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House to Send Impeachment Article to Senate Tonight; Interview with Representative Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) about Senate Impeachment Trial against Trump; Biden Pushes for Bipartisan Support for New COVID Relief Package; Moderna Reports its COVID-19 Vaccine is Effective Against New Variants; CDC Director Cites She's Unsure About How Much Vaccine There is; Futures Mixed Ahead of Big Week for Tech Earnings. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired January 25, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.
Two weeks from today this country will witness something that has never happened before, that is a former president tried, President Trump, in fact, his second impeachment trial.
[09:00:00]
Hours from now House impeachment managers will make the ceremonial walk over to the Senate, one we saw just over a year ago. This time delivering one article of impeachment against a former president for inciting an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
The trial will officially begin two weeks from today. That's a crucial 14 days for not only the former president's defense team but for the Biden administration to attempt to make major moves on its legislative agenda.
HARLOW: That's right. His pledge to unite a divided nation already being put to the test. This morning there are senators from both parties that are pushing back on Biden's sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. At the same time the U.S. has now surpassed 25 million coronavirus cases since the beginning of this pandemic. On top of that this morning, the CDC is reviewing data that suggests the U.K. COVID variant which is shown to spread more quickly may also be more deadly.
So we've got a lot to get to that is developing this morning. Let's begin on Capitol Hill with our colleague Lauren Fox.
Good morning to you, Lauren. What can we expect today as those House impeachment managers get set to deliver officially the articles of impeachment to the Senate?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Reporter: Well, that's right. Really a ceremonial step up here this evening on Capitol Hill as the House impeachment managers will walk over that one article of impeachment and present it to the U.S. Senate. Expect that tomorrow senators will be sworn in as jurors as part of the Senate impeachment trial. But then we expect a two-week break.
And as you noted, this is really a critical period of time for both the former president Donald Trump's defense team as well as Biden's legislative agenda up here on Capitol Hill. Expect the Democrats are going to continue that push to get more and more of his nominees through. Meanwhile, there is a debate within the Republican Party about whether or not it is even constitutional to be holding an impeachment trial of what is now a former president.
Here's what Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, said this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not, what is? That the preponderance of the legal opinion is that an impeachment trial after someone has left office constitutional. I believe that's case. I will, of course, hear what the lawyers have to say for each side. But I think it's pretty clear that the effort is constitutional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And this has really been a debate between Republicans for the last several weeks. You had Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, come out very early with a statement saying he couldn't support convicting President Trump in part because he didn't believe it was constitutional. Expect that to continue to play out over the upcoming days and weeks -- Jim and Poppy.
SCIUTTO: We know you'll be watching. Lauren Fox, thanks very much.
Well, joining me now to discuss is Democratic Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands. She is one of the House impeachment managers who will argue the case before the Senate against former President Trump.
Congresswoman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.
REP. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI): Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: First, big question here, the talk, the hope among Democrats have been for a two-track for this trial. In other words, a trial in the afternoon, consider legislative business in the morning. Given Republican opposition, even lack of agreement on rules going forward, is the two-track plan effectively dead?
PLASKETT: You know, I'm going to leave processes to the leadership, the speaker as well as Leader Schumer and Mitch McConnell and others in the Senate. My focus is on preparing a case against Donald Trump for inciting insurrection and arguing that article of impeachment. SCIUTTO: OK. Let me ask you about that case. New information has come
to light since the Capitol riot about the president's repeated attempts to overturn the election. The latest being the reporting in the "Times" and the "Wall Street Journal" that he nearly fire to acting attorney general to elevate a low-ranking lawyer who was more willing to pursue his unfounded claims of widespread election fraud.
Do you plan to use this new information, explore this new information as part of your case against the president?
PLASKETT: Well, I'm not going to give strategy or what our case is going to be. Suffice it to say that we know that the president has engaged in a prolonged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election using all means available to him. Whether it's frivolous lawsuits, disinformation, lies, false claims that he won by a landslide. Reported that the results were somehow fraudulent.
All of these things go to what he did on January 6th, leading up to January 6th. And that is to drum up individuals to come to Washington under false pretense, under these lies, to ignite them and to set that flame in the Capitol.
[09:05:13]
This is all about him trying to sustain power for himself, holding on to his grip. And it's exactly what the framers of our Constitution anticipated when they have put in impeachment of a despot hungry for power.
SCIUTTO: OK. Do you plan to call witnesses in this trial? Of course the last trial when the Senate was under Republican control, witnesses were blocked. Will you call witnesses to make your case?
PLASKETT: Well, we have a strategy and again, you know, Jim, I'm not going to explain exactly what we're going to do at this time. We're prepared for trial. We have a dynamic team of not just impeachment managers, but incredible staff, attorneys who have been working around the clock who have a case ready. And I think the American people are going to be compelled by what they hear.
Listen, this is the only impeachment that we're going to have where not only were Americans all witness to the crime, the jurors were witnesses to the crime. But the jurors, in this case, those 100 senators, were also victims. There were attempted kidnapping, attempted assassination.
SCIUTTO: Right.
PLASKETT: Mayhem, assault against them as well.
SCIUTTO: I'm not asking you to reveal secrets from your prosecution, but this is -- the outlines of this trial are already being debated in public. So I'm curious about the timeframe here. There have been discussions of a trial as short as three days. I know that many of those things have to still be decided by leadership. From your perspective, you're one of the House managers, you are in
effect a prosecutor here. Would three days be enough for to you make the case?
PLASKETT: We'll have to see. You know, I know it's frustrating for you not to hear what our strategy is. But I don't think, you know, it would be appropriate at this time to reveal that. I think the time will tell. Just suffice it to say that we're prepared.
We're ready. I think the evidence is there. And you know what the president did is exactly what the impeachment was stood for, for inciting insurrection, for an individual trying to overthrow our democracy on January 6th, of all days when members were attempting to carry out their most solemn constitutional duty.
SCIUTTO: OK.
PLASKETT: We've all seen where all witnesses to this crime.
SCIUTTO: A number of Republican lawmakers, senators such as Marco Rubio, who criticized the president's exhortations to the mob that day have been backtracking. Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, said the president bore responsibility, now sort of saying everybody does. I wonder, are you concerned that this is heading towards a party line vote like the first impeachment? In other words, that you will not be able to convince Republican senators to convict?
PLASKETT: No, I am hopeful that members are going to be open minded that they are going to when they raise their hand and take that oath that they're going to view the evidence that is presented to them and that they're going to do the right thing. I cannot be moved by the machinations of politics that are going on in the interim while we are trying to put this together. I think that, you know, we're going to be speaking to all 100 senators.
We're not going to be speaking to one group or the other. And I'm am hopeful that they're going to do what's necessary to truly unify this country. And that unification can't happen until there is a reckoning for crimes against it.
SCIUTTO: Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, thanks for joining the show this morning.
PLASKETT: Thank you.
HARLOW: Really good to hear from her.
Also this development this morning. Dominion Voting Systems, that company is now suing Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 billion, or seeking damages to recoup losses they say were caused by false election lies about their auditing system that Giuliani, who of course is former President Trump's personal lawyer, pushed on his podcast and during several television appearances after the election.
Dominion is also suing one of the attorneys who represented the president, Sydney Powell, for pushing similar claims. SCIUTTO: Yes. One thing we know, in court, you can't make stuff up.
Right?
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: So there may be legal consequences there.
Well, now to President Biden. He is kicking off a busy week with his sights set he hopes on a COVID relief compromise.
HARLOW: BY the end of the day today, a pandemic travel restriction will be put back in place as well as an executive order aiming to boost U.S. manufacturing.
Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.
Good morning, Jeremy. It is interesting, I mean, this week, I think every day has one or more executive orders that are coming, which is interesting, given the push for unity here as well.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt, and it has -- the Biden administration has already faced criticism from some Republicans for taking that unilateral action.
[09:10:06]
But at the same time this is the Biden administration showing that they are getting to work right away and focusing on some of the priorities that got President Biden elected into office. And so you've seen these themed days every single day of the Biden presidency, weekdays at least, have had a theme. First we saw coronavirus. Then we saw the economy. And today we will see a focus on this buy America initiative from President Biden.
The president will be signing an executive order that will require the federal government to purchase more American-made goods. It will strengthen some of the requirements, including how many components in a product actually have to be made in the U.S. to be considered American-made.
But beyond the executive actions and while we have seen a flurry of it, we are also seeing this White House focus on bipartisan legislation, at least making an attempt to do so with this $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief legislation that they are pushing for. Yesterday President Biden's top economic adviser Brian Deese, he huddled with 16 senators, eight Democrats, eight Republicans, to try and gin up some bipartisan support for this legislation.
But we are already seeing what a steep path this administration faces to get that legislation passed at least on a bipartisan basis. Several of the Republicans who were on that call, including Senator Mitt Romney, Senator Susan Collins, both of them expressing concern about the high price tag that we are seeing, especially given that Congress passed $900 billion piece of legislation just a few weeks ago.
We are also seeing today President Biden taking action to replace the White House physician. That was Dr. Sean Conley, who was in that position. He, of course, offered misleading information to reporters about President Trump's condition when he was at Walter Reed Hospital with the coronavirus. Conley essentially lied about the fact that President Trump was receiving supplemental oxygen initially.
Dr. Kevin O'Connor will be taking Conley's place. He has been a longtime physician to President Biden.
HARLOW: OK. Jeremy, thank you for that reporting at the White House this morning.
Still to come this hour, Republicans turning on their own over former President Trump's impeachment, specifically on Congresswoman Liz Cheney's role. We'll speak to a Republican lawmaker who calls it GOP cancel culture. You'll want to hear that.
Also, one of the alleged rioters who stormed the Capitol on the 6th of January happened to be the brother of a Secret Service agent who once led Michelle Obama's security detail. The alarming new details on that ahead.
SCIUTTO: And Tom Brady, you might have heard of him, will be going to his incredible 10th Super Bowl. Ten. Where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Brady making NFL history at the very young, let's be clear, young age of 43.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
SCIUTTO: This is just in to CNN and it's good news. Moderna says that its testing shows its vaccine developed in conjunction with the NIH here in the U.S. is expected to protect against two new variants of COVID-19. Those variants initially detected in the U.K. and South Africa. That's good news.
HARLOW: It's great news. We needed some good news this morning. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with us, also Dr. Colleen Kraft; associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital. Good morning to you both. Elizabeth, what does this -- what does this mean? Is this a for sure?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not a for sure. This is definitely a good indication that Moderna's vaccine will protect against these variants. But I want to look a little bit at the word, "protect".
I don't -- I think everyone knew that the vaccines would protect against the variants, the question is how much. What their data and other data shows is that the vaccine could be very well fully protected, the full 95 percent against the variant found in the U.K., but there are still questions about the variant found in South Africa.
Moderna's data found a six-fold. The way they put it was a six-fold reduction in neutralization. And that might be OK. The vaccine might still be quite effective. It could be from what experts tell me, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent effective against the South Africa variant. But it might not be the full 95 that we've heard so much about. So, we need to keep that in mind. This variant in South Africa still might pose a bit of a challenge, but it's likely the vaccine will still work quite well against it.
SCIUTTO: Yes, up to 70-80 percent. It's not bad for a vaccine from what you've told us in the past.
COHEN: No --
SCIUTTO: Dr. Kraft --
COHEN: Right --
SCIUTTO: What do we know about the severity of these new strains? I mean, you look at scenes in the U.K., I mean, British hospitals just overwhelmed. I mean, the doctors there describing it like a war zone. So, some signs that the U.K. variant is more deadly. How much more deadly? Is it here in the U.S.? Are we already seeing results of that here in the U.S.?
COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Thanks, Jim. It's really hard to tell at this point just because we are overwhelmed from our own current surge after the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I do think that any transmission that's enhanced, so if you're seeing more people getting infected, which is certainly what this variant is known for, so increased transmissibility --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
KRAFT: Then are just going to have more people that are going to end up sick and in a hospital. So, if greater numbers, statistically more people get --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
KRAFT: Infected, you're just going to have more people getting at that sicker end.
HARLOW: Listen to this, ladies, I was stunned to hear this from the CDC Director Rochelle Walensky who just came in and inherited all of this, here's what she said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION: You know, I would say one of the biggest problems right now is, I can't tell you how much vaccine we have. And If I can't tell it to you, then I can't tell it to the governors and I can't tell it to the state health officials. If they don't know how much vaccine they're getting not just this week, but next week and the week after, they can't plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:20:00]
HARLOW: Let me just note how important that honesty and transparency is, Elizabeth, to hear what they don't know rather --
COHEN: Yes --
HARLOW: Than it is what it is.
COHEN: Yes, how refreshing.
HARLOW: It's refreshing --
COHEN: How it's so important --
HARLOW: But refreshing. It's terrifying.
SCIUTTO: Yes --
HARLOW: I mean, this is the reality.
COHEN: I think -- right. I think that it is terrifying in some ways to hear from someone as high up as Dr. Walensky that we don't know how much vaccine we have. However, you know, this Biden administration is not even a week old, give them some time, they have a lot to dig through.
They have really a lot of chaos to dig through. They were left with chaos in this regard, and they're going to have to figure that out. To get back to the variants for one second, I do want to say that I've spoken with U.S. scientists who have been privy to a lot of this U.K. data, and they are feeling like it is likely that the U.K. variants in and of itself is more deadly, not just because it spreads faster, but there's --
SCIUTTO: Wow --
COHEN: Something about it that is given a higher death rate.
SCIUTTO: Goodness. Well, it speaks --
HARLOW: OK --
SCIUTTO: To the importance of a reasonable transition, right? Because they wouldn't be starting from scratch if they've been sharing data going back to November 4th. Dr. Kraft, there is some other good news and, you know, forgive me for trying to like focus on that where we can.
But when you look at the number of infections in the U.S., it sounds like it's dropping, but there are some signs and Dr. Fauci have talked about it, that it is peaking and we didn't see the big jump, post- Christmas holidays that some had worried about. I wonder how significant you see that to be and why you think that's happening now?
KRAFT: Yes, I mean, I'm very willing to be hopeful on this Monday morning, Jim. I think that, you know, people are seeing the results of some of this transmission in their communities, and so I think that, hopefully, it -- I mean, it would be really nice from a hospital standpoint and infrastructure standpoint for this to start kind of going back down. This has been the longest surge we've had with the most cases. And it's really accelerated a lot of our numbers and death rates just because it's really been widely affecting the nation. So --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
KRAFT: It would be -- we looked for it in our healthcare system. Some of our hospitals are seeing a little bit of a decline at our -- at our institution, we're about the same.
SCIUTTO: Understood.
HARLOW: OK, thank you both very much, Elizabeth Cohen, Dr. Colleen Kraft, we appreciate it. Well, on Wednesday night, CNN brings you a new global town hall, the race to vaccinate America, Dr. Anthony Fauci and top doctors from President Biden's COVID-19 team will join our very own Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for "CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS", it's this Wednesday, live at 8 O'clock Eastern.
SCIUTTO: Yes, the right place to get hard information. Well, up next this hour, the incredible new depths that former President Trump considered attempting to overturn an election and hang on to power. That includes plotting to hand-pick an attorney general who would -- and we're stating it right out, overturn the election.
HARLOW: We are also moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street this Monday morning, future is pretty mixed. Investors waiting for tech heavyweights like Apple and Microsoft as well as Tesla to post their earnings this week, also keeping a close eye on what happens with stimulus negotiations. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:25:00]
HARLOW: We are learning shocking new details about former President Trump's attempts to stay in the White House even after losing the election in November. Sources say Trump seriously considered naming a loyalist who believed his lies about election fraud as his acting attorney general.
SCIUTTO: I remember this. This is one of the series of attempts the president made to overturn an election in his favor. CNN's Jessica Schneider explains exactly how this particular plot was discovered and thwarted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICH FITZGERALD, ALLEGHENY COUNTY EXECUTIVE: The electors of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania have cast 20 votes for the honorable Joseph R. Biden.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): December 14th was when electors across the country cemented Joe Biden's place as president, but it also marked the day Donald Trump amped up his behind-the-scenes pressure campaign to overturn the results both publicly and as we're now learning privately in an effort that almost prompted mass resignations at the Justice Department.
Hours after Trump announced Bill Barr's resignation, two weeks after Barr declared there was no evidence of widespread election fraud, the president summoned acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to the White House, according to "The New York Times". Trump wanted DOJ officials to file legal briefs supporting Republican efforts in court to overturn Biden's win.
And "The Times" reports he urged Rosen to appoint special counsels to investigate the unfounded claims of election fraud and Dominion; the election equipment company Trump falsely claimed changed votes in coordination with Venezuela, Rosen refused, according to "The Times". But what Rosen didn't realize was that Trump had been introduced to the man heading up the civil division of the DOJ, Jeffrey Clark, and that Clark had told the president he agreed fraud had affected the election.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't ever accept when they steal and rig and rob.
SCHNEIDER: The president was fixated on Georgia and Jeffrey Clark was ready to rally with Trump behind the scenes.
