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Hospitalizations Drop Below 100K for the First Time in Two Months; White House Open to Scaling Down COVID Relief Plan; Trump Rebuilds Legal Team for Senate Impeachment; Myanmar's Army Details Leader Aung San Suu Kyi; Race to Vaccinate Intensifies as New COVID Variants Spread; Interview with Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA) about Censure Bill against Marjorie Taylor Greene; "The Divided States of America"; The White House Welcomes First Dogs Champ and Major. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 31, 2021 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back at the COVID ward, it is easy to see why they're angry. We're told that this woman is now brain dead. Kept alive by machines. Her family will have to decide when to give the go-ahead to shut them off. Another death that might have been prevented with the vaccine.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: January has been the deadliest month in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic.

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER TO INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: We do have to call an audible. I think there's no about it. We are going to see something like we have not seen yet in this country.

DR. CHRIS PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: There are U.S. variants. We just don't know because we don't do the work to identify them.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Donald Trump is the worst president in history. And to sweep it under the rug, say never mind, I told Tim Kaine, censure, slap on the wrist, no. We want to go for a full trial.

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): We'll see. I'm a juror. I'm going to keep an open mind as we go through this.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian security forces showing no mercy. Cracking down on protesters demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday evening. And although cases and hospitalizations are trending down, the

presence of new COVID variants has some medical experts warning the worst is still to come.

CNN's Natasha Chen has more on the race to vaccinate as many people as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In some ways, Americans may feel the beginning of a light at the end of the tunnel. The number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 dropped below 100,000 on Saturday for the first time since December 1st. Only one state right now, Louisiana, is seeing an increase in new cases compared to the previous week. And more than 30 million doses of the vaccine have been administered so far.

RON YABROUDY, RECEIVED SECOND DOSE OF VACCINE: I feel now that I can go see my grandkids. Getting a second shot, it just has done wonders for me, and it really has boosted my confidence to the point where I feel that I can take on the world.

CHEN: Ron Yabroudy, who's about to turn 89, got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which shows 95 percent efficacy during trials.

YABROUDY: Let me tell you something, there's nothing like having 95 percent on your side.

CHEN: Moderna's trials did similarly well, but these modest signs of progress come amid a troubling development. In the U.S., there are more than 400 cases of the variant first identified in the U.K.

OSTERHOLM: The fact is that the surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next six to 14 weeks. And if we see that happen, which my 45 years in the trenches tells us we will, we are going to see something like we have not seen yet in this country.

CHEN: And variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil have turned up in a handful of U.S. states this week, causing some health experts to sound the alarm.

PERNELL: My primary concern is that we need to do more surveillance in this nation. We actually trail our peers on this. We need to do more genomic sequencing. There are U.S. variants. We just don't know because we don't do the work to identify them.

CHEN: While new research is promising, it's not yet clear if those vaccinated could still get sick or even die from the variants. A troubling thought, especially as we close the month of January with the most deaths of any month since the first reported case in the U.S. a year ago.

HOLLY VANTELLI, HUSBAND AND FATHER-IN-LAW DIED: That's been really hard, too, because she's asking every day, where's my daddy? CHEN: Some families like Holly Vantelli's have lost more than one

relative. In her case, her husband and father-in-law died of COVID-19 within 24 hours of each other.

VANTELLI: Every day, I wake up and I think that this nightmare is going to be over, and unfortunately, it continues on.

CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And turning now to breaking news on COVID relief negotiations. CNN has learned that the White House is potentially open to some Republican ideas, including scaling down stimulus checks to households making more than $150,000. That's according to a senior administration official I spoke with today.

Arlette Saenz is at the White House tonight. So, Arlette, how else is the White House responding to the letter?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the White House has indicated they are open to negotiating on this letter and this proposal from Senate Republicans, but that proposal from this group of 10 Republican senators is a much more scaled down version of what the president himself had proposed. This bill, this proposal would be around $600 billion in funding compared to that $1.9 trillion that the president has been pushing up on Capitol Hill.

Now, these Senate Republicans, I just want to run you through a bit of what they are looking to do. They want to provide more targeted checks to American families who need it most. One Republican senator suggesting that could be about $1,000 versus the $1400 checks that the Biden administration is looking to push out.

[20:05:07]

They are also calling for $160 billion for vaccines and testing, something that has been a top priority in the discussions between both parties up on Capitol Hill. They also want to see an extension in enhanced unemployment benefits, and also on top of that, provide $4 billion for behavioral health and substance abuse issues.

One question is how long Biden will try to give these Republicans time to negotiate it, and one area that they are open to negotiations on are those targeted checks going out to Americans.

BROWN: And I understand, Arlette, that you have some more breaking news tonight on the president's schedule being disrupted by the winter storm we're experiencing here in Washington.

SAENZ: That's right. President Biden was expected to go to the State Department tomorrow to meet with the new secretary of State, Antony Blinken, but a White House official tells me that they are rescheduling that visit for later this week due to the inclement weather here in the Washington, D.C. area. They said that the president is looking forward to visiting later in the week when more staff and diplomats can make it to the State Department safely.

He was also expected to deliver a foreign policy speech tomorrow, which is now also expected to be a bit delayed. And up on Capitol Hill, the Senate confirmation vote on Biden's pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, that confirmation pick is now being postponed from Monday to Tuesday. Causing another delay. It's been quite snowy here in the Washington area, and they are trying to make some adjustments to the schedule due to that issue.

BROWN: All right. Arlette, thanks so much for bringing us the latest there.

And we're also following some more breaking news. With just over a week until Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, the former president has decided to start from scratch and hire a new legal team. A short time ago, Trump announced two new lawyers who are heading his defense, a day after his parted ways with his initial legal team.

CNN Washington correspondent Sunlen Serfaty joins us now with the very latest. So, what can you tell us, Sunlen, about Trump's new hires here?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam. The former president really having to rebuild his legal team here, completely, announcing late this evening that he has selected two trial attorneys, first David Schoen, also a former law professor, and Bruce L. Castor Jr., a former district attorney in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

And this announcement this evening comes notably just one day after all five members of President Trump's legal team walked out, leaving his legal defense team over disagreements over the legal path forward. CNN reporting that former President Trump wanted the central point of their defense to really revolve around the argument that he's been making, the wrong argument, that there was mass election fraud, and that the election was stolen rather than really focusing their arguments about the legality of convicting a former president after he has left office.

So that is certainly significant tonight, and the big question, of course, is what path forward will this new legal team bring to their defense when they argue in front of the Senate impeachment trial? Will they, of course, go along with what President Trump and what he wanted from his former team? That, of course, a big question.

And Pam, time certainly is short. The wheels on Capitol Hill will already start moving this upcoming week. In a few days, their legal briefs are due in front of a Senate trial, and then of course, that Senate trial will be up and running next Tuesday, so of course, a lot of maneuvering from the Trump team, putting this new team in place just about over a week before the trial is set to start -- Pam.

BROWN: Yes, they don't have a lot of time. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much.

And this just in to CNN, amid heightened concerns about the safety of members of Congress, Republican campaign committees are asking the Federal Election Commission to allow lawmakers to use campaign donations for bodyguards to protect themselves and their immediate family members. This request, of course, follows the January 6th siege on Capitol Hill that left five people dead.

I'll ask Democratic Congresswoman Nikema Williams for her reaction on this when I speak with her coming up later this hour. So be sure to stick around for that.

And for more on everything we've been discussing today, I'm joined by CNN political commentator Doug Heye, he is a Republican strategist and former communications director for the Republican National Committee, and Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for "New York" magazine.

Great to see you both. Very busy Sunday. Lots going on.

Doug, first to you. If former President Trump gets his way and he finds lawyers to argue election fraud in his impeachment trial, how does that change the approach of Senate Republicans who have seemed certain to acquit? I mean, they would essentially be giving another platform for Trump to spew the lie that played a role in the riot.

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DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, ultimately, we have seen so many times when Republican senators or House members for that matter would say about a Donald Trump tweet, I didn't see the tweet. They're not going to be able to hide from the testimony that will happen in the impeachment trial. But they'll sure want to deny ever hearing any of it because this is going to be a disaster for them to have to defend. It's the one thing that they don't want to talk about.

And I just saw as recently as an hour ago on Olivia's Twitter feed that one of the lawyers, Mr. Schoen, previously represented Robert Stone, which will tell you the direction of where the president wants to go to in this matter. If you're hiring Roger Stone's legal team, it's clear that this is not going to be a particularly sane process.

BROWN: Olivia's Twitter feed is a must. I go to it every day to see what the latest is. So bring me up to date, Olivia. I haven't been able to check it since I started the show. But what are you learning?

OLIVIA NUZZI, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Well, you know, I was reading a very interesting interview with Mr. Schoen in which he talks about the fact that he thought that Jeffrey Epstein, who he also represented in addition to Roger Stone, was murdered. He's talked a great deal about that publicly. Obviously, he represented Roger Stone and something else that I thought was interesting is that he has studied as an actor at the Actor's Studio and at HP Studios. These two highly respected acting institutions in New York.

And I thought that was so interesting because I was speaking to one of the president's former attorneys right when this news broke, and this person told me it's going to be a circus. And that's obvious, but when you have someone who is a trained actor, who has represented all of these kind of fringe characters representing you, I think that that really seals the deal that it is going to be a bit of a freak show. And it seemed like the president really couldn't find anybody better

suited than this. Obviously, had some difficulty finding a legal team. Members of the legal team left this week. So it really doesn't bode well for him going into this, but it seems like the math is pretty clear about them, about how his people are going to vote on this.

BROWN: So, I mean, yes. Do we know if they're going to perpetuate the president's lie about the election or what their strategy is? We think it's going to be a show given what you just laid out, but do we know if they're going to do the president's bidding, the former president, I should?

NUZZI: Well, the reporting from CNN and elsewhere was that there were disputes between the president's previous lawyers and the president or the former president about what the defense would be. That he wanted to focus on basically the big election lie and that they wanted to focus on different areas that seemed like a better way forward.

It seems based on what we know about these lawyers, these new lawyers, that maybe they will be more sympathetic to doing what the former president wants here and focusing on the big election lie. But whether or not any of that's going to help him, I mean, it does seem pretty clear how the Senate is going to vote, and that the party seems pretty intent on continuing to do his bidding and continuing to be the party of Trump.

I mean, we all saw that photo this week of Kevin McCarthy. We've seen what's happening with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn, these people -- these kind of Trump Republicans who are now in Washington, and it seems like the party is still fearful of the former president despite the fact that he is not technically in power anymore, and he is off Twitter, and his greatest avenues to beat back on people who express dissent have been taken away from him.

BROWN: Right. I mean, to that point, Doug, why does Trump still have so much sway in the Republican Party given what she just laid out? You know, and we really are seeing this identity crisis. I just spoke to Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican, who said there are two factions now. You have the Marjorie Taylor Greene conspiracy theorist extremists who align themselves with Trump, and then you have the more mainstream Republicans. What's going on?

HEYE: Yes, look, it's a real division within the party, and right now, that Trump faction is certainly winning. And that's what ultimately members of Congress and senators, that's who they're hearing from most loudly. If you're a Trump supporter, you tend to be pretty loud about things. They're not quiet, silent majority types. They're very loud and reach out to their members of Congress and let them know what they think.

I talk to members of Congress all the time who tell me, I had a donor say X to me, I had a donor say Y to me, and these aren't positive comments. They're really nasty quite often. And the other reality is, and this is what Republicans need to be mindful of. Just look at my home state of North Carolina, a state I know, Pamela, you know pretty well as well. BROWN: Yes. My alma mater. (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

HEYE: In the past month, since January 6th, Republicans in North Carolina have lost more than 5800 Republicans. Meaning 5800 Republicans have changed their affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated. And if you're motivated to do anything politically in January in an off-year, that says you're awfully angry. And if the party is going to shrink, it might become more intense for Trump, but ultimately long term, that's a recipe for doom.

BROWN: All right. We'll be tracking all of this. Olivia, Doug, thanks so much for coming on, your Saturday night. We appreciate it. Hope you'll come back on soon.

NUZZI: Thank you for having me.

HEYE: Thank you.

BROWN: And much more to come on CNN NEWSROOM. Supply, supply, supply.

[20:15:03]

That is the issue Kentucky's governor tells me is biggest in the vaccine rollout. I'll speak to Dr. Megan Ranney about that and these fast spreading variants. That's up next.

Plus, in Russia, thousands are detained for protesting a Putin critic's arrest. We'll have more on that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Breaking news into CNN. Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the military. The situation is unfolding there tonight. It will likely become another test of the Biden administration in the post-America first isolationist era.

Let's get right to Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Will, what do we know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pamela. Well, details are coming in very slowly because there are reports that the telephone lines, perhaps the internet, and even some television channels are being disrupted right now in Myanmar. So information coming out at a trickle here.

[20:20:03]

But what we have confirmed, according to a spokesperson for the National League of Democracy Party, the NDL, that is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, she and other party leaders have been detained and are currently being held by the military.

Now this is puzzling for a lot of people because even though Aung San Suu Kyi was in and out of house arrest in Myanmar for the better part of 20 years, she was -- you know, her father was a war hero. She has been the civilian leader of that country and she was regarded for many years, she won a Nobel Peace Prize for being a beacon of freedom and democracy, but in recent years she has fallen in the eyes of many in the global community because she was actually defending the military that imprisoned her or put her under house arrest for so many years when they were accused by the United Nations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims who were -- many of whom were forced across the border out of Myanmar into Bangladesh and reported, you know, raped and murdered at the hands of the military.

Those actions were defended in the U.N. by Aung San Suu Kyi, who now may be once again being held by the military, which is contesting the results of their election back in November. Basically, the military lost a lot of seats in parliament. Now they're saying the election was a fraud. And yes, this is going to be a major test for the Biden administration, Pamela. How do they handle this unfolding crisis in a country that is trying to strengthen its democracy, held these general elections back in November, and now an apparent military coup under way?

BROWN: Will Ripley live for us in Hong Kong, thanks for bringing us the latest there.

Well, as the U.S. sees cases and hospitalizations start to decline, the coronavirus opens a new front in its attack on humanity. Highly contagious variants that are making the race to get a vaccine even more urgent.

Joining me now is Dr. Megan Ranney, emergency physician at Brown University.

Dr. Ranney, thanks for coming on. Epidemiologists are saying that these variants could make the fight against COVID much harder by causing more severe disease or lessening the effectiveness of the vaccines. What concerns you most?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: So right now, what concerns me most is simply that we already know that they're more transmissible, which means it's much easier for them to infect people. Right now we are in an absolute race against time with these variants. We're trying to get people vaccinated before they spread too much across our country.

It means that just going to the grocery store, to school or to work could become more dangerous. We have an already overtaxed and exhausted health care system. We have a little breathing room right now, but if these new variants become dominant in our country, we are going to be right back where we were in November and December, and perhaps even worse.

BROWN: Do you see another surge happening?

RANNEY: You know, I don't know. We're watching the falling numbers across the country with a sense of relief. But we've seen this happen before. And as we see the numbers fall, we also see states reopening, perhaps prematurely, especially with these new variants out there. I very much worry that we're going to see numbers start to rise again over the next few weeks. But right now, it's just speculation and hypothesis.

What I'm telling everyone right now is that despite the falling numbers, now is not the time to let up on those basic precautions. Wear a mask, avoid indoor unmasked gatherings, and of course, wash your hands and try to maintain distance from others when possible.

BROWN: Yes, It just I had two close friends who just got COVID. Their families did. It's just a reminder this is still very much an issue even if numbers are going down, the variants are still very much spreading as we're seeing across the country.

Earlier, I spoke with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear about his state's vaccine program. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: We have three problems. It's supply, supply, and supply. Our people are desperate. Everybody wants to be vaccinated. We've gone from vaccine hesitancy to not being able to have enough vaccine. Biden administration in its first six days increased our supply 16 percent. And I'll take that every six days. That was a good development. But it's not enough. And it's not necessarily their fault, but we just need significantly more doses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Do you think it makes sense to stop focusing on second doses and give as many people as possible a first dose to try to get ahead of these variants?

RANNEY: So I think it's a combination of the two. Yes, we need to give everyone that we can a first dose now. That doesn't mean we should give up on the second dose, but rather we should count on Pfizer and Moderna and hopefully soon Johnson & Johnson as well to help fill that gap. So the Pfizer and Moderna, they are saying that they're going to have increased production in the weeks and months to come. That can fill that second dose hole, and then once we get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that's only a single dose.

So give everyone the doses that you can right now, and count on that increased production so that you can get people adequately protected.

BROWN: All right, Megan Ranney, thank you for bringing us the latest with COVID. We appreciate it.

RANNEY: Thank you.

[20:25:05]

BROWN: Well, facing calls of censure, embattled Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is set to meet with the House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy this week.

Coming up, I'll speak to Congresswoman Nikema Williams who says she needs to be removed from Congress.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): We can't allow this just to be -- you know, just to let it go. You can't allow it to just transfer power peacefully like Joe Biden wants and allow him to become our president because he did not win this election.

[20:30:05]

He's guilty of treason. It's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.

So-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon. It's odd there's never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That is just a sample of Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's extremist rhetoric before taking office. Greene has spent the weekend scrubbing her social media accounts after CNN's K- FILE uncovered a spate of old posts supporting fringe conspiracies and calling for violence. And it comes as two Democratic congresswomen prepare to introduce legislation this week to formally censure Greene.

One of those women joins me now, Georgia Representative Nikema Williams.

Congresswoman, thank you for coming on. You and Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs are introducing legislation to censure and call for her resignation. Why are you not calling for her to be expelled?

REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): So, Pamela, thank you for having me this evening. And I would very much like to see Marjorie Taylor Greene removed from Congress. However, I know that that is a much higher threshold, and we would need much more of our Republican colleagues to realize and to be able to stand up to her and call her out for her dangerous rhetoric that she is continuing to espouse, and a censure resolution only requires a simple majority to pass.

And so I want to make sure that we are holding her accountable, and this was something within my wheelhouse that I could do to move forward so that we can hold people accountable for their actions in this country. When you're in leadership position, you most definitely need to be held accountable for your actions and your words, and Marjorie Taylor Greene needs to be censured in front of the House of Representatives and she needs to resign.

BROWN: Does it make any difference to you that these were comments she made before she was officially in Congress?

WILLIAMS: She made the comments before, she's continued to show us this is exactly who she is. She's not apologized for the comments. She's actually doubled down, and so I am clear on why she needs to be censured and why she needs to be held accountable, because this is exactly who she is. And we have seen the type of violence that this creates when we have leaders in our country that continue to uplift these words and these actions.

We saw what happened with the domestic terrorist attack on January 6th and we shouldn't just stand by and allow this to continue without holding her accountable.

BROWN: All right. Let's listen to what a supporter in Greene's district told our Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was not a congresswoman at the time. But she is your congresswoman now. And I just ask if that is the right way for a congresswoman to act?

TIM BELL, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Yes. Like you just said, she wasn't a congresswoman right then. And I've done a lot of things in my past that I ain't proud of now, you know. But I'm not going to run for Congress.

SAVIDGE: You haven't changed your mind one bit about her, have you?

BELL: Not a bit.

SAVIDGE: Is there anything that would change your mind about her?

BELL: Nope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And other supporters Martin talked to, one other one said that it's almost as though the more she's under fire, the more controversy there is around her, the more he wants to support her. One supporter said, I hate Democrats so much, and they're attacking her, and it makes me want to support her more, something to that effect. That was summarizing what this supporter said.

Are you ever worried that what you're doing could feed even more support for her in some ways? As we know she's fundraised off of this?

WILLIAMS: So I have no doubt, Pamela, that she is thriving off of this attention, which is why we need to move forward now. We need to move forward swiftly, bring this resolution to a vote that I'm introducing tomorrow, to make sure that we can hold her accountable, and we need to continue the work of the people.

People in my district are hurting right now from this pandemic. We have heard about the slow rollout of the vaccine. We have school districts in Georgia that have been punished for giving teachers the vaccine. And I know that there are districts -- there are counties in her district just like mine who need more vaccines rolled out, who need more support on the ground, and that's what she needs to be focused on because her district is hurting just like mine.

So I am ready to hold her accountable and get to work on making sure that we can address this pandemic for the entire state of Georgia.

BROWN: I want to get your reaction to this Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said that he rejects Greene's extremist rhetoric but stopped short of saying she should be punished for her controversial comments, and in fact, dodged a question about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC'S THIS WEEK HOST: Given her history, is she fit to serve?

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R), ARKANSAS: I'm not going to answer that question as to whether she's fit to serve because she believes in something that everybody else does not accept. I reject that. But she's going to stand for re-election. I don't think we ought to punish people from a disciplinary standpoint, a party standpoint, because they think something a little bit different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:35:06]

BROWN: Do you think that some Republicans are afraid to condemn her more publicly or speak out more because so many of their supporters align themselves with Trump and with her?

WILLIAMS: Pamela, he was afraid to say that she was unfit to serve but I'm not. Marjorie Taylor Greene is beneath the service of the member of the United States Congress and she should not be serving here. Her district did elect her, which is why I'm calling for a censure because this is within my wheelhouse as a member of Congress to bring this resolution forward.

Republicans in this party have been taken over by Donald Trump, and they're afraid to stand up for what they know is wrong. You hear the outside chatter and the whispers about maybe we should do something, maybe we shouldn't. But they're afraid. And we should not be held hostage by domestic terrorists and not moving forward with doing what we know is right. It's never the wrong time to do the right thing. And that's what we're doing when we introduce this resolution tomorrow.

BROWN: So not only are you not seeing many Republicans openly condemning the comments, but Greene was apparently rewarded with the revelations about her conspiratorial and extremist views with a, quote, "great call" from former President Trump. He remains a force in the party. Is that hurting or helping Democrats as you look ahead to the midterms?

WILLIAMS: So I don't know what they're doing on their side, Pamela, but I know that we are -- we're doing the work of the people. Americans expect us to get to work in Congress. They expect us to have a response to this pandemic and get them help on the ground, and that's what we're doing as Democrats. We're working for the people and the Republican Party is still kowtowing to Donald Trump and trying to figure out how they're going to move forward as a party. And I know that we're moving forward as the Democratic Party working on behalf of the people.

BROWN: So really quick, before we let you go, we learned this hour that Republican campaign committees are asking the Federal Election Commission to allow lawmakers to use campaign donations for bodyguards. You told our Fredricka Whitfield that you do not feel safe as a member of Congress. Do you think going that route is a good idea?

WILLIAMS: I do. I feel like this should even be something that is included in the money that we get to run our congressional office. I have 24-hour security right now. I just ran to Target to pick up something, and I thought I could go by myself, and they're like, well, no, because the rhetoric has been turned up over the weekend. So I am not safe here at my home. I'm not safe out in the district. And I'm not safe in Washington, D.C.

And I have 24-hour security, so I absolutely think that this is something that should be funded, and we need to keep people safe while we're trying to do our jobs because we still have people on the inside who are direct threats to members of Congress.

BROWN: All right. Congresswoman Nikema Williams, thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

BROWN: As a top critic of Russian President Putin sits in jail, thousands of Russians protest in the streets, and CNN is right in the middle of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:42:11]

(VIDEO OF RUSSIAN PROTEST)

BROWN: So this is St. Peterburg. The crowds of people protested all over Russia today, furious that a vocal critic of the Russian government is still in jail. More than 5,000 people were detained Sunday, after clashing with riot police in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and dozens of other cities.

Well, they're supporting Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader and fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, who survived being poisoned last year. The Russian government denies any involvement in that. Now Navalny returned to Russia this month and was immediately arrested.

And tonight, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, just a few minutes from now, CNN's Fareed Zakaria takes an in depth look at American political hatred. How did it get so bad? Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": In an alternate universe --

RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER: Trump people were not scaling the wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump supporters don't do that. We're not from that world.

ZAKARIA: A pro-Trump mob could never have stormed the Capitol.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: A lot of it is the Antifa folks.

ZAKARIA: COVID-19 is nothing to worry about.

JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: It's a virus. Like the flu.

JESSE WATERS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: If I get it, I'll beat it.

ZAKARIA: And Donald Trump won the election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a decisive victory for Trump.

ZAKARIA: In a landslide.

LT. GEN. THOMAS MCINERNEY, RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE: This election has been stolen from the American people.

ZAKARIA: Millions of Americans are being brainwashed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a planned-demic.

ZAKARIA: On the airwaves and online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They stole it. They're thieves.

ZAKARIA: They live in a completely different reality. That is the greatest threat to our democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not alone. You're not crazy. You have every right to be suspicious. It is your birth right as Americans.

ZAKARIA: How did what we read, what we watched, and what we share become a dystopia of disinformation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The experimental --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump won.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: OK, I am hooked. I cannot wait to watch this, Fareed Zakaria. Such an important conversation to have. Just given all the hatred right now in this country. You throw out a lot of questions there and some disturbing scenes from just the past few months. What are the forces that created such political hatred that we see today?

ZAKARIA: Well, it's very complicated, honestly, and it took a lot to boil it down. But it didn't begin with Donald Trump. It didn't start overnight. I mean, you've had some of these tensions brewing ever since 1964 and '65. The Civil Rights Bill, which splits the Democratic Party, creates the new Republican Party, if you will. And from then, you know, as always in America, race is one of the great polarizing factors.

[20:45:03]

But one of the things we find is that it has now become a cultural divide, not just a political divide. So broadly speaking, if you voted for Joe Biden, you are likely to be somebody who lives in the city, in or around the city, an urban person. You probably have some kind of diploma or some kind of college degree. If you voted for Trump, you're more likely to be rural, less educated. This has become, you know, two different worlds, two different cultures, and they don't intermingle. They don't like each other. They don't know each other.

And this, of course, breeds more and more not just, you know, disagreement over policy, but almost a kind of sense that the other is an enemy to your way of life. And you are defending, you are the last person defending your way of life.

BROWN: And they can stay in that isolated world. They don't have to expose themselves to other views. They can just have their own views reaffirmed depending on what media ecosystem they want to be a part of. And so with that said, what is the solution? Where do you go from here? Is there anything you can do about this to get rid of this hatred?

ZAKARIA: So the point you make is very important. You know, it's these media ecosystems. It's not just traditional media anymore. It's social media. Because if you can't agree on a set of facts, it becomes impossible to have a discussion or a debate. You'll notice one of the things about Donald Trump was that his approval rating stayed pretty much the same no matter what happened in the outside world.

No matter what his performance was because in his media ecosystem, none of the bad stuff actually happened, or it wasn't his fault, and you know, it just wasn't covered. So if you can really create a world of alternate facts, where do you go from there? So, you know, I think we're going to have to look at the ways to get people more truth and information. And whether that means regulating the social media companies, whether it means finding ways for Americans to -- you know, to share in a common narrative, that becomes important.

One of the ideas I have at the end of the program is, you know, maybe we need some kind of universal national service for young people right out of college, spend a year actually spending time with one another. You know, it's easy to hate that which you don't know. It's very hard to hate an actual human being who you have spent a year working at a school with or in the army with.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, look, we're all born into this world. We're all human beings. We're trying to make our ways through life, and I think you're so right, just if we could better understand each other, where we're all coming from, and get outside of our comfort zone and our bubble, it would really help.

Fareed Zakaria, really looking forward to watching your special. Make sure you tune in to Fareed Zakaria's special, "THE DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA, WHAT'S TEARING US APART," airs next right here on CNN.

And don't forget, you can message me on social media. You can tweet me at @PamelaBrownCNN, and also follow me on Instagram with the same handle.

Well, it's one of the most coveted canine position in the nation. The beloved first pets of the United States. Jeanne Moss gives us a closer look at the top dogs in the White House when we come back.

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[20:52:53]

BROWN: Well, they didn't run for office but they are running on the South Lawn, or maybe just lounging. Champ and Major, the first pets of the United States. Just a week at their new home in the White House and their poll numbers are off the charts. Could another presidential pet be appointed in the Biden administration?

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First came the still photos. Entering the White House, Jill Biden on her knees petting the 12-year-old German Shepherd. The younger one ramping on the lawn. The first lady tweeted, "Champ and Major have joined us in the White House," complete with heart and paw emojis. Even Hillary Clinton chimed in. "Dogs are back."

But it wasn't until a photo-op in the Oval Office was ending that we heard the proof. As members of the press were escorted out, lo and behold there they were under the watchful eye of the groundskeeper who has tended White House plants and pets for almost a half century.

News of their arrival was heralded with tweets like, "The beagle has landed." Countless owners posted photos of their own pets welcoming Champ and Major. Any openings to be their intern? And lobbing softballs like Bull and Mazie want to know if the first dogs get to sleep on the furniture. Prepare for the dog puns.

JILL MARTIN, NBC'S TODAY SHOW CONTRIBUTOR: The first ever indoguration.

JOSH GROBAN, SINGER: Happy Indoguration.

MOOS: Yes, Josh Groban who helped raise money for shelter dogs by singing at the indoguration held on Zoom.

GROBAN: (Singing) I am adopting that dog in the window

MOOS: Major was profiled as a wee pup at the Delaware Humane Association before the Bidens started showering him with affection. Adopted from a shelter, now top dog at the White House.

There were some curmudgeonly comments. "We still don't have a $2,000 stimulus. Who cares about the dogs?" Responded someone, "I do. My wife does. Our friends and neighbors care. It's a sign of a return to civility."

[20:55:07]

But some were impatiently tapping. Tapping out tweets saying, "That's great, but where's the cat? We were promised a cat."

JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I'd love to get a cat. I love having animals around the house.

MOOS: Around the White House.

GROBAN: (Singing) The one with the waggly tail.

MOOS: And tongue. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And while the president may be canceling plans due to weather the first dogs are certainly not. Champ and Major left their paw prints in the D.C. snow earlier today. President Biden's granddaughter Naomi shared this photo right here on Twitter with the National Monument in sight.

And as we leave tonight, we are learning that President Biden has invited the GOP senators who signed a letter to share their proposal for COVID relief to continue the talks at the White House later this week. We will continue to follow the story of course.

I'm Pamela Brown. Thanks for spending a part of your Sunday evening with me. I'll see you next time.

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