the pandemic. And that also suggests they talked about issues relating to climate change.

But we've not heard anything from the Biden team yet about this phone call or potentially other phone calls he may have had with leaders.

But yesterday, he did speak by phone with both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and also Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

So what you're seeing from Biden is he's really trying to keep up these alliances with the United States, and going back to his longtime relationships with a lot of foreign leaders.

He spent a lot of time in the Senate. He cultivated those relationships while vice president. And he's long said that he will be able to restore some of the alliances torn apart by President Trump.

CABRERA: Arlette Saenz, thank you.

Coming up at the top of the hour, Robert De Niro will be joining us live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern as we remember the broadcasting legend, Larry King.

Here he is talking politics with Larry King, Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon in 2006.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You were involved with Hillary, were you?

ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: No, No.

(LAUGHTER)

DE NIRO: I did a telephone message for Hillary, yes.

KING: And you supported others?

DE NIRO: I don't do it much. But the year, for the next presidential election, I feel I'll be more active to hopefully make it right.

KING: If Hillary runs, will it be she that you endorse?

DE NIRO: Possibly, yes.

KING: Do you think it's the duty of a person, actor or not?

[16:49:24]

DE NIRO: I think it is, yes. If you can help. And I think it is, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Tens of thousands of protesters are braving bitter cold temperatures across Russia today calling for the release of Alexei Navalny.

The Russian opposition leader was arrested almost a week ago after he returned from Germany. And that was after he was poisoned, you'll recall.

His arrest met with outrage and chaos, kind of public defiance, which has not been seen in years.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is reporting from inside one of those protests in Moscow today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The police is out in force here at Pushkin Square in the center of Moscow. There's a lot of riot cops on the street pushing people back. They've been trying to stop people from coming to the square in the first place.

The folks you're hearing around me are screaming, "Shame, shame," as the riot police make their advance. And this is something we see a lot of.

We've seen a lot of people on the square rioting, moving in, and police continuously arresting people and detaining them.

This is not just happening in Moscow. In fact, a lot of other Russian cities as well.

There have been big protests from Vladivostok, in the east, through Siberia. A lot of Siberians. Even in a town, at minus 52 degrees centigrade, people came out and protested.

[16:55:09]

Hundreds of people have been detained. Several people here detained also on Pushkin Square.

But folks we're speaking here to say they're obviously out for Alexei Navalny. They want him to be released. A lot of them say they also believe the poisoning with the nerve agent, Novichok, is something they simply cannot accept.

But there have also been calls here from protesters saying they want Vladimir Putin to step down.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Our thanks to Fred. Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:05]

CABRERA: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

We continue to follow breaking news this hour.