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Biden: Impeachment Trial Has to Happen; Senate Receives Article of Impeachment Against Trump; Biden Aiming for 1.5 Million Vaccination a Day in U.S.; Significant Tornado Damage in Alabama; New COVID Variants Appear in U.S.; U.K. Government: Realistic Possibility U.K. Variant has Increased Mortality. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 26, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Joe Biden weighs in on Donald Trump's impeachment trial. The new president says it must happen even though the Senate could be mired in the proceedings for most of February.

A massive tornado rips through Alabama, destroying buildings and trees. The latest on the damage and the regional warnings.

And yet another new worrying variant of COVID-19 appears in the U.S. Hear Anthony Fauci's advice for dealing with all the mutations.

Good to have you with us.

Well the U.S. Senate has officially received the article of impeachment against Donald Trump. Kicking off a trial that could have major consequences for the former president's political future. House managers delivered the incitement of insurrection charge against Trump to the Senate Monday, walking through the very same hall where rioters attacked on January 6th. That attack left five people dead including a Capitol police officer.

President Biden told CNN he thinks it's unlikely his predecessor will be convicted but he says the trial has to happen. House Democrat Jamie Raskin is leading the charge against Trump when the Senate trial kicks off in two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States.

President Trump's conduct on January 6th, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from

office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN's Ryan Nobles has more on the timeline of the trial and how Donald Trump is preparing for it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The clock is now ticking on former President Donald Trump as the Senate now has the articles of impeachment and are preparing for a trial. We're entering a phase now of preparation. The former president getting about two weeks to get his legal affairs in order. On Tuesday, the senators that will serve his jurors will be sworn in, as well as the presiding judge will take his place overseeing this trial.

This all pushing towards a February 9th, that's the day that the trial will begin in earnest, and we're not 100 percent sure how the trial will take place, whether or not witnesses, for instance, will be called.

Both Republicans and Democrats have said that they are open to that idea. There's even the possibility that the senators themselves maybe called as witnesses because they were part of the Capitol insurrection which is of course at the heart of this impeachment trial.

Meanwhile, the former president attempting to put together a legal team. He did hire Butch Bowers who is an attorney from South Carolina. Bowers is trying to hire another lawyer from South Carolina but they're having a hard time getting together a big team.

Our Jeff Zeleny reporting that in some respects these law firms don't want to be associated with the impeachment trial and in other areas they just worry that President Trump may not pay. So that's where the president finds himself right now.

[04:05:00]

Meanwhile, his close ally here on Capitol Hill, Senator Lindsey Graham said that he spoke to President Trump over the weekend and the president echoed what many Americans are feeling about the situation, that he would just like to see this impeachment trial behind him.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And you just heard Ryan mention Trump ally Lindsey Graham in his report. Here is the Republican Senator in his own words with a message to President Biden and those calling for unity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): You talk about unifying the country. If you do not stand up against the impeachment of President Trump after he leaves office, you are an incredibly weak figure in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, many Republicans aren't explicitly defending Trump. Instead, they are attacking the process claiming it's unconstitutional to impeach a former president. House Democrat David Cicilline disagrees with that argument and he laid out the critical evidence they are planning to lay out before the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): We will present overwhelming evidence that the president, former President of the United States incited a violent attack on the Capitol, a bloody attack that involve efforts to hang the vice president, murder the Speaker of the House, hunt down members of Congress, but most importantly, to stop the sacred ritual of the meeting of the Electoral College which represents the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.

And the President of the United States incited that violence in an effort to stop that from happening so that he can remain in office.

It would be a very dangerous precedent to depart from 200 years of history because you don't want to invite a president or a former -- or a federal official to just wait to the near end of their term and commit the most serious misconduct the attack on our democracy and figure they can avoid responsibility because it's near the end of their term. The president is responsible from the first day in office to the last day in office for their conduct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, President Biden and his administration are pushing ahead with an historic first. Later today the first female Vice President, Kamala Harris, will swear in America's first female Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Lawmakers confirmed Yellen as treasury secretary on Monday. Also today, President Biden will deliver remarks outlining his racial equity agenda. This all comes as he looks to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic head on and looks to raise the bar on vaccinations. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden now predicting every American who wants a vaccine can get one by this spring.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we'll be able to do that this spring and there's going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we've ever tried.

COLLINS (voice-over): That comes after his health officials had decline to make a prediction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And once we have that information, I guarantee you we will share it.

COLLINS (voice-over): In his first press conference, Biden also raised his goal of 1 million COVID vaccinations per day after experts said that threshold was reached last week.

BIDEN: I think with the grace of god and the goodwill of the neighbor and the crick not rising -- as the old saying goes -- I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day rather than 1 million a day.

COLLINS (voice-over): Biden estimated it could take weeks to negotiate another coronavirus relief bill and that bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill to his proposal, that said he's willing to negotiate.

BIDEN: No one wants to give up on their position until there's no other alternative.

COLLINS (voice-over): While the White House hammers out details with Congress, Biden's first days in office have been filled with efforts to undo President Trump's actions. After Trump tried to terminate COVID-19 travel restrictions on his way out the door, Biden reinstated them on non-U.S. citizens who have in Brazil, Ireland, the U.K. and much of Europe, while also extending them to South Africa due to the spread of coronavirus variant strain.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I believe the travel ban will be important in addition to having a situation where anybody coming into the country now is going to be required to have a negative test before they even get on the plane.

COLLINS (voice-over): In the oval office with his new defense secretary by his side, Biden also reversed Trump's ban on transgender troops serving in the military.

BIDEN: And what I'm doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform.

COLLINS (voice-over): Trump had announced the ban by tweet. Effectively ending an Obama administration effort that allowed transgender service members to serve opening.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I'm doing a lot of people a favor by coming out and just saying it. As you know, it's been a very complicated issue for the military. It's been a very confusing issue for the military.

COLLINS (voice-over): Meanwhile, the Justice Department watchdog announced today that he'll investigate whether any current or former officials tried to improperly use the department to, quote, alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

[04:10:00] That comes after "The New York Times" first reported that a little known Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, secretly plotted with President Trump about ousting the acting Attorney General and using the department to pressure Georgia lawmakers to overturn the state's results. While it was another stunning sign of how far Trump tried to go to change the election, he never followed through fearing mass resignations.

COLLINS: And CNN spoke exclusively with President Biden later on in the day. Asked about the impeachment trial and what affect it could have on the agenda that he's trying to carry out. He said of course it could, but he thinks the affect it would have if the impeachment did not happen would be worse. He said he views this impeachment trial for former President Trump as something that, quote, has to happen.

And when he was asked if he thinks that 17 Republicans would actually vote to convict a very popular leader of their party, President Biden said no. He noted all the time he had spent in the Senate as a senator. He said it's changed a lot since he was there, but it hasn't changed that much. But he thinks if of course President Trump had six months left in his term, some kind of period he wasn't out of office like what we're about to see with this trial, something U.S. history has never seen before with a former president actually going to a Senate trial. President Biden said if he was in office, he thinks that then maybe that would lead to those Republicans to convict President Trump but for right now, he doesn't think that's on the horizon.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are getting the new images of a destructive tornado that touched down in the U.S. state of Alabama. The National Weather Service says this happened just north of Birmingham. Officials say search and rescue efforts are underway. The damage is significant. And in this video, you can see the entire side of a building ripped off. Roads are impassible because of fallen trees. Tornado watches are in effect for parts of the region.

So let's turn now to CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. He joins us now. And Pedram, this was particularly destructive. People have been trapped. Talk to us about what you're learning. And surely this is particularly early, is it not?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. This is among the quietest time of year, Rosemary. We're talking December, January and February 20 to 30 tornadoes per month across the United States. Of course when you get to April, May and June 200 to 300 tornadoes per month in those months. So it is very early, it was very quiet.

But talk about an overnight tornado happening just before 11 p.m. local time about 10 miles or so north of the Birmingham metro -- Birmingham downtown area. But it's a Fultondale, Alabama -- this is where the tornado touched down. Incredible debris signature within this particular tornado. Showing debris was lofted up some 15,000 feet into the atmosphere. It really speaks to significance, the intensity of this particular storm.

But of course when it comes to nighttime tornadoes they're about twice as likely to be fatal as they are when of course during the daytime for obvious reasons. And you'll notice even into these early morning hours tornado watches prompted across much of the state of Alabama, into portions of western Georgia, that does include the western half of the metro Atlanta area as well.

And this is what I was talking about, Rosemary, January through February quietest time of the year and you work your way into the spring season eventually, the summer season and you see tornado counts increase up to almost 300 per month.

But how about this? Nearly 35,000, more that 34,000 reports of lightning strikes along the portions of the southeast in the past 12 hours alone speaks to the intensity of these storms. And then look at the broader picture, Rosie. 100 Americans across 29 states dealing with winter weather alerts where we've seen reports of snow across the Phoenix metro area. Snow at this hour across Las Vegas, Nevada as well. So an incredible amount of wintery weather and also sever weather across the U.S.

CHURCH: Unbelievable, and we thank you for keeping a close eye on all of it for us. Pedram Javaheri bring us that live. Appreciate it.

All right, still to come. Another COVID variant shows up in the U.S. America's top infectious disease expert tells CNN what needs to be done to combat the new variants. That's next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well a coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil has been discovered in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says health officials need to stay on top of these new variants as they evolve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: So the good news is the vaccines as they exist now still would be effective against the mutants. The sobering news is what I think you were alluding to, that as you get more and more replications, you can get more and more evolution of mutants which means you've always got to be a step ahead of it.

The best way you prevent the evolution of mutants is to suppress the amount of virus that's circulating in the population and the best way to do that is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as you possibly can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And over the past week vaccinations have increased in the U.S. and the average number of new infections has been declining in nearly every state. But the death toll remains high. January is on track to be the deadliest month in the U.S. yet. CNN's Erica Hill explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The virus variant first discovered in the U.K. is not just more transmissible. Scientists now say it may also be more deadly.

FAUCI: They became convinced that it is in fact a bit more virulent, namely making it more difficult when you get to the point of serious disease, and even death. So, I believe their data.

HILL (voice-over): As the variant spreads here in the U.S., the push is on to boost the pace of vaccinations. Moderna expects its vaccine will, to some degree, protect against the variant, there's just one problem.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, U.S. CDC DIRECTOR: 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.

HILL (voice-over): That's the new CDC director, and that problem is forcing scheduled appointments to be put on hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York City does not have enough doses.

[04:20:00]

HILL (voice-over): Plan for mass vaccination sites, New York Citi Field was supposed to open today, paused. The Biden administration, once again shifting its message.

BIDEN: I think we may be able to get that to 150 -- 1.5 million a day, rather than one million a day.

HILL (voice-over): The week began with just over half of distributed doses in arms. Two thousand shots administered at this site Sunday in Seattle. Amazon helping out with logistics.

Average new cases down in nearly every state over the past week. Not a single red state on this now familiar map.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: There's now clear evidence that the peak has passed in the United States and cases are dropping rapidly.

HILL (voice-over): COVID hospitalizations also declining. California lifting regional stay-at-home orders for 90 percent of the state as ICU availability increases. Massachusetts ending its curfew today, but not Ohio.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Unfortunately, we've going to have to stay.

HILL (voice-over): Deaths still far too high, nearing 420,000 including this Ohio couple, childhood sweethearts who died within minutes of one another holding hands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They taught us all really what love is.

HILL: The city field behind me here the home of the New York Mets was slated to open on Monday as a mass vaccination site for New York City. Ultimately, we were told it would be able to process as many 7,000 doses shots in one day.

But all those plans are now on hold because there simply aren't available vaccine doses in New York City. The mayor says if they could get enough supply, he believes the city could administer half a million doses every week.

In New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And you heard about the U.K. variant of the coronavirus at the beginning of Erica's report. Britain is still struggling to contain the rising cases there. Now Prime Minister Boris Johnson says they're looking into the possibility of quarantine hotels for those arriving in the country. Salma Abdelaziz is live in London. She joins us now. So Salma, what is the latest on all the containment efforts that Britain's trying to put in place right now?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rosemary, hotel quarantines are definitely the top of the government's agenda today. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to be meeting with senior ministers. There is an announcement that's expected today on this matter.

But there is some debate, some controversy about on how this would be carried out. The first question is of course, what countries, what travelers would be subject to this hotel quarantine. There's a debate over whether you should target specific countries like South Africa and Brazil, other South American countries, or whether it should be a widespread ban on everyone. So that's a matter of debate. Who pays for it? How's it done? What are the logistics?

But the important thing to remember here, Rosemary, is this is an escalation of already existing travel restrictions that were in place here. Already tough rules that required you to show a negative test and to quarantine. And it just shows how concerned that authorities are here about new variants. No country has been burned as badly by one of these mutations of COVID-19 as the U.K. has. This was the first country to be hit hard by one of these variants and it's been terrible. It's been horrible.

So authorities really trying to avoid that nightmare that they are still in the middle of here in the U.K. by keeping any other variants out of the country -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: It has been particularly tough for the U.K. Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London, many thanks.

Well the emergence of these new variants is worrying health officials in the United States. Earlier I spoke with epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant about President Biden's hope to achieve 1.5 million vaccinations a day and I asked him is that a realistic goal?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It sounds achievable to me. He said everyone who wants one can get one. And you know, we have only about 50 percent of people who say they are eager to get the vaccine. Twenty-five percent who are uncertain and 25 percent who have said absolutely not. I hope that middle number will change dramatically.

And because they are using FEMA and opening up as many as 100 mass vaccination centers, I believe it's a very reasonable goal.

CHURCH: That sounds promising. And of course, you mentioned FEMA. The Pentagon is now weighing options to deploy thousands of troops to help President Biden with vaccine deployment. How big a difference could this make? And how soon do they need to make this a reality?

BRILLIANT: It will make a huge difference. It's not uncommon in pandemics to have the troops come and lend a hand and vaccinate. We want fireman, and policeman, and everybody else who can come. And it's critical because we are in a bit of a foot race between how rapidly we can vaccinate people and these mutants, this variance that are occurring.

[04:25:00]

The faster we vaccinate more people the less likely it is that we will get more of these variants.

CHURCH: And I want to talk to you about that because hospitalizations and daily cases are falling right now. But what impact might those new variants have on that trajectory? And how careful do we all need to be at this time?

BRILLIANT: What we're seeing now in the dropping is the seasonality. As we leave the winter and head towards spring, the holiday pushes over, we are just getting a bit of that left in the death rate. But we have to double down on how careful we are on the things that we know that will stop variants or a wild form of the virus.

We know what to do, a good mask or two masks. Socially distance, good hygiene. Do not go into indoor congregate places where you know you're going to be exposed more. Right now, it's just this moment. When we think vaccine is coming, we have some treatments, be double careful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): Good advice there. Epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant speaking to me earlier.

Coming up next, words and actions have consequences and Dominion voting system says Rudy Giuliani owes the company big time for his big lie. Back with that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Back to our top story this hour. House prosecutors are promising a powerful case against Donald Trump as they gear up for an unprecedented second impeachment trial of the former president.

Members of the House marched across the Capitol delivering their article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday. The House charged Trump with incitement of insurrection following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.